Cultivation: But Not a Game

"Dang!"

The melodious sound of a bell rang out, and Su Yu’s consciousness, which was wandering beyond the heavens, instantly returned to himself. He suddenly realized that he had somehow left the floating island and appeared in an ancient hall.

On both sides, white jade formed pillars. The hall was shrouded in mist, obscuring the depths, but his powerful perception faintly sensed something within. Just as he was about to use his mana to see clearly, a sonorous voice sounded by his ear:

"Silence!"

The resounding voice completely awakened Su Yu. Turning around, he was startled to find a row of figures standing on either side behind him, all elders, with long and unfathomable auras. Among them was Master Xuanwei, his ancestor.

"Good heavens, so many powerful figures, when did they arrive?"

And the Immortal Sect Leader, too, had somehow changed into elaborate robes and a crown, holding a moon-white duster, and in a deep voice, he announced:

"Disciple Su Yu, with outstanding cultivation and profound accumulation, has successfully established a super-grade immortal foundation."

"Upon verification, disciple Su Yu is virtuous and benevolent, with meritorious achievements, in accordance with ancestral law. We hereby report to the founder and elevate him to our sect’s Daozi as per sect regulations!"

"Kneel!"

Su Yu immediately knelt down.

"Pay homage to the founder!"

The Sect Leader waved his duster, and the mist in front suddenly dispersed, revealing a statue of a middle-aged Daoist holding a scroll.

No explanation was needed; this must be the founder of the Xuanzhen Immortal Sect. Without hesitation, Su Yu bowed down, following the etiquette of one bow and three kowtows.

"Bow again!"

He bowed again with three kowtows.

In succession, three bows and nine kowtows.

"The ceremony is complete!"

The Immortal Sect Leader nodded slightly, waving the duster again. A brilliant light flew out from his body, entering the scroll held by the founder statue, which unfurled without Su Yu knowing when.

At that moment, he sensed a connection forming between himself and the scroll.

No explanation was needed; he instinctively understood that a thread of his soul had imprinted onto this supreme treasure.

Protected by the supreme treasure, he could choose to resurrect in the Ancestral Hall after death.

And with a very high priority, even immortals could not capture his soul.

This meant that in the future, if he encountered danger outside, the worst-case scenario would just be dying once, with no chance of being trapped and completely slain.

At this point, the voice of the Immortal Sect Leader sounded again:

"Disciple Su Yu, bestowed the title of Daozi of our sect, under the title of Shao Zhen, is now the foremost disciple of our sect, with the authority to inspect and assess other disciples. Awarded 10 great merits of the sect, 1 immortal achievement, granted an immortal island in the Profound Truth Cave Heaven, and equipped with Daozi regalia."

"You may enter the Ancestral Hall treasury and wield one supreme treasure of our sect’s legacy."

The Profound Truth Immortal Venerable waved his duster, and Su Yu’s figure wavered like a bubble and vanished, reappearing in a starry sky.

Beneath him was emptiness with nothing to rely on; around him was the vast starry sky, countless shimmering stars twinkling. The voice of the Sect Master came to his ears:

"According to sect regulations, a Daozi must wield one supreme treasure of our sect’s legacy. You may choose one from them."

As his words fell, the brightest nine stars in the sky radiated brilliant light, like meteors, flying towards him, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived before him.

The star glow gradually dimmed, revealing the true forms of the treasures beneath: seven supreme treasures in total, an axe, a flying sword, two large cauldrons, a flag, a mirror, a tower, a flying ship, and a bell, all treasures above the tenth rank of rarity.

Su Yu’s gaze landed on the axe on the far left, starting to examine its attributes one by one.

Heaven-Splitting Divine Axe (tenth rank): Rare treasure of the Immortal Mansion, divine weapon of the Immortal Realm, possessing Heaven-Splitting Power.

Attributes: Physical attack power of 2,000,000 with an 800% mana damage bonus, attack range of 200 kilometers, mana consumption of 200,000. Additional skills: Split Heaven, Annihilation.

Split Heaven: 100% chance to cut through below-seventh rank flying sword treasures, with a certain chance to cut through above-seventh rank flying swords and treasures.

Annihilation: The divine axe can destroy all, annihilating mana and the primordial spirit. Those who die under the axe face doubled death penalties, unable to gain cultivation points and Dao for a month.

"So powerful!"

Just the first divine weapon made Su Yu’s eyes light up, leaving him in awe.

He immediately envisioned, if this thing was used by his Battle True Form, who could withstand a few axe strikes?

If he activated the Law of Heaven and Earth with a tenfold mana damage, how terrifying would it be?

A pure killing divine weapon with explosive attack power.

Su Yu clicked his tongue, shifting his gaze towards the remaining treasures.

Then, there were more and more wondrous tenth-rank supreme treasures, dazzling and making his mouth water.

This one could do, and that one wasn’t bad either, yet the next one seemed more suitable. For a moment, it was hard to decide.

But a decision had to be made despite any difficulty. After considering his current situation, Su Yu finally chose the Heaven-Splitting Divine Axe, the first one he laid eyes on.

He is not lacking in defense treasures. Not only is the Cyan Cloud Cover, an eighth-ranked exotic treasure, stronger than regular ninth-ranked defense treasures, but after establishing the super-grade Immortal Foundation based on the Nine Heavens Battle Immortal Body, his vitality and physique have already reached a very high level. Once he activates the Battle True Form, they triple directly.

Coupled with Dragon Transformation, Law of Heaven and Earth, and the Time Sword, his survival ability is definitely not lacking.

In terms of attack and defense, with defense not being an issue, choosing to focus on attack is certainly correct.

But that’s not the main point. The main point is that he truly lacks powerful weapons right now.

The Battle True Form possesses formidable physical combat ability and has eight arms. Without several combat-type weapons, it cannot fully exert the combat strength of this Four-Headed, Eight-Armed True Form.

With the Heaven-Splitting Divine Axe in hand, the starry sky gradually blurred. A slight flicker in the space before his eyes, and he was back in the Ancestral Hall.

The Sect Leader Immortal Venerable glanced at the Divine Axe in his hand, displaying a look of surprise but said nothing.

"Young Master Su Yu, wielder of the Heaven-Splitting Divine Axe, wish you diligent practice and swift accomplishment in cultivation!"

Su Yu bowed deeply and knelt:

"Disciple Su Yu thanks the Ancestral Master, I swear here that should I accomplish any achievements in the future, I will glorify our sect."

The Sect Leader Profound Truth Immortal Venerable smiled kindly and said:

"Rise!"

When he stood up, the Sect Leader pointed to the two rows of dozens of elders in the Ancestral Hall and said:

"These are the heads of our sect’s six main lineages and twenty-three branches. With their witness, from now on, you will be the Young Master of our sect, your status equivalent to these heads."

The Sect Leader led him to each elder, introducing them one by one:

"This is the current head of the Xuanzhen Lineage, Master Xuanzhen."

"Young Master greets Master Xuanzhen."

"This is the current head of the Immortal Thunder Lineage, True Lord Immortal Thunder."

"Young Master greets True Lord Immortal Thunder."

"This is the Qingxu Lineage....."

The Sect Leader introduced the identities and names of the elders one by one, while Su Yu committed them to memory.

Each head was an Earth Immortal elder, at the very least of legend status, with some reaching myth status, with a minimum level of 246, the highest one at level 296, just one step away from Celestial Immortal.

There were no Celestial Immortals above level 300 here, for once someone transcends the Celestial Human Tribulation and becomes an immortal, they automatically elevate to Supreme Elder and no longer deal with mundane affairs.

A Young Master ranks above True Disciple, with a status equivalent to each lineage head but with importance within the sect surpassing them.

After all, there are twenty-nine heads, and Young Masters are rarely seen even across a millennium.

The authority of a Young Master is truly high and powerful; they are the leader among disciples, akin to the crown prince in a dynasty, and the first successor of the Sect Leader, with the authority to oversee and assess disciples, and to decide on major sect matters.

If he wishes, he can promote an ordinary Inner Sect Disciple to Core Disciple.

In the promotion of Core Disciples to True Disciples, he has voting rights.

During the promotion of Core Disciples and True Disciples to elders or internal sect positions, he has recommendation and voting rights.

If a sect disciple commits a major mistake, he has the authority to advise and vote on the final disposition, with a one-vote decision right.

Of course, the one-vote decision right has limitations and cannot be used casually, being available only once a year.

Overall, a Young Master is akin to a Sect Leader with reduced power, authority extending over the entire Xuanzhen Immortal Sect’s six major lineages and twenty-three branches, with millions of disciples.

However, right now, this authority is significantly reduced because considering his own safety and other factors, he decided not to hold the Young Master ceremony for now.

Having just overcome the tribulation and being at the golden stage for improving strength, once the Young Master ceremony is held and announced to the world, he’ll have to run around dealing with mundane affairs, which would surely impede his strength advancement.

Su Yu plans to wait at least twenty to thirty years until he has elevated his level to at least 150 or 160. By then, he’ll have enough strength to suppress those True Disciples and won’t fear a sneak attack from a master from a demonic sect, and it would be the right time to reveal his identity.

For now, besides the Sect Leader and the twenty-nine heads, others within the sect do not yet know that the sect has a new Young Master.

Fortunately, although he cannot exercise authority, it does not affect his status and benefits, and the benefits due to a Young Master will certainly be received.

An hour later, Su Yu appeared in a certain airspace within Profound Truth Cave Heaven, above a misty Immortal Island, which was the location of the floating Immortal Island where the Sect Leader Immortal Venerable previously resided.

Upon arrival, having listened to the Master’s explanation, Su Yu understood the situation within Profound Truth Cave Heaven.

This place is a super-scale cave heaven far exceeding the scale and Spiritual Qi concentration of the thousand-stars cave heaven, filled with numerous Immortal Islands formed by Spiritual Qi nodes and is one of the core foundations of Xuanzhen Immortal Sect, where several Supreme Elders reside in seclusion.

Besides these, only the Sect Leader, Young Master, six main lineage heads, and elders who have made significant contributions to the sect qualify to receive a site within the cave heaven; even Master Xuanwei does not qualify to receive a site within the cave heaven.

However, if Su Yu can become an immortal smoothly in the future, Master Xuanwei as his guide would qualify to receive a site here.

It’s the same for his Master Jin Yinian, who, despite not having done anything, will benefit from having a talented disciple and win without effort.

Su Yu already chose his site for the future, selecting the celestial island named Tianying among the thirty-six heavenly spirits, below, which is similar in scale to the Sect Leader’s floating Immortal Island, with a diameter of about one hundred kilometers, enveloped in a massive light sphere.

The island is a series of rolling hills, with the Spirit Vein node located at the central main peak, where the rich Spiritual Qi erupts like a fountain, flowing to all directions.

Through the light screen, one can see many pavilions and towers on the main peak, Spirit Crane beasts, fields of spiritual and medicinal land, with many servants moving about on the island, maintaining the spiritual and medicinal fields and tending to the site.