"The Nine Realms of Spirit, each step is a journey to the heavens – The proverb certainly holds true," Pei Xuanjing reflected within his heart.
Having meditated for several years, he took this time to both digest and consolidate the insights he had gained from the Dao Debating Conference and reevaluated his cultivation.
"At this ultimate moment, the path ahead of me is already clear. Cultivating a combination of spirit, energy, and essence simultaneously, with all three progressing at the same pace, is what sets my power apart from others at my level – I must stay resolute. After all, the Golden Core Dao is the path of fusing spirit, energy, and essence. If one is lacking, the golden core won't attain perfection and I'll be unable to make another breakthrough," Pei Xuanjing silently clarified the foundations of his current cultivation practice in his heart.
All his practices, regardless of which Taoist skill or magic technique, were all built upon the foundation of spirit, energy, and essence which form the Golden Core Dao.
"From here onwards, my task is to wait for the Witch Deity Teaching to send over the copies of their techniques. I'll then refine the Taoist rhymes of those techniques and wait until I have accumulated sufficient rhyme values to initiate the next simulation of my life," Pei Xuanjing was planning for his current situation.
At this moment, the rhyme value required for a simulation of life had reached as high as twenty million since the conclusion of the last simulation. The rhyme values accumulated had been used up to guide Deer Elder, causing Pei Xuanjing to have very little remaining.
Even though refining the Taixu Mirror might give him around ten million rhyme points, this top-tier magic treasure was not that easy to refine, especially when its owner, the Taixu Venerable, had yet to fully perish.
Now, although Pei Xuanjing has hastened the process of obliterating and absorbing the Taixu Venerable by having many cultivators go into the Longevity World to comprehend the Dao, he has not completely refined the Taixu Mirror, only having refined roughly 60% even up to now.
Combining the Taoist rhymes he had already accumulated, his insights into practicing the Heavenly Dao, and the Daming World, Pei Xuanjing's current possessions only consisted of a little over eleven million rhyme values, still far from enough for performing a simulation of a lifetime.
However, Pei Xuanjing was not rushed. Given his current standing at the peak of heaven and earth, he would not be daunted even if many powerful beings decided to form an alliance against him—he had precautions in place.
Not to mention that he could temporarily retreat into the Longevity World to hide if he can't battle these powerful beings, even if he were plotted against and killed, he would eventually be able to be resurrected and return as long as the Longevity World is not destroyed.
One could say that although Pei Xuanjing is still far from becoming immortal, he, due to a fortuitous coincidence of creating the Longevity World, has gained some traits of a True Immortal—immortality.
Without many concerns in his rear, Pei Xuanjing was naturally not hasty—careful and steady progress suited him more.
After all, at his current realm, every step forward in cultivating was extremely important. There was absolutely no room for mistakes. Otherwise, greater sacrifices would have to be made to remedy the situation.
The plan to promote Heaven and Earth was still steadily progressing. However, as far as Pei Xuanjing was concerned, he didn't need to lift a finger for now. He just had to wait until everything was ready before taking action.
Hence, for the next while, Pei Xuanjing's real body remained entirely secluded on Shenxiao Mountain, focusing on studying the skills he had gathered from the Witch Deity Teaching and other powers, examining the doctrines, refining, and accummulating Rhyme values.
The reason he mentioned powers like the Witch Deity Teaching was because his sincerity and openness in his expounding during the Shenxiao Mountain Symposium had greatly impressed the powerhouses of these influences, and they had come to understand that Pei Xuanjing enjoyed studying the techniques of various powers. Therefore, after the Witch Deity Teaching had acted, they had sent many of their own techniques as well.
Of course, the Witch Deity Teaching had a prior agreement with Pei Xuanjing. Aside from a few of the sect's key techniques and top-level divine abilities that he was not allowed to see, the rest of the techniques would not be held back from him.
Although the other powers had also sent some techniques, the levels and quality of these techniques were far inferior compared to those from the Witch Deity Teaching.
"However, every little bit adds up, so even though these skills are not of a high level, their quantity can still accumulate to form a substantial amount of Taoist rhyme." Pei Xuanjing did not decline any of the techniques sent by these powers, nor did he disdain them due to their lower levels.
For him, regardless of the quality of these techniques, as long as they were previously unknown to him, he could refine them and gain Taoist rhymes from them. They held value to Pei Xuanjing.
Every little counts and adds up, he thought, adopting the principle of 'every drop wears away a stone.'
"Moreover, these techniques may have no value for my cultivation, but for other cultivators, it might not be the case." Pei Xuanjing contemplated.
One must remember that apart from being the Head Teacher of Shenxiao and the National Teacher of Great Ming, Pei Xuanjing also held another important identity—that of the president of the Taoist Academy. Numerous students from all the various provinces of the Daming World were, in name, taught by Pei Xuanjing.
While these techniques and skills may not have much cultivation value for Pei Xuanjing himself, they could be quite suitable for many of the students in the academies.
After all, the items given to Pei Xuanjing by these top-tier and first-rate powers, even if they were of lower cultivation levels, were certainly not common items. Within their respective levels, these techniques must be of the highest quality and possess unique value, otherwise these people wouldn't have collected them, let alone offered them to Pei Xuanjing.
If they were to casually send Pei Xuanjing some commonplace items, it would not be a token of friendship or goodwill, but rather a slap in the face.
These ordinary academy disciples could find techniques to cultivate from within the academy. While Pei Xuanjing and many indigenous masters have continuously improved and developed techniques during the resurrection of Heaven and Earth, with their own powers growing continuously, there inevitably arose situations where they couldn't keep up. After all, whether it was Pei Xuanjing or other masters, they are more inclined to prioritise their own cultivation and wouldn't have much time for modifying techniques.
In fact, as of now, there were already awkward situations arising within the academy. That's to say, for the ordinary disciples it might be alright, but for those with outstanding talents, many techniques within the academy were no longer able to satisfy their cultivation needs.
This was one of the reasons why many academy students chose to leave the academy and then later join the Great Ming Divine Dynasty and other powers for cultivation.
No matter how deep their sentiment for the academy was, but when the academy could no longer meet their needs, they would have to leave.
"Men ascend, water descends."
This is an immutable phenomenon, just as a starving man cannot be asked to give up the food in his hands for the so-called dream, the future.
Many disciples of the Taoist Academy acknowledge that it was the academy that gave them the opportunity to practice, allowing them to embark on the path of cultivation and reach their current realm. Such kindness cannot be erased.
Yet, when the current resources or skills of the Taoist Academy can no longer assist their cultivation, or even become an obstacle, how many people can choose to give up better opportunities and willingly remain content with the current situation?
Those who remain indeed possess noble characters and principles, but they certainly cannot criticize the character of those who have left.
As for the current situation of the Taoist Academy, Pei Xuanjing is very clear. After all, with various divine statues maintaining the existence of a contribution exchange network within the academy, he can proactively inspect the situation of any part of the academy as long as he is willing to do so.
Moreover, each head of the various branches of the Taoist Academy possesses the ability to communicate with Pei Xuanjing. Any cultivator sitting in such a position, no matter how docile they seem, would inevitably become aware of such problems sooner or later. They must have already communicated with Pei Xuanjing and asked for solutions.
"Even a clever woman cannot cook without rice. Even I, myself, cannot conjure a multitude of cultivation methods suitable for countless cultivators out of thin air," Pei Xuanjing sighed softly.
Does Taoist Academy have a practice method that can reach the Spirit Realm Eightfold?
Naturally, it does.
Not to mention other things, Pei Xuanjing's own Nine Revolutions Divine Sky Skill sits at the top of the contribution board. Regardless of who, as long as they have enough contribution points, they can practice it.
Apart from that, Pei Xuanjing has exchanged a portion of cultivation methods from powerful forces, such as the Imperial Family, Demonic Cult, Dragon Tiger Mountain, and True Martial Sect of the Great Ming Divine Dynasty. Although these methods cannot rival his Nine Revolutions Divine Sky Skill, they can easily reach Spirit Realm Sixth Level. Currently, these are sufficient for the many disciples of the Taoist Academy.
But does that solve the problem?
No, it doesn't.
Why not?
What is the reason?
The reason is simple: both the number and the universality of the cultivation methods are too limited.
Yes, the problem lies in the small number and the lack of universality of these cultivation methods.
The methods put forth by Pei Xuanjing and the others amount to about twenty. Such a collection would be sufficient for any faction to facilitate their disciples' training.
However, when it comes to the Taoist Academy, it is too little!
The number of disciples across the vast expanse of the Great Ming Divine Dynasty is unknown even to Pei Xuanjing himself, but there are at least over ten million.
Of these ten million members, they all obey the guidance of Pei Xuanjing, their Academy Master. Even without making any explicit statements, he has already driven the entire Great Ming Divine Dynasty into envy and fear, for Pei Xuanjing possesses the power to replace the Great Ming Divine Dynasty.
Out of the million Academy disciples, even if just one-tenth can reach the Spiritual Realm, and only one-tenth of those require even more advanced cultivation methods, it's still a number in the hundreds of thousands.
Don't forget that apart from Pei Xuanjing, there are other figures like Zhao Baiyang, Xue Wuheng, and Qingxu – each one an exotic bird amongst humanity, possessing unparalleled talents and god-given aptitudes. Otherwise, they wouldn't be at their current realm and strength today.
The cultivation methods these individuals practice, how can they impose no demands on innate talent or comprehension level? Even if they are drastically simplified, modified, and the barriers of entry lowered, they are still no ordinary methods – not every Tom, Dick, or Harry is eligible to practice them.
Therefore, of the twenty or so methods collected by the Taoist Academy, how many of these hundred thousand disciples are truly capable of practicing them?
For most of the academy students, even if they possess extraordinary talents, it's not certain they can find a cultivation method that perfectly suits their personal path to enlightenment amongst these mere twenty odd methods.
What?
You say, at this stage, they can create their own cultivation method, carve out their own path?
Joking – such geniuses are not accounted for. Even if they are, how many can emerge from these hundred thousand people? Yet, most cultivators still follow the path taken by their predecessors until the day they accumulate enough experiences to initiate their personal path to enlightenment.
Why say that advancing from the Spirit Realm Sixth Level to the Seventh Level of the Spiritual Realm is a critical leap? That is because even many cultivators hailing from top-notch forces, despite the guidance of experienced mentors, require this leap to truly comprehend their personal paths to enlightenment.
Understanding one's own path requires exposure to a vast number of paths. How can the Taoist Academy hope to enlighten its disciples about a vast number of paths or bolster their body of knowledge when it can't even provide enough cultivation methods?
Therefore, the biggest predicament facing the current Taoist Academy is not only the insufficient quantity and a lack of universality in its cultivation methods but also that it can no longer provide the majority of its disciples with further cultivation methods for their study. It has ceased to be a force of empowerment, only a burden instead.
Under such circumstances, choosing to leave doesn't warrant a blame game.
"Though the purpose of my establishing the Taoist Academy was only to give more people an opportunity to take control and change their own destiny. Whether they choose to remain in the academy or be loyal to me is actually not important." Pei Xuanjing reflected on his original intention. His goal was not to win their loyalty and obedience. Apart from accumulating the power of their Incense Faith, it was more to give them a chance, an opportunity to not be buried in oblivion.
"If it was before, with no opportunity, I wouldn't play the babysitter, wasting my time finding cultivation methods for them," Pei Xuanjing thought.
He has long been aware of this problem, but except for offering his own cultivation methods or some exchanged methods, he didn't genuinely wish to expend too much of his energy trying to solve it.
After all, given his level of comprehension and experience, if he just tried a little harder, he could certainly create a few more methods to relieve the current situation, even if he could not necessarily create a method suitable for every academy disciple.
However, Pei Xuanjing didn't do so. He chose to let things run their natural course. On one hand, he wanted these individuals to strive for themselves. On the other hand, he didn't want to over-prioritize this issue, thereby wasting his own time and energy.
"But now, since the opportunity has conveniently come along, let me do something. After all, with the advancement of heaven and earth, when those from the Sky Wasteland come back, I can't let you lag too far behind." A faint smile appeared at the corner of Pei Xuanjing's mouth.
If it was before, he wouldn't have gone out of his way to solve this problem.
But now, by a fortunate coincidence, he has gained these cultivation methods and divine abilities from various factions, so why not take advantage of them? Otherwise, it would be a waste.
Presently, the plan to integrate the Sky Wasteland into the Daming World is already in motion. If this merging of Heaven and Earth truly takes place, many cultivators of the Sky Wasteland will capitalize on this opportunity to elevate their abilities.
However, if the native cultivators waste their time seeking suitable skills at this juncture and miss this opportunity, the gap between the two sides' strengths will widen once again. Pei Xuanjing is unwilling to see such a scenario unfold.
"No matter how the integration proceeds, it should ideally be based on evenly matched powers. If there is too significant a gap, it's not integration anymore, but swallowing," Pei Xuanjing said with a trace of a cold smile on his lips.
The integration of the two worlds and the inevitable return of all the Sky Wasteland's cultivators is an irrefutable fact that nobody can avoid.
Now that cultivators from both worlds live together, conflicts will inevitably arise should a fusion be pursued. In such a situation, their respective strengths ultimately determine the outcome.
Although Pei Xuanjing can prevent the more powerful from exploiting the weaker, he won't interfere if cultivators of the same realm fight each other, regardless of the outcome.
Though he hails from the Daming World, he harbors no ill intent towards the Sky Wasteland's cultivators, as long as they do not hinder his path and no conflicts of interest arise.
However, while he can reconcile the integration of the two worlds and the inevitable conflicts in the process, he will not passively allow the Sky Wasteland to swallow up the Daming World and oppress its natives. Such a situation does not align with Pei Xuanjing's plans.
Therefore, in such situations, enhancing the strength of the natives to facilitate the integration of both sides is necessary.
For Pei Xuanjing, creating new skills from nothing is not easy. It takes up too much of his time and energy. However, once these skills are on hand, he can opt to incorporate them directly into the Taoist Academy's contribution system. He can also use these skills as a foundation to create more and share with others.
So, in the future, while Pei Xuanjing observes these skills and accumulates Taoyun, he will also include his researched insights and the skills and divine abilities he has developed for these disciples to cultivate.
...
Time slowly passed. Everything proceeded methodically, with the cultivators from both the Sky Wasteland and the Daming World busily at work.
However, many noticed that most of the changes were happening within the Taoist Academy.
The Taoist Academy, which Pei Xuanjing established and developed, left many guessings about his intentions when it first began. But, as of today, they could only see that Pei Xuanjing used the Academy to gather the power of the Incense Faith to create the Divine Domain Divine Kingdom, without any subsequent action.
Instead, as the years passed, countless originally impoverished individuals were able to alter their destinies thanks to the Taoist Academy and set off on divergent paths in life.
The existence of the Taoist Academy is satisfactory to all the powers in play, especially those returning from the Sky Wasteland. In their eyes, the presence of the Academy serves a significant advantage: it exempts them from recruiting disciples.
When the forces of the Sky Wasteland return and seek approval from the Ancestral Land, they need to fully integrate into the Daming World. Naturally, they cannot discriminate against the natives of the Daming World and must or therefore recruit these disciples.
Originally, they had anticipated that, even if the Ancestral Land is revived, it would be comprised mainly of ordinary people because of the lack of skills. Therefore, they thought they would need to spend a great deal of time nurturing their recruits.
However, the existence of the Taoist Academy resolves many of these dilemmas, helping them save much effort and time, and allowing them to directly recruit disciples from within the Academy.
After all, compared to the Academy's rule that everything is earned through hard work in exchange for contribution points, the favorable conditions offered by these forces for talented disciples naturally entice many.
All disciples in the Academy are equal without discrimination based on talent or status.
Such is one of the rules established by Pei Xuanjing upon founding the Academy. It is similar to the rules and protocols of some schools in the previous world.
The Taoist Academy's primary goal is to provide those without opportunities a chance to embrace cultivation. This is its underlying objective and initial intention.
Those with talent and pass the Academy's entrance exam, regardless of whether their talent is extraordinary or mediocre, are all on the same starting line, maintaining relative fairness.
As for all the students of the Academy, besides the contribution points they receive when they first join, the skills and resources needed for cultivation aren't provided for free. They need to complete tasks to earn contribution points and only then can they acquire what they need.
Furthermore, when they eventually choose to leave the Academy, once their power has increased, they will need to return a portion of these contribution points. These can be in the form of points or corresponding resources.
This is a fair rule. For most people, the guarantee that the Academy provides—that hard work will yield deserving rewards—is already something to cherish in an environment where effort does not necessarily translate into gain.
However, for those talented individuals who discover their unusual potential after entering the Academy, these rules seem harsh. Apart from the reward of ranking highly in the Academy and drawing envious glances owing to their superior aptitude, there are no additional privileges.
Having a reputation for being a prodigy doesn't earn any special treatment in the Academy. Under these circumstances, some show gratitude for the opportunity that the Academy provides, believing that they can also gain everything through their efforts.
However, others feel dissatisfied, believing it to be a disregard for their intelligence and talent. When someone offers them better terms elsewhere, they naturally would not want to stay and would choose to leave.
In such cases, it is up to the individual whether to stay or leave, and the Academy will not coerce them. All they need to do is return the contribution points given by the Academy, and they are free to go.
Thus, over the years, countless talented individuals who feel they deserve special treatment have been poached by the powerful forces of the Sky Wasteland.
They have come to regard the Taoist Academy as a training ground to spot and select cultivators, where they can scoop up individuals after the Academy has invested in their initial training—at the cost of a small fee. By doing so, they save themselves much labor. It is seen as a win-win situation.