Watching the Mountain

Chapter 416: Chapter 217: A Thousand Years

When the Hidden Dao Era first began, all the powers gave up on recruiting new disciples and chose to wait.

Now, as some people grew old and others defected, with no new disciples to replenish their ranks, many powers were greatly weakened.

Some powers with weaker foundations hastily recruited a batch of new disciples before choosing to seal their mountains. They no longer participated in the conflicts of the Cultivation Realm, silently hiding in their own territories to train their new recruits, continue their sect’s legacy, and wait for the Dao Concealment to dissipate and a golden age to arrive.

However, these were all desperate measures taken by those with insufficient foundations.

Sealing the mountain might seem like a good thing, but whether it could ensure a power’s survival was another question entirely.

If their luck was poor, perhaps when the Dao Concealment finally lifted and the golden age dawned, the dust-covered people would awaken only to find that their territory had already been taken by others.

Compared to the tumultuous Cultivation Realm, life in the Profound Pure Sect was relatively stable.

The Profound Pure Sect had ample foundations. As a sect that had been passed down since ancient times, it had weathered even more difficult moments. The current situation was, relatively speaking, not so bad.

The countless ups and downs since ancient times had fostered an indomitable spirit that was passed down through the sect.

Of course, more importantly, the reason many powers saw numerous defections—aside from the dissatisfaction caused by the distribution of Dust-Sealed Stones—was that resource production had plummeted after the start of the Hidden Dao Era, making it impossible to keep up with supply.

The Profound Pure Sect, however, was in a much better position when it came to resources.

Previously, Jiang Nian had cultivated a new primary ingredient for refining Qi Gathering Pills—Star Spirit Grass. It could be planted on a large scale in ordinary fields. The only issue was that the decline in Spiritual Qi after the start of the Hidden Dao Era had increased its maturation time.

This wasn’t a major problem, though.

Qi Gathering Pills were the most common elixirs in the Cultivation Realm for aiding cultivation. They were primarily used during the Qi Cultivation Stage, though those in the Foundation Establishment Stage could also take them, albeit with much-reduced effects.

After seeing many disciples grow old, Li Daoyi quickly held a recruitment assembly and accepted a new batch of disciples.

Qi Gathering Pills were perfect for training new disciples.

Jiang Nian’s research didn’t stop there. After Xu Ran provided him with a wealth of new theories, he studied and researched simultaneously. He went on to overcome the challenges with over ten supplementary ingredients for Qi Gathering Pills, cultivating new varieties that could also be mass-produced in ordinary fields.

After that, he continued his research to tackle the medicinal ingredients needed for Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation.

During this time, Xu Ran also secretly helped with his research. Whenever Jiang Nian encountered a difficult problem, Xu Ran would provide him with some inspiration in the name of new theories from that ”nameless Shennong.”

The two worked together in tacit understanding, cultivating a great many Spiritual Plants.

The Profound Pure Sect hadn’t fallen into major turmoil, but Li Daoyi remained deeply uneasy because there had been no news from the Overseas Archipelago.

Four hundred years into the Hidden Dao Era, his cultivation successfully broke through to the Nascent Soul Stage. Twenty years after his breakthrough, Chu Lingxiao—who had reached the Golden Core Stage much later than him—also successfully broke through to the Nascent Soul Stage.

The sect suddenly had two new Nascent Soul Stage cultivators, and in an age of Heaven and Earth Dao Concealment no less. This left the disciples incredibly inspired.

The good news didn’t stop there. Not long after, in the short five-year span from the 421st to the 426th year of the Hidden Dao Era, the seven childhood friends—including Qing Mei and Lan Juhua—successively reached the Golden Core Stage.

As for Li Shaobai, who was also one of the sect’s Eight Heroes, he had already broken through to the Golden Core Stage over a hundred years prior.

With that, all Eight Heroes of Profound Pure had reached the Golden Core Stage. This signified that the sect’s new generation had matured, and Li Daoyi should have been able to seal himself away with peace of mind.

Yet, for some reason, Li Daoyi remained unwilling to seal himself away.

In the 600th year of the Hidden Dao Era, a great RUMBLE echoed between heaven and earth. Everyone felt a tightness in their chest, a sense of suffocation.

Recognizing this strange phenomenon, many understood that Heaven and Earth had now completely entered Dao Concealment.

Sure enough, when they focused their senses to perceive it, the Law Dao Rhyme between heaven and earth was a chaotic blur, impossible to see clearly—just a gray haze. The level of Spiritual Qi in the world had also dropped to an extremely low level, barely enough to sustain the normal cultivation of a Golden Core Stage Cultivator.

As Heaven and Earth fully entered Dao Concealment, those who had obtained Dust-Sealed Stones but had lingered in this era would now have to seal themselves away.

However, when Xu Ran found Li Daoyi, he shook his head decisively and said:

”Wait a little longer.”

Xu Ran asked him how long he planned to wait. He shook his head and replied:

”I don’t know either, but I want to wait a little longer.”