Chapter 90 : He Wanted a Master
Chapter 90: He Wanted a Master
Early the next morning.
After waking up, Long Tao followed his usual routine and began sitting in meditation to circulate his qi.
After advancing to the Qi-Refining Sixth Layer, the transformations in his body had become increasingly obvious—especially the changes in his dantian, which could only be described as earth-shaking.
The most fundamental difference lay in that newly opened “Qi Sea.” At the center of the Qi Sea, the vortex known as the “Sea Eye” now slowly and autonomously drew in the thin spiritual energy from the surrounding heaven and earth even when he was asleep.
This meant that his qi-refining efficiency had undergone a qualitative leap, and the speed of spiritual energy recovery was several times faster than when he was at the Fifth Layer.
So it really was like this… Long Tao internally observed the Sea Eye as it rotated slowly, swallowing spiritual energy like a bottomless pit, and felt deeply moved.
Just as many seniors had said, the first five layers of Qi Refining were merely laying the foundation and making preparations.
Only by breaking through to the Sixth Layer and opening the Qi Sea could one truly be considered a Qi Refiner.
At this moment, he truly and profoundly understood why all the teaching elders and senior brothers and sisters tirelessly warned new disciples that, in the early stages of Qi Refining, one must never obsess over accumulating spiritual energy or its sheer quantity.
What mattered more was quickly learning and mastering the breakthrough methods of each layer, while solidly tempering the physical body and widening and toughening the meridians and acupoints.
Wasting huge amounts of time on low-efficiency “sitting and stockpiling qi” was nothing more than self-indulgent effort—a foolish approach.
Now he completely grasped the deeper meaning of that advice.
Rather than squandering years in the first five layers, painfully accumulating that meager bit of spiritual energy, it was far better to think of ways to break through to the Sixth Layer safely and steadily.
Once the Qi Sea was opened, the increase in cultivation efficiency was utterly crushing.
Compared to it, the previous slow accumulation seemed utterly insignificant.
This made him recall his past-life experiences playing online games.
When he had still been in the newbie village, painstakingly farming low-level mobs for a few copper coins, veteran players would always tell him not to waste time there and to hurry up and level into high-level maps—that was the true path.
And reality proved them right: the value of drops from high-level maps far exceeded those of low-level areas.
Looking back, penny-pinching against small mobs in the early game was nothing but an inefficient, idiotic behavior.
Especially during this just-broken-through period, the newly opened dantian Qi Sea was extraordinarily “empty,” like a dried-up giant lake, hungrily drawing in every trace of spiritual energy it could come into contact with to fill itself.
If not for the fact that he possessed Five Spiritual Roots and thus had innately slow spiritual energy absorption efficiency, were he to have a Heavenly Spiritual Root instead, the speed at which spiritual energy poured in at this moment would likely be alarming even to the cultivator himself.
Long Tao could even faintly “hear” the subtle sound of spiritual energy flowing into the Qi Sea, like streams converging into a deep pool.
This sensation of growing stronger every moment was truly intoxicating.
He reined in his mind and continued guiding the spiritual energy through a full Circulation Cycle within his already widened and resilient meridians, consolidating this hard-won Sixth Layer realm.
After completing his routine qi circulation and breathing, and sensing the slight growth brought by the Qi Sea’s autonomous operation, Long Tao slowly opened his eyes.
His brows, however, knit slightly.
He realized a rather practical issue: after advancing to the Qi-Refining Sixth Layer, his previous cultivation habits seemed no longer applicable.
Cultivation in the first five layers had largely been a matter of gradual effort—relying on the basic Qi-Guiding Art, the elders’ explanations in grand lectures, and the introductory manuals in the Scripture Pavilion was basically sufficient.
But upon reaching the Sixth Layer, the situation was completely different.
With the Qi Sea newly opened, everything had changed.
It now involved more complex Circulation Cycle routes, as well as how to efficiently utilize the Sea Eye’s autonomous spiritual energy absorption characteristics, among other things.
These cultivation details and key points were not something one could grasp simply by flipping through a few books in the Scripture Pavilion or listening to a few general lectures meant for ordinary disciples.
Many crucial aspects—such as guiding spiritual energy through certain special meridians, or how to balance the Sea Eye’s devouring force with one’s own control—truly required a senior to provide hands-on guidance.
It might even require the other party to pass a trace of spiritual energy into one’s body and personally demonstrate the flow paths of spiritual energy.
That kind of intuitive sensation was something no written or verbal description could ever replace.
From this point onward, his cultivation path could no longer rely on self-exploration and muddling through large lectures like before.
Long Tao knew clearly that he had reached the stage where he needed more professional, one-on-one guidance.
In other words, he needed a master.
Once this thought arose, all kinds of real-world problems followed in quick succession.
With his Five Spiritual Roots aptitude, he belonged to the most ordinary tier within the sect.
Which Golden Core True Person would be willing to take him in? Becoming a Personal Disciple was certainly an unrealistic dream.
Even becoming a registered disciple who could enter a peak for cultivation would be extremely difficult for him, since that usually required one to be an Inner Sect Disciple.
That said, Long Tao felt that he was not entirely without advantages.
From the sect’s perspective, he was a special opportunity-type individual who had once been possessed by a Deification-level great being.
In such a case, there might be some Golden Core cultivators who, out of curiosity, would be willing to take him in.
But conversely, anyone who accepted him because of that reason would most likely be curious only about the bit of mystery surrounding him, rather than treating him as a normal disciple.
If that were the case… he might as well honestly remain an Outer Sect Disciple and slowly grind along.
At least that would be safer.
He could not help but think of those geniuses who had long since been taken in as personal disciples by various Peak Masters and elders—people like Fang Wuqi, Nan Yuchen, and even Xiao Ying.
They not only possessed the best cultivation resources, but also had masters who could answer questions and provide guidance at any time.
Naturally, their cultivation paths were a hundred times smoother.
Sigh… Only upon reaching a certain stage could one truly feel the scarcity of that one missing thing.
However, today’s top priority was still to deliver the Secret Realm mission report he had stayed up late writing last night to the sect’s Main Hall on time.
After that, he could swing by the Scripture Pavilion and see if there were any texts regarding cultivation precautions after reaching the Qi-Refining Sixth Layer.
In any case, his appointment with Luo Yusi to go buy a spirit pet was scheduled for tomorrow.
Today, he was unusually free for an entire day.
After tidying himself up, Long Tao pushed open the courtyard gate and happened to see Luo Yusi diligently sweeping the stone steps in front of the courtyard once again.
After bidding farewell to this virtuous neighbor, he headed upward along the mountain stone steps.
Just as he reached the halfway point up the mountain, the sky suddenly darkened.
A massive shadow descended without warning, enveloping the entire mountain range, and the surroundings instantly dimmed.
“What’s going on?” Long Tao instinctively looked up.
That single glance nearly made him stumble.
He saw an enormous object, so vast it was difficult to describe, slowly moving from the western sky toward the southeast.
Its volume was comparable to a small mountain peak! Its entire body exuded a cold, hard texture of metal fused with rock, its surface engraved with countless massive and intricate runes that were faintly circulating with spiritual light.
Upon closer inspection, the colossal object was not stationary—it was continuously accelerating, and its sheer bulk made its movement carry a suffocating sense of pressure.
That’s not right! This isn’t an ordinary cloud vessel! Long Tao suddenly realized—it was… the sect’s Floating Island Warship!
He had only seen this thing in sect records before, knowing of its existence, but this was his first time seeing it in person.
That sky-obscuring mass, that destructive aura emitted from its silent operation, all proclaimed its essence as a weapon of war.
Judging by this posture… was the sect really going to get serious? Directly deploying a Floating Island Warship to the front lines to fight the Wuyi Sect?
This completely exceeded Long Tao’s expectations.
He had originally thought that this conflict would at most involve some friction along the border regions, with both sides sending out a few elite squads to clash, fight for face, and then each find a way to step down.
After all, both major sects had more important threats to deal with.
It was unlikely they would go to full-scale war over this incident.
But the slowly accelerating Floating Island Warship before his eyes—like a moving fortress—completely overturned his assumptions.
This was not a small-scale skirmish configuration at all!
A Floating Island Warship was not merely a floating island made mobile.
It integrated the most advanced propulsion formations, immensely powerful artifacts and magical treasures, and layers upon layers of composite defensive grand formations.
To drive and control such a war behemoth, at least one Nascent Soul True Lord had to be stationed at its core to unleash its world-destroying might.
Deploying a strategic weapon of this level spoke volumes on its own.
This was no longer a mere border clash or a matter of saving face.
If the opponent were some small or mid-sized sect, this would be practically equivalent to annihilation.