Chapter 11 – Sect Building Approach

Theo sank into years of cultivation during each he connected to the void and absorbed pure Qi directly, avoiding the polluted energy of the continent.

The first phase of the Qi Gathering stage was absorption. Cultivators of this stage have taken their first step into the world of nourishing the body with Qi, and they had to learn how to absorb that energy into their bodies as a starting point.

The Void Absorption manual allowed its users to absorb Qi from the void instead of using the energy around them, which included several benefits.

First, he would not vie for Qi if he shared the same platform with others since he would use another pull from a different dimension. This could be considered useful on shared formations like those adding to the Qi density in the sect. If he had absorbed 10 years' worth of Qi instantly, the mountain would have lost its blessing.

Second, the Qi in the void was purer than the one in the natural world, which would result in a better foundation for him in the future by avoiding stacking impurities.

Third, Theo would be immune to toxins and poison spread through Qi, since he didn't absorb the energy around him. It could be considered a minor benefit since such poisons were very rare.

There were also limitations to this trick. The void was a paralleled dimension to the continent, meaning it had dense Qi in the same places as the Living Continent. Theo couldn't expect to enjoy high density while hanging around in a mortal city.

As for other benefits, the young man might find them later in his journey.

But Theo didn't just get to the primary realm. In the intermediate realm, the absorbed Qi is used to bring one's body to perfection, the peak of health by mortal standards. The strengthening of one's body could bring tremendous perks, but the best of them is the preparation for the next stages when one has to ascend beyond mortal constraints.

Without a perfectly healthy body, one would be unable to achieve true cultivation, and the intermediate phase solves this problem. The pure energy of the void helped strengthen Theo's body to the limits without leaving any hidden traumas or unbalances behind.

Next was the advanced phase of the Qi Gathering stage. This one included training the body and modifying it with the help of Qi, making it more flexible, improving the senses, and condensing the benefits of the previous phase further.

Lastly, the peak phase included putting the newly perfected body to use. After all those preparations, one's body would be able to take the next step in cultivation, and the ability to manipulate it is required, which is the hallmark of that phase.

In his ten years of cultivation, Theo never stopped cultivating diligently, using his profound knowledge of the supreme heaven technique to maximize his gains to the limits.

'Now I have only 134 years left…' The young man thought, heartbroken.

But he didn't let it sour his mood for today was his first day as a cultivator.

'Last night was my rebirth-day,' he joked with himself as he left the sect leader's room.

"Senior Brother," the girls bowed, waved, flirted, or cupped their fists, each with their own temperament and familiarity with the young man.

"Everyone, I won't leave the Jade Lotus Sect!" Theo announced in the dining room to five of his fellow junior sisters.

"That's great!" One of the girls, Mira, clapped her hands excitedly, "Senior Brother, come to appreciate the flowers with me later, I found a secret spot on the mountain I want to share with you!"

"How dare you monopolize Senior Brother? Senior Brother, come with the four of us, I promise it will be fun, we won't even mention cultivation," another girl stepped forward with a ravishing smile. They all remembered this boy liked to fool around, so she promised some slacking off.

"What nonsense are you girls spouting?" Theo stood up righteously after swallowing his fried egg, "We are a cultivation sect. If you do not cultivate, why are you here? I, Theodor, to set an example to my junior sisters, have meditated ceaselessly day and night for a decade until finally awakening my hidden talent to cultivate by your side as equal, and now you are telling me to slack off?"

The girls didn't take him seriously at all, they all giggled, "Right, right, Senior Brother, you are very diligent and deserve a break, come play with us," they gave him a thumbs-up.

Everyone knew he had been doing it for six years and only finished his meditation yesterday, he had announced it himself. 'Senior Brother, doesn't it mean you meditated for 4 hours a day and slacked off during the other 20 hours? If you add years to your meditation, wouldn't it even worsen the tradeoff?' they all thought.

"You girls seem unconvinced," Theo shook his head, feeling wronged. "Then tell me, what is this?"

He caused a small string of Qi to flicker and swirl around his finger before it dissipated, an ability reserved for those who had reached the peak of the Qi Gathering stage.

"Senior Brother, how is it possible?!" They were all dumbfounded. Those girls were the black sheep of the sect, as one could guess from their late presence in the dining room and their little schemes of taking liberties with their Senior Brother instead of training. The strongest among them didn't reach that stage yet!

"I trained hard. If you girls want to accompany me, you must be at least as strong as me," he harrumphed. He liked the girls, those black sheep played with him the most. However, the sect was under Veronica's leadership, and having extra weight wouldn't do. They should improve.

"We will train hard!" they promised with flushed cheeks and quickly left the room to train. Everyone knew that the Senior Brother only had Unranked talent, meaning he had reached his limit.

If his words were true, then there were seven girls worthy of 'accompanying' him, excluding the sect leader and her vice. Before those girls could drain the Senior Brother clean, it was a race against time!

Seeing they left, Theo thought about the future. 'Alright, enough fooling around. I need to gain more cultivation years to grow stronger. Let's see, there seem to be two main approaches in earning cultivation years. Sex and killing.'

Analyzing his previous gains, it was clear that the system was pushing him to the path of murder or the path of lust. He would gain rewards for slaughtering animals, and the rewards would turn more significant if he could kill fierce beasts.

Fierce beasts was the term used to describe beasts that could rival cultivators, and a first-rank beast would equal a first-stage cultivator. Normal mammals already gave him 5 years of cultivation, so fierce beasts were bound to give even more.

Sex and love were also a good source of revenue. He had gained many years for kissing, cuddling, hugging, and milk drinking. In fact, the rewards were even greater compared to those gained by killing, reaching 20-30 years for one achievement.

'But I feel like sex had exhausted most of its potential…' Theo thought in worry. He had already done the achievements of hugging, kissing, grinding, and cuddling, so there might not be much left. Maybe just penetration, oral, and anal.

'Ah, maybe I should try licking feet and sucking toes?' he made a strange expression but soon dismissed the thought. Well, maybe if one day he is in a losing battle and needs 20 years of cultivation for a last-minute breakthrough to win…

The weird scene played in his mind. Immortals filled the skies, battling with one another, and tearing space with their swords. Then, a handsome man on the ground grabs a wounded fairy and starts sucking on her toes for rewards, then breaks through and achieves victory against his enemies.

Theo shuddered at the thought, imagining his dao name would be known throughout the world later as 'Foot Immortal'.

'Well, let's try to rally some of the girls and go on a hunting mission outside,' Theo finally decided on his next course of action.

Veronica and Maria did not kill many beasts despite fighting for a long time. Killing too many would upset the ecological system, and the meat would rot and serve no purpose. Thus, they mainly drove the beasts away deeper into the area beyond the mountains where no human settlements existed, leaving them for future generations to hunt for meat and practice.

Fierce beasts' meat could help boost one's cultivation and supply better nourishment for the body, so the sect didn't restrict their hunting at the moment as nobody could hunt more than the consumption of the sect.

*Ding!*

[Achievement: Charismatic Toddler (Eighth-grade sect)]

[You have encouraged your sect members to cultivate diligently, you get ten years of cultivation.]

Theo was still forming a plan in his head when the system rang.

'I can get points from sect building, too?!'

'Wait, when did I encourage them?'