The Heavenly Mystery Elder looked at the True Person of Turbid Wine and said sincerely, "You're right, and I'm wrong."
"The lesson from the past is not far away. We mustn't let Ryan repeat the same mistakes and waste his life like I did."
He had spent half of his life in cultivation, but in the end, it was all in vain.
Back then, the Heavenly Mystery Elder was a young and outstanding talent who had the opportunity to compete for the position of sect leader!
Sadly, he was young and arrogant, overly conceited. In order to peek into the heavenly secrets, he damaged his lifespan and cut off his path to immortality. He was already doing his best just to maintain his current realm without regressing, let alone making any further progress.
There was no such possibility.
The cultivators with profound realms and powerful strength surrounded Ryan, liking him more and more as they looked at him. In an instant, Ryan became an undoubted favorite in Xuanji Cave Heaven.
Even so, he still remained calm in his state of mind, with an unruffled demeanor in the face of changes.
Why?
As long as Ryan had the slightest thought of becoming arrogant, he would immediately activate his supernatural power of causality to warn himself.
Those strings of fluorescent words emitted a light blue fluorescence, gentle and refreshing, yet constantly warning him.
[Ryan: The Only Awakener of the Supernatural Power of Causality]
[Currently Advanced Cultivation Ability: "The Glorious Purple Blood Art".]
[Repayment Efficiency: 3 (while equipped with the Bodhi Cushion).]
[Degree of Repayment: 0/39 (months).]
[Available Times of Advancement: 0]
Seeing this, how could Ryan possibly become proud and conceited?
"Obviously, under normal circumstances, I would probably need thirty-six months of painstaking cultivation to refine this blood-refining secret technique."
"Now, by using the ability to advance, there's only an extra three months of 'interest'. It's not a loss."
"Even a huge gain!"
Thirty-nine divided by three equals thirteen.
In other words, just with the help of the Bodhi Cushion alone, the three-year-plus debt repayment period for cultivation can be compressed to about one year.
And then look at his current wealthy possessions.
Those bottles of priceless top-grade pills, and the exquisite spiritual cuisine in the Hundred-Treasure Pouch that was said to have endless wonderful uses and be greatly beneficial for cultivation...
After consuming and fully digesting all of them, how much would his [Cause of Cultivation] repayment efficiency increase?
In Ryan's view, every time he pretended to be a celestial prodigy was a challenge and an attempt.
Although the risks were huge, the rewards were extremely generous if he succeeded!
Although he had already been generally recognized by the sect's elders, from now on, he still couldn't afford to be careless. He must disguise himself well, maintain his persona, and never show any flaws.
Otherwise, it wouldn't be as simple as just losing his reputation!
The favor, care, various conveniences he had obtained at this moment, and the huge cultivation resources brought by the celestial prodigy identity would all disappear!
Those benefits would be gone.
Just thinking about it a little made Ryan feel a bit shuddered.
Once you have seen the boundless sea, other waters seem not worthy of notice; once you have climbed Mount Wu, other mountains seem small.
The celestial prodigies in the cultivation holy land with abundant resources and the poor loose cultivators, even if their real talents were the same, their cultivation efficiencies would differ by dozens or even hundreds of times!
He would never allow himself to lose the false disguise identity of [Celestial Prodigy], so he had extremely high standards and requirements for his every word and deed.
After a while of communication, before long, the elders left one by one.
The sect leader, who looked like a silver-haired young man, left a relatively deep impression on Ryan.
The other party had a handsome appearance but weather-beaten eyes, as if he had seen all kinds of worldly situations. He didn't say a word throughout the whole process, with a mysterious and unfathomable look, making it impossible for people to see through him.
However, the gap in their realms was too big, and it was useless to think too much.
Ryan thought so and didn't think much about the sect leader's issue anymore.
Since the other party didn't expose him, he just assumed that the sect leader hadn't seen through his origin and real talent.
Besides, for all difficulties, just meet them as they come!
No matter what happened, as long as he didn't slack off in his thinking, there must be a way to solve it.
Ryan firmly believed this!
After the elders left, Ryan immediately found the True Person of Turbid Wine and took the initiative: "Master, I want to go and live at the foot of the mountain for a while, then go to the mountainside, and finally come back to the top of Drunken Immortal Peak."
He was buying time for himself.
Ryan knew very well that he must pay off the debt before his master taught him that exclusive swordsmanship technique!
Otherwise...
Once the sword technique was taught, and a month, two months, or three months passed without any progress on his part, completely unable to enter the door of this technique, then his celestial prodigy persona would collapse on its own!
So he needed to buy time.
Hearing his request, the True Person of Turbid Wine slightly raised her beautiful willow-leaf-shaped eyebrows, and a teasing look appeared in her beautiful eyes: "Originally, I thought you were a child who was neither arrogant nor impatient and had a calm temperament. Now it seems..."
"You don't lack the playful nature of a teenager either!"
Ryan, however, shook his head and corrected: "Master, I plan to go to the foot of the mountain to make some friends."
Although they had only met once, he had to admit that Chu Shaobai was really a good excuse!
Hearing this, the True Person of Turbid Wine was stunned for a moment, and then she remembered Chu Shaobai's parting words before she took Ryan away from the Preaching Stele.
She chuckled: "You actually took that young man in brocade clothes' words to heart. You only knew each other for less than ten days, right?"
"Oh... That's good too!"
"You're still young and don't need to worry about lifespan."
"My Xuanji Cave Heaven doesn't practice the path of forgetting emotions. Whether it's drinking and composing poems or killing enemies and painting, you can experience the mortal world and temper your dao heart. Cultivation is not just a comparison of realms. Besides the cultivation level and immortal techniques, experience and knowledge are also equally important."
Throughout the ages, in countless epochs, many celestial prodigies who were invincible in battles and had never lost in fighting finally didn't die in the competition with others but died because of plots and intrigues!
The True Person of Turbid Wine didn't want Ryan to become a stupid fool who only knew about cultivation. She thought that letting Ryan meet more people and experience more vicissitudes of life and the coldness of the world would be of great benefit to his growth.
Ryan didn't think that much.
Mainly, when he first transmigrated here, he tried to exploit the loophole of the supernatural power of causality, wanting to directly advance to the realm of the Great Luo Golden Immortal, obtain invincible strength and infinite lifespan, and then slowly pay off the debt.
Unfortunately, that was just a pipe dream, a fantasy!
His [Advancement Quota] was completely insufficient!
The initial advancement quota was: As long as it was possible to learn at the current realm, it could definitely be refined.
And this advanceable quota wasn't fixed like this but could increase its upper limit!
Currently, there were two ways to increase the advanceable quota.
First, the higher one's own cultivation realm was, the larger the advanceable quota would be!
Second, the more people with great fortune who had causal connections with oneself, the stronger their strength was, and the deeper the connection was, the more the advanceable quota would increase!
Whether those people with great fortune loved or hated him, it could increase the upper limit of the advanceable quota.
So...
If he wanted to give full play to his greatest advantage and further develop the supernatural power of causality, it was actually very simple. He just needed to do two things.
First, something he would definitely do anyway, which was the only main line of the path of cultivation - improving the cultivation realm.
Second, a side line that was meaningless to others but very important to him - making more friends and being good at making enemies!
Seeing Ryan lost in thought, the True Person of Turbid Wine had a brilliant smile. Perhaps because of her high spirits, a touch of crimson appeared on her flawless face, making her look incredibly beautiful: "On the path of cultivation, those who start early may not go the farthest."
"Your unhurried temperament suits me very well!"
While speaking, the True Person of Turbid Wine took a big gulp of the nectar-like liquid, visibly happy.
She had traveled all over the eight wastelands and nine seas, had witnessed the love and hatred of fools and chivalrous women, and had also seen fairies guarding lonely cities alone.
All kinds of things in the world, if you don't experience them yourself and just listen to others' words, are meaningless for cultivation.
"If you want to go, then go! See more of the world, talk more with people, let your state of mind and realm grow simultaneously, so that you won't go astray easily in cultivation, and also avoid being arrogant and thinking that once you step into the cultivation world, you're no longer human."
"I have a word for you, remember it - Immortals Come from the Mortal World!"
"We cultivators, even if we can reach for the moon in the sky and capture dragons in the abysses, mustn't forget our roots!"
Ryan nodded and replied in a proper manner: "Master's words, I've remembered them."
After speaking, he picked up the Bodhi Cushion that could increase his own cultivation efficiency to triple and turned around to leave.
His master had taught him!
Once the benefits were in his hands, there was absolutely no reason to give them away.
However...
Suddenly, the voice of the True Person of Turbid Wine rang out from behind.
"Catch!"
Swish!
A bright red gourd branded with sword patterns flew over wrapped in golden light and steadily hovered in front of Ryan.