Even with only its remnant soul body, it still couldn’t suppress the fatigue surging up from the bottom of its heart, and it wanted very much to rest properly for a while.

Only, up to now, Li Zhirui showed no sign of coming out of seclusion at all, so Wansheng could only grit its teeth and hold on.

But in order to give itself a bit of breathing room and rest, it no longer taught the first batch of Disciples hand-in-hand, because they had already become Cultivators and ought to slowly learn how to cultivate on their own.

It put more of its time and energy into instructing the second batch of Disciples.

And once it had set them on the right track, since there would be no new Disciples entering the Sect for the next few years, Wansheng finally welcomed days with a little bit of leisure.

"The hardest days have already been endured..." It could finally let out a long breath.

Over these past two years, it didn’t even know how it had managed to hold out; from nothing, it had actually guided several hundred children to break through from mortals into the Qi Cultivation Stage.

Although it was only the lowest layer of Realm, they had at least stepped onto the path of Cultivation; from here on, they could slowly raise their Realm and Cultivation.

"I wonder how many among these two batches of Disciples will be able to undergo Tribulation Transcendence and become Immortals, and how many will go on to achieve the rank of Heavenly Immortal." Wansheng muttered to itself, starting to imagine that distant future.

But most likely by that time, it would already have entered Reincarnation, waiting for its next life, and would probably never see the Tongtian Sect in its flourishing prime.

And that was precisely the scene it had dreamed of day and night for tens of thousands of years!

...

In the cave, one knows not sun or moon; in the world outside, several hundred years had already passed.

In River Source Immortal City, the Immortal City closest to Liang Country, Cultivators once again brought up the Tongtian Sect.

"Who could have thought that the Tongtian Sect, which founded a Sect in Liang Country, would still exist even now, and that its strength would only grow stronger? In just a few hundred years, it has produced several Individual Immortal Cultivators."

"Back then quite a few Cultivators laughed at them; now it seems we were the ones blind as bats."

"Say, what Realm do you think the founder of the Tongtian Sect is actually at?"

"If he can train Individual Immortals so easily, he must be at least in the Earth Immortal Realm, right?"

"In my opinion, far more than that."

The Cultivator speaking cautiously swept his gaze around, then lowered his voice: "You might not know this, but some time ago, a Heavenly Immortal Cultivator thought the Tongtian Sect was empty and actually went to their door, wanting to seize their Mountain Gate for himself. In the end, he couldn’t even break their Mountain Protection Array and was viciously taught a lesson."

"They say he was stripped completely naked, his Divine Sense and Dantian sealed for a full day, and then thrown back out..."

"The one you’re talking about... wouldn’t happen to be that Heavenly Immortal from the Sha Family, would it?"

"Ahem, I never said anything!"

That Cultivator seemed afraid of bringing trouble onto himself, and hurriedly got up and left the tavern.

Quite a number of Cultivators had also heard about the Sha Family’s abnormal behavior lately—supposedly, they had been killing Cultivators for no reason, throwing the Cultivators in the Sha Family’s territory into panic, fleeing overnight.

They hadn’t expected the cause to be this.

"If even a Heavenly Immortal is no match, doesn’t that mean the Tongtian Sect has at least a Heavenly Immortal sitting in town, and perhaps even an existence stronger than that?"

Hiss—

Hearing this speculation, many Cultivators sucked in a sharp breath.

Heavenly Immortals were already existences utterly out of their reach; as for those above Heavenly Immortal, they didn’t even dare imagine it.

"But why would such a big shot run all the way to a remote place like Liang Country to establish a Sect? Could it be that there’s some secret in that region we don’t know about?" One Cultivator seemed to have other thoughts.

His close friend beside him immediately warned, "Even if there is a secret, it has nothing to do with us. Once it involves big shots on the level of Heavenly Immortal, that’s not something we can even brush up against. Don’t end up digging a grave for yourself."

Unexpectedly, there really were a few Cultivators who remembered this speculation and planned to find a chance to put it into action!

...

At the same time, inside the Tongtian Sect, a major event had also occurred!

Boom——

An incomparably terrifying pressure shot straight into the heavens; the enormous weight, as if the sky itself were collapsing, left every Cultivator in the mountain unable to breathe, and in their daze they seemed to glimpse their own death.

But in the next instant, the pressure vanished at once, as if everything just now had merely been their illusion.

If not for the fact that they and their fellow Sect members beside them were all lying prostrate on the ground.

"What just happened?!"

All the Disciples wore blank expressions, having no idea what had occurred.

The only one who knew was Wansheng, who had already arrived outside the Cave Mansion!

At this moment it was deeply stirred; it hadn’t expected that after its own Sect Leader had been in seclusion for several hundred years, he would break through in one stroke, and with such a massive commotion. One could well imagine how strong his strength now was.

But it did not linger here. After confirming the situation, it immediately left, for it still needed to hurry and comfort those Disciples who had been frightened.

And the moment they saw Wansheng, they hurriedly asked, "May we ask, Elder, what just happened?"

They were neither Li Zhirui’s Disciples nor Wansheng’s Disciples, so naturally they could not address it as Martial Uncle or Teacher, and could only call it Elder.

"What you just felt was the Sect Leader, who has been in seclusion for many years, achieving gains in seclusion and advancing his Cultivation further, which caused that disturbance. There’s no need to make a fuss."

But the calmer Wansheng appeared, the more shocked they became.

They knew there was such a Sect Leader who had long been in seclusion, but after joining the Tongtian Sect for several hundred years, they had never once seen him.

To the point that many Disciples had begun to suspect in their hearts that this was just a fabrication, that such a person didn’t exist at all.

Yet today had shown them otherwise.

This legendary Sect Leader not only existed, but his strength was exceedingly formidable!

"Elder, may I ask how strong the Sect Leader’s Cultivation is?" one Disciple asked nervously yet expectantly.

"Mid-stage Xuanxian." Wansheng gave them the answer, simple and direct. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

A hush—then a roar.

The area instantly buzzed with noise.

They had originally thought Heavenly Immortal was already impressive enough, yet the reality far exceeded their imagination.

"In that case, doesn’t that make us the most powerful force in all of Mingzhou?"

As the Tongtian Sect’s strength increased, it naturally couldn’t keep its Mountain Gate tightly shut like in the beginning, cutting itself off from the outside world.

And in this process, they had naturally come to understand the situations of the nearby forces and the distribution of various Spiritual Objects, and so on.

Before knowing their Sect Leader’s strength, they had all thought the Tongtian Sect was just a newly founded small force, and that the strongest still had to be Wanming Sect, which possessed several Heavenly Immortal Perfection experts.

Once these words were spoken, everyone suddenly came to their senses.

"That’s right! We’re the strongest force in Mingzhou!"

They seemed already to see a bright future of dominating Mingzhou and collecting all kinds of treasures. With these treasures, they would have far more resources for Cultivation.

From the looks on their faces, Wansheng knew exactly what they were thinking, and immediately poured a bucket of cold water on them, saying, "Don’t go fantasizing about things that don’t exist. The Sect Leader will not act personally in these matters. If you want the Tongtian Sect to become the overlord of Mingzhou, you’ll have to rely on your own efforts."

"Elder, why? Since the Sect Leader’s strength is so great, if he just stepped out and suppressed all of Mingzhou, it would be a huge benefit to the entire Sect!"

"You’re not wrong, but that’s not the point. The key is that in this process, your strength must grow and your Realm must rise, rather than achieving it easily without any effort."

Wansheng suddenly changed the topic and asked, "What was the very first lesson I taught you back then? Does anyone still remember?"

"In everything, you must rely on yourself and cannot depend on others!" one Disciple answered at once.

"Exactly! So if you want to become the ones who dominate Mingzhou, it still has to rely on your own hard work."

Of course, these were all just high-sounding excuses and reasons.

The reason Li Zhirui was unwilling to take action was very simple: he didn’t want to be stained with more karmic ties.

From beginning to end, he had never forgotten the purpose of his entering the Tao Spirit Realm—he wanted to borrow this Great Thousand World to solve the problems in his Cultivation Technique and raise his own Realm and Cultivation.

If he could gain something else in the process, that would just be an unexpected surprise.