"It's not that our five great sects are difficult to find, but rather that since the ancient primordial era, the matter of inheritance has been a major headache for us. A powerful immortal art must have a powerful fundamental reason for its existence. I've already told you about the different types of spirit roots," the gray-robed old man said to Li Yan with a wry smile.
After hearing this, Li Yan thought for a moment and said, "Miscellaneous Spirit Root, Profound Spirit Root, Earth Spirit Root, Heaven Spirit Root, Saint Spirit Root, and Variant Spirit Root."
The gray-robed old man nodded. "Yes, those are the types. However, those are just for other sects. The ancestors of our five sects created these five great ancient sects, and the requirements for people to learn these immortal arts are different from other sects. This is precisely the reason for the power of our techniques."
Li Yan nodded at this. Although he was young, he understood this principle. There was no such thing as a free lunch. Good things must have their fundamental requirements. But he didn't say much, just quietly waited for the old man to continue.
The old man glanced at him and continued, "From the names of these five sects, you should be able to guess that our five sects correspond to the attributes with the most sensitive perception within the five elements."
Li Yan nodded. This was not difficult to guess. He said, "Like the Yi Wood Immortal Sect, its immortal arts must have been created for the wood attribute element, so it is best cultivated by people with a constitution that is good at sensing wood spiritual qi. The Ding Fire Immortal Sect should be mainly focused on fire attribute immortal arts, so it is mostly cultivated by people who are sensitive to fire spiritual qi. As for your Gui Water Immortal Sect, a water attribute constitution would naturally be better."
The old man sighed. "You've only guessed a part of it correctly. While the immortal arts we five sects cultivate do correspond to our strongest perceived five-element attribute, we are different from all other sects. We do not require a Saint Spirit Root. Instead, we require a person to possess all five-element attributes simultaneously to cultivate."
At this point, the old man paused and looked at Li Yan. He saw that Li Yan was only momentarily stunned but did not ask any questions, just furrowed his brow in thought, seemingly considering what he had just said. He couldn't help but praise him inwardly. 'This child has a stable and thoughtful nature.'
Li Yan was indeed thinking about the meaning of the old man's words. The old man meant that their five ancient sects required people who could simultaneously sense the five basic elements of heaven and earth. But this constitution should be the most looked-down-upon Miscellaneous Spirit Root in the cultivation world. Putting aside why they needed this Miscellaneous Spirit Root that other sects didn't want, which should be related to the cultivation of the five immortal sects' immortal arts, this shouldn't be very difficult to find. According to the old man's previous description, although the population of the Spirit Immortal Realm was relatively small, it should still be possible to find such people based on probability. Moreover, with cultivators from the Spirit Immortal Realm later coming to the Mortal Realm to establish their legacies, this would have further increased the probability of finding them. But why did the old man say that inheritance was the biggest headache for their five sects?
"This is the greatest secret of our five great ancient sects. Although we require people with a Miscellaneous Spirit Root constitution, this is not an ordinary Miscellaneous Spirit Root. A Miscellaneous Spirit Root naturally means that the body is sensitive to the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. We not only require a person to possess these five-element attributes, but these five-element attributes must also be arranged in order of strength according to the generating cycle. The generating cycle of the five elements is 'Water generates Wood, Wood generates Fire, Fire generates Earth, Earth generates Metal, and Metal generates Water... an endless cycle of generation.' Therefore, the five-element attributes in a cultivator's body must also be arranged in order of strength according to this generating cycle. For example, the 'Xin Metal Immortal Sect' is based on 'Metal,' so the arrangement of the five elements in the cultivator's body must be 'Metal, Water, Wood, Fire, Earth.' The strongest sensitivity to the spiritual qi of heaven and earth should be 'Metal,' followed by 'Water,' and then 'Wood, Fire, and Earth.' If the sensitivity of a later element is stronger than a preceding one, then one cannot cultivate the immortal art of the 'Xin Metal Immortal Sect.' Similarly, for our 'Gui Water Immortal Sect,' the order of sensitivity to the spiritual qi of heaven and earth is 'Water, Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal,' with the strength also decreasing in that order. Only then can one cultivate our sect's immortal art."
After hearing this, Li Yan already understood the meaning from the gray-robed old man's words. For an ordinary cultivator, just in this Mortal Realm, one might be found in a hundred thousand people. No matter what kind of spirit root, this was already an extremely low probability. And if, within this already extremely low probability group, one were to screen for a Miscellaneous Spirit Root, it was uncertain if one could even be found in a million people. And finally, from this person who had appeared as if by sifting sand from the great waves, one would still have to find someone with the generating constitution formed by the five elements generating cycle. The probability of that... was self-evident.
He had also learned some simple mathematics. To find someone with this sequence of arrangement, it would be the will of the heavens if one could be found in over a billion people. He imagined that even the Spirit Immortal Realm would not be much better off. He really didn't know how they had managed to pass down their lineage.
The old man saw the look of understanding on Li Yan's face, sighed, and said again, "Therefore, each generation of our five sects must expend a great deal of effort to find the next generation's successor. Each generation basically has only a single heir or a few people. On the one hand, we have to cultivate the great dao. The time spent on cultivation is less in the beginning, but later it is measured in decades and centuries. A single session of closed-door cultivation could be for dozens or hundreds of years. To us, this is just a flick of a finger.
Therefore, besides cultivation time, the time for going out to find a suitable successor can only be concentrated in a certain period. Thus, we go out intermittently, and in the eyes of the world, we naturally have little contact. As for why we don't open our doors wide to recruit disciples, that method was tried in ancient times with little success. It's not as fast as us going out and using our divine sense to scan low-level cultivators. So, this special type of Miscellaneous Spirit Root constitution is precisely the problem that is difficult for us to solve."
Hearing this, Li Yan's expression froze, as if he had thought of something. The old man saw his expression at a glance. As if knowing what he was thinking, he smiled at him and said, "That 'teacher' of yours is not from my sect. What he said about the 'Woodshadow Sect' also requiring a special constitution and so on was just to hide the fact that he was looking for someone with a spirit root, to make others think it was just a special condition for a reclusive martial world sect to recruit disciples."
Li Yan was silent. He was already beginning to have doubts about this teacher of his. Before accepting him as a disciple, hiding the matter of spirit roots from the world was understandable. After all, cultivators were too shocking for ordinary mortals. But since he had already entered his tutelage, to continue to hide it could be said to be for ulterior motives.
The old man naturally knew what Li Yan was thinking at this moment. He sighed at him and said, "Although this Strategist Ji's magical power is not worth mentioning in the eyes of most cultivators, this person is truly a formidable character. We'll talk about his matter later."
Li Yan nodded, knowing that the old man had other things to say.
"Our five sects rarely show ourselves to the world. Firstly, our numbers are small, unlike other immortal sects that can basically recruit anyone with a spirit root. Secondly, the cultivation world is a place where the strong prey on the weak. If you don't have great strength, being alone outside, being killed for your treasures, or dying in a pointless fight is very common. So, those of our five sects who go out to find a sect's successor must cultivate to a point where they can protect themselves, generally at least to the Body Integration stage. If one goes out with too weak magical power, the probability of falling is very high. Our five sects cannot afford such a thing; our numbers are already too small.
With the disciples of the five sects being so difficult to find, as the world changed, we naturally began to slowly decline. In my time, our five sects began to send people out to find successors from the late Spirit Transformation stage. Fortunately, the immortal arts we cultivate are powerful, and other sects of the same realm rarely have an opponent who can match us. Killing them is like slaughtering chickens and dogs. Even if we face three or five people of the same realm at the same time, we can still win. It's not even impossible to kill an enemy a whole great realm above us." As he said this, a look of pride appeared on the gray-robed old man's face. A domineering air faintly appeared on his haggard face, showing his pride in the immortal arts he cultivated.
"The reason we considered going out to find a successor at the Spirit Transformation stage was, first, of course, out of necessity. Disciples are hard to find. Second, in the cultivation world, cultivators at the Body Integration stage and above rarely show themselves. At this stage, they are basically trying their best to improve their strength and realm. Most of their time is spent in life-or-death closed-door cultivation or going to some extremely dangerous places to find their own opportunities. Unless their family or sect is at a critical moment of life and death, they will not easily show themselves. Under such circumstances, if we go out to find a successor at the late Spirit Transformation stage, we can barely manage to protect ourselves. But at this time, we will not reveal our sect's identity, to avoid unnecessary trouble. Those ignorant cultivators have been coveting our five sects' immortal arts for a long time. This is also the reason why the outside world has only seen masters from our five sects at the Body Integration, Tribulation Transcendence, and even Great Ascension stages. But even so, it is still extremely difficult to find a successor. Sometimes we have to cross vast regional continents, or even cross the boundary between two realms to find disciples. And because of this, it is very likely to encounter more powerful enemies and chaotic spatial currents. Thus, some of the masters from the five sects who went out to find successors never came back, and may have already fallen outside. Our five sects became even more withered." As he said this, the old man's voice became a little low. He slowly raised his head to look at the sky, his face full of loneliness, as if reminiscing.
Li Yan did not dare to interrupt. But after a moment, the old man withdrew his gaze, swept a glance at Li Yan, and continued, "Two million years ago, my Gui Water lineage was also left with only me. At that time, there was no news from the other four sects. I thought they had already gone before me." A trace of sadness and nostalgia appeared on the old man's face. Memories flooded his mind. Although there were occasional disputes between the five sects at that time, they had been relying on and accompanying each other since ancient times, sharing the same breath, cultivating together, and traveling the martial world together. The past was like smoke. The long years had passed just like that. And now that he had woken up, everything was over, as if it had all been a dream.
When Li Yan heard the words "two million years ago," an incredulous expression appeared on his calm face. Could a person in this world live for millions of years? This was such a fantasy, yet it was being said right in front of him. But for some reason, he already felt that he believed it. This thought rose in his heart, making even himself greatly surprised.
The gray-robed old man paused for a moment, shook his head slightly, as if to shake off the memories in his mind, and then looked up at Li Yan, a trace of relief in his heart.
"More than two million years ago, I was in closed-door cultivation for a hundred years. When I came out, the other four sects were already empty and overgrown with weeds. Only Fairy Ning Ke of the Yi Wood Immortal Sect had left a jade slip, telling me that she had reached the Void Refining realm after coming out of seclusion. She had waited here for seventy years, and there was no news from the other three sects. Seeing that I had not come out of seclusion either, she also went out to find a successor. But after she left, we never had any contact again." The gray-robed old man's expression dimmed. But at this time, his figure had become a little more blurry than before, and his facial expression was also beginning to become unclear. Li Yan did not notice.
Li Yan heard this, opened his mouth, but then felt it was not appropriate to interrupt the old man's narration at this moment. But what kind of person was that old man? He stopped his narration and asked, "Is there anything you don't understand?"
Li Yan stammered, "What is a jade slip?"
The old man was stunned to hear this, and then he gave a self-deprecating smile. "Hehe, I forgot that you know nothing about the cultivation world." The people he had come into contact with before, who didn't know these basic cultivation knowledge? But Li Yan was a complete rookie.
"Then let me briefly explain it to you. A jade slip is like a book among you mortals. It is a special jade material that is difficult to damage. Unlike paper books, the text, images, and sounds inside can only be carved and written by cultivators using their divine sense. You could say that as long as the jade slip is not damaged, it can be preserved forever, unlike paper which is not easy to preserve. Oh, right, and divine sense. Divine sense is actually spiritual power, intent. It's just that cultivators, through cultivation, have cultivated their spiritual power to a point where it has a certain substantial power. Your current spiritual power has also been cultivated to the initial stage of having a divine sense, but it is too weak to form a substance, let alone be released outside your body. Generally, a divine sense will be generated at the third layer of the Qi Condensation stage, but its coverage is relatively small, about a few zhang. At that time, it can be released outside the body and can be used to carve text and images or sounds in a jade slip. In addition, it can also be used in place of eyes and ears to see and hear the world. The stronger the divine sense, the wider the range of what you can see and hear. Oh, right, that Strategist Ji is at the third layer of Qi Condensation. He is already a person who can release his divine sense outside his body. Although it is only a few zhang, he can already see what you are doing and hear what you are saying within a certain range without using his eyes or ears, and even clearer than seeing with his eyes or hearing with his ears." As he said this, the old man looked at Li Yan with a half-smile.