Chapter 11

By the babbling brook, the boy gripped the small wooden sword in his hand and stared intently at the white-haired man who was approaching with a sword.

"Your character is good. Would you like to come with me?" the white-haired man said.

Though he was young, how could he not see the magnificent scenery of the wind whistling through the sky? Just as he was about to open his mouth to agree, a stubborn voice rang out from the side, "Take me!"

The owner of the voice was his playmate, who had just been defeated by him in their "sword duel."

The boy knew his companion's stubbornness well. For example, today's "sword duel" was one of many. But his companion, having lost once before, was determined to win back and would not stop until he did.

The boy thought, we can go to train together.

Many details he could no longer remember, but he still remembered the white-haired man's eyes. They were as clear as a stream and as vast as the sky.

The white-haired man looked at them with those eyes, at the two children who had been inseparable since childhood, and a smile of indeterminate meaning spread across his lips.

"I will only take one disciple," the white-haired man said.

He repeated, "Both of you are good, but I will only take one."

What to do? The boy thought at that moment.

But he only had a moment to think, and in the next instant, he was pushed into the brook.

Splash!

The sound of the water splashing.

His friend, the friend he had played with since they were both naked, the friend who was still just a child, had pushed him into the water without hesitation!

Through the rippling water, he saw his "friend's" expressionless face and the white-haired man's calm eyes.

Then, a frosty white sword light shot up into the sky.

His young companion and the white-haired man were enveloped in that magnificent and dazzling sword light, like a bolt of lightning, suddenly appearing and suddenly disappearing.

Like the countless legends of immortals, they brushed past the pitiful and mediocre mortals.

Leaving behind, an unresolvable, unbelievable, and countless times of waking up in the middle of the night in shock!

...

Jiang Wang opened his eyes, the darkness enveloping everything around him, including himself. The dormitory was unusually quiet, with Ling He and Du Yehu's breathing long and rhythmic.

Jiang Wang knew they were practicing the basic breathing technique. Though simple and basic, only inner disciples could be taught this. It was the foundation of the Daoist Academy of Zhuangguo, which had remained unchanged for a hundred years.

The selection of inner disciples at the Daoist Academy of Fenglin City was not much of a surprise. Ling He, Du Yehu, and Zhao Rucheng all became new inner disciples, with their names recorded on the Daoist jade tablets enshrined in the sacrificial hall.

However, before their Dao veins manifested, they could not yet be considered official Ma Yi Daoists.

The Pulse-Opening Pill was worth a thousand gold, and even with the state's support, the Daoist Academy of Fenglin City could not provide it for free to every disciple. As the most outstanding of the outer disciples, they were usually selected to become inner disciples, and it would take at least a year of hard work and accumulating enough merit to qualify for the Pulse-Opening Pill.

The top contributor among the outer disciples each year could exchange their contribution for one Pulse-Opening Pill. This was a special incentive for the outer disciples. Therefore, since Jiang Wang had emerged in this batch, no one else could replicate his path.

Even so, Jiang Wang had to fight to the death to accumulate enough contributions to exchange for the Pulse-Opening Pill. And now, within a hundred miles of Fenglin City, there was no other West Mountain Bandit to eliminate.

Joining the outer disciples of the Daoist Academy and diligently practicing, defeating countless competitors to enter the inner disciples. After entering the inner disciples, continuing to practice diligently while accumulating task contributions, and finally being granted the Pulse-Opening Pill to step into the extraordinary. This was the normal path for cultivators in Zhuangguo, and it was also a visible and broad path.

However, compared to those who were born with their Dao veins manifesting and could start practicing Daoist techniques directly as inner disciples, these young men who advanced from the outer disciples indeed wasted too much time.

The path of cultivation, one step behind, and all steps behind. This was why Jiang Wang had to fight to complete tasks while in the outer disciples, and it was also why Fang Pengju could not curb his greed. No one wanted to wait for so many years!

Therefore, Jiang Wang understood Fang Pengju's desire but could not forgive his methods.

Like them, whether it was Ling He or Du Yehu, who among them had a lesser desire for the extraordinary than Fang Pengju? But they did not do such despicable things.

Jiang Wang's father once said, "A person is defined by his choices." Jiang Wang deeply agreed with this.

And he was also facing a difficult choice.

As is well known, cultivators are divided into nine ranks, with the first rank being the highest, and the ninth rank being the beginning of the extraordinary. The hallmark of achieving the ninth rank is the formation of the Dao Vortex, which generates Dao Essence.

Cultivators have spent an immeasurable amount of time in history, and they have conducted very detailed and in-depth research on this first step to the extraordinary.

The spine is considered the great dragon of the human body, and the Dao vein is hidden within the spine. After the Dao vein manifests, the cultivator can use their qi and blood to nourish the Dao vein, thus generating Dao Essence. Dao Essence is the foundation of all Daoist techniques and the basis of the extraordinary.

Taking Jiang Wang's Earthworm Vein as an example, each time he mobilizes the "Earthworm," he needs to use a considerable amount of qi and blood, which must flow through the entire spine to generate one Dao Essence. At Jiang Wang's level, he can perform the Pulse-Opening practice twice a day, accumulating two Dao Essences. It is not that he is not diligent, but his body cannot handle more. The consumption of qi and blood is too great, damaging the source and spirit, making it a loss.

After accumulating Dao Essence, the next step is to control the Dao Essence and arrange the corresponding array points according to the foundation array diagram. Once the array is formed, the Dao Vortex is generated.

As a cultivator who has already opened his Dao vein, the Daoist Academy of Fenglin City naturally taught the foundation array diagram. It is the commonly used Guiyuan Array in Zhuangguo, which has 81 array points. In other words, under the condition that the foundation array diagram is arranged without any errors, he would need at least 41 days, nearly a month and a half, to truly become a ninth-rank cultivator. (The two Dao Essences Jiang Wang had previously accumulated were already consumed in battle.)

Before this, Jiang Wang had no difficulty, but now that he had unexpectedly entered the Tai Xu Illusion Realm and inherited Zuo Guanglie's "Dongzhen Xufu," unlocking the corresponding Sword Discussion Platform and Dao Practice Platform, he had new worries.

Yesterday, after obtaining the Guiyuan Array diagram, he used all 1850 of his contribution points to test the effect of the Dao Practice Platform. In the end, he obtained the extremely complex Zhou Tian Xing Dou Array diagram, which has 365 array points!

Regardless of the difficulty of arranging the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Array, even if he could perfectly replicate the foundation array, it would take him at least half a year to generate the first Dao Vortex.

After that, to advance from the ninth rank to the eighth rank, he would need to form three Dao Vortices, and to advance from the eighth rank to the seventh rank, he would need to form nine Dao Vortices.

If calculated this way, the time required would be too long!

The Zhou Tian Xing Dou Array is undoubtedly stronger than the Guiyuan Array, but the long time required for its foundation is precisely what makes Jiang Wang hesitate. He needs to quickly improve his cultivation to catch up with those who were born with their Dao veins manifesting, but time does not wait for anyone.

However, after waking up from his dream tonight, he had already made his choice.

Jiang Wang closed his eyes and activated the only Dao Essence he had generated yesterday, slowly moving it within his spine. In the vague world of controlling the Dao Essence, it was a vast and boundless space.

Because the great dragon resides here, it is also called the Spinal Sea.

But in the oral tradition of cultivators, it has a more resounding name—Tongtian Palace!

Piercing through the Tongtian Palace and opening the Heavenly Gate is the transformation from a beginner cultivator to an intermediate cultivator.

In the boundless Tongtian Palace, a Dao Essence is as small as a grain of dust. But it does not drift aimlessly; instead, it firmly and stubbornly follows Jiang Wang's will. Moving, moving, it finally suspended at the ideal location.

That was the position of the Sun Star in the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Array.

When the Dao Essence suspended, Jiang Wang seemed to see the eyes of the white-haired cultivator from his childhood.

He would never forget the moment he was pushed into the water.

Those eyes seemed to be telling him—

"The path of cultivation is about competition."