The Long Journey to Immortality

After a hundred years of training in the sect and accumulating enough experience, Piaomiaozi would most likely become a deputy sect leader or serve as the dean of Dongshan Academy, just like Qingshui Zhenren, continuing to be active in the sect and contributing to the Zhengyi Sect as a Golden Core Elder.

Compared to the sect leader who changes every 30 years, the two deputy sect leaders have been in their positions for longer and have more experience in handling such emergencies.

Master Qingshui also had his own thoughts and insights on this matter. After receiving the order from Daoist Yunmin, he quickly expanded a policy plan into specific measures. After exchanging a few words with another deputy sect leader, Master Yunding, he began to make arrangements for the other Golden Core cultivators.

"Everyone has heard and seen it just now, and should have figured it out by now."

"Although the Zhengyi Sect is the number one sect in the Southern Dynasty, it is still half a head shorter than Xuan Yang Valley and can only suffer indignities and be bullied in such matters."

“Cultivators need resources and time to grow and advance. The Zhengyi Sect also needs resources and time to surpass Xuan Yang Valley. The secret treasures left behind by the two ancient cultivators, Fang Lin and Wang Han, are our best opportunity to surpass Xuan Yang Valley and stand above them.”

Before getting to the main point, Master Qingshui first elaborated on the matter to increase the attention of the other Golden Core cultivators.

Ninety percent of the Golden Core cultivators in the Zhengyi Sect grew up within the sect, progressing from Qi Refining cultivators to Golden Core cultivators and eventually becoming elders.

These cultivators have a strong sense of identity and belonging to their sect, which is why they reacted so strongly when they were "humiliated" by a paper sword.

Therefore, Shimizu Masato's words played a significant role.

Almost all the Golden Core cultivators focused their attention on True Person Qingshui, anticipating his next move.

"The rules for entering that deep valley secret realm are clearly written; only Qi Refining cultivators are allowed to enter."

"Therefore, our main goal for the past two years has been to cultivate some powerful Qi Refining cultivators so that they can enter the secret realm, seek opportunities within it, and profit from it for the sect."

Shimizu Masato began to explain the more specific arrangements, "Let's start with the first step of preliminary screening."

"The selected disciples must possess both potential and ability, and must be able to cultivate to the tenth level of Qi Refining or above within two years."

“Each Golden Core cultivator reports to the Dean of the Five Elements Mountain Academy to register eligible Qi Refining disciples. The Five Elements Mountain Academy then selects ten outstanding individuals from the list of elders and reports them to the Five Elements Mountain Academy.”

"Five mountain academies, fifty people. I, along with the sect leader and the Cloud Peak sect leader, will conduct a second round of selection to choose ten people from the fifty to be trained as key disciples."

In Master Qingshui's view, the disciples of the Golden Core cultivators were already potential talents selected from the ordinary inner court disciples. After another round of selection, the Qi Refining cultivators chosen from them would definitely be the most qualified people in the Zhengyi Sect to take on this important task.

"Next comes the competition."

"The opportunity is right in front of us, and the competition needs to be held in a grand manner." Although Master Qingshui had the authority to make decisions, he still respected the procedures and the opinions of other cultivators in the sect. "At present, my personal opinion is that we should first increase the rewards for the winners of the competition to motivate the disciples as a whole."

"As for the final winners of the Qi Refining Eighth to Tenth Level Grand Competition, they will also be included in the list of key trainees," Master Qingshui placed great importance on the competition. "If any of you fellow Daoists do not have outstanding Qi Refining disciples in your sect, you can also select disciples who have not joined other elders' sects during the Grand Competition for training."

"Resources are naturally provided by the sects."

"Of course, even with all that we've done, there are bound to be some who slip through the net."

"After announcing this, we should also encourage our disciples to cultivate towards the goal of reaching the twelfth level of Qi Refining."

"As the opening date of the secret realm approaches, the sect will arrange another competition to gather all Qi Refining cultivators above the tenth level. Finally, according to the specific rules to be discussed a month later, the sect will decide how many disciples will enter the secret realm to seek opportunities and bring glory to the sect."

……

"As for what benefits these Qi Refining disciples will gain from entering the secret realm, and what benefits the elders who trained these Qi Refining disciples will gain, we will discuss that in detail later."

In just a few simple words, Master Qingshui provided a more detailed plan, establishing the core strategy of the Zhengyi Sect for the next 720 days: "focusing on Qi cultivation talents."

It has arrangements for the near, medium and long term, which makes people feel that it is reliable and feasible.

Another deputy sect leader, Master Yunding, was the first to express his opinion, agreeing with Master Qingshui's arrangement, and added, "Guest elders should not consider themselves outsiders. They can spend the next few days finding a few suitable Qi Refining disciples within the sect to train first, and also contribute to this matter."

Adding flowers to brocade can never compare to providing charcoal in the snow.

Because the Zhengyi Sect was already the number one sect in the Southern Dynasty before these guest elders joined, these few guest elders could only be considered to have an average life within the Zhengyi Sect.

Master Yunding's words gave the four guest elders present some hope, and they began to rack their brains, thinking about cultivating an outstanding disciple so that they could benefit the sect and themselves at the same time.

After the two deputy sect leaders expressed their views, the deans of each mountain academy also shared their opinions.

The five deans of the mountain academies naturally supported Master Qingshui's arrangements. The most radical dean of the West Mountain Academy, Master Huoyan, even took this opportunity to publicly express his dissatisfaction with Xuan Yang Valley's arrogant approach, using his words to help other Golden Core cultivators in the sect vent their displeasure.

Seeing this, Master Qingshui was very satisfied. He left Master Yunding and the other five academy deans behind, and told the other Golden Core cultivators to disperse and go back to think about which disciple should be reported to the academy to receive more resources and be given special training.

Piaomiaozi was not familiar with the other Golden Core cultivators, and returned to his small courtyard on Hanchan Peak alone.

Compared to other senior cultivators, a Golden Core elder like him, who has frequently appeared at the disciple-acceptance ceremonies in recent years, has a significant advantage in this matter.

In just a short while, Piaomiaozi determined the person to be reported to the mountain academy.

Chapter Eighty Han Lu, courtesy name Yide

The strange phenomenon of the emergence of the secret realm affected the entire Central Plains region, and even affected parts of the Southern Barbarians and the Western Regions. This matter could not be kept secret at all.

Therefore, the three major sects in the Central Plains, including the Zhengyi Sect, after making some minor deletions about the secret realm, explained the situation to their ordinary disciples.

The deleted part was naturally the information about the human catastrophe.

It's best not to let ordinary disciples know about such alarmist matters.

There were parts that were deleted, and naturally, there were also parts that were added.

The added portion consists of the "treasures" within the secret realm and the promises made by various sects to their disciples.

The three major sects all made their own methods for selecting disciples to enter the secret realm public, and they even wanted to highlight the amount of spirit stones, pills, and magical tools to be given in extra-large font in their announcements.

With such enormous benefits, the disciples who cultivate Qi are motivated to work hard and try to advance to the eleventh or twelfth level of Qi Refining, so as to gain the opportunity to enter the secret realm and obtain the ancient treasures.

The three top sects spoke out at the same time, and the content of their announcements was very similar. Naturally, this completely dispelled the various rumors that were circulating in the cultivation world, and let all the cultivators and even mortals who cared about this matter know what had happened in the Central Plains a few days ago.

Only a few conspiracy theories that come close to the truth continue to circulate privately, but they have completely lost their appeal.

The Qi Refining cultivators in the various sects felt that they, who had long been at the bottom of the cultivation world, finally had a chance to breathe fresh air. They all devoted themselves to cultivation, hoping to take this opportunity to stand out from the crowd.

However, it wasn't long before the vast majority of Qi Refining cultivators realized that this matter ultimately had nothing to do with 99.9% of Qi Refining cultivators; it was still an opportunity left for those genius cultivators.

The Foundation Establishment cultivators, on the other hand, were somewhat helpless, as they could only obediently watch from the sidelines due to the rules for entering the secret realm.

The most frustrated were the cultivators who had recently advanced to the Foundation Establishment stage. They wished they could revive their dantian and qi sea to allow their cultivation level to regress, so that they could enter the ancient cultivation secret realm in two years to seek opportunities.

A small number of Foundation Establishment stage cultivators with unrealistic ideas hoped to raise their cultivation to the Golden Core stage within the next two years, then find a good disciple and take a roundabout way to participate in the treasure hunt in the secret realm.

One day after the news was announced, Han Lu received another paper sword from Piaomiaozi.

"Shall we go to Hanchan Peak again?"

Han Lu, who had just swallowed the Meridian Opening Pill (whose price had increased slightly) and had only been meditating in the courtyard for a short while, was quite surprised to see the paper sword sent by Piaomiaozi.

But soon, during this sensitive period, she easily guessed why Piaomiaozi was looking for her.

"It's probably related to the ancient cultivation secret realm."

The matter was of great importance, and Han Lu showed no sign of being negligent.

Her chance encounter with Wen Erya at the foot of Hanchan Peak further convinced her that this matter was related to the ancient cultivator's treasure.

Han Lu and Wen Erya were both geniuses in the Qi Refining stage, and they were overjoyed when they learned about this in the East Mountain Academy.

Having the opportunity to come into contact with such high-level things during the Qi Refining stage was something that even Han Lu, who possessed Xiaoyaozi's memories, couldn't help but feel excited.

After all, compared to those ten ancient cultivators whose fortune and cultivation were both top-notch, Xiaoyaozi was also incredibly insignificant in their presence.

The moment they met, they exchanged a glance and knew that the other was thinking the same thing.

Wen Erya had heard many stories about the ancient cultivators from her master in the palace when she first started cultivating, and Han Lu also knew a little about the story of the rise of the human race by reading various books.

As they walked along the path of Hanchan Peak, Wen Erya became increasingly animated, chattering on and on about the ancient stories she knew of the two ancient cultivators, while Han Lu attentively played the role of a listener, supporting Wen Erya's story.

Upon arriving at Piaomiaozi's residence, the two discovered that a third Qi Refining cultivator was already waiting there.

"Hello," before Piaomiaozi even appeared, the male cultivator dressed in black with a sickly look greeted the two of them, "You two are also disciples of Master Piaomiao, right?"

Wen Erya nodded and introduced herself, "Wen Erya, Qi Refining Level 6."

The introduction was very simple, and Han Lu then gave her surname and cultivation level.

The male cultivator was somewhat puzzled by the presence of Han Lu, a cultivator at the first level of Qi Refining, but he did not show it on his face.

He coughed, gave a smile, and said, "Junior Sister Wen, Junior Sister Han, alright. My name is Yu Hongfei, I'm at the tenth level of Qi Refining. I was placed under Master's tutelage a few years earlier than you. Just call me Senior Brother Yu."

The three of them each said a sentence, and that was how they got to know each other.

Piaomiaozi didn't keep his three disciples waiting for long. They had just taken a sip of their tea when Piaomiaozi walked into the courtyard and appeared before them.

They stood up one after another to greet each other, and then Piaomiaozi invited the three of them to sit down.

"I presume the three of you are all aware of the ancient cultivation secret realm. Do you have any thoughts on it?"

“Yu Hongfei, you started learning four years earlier than Wen Erya and Han Lu, so you should speak first.”

Yu Hongfei seemed to have prepared his answer long ago, "Replying to Master, although the chance of being selected by the sect is extremely slim, I still want to work hard to cultivate and see if I can advance to the twelfth level of Qi Refining within two years and try to get a chance to enter the secret realm."

Piaomiaozi looked at Wen Erya, "And you?"

“Erya didn’t think that much about it,” Wen Erya said modestly as usual. “Two years is too short. Erya is only at the sixth level of Qi Refining now. It would be too difficult for her to cultivate to the twelfth level of Qi Refining.”

"I would be content if I could just work hard and compete with the outstanding ones among my fellow disciples. I dare not dream of entering the secret realm to seek the opportunities for enlightenment left by the ancient cultivators."

Han Lu discovered that whenever Piaomiaozi asked her such "simple questions," someone would always repeat everything she said.

Left with no other choice, Han Lu could only add, "My cultivation level is still somewhat lower than Senior Sister Wen's, and that's what I think too."

Seeing that his three disciples were quite ambitious and had ideas about the secret realm, Piaomiaozi stopped wasting words and got straight to the point.

"Besides the Grand Competition and the final selection before the opening of the Secret Realm, there is another way to obtain additional resources to accelerate cultivation and increase the chances of being selected to go to the Secret Realm."

"The deans of various mountain academies have asked us Golden Core elders for a list of outstanding Qi Refining disciples so that they can select the best among them and allocate more resources to them."

“In recent years, I have appeared less often at the disciple recruitment ceremony. Although I have many disciples, many of them have already reached the early stage of Foundation Establishment and no longer have the opportunity to participate in this event.”

"After careful consideration, I have decided to submit your three names."

"The three of you are all cultivators with great potential. If you are lucky enough to be selected by the deans of the mountain academies who are reviewing the list, don't let me down."

After saying that, Piaomiaozi added, "If you are chosen in the end, I will also benefit greatly from it."

"And if any of you can return from the secret realm with a full harvest, you will serve as your mentors..."

Piaomiaozi paused, realizing it wasn't appropriate to speak too bluntly in front of his three disciples, so he simply gave them a look.

He felt confident that his three disciples, who possessed innate wisdom, would understand his meaning.

Upon hearing this, none of the three were fools; they naturally understood that they had become "connected individuals" in this ancient cultivation secret realm cultivator training program.

They were all overjoyed and thanked each other after their consecutive victories.

"Thank you, Master."

Piaomiaozi nodded in satisfaction, then added, "Remember to keep this a secret. Don't tell anyone yet. Even if you're not selected or on the list, don't gossip about it outside."