"Every resource in the Eclipsed Sun Sect is yours. Just treat it as me repaying the favor for the correction of my spine meridian," the Patriarch offered generously as he continued his descent down the jade platform.
"Thank you," Mo Lingtian said as he sat cross-legged on the jade platform, instantly beginning to absorb energy from the crystalline carvings on the walls and the jade azure liquid running through the cracked paths all over the ethereal cultivation domain.
"Seal!" Mo Lingtian suddenly shouted, aggressively engraving the formatqion of the Devil Converging Seal onto his demonic core, forcefully stopping it from breaking through from the Vessel Cleansing Stage to the Qi Refining Realm right at the very threshold.
The Patriarch turned to see why Mo Lingtian had shouted, but he received no reply. Mo Lingtian simply stood up as the dense energy he had absorbed circulated smoothly beneath his robes.
"You're done already?" the Patriarch asked, turning his gaze back forward.
"Yes. Sorry for troubling you," Mo Lingtian replied.
"You asked me a question while we were on our way to this place," the Patriarch noted as they both walked out of the cultivation space, heading toward the edge of the mountain peak they had entered from.
"Yes," Mo Lingtian replied affirmatively. "You promised to give me an answer after I corrected your Qi deviation."
The Patriarch smiled as he halted his steps. Mo Lingtian also stopped, waiting to hear what the old monster was about to reveal.
"I am not a demon cultivator," the Patriarch stated emphatically.
"My great ancestor was a beast banished from the Sky Realm to the Demonic Plane as punishment for an act of rebellion he stirred," the Patriarch continued, his back still facing Mo Lingtian.
"But... your body's constitution, it's still..." Mo Lingtian said in disbelief.
"Yes, it has the full makeup of a demon cultivator. Even I don't know why my body bears a demonic lineage while my core turned out to be something entirely different, something I can't even recognize or place," the Patriarch explained as he began to slowly walk forward again.
Mo Lingtian immediately followed after him, eager to hear the rest of the explanation.
"In short, my core doesn't allow me to practice any demonic cultivation method. The only cultivation method my core allowed me to practice was an opportunity I acquired from down there," the Patriarch said as they reached the very edge of the mountain cliff.
Once again, Mo Lingtian could feel the subtle, faint scorching heat rising from deep within the abyss.
"Pure Yang Energy," Mo Lingtian whispered as they both stared at the fiery glow coming from the bottomless pit.
"So you are related to the Sky Immortals," Mo Lingtian deduced, lifting his gaze back to the Patriarch, who was still staring down into the depths nostalgically.
"Hmph," the Patriarch hummed in reply. He released strands of his azure flame, which expanded smoothly to form the crystalline bridge of blue fire they had crossed to get here in the first place.
"No wonder the demon cultivators of the wilderness seem to have a hateful bias against you and your sect. The cultivation method you practice perfectly counteracts them," Mo Lingtian noted.
The Patriarch scoffed in reply, unwilling to discuss the sect politics any further.
"With what you said, being able to cultivate a flame of pure Yang energy to this point is somewhat understandable. But what about your disciples? Do they also have distant connections to the Sky Realm?" Mo Lingtian asked as they both stepped onto the bridge.
"No, they don't," the Patriarch replied as they began their walk across the span of blue fire.
"Then how are they able to," Mo Lingtian started, before he was abruptly cut off by the Patriarch.
"What is your name?" the Patriarch asked.
"Mo Lingtian," he replied, suddenly realizing that all this time, the Patriarch had never actually known his name.
"Mo Lingtian, every powerhouse and every force in the wilderness has a secret behind them. In this world, knowing too much isn't necessarily a good thing," the Patriarch warned evenly as they continued their walk.
"Just like I had enough respect not to press you about the secret of your domain, have respect for mine," the Patriarch concluded as they finally reached the end of the bridge, stepping onto the cliff at the other side of the bottomless pit.
Mo Lingtian simply nodded as they both stepped off the fiery bridge.
"What exactly could be in there?" Mo Lingtian wondered to himself, staring down one last time into the abyssal pit emitting the faint, scorching heat.
"Down there is a world even I am not qualified to know. Don't harbor any wild ideas," the Patriarch said, noticing Mo Lingtian staring almost possessively into the pit. He snapped the young cultivator out of his curious daze.
"Let's get going," the Patriarch ordered, turning away from the cliff and heading up the tunnel-like passageway leading to the main hall of the Eclipsed Sun Sect.
Mo Lingtian tore his gaze away from the abyss, following the Patriarch closely into the tunnel. The blue flames lit on the lamps from before still burned brightly along the opposing walls, guiding their way.
Soon, they had completely left the underground space and emerged back into the grand main hall of the sect.
"Thank you once again for correcting my Qi deviation. You've solved a stubborn problem for this old man," the Patriarch said as he walked toward the elevated seating arrangement at the head of the hall.
"It was no problem at all. I was simply fulfilling my part of the deal," Mo Lingtian replied, following the Patriarch.
Just as the Patriarch was about to sit at the opposite end of the table, Mo Lingtian suddenly saluted him, bowing down slightly.
"Senior, I still have other matters to attend to. I will be taking my leave now," Mo Lingtian requested respectfully.
"Alright. Go on with what you need to do," the Patriarch replied, not even sparing him a glance.
Mo Lingtian bowed slightly deeper before turning around and quickly making his exit.
"Senior, can you hear me?" Mo Lingtian urged to his sea of consciousness the second he stepped outside the main hall and took to the sky.
"Yes, the restrictions don't extend outside the hall," the Chief Commander replied smoothly.
Mo Lingtian sighed in profound relief at the sound of her voice. He maintained his flight, heading directly toward the quiet courtyard where his dragon beast and the blind, incapacitated Dao Elder resided.
"What are you planning to do next?" the Chief Commander asked as Lingtian landed softly just outside the front entrance of the courtyard.
"Prepare well before I take the next action," Mo Lingtian replied. He walked into the courtyard, finding the Dao Elder seated on a wooden rocking chair. Both the old man and the dragon beast were fast asleep.
"Senior, I need to discuss something with you," Mo Lingtian said, raising his voice just enough to wake the elder.
"You're back," the Dao Elder muttered, slowly sitting up from his slumped position on the rocking chair.
Mo Lingtian smiled in reply, taking a seat on the opposite side of the wooden table in front of him.
"Senior... we never got to talk about the second option," Mo Lingtian said, casually wiping some dust particles from the tabletop.
"Yes... the ancient legacy. You said this option could allow me to cultivate the immortal pathway and reforge my limbs and eyes again," the Dao Elder recalled, raising his head to face Mo Lingtian.
"See it for yourself," Mo Lingtian replied, reaching out and placing his hand directly onto the Dao Elder's forehead.
In that instant, both of their consciousnesses were violently pulled inward, dropping them right onto the shoreline of the enormous, crashing sea within Lingtian's inner world.
Although the Dao Elder had been here before, his face still bore the profound traces of amazement and bewilderment he felt the first time he entered.
The sheer vastness, realism, and depth of the different elements and creations within this space were simply too surreal especially for a Dao Realm practitioner.
For an expert at his level, witnessing the wonder of an immortal-grade inner world like Mo Lingtian's was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The inspiration alone could trigger an instant realm breakthrough, bridging hundreds of years of cultivation in a single bound.