Chapter 32

Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and Yuan婴 are known as the growth stages. Only cultivators who have completely passed through these stages can be considered to have profound cultivation. Some people stop at the Golden Core stage, while others never fully complete the Foundation Establishment stage even until their death. Excluding these, there are still differences among cultivators. Some cultivators are indifferent and inactive, refining elixirs for their own use, meditating to absorb spiritual energy, seeking immortality, and not involving themselves in worldly affairs. These people do not cultivate Dao techniques or weapons. Some of them are naturally gifted. Just like in the Heavenly Sound Temple, there are also distinctions between Pure Monks and Martial Monks. Pure Monks study scriptures, chant sutras, and seek enlightenment, while Martial Monks enter the Dao through martial arts, not only pursuing breakthroughs in their realm but also seeking greater martial power.

Strictly speaking, cultivation originally only involved the study of literature. Everyone studied the principles of nature, seeking immortality and enlightenment. However, humans are the most dangerous beings, and soon some people began to convert their cultivation abilities into offensive capabilities, using force to plunder what they needed, such as elixirs and secret manuals. To protect their own safety, the martial roles emerged. For two thousand years, the literary roles were always dominant. It wasn't until two thousand years later, when evil people began to emerge, that the martial roles started to gain importance. Nowadays, the leaders of major sects are all well-versed in both literature and martial arts.

Most disciples also follow the path of dual cultivation in literature and martial arts. The main reason is that those who study literature do not take on disciples; they only seek their own breakthroughs. However, not everyone can study profound Dao techniques, so many people, after failing to achieve breakthroughs in seclusion, will turn to pure cultivation. The Yunqing Sect has a total of 685 disciples. Excluding the sect leader and the Hidden Immortal Sect, there are over 400 pure cultivators. This means that in times of crisis, only 200 people can shoulder the responsibility. Among these 200 people, only about 10% can fully achieve the Yuan婴 stage. The true experts of the Yunqing Sect are the sect leader, the sect master, the Hidden Immortal Sect, and twenty disciples.

These twenty disciples are the backbone of the Yunqing Sect and are the preferred candidates for future sect leaders and masters. Gu Yan is one of these twenty, while Lin Fan and Bai Mu have not yet made the list. As for Ye Wushuang, due to possessing the Dharma Scroll, he has already been appointed as the Right Guardian of the Purple Bamboo Grove in the Yunqing Sect.

The situation in the Demon Sect is much better. All the pure cultivators have been moved to the Lower Nine Palaces, while the Upper Nine Palaces are filled with capable warriors. The saying "One demon subdues all evil" is not baseless. It is because of the powerful martial force of the Demon Sect that the evil beings in the Cang Mang Wasteland dare not openly enter the Twelve Continents. The major orthodox cultivation sects have also realized their shortcomings in this area. Additionally, once one achieves Dao, they must face the heavenly tribulation, which pure cultivators are completely unable to withstand. Therefore, they focus on cultivating disciples with high bone structure, talent, and insight.

Lin Fan asked, "What about the evil sects?"

"The evil sects... you should first ask why so many orthodox and demon disciples defect to the evil sects. It's because the evil sects' cultivation methods are quick to achieve. Even in your Yunqing Mountain, there are disciples who have defected to the evil sects. They were originally at the Foundation Establishment stage and stopped progressing. They were not content, so they used the evil sects' cultivation methods, violating the principles of nature, and forcibly increased their cultivation... For example, to master the Bamboo Sword, it would take at least a month according to orthodox cultivation, but the evil sects can teach you in half an incense stick's time. However, the evil sects also have weaknesses. Even if they forcefully reach the Yuan婴 stage, it is difficult to achieve full completion. Killing one person can complete the Foundation Establishment stage, but to reach the Golden Core stage, one must kill a hundred people. To fully achieve the Golden Core stage, one must kill a thousand people. To reach the Yuan婴 stage, one must kill ten thousand people. To fully achieve the Yuan婴 stage, one must kill a hundred thousand people. Such violations of the principles of nature will bring the heavenly tribulation unexpectedly. Once a person in the evil sects uses evil methods to reach the Foundation Establishment or Golden Core stage, they cannot improve further."

(Just like when you are sick and get an IV, it gets better quickly, but if you get used to it, it will be hard to cure future illnesses without an IV.)

...

Ximen Shuai, with his extensive knowledge and fondness for showing off, combined with Lin Fan's humble attitude, acted like a teacher, opening up a world for Lin Fan. Although this world is recorded in literature, looking at it from a different perspective is completely different. Lin Fan also understood why the orthodox and evil sects do not coexist and why the Dao and Demon Alliance does not actively attack the Cang Mang Wasteland.

Of course, Ximen Shuai's indoctrination of the Demon Sect's ideology was filtered out by Lin Fan. Although Ximen Shuai still had a condescending attitude, Lin Fan, being a carefree person, found their conversation quite compatible. They left Dongzhou and Xiao Dongzhou and entered the territory of Zhongzhou.

Zhongzhou has the largest territory among the Twelve Continents, with countless famous mountains and spiritual rivers. There are more than forty major cultivation sects with over a hundred disciples. The top cultivation sect in Zhongzhou is the Purple Flute Hall, with over a thousand disciples, producing many outstanding talents, making it the leader of the orthodox cultivation world.

"Are you sure they are outstanding talents?"

This was Lin Fan's question. Not long after entering the territory of Zhongzhou, they saw a lake. The people of Zhongzhou are open-minded, and by the lake, more than ten young women were playing in the water. A Taoist in a purple robe was crouching in the grass, peeking at them. This attire is exactly that of a disciple of the Purple Flute Hall.

Faced with Lin Fan's question, Ximen Shuai said helplessly, "Are you criticizing his character or his cultivation?" Peeping at women playing in the water would result in hard labor in Yunqing Mountain. Criticizing his cultivation... Brother, use an illusion to turn into a tree.

Ximen Shuai was about to teach the Purple Flute Hall disciple a lesson when all the women playing in the water suddenly disappeared. Lin Fan was surprised, "An illusion?" Although illusions are basic techniques, the fact that they could create such a disturbance and be felt by the two flying overhead indicates that the practitioner has considerable cultivation.

The Purple Flute Hall disciple was also stunned, standing up and looking around for the beautiful women. A person in a purple robe gently landed in front of him. The Purple Flute Hall disciple asked, "Who are you?"

The person in the purple robe slapped him, sending the Purple Flute Hall disciple flying a dozen feet away, his mouth full of blood. The Purple Flute Hall disciple was furious, "Do you know who I am? I am the Purple Flute Hall Guardian, known as the Sword King of Dongzhou: Jiang Bufan."

The person in the purple robe instantly appeared in front of the Purple Flute Hall disciple and slapped him again. The Purple Flute Hall disciple immediately knelt down and kowtowed, "Master, spare my life."

The person in the purple robe took out a toothpick and lazily said, "Jiang Bufan, you impersonated my Purple Flute Hall disciple and did what I wanted to do but couldn't. Give me a reason to spare your life."

"Zhang Tongyuan!" Ximen Shuai was surprised, "The top expert of the Purple Flute Hall, ranked third among the Eight Great Experts. I didn't expect to meet him as soon as I entered Zhongzhou."

Lin Fan looked at the portrait in Ximen Shuai's hand. In the portrait, Zhang Tongyuan was by the lake, holding a grass stem in his mouth, leaning against a stone with a sword, seemingly asleep. Beside it, it was written: Zhang Tongyuan, the youngest top expert of the Purple Flute Hall, with a Golden Core and excellent bone structure.

A small knife fell into the mud in front of the Purple Flute Hall disciple. Zhang Tongyuan said, "I give you two choices: one, I castrate you; two, you castrate yourself."

Jiang Bufan picked up the knife, his eyes darting around. Suddenly, he gripped the knife with both hands and charged at Zhang Tongyuan. Zhang Tongyuan slapped Jiang Bufan again, then stepped on him, picked up the knife, and pulled down Jiang Bufan's pants...

"Hey!" Ximen Shuai and Lin Fan turned their heads in unison. Lin Fan asked, "One of the Eight Great Experts?"

Ximen Shuai said helplessly, "He's a unique person!"

"Get lost!" After castrating Jiang Bufan, Zhang Tongyuan kicked him and then flicked his fingers, creating a stream of water in front of him. Zhang Tongyuan washed his hands and said leisurely, "You two have been watching for so long. Do you want to give me a couple of copper coins as a reward?"

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