With a simple mental command from Aotian, in the hall reserved for summoning by Tian Zhu, humanoid-shaped white lights shone for an instant before fading. In their place, a large number of cultivators appeared, exuding powerful auras… despite being dressed in rags.
In total, 56 people were there.
'Damn, from 16 to 72 avatars at once, what an incredible leap!' Aotian thought, excited.
At the center of the group, an elderly man with a long white beard caught his attention.
Aotian focused on him and clenched his fists.
'So strong! So incredible!' he thought, looking at the clenched fist of his avatar.
Aotian then observed his avatar's mental space. Inside, a miniature version of the old man sat cross-legged, eyes closed.
'Nascent Soul!' Upon seeing it, he instinctively knew what it was.
All of this was simply incredible to Aotian. After all, these were things he had only read about in his previous life, but now they were right before his eyes.
He also realized that the difference in strength between the Golden Core and the Nascent Soul was tremendous, far beyond the simple progression of the previous realms.
If before it was a power leap, now it was a leap within a leap.
'Cultivation seems to be divided into stages. The first three realms were very focused on the physical body, but the fourth realm already deals with the spiritual… well, so far, nothing too different from what I knew from Earth's books.'
Aotian pondered, but then frowned upon noticing something.
'Where is the dantian?' He was startled when he couldn't find the dantian in the avatar's body.
But then, his gaze subconsciously fell on the Nascent Soul, floating calmly there.
'There?'
Testing his connection with the small Nascent Soul, he soon realized that it had taken over the role of the dantian, storing and releasing spiritual energy as needed.
'I see… That's why Nascent Soul cultivators can temporarily abandon their bodies. The Nascent Soul is actually the dantian itself, transformed. The dantian is the vital core of any living being. Without it, in other words, without vitality, something cannot remain alive and conscious.'
With this analysis, he began to unravel the mysteries of the Nascent Soul realm.
'So that's how it is! Qi Refinement strengthens the dantian. Foundation Establishment solidifies it. The Golden Core transforms it into something independent of the body, allowing cultivators to expel it to enhance attacks, as the Golden Core is actually the dantian itself. And by using it directly, the attack becomes more powerful, without the need to channel energy through spiritual roots, releasing everything at once. But that's also why damaging the Golden Core is so dangerous.'
His eyes shone with each new understanding.
'Then, upon breaking through to Nascent Soul, the soul merges with the dantian. With this, both consciousness and the vital core come to reside in the Nascent Soul, making the physical body just a vessel. Still, the spiritual roots are necessary to absorb and refine energy from the environment, which is why they cannot live and cultivate solely in the Nascent Soul state. Probably, direct attacks with the Nascent Soul can only be performed with spells that don't rely on elements… but to be sure, I need specific spells for this realm.'
As he reflected, a thought crossed his mind, making his heart race.
'Perhaps achieving immortality means no longer depending on a physical body to exist. At that stage, the flesh would no longer be a limitation, and thus, immortality would be achieved! But… does a soul have an unlimited lifespan?'
He shook his head. The Immortality Realm was still far away.
Besides, he was only making assumptions based on what he had read in his past life. He didn't even know if it was true that Nascent Souls couldn't live and cultivate solely in their soul state.
Turning his attention back to the other avatars, he counted fifteen Inner Elders and forty Outer Elders.
In total, the Infinite Dao Sect now possessed:
- 1 Nascent Soul Ancestral.
- 1 Sect Leader at the Golden Core.
- 20 Inner Elders at Foundation Establishment.
- 50 Outer Elders at Qi Refinement.
'Now we finally look like a proper sect!'
Aotian thought, satisfied, but then hesitated as he reflected on something.
'Even so… it seems a bit unbalanced. A sect that has a Nascent Soul Ancestral but actually only has one Golden Core cultivator?'
He paused and reconsidered.
'No… I'm calculating this wrong! Actually, we're a Golden Core sect that has a Nascent Soul Ancestral. We're really good, to be honest.'
He got excited again.
'If you think about it, we're even discreet and humble.'
Amused by his own thoughts, Aotian refocused on the present.
Ding!
[Host, you have forty-five Outer Elders and one Ancestor without a position. Just like the Outer Elders, Ancestors also receive different position bonuses depending on the pavilion they are affiliated with.]
"Huh? Ancestors too? Then I have to see which pavilion suits him." Aotian was surprised and turned his attention back to the newly summoned Inner Elders, curious to see what was new.
This time, however, elders from repeated pavilions were also summoned, so there weren't fifteen new pavilions. Overall, a new elder had appeared for each of the already existing pavilions.
The Punishment, Treasure, Alchemy, Refinement, and Formation Pavilions now had two elders each, totaling ten avatars.
As for the new pavilions, they were as follows:
- Talisman Pavilion
- Sword Pavilion
- Missions Pavilion
- Beasts Pavilion
- Heritage Pavilion
Each of these pavilions also had two avatars.
'What a headache... there are so many. It's a happy headache, but creating distinct personalities for all of them is going to be a pain.' Aotian thought, his expression mixing happiness and bitterness.
He began analyzing the statuses.
'The statuses of the elders from the existing pavilions are more or less the same. As for the new ones... they seem quite interesting.'
Aotian focused on the positions of the new Inner Elders.
[Position: Elder of the Talisman Pavilion
Cultivation: 7th level of Foundation Establishment (1 major realm above the host)
Position Skill: Talisman Derivation.
Position Bonus: Talisman Master (Talisman quality increased by 2.5x → 3x)]
--------------------------------------------
[Position: Elder of the Sword Pavilion
Cultivation: 7th level of Foundation Establishment (1 Major Realm above the Host)
Position Skill: Sword Intent Synthesis.
Position Bonus: Battle Beyond the Boundary (Power increased by 2.5x → 3x)]
--------------------------------------------
[Position: Elder of the Missions Pavilion
Cultivation: 7th level of Foundation Establishment (1 Major Realm above the Host)
Position Skill: Danger Intuition.
Position Bonus: Analytical Mind (Mental Processing increased by 2.5x → 3x)]
--------------------------------------------
[Position: Elder of the Beasts Pavilion
Cultivation: 7th level of Foundation Establishment (1 Major Realm above the Host)
Position Skill: Beast Dominion.
Position Bonus: Beast Master (Power of Created Beast increased by 2.5x → 3x)]
--------------------------------------------
[Position: Elder of the Heritage Pavilion
Cultivation: 7th level of Foundation Establishment (1 Major Realm above the Host)
Position Skill: Knowledge Master.
Position Bonus: Gift of Teaching (Knowledge Transmission increased by 2.5x → 3x)]
'Well, some seem obvious, but I'll need to test them to fully understand. Also, the position bonuses increased by 0.5x again, as the sect leveled up. Now, about the Ancestor... what should I do?'
Aotian pondered and turned his attention to the Ancestor's status.
[Name: Bao Wuji (Meaning: Limitless Treasure)
Position: Sect Ancestor
Cultivation: 7th level of Nascent Soul (3 Major Realms above the Host)
Position Skill: No position.
Position Bonus: No position.]
'Well, I have to say, this name reminds me of a certain avatar... It's decided! You'll be Bao Hui's grandpa!' Aotian thought, amused by the name and making his decision without hesitation.
'Now, what position should I give you? Since the Outer Elder receives a lower version of the Inner Elder's position, the Ancestor must be the opposite… a superior version. I have to think… What do I need most right now?'
Aotian reflected with difficulty.
'Techniques? Materials? Inheritances? Spells? Ugh, this is hard, it feels like I need all kinds of treasures… wait! Treasures?!'
He furrowed his brows and then looked again at the Ancestor's name.
[Name: Bao Wuji (Meaning: Limitless Treasure)]
Then, he checked the status of the Outer Elder from the Treasure Pavilion.
[Name: Gu Jian (Meaning: Ancient Mirror)
Position: Outer Elder (Treasure Pavilion)
Cultivation: 7th level of Qi Refinement (Host's Realm)
Position Skill: Treasure Heart.
Affiliation Skill: Commerce Affinity.
Position Bonus: Treasure Radar (4 times per day)]
'It seems like it's the Bao family's destiny to belong to the Treasure Pavilion… What I need most now are techniques and materials, but Gu Jian's realm is simply too weak. This limits the range of his ability to find good treasures. But if Bao Wuji has the same ability…'
The more he thought, the more excited he became.
'System, can't you show me a preview of what the Ancestor's status would look like if he were associated with the Treasure Pavilion?' Aotian mentally pleaded. He wanted to avoid having to gamble blindly.
Ding!
[Sorry, Host, the information you requested is not available.]
Aotian sighed, already expecting this response. He had tried many times before to extract answers from the system, but it seemed like the system itself didn't know much.
Resigned, he could only make his decision on his own.
'Haah! Well, I have no choice but to take the risk. System, associate the ancestor with…'