"Will Master be alright?"
In a small courtyard within the manor, Chen Yuluo lay on the stone table, her eyes filled with worry.
Hearing this, Zhao Yuebai, standing beside her, smiled and said, "Master will not only be fine, but after the seclusion ends, his cultivation will reach a higher level."
Although cultivation does not always go smoothly, with many people falling into demonic possession during seclusion or breakthroughs, leading to their demise and all efforts becoming futile.
But Zhao Yuebai believed that her Master would undoubtedly go through it all smoothly.
In fact, no one in the small courtyard currently doubted that Ji Yuan would fail his breakthrough or fall into demonic possession.
All they needed to do now was to guard him, eliminate any remaining variables, and then wait for him to emerge from his seclusion.
"Three realms before the age of twenty. If someone were to tell me that Young Master cannot condense a Golden Core, I would not believe it."
Li Buwei muttered to himself, his face filled with emotion.
He had heard of geniuses before, and even met many, but he had never heard of anyone successfully reaching the Ming Dao realm before the age of twenty.
Even the prodigies of the Nine Xuan Sect, in their late twenties or thirties, were still in the second realm!
Perhaps only in powerful sects would there be such monstrous disciples who could achieve the third realm before twenty.
However, such existences would surely be as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns; one might not even find a few in the entire Lingyang Prefecture.
Upon hearing this, the others were mostly fine, merely feeling a touch of emotion in their hearts.
Only Lu Yuzhe and Zheng Jiaxing showed a hint of solemnity.
Both possessed exceptional talent and comprehension far beyond ordinary geniuses.
The former, with the help of the Creation Spiritual Spring, successfully awakened the bloodline within his body, thus obtaining the Five Elements Spiritual Body.
The latter, with his innate astonishing comprehension, could quickly grasp and refine any cultivation technique or divine art he encountered.
Yet, they were already over twenty years old, and even before thirty, they might not have any hope of reaching the Ming Dao realm.
From the middle to late, or even peak, stage of the second realm, besides sufficient personal comprehension, the accumulation of spiritual power was also a crucial hurdle.
Even with ample resources, it was still somewhat impossible to leap across two minor realms in just a few years.
Unless there was some fortuitous encounter or powerful external assistance.
"When do you think the Abbot will emerge from seclusion?"
Zhuang Changming suddenly asked with a smile.
Although this person was from the Zhuang family of Mingxin Xuan, he had become well-acquainted with everyone during this period, forming a solid friendship.
Hearing this, the group fell silent for a moment before offering their own guesses.
Some believed Ji Yuan would successfully emerge in another ten days or half a month.
Others thought it might take half a year or a year before he could truly succeed.
The majority leaned towards the latter, believing it would take at least several months.
"I hope the longer, the better."
Li Junxian spoke, not wishing for Ji Yuan to emerge too soon.
As fellow cultivators, they naturally understood that the longer one remained in seclusion during such a time, the greater the benefits.
If he could truly spend a year or so, though he might not emerge at the third realm's middle stage, he would likely be close.
"Even if it takes several years, we can still afford to wait."
Zheng Jiaxing laughed heartily, his words coming from the bottom of his heart.
For cultivators, several years would pass in the blink of an eye, amounting to just a few more sessions of cultivation and meditation.
In any case, with the five counties now supporting them, they lacked nothing in terms of daily cultivation resources. They could also travel far and wide, not only broadening their horizons but also doing good deeds for the common people.
Perhaps over time, they could even accumulate some merit.
However, as everyone was chatting and laughing, they saw Lin Miaoyi enter the courtyard with a hurried expression and a look of solemnity on her face.
Upon seeing this, the group immediately suppressed their laughter and their brows furrowed slightly, already sensing that something had happened.
"What is it?"
Li Junxian immediately asked.
While Ji Yuan was in seclusion, he had designated Li Junxian to preside over the affairs of Xuan Tian Peak, a rule he had established long ago.
"Brother Zhao is in trouble!"
Lin Miaoyi did not mince her words and directly stated the situation.
Upon hearing this, the people of Xiao Yuan Mountain did not react much, nor did most of the disciples of Xuan Tian Peak.
But Zhao Yuebai and Li Junxian, among others, suddenly changed their expressions, a fierce glint appearing in their eyes.
"What do you mean?"
Zheng Wanrong stood up and asked with a heavy expression, "What happened to Brother Zhao?"
The only person who could cause such a drastic change in their expressions was likely Zhao Yuansong.
This senior disciple of the outer sect had a very good relationship with them. In fact, Li Junxian and Zheng Wanrong had been helped and mentored by him after joining the Nine Xuan Sect.
"The underground dojo in the northern part of Feiyun Prefecture has encountered trouble, and Brother Zhao was caught up in it!"
Lin Miaoyi took a deep breath and then meticulously recounted the entire sequence of events.
A moment ago, Xia Dong, who was in Xuan Tian Peak, had requested Mingxin Xuan to transmit a message, informing them about the underground dojo and Zhao Yuansong's situation.
Just half a month ago, the Xuanhuang City within the underground dojo suddenly erupted with heavenly punishment power, engulfing the entire dojo and a radius of a thousand li.
When the heavenly punishment power gradually subsided, cultivators from various factions discovered that they had fallen into a trap.
Those so-called "lost ones" were actually cultivators who had served under the Daoist Red Heart in the past. They had recreated the blood sacrifice that had been unfinished for thousands of years, causing a large number of cultivators to perish within Xuanhuang City.
Subsequently, three direct disciples of Daoist Red Heart were resurrected by the power of the blood sacrifice, their cultivation restoring to the Golden Core level!
Under the leadership of these Golden Core realm cultivators, the Xuanhuang City faction intended to sacrifice the cultivators of the entire dojo to achieve some goal.
A battle was inevitably triggered.
The Golden Core grand cultivators present immediately engaged in combat with the opposing side, causing hundreds of miles of land to collapse, finally revealing Xuanhuang City, which had been buried for thousands of years, to the world.
Although the Nine Xuan Sect had recovered most of its disciples before this, a considerable number of them still remained within the underground dojo.
Among them were Xu Chengfeng, led by the sect master of Lei Ze Peak, several elders of the third realm, and dozens of inner and outer disciples.
Zhao Yuansong was one of them, having trained in the underground dojo for several years.
The fierce battle caused the sky and earth to shake, and countless cultivators perished.
The "lost ones," whose physical bodies were comparable to spirit artifacts, also had their bodies destroyed and their spirits annihilated.
As more and more cultivators fell, the three direct disciples of Daoist Red Heart finally gathered enough power for the blood sacrifice.
However, when everyone thought these three were going to resurrect their master.
They discovered that their true purpose was not that simple.
"Daoist Red Heart's failure back then was due to betrayal by his own disciples,"
Lin Miaoyi said solemnly, revealing the hidden secret mentioned in the transmission to everyone.