Starting My Cultivation With Time Management

Ever since the Jade Capital Sect Leader and Long Eyebrow Immortal decided to search for the whereabouts of the Myriad Avatar Absolute Immortal Sword, Ling Yunpo quickly discovered that wherever he and Senior Sister An went, there were always other Golden Core True Persons following them.

They claimed that the Demon Cult was sinister and ruthless, unable to defeat Shushan head-on, so they might send assassins to kill the two of them, and therefore they needed to be closely protected.

This reasoning was somewhat plausible, after all, An Zhisu was a Second Grade Golden Core, and Ling Yunpo had previously severely damaged the reputation of the Nether Ghost Path, giving the Demon Cult ample motive to assassinate the two.

However, Ling Yunpo of course knew that the real reason was simply to keep him under surveillance.

After all, he was the first to discover the whereabouts of the Myriad Avatar Absolute Immortal Sword, so the Sect Leader could not possibly take his word for it without confirming it themselves.

Humph, this was also within my expectations.

In fact, there were three reasons Ling Yunpo revealed this information:

First, the sword was ultimately to end up in Wei Dongliu's possession, and Wei Dongliu also needed to explain the origin of the sword to the Blood Sea Ancestor. If he were to say that "as I walked, the sword suddenly fell from the sky," it would seem too bizarre.

But if Wei Dongliu went to the plateau to travel in advance and then happened to encounter the two True Persons from Shushan stumbling upon a ruin, revealing the Myriad Avatar Absolute Immortal Sword by accident, and then pursued it for a long time before finally subduing and capturing it, such a narrative with traceable origins would be more to humans' liking—especially since the latter could be confirmed through the Demon Cult's spies within Shushan.

Second, Senior Sister An also heard that sword's cry. Ling Yunpo could certainly lie to the Sect on one side and find some excuse to deceive Senior Sister An, asking her to join him in tricking the Sect—but his conscience did not allow him to do so.

How could I contaminate Senior Sister's pure and flawless spirit? Let me carry all the sins by myself.
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Third, it was to leave an impression of sincerity and honesty in the minds of the Sect's upper echelons, as well as to supplement and perfect his unyielding persona for the future.

Clearly, if it were any other more cautious cultivator, they would keep this secret in their heart and definitely not reveal a word to the Sect.

After all, as long as the Myriad Avatar Absolute Immortal Sword was not found, the Sect could not fully trust him, and every time they thought of the whereabouts of the Extermination Immortal Sword, they would harbor the thought, "What if this kid has hidden it?"—this is not about rationality or morality, but about human nature in the face of great interests.

But Ling Yunpo was very clear that the sword would eventually be obtained by Wei Dongliu.

By then, as long as Shushan learned through their spies within the Mortal Life Path that the sword indeed ended up in the hands of the Demon Cult, in line with what Ling Yunpo had explained, it would prove that he did not hide the sword for himself, and that what he said was the absolute truth.

How could such a bright and upright role model of a cultivator possibly be a Sect traitor?

In short, it was Wei Dongliu proving it for Ling Yunpo, and Ling Yunpo proving it for Wei Dongliu, their accounts coincidentally corroborating each other, using information passed back through the other Sect's spies to gain the trust of their respective Sect's higher-ups.

Although it was a highly risky move, it was also one in which he had great confidence!

With these thoughts in mind, Ling Yunpo consulted the Kunlun Mirror in his Sea of Consciousness once again:

"Ah Jing, the Myriad Avatar Absolute Immortal Sword, it has indeed been sent to Wei Dongliu in the past, hasn't it?"

"If you don't believe it, you can directly load a save to confirm," said the Kunlun Mirror impatiently.

"No need, I trust Ah Jing won't let me down," Ling Yunpo said with a dry laugh.

It was not long ago that the Green Duckweed Sword finally persuaded the Myriad Avatar Absolute Immortal Sword to abandon its recalcitrant attitude and to see if Wei Dongliu was worthy of becoming its Sword Master.

Because the Myriad Avatar Absolute Immortal Sword was now in the hands of Wei Dongliu, Ling Yunpo dared to "confess" to the Sect. Otherwise, if there was even the slightest possibility of being exposed, he would not have easily taken the risk.

"Right," Ling Yunpo asked Senior Sister An, "I haven't been out recently. How is the fight with the Demon Cult going?"

"We're still fighting," An Zhisu sighed. "But it's no longer a battle between immortals; now it's a battle between Golden Core True Persons and Nascent Soul Elders."

"Immortals can't battle every day," Ling Yunpo said with a laugh. "As long as one side loses control, the aftershocks of the attack could involve the lower and middle-level cultivators, definitely increasing the intensity of the conflict and risking losing control."

"Even though the battle between the two sides is fierce now, if Senior Sister observes carefully, she will find that both parties are maintaining a kind of 'fighting without breaking' situation."

"Fighting without breaking?" Although An Zhisu didn't understand, she pretended to fully grasp the idea to avoid being laughed at by her junior brother and changed the subject with a sigh, "Of course, I know... it's just boring not to let me join the battle."

"After all, Senior Sister is a Second Grade Golden Core. If you appeared openly, the Demon Cult might send a Nascent Soul Elder disguised as a Golden Core True Person to risk an assassination attempt," Ling Yunpo said laughingly. "Since Senior Sister is bored, why don't we practice swordplay?"

"That sounds good," An Zhisu said with a charming smile.

Next to the Sword Pool of Heavenly Gate Peak, a large sword training ground was cleared. Many Golden Core True Persons were practicing their swordplay here, and from time to time, Nascent Soul Elders would stay to give detailed guidance to improve the True Persons' combat abilities, so they would stand a better chance against the Demon Cult.

The arrival of Ling Yunpo and An Zhisu immediately attracted the attention of many True Persons.

The latter was the renowned Weed-Cutting Sword Immortal among the Foundation Establishment realm disciples, well-known by many True Persons through their junior brothers and sisters; the former had won two consecutive victories in the battles against the Demon Cult, his formidable strength laid bare, hence everyone respectfully cleared the area to make room.

After a short while of sparring, An Zhisu keenly noticed that her junior brother seemed to be out of sorts and sheathed her sword technique, asking,

"Junior brother... are you worried about the Demon Cult matters?"

Ling Yunpo just smiled and remained silent.

With the help of the Hell Path, the Demon Cult was destined to be like something in the palm of Wei Dongliu's hand; naturally, he wasn't worried.

But the peak of high-end combat power revealed by the Shushan in this war made Ling Yunpo truly apprehensive.

Immortals, seven of them. Among them, Long Eyebrow Immortal was exceptionally strong. His Dual Polarity Dust Sword Formation had formidable lethality, a wide attack range, and speed, making it virtually unsolvable. Those caught by it were certain to die, not even the undying drought demon could withstand it.

Over two hundred Nascent Soul Elders. Among them, more than seventy were high-ranking Elders of the Peak Master level, each having fought their way out of the insanely competitive Sect environment.

Take, for example, the Ghost Mother sisters of the Heavenly Demon Path, whose strength was not weak, but even they were no match for Elder Bi Yun of Green Bamboo Peak who was stronger. She fought two against one and directly annihilated her opponents, fierce beyond imagination.

At this moment, Ling Yunpo had realized that Core Formation and Nascent Soul Formation were like two massive filters that extracted the strong and fierce from the vast sea of people.

It's like being the top student in the local middle school, only to go to the key school in the city and find out you're actually at the bottom... like a chicken that can't even score.

In the future, he must lift the fragments of the Heaven-Mending Stone right from under the noses of these fierce, twisted, and monstrous beings. The difficulty was akin to ascending to heaven.

However, even if it meant ascending to heaven... he must! The lonely throne of the sky allowed no others to touch; with the help of Ah Jing and Qing Ping, plus the blessings of his own great perseverance, wisdom, and determination, why fear even if millions blocked his path?

Seeing Ling Yunpo's frown relax again, An Zhisu blinked, puzzled.

"Shall we continue practicing swordplay, junior brother?"

"Practice! Practice ferociously!"