Chapter 55: Nobody Wants to Learn

The incense stick burned. Su Yuan stood calmly nearby, waiting patiently. Within less than half an hour, spiritual energy fluctuations began emanating from one disciple's body, rapidly intensifying! Su Yuan looked over in surprise - this cultivation speed was simply heaven-defying! It was a male disciple who immediately approached Su Yuan after standing up. The disciple bowed respectfully: "Gu You pays respects to Valley Master Su!" "Excellent, excellent! Your talent is remarkable, breaking through to the Qi Refining Stage so quickly. The younger generation truly surpasses the old!" Su Yuan praised. Gu You said earnestly: "With my Heavenly Spirit Root aptitude, may I formally become your disciple now?" Su Yuan chuckled awkwardly: "You're quite direct, but that's really unnecessary! Everything I know is already in the Scripture Pavilion. You can study directly there. However..." "Please continue, Valley Master!" Gu You urged. "You should consider carefully whether to learn it. Actually, I was just bragging earlier. At best, I'm only half-step Golden Core. So take my words with a grain of salt! I never prepare drafts for my boasting anyway!" Su Yuan smiled proudly. Gu You stared blankly, shocked: "What? Valley Master is only half-step Golden Core? Your earlier demeanor felt stronger than our sect leader!" Su Yuan waved his hand: "All special effects, don't take it seriously." "Really?" While Gu You questioned his life choices, eight more disciples broke through to Qi Refining Stage within the hour. These were all top-grade spirit root disciples - normally, finding one would be fortunate, but now nine appeared at once! Nangong Xianweng stood among them at the edge, appearing completely unremarkable. Gu You still couldn't believe it: "Valley Master, you must be joking. If you're so weak, how could you write 630 scriptures?" Su Yuan shrugged: "There's something called padding content. Turning 10 scriptures into 1000 through padding is quite normal!" Scanning the nine top-grade spirit root disciples, he advised: "You'd better not study those nonsense scriptures I wrote. They're just to fool ordinary disciples. Stick to your own paths - reaching Nascent Soul will be effortless for you." Xie Yingying blinked curiously: "Valley Master, you're so young! How old are you?" Su Yuan gave the female disciple a helpless look: "I'm only two years older than you. I joined the sect just two years ago, meaning I'm actually your senior brother. That's why I had to hide my identity earlier! Remember - don't study my scriptures. They're for those conceited upper-grade spirit root disciples to study, making them question their life choices so they train harder. With your talents, you don't need that." The top-grade disciples exchanged bewildered glances. When the valley master had been showing off earlier, they were completely awestruck, thinking they'd encountered some supreme expert. Turns out he was just a half-step Golden Core cultivator - and "half-step" meant not truly Golden Core, still at Foundation Establishment! Hearing such a valley master brag about "ascending to immortality" and "Nascent Soul transformation" was like listening to flatulence. One top-grade disciple shook his head: "So that's how it is. And here I was getting excited for nothing!" "Forget it, I have my family's heritage. I'm too busy with that to bother with this nonsense." "Not learning, not learning. I'm not even interested in Nascent Soul elders' teachings, why would I learn from some Golden Core fake? Am I stupid?" The top-grade disciples vehemently shook their heads, refusing to learn while complaining about the valley master's deception. Gu You sighed: "Valley Master, I misunderstood earlier. My request to become your disciple was presumptuous." Su Yuan looked at them contentedly: "I know you feel tricked, and I admit it. Tell you what - if any of you reach Qi Refining fourth layer before leaving the valley, I'll personally give you resources worth 10,000 spirit stones each. It's not much, but helpful for early cultivation." "Thank you, Valley Master!" Xie Yingying immediately chirped. "Thank you, Valley Master!" The other disciples also expressed gratitude. Though only two years their senior, Su Yuan's cultivation far surpassed theirs. Showing basic respect was proper etiquette for cultivators - the disrespectful died quickly. Su Yuan waved off their thanks and continued waiting for other disciples to begin qi absorption. The top disciples started chatting quietly, complaining about the unreliable valley master and how they'd never touch those scriptures. Everyone spoke so earnestly that the atmosphere relaxed considerably. Following the old valley master's teachings, Su Yuan smoothly completed the new disciples' initiation ceremony. As for inner sect lectures, the sect stewards would handle those. After finishing the opening, Su Yuan clapped his hands and leisurely departed. He returned to the Trial Secret Realm to play with Little Li and Little Cai. Not that he stopped paying attention - with his [Mind Echo] ability, Su Yuan could remotely observe the disciples without needing to appear personally. Nangong Xianweng watched Su Yuan enter the secret realm gate and waited three full days without seeing him emerge. While cursing Su Yuan's laziness, he also rejoiced - with Su Yuan distracted, he could act boldly. He hurried to the Scripture Pavilion. Three days was enough for top talents to reach Qi Refining second layer. But upon entering, he found eight disciples already studying. The 70 scriptures occupied prominent positions, immediately visible. Before them, the eight top-grade spirit root disciples were reading intently. When Nangong Xianweng entered, all eight looked up. Nine pairs of eyes met in the pavilion, creating palpable awkwardness. Seeing them, Nangong Xianweng's mouth twitched. Unable to resist, he asked: "Didn't you all say you wouldn't study these?" Gu You coughed: "I'm not studying. Just browsing. As a Heavenly Spirit Root, I learn everything quickly and have spare time to broaden my horizons. You wouldn't understand." "My grandmother made me come!" Xie Yingying said playfully. "If I don't study, I'll get beaten when I go home!" Nangong Xianweng was speechless - clearly these disciples had received advice. "Cough, cough. Want to read? Wait until Qi Refining second layer!" Yinqin seemed awakened by the commotion but kept his eyes closed, reclining on his rocking chair. "I've already reached Qi Refining second layer," Nangong Xianweng said calmly. "Oh?" Yinqin opened his eyes in surprise, looking at Nangong Xianweng. "You look like an old janitor colleague of mine. Speaking of which, I haven't seen him lately - didn't even say where he was going." Yinqin muttered before producing a jade stone. "Place your hand here." Nangong Xianweng sighed - talking behind his back like this deserved punishment. He complied, and the jade emitted two beams of light, startling Yinqin. "Incredible! The ninth one already! Did this batch raid a genius nest? Unbelievable!" Yinqin found it astonishing. Nangong Xianweng properly entered the pavilion, surveying the disciples inside. One was from the Wang family, top-grade dual spirit root, and another... Wait! Nangong Xianweng locked eyes with a female cultivator, both flashing looks of embarrassment. Previously unnoticed, but now under spiritual sense observation, her concealed aura became apparent. This was none other than Seven Extremes Sect's Nascent Soul Elder Ying Yuemei! She'd had the same idea as Nangong Xianweng - coming early to examine Su Yuan's new techniques. Normally fine, but being caught was awkward! They turned away wordlessly by unspoken agreement. Nangong Xianweng approached a scripture and began reading. "Seven Stars Mystic Truth Body Refining Art·Volume 1. Prerequisites: Big Dipper Formation Diagram·Volume 1, Astrology, Talisman Guidance·Introductory, Mystic Truth Derivation Art·Simplified Version, Body Refining Primer·Su Yuan Compilation." Ignoring the prerequisites, Nangong Xianweng dove into the first volume. Soon, rows of complex body refining methods filled his vision. As he read, his brow furrowed. He understood about half, but the rest remained obscure. After much reading, accumulating many questions, he finally turned to the prerequisite texts. The more he read, the more astonished he became. The difficulty was substantial - extremely challenging for Qi Refining cultivators. Yet remarkably, Su Yuan's teachings were extraordinarily detailed! How detailed? The Body Refining Primer·Su Yuan Compilation alone contained 365 body refining methods, each with thorough explanations, purposes, step-by-step instructions, and cross-references indicating exactly which bookshelf in which pavilion held relevant reference materials. Breaking it down, just completing this single primer might require studying 1,080 reference texts! Detailed indeed, but also tremendously difficult! These 70 scriptures were essentially 70 catalogs! Mastering them all would mean reading most of the Scripture Pavilion's contents! Nangong Xianweng's eye twitched, unsure how to evaluate Su Yuan's so-called "supreme techniques." These were the most exhaustive, learner-friendly techniques he'd ever seen - systematically categorized with clear progression. Yet they were also ten times harder than normal techniques! Those lacking comprehension would inevitably get stuck midway. But Nangong Xianweng found them immensely valuable for developing cultivators' comprehension, deduction, perception, and perseverance. Nangong Xianweng smirked: "Still not enough to stump me! But why did Su Yuan divide this into nine volumes? This first volume alone seems complete enough to reach beyond Foundation Establishment!" Something felt off, but he couldn't pinpoint what.