At this point, the old man paused for a moment before continuing in a tone full of hidden meaning: "Now there's only one method left in Master Ji's scheme—to find a mortal with a spiritual root and nurture that person until they reach the peak of the first stage of Qi Condensation. Once that happens, he can freely siphon off their physical strength and spiritual energy. In plain terms, it's no different from raising a pig on a farm; when the pig is fat and plump, you slaughter it for your pleasure."
Li Yan looked at the old man and couldn't help but offer a bitter smile. After hearing so much, he clearly understood the grim fate that had befallen his late senior brother. As the grey-robed elder explained, weren't they both merely like pigs kept in a pen—raised only to be fattened up for slaughter? The thought sent shivers down his spine, and he wondered silently: if he himself had just barely escaped death, what had truly caused his senior brother's untimely demise?
In a flash of thought, Li Yan began to form a theory. Perhaps during the period of over a month—a critical moment around the forty-ninth day when his senior attempted to refine the medicinal energy in his body to break through to the peak of the first stage—the process went awry. At that point, it was impossible for him to have achieved the true apex of Qi Condensation, so siphoning off his energy wasn't even an option. Then why did he explode and die upon attempting the breakthrough? Li Yan also couldn't help but wonder about his own state; had he successfully broken through to the first stage, or was he still struggling in the energy-gathering phase?
The grey-robed old man, noticing the troubled look on Li Yan's face, smiled gently and said, "You need not overthink it anymore—let me explain. You may have guessed that the person Master Ji chose before you died because of something going wrong during cultivation, but the reasons aren't exactly the same."
He continued, "Since Master Ji had already settled on his plan, the next step was finding someone with a spiritual root. His own internal fire poison was running out of time, so he had to act quickly before it could be contained for any longer. But where could he possibly find a mortal with a spiritual root? Lacking the power of someone at the Foundation Establishment level or above, he couldn't sweep large areas with a divine sense, nor did he have access to the immortal 'spirit-detecting stone' or 'spirit-detecting pillar' that can sense or even gently test a person's spiritual constitution. All he had was the most basic method—using silver needles. A kindly Foundation Establishment cultivator, feeling sorry for his plight, had once lent him this rudimentary technique. It required direct physical contact: inserting the silver needle into one's acupoints, channeling his own divine energy through it, and thus testing for the presence of a spiritual root."
He sighed before adding, "Under such circumstances, it's a tall order. Who would allow a stranger to run a silver needle all over their body? After all, being pricked would cause either no reaction at all or a bout of excruciating pain. Even if you claimed to be a celestial seeking disciples, few would trust you—and you'd likely get beaten by a throng. Although his current power rendered him fearless in front of ordinary mortals, this was hardly an acceptable method."
After much deliberation, Master Ji hatched a different plan. "He eventually hit upon the idea of infiltrating a military camp. The soldiers there were all physically robust and plentiful. If he could get into the camp, secure a high-ranking position, and then display his martial skills to establish supreme authority, he could easily announce that he was recruiting disciples—and then choose his candidates at his leisure. It was a plan that sounded entirely feasible."
So, Master Ji disguised himself as a wanderer of the martial world and made his way to the Marshal's residence. Using the martial techniques he had honed in the "Xunxian Sect" and combining them with his divine energy, his moves were far beyond what ordinary martial artists could muster—even a common fighting style, when powered by divine force, exuded an otherworldly aura. Pretending to be an unsurpassed martial genius came naturally for him. Only fellow cultivators could catch the nuances behind his seemingly extraordinary feats, while ordinary mortals remained blissfully unaware of the subtleties at work.
Then, under the cover of night, he would use graceful, evasive techniques to sneak into enemy camps, gather intelligence, and report back to Hong Linying. With his current power, these missions were little more than a trivial chore. After a few such nocturnal excursions, the truth of his reports became evident, allowing him to smoothly secure an official post within the camp. Finally, when an opportunity arose—say, during an enemy onslaught—he deliberately withheld critical information from Hong Linying and his men. He feigned departure only to reappear at the most desperate moment, unleashing his divine might to rescue Hong Linying and his subordinates. That single act would establish his reputation on the frontier, paving the way for easier recruitment later. Wherever he went, there were already countless hopefuls eager to undergo his tests and pledge themselves as his disciples. Over the course of a few years, he indeed found his very first unfortunate candidate amid the vast military ranks.
Listening to all this, Li Yan finally grasped not only the origin of Master Ji's official title but also why his own initial test with the silver needle had been so agonizing. He mused, "My teacher is truly cunning—a master of continuous schemes. The dire situation he once faced somehow yielded him a slim chance of survival over those years; yet my own suffering during the spiritual root test was nothing but an innocent misfortune. I happened to fall prey to a cultivator whose martial power and divine sense weren't all that impressive. Meanwhile, that grey-robed old man here can sense across a hundred miles with a mere wisp of divine consciousness—and his main divine mind can extend thousands of miles. It's terrifying." He parted his lips as if to speak, but no words emerged.
Observing Li Yan's inner turmoil, the grey-robed old man, himself merely a fragment of divine consciousness that had existed for over two million years, quickly deciphered Li Yan's thoughts. "You must be wondering," he said, "if I possess such formidable power, why didn't I save that very first mortal with a spiritual root?"
Li Yan's heart raced with the realization that, indeed, the old man had grasped his innermost thoughts. After all, Li Yan was barely a teenager—how could he possibly comprehend the cold calculus that deems an innocent life expendable? He nodded and replied, "Yes, with your divine abilities, saving my senior would have been a trifle. Then why let an innocent soul perish so easily?"
The old man sighed, his voice heavy with ancient resignation: "Though I am only a splinter of the divine consciousness once connected to the main body, if it were a million years ago, I might have disposed of such a low-grade cultivator on a whim—the very thought of it would have been enough to end his life. But after two million years of attrition, my divine essence is nearly spent. If I were to expend the energy to kill him, in a few years I'd vanish altogether, and I wouldn't be around to recruit any disciples.
"Moreover, for hundreds of thousands of years I've wandered merely as a wisp, while my primary divine sense has long been asleep. Now, every time that wisp awakens me, it takes nearly two months. And with each awakening, the drain on my power only increases. I must quickly absorb the experiences that wisp has gathered over these years, then fragment myself anew before returning to slumber.
"Furthermore, your temperament must change with time. Cultivation is a path that directly defies fate; it is riddled with dangers far beyond what you now know. One careless misstep and you're dead. In the world of immortality, there are neither truly good nor truly evil people—only yourself (or those closest to you) can ever be of genuine aid. If you waste your so-called kindness, you will end up falling far too soon. Then there's no longer any talk of cultivation… much less the pursuit of eternal life."
Li Yan listened, nodding silently even as his inner thoughts rebelled: "Since when did I agree to walk the path of cultivation? If I ever get a chance to leave this narrow mountain city, I'll find a way to quietly return and take my parents and siblings somewhere safe. The world is vast—there's surely a place for me. Living with my family would be worth far more than immortality."
The old man knew that expecting a mere teenager to suddenly become decisive and ruthless was unrealistic. Although Li Yan nodded out of politeness, he wasn't entirely convinced. After all, youth often believes life is endless, blissfully unaware of the inevitable sorrow of aging, illness, and death; they think that protecting their family is the ultimate happiness, never even considering the arduous path to immortality.
"Your senior did have good potential," the old man continued, "an earthly spiritual root with three attributes, one of which was wood. Although wood wasn't his strongest element, it still enabled fairly rapid cultivation. Normally, he should have reached the pinnacle of the first stage of Qi Condensation in just over a year. However, Master Ji couldn't obtain two crucial herbs needed to harmonize the medicinal energy. Even though these herbs are considered low-grade among immortal sects, they're still extremely rare in the mortal realm. The fact that he once managed to procure one was merely a lucky break. The unfortunate truth is that he never had enough time to search for the second herb—and before he could, the fire poison erupted, dooming him. In the end, he had no choice but to force along the cultivation with a flawed elixir. The result, as you can imagine, was twofold: firstly, the absorption process became exponentially more painful; and secondly, on the forty-ninth day when he attempted the breakthrough, it was almost a matter of nine deaths in one life."
At this point, the grey-robed old man fell silent and turned his gaze back towards Li Yan. Ever perceptive, Li Yan's heart sank as he realized that when his senior tried to pierce the first stage on the forty-ninth day, his body—unable to bear the ever-dwindling dose of harmonizing medicinal energy—had met a grisly end. And now, what exactly was his fate?
The old man continued, "After your senior died, Master Ji grew even more desperate—he went on a mad search for any mortal with a spiritual root. It seems that fortune has been particularly generous with him; within just over a year, he found you. The stray wisp of my divine consciousness outside can only sense within a radius of about a hundred li. It wasn't until you crossed into the area near Qingshan Pass that it managed to reach you and awaken the slumbering me. However, I am now so weak that each awakening takes roughly two months. And fatefully, you ended up at the military camp for a recruitment exam and were noticed by Master Ji. You must have seen that strange book in his hand, haven't you? In reality, it's nothing more than his attempt to fuse a Jade Tablet and an illusory Jade Scroll together with divine energy so that it becomes easier to carry. Ever since he acquired this phantom Jade Book, he's been obsessing over its secrets. Yet his power is so feeble that he can't tear it open. The more he fails, the more he believes the book to be extraordinary—imagining that it may contain celestial arts of a higher order, perhaps even a solution to his fire poison. And so, he toils over it day and night—heh, heh."
A sneer played across the old man's features as he spoke, clearly finding Master Ji's overambitious actions laughable.
"My stray divine sense had long been drifting within that phantom Jade Book. When it saw you join Master Ji's disciples and begin practicing the 'Dao through Poison' technique, it became frantic. Yet to conserve energy, I had granted him only the ability to scan for spiritual roots—nothing more. And my main divine consciousness has not yet awakened. That is why, every time Master Ji is with you, my wisp disrupts the surrounding spiritual energy, making your cultivation even more difficult—to delay your progress until I finally awaken."
Li Yan's eyes lit up with sudden clarity as he recalled that whenever Master Ji drew near, he always felt an inexplicable heaviness, as though some unknown force were hindering his progress. He had previously assumed this oppressive aura was simply the mark of his master's formidable power—but now he realized that someone was deliberately impeding his cultivation.
At that moment, the old man's figure began to grow translucent and ethereal, leaving Li Yan little opportunity to ask further questions. He pressed on, "Never did I expect that—even with your mixed spiritual constitution and the interference of my stray divine sense—you would still manage to complete all 49 days of the cultivation task. Yet in the end, your result is no different from your senior's. Without the balancing effect of those two vital herbs—and compounded today by an extra doubling of the medicinal energy—how could your internal meridians possibly bear such strain? Even if Master Ji later pulled you out of that pool, he lacks the power to restore you to life. At that moment, my wisp sensed your impending death and immediately transferred all its memories to my main divine consciousness before self-destructing. That explosive act jolted me awake from my slumber—but it also deeply wounded my primary divine sense, leaving what little power I had even more depleted.
"When I finally awoke, I found that your internal organs were shattered, your qi and blood beginning to reverse their flow, and you stood only moments away from death. I had no choice but to invoke every shred of my remaining power to realign and repair your meridians. Yet in the midst of that repair, the stimulation from Master Ji's invasive divine energy momentarily roused you to consciousness. You must have tried to sit up and resume cultivation, so I had to bellow a command to knock you back unconscious so that I could finish restoring your body. Alas, the divine energy I have left now is too weak. Although I managed to pull you back from the brink of death, the poison within you simply cannot be expelled. All I can do is use my magic to confine it in a small corner of your dantian. As long as you refrain from further practicing this technique, the poison will remain suppressed for now. But if you dare to continue cultivating it with your present condition—and without some extraordinary opportunity—death is inevitable."
By the time he finished speaking, the grey-robed old man's figure had grown almost transparent.