Chapter 31: The Ancestor's Whereabouts

After leaving the Library Pavilion!

Ye Qingxuan immediately sent a sound transmission to Bai Wen, asking him to help purchase seeds of the Spirit-Purifying Tree.

As for the spirit stones needed to buy the Spirit-Purifying Tree, Ye Qingxuan could only give them to Bai Wen next time he sold Spirit-Enhancing Elixirs.

Afterwards, he used a teleportation array to arrive at a mountain peak.

This peak was one of the gathering places for outer sect disciples of the Xuantian Sect; Ye Qingxuan came here to find Ye Qingxiao.

Yes, that's right; Ye Qingxiao had successfully broken through to the late stage of Qi Refining and advanced to become an outer sect disciple of the Xuantian Sect.

However, even as an outer sect disciple, one could only be assigned to cultivate on different peaks, though with far greater freedom.

In the Xuantian Sect, those below the core disciple level had no authority to establish their own cave dwellings.

Only after breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm and advancing to core disciple status did one gain the right to seek a spiritual location and establish a cave dwelling.

Those below core disciple level could only choose to settle and cultivate on corresponding peaks.

In the Xuantian Sect, the inner sect disciples and core disciples were the most numerous, while the servant disciples were actually the rarest.

There was no other reason; simply because the spiritual energy within the Xuantian Sect was truly too dense. Disciples who joined the sect, as long as their talent wasn't absurdly poor, could easily break through to the late stage of Qi Refining and advance to outer sect disciple status within about ten years.

Those with slightly better talent could break through to the Foundation Establishment realm within ten years.

According to Ye Qingxuan's estimate, the sect had at least ten million disciples.

The annual entrance ceremony was merely a trivial matter; the main event was the grand recruitment ceremony held once every hundred years.

During each century's grand recruitment ceremony, the Xuantian Sect recruited at least one hundred thousand disciples within the Earthly Mystic Realm.

Ten million disciples scattered across the Xuantian Mountain Range, which was more than ten times larger than the Blue Star where Ye Qingxuan lived in his past life, appeared insignificant.

Among these disciples, even the weakest could break through to Foundation Establishment; those of average talent could easily reach Purple Mansion and Golden Core; and other geniuses were certainly countless.

Otherwise, without a sufficient base of disciples, the Xuantian Sect's enormous system could never be sustained, nor could the sect ensure orderly succession forever.

However, all of this had no effect on him, a mere Luck Cultivator.

Upon reaching the foot of the peak, Ye Qingxuan did not rashly rush in; without the corresponding token mark, he had no way to pass the peak's protective great formation.

Not long after sending a sound transmission to Ye Qingxiao, a sword light flashed down from the peak.

"Hahaha, Qingxuan, I'm here!"

Ye Qingxiao's words arrived before he did!

When he reached a short distance before Ye Qingxuan, Ye Qingxiao landed gracefully, casually performing a flashy sword-sheathing move!

Ye Qingxuan said nothing, simply watching his performance silently.

Seeing this made Ye Qingxiao feel quite uncomfortable; he scratched his head slightly awkwardly and said:

"Ha, um, Qingxuan, how about we go sit in my small courtyard?"

Ye Qingxuan glanced at him but did not agree:

"I just happened to pass by to see you and bring you something. How does it feel after advancing to outer sect disciple?"

Hearing Ye Qingxuan's question, Ye Qingxiao immediately made a bitter face and complained to him:

"Don't mention it! Although the task load for outer sect disciples isn't as heavy as for servant disciples, they are all time-consuming and laborious jobs. The key is that those guys are way too competitive!"

"And..."

Although there were many tasks in the servant courtyard before, Manager Mo took care of him, so while the work was heavy, it wasn't exhausting.

Now, having advanced to outer sect disciple and settled on the peak assigned to outer sect disciples, although there was much more freedom, the outer sect disciples were extremely competitive when taking on tasks.

Outer sect disciples also received sect allowances, but not much; it was almost only about one-third of what Ye Qingxuan received.

To obtain sufficient cultivation resources, one could only rely on completing tasks.

Therefore, outer sect disciples, besides needing to complete fixed monthly tasks, either sought other income sources or accepted large numbers of other tasks to gain sect resources.

This led to the situation where these outer sect disciples were basically either on their way to snatch tasks or on their way to complete tasks, each one competing desperately for cultivation resources.

Those at the late stage of Qi Refining wanted to break through to Foundation Establishment; those at Foundation Establishment wanted to break through to Purple Mansion.

This caused Ye Qingxiao, who had just advanced to outer sect disciple and hadn't had time to adapt to this pace, to end up with tasks that were almost always exhausting and time-consuming every time he managed to grab one.

Otherwise, he would have long ago gone to find Ye Qingxuan to hang out.

"I understand! I understand! You've worked hard!"

After hearing Ye Qingxiao's complaints, although Ye Qingxuan couldn't truly empathize, he expressed that he could understand Ye Qingxiao's feelings.

However, the smile that Ye Qingxuan couldn't suppress at the corner of his mouth made Ye Qingxiao feel very annoyed!

Enraged, Ye Qingxiao snorted coldly and said proudly:

"Hmph! That was before; now I certainly won't go compete with them for those tasks and waste time!"

After speaking, Ye Qingxiao took out a storage bag and tossed it to Ye Qingxuan, saying:

"Here, this is cultivation resources for you, hehehe!"

Seeing this, Ye Qingxuan took the storage bag from Ye Qingxiao's hand with a puzzled expression, probed inside with his spiritual sense, and exclaimed in surprise:

"Where did you get so many cultivation resources?"

Good heavens, inside the storage bag Ye Qingxiao gave him were one thousand first-grade elixirs, three thousand second-grade elixirs, and even several hundred third-grade elixirs, mostly elixirs that increased cultivation base.

The two had entered the Xuantian Sect together; Ye Qingxiao knew exactly what assets Ye Qingxiao had. Given Ye Qingxiao's current cultivation, it was utterly impossible for him to obtain so many resources.

Unless...

Ye Qingxuan looked toward a certain spot behind Ye Qingxiao, his eyes showing suspicion!

Noticing this, Ye Qingxiao immediately became furious and said:

"Ye Qingxuan, what kind of look is that? Where are you looking?"

"Don't guess wildly; this was given by the Ancestor. The portion in your hand is what the Ancestor asked me to give you!"

"Really?"

"Of course it's true!"

After receiving the answer, Ye Qingxuan withdrew his gaze and asked in confusion:

"Why did the Ancestor give you so many elixirs all at once?"

Facing Ye Qingxuan's question, Ye Qingxiao smiled foolishly, rubbed the back of his head, and explained:

"I heard the Ancestor say that core disciples of the Xuantian Sect take on missions in rotating batches. This time it was the Ancestor's turn; he won't return for sixty years, so he gave me all these elixirs at once!"

At this point, Ye Qingxiao paused, leaned mysteriously close to Ye Qingxuan, and whispered:

"Moreover, the Ancestor said that if luck is on his side, he might even use this mission to break through to the Soul Transformation realm. Hehehe!"

Hearing this, Ye Qingxuan felt no joy; instead, he frowned tightly.

Great gains also mean great risks!

"It seems the mission the Ancestor accepted carries considerable risk!"

Ye Qingxuan pondered constantly in his mind.

But he could not figure out what kind of mission would make a disciple of the Xuantian Sect take such a risk.

Perhaps he was overthinking it?

Ye Qingxuan shook his head and thought to himself:

"Never mind, no need to think about it. Once my realm advances, I will naturally have the authority to know certain things."

Looking at Ye Qingxiao, Ye Qingxuan tossed the storage bag in his hand back to him and smiled:

"I had originally planned to bring you some elixirs, but it seems that is unnecessary now."

"Besides, I am now a mature alchemist. I will not lack cultivation resources in the future, so you should keep these elixirs yourself!"

He did not believe Ye Qingxiao's nonsense; these elixirs could not possibly have been given to him by the Ancestor through Ye Qingxiao.

If the Ancestor truly intended to give them to him, he would have sent a message directly; why would he summon only Ye Qingxiao alone?

He suspected that Ye Qingxiao, fearing he would be unhappy if he knew the truth, had secretly shared a portion of the resources in the Ancestor's name.

However, Ye Qingxuan did not mind this, after all, his talent was indeed too poor to warrant the Ancestor investing resources in his cultivation.

Hearing that Ye Qingxuan had become an alchemist, Ye Qingxiao exclaimed with delight:

"Qingxuan, really? You have truly become an alchemist?"

Ye Qingxuan smiled slightly and nodded.

After confirming that Ye Qingxuan was telling the truth, Ye Qingxiao laughed heartily:

"Hahaha, then I will keep these elixirs for myself! If I need anything in the future, I will come to you for help with alchemy. Hehehe!"

"Hahaha, alright, no problem. Qingxiao, remember to come find me whenever you need to refine elixirs."

"It is getting late; I will leave first. See you next time!"

After bidding farewell to Ye Qingxiao, Ye Qingxuan mounted his sword and departed from the mountain peak where the outer sect disciples resided.