Are you really trying to cultivate immortality? Something feels off.

"Anything else?" Nie Zhao asked coldly.

Yu Xintang took a deep breath, reached out and hugged Shen Chunri, a smile on her lips, but her tone was full of defiance: "Junior sister, let's make up, and we'll never fight again."

Shen Chunri felt nauseous from being hugged, and sneered repeatedly, gritting his teeth: "Of course you can, senior brother, we're the best of friends."

Nie Zhao looked at the two of them and said, "Hold each other for a full quarter of an hour, then we'll fight again next time. Hold each other for an hour."

Tan Suiting saw this scene as soon as he arrived. He had been meditating for many years, so his skin was pale and cold. His jawline was more refined and sharp, his nose was high and straight, and his lips were pursed into a cold arc, showing some of his youthful immaturity.

He handed the pastries to Xie Weixing and said casually, "I bought these for you."

The latter didn't take it, smoothly changing from leaning against Feng Jilan to leaning against Tan Suiting: "You take it."

Tan Suiting hummed in response, stood next to him with the pastries in hand, and raised her hand to support him from behind, afraid that he might fall.

Feng Jilan was already used to his disciple's uncouth, roguish posture. He turned to his eldest disciple and asked, "How's your breakthrough?"

"It went quite smoothly," Nie Zhao replied, a phoenix fire burning fiercely in his palm, the surrounding air distorted by the high temperature, "Tai Xu Realm."

There are very few female cultivators in the Taixu Realm who are 29 years old. She is more than 10 years older than Feng Jilan, who was known as the number one genius of swordsmanship in the Spirit Realm back then.

"Once you reach the Tai Xu Realm, your cultivation speed will slow down. Every step you take is accumulating power, waiting for the moment when you can unleash your full potential," Feng Jilan patted Nie Zhao's shoulder, then turned to Tan Suiting. "Back then, you ignored all advice and trained in Longyuan for four years, forcibly pushing yourself to the Tai Xu Realm in a short time. Your foundation in the Nascent Soul stage isn't as strong as your senior sister's, and this will show its weaknesses in your later cultivation. You must remember, never be impulsive or impatient during cultivation. If anything feels wrong with your body, go to your senior uncle immediately. You're all the same, understand?"

"Master, I understand," Nie Zhao replied.

A few people nodded in agreement.

"My spiritual veins and spiritual sea have already been examined by my senior uncle, and there are no problems. It's just that I was in a hurry to break through the realm back then, so my spiritual power accumulation was a bit lacking," Tan Suiting said calmly. "Otherwise, I should have broken through to the mid-stage of the Taixu Realm within three years."

"You just took everything I said as bullshit?" Feng Jilan kicked him. "I told you not to be so impatient for quick success, I told you to be humble and not arrogant! It took your senior uncle and me a full sixty years to break through from the Taixu Realm to the Huashen Realm, and you think you can advance a small rank in just three years? Do you think the Taixu Realm is like pigs raised at the foot of the mountain? Even pigs don't grow as fast as you!"

Tan Suiting rubbed his buttocks, turned his head, frowned, wrinkled his nose slightly, and looked at Xie Weixing.

But this time, the latter didn't protect him. Instead, his expression was serious: "You really have to listen to what your master says. Cultivation takes time. I'm in the late Nascent Soul stage now and I'm not in a hurry. You, at the Void Realm, have even less reason to rush, understand?"

Tan Suiting pursed his lips slightly and replied, "Oh."

Shen Chunri, who had only recently broken through to the mid-Nascent Soul Realm, looked at him with a twitch at the corner of her lips: "Can you stop talking like reaching the late-Nascent Soul Realm at twenty-four is such a bad thing? I'm getting annoyed with you two, really."

"Senior brother," a female voice rang out. Fu Yao walked over, chewing on a meat pie in her hand. She raised an eyebrow when she saw the group. "Oh, you're all here."

Feng Jilan quickly turned his head to glance at it, then turned back to say something, but suddenly stopped. He looked at the meat pie in Fu Yao's hand: "What is this?"

Fu Yao paused for a moment, then gave an awkward smile: "I saw the pancakes in the small kitchen and thought nobody wanted them."

Feng Jilan slapped her on the head: "Stealing from the small kitchen again! You don't learn anything good, only petty theft like Xie Weixing and his gang!"

Several people were called out by name, and they stood to the side picking their noses guiltily.

Fu Yao quickly dodged, saying, "Hey, just have one!"

Shen Chunri nudged Xie Weixing with his butt: "The old man's got a pretty good memory, huh? Pretty good for his age, huh?"

"Shut up," Xie Weixing whispered. "We've been stealing from you for years. Is this a matter of holding a grudge? Anyone with a normal brain wouldn't forget it. Shen Chunri, you're really too greedy. You're just a young girl. Control yourself."

"Didn't you say last time that Xiao Tan loves candied hawthorns, so we went to steal them? We got caught red-handed by Uncle Yu," Shen Chunri said, her eyes wide, muttering under her breath. She then nudged Tan Suiting next to her with her bottom. "It's all your fault, Xiao Tan. You didn't kill Bo Ren, but Bo Ren died because of you."

Tan Suiting glared at her and said in a low voice, "Don't bump me with your butt."

The two started talking incoherently again.

"Since you're all here, let me tell you something," Fu Yao cleared her throat, "the sect competition is about to begin, and we're heading to Jingzhou now."

"Why?" Yu Xintang asked.

"Because the top-ranked sect in the last sect competition," Tan Suiting began, "was the Dao Asking Sect."

"The Dao Seeking Sect? What makes them think they can be?" Yu Xintang asked, "Because of that stupid Huo Jiangmei?"

"Above Huo Jiangmei, there is a senior brother," Tan Suiting said. "Ten years ago, Huo Jiangmei was in her early twenties and had already reached the Golden Core Realm. She was considered the female cultivator in the Spirit Realm most likely to reach the Tai Xu Realm before the age of forty."

"She's over thirty now and only at the late Nascent Soul stage," Shen Chunri retorted, "and the Dao Seeking Sect doesn't seem that strong either."

"Don't forget, they also have a flute player," Xie Weixing suddenly spoke up, seemingly lost in thought. "Although her individual burst damage isn't strong, I have a feeling that if we underestimate her, we'll suffer."

"The Dao Asking Sect recruits disciples early and in large numbers, and all of them are sword cultivators. That junior sister you mentioned who plays the flute is ranked ninth and also practices swordsmanship. Don't think that you're the only ones who can practice dual or triple cultivation," Fu Yao said. "In the last competition, many sects' disciples hadn't matured yet, and the Dao Asking Sect, being an established sect, was able to take first place, which was normal. However, it's hard to say this year."

"Why is it hard to say?" Tan Suiting asked.

"Could it be because we participated?" Shen Chunri asked, resting her chin on her hand, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

Fu Yao smiled and said, "Of course, it's because the disciples of the other sects have grown up over the past ten years."

Shen Chunri: "...Oh."

"Your class is arguably the most competitive year yet," Feng Jilan said in a deep voice. "Be careful, don't think that just because you're still in a sect, you can do whatever you want."

A few people answered sparsely, "Okay..."

"Go back and pack your things," Fu Yao said. "We're leaving for Jingzhou tomorrow morning. There are snow-capped mountains there, and the temperature difference is huge, so bring a thicker coat."

Tan Suiting narrowed his eyes warily: "Who's leading the team to Jingzhou for the competition this time?"

"Oh right," Xie Weixing tilted his head curiously, "Will Uncle Yu take us? Or will it be Master?"

A hand reached out, pinched Xie Weixing's chin, and turned his head around.

Fu Yao smiled kindly: "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm the sect leader in charge of leading the team this time."