In the world of cultivation, time holds no meaning.
Xu Yuxiu had remained behind closed doors for over half a month, absorbed in her training. Aside from Shen Fengjiao, who shared the small courtyard, the other female disciples had barely caught a glimpse of her. They had all come to view her as a silent, eccentric recluse who never left her room.
Initially, in such an unfamiliar environment and under the pressure of the sect’s quotas, Xu Yuxiu had intended to keep to herself. However, after training for more than half a month, she felt that not only had her progress failed to improve, but it had even shown signs of a slight decline. Seeing this, she was forced to stop and seek out the cause.
But as a newcomer to the Cultivation World with limited experience, she was unable to identify any issues within her technique. Fortunately, she remembered that new outer disciples were granted a monthly opportunity to attend lectures at the Dao Transmission Platform. With the end of the month approaching, she decided not to waste the chance and concluded her session, preparing to head to the platform in search of answers.
Pushing open her door, she was met with a blast of scorching sunlight. The blinding glare made it difficult for Xu Yuxiu to keep her eyes open, but after a moment of adjustment, she could see clearly.
The sky was bright and the sun was climbing toward its zenith; it was nearly midday. Monks did not share the common habit of eating three meals a day, so even as noon approached, very few outer disciples were seen walking about.
Xu Yuxiu did not linger to observe her surroundings. Guided by the location of the Dao Transmission Platform mentioned in her Sound Transmission Talisman, she identified her path and set off directly.
The Dao Transmission Platform for the Taixuan Sect’s outer disciples was quite a distance from Qingzhu Peak. A journey on foot took an hour, meaning a round trip would consume over two. To Xu Yuxiu, this felt like a terrible waste of time. How much better it would have been to spend those two hours training! She could not fathom why the platform had been built so far away.
Yet, to resolve her confusion regarding her cultivation, she had no choice but to go. Fortunately, Xu Yuxiu was already at the Qi Condensation 1st Layer. Through her efforts over the past half-month, she had accumulated over a dozen drops of spiritual power in her dantian, and with their nourishment, her body had nearly recovered to the state of a healthy person.Even though she had returned to the state of a normal person, she was still just a seven-year-old little girl.
The journey to the Dao Transmission Platform alone took her a full hour and a half. Not only did it take a long time, but the hour and a half of trekking left Xu Yuxiu completely exhausted.
Upon reaching the Dao Transmission Platform, she slumped straight down onto the ground, panting heavily.
"Listening to a lecture at the Dao Transmission Platform costs one hundred contribution points per session!"
Before Xu Yuxiu could catch her breath, a voice rang out beside her ear.
Following the sound, she saw a deacon disciple staring sternly down at her sitting on the ground, his eyes full of undisguised disdain.
Xu Yuxiu was somewhat baffled, unable to understand why this deacon disciple was looking at her like that. But upon hearing that it cost one hundred contribution points, she hastily scrambled to her feet, took out her identity token, and said, "Senior Brother Deacon, I am a newly entered outer disciple. I am entitled to one free lecture per month."
"A newly entered disciple. No wonder you're such a sight."
The deacon disciple merely took Xu Yuxiu's identity token, swiped it against a stone tablet standing beside him, and seeing nothing amiss, handed it back to her. "Go on in!"
"Thank you, Senior Brother Deacon!"
Xu Yuxiu carefully took back her identity token, thanked the deacon disciple, and walked into the Dao Transmission Platform plaza.
Although called the Dao Transmission Platform, it was actually a very vast plaza. At the center of the plaza stood a tall platform capable of holding three or five people—that was the Dao Transmission Platform itself. A single glance revealed that this plaza could easily accommodate several thousand people.
The Taixuan Sect had one hundred thousand outer disciples, and Dao Transmission Platform plazas like this one were not limited to just this single location.
By this time, several hundred people had already gathered in this Dao Transmission Platform plaza. It was evident that many among them were newly entered disciples like Xu Yuxiu, quite young and easily recognizable at a glance.
Although Xu Yuxiu's arrival did draw a few gazes, most people merely swept a glance over her before looking away.No one was seen on the high platform at the center, which indicated that the lecture on the Dao Transmission Platform had not yet officially begun.
Therefore, Xu Yuxiu casually found a spot and began to sit cross-legged in meditation to wait.
"Clang—!"
After meditating and waiting for about a quarter of an hour, a distant bell chime roused Xu Yuxiu from her meditative state.
As she opened her eyes, she saw a nimble sword light streak across the horizon, landing in the blink of an eye upon the Dao Transmission Platform in the center of the square, revealing a tall and graceful figure.
Seeing this scene, Xu Yuxiu's eyes lit up. "Such incredible speed! If only I could have speed like that, I could save so much time traveling back and forth to the Dao Transmission Platform every time!"
Though she thought this, she knew that with her current cultivation at the Qi Condensation 1st Layer, it was utterly impossible to achieve.
"Wow! The one coming to lecture us this time is actually Senior Sister Jiang Yuyan from the inner sect!"
"I heard that Senior Sister Jiang has already cultivated to the Foundation Establishment Late-stage. On top of that, Senior Sister Jiang is breathtakingly beautiful—truly a combination of cultivation and beauty! I must listen carefully to Senior Sister Jiang's lecture this time!"
"Heh, don't I know what's on your mind, kid? Are you really looking to listen to the Dao?! You've fallen for Senior Sister Jiang, haven't you? With your meager Qi Condensation 5th Layer foundation, I'd say you should save your breath!"
The arrival of Jiang Yuyan on the lecture platform sparked a wave of murmurs and discussions.
Listening to the chatter, Xu Yuxiu gained a rough understanding of some basic information about the Senior Sister Jiang on the platform.
Xu Yuxiu guessed that an inner sect genius like Senior Sister Jiang, who had reached the Foundation Establishment Late-stage at such a young age, would normally be very difficult to encounter at the Dao Transmission Platform.
This made her feel that coming here today had not been in vain.
"Clang—!"
Another distant bell rang, and a steward disciple shouted out to the outer disciples below the platform: "Silence!"
Immediately, the crowd below quieted down quickly.
Seeing that all the outer disciples were seated quietly, the steward disciple stepped back behind Jiang Yuyan.
Jiang Yuyan simply offered the crowd a smile before beginning to share her insights on cultivating the Qi Condensation Formula.
Naturally striking in appearance, her mere smile captured the gazes of a vast majority of those present, and as she slowly began recounting her cultivation insights, everyone's attention locked onto her.
Xu Yuxiu was no exception, beginning to listen attentively and in detail.
Senior Sister Jiang's explanation was extremely straightforward and clear, covering the Qi Condensation Formula all the way from the first layer to the sixth layer. At first, Xu Yuxiu could understand it, but as it progressed further, she found herself somewhat confused and struggling to comprehend.
After all, she had only just reached the Qi Condensation 1st Layer, and she had not yet had time to carefully ponder the techniques for the subsequent layers. Even so, she managed to commit everything Senior Sister Jiang had lectured to memory.
Whether it was due to having reached the Qi Condensation 1st Layer, recording these contents turned out not to be too difficult for Xu Yuxiu.
When Senior Sister Jiang finished recounting her cultivation insights for the sixth layer of the Qi Condensation Formula, she paused.
At that moment, she spoke up: "We will conclude here for today. If you have any doubts regarding your cultivation during the remaining time, you may raise them, and I will resolve them for you."
Hearing this, the eyes of many disciples lit up.
Thus, disciples quickly began to present the difficult problems they had encountered in their cultivation, seeking answers from Senior Sister Jiang.
Observing this, Xu Yuxiu felt a stirring of her own thoughts.
However, there were simply too many people asking questions right now, and being rather small in stature, it was very difficult for her to stand out.
Every time she wanted to speak up, someone else would instantly cut in ahead of her, leaving her somewhat vexed.
"Everyone, do not be impatient. There is still plenty of time left. Ask your questions one by one, and I will answer them for you individually."
Seeing the chaotic scene of people scrambling to ask questions below the stage, Senior Sister Jiang promptly offered a solution.
Hearing her proposal, the crowd below quickly calmed down and began asking questions in an orderly sequence.
Seeing that they could take turns asking questions, Xu Yuxiu finally let out a sigh of relief.
Her spot was neither too far to the front nor too far to the back, happening to be wedged right in the middle, so it wouldn't take long before her turn arrived.