Qianyuan Continent, Great Yan Prefecture, Immortal Guardian Sect.

Six old men sat in a majestic council hall.

The old man in the middle had a frown on his face; his expression grave.

"The Sect Leader, First Elder, and some others went to the Jade Sea to look for opportunities three months ago. There has been little news of them since then. But just this morning, all the jade tokens that contained their spiritual auras in the Immortal Hall had shattered!"

The one who spoke was the ninth Elder Wu Yuan.

He would never have the chance to speak in a gathering at this level back then. But this time, his status was the highest and he was also the most powerful among them.

"A shattered jade token indicates that the cultivator's soul has departed. He is dead and gone…"

The faces of the crowd went white.

"We might be among the top ten sects in the Great Yan Prefecture, but our Immortal Guardian Sect is at the bottom of the list. With the tragedy that our Sect Leader and so many of our elders suffered from, not only we will fall out of the top ten—the sect may even suffer a crisis."

"It is also quite possible for us to be wiped out eventually due to a decline in strength."

Ninth Elder Wu Yuan said gloomily, "I have gathered all of you here because I hope that we can find a good way for us to tide over these difficult times."

The world of cultivation was a dog-eat-dog world. Without sufficient strength, they could eventually be swallowed up by other stronger forces.

"There are quite a number of sects that participated in this expedition to the Jade Sea. The news regarding the fall of our Sect Leader and a great number of our elders will still spread even if we try to keep this everything a secret."

"We should make some preparations in advance. The most urgent task that we have on our hand right now is to reassure the members of our sect—we have to prevent turmoil in the sect!"

"To protect ourselves against the outside world, we must first secure the inside…"

"That is easier said than done!"

"Unless—we can find an extremely powerful expert or someone whose seniority is high enough for him to take over the role of the Sect Leader; or unless one of us can make a breakthrough. It will be difficult to stop a panic."

"But if making a breakthrough is that easy, the Sect Leader and the others wouldn't have to take such a risk…"

The crowd was silent.

"A breakthrough is difficult indeed. As for having an outsider become our Sect Leader, we might not be able to appease the masses with such a move, but we might also cause more trouble. In that case, why don't we just ask the Little Uncle-Master to come out from seclusion?"

The Tenth Elder—Yuan Buyi—spoke up all of a sudden.

Everyone was taken aback. "You mean, Little Uncle-Master Su Yin?"

At the annual disciple selection meeting ten years ago; an eight-year-old child named Su Yin appeared. He had an innate Dao body—a body naturally suitable for Taoist Cultivation and he also had an immortal bloodline. To obtain this genius, Master personally appeared to compete for him against the sect leaders of the other major sects.

A bloody battle ensued. Although Master won, he was seriously injured. Because of his injuries and his advanced age, he passed away shortly.

The child was exceptionally talented to the point that even Master didn't dare to accept him as his own personal disciple. Instead, he took him in as a disciple on behalf of his master. As a result, the child became the sect's Little Uncle-Master.

Currently, he held the highest position in the Immortal Guardian Sect.

"Little Uncle-Master was immediately sent into the Forbidden Grounds in the rear mountains by Master when he joined the sect. He never once came out since then. Moreover, even though he has an innate Dao body, he has only been cultivating for ten years…"

"How powerful can he be?"

"I doubt he'll be of much help to us even if he leaves his seclusion!"

"He's a talent that countless sects scrambled over to obtain. Also, he holds the highest position in the sect right now. It should be fine."

"Are there other people that are more suitable than him?"

"No…"

"In that case, we will ask him to leave his seclusion. However, some things need to be explained in advance."

After some discussion, Elder Wu Yuan made a final decision and said, "Given our situation, no matter how strong the Little Uncle-Master is, we must all be united in saying that his cultivation is extraordinary and that he has reached the level of a Grand Master!"

"Only through this way can we force the other sects to be cautious on making a move against us. We can also put all our disciples at ease."

Cultivation was divided into nine realms: Gathering Breath, Core Forming, Secular Escape, Mortal Separation, Immortal Temple, Grand Master, Inheritance, Eternity, and Bare Immortal.

Each of these realms had nine small classes.

Only when one reached the Grand Master level would one be qualified to be a leader of a first-class sect! Only when one's attainment in cultivation reached this level could they start a sect and be revered by all!

Their recently deceased Sect Leader, who was also their Master, had only reached this level.

Most of them were at the Class 3 or 4 Immortal Temple Realm.

This Little Uncle-Master of theirs stayed all this time in the rear mountains; they had no idea how strong he was. However, the outside world was also clueless about his strength. In that case, they might as well turn him into an unparalleled master.

"We will spread the news quietly. It's easy to create an impression, but what about Little Uncle-Master? Surely, he will have to meet other people in the future. I'm afraid that he might be seen through!" Tenth Elder Yuan Buyi frowned.

But Ninth Elder Wu Yuan was quick to respond, "I have a Firefly Silkworm Cloth here. Once it is worn, it will conceal one's cultivation and aura."

"Even the strongest of Grand Masters will find it hard to detect anything through it…"

"Let our Little Uncle-Master wear it, and we'll explain to him in advance that he must pretend to be an extremely powerful expert. We should also tell him that he must not attack using his strength unless he is in imminent danger of dying."

"With this, it should be difficult for anyone to see through his disguise."

"We have no other choice!"

Although it was wrong to deceive others, they were forced to do so with the situation.

"Since we are all in agreement, let's ask him to leave his seclusion now!"

Noticing that no objection emerged from the crowd, Ninth Elder Wu Yuan didn't say anything anymore as the decision was set in stone. Ninth Elder Wu Yuan gave his order, and two disciples in their twenties walked into the council hall.

After having received their instructions, both disciples hurried over to the rear mountains.

…

In the rear mountains of the Immortal Guardian Sect.

Although the place was called the Forbidden Grounds, it was actually the graveyard of their ancestors. Tombstones could be seen as far as the eye could see.

Painter Sage Wu Daoxian, Chess Sage Huang Longtian, Calligraphy Sage Wang Qiancheng, and Zither Sage Li Wannian…

The tombstones recorded one great figure after another. Of course, it was unknown whether what was written on these tombstones was the truth or not.

"You have completed the examinations from the 36 ancient Sages such as the Zither Sage, Chess Sage, Calligraphy Sage, Food Sage, Agriculture Sage, etc. You have passed this last exam perfectly too. From now on, you are free!"

Inside a modest grass hut in the corner of the Forbidden Grounds, the illusory remnant of an old man looked at the teenager in front of him and smiled.

"Passed?"

The teenager was in disbelief.

His eyes were red. "Then, can I cultivate already?"

The youth was none other than the Little Uncle-Master everyone had talked about, Su Yin!

Ten years, ten whole years!

Everyone in the Immortal Guardian Sect thought that he was diligently cultivating in these past ten years.

But he hadn't actually learned any martial arts at all.

The moment he opened his eyes in this place, all he did was study in all sorts of arts and fields.

Zither, chess, books, painting, smithing, cooking, carving…

Each of these fields was taught to him personally by a soul remnant that would stand guard and keep an eye out on him. Only when he passed the soul remnant's standards could move to another field.

Do you know how I spent the last ten years?

If he had been as diligent as he was right now in his college exams, he would've gotten into Shuimu University back then…

That's right, Su Yin was a transmigrator.

He transmigrated into this world ten years ago, and became an eight-year-old super-genius with an innate Dao body and immortal bloodline! He had thought that he could learn all sorts of cultivation techniques and become famous in one fell swoop.

But he had never expected even in his wildest dreams that he would end up learning mundane skills such as the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting instead of cultivation techniques!

He also learned lumbering, gardening, pig raising, and other miscellaneous work skills.

Having transmigrated into a world where the concept of cultivation existed. How could he not want to reach the top, become invincible, and gain immortality?

Ten years ago was the most suitable age for him to cultivate. But instead of cultivating, he was locked up here and forced to learn all of these things… the more he thought about the past ten years, the more frustrated he felt.

"You can now cultivate. But our cultivation techniques aren't suitable for you." The soul remnant indifferently stated.

Speechless, Su Yin was about to say something when a loud and clear voice rang in his ears.

"79th generation disciples of the Immortal Guardian Sect, Chen Yu and Zhao Ruoxu, respectfully request that Uncle-Master leaves seclusion!"

Tears streamed down his face.

They finally remembered me!

Ten years ago, after that "Senior" accepted him as a disciple on behalf of his master, he made him take a vow not to leave until he learned everything in this place. And so, he was trapped in this place like a prisoner.

Now, he could finally leave.

I want to see what the sect looks like.

I want to learn real cultivation techniques, and swiftly advance!

Full of excitement, Su Yin said goodbye to the soul remnants.

Although he felt like a prisoner in this place, he still stayed here for ten whole years. It was a matter of course for him to feel somewhat reluctant about leaving.

He stored the wood carvings, puppets, paintings, and calligraphy pieces that he had created during his studies into a storage ring. Of course, he didn't forget to place the flowers and plants that he had grown all this while into the same storage ring.

Then, he closed the door of the grass hut before walking into a small courtyard surrounded by a fence.

"Heehaw! Heehaw! Heehaw!"

He had just come in when a donkey brayed to him as a greeting. A turtle also slowly raised its head to look at him.

"Hungry…"

Immediately after that, a parrot flew to the front and spoke.

When he first came to the sect, they sent people to bring food and drink for him. However, when he learned the skills of the Agricultural Sage, he acquired the ability to produce his own food, so he lost contact with them.

The donkey was sent to him by the cheap "Senior" to help him plow the land when he first started to learn farming. The turtles and parrots were caught by the eldest disciple nephew for him, so he could practice with them after he learned the skills of bird breeding and animal taming.

Eventually, despite having passed the tests, he decided to keep these animals after having gotten along with them for a long time. He had already developed feelings for them, what's more, they were nothing more but ordinary animals.

If they were released into the wild, they would most likely be captured and eaten. After thinking about it, he decided to keep them. He raised them by himself, and many years passed in a blink of an eye.

"I'm not sure what it's like outside. But don't worry, once I've settled down. I'll return here to come and pick you up." Su Yin said with a smile when he saw their expectant looks.

He had been in this place since he had transmigrated. He had never been to the sect, and he had no idea what the rules were. In short, it might not be appropriate to bring a donkey, tortoise, and a parrot with him.

After everything was taken care of, Su Yin walked out of the Forbidden Grounds.

Right after he left, the soul remnants beneath their graves surfaced.

All of them had complicated emotions in their eyes.

"As expected of the innate Dao body! Even in the Immortal World, it's rare to meet someone like him in ten thousand years!"

"Any of our sage skills are enough to shock both heaven and earth. Our skills can drive even an immortal into madness, yet he alone… managed to master all of them. It's simply incredible!"

"It's unfortunate that we didn't give him any of our cultivation techniques. Otherwise, with his talent, he would definitely be outstanding!"

"If the mortal world's complicated spiritual aura made direct contact with the cultivation method of the Immortal World. Not only will it not be beneficial for him, but it might harm him instead…"

"Furthermore, he's the only one in history that has the 36 Ways of the Sage in him. Considering these, we truly do not have a suitable cultivation technique for him."

"That's true…"

"But he will still receive rewards from the Immortal World for having transcendent skills that are of the sage level. He would get those rewards—36 times in a row!"

"Even if he has not cultivated yet, his body should almost be immortal already! Plus, with his fusion of the Way of the Sage, he should have a photographic memory when trying to learn anything…"

"Once he starts cultivating, his progress is bound to be extremely fast."

Their thoughts swiftly flitted across each other.

No one knew that the names and honorifics carved on these tombstones were all real.

The Immortal Guardian Sect did not guard immortals, but immortal tombs!

Beneath the tombstones were a group of sages that had reached the pinnacle of a particular skill, but somehow died!

Su Yin didn't know about their internal communication. For ten years, Su Yin and these soul remnants never talked about anything else except for the content of the skills.

He knew nothing about the Immortal World or the Qianyuan Continent.

He didn't know that he wasn't being punished to learn these skills. Instead, what he had done was a kind of cultivation that was remarkable even in the Immortal World.

Su Yin who knew nothing was standing outside the Forbidden Grounds at this moment. He was watching the colored clouds roll across the sky, dumbfounded.

But it wasn't only him that was bewildered.

Both Chen Yu and Zhao Ruoxu looked puzzled.

Just a moment ago, the sky was clear. Why had it changed all of a sudden?

Numerous colored clouds converged.

Under the sunlight, beams of colored light and mist gradually formed a big word—"Sage"!

The clouds acted as if they were welcoming a sage who had just come out of seclusion.