Chapter 259 - 163: I Look Forward to It

Chapter 259: Chapter 163: I Look Forward to It

Xu Ran roughly understood why the Sect Leader had begun a life-or-death seclusion to force a breakthrough to the Divinity Transformation Stage.

There were multiple reasons for this. For one, the Sect Leader was already over 3,600 years old, an age that had actually surpassed the typical lifespan of a Nascent Soul cultivator. He had only lived this long thanks to a stroke of good fortune in his youth, when he acquired a Lifespan Extension Pill that granted him an extra thousand years.

Longevity Spiritual Objects, while scarce in the Cultivation Realm, were not entirely unheard of. However, as a cultivator’s Realm increased, the number of effective Longevity Spiritual Objects dwindled. By the Nascent Soul Stage, finding such items was like trying to find a phoenix feather or a qilin’s horn.

Furthermore, a consistent principle existed within the Cultivation Realm: it was relatively easy for a faction to obtain resources for realms below that of its most powerful members. However, the difficulty skyrocketed when seeking resources at the same level as its strongest experts. As for acquiring resources for a realm even higher, that was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.

For example, since the Profound Pure Sect’s strongest experts were at the Nascent Soul Stage, acquiring resources for lower realms like Golden Core, Purple Mansion, Foundation Establishment, and Qi Cultivation was relatively simple. Yet, obtaining resources meant for the Nascent Soul Stage was exceedingly difficult. As for anything above the Nascent Soul Stage, it was practically impossible for the Sect to acquire on its own.

Take the Profound Pure Sect, for example. Despite having more than ten Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, the entire Sect only possessed a handful of Spiritual Objects suitable for the Divinity Transformation Stage. In fact, the most valuable Magical Treasure in the whole Profound Pure Sect was the Ye Shan Sword wielded by Ye Shu.

The Sect’s leadership all knew Ye Shu possessed the Ye Shan Sword, yet no one had ever tried to take it from him. This spoke to the code of honor that the Profound Pure Sect had upheld since its founding.

In the Profound Pure Sect’s current state, unless the Sect Leader, Taihua True Monarch, had an incredible stroke of luck and found another Longevity Spiritual Object, he only had about three hundred years of life remaining.

In fact, it was not just the Sect Leader. Several Supreme Elders within the Sect were also running out of time.

Perhaps the Sect had spent all its good fortune just to bring forth the generation of geniuses that included Yue Qingyu and Ye Shan.

Looking at the generation of Yue Qingyu and Ye Shan as a benchmark, the previous generation had produced only a few new Nascent Soul True Monarchs: Qing Xuan True Monarch, a Supreme Elder from Inference Dao Peak, and the late Spirit Stream Peak Master, who had already passed away.

As for those who came after, they were almost all Nascent Soul cultivators of the Flying Immortal Stream, who didn’t possess the combat strength of a true Nascent Soul.

Of course, Yue Qingyu, Zhang Zhentian, and Deceitful Blade Chen Chang’an all later advanced to the Nascent Soul Stage. In theory, this meant the Sect’s succession was proceeding as it should.

The problem was, after the generation of Yue Qingyu and Zhang Zhentian, the quality of disciples at all levels took a nosedive. Their overall talent was far inferior to that of previous generations.

Despite the number of disciples being many times what it used to be, the number of cultivators in the core ranks of the Purple Mansion and Golden Core Stages remained roughly the same. Worse, it was obvious that most of them had already reached the end of their cultivation paths, with little hope of another breakthrough.

The Sect placed such importance on Li Daoyi not just because of his talent, but because he was the only disciple in several hundred years whose aptitude was truly outstanding. He was a rare and precious gem.

Once the Sect Leader’s generation of Nascent Soul experts passed away, the Sect would likely face a power vacuum lasting for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. During that time, it would be incredibly difficult to produce any new cultivators of that caliber.

"Those who do not plan for the future will soon find trouble at their doorstep." This saying was especially pertinent given the strange state of the Cultivation Realm. Ever since the Evil Demon Race and Phoenix Race had inexplicably ceded the New Domain, the path of the entire Cultivation Realm had been thrown into disarray. With no historical precedent to draw upon, no one could predict what the future held.

It was precisely because of this that the Sect Leader and the other Nascent Soul experts had to find a way to live longer, to buy the Sect a grace period. And the best way to extend one’s lifespan, naturally, was to break through to a higher Realm.

Xu Ran wasn’t very good at comforting people. It was simply his nature. Even after living for several hundred years, he was still inept in this regard.

He looked at Senior Sister Yue, who was worrying about her master. He mulled it over for a long moment, but couldn’t think of anything to say.

Yue Qingyu studied Xu Ran’s face, then after a brief pause, she gave him a faint smile. "Junior Brother, could I trouble you to make me a meal? It’s been a long time. I’ve missed your cooking."

Xu Ran was slightly taken aback by Senior Sister Yue’s request. As a Spirit Farmer who had developed high-yield Spirit Rice among many other achievements, he had always believed that food had the power to bring people peace and happiness.

This had nothing to do with one’s Cultivation Realm. He believed that even for someone like Senior Sister Yue, a cultivator who had reached the Nascent Soul Stage, a delicious meal of Spiritual Cuisine would surely lift her spirits.

’It seems Senior Sister thinks so too.’

He nodded and smiled at Yue Qingyu. "Since you’re asking, Senior Sister, I’ll have to put my best skills on display."

*

*

*

Life had a funny way of being coincidental. Not long ago, Xu Ran had learned that Li Daoyi was set to inherit the position of Chief Disciple within a few years, and he’d been cringing inwardly at the memory of what he’d said to him.

And now, just as he returned with Senior Sister Yue, he found Li Daoyi himself waiting outside his Cave Mansion.

Upon seeing Li Daoyi, Xu Ran faltered. He suddenly remembered how he had once told Li Daoyi, with an air of great mystery, that the person who arranged his new identity held an extremely high position in the Sect.