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Zhongming breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the entrance of the Mo Sect from a distance.

The entire debacle with the Ru and Ming conflict took a lot out of him. Being responsible for potentially the lives of billions of people was a burden that was not an easy task for a young and inexperienced person to bear.

"Zhongming, you did very well this time." Mo Li was able to sense the relief that seemed to come over his young disciple. "Not too many people can boast of accomplishing a task of such importance."

"Master, surely you flatter me," Zhongming replied.

Honestly, his role was quite insignificant in the grand scheme of things, whether or not he accompanied his master, Mo Li was fully capable of convincing the state of Ru to back down.

Zhongming was there just to gain experience and put into practice what he had learned throughout the years.

Also, as he was in the late stage of Core Formation, almost breaking through to the nascent realm, this was an invaluable opportunity for him.

For an ordinary mortal to transcend to an immortal nascent soul cultivator. They would need to have a profound understanding of at least one Dao.

This understanding could not be mere superficial knowledge, hence why you cannot simply teach a cultivator a Dao, but rather it was an understanding, that through many hours of meditation and experience, was burned into the cultivator's very soul.

Only through this could a man who was still bound to a physical body form a connection with the Heavenly Dao. Over time this would allow the cultivator to shed his physical limitations and become a conceptual being.

"Master, how much longer do you think it will take before I can break through to the Nascent Soul realm?"

"This question, even your master is unable to answer. A connection to the Heavenly Dao is a very personal quest; there's no standard that anybody should be held to."

Perhaps to many, Zhongming could be considered a rare talent. On average, the human brain is not fully developed until the age of twenty-five, and since a connection to the Heavenly Dao was disproportionally based on intellectual prowess, Zhongming, being only a half step away at the age of eighteen, could be considered very impressive in the world of cultivation.

However, Zhongming knew better; he was not just another eighteen-year-old cultivator. On the contrary, he was someone who had transmigrated from another world. He had actually already lived for thirty-six years, eighteen years in his old life, and eighteen years so far in this life. Thus, mentally, Zhongming should already have a significant advantage over his peers.

Not only that, in this world, not many cultivators, needless to say, people had studied logic or dialectics. Zhongming, however, had come from an era where, by the age of eighteen, most students would at least have been introduced to the ideas behind the scientific method and or epistemology.

In short, Zhongming should have had an overwhelming advantage compared to the people of this world in terms of understanding the nature of the Dao, at least in theory he should.

"Zhongming sometimes obsessing over something only brings you further away from it, especially on the path of cultivation, cultivators should not be too narrowly focused. Enlightenment often is a spontaneous event that comes when you least expect it."

Actually, it's not that Zhongming didn't know this. He knew the why and theoretically understood the how. Yet, it's one thing to know and understand a principle and another to be able to abide and to live according to that principle in all respects. It was likely this lack of true understanding that prevented him from ascending into the nascent realm.

Zhongming's train of thought was interrupted as fellow members of the Mo Sect greeted him and Master Mo.

"Welcome back, Master Mo, junior brother Zhongming."

"This junior brother greets his seniors," Zhongming replied with a slight bow of deference to the few members in the outer courtyard.

"Oy, Zhongming, you're finally back," A voice shouted from behind.

This was Gao Liang; he was Zhongming senior in the Mo Sect, and since young, the two had been close friends.

"After traveling with Master Mo, how are you still stuck in the Core Formation realm? Unfortunately, it seems that your talent is a bit lacking."

"I don't want to hear that from someone who just entered the Nascent Soul realm at the age of twenty-two." Zhongming fired back.

Indeed, among the Mo Sect, the most talented were able to enter the Nascent Soul realm at the age of fifteen. Anyone that was able to enter the Nascent Soul realm under the age of twenty was considered to be a talented cultivator, while those who had entered the Nascent Soul realm past twenty were considered to be average.

However, the Mo Sect, while small, was considered to be full of cultivating geniuses. Among even the more powerful cultivation Sect, cultivators who can reach the Nascent Soul realm by the age of twenty-five were already considered to be extremely rare talents.

Zhongming had largely attributed this to the fact that the Mo Sect was first and foremost a sect of logicians.

"Hey! You two, if you're going to cause a ruckus, don't do it in front of the Master!"

"But Senior Sister Xiuying, can't you see that Gao Liang is bullying me?"

"Humph, Gao Liang bullying you Zhongming? Do you think this is the first day I have known your two? When you and Gao Liang are together, it's hard to say who is bullying who!"

"Ah, to have such lively youth. Indeed the future of the Mo Sect is bright." Mo Li mused.