บท 39: The Eleventh Layer of Aura Refining Realm

บรรณาธิการ: Caron_

Several people followed the map inside Yunwu Sect's Book to go to the dining hall. Right after they arrived, someone came and greeted them: "Senior Martial Brothers, you've come to have a meal, right? Please take a seat. If in the future you need us to deliver food to you, don't hesitate to tell us."

This person wasn't young but his cultivation level was only in the first layer of the Aura Refining realm. Mo Tiange surmised that he was probably part of the younger generation of a cultivation clan who, because his spiritual roots weren't good enough, had to do a menial job here to make a living.

Xu Jingzhi was the most well-informed among them, so they left the speaking to him. "We'll eat whatever you prepared."

The man answered with a "yes" and retreated. In just a short while, a mortal woman brought them food. It had obviously been prepared long ago.

Mo Tiange swept her gaze over the food; there were sautéed mustard greens, pickled cucumbers, steamed spared ribs, stir-fried rabbit meat, and a bowl of fish soup. All of them possessed a faint spiritual aura within. Apparently, the food in this Yunwu Sect was pretty good.

Mo Tiange and Xu Jingzhi each picked up a bowl and chopsticks. However, aside from the two of them, the others didn't move. Xu Jingzhi said, "Senior Martial Brothers, you don't need to worry. They actually contain spiritual aura; it's alright to eat them once in a while in exchange for medicinal pills. Your cultivation won't be affected."

Liu Yidao asked doubtfully, "Really?"

Mo Tiange laughed and said, "Yes! Otherwise, why should a cultivation sect build a dining hall when they can directly feed their disciples with Fasting Pills?"

Although he felt what Mo Tiange said was quite reasonable, Liu Yidao still asked, "Isn't it because Fasting Pills are troublesome to concoct?"

Mo Tiange and Xu Jingzhi were stumped for words, confused about what answer they should give.

Qin Xi, who hadn't said anything, finally opened his mouth: "Cultivation groups do encourage the use of Fasting Pills. That way, disciples would be less troubled by their appetites and their mentalities during cultivation would benefit. However, eating food that contains spiritual roots also doesn't matter. If the food is made from spiritual beasts and the like, it can even increase the spiritual aura in your body and isn't, in any way, harmful."

Hearing his explanation, Mo Tiange and Xu Jingzhi repeatedly nodded their heads.

"I see…" Liu Yidao then followed the others and picked up his chopsticks. Four people began to eat.

Mo Tiange and Xu Jingzhi were mostly the ones eating while the other two only took several bites. Those two were clearly people with very firm Dao Hearts who didn't have any desire for food.

Having randomly eaten a few things, both Mo Tiange and Xu Jingzhi asked for the meal to be sent to them every day so they would no longer have to waste their time coming to the dining hall. All the disciples in the sect were like this—no one was willing to spend their time on the road every day; they'd tell someone to deliver their food.

Outside the dining hall, with Xu Jingzhi leading the way, they all took a stroll on Mount Yunwu to learn about the terrain before returning to their house.

Mo Tiange managed to somewhat recognize the terrain of this mountain. This Mount Yunwu had two peaks—North Peak and South Peak. New disciples were all placed on the South Peak. South Peak was relatively shorter and the spiritual aura there was thinner. Its gate led directly to the market square, so it was very convenient for low-level disciples to live on this peak.

North Peak was a lot higher and the spiritual aura was also several times denser. Mo Tiange heard that only those who reached the Foundation Building realm could move to the North Peak. Aura Refining disciples like them weren't allowed to go there unless they had assignments that required them to.

The South Peak consisted of the main temple, the steward's hall and the preaching temple. The main hall was the place where the Sect Head handle his affairs, although he normally stayed on the North Peak.

All the disciples on the South Peak were managed by stewards from the steward's hall. They managed everything that concerned Aura Refining disciples such as: assigning errands, distributing spirit stones and medicinal pills, arranging the residences, handling disputes and so on.

As for the preaching temple, it was a place where sermons were given. Every ten days, there would be a Foundation Building cultivator giving a sermon in that place. Once in a while, Core Formation cultivators also made an appearance. This was indeed the matter all Aura Refining disciples were most excited about.

Regarding errands, every cultivation groups had part-time disciples to carry them out. Part-time disciples were different compared to formal disciples like them. Every ten years, the sect opened their gates to recruit disciples based on their spiritual roots. Some people who weren't chosen because of their inferior spiritual roots voluntarily became part-time disciples specializing in handling various tasks such as guarding the doors, running errands, cleaning and so on. The person who greeted them in the dining hall was also a part-time disciple.

Just like the formal disciples, part-time disciples also received some spirit stones although they didn't get medicinal pills. The number of spirit stones they got depended on the errands they ran. Furthermore, if a part-time disciple was favored by a Foundation Building senior, he could directly be promoted to formal disciple. Because of those reasons, many people were still eager to become part-time disciples.

Of course, it didn't mean the formal disciples like Mo Tiange and her companions didn't have to do anything. Tasks like guarding the sect's main gate needed to be performed by formal disciples. Furthermore, although tasks like taking care of spiritual plants or helping to concoct pills and refine tools, were performed by several part-time disciples, formal disciples were needed to lead them. However, unlike part-time disciples, formal disciples only needed to do one or two errands every year and spent most of their time cultivating.

Once they returned to their residence, they found that a strange cultivator was watering two kinds of spiritual plants growing beside the first house. Yesterday, when those two Aura Refining disciples brought them here, they told them that the first house was the house where the supervisor of their residence, Senior Martial Brother Zhou, lived, though he wasn't there yesterday.

Everyone's expressions changed when they saw this person. This person's cultivation level was actually higher than the tenth layer of the Aura Refining realm, but it hadn't reached the Foundation Building realm yet. It seemed as if he was in the eleventh layer of the Aura Refining realm.

According to the level-classification of the Aura Refining realm, the first to the fourth layer were categorized as the early stage, the fifth to the seventh layer as the middle stage, and the eighth layer to the tenth layer as the late stage. However, there were also situations where the cultivation level was higher than the tenth layer of the Aura Refining realm but wasn't part of the Foundation Building realm.

That situation occurred when a cultivator who consumed a Foundation-Building Pill failed to build his foundation but managed to completely absorb the power of the Foundation-Building Pill, thus entering the eleventh layer of Aura Refining realm.

Normally, when cultivators failed to build their foundations, they wouldn't have any increase in spiritual aura. However, in case this eleventh-layer-situation appeared, the cultivator would only need two more Foundation-Building Pills at most to succeed in building his foundation.

When someone in the eleventh layer of the Aura Refining realm took a Foundation-Building Pill, there was still a possibility he might enter the twelfth layer of the Aura Refining realm. Nevertheless, when a twelfth layer Aura Refining cultivator took a Foundation-Building Pill, he would definitely enter the Foundation Building realm. On the other hand, for ordinary disciples, the success rate of entering the Foundation Building realm was only about one or two percent. Therefore, every time eleventh layer Aura Refining disciples appeared, they would be prioritized—the next Foundation-Building Pill would definitely be given to them. In other words, that person was a cut-and-dry Foundation Building cultivator!

Apparently, this person was their supervisor, Senior Martial Brother Zhou. No wonder the supervisor of the woman's courtyard was a Foundation Building Martial Uncle while their supervisor was only a Senior Martial Brother! Turned out that this Senior Martial Brother wasn't any ordinary disciple!

They hadn't yet recovered from their shock but Senior Martial Brother Zhou, who already finished watering the spiritual plants, turned around and swept his gaze over them. While tidying the watering tool, he asked, "Are you new disciples?"

They finally came to their senses and promptly greeted him: "Greetings to Senior Martial Brother Zhou."

Senior Martial Brother Zhou answered with an "en" and went to prune some branches. "Since you live here, you have to comply with my rules. Whether you're cultivating normally or playing around, I don't care. However, you are not to disturb others, not to go to places you shouldn't go, and not to have private fights. If you have a business and have to leave the mountain, you let me know. If you have a dispute with others, you have to report to me; of course, you may also come to ask me if you have problems with your cultivation. Do you understand?"

They answered, "Yes."

Senior Martial Brother Zhou waved his hand. "That'll do. Go!"

They excused themselves then went back to their small sitting room.

Right after the door was shut, Xu Jingzhi said in admiration, "So this is the eleventh layer of the Aura Refining realm! This Senior Martial Brother Zhou is really lucky!"

Mo Tiange naturally felt the same way. Based on her spiritual roots, the possibility of entering the Foundation Building realm was indeed very small. Although the eleventh layer of the Aura Refining realm wasn't the real Foundation Building realm, it was already tantamount to stepping on the threshold of the Foundation Building realm.

Liu Yidao said, "Which one of us people who entered the sect didn't come for Foundation-Building Pills? It's just unclear whether we can be as lucky as Senior Martial Brother Zhou or not. Entering the eleventh layer of the Aura Refining realm means there'll be hope of entering the Foundation Building realm!"

Qin Xi only said, "There's still three years before the sect's inner competition. Just try hard."

The three others repeatedly nodded their heads. Foundation-Building Pills would be given as rewards based on one's ranking in the sect's inner competition; they naturally wouldn't let this chance go. Nevertheless, Mo Tiange was extremely anxious. Liu Yidao was already in the tenth layer, and in the next three years, he just needed to practice his fighting skills. Qin Xi was in the ninth layer and would most likely advance to the tenth layer soon. Moreover, he was extremely adept in fights of magical powers. As for Xu Jingzhi, good or bad, his cultivation level was slightly higher than hers, and he had his clan's support. She was the only one who was in the seventh layer. The reason she could enter the sect was luck. It could already be categorized as amazing if she could advance into the ninth layer of the Aura Refining realm within the next three years. Winning the Foundation-Building Pills would indeed be too difficult for her.