“Every single knight in the formation plays a vital role. Everyone has a job to do and he must do it since every knight is a vital link in the great chain.”

A couple of miles!

Qai’s Spiritual Sense actually doubled.

Such extent was actually comparable to ordinary late Foundation Establishment stage cultivators.

Apparently when he spread his Spiritual Sense, he could almost cover a tenth of the entire mountain downward starting from his spot at the peak.

‘I wonder if, by the time I reached the great circle of Foundation Establishment stage, my Spiritual Sense could reach the city.’

He shook his head at such thought and stood up from his position. And as he stepped outside his manor, he looked towards the horizon.

Qai screamed deep inside his heart.

He was practically burning in excitement for finally stepping beyond the limits of mortality.

‘A total of 300 years. And 200 years to search for a way to breakthrough to the next realm.’

Core Formation stage was still a long shot but he was already looking that far ahead.

Qai, of course, had committed in his heart everything he learned starting from Old Bu, to the inner disciples, Elder Li, personal reading and many others—so he was aware that he only had 200 productive cultivation years to advance.

And to be considered a true genius, he must achieve such feat within 2 60-year life cycles.

Meanwhile, Ji Wuheng came as soon as Qai stepped outside.

Surprisingly, Ji Wuheng was himself riding on a flying sword when he approached.

“Congratulations brother Ji Wuheng for successfully making a breakthrough.”

“Haha, it’s all thanks to you. But I can see that brother Qai has successfully become a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator as well.”

Qai simply nodded and smiled at Ji Wuheng.

“What about our young recruits!? How are they doing?”

“Brother Qai, when you told everyone some months ago that you will attempt to breakthrough, everyone followed suit with you and also went into their own closed-door cultivation.”

“That’s good to know.”

“But that boy Fang Zhao was a monster himself. With our resources here, he is now at level 7 in the Qi Condensation stage and he’s barely 15 years old.”

Qai was stunned when he heard the news.

That's 2 levels in, more or less, just 3 months!

“Perhaps if he was born in bigger clans, he could be a Foundation Establishment stage right now just like the other geniuses back in the sect.”

“You said it right brother Qai. But don't leave out the 2 girls just yet, they also made a breakthrough themselves. Those Fang youngsters are sure talented.”

“Then tell them to focus right now in their chosen auxiliary cultivation. Strength alone is not everything in the path of Dao. These recruits did not much have the privilege to listen to some words of wisdom from elite cultivators like we had back in the sect. In this Saints Hall, we should guide them in any way we can, unworthy though we are.”

Ji Wuheng blinked his eyes as he intently looked at Qai.

“Ah!? Brother Qai, how come you become so profound all of a sudden?”

“Haha, brother Ji Wuheng, I was just stating the obvious. Besides we have Old Ye Mo here who has more experience in cultivation. He’s the oldest here, so I am of the belief that he is rich in knowledge.”

The 2 thus flew on their flying sword and Guandao respectively and went to visit the rest of their group.

On their way to meeting the Crag Brothers, Qai suddenly thought of an idea.

So once they arrived, he immediately told the older Teng, Teng Gui, to look for a way to acquire a method to determine one’s Spirit Roots.

Back in his time in the Precious Tree Sect, he never saw such a device so he had no idea what kind of treasure can do such a procedure.

“Young master, do you mean the Spirit Roots detector!?”

“Yes, I want to recruit a group of children with Spirit Roots. My thoughts are to groom a group of cultivators but we shall train them young and pour a portion of our resources to them. But I want children who have no family ties.”

Qai then turned to the younger Teng, Teng Hu, and looked at him intently.

“So this will be your task, Teng Hu. I want you to gather as many orphans as you can from the city and nearby villages and we will sort out which of them would end up with Spirit Roots. But only gather children who are 4 to 6 years old.”

“Right away, young master.”

“Brother Ji Wuheng, I want you to send me all the Jade slips and manuals that we acquired from our spoils. I want to check which of them offers the fastest cultivation method and perhaps I could also find a skill technique that uses spears.”

The 3 did not understand what Qai was really up to but they all immediately went their separate ways and heeded Qai’s orders.

Meanwhile, Qai also went to see the 3 young Fang cultivators and checked on their cultivation progress. During which, he gave them some tips and, as planned, encouraged them to grab the opportunity to hone their chosen auxiliary cultivation early.

He also went to see Old Ye Mo but did not give any advice. Instead, he told him to focus on cultivation more and until he achieved the great circle of Foundation Establishment stage.

“Old Ye Mo, part of my vision is to one day produce Core Formation stage elders in my Spirit Hall. It is not impossible to believe that there will come a time that we will be able to acquire treasures to help us cross that boundary to the next realm.”

The old cultivator only had a smile filled with gratitude.

His looks revealed that he was already beyond 100 years old and he appeared to be racing with time to beat that 200-year mark.

During his captivity under the bandits, he seemed to have already lost hope to achieve such a realm.

But now that his new young master was offering an opportunity, he intentionally showed some vigor.

“While we need your expertise in tool refinement, we need your strength and wisdom more in the decades to come. So I would like you to prioritize your cultivation rather than your refining skills these coming days.”

However, despite his encouragement, Qai also gave Old Ye Mo a task on the side, to refine as much Robe Armors and Spears as he could.

Thereafter, Qai left the old cultivator’s place filled with enigma.

For some reason he felt his words of inspiration fell on deaf ears.

At any rate, when he arrived in his own manor, Ji Wuheng came with a storage pouch containing all the manuals and Jade slips their group collected.

Qai sorted them out for an entire day and finally chose two Jade slips.

The first one contained a cultivation technique that can guarantee a cultivator to achieve the great circle of Qi Condensation stage shockingly in just 10 years and the great circle of Foundation Establishment stage in another 10.

It was called ‘Purple Blood Cultivation’ method—and it required one to sacrifice blood essence in exchange for cultivation speed.

Apparently, it also provided a ‘Bloodlust’ ability, which as the name suggested, could arouse the desire of the cultivator for bloodshed and carnage in the heat of battle.

Surprisingly, it came from the Core Formation stage Devil Dao cultivator they recently killed.

‘That fast!?’

Unfortunately, using such a technique would actually prevent one from forming a core making the peak of Foundation Establishment stage its limit.

‘Well, this technique should serve the purpose of my plan.’

The second Jade slip contained a spear arts named ‘Heaven Obscuring Spear.’

It only provided two moves, ‘Dragon Thrust’ and ‘Wave Slash.’

But for Qai, the fewer the moves, the better. In fact, he specifically chose the technique precisely because it only had 2 moves.

In his mind, the cultivators he would be assembling should be able to fight in line formation—therefore, it required synchronized attack—and it wouldn't do good if the skill employed could hurt the one standing beside the cultivator.

‘With these 2 techniques, I can now start grooming my army of knights!’