Yunze was the closest!
Before Patriarch Zudao could speak, he sensed the spiritual energy storm sweeping in. Almost instantly, he sat down cross-legged, circulating five attribute cultivation methods simultaneously!
This was the cultivation method Patriarch Zudao had taught him.
The founder of the Guiwu Sword Sect had a five-element Earth-grade top-tier spirit root!
The cultivation method he created naturally encompassed the five elements, but it was deliberately divided into five sets of techniques to accommodate disciples with fewer spirit root attributes.
Within the Guiwu Sword Sect, any disciple who reached the Golden Core stage or above would cultivate the five elements in unison, laying the foundation for the future Nascent Soul realm.
In Patriarch Zudao's opinion, although Yunze only had a three-attribute spirit root, he had already cultivated four of the techniques, excluding the Earth and Stone Art, to minor completion.
This proved his talent for cultivating five disciplines concurrently, and thus he passed down the secret technique of cultivating all five methods together to him.
About an hour later…
The concentration of spiritual energy in the heavens and earth gradually returned to normal. Yunze gradually emerged from his cultivation state, a surge of joy filling his heart!
Peak Qi Refining sixth level!
He now understood why Patriarch Zudao had said he was lucky!
This was like a cultivation boost falling from the sky!
With the help of this so-called baptism of heaven and earth, his cultivation had advanced further. He wondered what his ranking on the Heavenly Rankings would be now.
Yunze slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Li Po in the air.
She was sitting cross-legged in mid-air, her body shimmering with a dazzling crimson-gold light.
After the light dissipated, she rose from the air, and a wave of pressure instantly spread out!
Patriarch Zudao took a deep breath, his voice echoing through the sky!
"Guiwu Sword Sect, Patriarch Zudao, congratulates Daoist Li on entering the Nascent Soul realm. May your immortal path be long, and may we reach the peak together!"
"Guiwu Sword Sect, Mi Xiao, congratulates Daoist Li on entering the Nascent Soul realm. May your immortal path be long, and may we reach the peak together!"
"Guiwu Sword Sect, Luo Mi, congratulates Daoist Li…"
…
All twelve Grand Elders of the Guiwu Sword Sect, along with Patriarch Zudao, were now congratulating Li Po on her promotion to Nascent Soul.
However, Wei Huang did not speak, and Mu Siyue did not appear.
The former was due to her status, while the latter… was possibly due to her realm.
Although they were all Grand Elders, these other twelve were Nascent Soul cultivators, while she was only at the Golden Core stage.
A Golden Core cultivator capable of killing a Nascent Soul cultivator.
"Li thanks you all!"
Li Po's voice rang out. She also descended from the air and walked towards Wei Huang.
Before Wei Huang could speak, Li Po knelt on both knees before Wei Huang and kowtowed in gratitude!
"Li thanks my Lord for your benevolence! If not for my Lord's pity, bestowing the Crimson Gold Fire Phoenix to cleanse my Sea of Qi, I do not know how much longer it would have taken me to enter the Nascent Soul realm!
Li vows to serve my Lord for life, to go through fire and water for my Lord, and spare no effort!"
"Hmm, rise."
Wei Huang's voice was as cool as her expression, as if she had merely done something insignificant and did not care about the loyalty of a Nascent Soul cultivator.
"Thank you, my Lord!"
Wei Huang walked up to Li Po and placed her hand on her shoulder: "From now on, in front of me, you may refer to yourself as Wei Li."
"Now, you are qualified to bear this surname."
Li Po, who had just risen, knelt again, her voice even more excited than when she had just broken through to Nascent Soul!
"Li… no, Wei Li, thanks my Lord!"
Was it really necessary?
Yunze's mouth twitched. He couldn't understand why Li Po, even after reaching Nascent Soul, still served Wei Huang with such a humble demeanor.
Even if they were still master and servant, was it necessary to be so grateful for just being granted a surname?
However, this was ultimately their family matter, and Yunze couldn't say much, so he could only watch silently from the side.
"Kid."
Patriarch Zudao nudged Yunze lightly: "You benefited from her baptism. Go and congratulate her."
"Mm."
After Li Po stood up, Yunze also stepped forward and cupped his hands in greeting: "Congratulations, Senior, on your advancement to the Nascent Soul realm!"
"Mm."
Li Po responded indifferently, saying nothing more.
Given her current realm, her acknowledgment of Yunze was already a great show of respect.
"You've offered your congratulations. You may leave now."
Wei Huang's voice sounded calmly. She walked to the stone table and sat down. Before she could speak, Li Po stepped forward and, in the posture of a servant, began to prepare tea.
Yunze frowned slightly. Although he felt a pang of displeasure, he could only cup his hands in farewell.
But just as he turned to leave, a light cough sounded from within the cave dwelling.
"Cough."
It was Mu Siyue's voice!
"Little Huang'er, I'll give you another chance to organize your words. Don't make me unhappy."
"...I know!"
Wei Huang pondered for a few seconds, then looked at Yunze with displeasure: "Little Shu is at a critical juncture and cannot be disturbed!
I have been waiting outside, and so should you! Hurry up and scram…"
"Cough, cough!"
Upon hearing Mu Siyue's cough, Wei Huang changed her wording again: "I mean, leave quickly! Come back in a month!"
As expected, there was one who could subdue another.
Yunze tried his best to suppress his laughter and quickly cupped his hands towards Wei Huang: "Yes, then this junior will take his leave!"
"I'll take him back to cultivate diligently!"
Patriarch Zudao also replied quickly, grabbing Yunze and flying towards the solitary peak on his flying sword!
The old man and the young man quickly entered the cave dwelling two thousand meters away. Patriarch Zudao cast a sword domain, and they exchanged a look, then…
"Hahahaha!"
"Little Huang'er! Wei Huang, Wei Huang, you have days like this too!"
"I say, Sect Master, I can hold back my laughter, but why were you holding back too?"
Yunze looked at Patriarch Zudao, tears almost streaming from his eyes from laughter: "Aren't you of the same generation as her? And both are Nascent Soul cultivators, why didn't you laugh on the spot?"
"How could that be?"
Patriarch Zudao asked with a smile, then explained: "The Huang Gui Valley and the Guiwu Sword Sect are in a cooperative relationship. She also had Wei Li break through here, and when the baptism of heaven and earth descended, my solitary peak benefited greatly. It's considered a great favor to the Guiwu Sword Sect.
How could I possibly mock her on the spot?"
"That's true."
Yunze nodded, but the smile on his face did not diminish.
Little Huang'er?
Heaven knew what his senior sister had done to her to make her agree to be called by such a name.
"Alright, the laughter is over."
Patriarch Zudao stopped smiling and turned to Yunze: "The rest time is almost over. I'll tell you what you need to do in the next month."
Yunze sat up straight and listened carefully.
"You are currently at the peak of the sixth level of Qi Refining. The next month is simple: expand your Sea of Qi and break through to the seventh level of Qi Refining. If there is still time, you should also cultivate your Earth and Stone Art to minor completion."
"I still need to expand my Sea of Qi!?" Yunze questioned.
"Naturally!"
Patriarch Zudao replied as a matter of course: "You must have heard my conversation with that Wei Huang, right?"
"Mm."
"Then do you know what a single-colored Nascent Soul is?"
Yunze shook his head.
Patriarch Zudao frowned slightly: "Your cultivation knowledge is too lacking. I need to find time to tutor you.
First, tell me, why are you cultivating immortality?"
"Longevity!"
Yunze blurted out the two words without thinking.
Previously, he was seeking revenge. Although revenge had not yet been achieved, once it was, longevity would be his primary goal.
Patriarch Zudao nodded and smiled: "Most cultivators in this world seek longevity. Then I will explain it to you in terms of longevity."
"The color of a Nascent Soul is the standard for dividing the quality of Nascent Souls, namely single-colored, three-colored, five-colored, seven-colored, and nine-colored, five types.
A single-colored Nascent Soul can extend life by a thousand years, three-colored by fifteen hundred years, five-colored by two thousand years, seven-colored by three thousand years, and nine-colored by five thousand years!
Below the Nascent Soul stage, the Golden Core is divided by its patterns. One pattern is the lowest, and nine patterns are the highest. One pattern can extend life by five hundred years, and each additional pattern adds one hundred years to your lifespan!
Do you know how the patterns of the Golden Core and the colors of the Nascent Soul are cultivated?"
Yunze honestly shook his head.
He was only at the Qi Refining stage, how could he know such things?
"The Sea of Qi is one of the links."
Patriarch Zudao explained: "Take Senior Sister Mu as an example. She has a nine-patterned Golden Core. Do you know where her nine core patterns came from?"
Yunze shook his head again.
"She has a three-attribute Heavenly Spirit Root, which provided her with three core patterns. Her Sea of Qi provided three core patterns. Her Foundation Establishment method provided one core pattern, her Golden Core Condensation method provided one core pattern, and her Golden Core Forging method provided one core pattern, thus achieving these terrifying nine core patterns!
If her Sea of Qi were only at the eighth realm, she would only have two core patterns. A seventh realm Sea of Qi would have one core pattern. If it were below the seventh realm Sea of Qi, she might not even have a single core pattern."
"Then what about you? What pattern Golden Core are you?" Yunze suddenly became curious.
"Seven-patterned Golden Core, three-colored Nascent Soul."
A hint of pride flashed in Patriarch Zudao's eyes: "My four-element Earth-grade lower-tier spirit root gave me two core patterns, an eighth realm Sea of Qi gave me two core patterns, the Earthly Dao Foundation Establishment gave me one core pattern, cultivating nine spirits to condense the core gave me one core pattern, and absorbing the qi of the six paths to forge the core gave me one core pattern."
"Cultivating nine spirits? Absorbing the qi of the six paths?"
"These are the methods for condensing and forging the core. You don't need to worry about them now."
Patriarch Zudao brushed it off, but placed his hand on Yunze's shoulder and looked at him very seriously: "Little Yun, your spirit root is too poor. It's very likely that you won't even have a single core pattern appear.
If you don't strive for an eighth realm Sea of Qi, at most you'll have a four-patterned Golden Core later, not even a five-patterned one. You might not be able to glimpse the true face of this world!"
"The true face?" Yunze felt he was hiding something: "Sect Master, what is the true face?"
"You are not yet qualified to know. Don't you want longevity? Then fine!"
Patriarch Zudao followed Yunze's words: "If you want to live a hundred years longer, then strive for an eighth realm Sea of Qi! As long as you can achieve an eighth realm Sea of Qi, I will help you collect the nine spirits for condensing the core later!"
This… sounded so familiar!
Yunze couldn't help but picture the image of a certain lazy fish in his mind.
He had tricked me the same way back then!
He even said he would cover the materials for my Earthly Dao Foundation Establishment. I'm about to go to the Heavenly Secret Realm, and I haven't even seen his materials yet!
But speaking of which, this person in front of him was a Sect Master, and his words should be more trustworthy than that lazy fish!
I'll agree to it for now, it won't hurt anyway!
"Okay!"
Yunze nodded in agreement. Although he didn't know what the nine spirits were, he still cupped his hands towards Patriarch Zudao: "Then I thank you in advance, Sect Master!"
"A small matter!"
Patriarch Zudao waved his hand and continued: "Then, shall we… start now?"
"Mm!"