Zhang Yang's words left those who had already joined the Azurecloud Sect feeling uneasy.

When they came to the Azurecloud Sect to participate in the assessment, they knew that immortal cultivation required talent. They thought that since they had all joined the Azurecloud Sect, there would be no assessment, but unexpectedly, the assessment was right here.

However, hearing Zhang Yang's assurance, they felt much more at ease.

No matter what, they were already members of the Azurecloud Sect, and that was enough for them.

"Senior Brother, please test our talents!" Wang Baole stepped forward and said proactively.

Zhang Yang glanced at Wang Baole and continued, "Before you begin your cultivation, I need to explain the stages of cultivation and the general methods.

The most crucial step in immortal cultivation is Foundation Establishment, which signifies that you can embark on the path of cultivation.

Foundation Establishment is just a general term, and it actually involves several steps: Qi Gathering, Body Tempering, Sea-parting, and Dao Seed.

Qi Gathering is about sensing the spiritual qi of heaven and earth and absorbing it into your body.

At this step, talent starts to show.

Some people have good talent, strong perception of spiritual qi, and can easily enter the Qi Gathering step; others have weak perception of spiritual qi, and even just the Qi Gathering step can take a lot of time; some can't sense spiritual qi at all, making cultivation impossible."

The crowd felt a sense of resonance, yet they understood.

How can one cultivate immortality if they can't even sense spiritual qi?

"Once Qi Gathering is successful, the next step is to use the spiritual qi to continuously purify the body's impurities, making the body increasingly pure. This step is relatively less important, as there are many herbs that can assist in purifying the body.

After the body is purified, the next step is to open the Spirit Sea.

Opening the Spirit Sea involves different techniques.

At this point, you can receive the techniques you wish to cultivate from the sect and open your own Spirit Sea.

Once the Spirit Sea is successfully opened through techniques, and a Dao Seed is nurtured within the empty Spirit Sea, that's when you truly establish your foundation.

Even just Foundation Establishment involves these four difficult steps, with two major hurdles.

Therefore, before you embark on the path of immortal cultivation, I must remind you that if you lack sufficient perseverance and confidence, it's better to abandon this idea early."

Wang Baole smiled and said, "Senior Brother, since we've all decided to participate in the assessment, we surely have the confidence and perseverance."

"Yes, we won't let Senior Brother down!"

"Please trust us, Senior Brother."

Voices rose one after another.

Zhang Yang raised his hand to signal everyone to quiet down, then continued, "The reason I'm telling you this is because Foundation Establishment is something that mostly relies on oneself. The sect can only provide you with some herbs for body tempering and some experience in Foundation Establishment.

Only when you succeed in Foundation Establishment and begin to step into the Golden Core realm can the sect provide you with the greatest help.

Here, I'll also give you an overview of the Golden Core realm, so you have a vision of the path ahead.

The Golden Core realm also has three steps: Core Formation, Core Tempering, and Core Nurturing.

The Core Formation process is about condensing the Dao Seed into a Golden Core.

Once Core Formation is successful, you can perceive the Laws of Heaven and Earth and thus travel through the air.

After successful Core Formation, your lifespan can also extend, living for hundreds of years is not a problem.

Core Formation is actually not that difficult; I'm at the Core Formation stage, so there's hope for everyone."

The crowd's eyes widened, almost drooling.

Jiang Zhiqiu, standing nearby, was taken aback and muttered to himself, is Core Formation really that easy?

He spent over twenty years just to achieve Core Formation!

Despite his youthful appearance, he's actually over a hundred years old, having spent a fifth of his life on Core Formation!

"After the Golden Core, there's the Nascent Soul Stage, Divine Soul Stage, Dao Integration Stage, and the subsequent Tribulation Crossing Stage, but these are too far for us to consider right now.

Oh, let me introduce you to this fellow beside me, your senior brother, Jiang Zhiqiu. He's also a new member of the sect, but his realm is even higher than mine, having reached the Core Tempering stage." Zhang Yang took the opportunity to introduce Jiang Zhiqiu to everyone, "Come, greet your senior brother! He's quite wealthy, and if he's in a good mood, he might reward you with a Spirit Stone. The rich spiritual qi in Spirit Stones can greatly aid your Qi Gathering."

"Greetings, Senior Brother!"

Wang Baole quickly saluted, and the others hurriedly followed suit, eagerly looking at Jiang Zhiqiu.

"Hello, fellow junior brothers and sisters!" Jiang Zhiqiu quickly responded, then gave each person five Spirit Stones.

He had tens of thousands of Spirit Stones on him, so even giving out five to each person only amounted to a few hundred, which was nothing to him.

Those who received the Spirit Stones were all elated, and their enthusiasm for Jiang Zhiqiu grew even stronger.

Having just joined the Azurecloud Sect, Jiang Zhiqiu began to feel a sense of belonging to his senior brother role.

And this was Zhang Yang's intention.

Otherwise, he wouldn't mind giving away a few hundred Spirit Stones.

"After receiving the Spirit Stones, make full use of the spiritual qi within them to quickly succeed in Qi Gathering!" Zhang Yang reminded everyone, "However, besides cultivating, you also need to help the sect with some tasks. For instance, there's a need to build houses recently, and the entire sect is in disarray, so you need to tidy it up.

Additionally, you can collect herbs and hand them over to the sect, and these can count towards your contributions.

In the future, when you need to receive items from the sect, you can exchange them for these contributions."

When he first came up the mountain, the Seven Sons of Azurecloud took care of all his cultivation needs.

But now that the Azurecloud Sect had more people, they couldn't just give things away directly.

The crowd had no objections; they felt this was probably how the sect should operate.

"Alright, everyone disperse. Those who need to cultivate, go cultivate; those who need to work, go work." Zhang Yang waved his hand to signal everyone to disperse, then turned to Jiang Zhiqiu and said, "Junior Brother, I'll take you to the Scripture Repository to choose a technique."

Jiang Zhiqiu quickly thanked him, "Thank you, Senior Brother!"

***

Zhang Yang led Jiang Zhiqiu past the main hall, heading to a tall tower behind it, explaining as they walked, "This is the Azurecloud Scripture Repository, containing various cultivation techniques of the Azurecloud Sect. The first floor has Foundation Establishment techniques, the second floor has Golden Core techniques, and the third floor has Nascent Soul techniques.

You're currently at the Core Tempering stage, so you can only choose techniques from the second floor."

Jiang Zhiqiu looked at the five-story tower, feeling a sense of awe.

Especially upon entering the second floor and seeing the rows of jade slips, his heart was filled with astonishment.

He knew exactly what this meant.

As a rogue cultivator, other cultivation resources were manageable, but techniques were always a significant limitation.

Without a lineage, it was difficult enough to find a good technique, let alone have something to cultivate.

Yet the Azurecloud Sect had so many Golden Core techniques, almost like cabbages.

This was the foundation of a great sect.

In fact, this was also why he so readily agreed when Zhang Yang invited him to join the Azurecloud Sect.

----------------------------------------

Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan