The Quest for Immortality

”Taoist Soldiers” are an extremely powerful force in Tao Cultivation combat.

Ordinary cultivators have limited aptitude and cultivation, but by using formations, arrays, and supplementary spiritual artifacts, they can form Taoist Soldiers, uniting to rival exceptionally gifted cultivators.

This is a miraculous transformation formation spell.

Unite the weak to fight against formidable enemies.

In the history of Tao Cultivation, some Great Demons with personal strength so formidable that even cultivators of the same realm could not match them, were forcibly slaughtered by swarms of Taoist Soldiers with ironclad hearts, who feared no death.

Even heavenly pride cultivators must avoid clashes with the enormous, well-equipped formed Taoist Soldiers.

Ordinary cultivators, when formed into Taoist Soldiers, are already so formidable.

What about heavenly pride cultivators?

If heavenly pride cultivators were to form Taoist Soldiers, wouldn’t they be invincible, unstoppable?

Throughout the history of Tao Cultivation, countless aristocratic families, sects, and secret organizations, both overtly and covertly, have attempted to nurture ”Heavenly Pride Taoist Soldiers.”

Except for a very few successful instances, the rest mostly failed.

First of all, the cost was too high.

To nurture ordinary Taoist Soldiers requires a complete inheritance of spiritual artifacts, formations, cultivation techniques, Taoist skills, and tactical formations.

It requires consuming a vast amount of Spirit Stones, undergoing years of rigorous training, investing immeasurable effort.

The qualification of the Taoist Soldiers increases the cost exponentially at every level.

But using heavenly pride cultivators with top-grade, or even superior-grade spiritual roots as a foundation to cultivate Taoist Soldiers requires an unmeasurable amount of inheritance and resources.

Even a great family might not be able to sustain it.

And the reason why they are called ”heavenly pride” signifies that each of them is unique.

Even if they were to participate, they would take on the role of a ”general.”

It is impossible for them to suppress their individuality and pride to become a ”soldier.”

Especially now, in the state boundary of Qian Learning, there is a practice of ”elite” inheritance.

Sects aim to foster top-notch disciples through ”survival of the fittest,” enabling them to stand out and win honor and benefits for the sect.

This aligns with both the interests of the sects and the great families.

The great families require their disciples to dominate over others, excel above the rest, and climb to higher positions in the future.

They do not need heavenly pride disciples to form Taoist Soldiers.

This would be a waste.

And emulating the formation model of ”Taoist Soldiers” and organizing sect disciples to participate in the Sword Discussion Conference, has been attempted before by some sects.

Even the Tai’a Sect tried it long ago.

But the results were not satisfactory.

From team coordination, to crafting spiritual artifacts, adapting formations, formation changes, and tactical drills, there were too many troublesome issues.

First, the cost was very high.

The crafting of spiritual artifacts and matching formations was the biggest issue.

After all, the situation in the Sword Discussion is unpredictable.

The opponents in the Sword Discussion are also diverse.

Even though the sect could afford the Spirit Stones, it lacked the corresponding Tao Cultivation ”industry” to accomplish a large number of customizations in a short time.

Organizing it also took a great deal of effort.

No one could really convince others to ”organize” the heavenly pride together.

Each generation of the sect had a ”Big Senior Brother,” but even with high esteem, he often could not take everything into account and gain the complete obedience and acceptance of every disciple.

Moreover, in the Sword Discussion Conference, the weight of the victories increases as it progresses.

The battlefield is determined by the four-character system of Heaven, Earth, Xuan, and Huang.

Especially in the ”Earth” stage’s battle and the final ”Heaven” stage’s battle, winning a match could almost earn dozens or even hundreds of victory points.

Therefore, rather than going through all the trouble, it is more direct and efficient to pursue ”survival of the fittest,” cultivate ”top-notch disciples,” and let them achieve higher rankings.

Over time, the ”Taoist Soldier System” in the Sword Discussion became rarely attempted again by any sect.

The Tai’a Sect also abandoned this plan.

Now observing the formation practice of the neatly aligned, well-regulated Taixu disciples, the Tai’a Sect Leader suddenly felt a bit disoriented. .

It indeed is the Sword Discussion with the ”Taoist Soldier System”...

Then he observed more closely for a moment, feeling quite surprised.

It seems somewhat different...

The exercise at Mount Taixu isn’t a one-size-fits-all Taoist Soldier System, not all disciples follow the same pattern.

There were many special teams formed based on the disciples’ specialties, Taoist skills, and formations.

Some are balanced in attack and defense, some specialize in frontal assaults, some are adept at swift ambushes, others specialize in escape, and others in endurance...

Though time was short, without matching spiritual artifacts and formations, the true combat power would be somewhat lacking.

But the power of this approach was evidently beginning to show.

At least it had a semblance of structure, much stronger than the previous self-organized teams.

The Tai’a Sect Leader looked at the scene before him and praised inwardly, sincerely saying to the Taixu Sect Master:

”Dao Brother, indeed you have profound foresight and extraordinary means.”

The Taixu Sect Master smiled and said, ”Not at all, it’s all thanks to the disciples’ efforts.”

”You are too modest.”

”It truly is the disciples’ efforts...”

”Still being modest...”

The Taixu Sect Master felt a bit helpless; he was speaking the truth. It really was the disciples’ efforts. He, as the sect master, actually didn’t do much apart from appropriately ”delegating power.”

Afterward, the two continued to drink tea.

The Tai’a Sect Leader, watching the practice below of the embryonic form of ”Heavenly Pride Taoist Soldiers,” became more engrossed with each look. After three rounds of tea, he finally snapped back to reality, remembering his purpose for being there.

”Xuan Er...shouldn’t be causing any trouble...”

His eyes scanning the surroundings, the Tai’a Sect Leader finally found the silhouette of Ouyang Xuan in the corner of the practice field.

Everything was normal.

Ouyang Xuan was practicing normally with the Sword Dao Genius of Mount Chongxu, the Formation Leader from Taixu Mountain named ”Mo Hua,” a big guy, and a Sword Cultivator with remarkable aptitude.