"In recent days, I, as your master, have had some insights. I need to seclude myself for comprehension. For tomorrow's Ascension Ceremony, please go in my place."

At the Asking Sword Peak, Li Qingyi sat cross-legged on a cushion, her jade-like fingers lightly brushing over the sword's body, as if sensing something. Before her was a young man with a troubled expression.

"The Ascension Ceremony on Mount Luofu occurs once every ten years. Xu Sui, as a disciple from the previous session, has only reached the ninth level of Qi cultivation after a decade.

It's noteworthy that most of his peers have already entered the Foundation Establishment stage, and some exceptionally talented ones have even started to breakthrough to the Core Formation stage.

In such a comparison, if Xu Sui represents Asking Sword Peak at the Ascension Ceremony, it might invite ridicule from other peaks. They could mock Asking Sword Peak for supposedly lacking proper guidance from their master, implying that it's unfit to be a leading peak."

"At this moment, Master understands your concerns. Endure for a while. If this seclusion goes smoothly, the Nascent Transformation stage is just around the corner," Li Qingyi said.

Up to now, Li Qingyi has devoted most of her energy to cultivation, providing minimal guidance to Xu Sui. He managed the miscellaneous tasks of Asking Sword Peak, allowing her to break through to the Nascent Transformation stage without worries.

"When I attain Nascent Transformation, I will find a treasure to enhance your aptitude," she continued.

"Thank you, Master."

"Go back and rest; it's getting late."

Watching Xu Sui leave, Li Qingyi's face, usually cold, revealed a rare trace of reluctance. Ten years of close companionship allowed her to understand Xu Sui's character.

Now is a crucial time for Asking Sword Peak, and someone like Xu Sui, honest and kind, is exactly what it needs.

Unfortunately...

"A four-element miscellaneous spirit root. Without significant opportunities, it's hopeless to reach Foundation Establishment in this lifetime," Li Qingyi reflected on the rare treasures she knew. Among them, there were very few that could enhance a cultivator's spiritual root aptitude. The only known one was the Clear Source Divine Water.

At this moment, it was in the hands of the Cloud Mist Peak's peak master, intended to improve the aptitude of his own disciple.

Allegedly, consuming Clear Source Divine Water would merge scattered spiritual roots into one, not only granting a trash cultivator a divine spiritual root but also having a chance to produce a mutated spiritual root.

"To repay you, Xu Sui, once I secure the position of peak master, I will retrieve the resources for our peak. Whether it's exploring ruins or purchasing with great wealth, I will obtain such treasures for you."

Then, a surge of spiritual energy emanated from Li Qingyi, activating all the prohibitions around the small bamboo pavilion, isolating it from the outside world.

...

"Even though I know that cultivating with a four-element miscellaneous spirit root is slow, this speed is a bit too slow," Xu Sui muttered after returning to his bamboo pavilion. He attempted to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage again, but the result was predictable.

Regarding the disputes between Asking Sword Peak and other peaks, Xu Sui had some understanding over the past ten years.

A hundred years ago, during the war between righteousness and demonic forces, Mount Luofu was attacked by the Blood Demon Sect, resulting in severe damage. Asking Sword Peak was left with only Li Qingyi as the surviving disciple.

After that incident, Asking Sword Peak's prestige declined, and the resources originally meant for Asking Sword Peak were naturally distributed among other peaks.

Now, a century later, with Li Qingyi successfully entering the Nascent Transformation stage, she had the qualification to inherit Asking Sword Peak. However, persuading other peaks to relinquish the resources that originally belonged to Asking Sword Peak seemed unrealistic.

Therefore, the peak masters of various peaks devised a plan.

First, they divided the disciples with promising aptitudes during the previous Ascension Ceremony, leaving a group of qualified individuals with four-element miscellaneous spirit roots for Li Qingyi to choose from.

Four-element miscellaneous spirit roots were only barely suitable for cultivation, and without significant opportunities, reaching Foundation Establishment was hopeless.

Li Qingyi, with such a disciple, was destined to be defeated by the talented disciples from various peaks in the sect's grand competition held every sixty years.

At that time, they could use Li Qingyi's supposedly inadequate guidance as a reason to strip her of the position of peak master, effectively solving Asking Sword Peak's resource problems.

If Xu Sui's speculation was correct, the disciples available for him to choose at tomorrow's Ascension Ceremony would likely be those with four-element miscellaneous spirit roots.

Fortunately, there was still a chance for Xu Sui to change the situation.

[System loading progress 100%, installing the automatic pickup system, please wait...]

"Ten years, do you know how I've spent these ten years, System?" Hearing the cold mechanical voice in his ears, Xu Sui jumped up from the cushion, his eyes shining as he paced around the bamboo pavilion.

Ten years ago, Xu Sui was just an ordinary internet-addicted teenager on Blue Star. He unexpectedly died while playing games overnight with the "assistive software." When he regained consciousness, he found himself participating in the Ascension Ceremony.

At that time, Xu Sui knew he had a system by his side, so he didn't despair when his four-element miscellaneous spirit roots were detected. The problem was, he didn't expect this damn system to take a whole ten years to load.

It made him wonder if the system was downloading "study materials" during the loading process. Fortunately, ten years of waiting did not end in vain.

However, what's this automatic pickup system? Hopefully, it serves some purpose.

[Automatic pickup system loaded successfully. This system can randomly pick up an item for you every day and store it in the storage space.]

[The quality of the picked items is not guaranteed. The triggering time is irregular, and there are no restrictions on the pickup range.]

[It is detected that midnight is approaching, and there is one pickup opportunity today.]

[The system is starting the pickup process; please wait, Host...]

"Nima, is this system going to pick up a bunch of junk for me?" Looking at the system information, Xu Sui immediately broke into a cold sweat, and a memory became clear in his mind.

Before crossing over, Xu Sui's "assistive software" had an automatic pickup function.

Originally, Xu Sui only used it to reduce the time spent collecting materials in the game. After all, he was playing a single-player game, and as long as he wasn't playing online, no one would accuse him of using "assistive software."

"If I knew I was going to cross over, I would have definitely chosen an instant kill function."

At this moment, Xu Sui regretted. If he had replaced the automatic pickup with an instant kill function, he would dare to confront an Immortal Emperor when they came, but now, he could only leave it to fate.

After a while, the system finally showed some activity.

[Pickup successful. Host gains the item "Clear Source Divine Water," stored in the storage space.]

[Clear Source Divine Water: A divine water nurtured by the essence of heaven and earth for a hundred years. After consumption, it can enhance the spiritual root aptitude of cultivators, with a certain chance of awakening a mutated spiritual root. All tracking techniques and restrictions on the cultivator are erased. Host, feel free to use it.]