Watching the Mountain

Shen Wuchen said, a hint of confusion in his voice, "But isn’t Mingchen just going to make up the numbers? He doesn’t need to fight, does he?"

Xu Ran gave him a speechless look. "Even so, are you just going to stand by and watch your own disciple bring you shame?"

Shen Wuchen froze for a moment, then gave Xu Ran a strange look and said slowly,

"Master Xu, Mingchen is on the path of the Flying Immortal Stream. Does he really need to care about things like that?"

He remembered with perfect clarity that when he had first begun cultivating, Master Xu had told him that once he set foot on this path, he would never again need to worry about saving face.

And that was exactly what he had done ever since.

’Why is Master Xu bringing up the matter of my face today?’

’Have I ever cared about that?’

It wasn’t that he was completely indifferent. He just firmly believed that he would one day reach the pinnacle of the Cultivation Realm with the Flying Immortal Stream. Until that day, he would cast aside all honor and disgrace and simply strive toward his goal.

And his disciple was naturally the same. Concerns like losing face were irrelevant; all that mattered was diligent cultivation.

Hearing Shen Wuchen’s matter-of-fact tone, Xu Ran’s expression stiffened for a moment before he slapped his forehead in resignation.

’I can’t believe I forgot about that. Talking to Shen Wuchen about losing face is just a waste of breath, isn’t it?’

In truth, his concern for Lu Mingchen had nothing to do with worrying about losing face.

He just felt that since Lu Mingchen had joined Li Daoyi’s little group, he couldn’t be allowed to fall behind everyone else. That would be a bit too cruel to him.

Even if he couldn’t quite keep up, he couldn’t be allowed to fall so far behind that he was eventually pushed out of the group altogether.

He then said to Shen Wuchen, "In any case, since Mingchen has also been invited to the Demon Race’s territory, he’ll surely be upset if he can’t contribute at all. As his elders, we should do our best to help him raise his strength."

After hearing Xu Ran’s words, Shen Wuchen nodded. "I will take this matter to heart."

Xu Ran nodded thoughtfully and asked, "What do you plan to do? Prepare some Magical Treasures for him?"

Since its emergence, the Flying Immortal Stream had always been regarded with great importance in the Cultivation Realm. Its combat power might be lacking, but as True Monarch Flowing Clouds once said, it offered another option for the many who had reached a dead end on their path.

Because of this, the Cultivation Realm had always conducted in-depth research into the Flying Immortal Stream.

Compared to when it first emerged, after several hundred years of development, the Flying Immortal Stream was now much more refined in all aspects.

At present, there was a consensus in the Cultivation Realm regarding the Flying Immortal Stream: the path was heavily dependent on one’s Root Bone and external resources.

The reliance on various resources during cultivation was several times higher than in traditional methods, and the worse a person’s Root Bone, the greater their dependency became.

Take Shen Wuchen, for example. When he first began cultivating, he had relied very little on resources. But for someone with a poorer Root Bone to reach his same Cultivation Realm, the amount of resources required would be far greater.

This was especially true when breaking through to a new Realm. Those who switched paths midway were better off, as their prior foundation meant they might not need as many resources.

However, those who followed the Flying Immortal Stream from the very beginning were completely dependent on various Spiritual Objects for every breakthrough. Unless they had an exceptional Root Bone like Shen Wuchen, it was nearly impossible to break through on their own.

Lacking the necessary insights, they would find it difficult to control their own Realm when trying to break through a bottleneck without the aid of Spiritual Objects.

With the development of the Flying Immortal Stream to its current state, people had come to fully understand that the cultivation speed of this school depended entirely on one’s Root Bone, resources, and Cultivation Technique.

The Cultivation Realm had now created Cultivation Techniques exclusive to the Flying Immortal Stream.

Traditional Cultivation Techniques guide a Cultivator to comprehend the Heaven and Earth Dao on their own. In contrast, the Flying Immortal Stream’s techniques directly embed those insights within them, so followers don’t need much personal comprehension; they simply need to cultivate according to the technique.

The higher the grade of the Cultivation Technique, the deeper the embedded insights into the Dao, the purer the resulting Spiritual Power, and the faster the cultivation speed.

Furthermore, the Cultivation Realm had also developed Magical Treasures exclusive to the Flying Immortal Stream.

Previously, Magical Treasures in the Cultivation Realm served more to enhance the user’s own abilities, and the reliance on them during Magical Combat was not particularly high.

The Magical Treasures of the Flying Immortal Stream, however, had various Divine Techniques and Arts directly refined and embedded within them. Flying Immortal Stream Cultivators relied on these Magical Treasures to engage in Magical Combat.

Therefore, when judging a Flying Immortal Stream Cultivator now, one could no longer simply look at their Cultivation Realm as in the past. It was also necessary to consider the Cultivation Technique they practiced, and the Magical Treasures and resources they commanded.

For a Flying Immortal Stream Cultivator with a top-tier Root Bone, a top-tier Cultivation Technique, and top-tier Magical Treasures, the gap in combat power with a traditional Cultivator of the same Realm had been narrowed significantly.

While they still couldn’t be said to defeat their opponent, the difference was at least not as drastic as before. When facing a weaker traditional Cultivator, there was even a chance they could hold their own and avoid defeat before their Spiritual Power was depleted.

To put it bluntly, the strongest of the Flying Immortal Stream could now just barely hold their own against the weakest of the traditional Cultivators.

In response to Xu Ran’s question, Shen Wuchen replied very seriously, "Since Mingchen is my disciple, I will certainly prepare the most top-tier Magical Treasures for him."

"However, Magical Treasures are ultimately just external aids. Based on the Cultivation Technique you created, I have now developed a new technique specifically suited for him. This will not only significantly increase his cultivation speed, but also greatly enhance his combat power."