In all, there were 32 houses and disciples in the luxury area of the outer sect. Compared to the thousands of outer sect disciples, this really wasn't very many. However, it also meant that they were guaranteed to be rich!
Khan robbed 16 people on the first day, then 14 on the second, only sparing Fu Rian from his brazen actions. Everyone was disgruntled and complained to the disciplinary members and elders, but they were helpless in this matter. Technically, Khan hadn't actually broken any sect rules…
As for the hatred directed towards him from everyone in his neighbourhood, Khan couldn't care less about it. Let them hate him! If simply hating someone was enough to resolve your problems, then there would be no need to cultivate. Strength ruled supreme in this world, and Khan's strength was at the top in the 108th Samsara Branch Sect's outer sect.
Or at least, he was the strongest in this outer sect, there were eight other outer sects in this branch sect. He had no clue about the strength of the other outer sect disciples in the other outer sects.
The entrance trial for the inner sect was open to all Profound Roots Realm cultivators in the nine outer sects. They would all join together for this trial which was held once each year, competing for a spot into the inner sect. It was said that there were only ten places for the inner sect each year, whilst around 100-200 outer sect disciples would compete in each entrance exam.
The majority of these people would be initial stage Profound Roots Realm cultivators trying their luck, but the true competition was between those who had reached the early stage. As for those at the mid stage…people like this were rare, since it wasn't too difficult to gain a place whilst at the early stage. Only someone like Yusef who wanted to make the most of his position as the number one outer sect disciple would stay behind in the outer sect deliberately. There would be at most one or two of these cultivators entering the exam.
And so, Khan wasn't at all worried about this exam. He had even defeated Yusef, a mid stage Profound Roots Realm fatty, so how could he possibly fail?
"Even if your success is assured, are you really going to lounge around like this until the entrance exam?" The spirit sighed and asked him disdainfully. All of the heroes she had accompanied across the ages were extremely diligent and took every given opportunity to cultivate, nobody would be like Khan, taking a full week to slob about, doing nothing just because he was confident in his chances of success.
Prior to this last week, he spent two hours everyday training using the spirit's formation, which she revealed was called the 'Vital Punishment Cultivation Formation.'
After adapting to the intense and almost dangerous training method, Khan started to increase the amount of spirit units used to fuel the formation each time. He eventually reached 20 spirit units, at which point, Khan felt that it would be too dangerous to push it any further for now.
His training with this formation typically consisted of spending 3-5 minutes inside of the actual formation, then 10 minutes recovering his energy using a vital recovery pill. He also spent half an hour each day refining more vital recovery pills, both as practise, and to increase his supply of these useful medicines.
His cultivation was already quite cheap, but Khan had also robbed the richest disciples of the outer sect, so he was far from lacking funds.
For some reason, the spirit was speechless when he blew about one tenth of his total wealth on high quality wines and meats. Khan thought it was absolutely worth it, because this way, he could relax properly before the entrance trial.
"This entrance exam seems tedious, it actually drags on for ten full days…I need to relax for a bit so that I'm in top form." Khan explained half-heartedly.
As the spirit felt frustrated towards Khan's attitude towards life, he lay back on a deck chair and bit down on a demonic beast steak, before throwing back a mouthful of high quality spirit wine. If he wanted to get drunk, Khan needed to buy spirit wines that were usually intended for Qi River Realm cultivators. It was expensive, but he liked this wine, so he considered it a necessary expense.
Fu Bian's eyes twitched as she cultivated nearby and tried to ignore Khan as he spoke to himself. She knew that he was supposedly speaking with the spirit of the Void Blood Pill and she could fill in the blanks in their conversation based on Khan's speech alone, which was why his attitude irked her.
As for Khan, he'd just come to accept that the Fu sisters were now following him without ever intending to explain why. Of course, Khan wasn't stupid, he had some ideas about this.
Fu Rian sat beside her sister, whilst Hui cultivated on a mat beside Khan.
Hui had never said this out loud, but she found that for some unknown reason, her cultivation speed was greater when she was closer to her master. She had been at the 6th layer of Qi Absorption for just a few months, yet she could already feel signs of her imminent breakthrough to the 7th layer!
There were 9 layers of Qi Absorption. The 3rd to 4th and 6th to 7th layer break throughs were the most difficult.
Hui had reached this point after cultivating for slightly over three years…her speed was actually quite incredible, despite her not even being a member of the Samsara Sect or possessing the Samsara Soul.
"Anyway, I have my own way of doing things, only by living like this can I smoothly break through each Soul Realm boundary without encountering bottlenecks." Khan added.
Now, Fu Bian opened her eyes and looked at him oddly.
"You're talking about following your dao heart?"
"Dao heart?" Khan turned to her questioningly. Fu Bian blinked, but then remembered that he was only an outer sect disciple with no backing, and there wasn't really anyone in the sect who liked him aside from Hui…and possibly her sister. Definitely not herself, she hated him…right, she definitely hated him…right.
"You don't even know about the dao heart, just how have you even cultivated to this level?" The spirit asked incredulously.
Khan blinked…it seemed that he had missed something important, perhaps?
Fu Bian sighed and shook her head, pausing her cultivation for now to explain this very important matter to Khan. Her sister also opened her eyes and decided to listen, as discussing these things with higher realm cultivators like her sister could be helpful now and then.
"The dao heart is the most important aspect of a cultivator, especially as you reach higher realms. Of course, because you possess a 5-Star Samsara Soul, it hasn't mattered that you were unaware of this. The dao heart is…it's the dao that you follow, the way that you live your life, the moral principals you abide by, and the type of person that you aim to be." Fu Bian spoke slowly and felt satisfied with her answer.
Khan's eye twitched.
"What the fuck are you talking about? What the hell is a dao, and how is this relevant to cultivation?"
"You don't even know this?!" Fu Bian cried out, whilst the spirit also screamed something similar.
"Hah…dao is…the nature of the world. It's the flow of all things, the way in which everything functions, fits together and progresses. Dao encompasses everything, but cultivators choose a specific area of dao and make it their own, this is their dao heart. Most cultivators name the dao that they follow, though it's somewhat arbitrary and everyone's dao is unique, even if it shares the same name. However, it's impossible to progress to new cultivation realms without understanding your dao and dao heart."
"A simplistic explanation, but good enough for your level." The spirit nodded approvingly within his soul.
"Eh, didn't I already do that in my past life though? It shouldn't matter much until I reach the Rank 5 Soul Realm, right?" Khan asked curiously.
"This…is basically true, yes." Fu Bian sounded a bit depressed as she said this. Having the 5-Star Samsara Soul attribute was too huge of a cheat…
"However." She suddenly added. "The 5-Star Samsara Soul only means that in your past life, you obtained sufficient insight into your own dao, such that in this world, you would have been able to reach the Rank 5 Soul Realm. You still need to follow your dao, strengthen your dao heart and continue to comprehend your dao in order to successfully breakthrough each Soul Realm."
"Right, right." Khan nodded and laughed, finally understanding everything now. "That's exactly what I was saying before, I need to just do whatever I want all the time, that way my Soul Realm can increase with no problems. I already knew all this, no need to make it so complicated."
"Can such a dao heart really exist? I wonder just what dao you comprehended exactly…" Fu Bian muttered.
Khan rolled his eyes.
"I still don't understand everything, but surely following your dao heart should always be enjoyable, otherwise didn't you just choose the wrong dao? If you don't enjoy following your dao, then your dao heart will be weak and you'll never increase your Soul Realm."
Fu Bian's eyes widened for a moment, then she shut her eyes and silently pondered Khan's words. Fu Rian also seemed to be contemplating something. She glanced at Khan and showed a rare smile.
'We forget sometimes, but having a 5-Star Samsara Soul means that his understanding of dao is actually well above any of our own…even if he dismisses it like this.'
"Hey, what is this '5-Star Samsara Soul' that you spoke of? Is this the reason for your strangely dark soul and your ability to discover and control your soul despite being a mere Elementary Stage being?" The spirit suddenly asked, feeling intrigued.
Khan realised that he had never mentioned this matter, nor had he really explained much at all regarding the Samsara Sect, so took some time explaining everything as he relaxed.
By the end of his explanation, the spirt's jaw was dropped to the floor.