Watching the Mountain

Chapter 415: Chapter 217: Millennium

’What a pity...’

Xu Ran gazed at Li Shaobai with a complicated expression. Whether that scene would ever come to pass was still uncertain.

Afterward, he shook his head and left quietly. He decided to drop the matter of having Li Shaobai be Dust-Sealed.

He had already pushed the matter several times, showing more than enough favoritism toward his other student, Li Tianhe. Now that Li Shaobai himself was insisting, Xu Ran could only respect his decision.

Although Li Shaobai could be a bit obstinate, he was a simple person with a simple goal.

He understood a simple, straightforward truth: the easiest way to find a Dao Companion was to become famous enough.

So when the Sect issued a mission to eliminate the Tribulation Cultivators, he accepted it without hesitation and marched onto the battlefield.

He hadn’t managed to secure a spot in the Sect’s selection for the Dust-Sealed Stones. This was partly due to his personality; he grew too nervous around his fellow disciples to perform at his best. It was also because of his family’s mission, which made him unwilling to be Dust-Sealed.

It wasn’t for a lack of strength.

In fact, his innate talent was undoubtedly among the best of his generation in the Profound Pure Sect. His personality was the only reason he hadn’t made a name for himself.

But once he arrived on the battlefield to eliminate the Tribulation Cultivators, facing strangers, his true strength was completely unleashed.

In his very first battle, he fought two-on-one and defeated both enemies, who were at the same Realm. He left one dead and the other severely wounded.

After that, he often fought and defeated multiple enemies at once.

And that wasn’t all. It was far from his limit.

The main reason Body Cultivators are so rare in the current Cultivation Realm is that their training consumes an extreme amount of resources, causing many to shy away from the path.

Because of his personality, Li Shaobai had remained obscure within the Sect and had not been chosen for focused nurturing.

The stipend he received and the resources he earned from daily tasks were hardly enough to sustain his cultivation.

Once on the battlefield against the Tribulation Cultivators, he defeated enemies to earn contribution points, which he then exchanged for resources. This cycle of using war to fuel war immediately unlocked his potential.

By continuing to fuel his growth with battle, his strength underwent one transformation after another.

His physical body was exceptionally powerful. In an era devoid of geniuses, ordinary attacks from cultivators at the same Realm couldn’t even break his defense. Even a full-powered blow would only inflict injuries that were far from serious.

On top of that, his regenerative abilities were also incredibly potent.

Relying on his absolute defense and recovery, he adopted a straightforward, rampaging combat style on the battlefield.

When besieged by numerous Cultivators of the same Realm, he didn’t even have to worry about defending. He would just charge into the fray and crush everyone in his path.

His beast-like fighting style terrified the Tribulation Cultivators. After he became famous, some would turn and flee the moment they saw him, subdued without a single blow exchanged.

Of course, his most brilliant achievement was repeatedly holding his own against Core Formation Stage Cultivators while only at the Purple Mansion Stage, and never losing. This was true even when his opponents were from the Flying Immortal Stream.

Yet, in this era, such an accomplishment still made him incredibly dazzling.

The entire Cultivation Realm of Changqing County went so far as to name him the number one prodigy of the era.

The prodigies from every major power had already been Dust-Sealed. In the future, any new prodigies who emerged would also be quickly placed into the Dust-Seal.

Therefore, in this era, Li Shaobai was the most brilliant prodigy the Cultivation Realm could witness. For a long, long time, another like him would not appear.

After Li Shaobai proved he could contend with a Core Formation Stage Cultivator from the Flying Immortal Stream, the Sect immediately approached him, asking him to be Dust-Sealed. He refused.

His reason was the same as before: to carry on his family line and establish a clan.

The Sect could do nothing about it. After several failed attempts to persuade him, they finally gave up.

Due to the dazzling performance of Li Shaobai and his seven childhood friends—a group including Qing Mei and Lan Juhua—in the campaign to purge the Tribulation Cultivators, the Cultivation Realm of Changqing County named them the Eight Heroes of Profound Pure.

They were the eight most brilliant disciples of the Profound Pure Sect’s current generation.

’When Xu Ran first heard that title, he couldn’t help but offer a moment of silent mourning for Elder Xu in his heart.’

’The old man’s ambitions had run into some unexpected trouble and hadn’t fully come to fruition.’

But no matter what, those seven companions of his, including Qing Mei and Lan Juhua, had at least not failed to live up to Elder Xu’s expectations, having earned some fame in the Cultivation Realm.

Although they were still far from Elder Xu’s goal for them—to be as brilliant as the bright moon, Ming Yue, in an endless night—it was a good start.

’Elder Xu would surely be pleased.’

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Although the purge had suppressed the Tribulation Cultivators for a time, it did not bring lasting stability to the Cultivation Realm.

On the contrary, things grew even more chaotic after the 250th year of the Hidden Dao Era.

During the previous incidents involving Tribulation Cultivators across the land, the Upper Three Sects had not intervened. Even some of the other top-tier powers had done nothing to maintain order.

Many came to a realization: as long as they didn’t harm those who had already been Dust-Sealed, a certain amount of plundering and conflict would not cross the line for the top-tier powers.

This emboldened those who were already restless from failing to obtain a Dust-Sealed Stone, making them even more audacious.

The Cultivation Realm, which had enjoyed a brief period of stability after the purge, once again descended into chaotic turmoil. Loose Cultivators, sect defectors—more and more people joined the ranks of the plunderers.

So long as they could acquire enough cultivation resources to advance further and live longer in this era, any price was worth paying.

For those who hadn’t secured a Dust-Sealed Stone, they were essentially people abandoned by their own factions. Defecting, therefore, gave them not the slightest psychological burden.