Regarding the suggestions of the close ministers, Ji Yunfeng knew exactly what they meant. If the emperor, who was far away in the capital, was willing to loosen his grip and advance the position of the heir to the throne of the Tianwu God Dynasty to himself, then his status and authority would immediately be very different.
At the very least, the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace could no longer treat Ji Yunfeng’s requests as they did before. After all, the future emperor of the Tianwu God Dynasty was enough to be taken seriously by any high-ranking member of the Supreme Dao Lineage.
However… Although Ji Yunfeng was the most beloved son of the current emperor, there was not just one outstanding prince with exceptional abilities and powerful background. Therefore, the possibility of his wish coming true was not very high.
Of course, Qin Muling was unaware of Ji Yunfeng’s plans at the moment, and he didn’t want to know. The best way to deal with someone who was overly self-confident was to simply ignore them.
Under the thoughtful service of his senior sisters, Qin Muling continued to live the life of an immortal, with his cave and medicinal garden being the focal points. He would take a stroll in the designated medicinal gardens every day, and after finishing his cultivation, he would return to his cave on the Imperial Dao Peak. The elders would cook and prepare various top-grade ingredients, which would be inspected by Master Mu Yinghua before being served to him by his senior sisters.
With the collective endorsement of the elders, all the resources suitable for Qin Muling’s cultivation at this stage were made readily available. His only task was to eat and drink to his heart’s content, with no limit.
After being full, Qin Muling would return to his cave to refine the incredibly rich essence and blood energy from the food. At this time, his senior sisters would come over to benefit from the spiritual insights.
Of course, it wasn’t for free. Since the agreement with Qin Muling, they had to remove their clothes and put on those indescribable garments before they could practice cultivation.
“I feel like I won’t be able to control myself and will make a mistake if this continues!”
Looking at his senior sisters’ perfect and alluring bodies, Qin Muling muttered to himself.
Cheng Yulan gracefully displayed her beautiful figure and lightly spun on one foot, saying, “This is a test of whether you can withstand it, Junior Brother. Since you dared to suggest this, don’t you have any confidence in what will happen next?”
Qi Yalan adjusted the straps on her long legs and lazily said, “I think, Junior Brother, you should quickly improve your cultivation. When you reach the True Person Realm, you won’t have to endure this hardship every day.”
Qin Muling tried to push away Luo Wanqing, who was acting coquettish on top of him, and said, “Breaking through to the True Person Realm is not difficult for me, but it might take a long time for you to reach the Elemental Immortal Realm. By the time your cultivation meets the requirements, I might already be in the True One Realm.”
The higher the cultivation realm, the slower the progress and the greater the difficulty. Many cultivators spent their entire lives stuck at the Elemental Immortal Realm.
“Guardian is Here”
In comparison, his senior sisters had no shortage of resources and had the assistance of Qin Muling, an extraordinary and illogical existence. Their cultivation progressed rapidly.
So, it was very likely that Qin Muling would be waiting for them, rather than the other way around. Of course, this was not the worst outcome.
Luo Huan looked wary and said, “Junior Brother, you’re not going to find other fox spirits, are you?”
Xuebing Xuan sighed and said softly, “It’s not a matter of whether he wants to find them, but rather that those fox spirits are constantly thinking about him and trying to seduce him whenever they have the chance! And you don’t need to ask, Junior Brother definitely can’t withstand this kind of test!”
Qin Muling felt speechless. “Do you really have no faith in me?”
“Of course!”
“Do I have such a strong desire for beauty?”
“Of course you do!”
His senior sisters said in unison.
“…”
Qin Muling shrugged and didn’t want to say anything more. He finally understood how his senior sisters saw him.
But whether they saw him in a negative light or not, he had never intended to be a so-called upright gentleman. He just wanted to live as himself.
The process of cultivation with his senior sisters need not be elaborated on. With the various convenient conditions, Qin Muling’s cultivation progressed rapidly as usual, with almost no bottlenecks. When he successfully broke through to the Triple Realm of the Spiritual God Realm, the day of the selection exam for the new core disciples had quietly arrived.
In front of the tall and majestic mountain gate plaque, there was a square paved with white jade bricks covering tens of thousands of acres.
Under the watchful eyes of a large number of elders, core disciples, and the Daoist Army Legion, numerous different-shaped celestial boats appeared in the sky and were allowed to land on the square only after undergoing a strict inspection process and confirming their identities.
After the celestial boats landed, the hatch doors opened, and a large group of young female cultivators with beautiful appearances and different temperaments swarmed out.
They were all inner disciples who had rushed over from various branch sects and Daoist temples, all wearing plain white Daoist robes without any makeup. Each of them looked nervous and serious, lining up neatly under the command of the steward elders, waiting anxiously for the exam to begin.
On a high platform in the distance, Qin Muling silently observed these female disciples, each of whom was a beauty that made people’s hearts race. Among them were some who were exceptionally stunning, and it was clear that there were no ordinary women among those who stood out from the thousands of competitors.
Moreover, their cultivation was not weak, all of them being at the Condensing Elixir Realm, and some had even reached the late stage of the Condensing Elixir Realm. Their foundations were solid, their spirits were full, and their potential was quite considerable.
As per tradition, the Condensing Elixir Realm was the hard standard for becoming a core disciple. Those who didn’t meet this standard, no matter how outstanding they were in other aspects, would not be considered.
Of course, Qin Muling was an exception. He had entered through the back door of his Master, and had received unanimous approval from the elders. He was the only exception in millions of years.
“It seems that the level of these inner disciples is not bad. Some of the outstanding ones should have been promoted to core disciples a long time ago. Why haven’t they been promoted yet?”
Qin Muling looked around, somewhat puzzled.
Even though the standards for selecting core disciples were extremely strict, requiring not only cultivation but also contributions and achievements, with the quality of these inner disciples, it shouldn’t be too difficult to meet the requirements.”Due to limited resources,”
Xuebing Xuan’s voice carried a hint of helplessness: “The situation of our sect was difficult in the past, with annual outputs and revenues being far from satisfactory. We were always stretched thin, forced to live frugally, and simply couldn’t afford to nurture too many core disciples. Therefore, we had no choice but to increase the difficulty of the assessments.”
The treatment of core disciples is generous. Even those who have just been promoted receive a monthly allocation of resources that is more than ten times that of inner disciples. The total expenses for thousands of core disciples are staggeringly high, which is a significant amount for any Supreme Dao Lineage.
Especially since Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace has been in decline for a long time, running deficits is the norm. Without sufficient spirit stones and resources, how can we support so many core disciples? Hence, we must strictly control their numbers.
However, the scale of core disciples is crucial to the future prosperity and foundation of the sect. Once reduced, the sect will face a shortage of talent and a dire situation in the years to come.
In the past, Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace had no choice, but now, with the immense resources from the Misty Illusion Secret Realm, there is no need to be frugal in this regard. Therefore, the selection assessment for core disciples this time has the highest number of qualifying spots in ten thousand years.
“By the way, how many core disciples does our sect have now?” Qing Muling inquired.
“The official number is over three thousand, and there’s also a hidden batch of about the same number,” Xuebing Xuan explained. “They usually seclude themselves in various cave heavens and secret realms, rarely showing themselves. They are the sect’s last vitality and hope.”
Qing Muling nodded silently. Normally, a Supreme Dao Lineage power would have no fewer than twenty thousand core disciples. Over thirty thousand is a common figure, and for an established Supreme Dao Lineage like the Bright Moon Sword Sect, it is said that there are nearly fifty thousand core disciples, not counting those hidden in the shadows.