Only three seconds? He's already the Lord of All Realms, so it doesn't matter.

At first glance, seven or eight inner disciples, both men and women, had gathered in front of the mansion. Most of them were at the Golden Core stage or at the Perfection stage.

Upon Ye Xuan's return, a young man in purple robes stood up first. He had a handsome face, a calm demeanor, and a jade pendant at his waist engraved with the words "True Inheritance".

"I am Zhou Xian, a true disciple of Tianxuan Peak."

I heard that a junior disciple reached the summit of the Daoist Inquiry Platform today and received the Daoist Token, so I have come with all of us fellow disciples to offer our congratulations.

His voice was gentle and his smile was sincere, which perfectly matched what Liu Yao said. The inner disciples all got along easily. Perhaps this Senior Brother Zhou was also a warm-hearted person.

"Thank you, fellow disciples."

Ye Xuan cupped his hands in greeting, and the other disciples also stood up to pay their respects, each announcing their name and the mountain they belonged to. He noted them down one by one, knowing they would come in handy in the future.

"Junior brother, you are new to the inner sect and are probably not yet familiar with many things."

Zhou Xian then stepped forward, his attitude friendly, and said:

"The inner sect is different from the outer sect. Although there are fewer rules, there are still many things to pay attention to. We have come here firstly to offer our congratulations, and secondly to give our junior brother a few pointers."

"Oh? Then please come in, fellow disciples. I am all ears."

Upon hearing this, the other disciples, except for Zhou Xian, remained rooted to the spot.

Most of them were just there to take a look, to see how this so-called once-in-a-century Daoist was so astonishingly beautiful, whether he had three heads and six arms compared to ordinary people, or some other special ability.

However, most people only thought that this Michiko was extremely handsome...

Aside from inevitably arousing jealousy, how are they any different from us?

"No, we all have missions to complete, so we'll head back now."

Ye Xuan nodded silently, but a hint of disappointment flashed in his eyes. However, since there was still Zhou Xian, who had the highest cultivation level, he welcomed him into the mansion.

"Please enlighten me, Senior Brother Zhou."

After the two were seated in the main residence, Zhou Xian made no attempt to stand on ceremony and, upon taking his seat, said:

"The inner sect holds monthly assessments, even for Dao disciples. Are you aware of this, junior brother?"

"Know."

"Hmm? That's good then."

Zhou Xian nodded, but what he was thinking was, "Could it be that someone beat me to it?"

After quickly gathering his thoughts, he spoke again:

"As a disciple of the Dao, my junior brother's assessment standards are naturally higher than those of ordinary disciples, and even true disciples."

"You need to break through at least three minor realms in the first month. I think even my junior brother wouldn't dare say he's completely confident with such a demanding requirement."

He paused, glanced at Ye Xuan, but showed no reaction on his face, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"Ahem, it's already April 14th, and there's only half a month left until the end-of-month assessment."

Therefore, my senior suggested that we consider taking on the Gui-character quest, and then consider other ones later.

Ye Xuan remained noncommittal. "The Gui-character mission... what exactly is it?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xian's face lit up with joy. He had made thorough preparations and immediately took out a jade slip from his storage bag and pushed it in front of Ye Xuan.

"These are the available Gui-character tasks for this month. Junior brother, you may take a look first."

Ye Xuan probed with his senses and glanced at the list, which included three tasks—

[The character "癸" (gui) is used to suppress the remnant soul of an ancient demon and retrieve the missing fragments of cultivation techniques from the Scripture Pavilion.]

[The character "癸" is number twenty-three, and three Netherworld Grasses from Fallen Soul Valley are urgently needed.]

[The fourth character of the character "癸" indicates the need to repair and strengthen the Blood Elixir Furnace...]

The difficulty of the three tasks was unclear from the jade slip alone. Ye Xuan looked up at Zhou Xian.

"Which option should I choose, senior brother?"

Zhou Xian smiled, then put on his usual condescending tone, "In terms of being reliable, there isn't really one."

"The inner sect's Gui-character missions are incomparable to those of the outer sect."

Each of these dishes, even among the most accomplished disciples, takes at least a week to prepare. You can imagine the difficulty involved, Junior Brother.

Ye Xuan remained silent for a moment, then pushed the jade slip back, his fingertip landing on the last character, "癸字四".

"This shouldn't be a recently released mission, right?"

"Junior brother is indeed intelligent. To be honest, this mission is a gift I prepared for you as our first meeting."

Zhou Xian then adopted a pretentious tone, saying, "My specialty is alchemy."

"Repairing and strengthening the Blood Pill Furnace might be difficult for laymen, but if I take you with me, Junior Brother, it can be completed in just two days."

Having said that, Zhou Xian didn't press the matter further and instead put away the jade slip.

"The sect's monthly assessment requires two successful completions. If you have a decision, you can come to Tianxuan Peak to find me at any time."

"Then I thank you in advance, Senior Brother."

The two chatted for a few more minutes, mostly about trivial matters of the inner sect, such as which mountain peak besides the main peak had the most abundant spiritual energy, what to pay attention to when becoming an apprentice to an elder, and what obscure secret techniques were available in the Scripture Pavilion...

Ye Xuan listened to what needed to be listened to and asked what needed to be asked.

They chatted for about half an hour, but before Zhou Xian left, he didn't get a chance to ask him about the "Gui character four" that he had just mentioned.

Reluctantly, he stood up and said, "I won't disturb my junior brother's meditation any longer. Farewell."

Ye Xuan smiled. Although most of what he said was already reflected in Liu Yao's memories, he still gave his senior brother enough face.

Ye Xuan personally escorted him to the outside of the mansion, then waved his hand to close the stone door, activating the array to isolate the inside from the outside.

He walked to the main seat in the hall, sat down, and closed his eyes to concentrate.

"Now, as long as I break through one more realm, I will be able to pass the cultivation assessment."

As he pondered this, the power within Ye Xuan's body began to circulate. Initially, there were only two energies, green and white, which then revolved around the route of "Nine Separations from the Heavenly Sun" and were further supplemented by "Longevity Willow".

With the three paths combined, the solid golden core within his body suddenly emitted an inner radiance.

Three hours later, Ye Xuan opened his eyes, a tri-colored glint flashing in them.

At this time, his cultivation level had also successfully reached the seventh level of the Golden Core stage.

Compared to all previous cultivation methods, this is truly traveling a thousand miles a day!

Ye Xuan got up and walked out of the mansion.

He had no need to worry about the monthly assessment; he had long forgotten Zhou Xian's words.

It was already late at night, but there were quite a few disciples on the main peak. Most of them had completed a task at the beginning of the month and were returning to their sect to rest, or were bored with their cultivation and came out for a stroll.

He began to wander around various corners of the main peak, eventually stopping in front of a towering pavilion.

Looking up, Ye Xuan saw a plaque with the words "Fengtang" shimmering in the moonlight, and he immediately began searching for Liu Yao's memories.

This should be the inner sect disciples, who can freely exchange their merit points for various places they need.

A saying still circulates among Fengtang's disciples—

"As long as you have achievements, you can make the devil do the work, and the work can even make the devil do the work."

When Ye Xuan stepped into Fengtang, he felt a momentary disorientation, and before he could even spread his senses, everything around him returned to normal.

The hall was brightly lit, but there were no sect officials present.

Only the four jade walls shimmered with light, displaying cultivation techniques, elixirs, talismans, magical artifacts, and various strange objects, each marked with the corresponding number of merit points required.

His gaze swept across the area, and every single item he saw cost no less than five hundred merit points.

His current merit points are only the two hundred or so points he accumulated when he was in the outer sect. Here, he can't even afford the most ordinary Golden Core stage pills, and he can't help but sigh:

"The price is high."

As he was browsing, a flash of light suddenly appeared on the jade disc to his left, seemingly a recommendation specifically for him.

[Soul Pill, 666 points each, produced by the Holy Sect's inner alchemy room, guaranteed to be of the highest quality!]