After some polite words of greeting, Xu Banshan spoke slowly:
"Junior Brother, your lecture today was well-delivered, but those final remarks… were somewhat unnecessary."
Though his tone sounded casual, the reproach was clear.
"How can guidance that illuminates the disciples' path be unnecessary? Please enlighten me, Senior Brother."
Qin Yan was not surprised that Xu Banshan had heard his lecture.
The Hall of Enlightenment held no barrier against sound, and it stood not far from the main hall of the Administrative Hall. Though advanced in years, Xu Banshan was himself a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator; with a sliver of attention, it was natural for him to hear everything spoken there.
Xu Banshan acted as if he had not noticed the trace of defiance in Qin Yan's words. He continued in the same unhurried manner:
"You yourself just said it, most disciples have poor aptitude, with no external support.
Without a profound spell to rely on, how are they to earn the spirit pills they need to cultivate, or the magical tools they need to fight?
No one understands better than you how difficult the early years of cultivation can be when you have no backing."
He chuckled twice, a smile that never reached his eyes, before sighing:
"If these disciples follow your so-called clever method, what will happen?
Their cultivation won't progress much faster, their spells won't deepen, and without breaking through to higher realms, the marginal gains to their aptitude will be negligible. In the end, they'll fail on both fronts, wasting years to achieve nothing."
His meaning was plain. Most disciples lacked the conditions to expand their meridians through sheer cultivation. Better to focus on a single path than to spread their efforts thin.
"Cultivation is the root of all things," Xu Banshan said firmly. "That is an unshakable truth."
Yet for most disciples, breaking through to Foundation Establishment was a dream far out of reach. Even pouring all effort into raising their cultivation was often like grasping at a mirage.
By contrast, mastering practical spells was far more attainable.
Even if they left the sect one day, at least they would have a trade to live by, a skill that could earn them a respectable income.
With that, they could secure their livelihood and set aside spirit stones, sparing their children and grandchildren some hardship in the path of cultivation.
This was why, among the sect's outer disciples, the largest groups were those stuck in mid-stage Qi Refining and at the seventh level of Qi Refining. Why?
Because most eventually realized that Foundation Establishment was too distant a dream. Their real goal became merely reaching late-stage Qi Refining before the age of thirty. That would grant them another three decades within the sect.
And during those thirty years, they would hoard spirit stones with desperate fervor because once cast out as itinerant cultivators, the pace of earning would slow to a crawl.
If, among their descendants, one or two managed to break through and build a small clan, that became their ultimate dream.
Small clans were born this way. And sects themselves grew strong the same way on the bones of countless generations.
Qin Yan, however, remained unmoved. Of course, he understood the truth of his senior brother's words. He had never thought to change the world.
Through the drifting coils of incense smoke, he looked calmly at the elder across from him and said in a quiet voice:
"I am well aware that the method I spoke of using cultivation to expand one's meridians and improve aptitude, is one of those unspoken secrets known only to great families.
I also know that many disciples lack the means to put it into practice.
But by speaking of it, I give them one more choice.
How they proceed will be up to them, weighing gains and losses.
My intent was only this: that those who have the ability may find the road ahead a little smoother."
He remembered how he had only learned, after breaking through to Foundation Establishment, that one could improve one's aptitude simply through daily cultivation. He then spent ten long years making up for the groundwork he had missed.
True, at the Foundation Establishment stage, the effect of expanding one's spiritual meridians was even stronger. But many auxiliary meridians had already missed their best window for development. To open them now required far more time and effort.
Some meridians had been lost altogether, never to be opened unless by some extraordinary fortune. And the acupoints that depended on those meridians would likewise never reveal themselves.
The number of auxiliary meridians opened and the number of acupoints connected throughout the body were directly tied to one's cultivation in the Origin Ascension and beyond. This was what gnawed at his heart.
Every slight improvement mattered when one aimed to charge at higher realms.
In his heart, Foundation Establishment was not the end. Origin Ascension was not the end, either.
Within the sleeve of his robe, Qin Yan's fingers absently rubbed a thumb-sized fragment of flawless jade, an odd treasure, the secret foundation of his rise.
"Junior Brother," Xu Banshan said softly, "you seem to carry some resentment. Not just over this matter, I think?"
Qin Yan was silent for a long while, then slowly replied:
"For three years ago, the sect's missions have grown heavier and heavier, yet the disciples' rewards have not increased.
Even for us Foundation Establishment cultivators, it is the same.
Worse still, the cost for purchasing breakthrough pills has risen sharply.
I wish to ask why this is so?"
"That," Xu Banshan said evenly, "is the Patriarch's design."
He knew full well that dissatisfaction had been spreading through the sect. Qin Yan was almost certainly the one pushed forward by their peers to test the waters.
Qin Yan pressed his lips together, then gave a wry smile.
"Senior Brother, everyone knows the order comes from the Patriarch. But the Patriarch has not explained the reason.
What the others wish to know is: what is the sect planning? Has something great stirred in the cultivation world?"
The sect's actions felt like preparations for war.
And war in the cultivation world was brutally cruel. A single casual strike from a high-level cultivator could wipe out a small cultivation clan, man, beast, and spirit alike.
If such a storm was brewing, they needed to prepare early. The sect itself might be safe, but many disciples had clans and kin struggling for survival outside.
"I wish I knew as well," Xu Banshan said with a helpless shrug. "But the Patriarch has spoken no word. I dare not ask more. I only follow orders."
Qin Yan's gaze grew deep, unreadable.
...
When the lecture concluded, Ji An took his leave of Chu He and the others, then hurried on his way back.
Without a talisman bird to ride, the journey would take him two full days on foot.
His spiritual field remained unsown if he delayed too long; his spirit grain would ripen later than everyone else's.
That might seem a trivial matter, but once others had harvested their fields, the hungry birds would all come flocking to his crops alone.
Trudging alone along the narrow mountain path, Ji An resolved that once he had spare coin, his first purchase would be a talisman bird for travel.
To be unable to fly, what a waste of time!
Two days later, beneath the moonlight, Ji An finally dragged his weary body back to his bamboo lodge.
On the way, he had managed to bring the Withering-Bloom Formula to the entry stage. Testing it by refining Xun Spiritual Qi, he was relieved to discover that the spell did not require Zhen Spiritual Qi to advance. His heart, long burdened with worry, was finally at ease.
After a short rest, he hastily prepared a simple meal, washed his hands and face, then placed his meditation cushion in the courtyard, lit a stick of incense, and sat cross-legged to cultivate.
Threads of heaven-and-earth spiritual qi flowed into his body, gradually washing away his fatigue.
An hour later, Ji An withdrew from meditation, feeling clear-headed and refreshed.
He called upon the stone tortoise within his dantian and poured in all the spiritual qi he had!
[Master: Ji An]
[Dao Resonance: 0]
[Spiritual Qi: Kan 0, Kun 0, Xun 0]
[Spells: Minor Rain Technique (Proficiency 72% → 99%)
Thick Earth Formula (Proficiency 48% → 71%)
Withering-Bloom Formula (Entry 6% → Proficiency 8%)]