Chapter 534: Fame Spreads Far, The Original Intention of Reform

"Senior, are you going to...?" Muerxiu asked with some reluctance.

"My mission is complete," Taijizi said gently, "the path ahead is one you must walk yourselves. However, when you truly need help, I will sense it."

At the moment of parting, Taijizi looked deeply at Lin Xuan: "Little friend, your Taiji Dao has already reached great completion; the future is promising. But remember, the true essence of Taiji does not lie in balance, but in change. There is movement within stillness, and stillness within movement; this is the true Taiji."

Lin Xuan nodded, keeping these words deeply in his heart.

As Taijizi's figure completely vanished, Hunyuan Valley fell into silence. But this silence was not deathly; it was a profound peace, like a clear sky after a storm.

The three stood where they were, not speaking for a long time. Everything they had just experienced felt like a dream, but the Dao Heart Relic in their hands reminded them that it was all real.

"We really did it," Xiao Yuan said softly, "we really helped Senior Taijizi achieve the unification of his personality."

"Yes," Muerxiu nodded, "and I feel that we ourselves have also gained tremendous growth."

Lin Xuan looked at the relic in his hand, feeling the vast information contained within it. He knew that digesting these insights would take a long time, but this would be the most precious wealth on his cultivation path.

"Then, what should we do next?" Xiao Yuan asked.

"Let's go back," Lin Xuan said, "return to our world and use what we have learned to help more people. Senior Taijizi was right; change requires a gradual approach, and we are the beginning of that change."

The earth-shattering battle in Hunyuan Valley soon spread throughout the entire Cultivation World.

The way this news spread was extremely unique—not through flying crane messages, nor through communication Dharma Artifacts, but through the kind of energy fluctuations that permeated the Cultivation World. Every cultivator who reached a certain level of cultivation could feel the lingering resonance of that Perfected Power and could read the general course of the battle from it.

In the assembly hall of the Heaven Sword Sect, Sect Leader Yunxiaozi looked at the Elders before him with a grave expression.

"You have all felt it, haven't you?" Yunxiaozi's voice carried a hint of shock, "That Perfected Power has already surpassed our traditional understanding of cultivation."

"Sect Leader, according to reports from scouts, there were actually three young people involved in this battle," an Elder reported, "one of them is even Lin Xuan of the Star Moon Sect."

"Lin Xuan?" Yunxiaozi frowned, "The youth who performed excellently in the Immortal Sect Grand Competition? He was actually able to participate in a battle of this level?"

"Not just participate; it is said that the three of them played a key role in the process of Taijizi's personality unification," another Elder added.

The assembly hall fell into silence. This news was a huge shock to everyone present. The younger generation, who in their eyes still needed protection and guidance, were already able to play a decisive role in such high-level battles.

"It seems we need to re-examine the potential of our young disciples," Yunxiaozi finally spoke, "perhaps it is time to give them more room to grow and a greater say."

Similar discussions were taking place in all the major sects. The Flying Cloud Sect, Baihua Valley, Leiyin Temple... countless Sect Leaders and Elders were rethinking their attitudes toward the younger generation.

Meanwhile, Lin Xuan, Xiao Yuan, and Muerxiu had each returned to their own sects.

Within the Star Moon Sect, as soon as Lin Xuan stepped through the mountain gate, he felt a subtle change in the attitudes of those around him. Those senior brothers and sisters who were originally high and mighty now looked at him with an added sense of respect; those Elders who usually kept straight faces would now nod and greet him when they saw him.

The most obvious change came from the Sect Leader, Xingchenzi. When Lin Xuan was summoned to the Sect Leader's main hall, Xingchenzi actually stood up to welcome him personally; such courtesy was absolutely impossible in the past.

"Xuan'er," Xingchenzi's tone carried an unprecedented sense of equality, "I have heard of your performance in Hunyuan Valley. Being able to play a key role in a battle of that level shows that your cultivation and realm have reached a new height."

"Sect Leader, you flatter me; this disciple was just lucky," Lin Xuan replied humbly.

"Luck?" Xingchenzi shook his head, "Being able to understand the Dao of tolerance and being able to make the right choices at critical moments is definitely not something that can be explained by luck. From today on, you are no longer an ordinary inner-sect disciple, but one of the Core inheritors of the Star Moon Sect."

Similar scenes were also playing out at Wangling Ta and the Guixu Sect. Because Xiao Yuan had absorbed the spiritual inheritance of Wangling Ta from ten million years ago, her status leaped to become the most respected inheritor in the tower; although Muerxiu's master had passed away, his performance in Hunyuan Valley made everyone in the Guixu Sect look at him with new eyes.

However, with the rise in status, all three felt even heavier responsibilities.

Various problems in the Cultivation World began to be clearly laid out before them. The uneven distribution of resources caused by sectarian prejudice left countless talented rogue cultivators unable to receive the training they deserved; the huge chasm between the strong and the weak made it impossible for small sects and cultivators to ever receive fair treatment; the corruption and authoritarianism within certain sects kept power concentrated in the hands of a few, while those who were truly capable were buried.

These problems might not have been felt deeply when they were ordinary disciples, but now, standing in higher positions, they could see them with exceptional clarity.

Lin Xuan first began his attempts at reform within the Star Moon Sect.

"Senior Brother, do you think there is any problem with the sect's disciple selection system?" Lin Xuan asked a senior brother.

"Problem?" That senior brother thought for a moment, "It's not that there isn't one. For example, some disciples have mediocre cultivation, but because they have a good background, they can get more resources and guidance; while some disciples have outstanding talent, but because they are rogue cultivators by origin, they are always squeezed out."

"Then what do you think if we change this system and make ability the only standard for judgment?"

"This..." the senior brother hesitated, "the idea is good, but it will be very difficult to implement. After all, those disciples with backgrounds all have powerful forces supporting them."

Lin Xuan nodded; he understood the difficulties of reform. But as Taijizi said, change requires a gradual approach, and someone needs to stand up and set an example.

Thus, Lin Xuan began to push for small-scale reforms within his sphere of influence. He took the initiative to help those junior brothers and sisters who were of humble origin but had outstanding talent, fighting for more cultivation opportunities for them; he also began to advocate the concept of "the capable rise to the top" within the sect, downplaying the importance of background.

Xiao Yuan chose a different path. Her focus for reform was to spread the cultivation philosophy of "Accepting Imperfection."