This Damned Meeting!

The second step of Foundation Establishment, Muscle Tempering. The longest and worst step of Foundation Establishment for many reasons.

The grueling training to make the muscles sturdy, rigorous and daily stretching of every muscle and ligament to give them elasticity, then purifying the muscles with pure qi before eating and resting.

If the process was only a few days long, it wouldn't be that bad.

But it's not.

Muscle Tempering is the hardest because of its length, the Muscle Tempering stage can last for years if you even mess up a single part, stretching your muscles a bit too long, under training a group of vital muscles, not purifying the muscles enough at the end of each day, not eating proper foods, not resting enough. Each and every part of your day once you've entered this step must be meticulously planned, down to each and every step.

But I can't do any of that stuff if I'm stuck in these damn meetings all day!

From the minute I got out of the bath house I was brought to the cult leader's building to discuss what the cult's next steps should be.

"Cult leader, what should our next move be?"

I get that I'm the new cult leader, but to these people I'm a dragon who was hiding in Mount Song and just reincarnated, why would I know about mortal affairs?

"Sigh... First things first, my information about the mortal world is lacking, bring me up to date on the affairs from the past fifty years or so."

"The past fifty years? That should be possible... Tae Hyun, bring us the records from the past fifty years!"

Did these fools document everything they could for the past fifty years? Or is it just this cults documentation from the past fifty years? The former would be nice to have, but really that goes for any knowledge at this point.

"While we wait for him to bring those here, what should we do about manpower, Cult Leader?"

"You lot intended to use my original body's spiritual core to give certain members of the cult a dantian and internal energy, correct? Well, now there's no need for that, as I will teach you the breathing method dragon's use to acquire pure qi."

This was a flat lie; all I would teach them is a cultivation method I knew from my previous life. After all, I can't teach them the Mount Song Sect's cultivation technique since it requires them to go through the Foundation Establishment stage first.

"We'll be learning how dragons acquire pure qi? We cannot thank you enough, Great Dragon!"

I'll have to bring this cult up from the ground up, aren't I? Which leaves my cultivational practices to be sidelined or streamlined. If I sideline them, the cult will have more manpower to help me collect the spiritual elixirs and herbs I'll need in the future, but if I streamline them, it'll take years for this cult to get any kind of footing.

Then there's the middle route, where I take time off every now and again to increase my cultivational practices by a stage or substage, then come back to rest and begin helping these fools again.

Sigh... What have I gotten myself into?

"Cult leader, what about martial arts?"

"Vice-leader, are you dumb? Do you think dragons know how to use martial arts, which is a human creation? I will study other sects to create martial arts for us, but I won't teach all of you the same martial arts or all the martial arts I create."

It seemed like the middle route was the best option, but whoever came up with the 'actions have consequences' quote was smart, but also a fool. It isn't just one person's actions that have consequences, it's hundreds of people's actions that have consequences.

I could hole myself up in a mountain and leave the vice-leader in charge with a specific set of instructions. And once I've had time to develop my cultivational practices, I could come out and fix the cult properly.

Screw it, I'm taking the latter.

"Enough questions, here's what's going to happen. I'm going to leave the cult in charge of the vice leader while I prepare this new body of mine. In the meantime, I will leave three goals for the cult to complete in my absence."

"What are the goals you wish us to complete, sect leader?"

"First, money, this cult will need a lot of it when I return. Second, spiritual herbs and elixirs, it doesn't matter the quality of them, just gather as many as possible, and don't use any for yourself until I return. Third, have all members of the cult undergo immense physical training, make them train until they feel like dying, then let them rest."

"Where will you be going, sect leader?"

He has a point, where would I go? I don't think there's any nearby mountains I can isolate myself on, maybe there's a large forest nearby?

"Is there a large forest nearby the cult's headquarters?"

"Yes, there's one just behind the sect leader's building."

"I will be staying there then, it's best for me to train in places highly connected to nature and far away from human constructions."

Forests, mountain peaks, waterfalls, and lakes. The four corners of the Mount Song Sect's cultivation roots. All four of these places are optimal places for members of the Mount Song Sect to hone their bodies and cultivate their golden cores. But at some point, a member of the Mount Song Sect must visit all four locations once, to gain a further understanding of themselves and their spiritual arts.

All members of the Mount Song Sect start off with the mountains, to gain the understanding of being rooted to the earth. Being rooted to the Earth allows for the formation of the golden core to go smoothly. From the moment after they form their golden core, the sect members are allowed to roam free in the world, so long as they follow the sect's rules with every passing moment.

But I didn't need to train in the mountains to understand my role of being rooted to the Earth. The Other Side sent me here to complete some goal I didn't in my first life, so I must stay here until that goal is completed.

I stood up out of my chair and walked out of the cult leader's building, saying only one thing to the rest of the cult members before I left.

"I will return in two years, fulfill those three tasks by the time I return."