The Quest for Immortality

”This way, I’ll be able to ”get by” in the future...”

Having just joined the sect, Mo Hua had few academic tasks and plenty of free time, so he began to wander around Taixu Gate with his hands clasped behind his back...

Then he inquired about some things with Shangguan Xu and some other senior brothers and sisters.

Because he was cute and spoke in a way people enjoyed listening to, and he asked about things that new disciples wouldn’t know but would indeed be curious about, he was usually able to get answers to most of his questions.

After spending a month, Mo Hua had gained a general understanding of Taixu Gate.

First was the environment.

Taixu Gate was located on the majestic and quaint Taixu Mountain.

A long jade staircase connected the Inner Mountain and the Outer Mountain.

The front of the mountain was the Outer Mountain, and the back was the Inner Mountain.

The Outer Mountain of Taixu Gate provided a place for Outer Gate disciples, external instructors, and Guest Elders to live and practice cultivation.

In addition, there was a large Taoist Field in the middle.

To the right of the Taoist Field were the Disciple’s Residences.

To the left were the Tao Teaching Pavilion for classes and other buildings dedicated to the practice of Taoist skills and the various aspects of Tao Cultivation, like the Artifact Refining Pavilion, Refining Pill Pavilion, Refining Rune Pavilion, and Taoist Skill Pavilion.

And the Book Pavilion stocked with Tao Cultivation Canons, especially those on various Formations, which Mo Hua eyed greedily but couldn’t enter due to access restrictions.

Behind the Outer Mountain was the Inner Mountain.

There resided the Sect Leader, Elders, Inner Sect Disciples, and some preaching buildings.

Further back was the Rear Mountain.

The Rear Mountain was forbidden territory, and no one knew what was hidden within.

Mo Hua, an Outer Sect Disciple, couldn’t even go to the Inner Mountain, let alone the Rear Mountain, which he guessed to be the hiding place of either monsters or ancestors, so he didn’t inquire much about it.

Taixu Gate also had a famous Large Formation:

”The Taixu Chaos yuan Mountain Protection Formation”!

To Mo Hua’s surprise, this Formation was a Fifth Rank Large Formation!

A Fifth Rank state boundary, constructed into a Fifth Rank Large Formation…

Mo Hua, who had personally constructed a Large Formation before, was shocked and even found it somewhat inconceivable.

What level of Formation Master would it take to accomplish such a feat...

He wanted to learn more, but heard that this Large Formation hadn’t been activated for over ten thousand years; no one knew if it still worked, or even if it truly was a Fifth Rank, so most disciples had nearly forgotten about it...

There were even rumors claiming Taixu Gate’s Fifth Rank Large Formation was fake, a product of misinformation, and it was in reality only Third or Fourth Rank...

Mo Hua didn’t believe it. He wanted to verify it for himself, so he tried to dig into the sect’s boundaries.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t dig through, and his Divine Sense Calculation revealed no traces...

This level of Large Formation, from the Formation base materials to the construction of Formation Patterns, was completely beyond Mo Hua’s cultivation level and understanding of Formations.

He could neither dislodge it nor calculate its secrets.

But Mo Hua was not discouraged.

”Once my cultivation is higher, I’ll definitely return to the sect to pry at its foundation and see if there really is a Fifth Rank Large Formation!”

Mo Hua nodded, silently making this ”grand vow” in his heart.

In addition, there was the issue of the Inner and Outer Gates.

Originally in Tongxian City, Tongxian Gate also divided disciples between Inner and Outer Gates, but that level of division was different from the Fifth Rank Sect of Taixu Gate in the Qian Xue State Boundary.

And it was different from what Mo Hua had previously understood.

He was now an Outer Sect Disciple.

During the Foundation Establishment Initial Stage, all newly joined disciples were considered Outer Sect Disciples.

Once they reach the Golden Core Stage, they could graduate.

After graduation, they could choose to leave the sect and return to their clans or seek a livelihood with other powers for a longer-term path.

Alternatively, they could choose to stay in the sect and become an Inner Sect Disciple through an assessment.

The Outer Gate took in disciples openly and earned their keep.

The Inner Gate retained disciples for teaching and managing the sect and for preaching and teaching duties.

Disciples of the Inner Gate were mostly expected to become ”Instructors.”

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An ”Instructor” in Taixu Gate was a position denoting a cultivator responsible for teaching and passing on knowledge, ranging from Golden Core Stage Inner Sect Disciples to Elders, and even the Sect Leader.

There were also two types of Instructors.

One type was externally hired, living in the Outer Gate, being Golden Core Stage or even Feather Transformation Realm cultivators, who were employed as instructors or Guest Elders.

These people weren’t part of the Inner Gate but were hired for teaching.

The other type was Inner Sect Disciples who had joined the Inner Gate and received Inner Gate inheritance, as well as Elders who had been promoted from disciples.

Inner Sect Disciples and Elders were again divided into ordinary and True Disciples.

Ordinary Inner Sect Disciples paid homage to ordinary Elders, learning the important traditions of the Sect.

True Disciples of the Inner Gate paid homage to True Transmission Elders, thereby gaining permission to learn truly core and Sect-Protecting traditions.

These were also two distinct paths to promotion.

Ordinary disciples, as they advanced in cultivation, were promoted to ordinary Elders.

True Disciples, upon breaking through to the Feather Transformation Realm, were promoted to True Transmission Elders.

And the core positions of the sect, including the Vice Sect Leader and Sect Leader, would only be chosen from among the True Transmission Elders.

Ordinary disciples, ordinary Elders;

True Disciples, True Transmission Elders, and even Vice Sect Leader and Sect Leader.

These were two paths of promotion, seemingly similar, but distinctly separate.

It took Mo Hua quite some time to get his head around the differences between the Inner and Outer Gates, the externally hired Instructors and Inner Sect Instructors, Guest Elders and Inner Sect Elders, ordinary Inner Sect Disciples and True Disciples, and ordinary and True Transmission Elders...

”Even within a sect, the hierarchy is clear and complex...”

Mo Hua mused.

After understanding all these things, Mo Hua now knew what status the senior cultivator who was currently serving as an ”Instructor” for his classes held.

Some important courses, such as cultivation lessons, due to their critical nature, were personally taught by True Transmission Elders of the Inner Gate.

The one teaching Mo Hua’s cultivation course was named Gongsun, a Feather Transformation Realm True Transmission Elder of Taixu Gate!