The construction plans for Xiushui Village were in full swing, and Lingxian Sect's progress was moving steadily as well.
Three mornings later.
The disciples of Qingyun Peak arrived at the cultivation hall early. Some were meditating, while others were studying, communicating quietly with each other through sound transmission techniques when they had questions.
The entire hall was silent.
That is, until today's instructor, Yang Jinshu, walked in and handed each disciple a densely packed form.
The disciples glanced down to see the title at the top of the form: "Lingxian Sect Technique Elective Course Form."
As the name suggested, it was easy for everyone to understand the purpose of the form.
Below the title, each box contained the name of a different technique. At first glance, there were more than a thousand techniques listed.
This immediately caused some suspicion, especially from cultivators like Liang Zhonghuai and Yuan Jinsheng, who had years of cultivation experience outside the sect.
Could this be… real?
So many techniques… offered freely to these few hundred disciples to choose from?
And among the thousand or so techniques, even the seasoned cultivators found that they had heard of very few.
But then they recalled the shelves full of mental cultivation methods in the cultivation hall and the numerous techniques in the sect's library, many of which were said to be too low-tier for cultivation but were still available for reference.
Suddenly, it didn't seem so hard to believe that the sect would possess such an extensive collection of techniques.
After all, mental cultivation methods were even more precious than techniques.
If their sect had so many high-level mental cultivation methods, it was only natural that they would have a wealth of techniques as well!
Originally, today's instructor was supposed to be Xiao Luan.
However, the teaching group members were concerned that Xiao Luan might struggle to explain the elective course system clearly, so they had convinced the bird to swap with Yang Jinshu for the day.
The price of the exchange was a Golden Core-level demon core.
This core had been obtained by Lin Xiao during his Golden Core stage adventures in a secret realm of the cultivation world.
Currently, there were only three such cores in the sect's storage, all provided by Lin Xiao and Liao Pantu.
After giving Xiao Luan one of them, only two remained.
Fortunately, the sect's alchemy department had not yet reached the stage where they needed demon cores in their research, so they weren't urgently needed for now.
Still, Liao Pantu had remarked that it was always good to have some in reserve, so if the opportunity arose, they should try to collect more.
However, that was easier said than done. At present, only a handful of people in the sect could even hope to defeat a Golden Core-level demon beast, and they had little experience in the broader cultivation world.
Everything had to be approached step by step.
Yang Jinshu stood at the podium and said, "All the techniques listed on this form are available for you to choose for cultivation. But be careful not to overextend yourselves. Each person is limited to choosing five techniques for cultivation within one year, and you must select at least five."
Her tone was firm, but she quickly followed up with an explanation:
"Some of you had cultivation experience before joining Lingxian Sect, so you might have already heard about the harsh realities of the cultivation world. I must remind you all that even though we are now cultivating high-level mental techniques, the further you go, the harder it becomes to progress, and you will encounter bottlenecks.
"Without experience and wisdom gained from the outside world, it's impossible to continue advancing smoothly. Eventually, we will have to leave the sect and venture out for training. But if you have no combat techniques, even with a high cultivation base, you could easily fall into danger in the cruel outside world. That's why the teaching group has decided that offering these technique courses is essential. Please take this seriously, choose wisely, and focus on your cultivation."
Many disciples were surprised that Elder Yang was worried they might resist the idea of learning techniques and had taken the time to explain things so thoroughly.
They quickly responded in unison, reassuring her that they would diligently study the techniques.
Yang Jinshu nodded in satisfaction and instructed them to select their five techniques by dinner that day and hand the forms to Baishu, who would deliver them to the teaching group in the library.
After that, she began the day's lesson.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, He Yi, who had left the capital nearly a month ago, finally arrived outside Xiushui Village at a leisurely pace.
From a distance, he noticed that construction seemed to be underway.
Despite this, a steady stream of tourists continued to visit the village.
From the main road leading to the village, there was hardly a moment without people passing by.
This was vastly different from the rural villages He Yi had seen in the mortal world.
However, having heard numerous stories about Lingxian Sect along the way, he understood.
The reputation of this sect in this country seemed to far surpass that of the other three local sects.
He Yi gazed at the bustling Xiushui Village ahead and the towering mountains beyond. He knew that the legendary Lingxian Sect was nestled among those peaks.
There was no need for him to ask around—every traveler he encountered spoke of nothing else.
It was almost impossible not to know.
The weather was fine, and though it was a bit chilly, it was a perfect day for many people to go out and explore. As a result, the village was filled with tourists.
He Yi concealed his aura and blended in with the tourists, walking with the crowd into Xiushui Village.
As he approached, he suddenly felt a subtle sensation and instinctively looked toward the tail end of the Northern Mountain Range.
Although it was faint, he was certain that a concentrated source of yin energy was located there.
He Yi's eyebrows rose slightly.
It seemed he was on the right track.
With a slight movement of his hand, he summoned a spirit talisman and whispered, "Go."
The talisman flew toward the tail end of the mountain range.
The people around him were completely unaware.
He Yi retracted his gaze and prepared to explore the village like any other tourist. However, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something unusual.
He looked up in disbelief, staring into the sky ahead.
In the distance, something small and faint was visible among the clouds.
He focused his eyes.
It was…
A floating island?!
He was momentarily shocked. The people around him, seeing him looking up, also glanced skyward, but being mere mortals, they saw nothing unusual and continued on their way.
He Yi snapped out of his daze, collected his thoughts, and pretended as if nothing had happened, blending back into the crowd of tourists.
But inwardly, he could not remain calm.
He had never expected a mortal sect to possess a floating island.
Before coming here, he had researched the mortal world extensively.
Based on the information he had gathered, he had come to the conclusion that the cultivation sects and cultivators in the mortal world were rather impoverished. He had even felt there was a mysterious force limiting the development of cultivators and sects in the mortal world.
He wasn't sure what this force was, but he had his suspicions.
And yet, now, he had stumbled upon a floating island… in Lingxian Sect, a sect within the mortal realm.