Before long, the steward’s hall released the date the sect’s minor inner competition would begin. Senior Martial Brother Zhou would give them the details.

　　During this minor inner competition, Aura Refining disciples in the seventh layer and above could sign up. In addition to spirit stones and the like, the top thirty disciples would obtain Foundation-Building Pills as one of the rewards. Everyone was happy once they heard this news. The top thirty disciples would obtain Foundation-Building Pills as reward… It seemed that this time, the sect was very successful in concocting the pills.

　　Even though Foundation-Building Pills weren’t unique medicine that belonged to the Distant Past era, the materials needed to make them were considerably rare. Usually, even after gathering the sect’s power, the sect only concocted the pills once every few years. The success rate of concocting the pills affected the amount of rewards given in the minor inner competition. If their luck wasn’t really good, one batch would only produce about ten finished pills.

　　After deducting the number of pills that would be given to eleventh and twelfth layer Aura Refining disciples then deducting some given as a reward for disciples who greatly contributed to the sect, the remaining pills would then be rewarded in the minor inner competition. Normally, only the top ten disciples would obtain pills as a reward. Now, however, the top thirty disciples would all get pills as a reward. Their luck was indeed superb this time.

　　The sect’s minor inner competition would be held in rings. After drawing lots, the disciples would fight in pairs and the winners would advance in ranks until the last winner appeared. This method of competition made many disciples feel lucky. If the opponents they picked from the lots were weak, they could obtain high ranks easily.

　　There were approximately 400 disciples in the seventh layer and above, so they had to win three fights to enter the top fifty. Nevertheless, after entering the top fifty, they could no longer rely on luck.

　　Thus, every Aura Refining disciple in the seventh layer and above started to prepare themselves. In a flash, the prices of things in the sect’s market square ballooned. Talismans, medicinal pills, and spirit tools became twice as expensive than they usually were. Mo Tiange felt glad she already made preparations long ago. Otherwise, if she waited until now, she definitely wouldn’t have enough money to buy anything—the spirit stones she had were more or less exhausted over her two years of Closed Door Meditation.

　　This time, Second Uncle also prepared many talismans and medicinal pills for her. It was only after she found out about it that she realized Second Uncle sold half their belongings. Because of this, Mo Tiange secretly made up her mind. For Second Uncle, she definitely had to obtain the Foundation-Building Pills!

　　Soon after, Senior Martial Brother Zhou came over with some other news for them. Zixia Sect sent an invitation, hoping the three cultivation groups could hold the minor competition together to motivate the disciples.

　　This wouldn’t be the first joint minor competition in the history of the three cultivation groups. Previously, the three cultivation groups’ minor competitions had indeed been held together, but this would be the first time the competition was held with such a huge gap in strength between the three groups. For this reason, the School Head of Jindao School was extremely unwilling to participate. Finally, Zixia Sect made a proposal, saying that the Foundation-Building Pills that would be given as the reward in the overall rankings would be provided by them. As for the reward for the inner rankings in the respective groups, each group would provide the rewards themselves.

　　This suggestion pacified Jindao School slightly. Even if none of Jindao School’s disciples obtained the reward, the school still wouldn’t lose anything. It was just that their reputation wouldn’t be that good. However, if they refused, they would end up a target for ridicule; people would gossip that in addition to being weak, Jindao School’s courage was also lacking. Hence, they could only brace themselves and agree to the suggestion while hoping there would be a few disciples who would try to restore dignity to the school.

　　Mo Tiange was rather suspicious about the whole matter. She really couldn’t figure out what Zixia Sect’s end goal was. Zixia Sect said they would provide ten Foundation-Building Pills for this competition, but rationally, they could directly use these pills themselves, thus adding one or two more Foundation Building cultivators to their sect. Was it really necessary to make this kind of contribution just to produce a good reputation?

　　As the four people chatted in the sitting room, Jiang Shanghang made a rare appearance. When he heard Mo Tiange’s comment, he uttered a cold “hmph!” and said, “If they have a good reputation, it’ll be a lot easier for them in the future to recruit disciples with high aptitude. In the long run, the advantage will be a lot greater than having one or two more Foundation Building cultivators.”

　　Everyone was silent. None of them liked Jiang Shanghang, but good or bad, this person was a member of Jiang Clan; the way he looked at things was substantially different from the rest of them. What he said was reasonable. With a good reputation, children that possessed spiritual roots would first choose to go to Zixia Sect, allowing Zixia Sect to have the first pick of disciples. If among these numerous disciples with high aptitude there were a few people with a single or mutated spiritual root, then in the future, the gap in strength between Zixia Sect and the other two groups would become increasingly bigger. This wasn’t a benefit one or two Foundation Building cultivators could bring to the sect.

　　Having finished speaking, Jiang Shanghang returned to his room. These past few years, he was still cold and indifferent towards the others and only focused on cultivating. Nowadays, he only lacked Foundation-Building Pills. Apparently, he was determined to win them in this minor competition.

　　Xu Jingzhi asked the three others in amazement while staring at Jiang Shanghang’s door: “Did you guys notice? Senior Martial Brother Jiang has just talked to us! Was it real?”

　　Mo Tiange couldn’t help but chuckle at his tone. “It isn’t like Senior Martial Brother Jiang has never spoken to us.” It was just that he rarely did and his tone was never really good.

　　Qin Xi, who was drawing talismans on the table, raised his head and said, “Junior Martial Brother Xu, have you finished your preparations?”

　　This question hit Xu Jingzhi’s sore spot. With a bitter face, he said, “Not yet. My elder brother is going to participate in the minor competition too, so my whole clan is supporting him and can only give me some talismans and a few other things.”

　　“You’re still better off than us.” Liu Yidao finished his exercises and said, “You still have some support from your clan. On the other hand, us individual cultivators, who genuinely have no one to depend on, have nothing except what we got from the sect.”

　　Xu Jingzhi sprang from his seat and cried out, “Senior Martial Brother Liu! You still dare to speak like this! How many rewards did you get from Miwu Valley’s competition back then, huh!?”

　　Liu Yidao scratched his head. “It’s been two years, yet Junior Martial Brother Xu still remembers this…”

　　Xu Jingzhi snorted. “Of course! I didn’t get anything back then! Otherwise, I would’ve already reached the tenth layer like Junior Martial Brother Ye did. Alas, I really never thought that before long, I would have to call Junior Martial Brother Ye ‘martial uncle’…”

　　“It won’t be that easy.” Mo Tiange sighed. “Senior Martial Brother Xu, you also know that I have five spiritual roots. I could be considered lucky just to be able to reach the tenth layer. As for entering the Foundation Building realm, how many cultivators who possess five spiritual roots have managed to do it without a hitch?”

　　Speaking about this, Xu Jingzhi also shook his head. “Although I’m endowed with four spiritual roots, my cultivation has never been good. That was why I had to enter the sect through the Immortals Assembly. Alas, being able to cultivate until this step despite having five spiritual roots, Junior Martial Brother Ye is really much more powerful than I am.”

　　The two of them were sighing and lamenting, making the mood heavy for an instant.

　　Qin Xi, who was still engrossed in drawing talismans, said, “Although natural endowments are important, they aren’t everything. Some Nascent Soul cultivators aren’t geniuses endowed with single or mutated spiritual roots. In fact, about half of them possess double spiritual roots and even three spiritual roots.”

　　Mo Tiange had never heard this before and asked, “How could that happen?”

　　Qin Xi flicked his fingers, burning a lump of inaccurately drawn talismans before casting a glance at her. “Those who possess single and mutated spiritual roots progress through cultivation realms very quickly. It’s very easy for them to advance into the Core Formation realm. However, it’s precisely because of this that their temperaments aren’t firm enough when they’re subjected to the ordeal of the Inner Demon. Once we reach the mountain pass known as the Nascent Soul realm, aptitude doesn’t really play much of an important role, but the influence of temperament is enormous. They can easily cultivate until they complete the Core Formation realm, but they usually fail in dealing with the Inner Demon when they’re forming their Nascent Soul.”

　　“On the other hand, cultivators with two or three spiritual roots have a harder time cultivating until the Core Formation realm and often have to experience hardship, so their will is much firmer. When they form their Nascent Souls, generally, they’ve already lived more than half their lifespans, so their temperaments and experiences are strong enough to withstand the ordeal. Hence, although they don’t have an easy time with cultivating, they have a much safer time in forming their Nascent Soul.”

　　The other three had never heard about this before and were totally surprised. “Then doesn’t it mean having two and three spiritual roots is better? Why have these cultivation groups never valued them?”

　　The corners of Qin Xi’s lips rose slightly, forming what was apparently a smile. Nowadays, he smiled occasionally, looking much more human than how he was when he first came.

　　He said, “Although this is indeed the case, how many people possess single or mutated spiritual roots? Even though the number of people possessing two spiritual roots is slightly fewer, people who possess three spiritual roots are everywhere. Out of 5,000 Aura Refining disciples in a cultivation group, there are maybe only two or three people with either single or mutated spiritual roots, about 400 to 500 people with two spiritual roots, and more than 4,000 with three spiritual roots.”

　　“As long as there are no unexpected occurrences, these two or three people possessing single or mutated spiritual roots all proceed to the Core Formation realm. On the other hand, from the nearly 5,000 people remaining who possess two and three spiritual roots, approximately only ten of them can proceed to the Core Formation realm. As for forming Nascent Souls, only one or two people who possess single or mutated spiritual roots will succeed, while from the people who possess two and three spiritual roots, maybe none of them will succeed.”

　　At this point, even Qin Xi himself heaved a sigh. “The path to reaching the Nascent Soul realm is indeed much harder than everyone has ever thought. People with high aptitudes but inadequate perception and effort can still advance into the Core Formation realm without a hitch. As for people with slightly inferior aptitude, they have to put in several times more effort just to cultivate until the Core Formation realm, not to mention the Nascent Soul realm.”

　　Once Qin Xi finished his explanation, the three others sank into silence. After a long time, Liu Yidao finally said, “No need to mention Core Formation or Nascent Soul—for us, the problem is Foundation Building.”

　　“True!” Xu Jingzhi agreed and said, “From 400 Aura Refining disciples, maybe only two or three can advance into the Foundation Building realm. I really wonder if there will be one among us moving to the North Peak next year…”