After sleeping for a few hours, Paul woke up and switched places with Cai Xuan, who was on guard duty.
The girl didn't oppose, since she was also tired and needed more rest, leaving the man alone with his thoughts.
And he had a lot to think about, as did the ladies, since it was not often that anyone from the lower realms received an invitation to become a disciple in the twelfth realm.
The decision whether to accept the invitation or not was anything but easy to make.
In Paul's case, it was much easier, since he knew from the beginning that he would not go to the Profound Scroll Sect to become a disciple, since he planned to remain a free cultivator.
However, he wondered if any of his ladies would like to experience the life of a sect disciple in the future.
-Do you have a moment?
Ling Li's asked, coming out of her tent.
-Sure, is there something you need?
Paul asked.
-Yes.
The princess confirmed while taking a seat across from him.
-I'd like to ask you a few questions.
-You can ask, but I can't promise to give you an answer you are looking for.
Paul stated.
-Do you plan to accept the invitation of the Profound Scroll Sect?
She asked, deciding not to beat around the bush.
-No, I will not.
He shook his head.
-Do you think that I should accept it?
-That's not my decision to make, and I don't want to influence your decision in this matter.
-Why can't you simply give me your honest opinion?
Ling Li asked, a bit pissed at his answer.
-Because it might influence your whole life, and even place you in danger.
I don't wish to bear such responsibility.
Paul answered calmly.
-This invitation represents a great chance for anyone who obtains it, but it also represents a great danger.
Joining a sect in the highest realm can bring a lot of prestige to your family, but the main question is, can you even reach the twelfth realm to join the sect?
Not to mention that undertaking a journey through the realms will change your life in many ways.
In the second realm, you are an Imperial princess, and this status alone makes you almost untouchable and grants you a lot of power.
However, in any other realm, you won't be a princess anymore.
Up there, you will be only another cultivator, and let's not forget that reaching the pinnacle of each realm might take you centuries to achieve.
So the real question is not whether you should or should not accept the invitation.
The real question is whether you are ready to leave your family, status, and everything you know and cherish, for that one small chance that you will make it to the God's realm and join the sect, no matter how long this goal might take you to achieve.
Ling Li was speechless, as she never expected Paul to analyze everything for her; instead, of giving her the simple answer she wanted from him.
Additionally, the question he asked at the end really hit the bullseye, as she was not sure if she could sacrifice everything to grasp this chance.
-My advice for you is to take it slowly and think long and hard if joining the Profound Scroll Sect is worth sacrificing everything you have right now.
Especially since, as the elder said, these invitations have no time limit, so you don't need to rush things.
And the same goes for all of you.
Paul added with a smile.
He sensed a long time ago that all the ladies were eavesdropping from their tents.
The ladies could not sleep, since all of them had the same dilemma about the sect invitations, and since the princess asked Paul, they listened to his opinion on the subject.
-You know, we are not all the same.
Cai Mei said, leaving her tent and joining them.
-I know, but the same principle applies to all of you.
He answered.
-Then how are you any different from us?
Yan asked, sitting next to the princess.
-I already know I won't be joining any sects, and I have other reasons to go to the upper realms.
-If that's the case, then why don't we join you, since you are going up anyway, and you are way stronger than all of us combined?
Rong chimed in.
-This is a bad idea, for many reasons.
Paul chuckled while shaking his head.
-And what are these reasons?
Cai Xuan asked, approaching the group.
-Let's start with a fact: I'm a dual cultivator, and all the ladies in my group are my cultivation partners, not to mention my women.
This alone is enough for me to reject this idea, as there is no way for all of you to keep up with our cultivation speed.
-Alright, I can see that as a problem, since you would all need to wait for us to catch up to you.
Cai Mei said seriously.
-What are the other reasons?
She asked a moment later.
-The next one is the fact that to join our group, you would need to gain approval from all the ladies and me, which is anything but easy to gain.
Another reason is that I have powerful enemies in the upper realms, so joining us is anything but safe.
Paul added another reason.
-There are more, but I don't want to spend the whole night explaining them to you.
After that, they moved out since the ladies couldn't sleep anyway and didn't want to waste time.
They still moved slowly to avoid the traps and ambushes, which they encountered a few of.
However, the most common sight on their way was the corpses of other cultivators who were not as lucky or careful as they were.
On the other hand, they also began encountering living people traversing the ruins in search of opportunities, many of them from the upper realms.
One such group, comprised of nine people, attracted Paul's attention as soon as he saw them, and he could barely control himself seeing one of the people in that group.