As a younger cousin, the best Lin Xiao could offer his older cousin, Lin Lei, was a carefully selected collection of books.
Of course, these books were secretly given to Lin Lei, along with an explanation of their intended use. His new cousin-in-law had no idea about them.
At the family banquet this morning, it wasn't just Lin Xiao who prepared a meeting gift for the new bride. Lin Yun, Lin Ying, and Lin Yan also brought gifts—various talismans and small, practical formations they had crafted, all suitable for mortals to use.
The new daughter-in-law of the Lin family was clearly surprised and delighted to receive so many gifts, feeling a sense of acceptance despite the fact that the Lin family was now composed entirely of members of a cultivation sect. This recognition reassured her, especially since she had been worried about her status as a mortal daughter-in-law in such a family. She could now tell her parents, who had been equally concerned, that all was well.
Once the formalities of introducing the new bride were complete, Lin Xiao, having fulfilled his duty of officially meeting his new cousin-in-law, returned to the sect. He immediately summoned Liao Pantu, Yang Jinshu, Sun Yigao, and Mo Yuanjiao to the seventh floor of the library pavilion.
Since Lin Xiao hadn't yet pursued the concept of a spiritual inheritance for the sect, the fifth, sixth, and seventh floors—originally designed for such purposes—remained unused, like pearls cast before swine.
The fifth and sixth floors were entirely empty, without any bookshelves. Until the spiritual inheritance was established, these floors remained bare.
As for the seventh floor, with its excellent view, Lin Xiao had placed tables, chairs, and writing materials, converting it into a meeting room for the sect's education and research group.
Previously, Lin Xiao had mentioned that this group would focus on designing and implementing the sect's overall cultivation curriculum, a matter of utmost importance for the sect. As a result, when the four members received Lin Xiao's summons, they dropped whatever they were doing and hurried to the library pavilion.
However, upon arriving, the four were surprised to find that their sect leader had prepared a large pile of cultivation manuals for them—without much explanation other than urging them to start learning immediately.
The four were confused.
Of course, Lin Xiao didn't expect them to learn everything all at once.
The manuals, meticulously organized into various categories, were stacked neatly on the large meeting table, with around a hundred books for each category. Convenient labels marked the categories for easy reference.
"Everyone, a significant task lies ahead," Lin Xiao announced solemnly from his seat at the head of the table.
It was rare to see him so serious, so Liao Pantu and the others quickly composed themselves as well.
Lin Xiao pointed to the pile of manuals on the table and said, "These are the techniques I've prepared for our disciples to include in their daily cultivation studies. However, before they can officially be added to the curriculum, there's something missing."
In reality, Lin Xiao had more techniques than what was currently laid out, but it was impossible for them to learn everything at once, so he decided to start with these. The selection was designed to provide enough variety for every disciple, ensuring that each person could find something suited to them.
Liao Pantu followed up by asking, "What's missing?"
"Teachers," Lin Xiao replied.
"So, I need you all to master these techniques as quickly as possible, preferably within a month."
The four of them looked at the mountain of manuals in front of them and then at Lin Xiao, their expressions unreadable.
Did their sect leader realize what he was asking?
Sensing that his request might have been a bit unreasonable, Lin Xiao coughed lightly and added, "Ahem, of course, I'm not asking you to learn them all at once. Just learn the first level of each technique within a month. That way, we can start teaching the disciples sooner."
Even with that clarification, the four didn't seem much more at ease.
After all, it wasn't one or two techniques—they were facing over a thousand manuals!
Even if they divided the workload, each of them would have to tackle at least two or three hundred manuals.
Learning the first level of hundreds of techniques within a month...
Seeing their troubled expressions, Lin Xiao, who hadn't personally experienced the difficulty of cultivating so many techniques, scratched his ear and suggested, "How about two months instead?"
Unable to hold back, Yang Jinshu asked, "Is it really that urgent to learn all these techniques?"
In response, Lin Xiao repeated what he had explained to Qin Jianghe earlier—that the urgency came from the need to prepare everyone with sufficient skills before sending them out on training missions, which would help them overcome potential cultivation bottlenecks.
Hearing this explanation, the four stopped feeling that Lin Xiao's request was too rushed.
In fact, Liao Pantu and the others were even more aware of the necessity of this plan than Lin Xiao, as they had been training alongside the disciples.
Lin Xiao, often busy with closed-door cultivation, wasn't as familiar with the disciples' individual cultivation challenges. However, Liao Pantu, Sun Yigao, and the others had a clear understanding of the bottlenecks many disciples were facing.
Disciples like Qin Jianghe, who had encountered bottlenecks and struggled to make progress, weren't rare.
As time passed and cultivation levels increased, each person encountered difficulties based on their individual aptitude. No matter how much they studied or how diligently they practiced, certain barriers remained insurmountable.
No matter how hard more experienced cultivators tried to explain, these barriers still seemed impenetrable—like a wall preventing any further understanding.
Liao Pantu knew these bottlenecks well. Ultimately, overcoming them had to be an individual effort. No amount of external guidance could turn another's knowledge into one's own; without breaking through personally, progress would stop there.
With that realization, the four of them no longer argued for more time and silently accepted the daunting task.
Sun Yigao suggested, "We could start by learning the first level of each technique and teach as we continue learning the higher levels. If any disciple quickly masters the first level, we can promote them to assistant instructors to help speed up the process for everyone."
Lin Xiao and the others all agreed with this approach.
Since none of them had yet reviewed the techniques, the meeting of the education and research group was adjourned for the time being. They would reconvene to discuss teaching strategies after they had familiarized themselves with the manuals.
As the only one who had already mastered all the techniques, Lin Xiao naturally became their teacher.
However, since each of them held multiple responsibilities and was constantly busy, it wasn't feasible to schedule formal classes. Most of their interactions would happen through the sect's communication rings, with Lin Xiao serving as their go-to source for questions.
After returning to his small, private room in the Array Hall to continue his research project, Lin Xiao spent the next month juggling his research with answering his fellow elders' endless queries.