After they entered, Fu Hongling quickly urged Zhao Jiuge to cultivate and said, “You haven’t even condensed your spirit core yet, and Sha Sha has already reached the Nascent Soul Realm.”

She was judging Zhao Jiuge with her gaze. When she saw Zhao Jiuge’s expression, she laughed.

Zhao Jiuge thought to himself,“Is a spirit core so simple to condense? How many people have been stuck at this point?”Zhao Jiuge knew that his own talent was limited. If not for the extraordinary Sanskrit Heart Sutra and all the fateful encounters, he wouldn’t even have reached the peak of the Foundation Realm.

Zhao Jiuge was a bit depressed, and he sat down on the wooden bed with Fu Hongling. He was cultivating, while Fu Hongling was in a daze. At her cultivation level, sitting down and cultivating like this didn’t have much use.

Outside the wooden cabin, night had fallen. Zhao Jiuge felt very happy to be sitting next to a beautiful senior sister like this. He wasn’t able to focus for a very long time. Finally, he was able to throw aside all distractions and began cultivating.

After Zhao Jiuge began to cultivate, he found the spirit force in his dantian a bit strange. Normally, after reaching the peak of the Foundation Realm, the rate at which the vortex rotated would have peaked. The increase in his spirit force should’ve been obvious, but after he absorbed the spirit force and slaughter aura from the spirit vein, he hadn’t seen much growth in his spirit force. Although he found it a bit strange, he didn’t think it was a big deal. He merely thought that this was a bottleneck.

However, Zhao Jiuge didn’t notice that the Pi Xu Jade Token he had gotten from his grandfather had changed a little. The change wasn’t big, but if one looked closely, one could see that the token had become smoother. There was a simmer of light, and if one looked at it closely, they would notice it was spirit force.

Zhao Jiuge was quickly absorbing spiritual energy and converting it into spirit force. He didn’t notice that a large portion of this spirit force was being absorbed by this jade token.

Zhao Jiuge was thinking about cultivation and didn’t rest at all, as he was completely focused on cultivation. Not only Zhao Jiuge, even Fu Hongling didn’t notice this strange phenomenon.

His cultivation method slowly cycled as he absorbed spirit force. Although his progression was slow, Zhao Jiuge couldn’t do anything about it.

Only now did Zhao Jiuge have time to think about the gift he had received. He now had two spirit treasure-grade defensive treasures. Although he couldn’t use their full power yet, they were very powerful.

Three precious treasure-grade flying swords, the Purple Ji Chaotic Thunder Armor, and the Star Shield were things he would be using. However, Zhao Jiuge felt like the Twilight Drum and the Purple Gold True Fire Gourd would become useless once he started learning the second layer of the Mysterious Heaven Sword Art. After all, with the second layer, he would have means of attack and defense with it.

Zhao Jiuge secretly decided that once he met Leng Rufeng and Luo Xie, he would give these two treasures to them. He was wondering how they were doing with their respective teachers. What had surprised him was that Luo Xie had been chosen by Elder Xue Qingfeng—this was unexpected. However, since they were also direct disciples, their futures would not be mediocre.

Aside from treasures, there were also spells. He only had the Sanskrit Divine Body, and the difficulty of condensing the golden dragons was only going to increase. When he condensed the fourth golden dragon, he was going to need treasures and resources, and each time after would become even more difficult. However, Zhao Jiuge believed that when the time arrived, there would always be a way.

Although the Sanskrit Divine Body was incomparable, it made him a bit too predictable. The sword art he had learned was only the foundation and was lacking in power. He could only rely on the Sanskrit Divine Body right now.

He took a look at these three golden dragons. After a period of recovery and nourishment, they had returned to normal. Then he looked at the vortex in his dantian and saw no signs of his spirit force liquidizing. It seemed like he was still a bit far from condensing his spirit core. However, Zhao Jiuge wondered what rank spirit core he would form after cultivating the Sanskrit Divine Body, and if any phenomenon would appear. The chances were low, but Zhao Jiuge was secretly looking forward to it.

Just like this, Zhao Jiuge maintained this posture and cultivated until dawn.

The moment light appeared, Zhao Jiuge opened his eyes to find that his senior sister was no longer on the wooden bed. He saw no trace of her in the room and somewhat confusingly opened the door. As soon as he opened the door, he saw Fu Hongling barefoot, wearing a red dress. She had her back to him while she looked into the distance. She remained motionless while quietly watching the distance.

Just like this, one person watched the distant sky while another person looked at the back of that person.

After a long time, Fu Hongling had watched enough and turned around. She immediately noticed Zhao Jiuge staring at her in a daze.

She suddenly raised her brow and her face turned a bit red while she walked toward Zhao Jiuge. Zhao Jiuge had just recovered and didn’t get to speak before Fu Hongling’s voice echoed.

“So early in the morning and already acting like this. I see that you’re far too idle. Come inside! I’ll explain to you what I know about cultivation.”

After she finished speaking, she left Zhao Jiuge there and walked into the wooden cabin. Zhao Jiuge felt helpless and followed her inside.

Seeing Zhao Jiuge follow her inside, Fu Hongling glanced at him. “In cultivation, strength is important, but knowledge is also very important. Every once in a while, you will encounter a dangerous place. If you have the knowledge, you won’t carelessly enter and throw away your life. In addition, you may encounter strange treasures, and if you lack the knowledge, you will not notice them. I’ll impart this knowledge to you. In one month, I’ll send you to Teacher, and he will teach you the sword art.”

Zhao Jiuge temporarily felt relieved that he didn’t have to cultivate during the day. Although it was nice to be with such a pretty senior sister, Fu Hongling didn’t talk much, and she constantly gave off pressure that made Zhao Jiuge feel oppressed.

Zhao Jiuge quietly climbed on to the wooden bed and listened to Fu Hongling’s explanation. When there was something he didn’t understand, he would interject and ask.

The month passed like this. Every day, Fu Hongling taught Zhao Jiuge about the terrains of the 13 provinces of the Huaxia Dynasty, including some dangerous and strange places. She also explained the distribution of power in each province, as well as the characteristics of some strange and rare treasures. All this cultivation related information was instilled into Zhao Jiuge’s mind.

Every night, Zhao Jiuge would strive to absorb more spirit force and digest all the knowledge his senior sister had imparted to him.

Zhao Jiuge noticed that whenever he cultivated, the pill he had consumed during the last test would show its effect and slowly expel the impurities from his body. The spirit force he absorbed from the spirit vein in the Profound Thunder Valley began to reappear.

Zhao Jiuge didn’t have any free time at all. The only time he had to relax was when the sun rose and the sun set. He would sit on the grass with his senior sister and watch the distant sky.

Only now did Zhao Jiuge understand that cultivation was such a boring activity. An average person would not endure this kind of loneliness. No wonder all these sects were built in the mountains, away from the world—to avoid distractions.

During this time, Zhao Jiuge constantly wondered how his senior sister lived every day like this. She didn’t talk much and hadn’t found a dao partner. Did she not feel empty?

Time quickly passed, and one month was instantly over. Zhao Jiuge had worked very hard to make up for his lack of knowledge, and he was no longer as naive as before. His strength had also increased significantly. The spirit force inside his dantian was beginning to turn liquid.

After he finished cultivating for the night, the sky became hazy and the sun slowly rose into the air. Zhao Jiuge thought today was going to be the same as usual, with his senior sister teaching him more. However, Fu Hongling didn’t follow the normal routine and continued to look into the distance.

Zhao Jiuge slowly walked next to Fu Hongling. She felt the movement beside her, and her face was not as severe as before. There was some confusion in her eyes, and she placed her hand on Zhao Jiuge’s shoulder. “Little Junior Brother, there is no need to cultivate today. Have fun playing around for a bit. This afternoon, I’ll send you over to Teacher to learn the sword art.”

He was finally able to leave Lotus Peak and go learn the sword art, but he didn’t feel happy like he thought he would. He wanted to know what was happening in the sect and how Leng Rufeng and Luo Xie were doing. However, Zhao Jiuge felt a bit unwilling to separate from Fu Hongling so suddenly. He somewhat dejectedly responded, “Oh, okay.”

Seeing Zhao Jiuge’s appearance, Fu Hongling smiled. “What’s wrong? Weren’t you feeling lonely and wanted to go out and play?”

After she finished speaking, she looked into the distance in a daze once more.

Mortals could live as they wished, but in the end, they would inevitably die.

Cultivators like them endured the loneliness and boredom of cultivation every day. However, they could live as long as the world itself and travel all over it. They would experience things mortals couldn’t even dream of.

Zhao Jiuge muttered, “I do want to go out to play, but I can’t bear to leave Senior Sister.”

Seeing Zhao Jiuge’s reluctant look, Fu Hongling felt her heart soften. She hugged Zhao Jiuge and said, “It’s not like we will never see each other again. I’ll be in the sect for a while. Cultivate well with Teacher, I’ll find time to come see you.”

“Okay.” Although Zhao Jiuge agreed, he was still a bit unhappy.

Fu Hongling continued, “When you’re strong enough, I will take you out to do missions.”

“Okay.” Zhao Jiuge still had the same expression.

Fu Hongling remained patient and said, “Then how about once you finish cultivating with Teacher, you can ask for three things from me. As long as you don’t ask for too much, I promise to help you.”

Zhao Jiuge was already moved, but he kept quiet, as if he was still unhappy.