Chapter 130: Sect Exchange Task

“Is there a fourth condition?” Su Che was momentarily stunned.
“Yes,” Lao He replied with his usual shy expression, “I also need to reach the Foundation Establishment stage.”
Only then did Su Che realize that Lao He’s progress had stalled for quite some time—equivalent to the highest level of human Qi Cultivation. After that, devouring more humans, demons, or monsters would be useless.
“So, do you already know how to break through the barrier?” Su Che asked.
“I do,” Lao He answered. “I need to undergo a second fusion of humans, demons, and monsters to cross the barrier. In other words, this time, you’ll need to capture one human, one demon, and one monster—each at the Foundation Establishment stage.”
Su Che nodded slightly. “Capturing three beings at the Foundation Establishment stage, one of each type, isn’t that difficult.”
“Difficult!”
Lao He continued, “The creatures must be the same as those in the first fusion. Humans are fine, but the beast must be a rat, and the demon must be a Heavenly Demon. I can’t fuse other species anymore.”
Su Che was taken aback before bursting into laughter. “So, your rat tail will stay attached to your butt forever?”
“Not necessarily,” Lao He said, clasping his hands as if in prayer. “Maybe when the third or fourth layer is unlocked, the conditions will change…”
“A human, a rat, and a Heavenly Demon… It’s acceptable, though a bit troublesome…” Su Che pondered for a moment before asking, “Is there a fifth condition?”
“No more,” Lao He shook his head firmly. “There really isn’t any more this time.”
Now that he knew all the conditions to unlock the second layer of the Immortal Prison, Su Che calmed down and became less anxious. Of course, these tasks needed to be completed one by one—there was no rush.
After that, Su Che took out the cultivation technique jade slip given by Venerable Xuanji and immersed his mind into it. Immediately, he saw three characters: “Fire God Art.”
The Fire God Art—such a simple name, yet it was an exceptional cultivation technique.
In fact, the most famous exceptional cultivation techniques in the current cultivation world all had simple names, such as the Tianxuan Sect’s “Tianxuan True Scripture,” the Wuji Gate’s “Wuji Dao Yi,” the Blood God Sect’s “Blood Nerve Art,” and the Xuansha Sect’s “Xuanming Record”…
Perhaps this was a manifestation of returning to simplicity.
Su Che understood the basics of the Fire God Art. Though it was somewhat obscure, he realized he could start practicing from the Foundation Establishment level. The attributes of his true energy from previous cultivation wouldn’t affect his future practice.

Fortunately, the cultivation method of the Fire God Art also required collecting various kinds of true fire, which coincided with the way to improve the Bronze Gourd, allowing him to achieve two goals at once. The remaining days were spent mastering the Fire God Art, and Su Che, who had been in seclusion for two months, finally emerged from it. The first thing he did after emerging was to head to the Mysterious Golden Hall to meet his master, Venerable Mysterious Insight—a rule that every disciple must follow, just as it was the case with Yu Qing last time. Inside the Mysterious Golden Hall, Su Che knelt for less than fifteen minutes before Venerable Mysterious Insight slowly approached and sat down face to face with him at a distance of about ten feet. After examining him carefully, the venerable nodded with a smile and said, “Not bad. You understand the importance of staying low-key.” Knowing he couldn’t hide anything from him, Su Che replied truthfully, “After entering seclusion, I managed to establish my foundation in sixteen days.” “Hmm, given your physical condition at that time, that’s about right,” the venerable nodded in satisfaction and added, “It seems your cultivation level has stabilized. You can proceed to complete the designated foundation-building task at any time.” Disciples of the sect were required to complete a specific task after establishing their foundation—a custom shared by all ten major sects of the Immortal Path. In fact, such tasks posed no danger; they were merely an opportunity for disciples to get to know each other and interact. For example, two months earlier, Yu Qing had to go to the Wuji Sect to deliver a message and stay there for half a year. Upon leaving, he received a gift from an elder of the Wuji Sect. This practice was meant to strengthen the bonds between the ten major sects of the Immortal Path, and the elders of the Golden Core level had even closer relationships. Only by uniting could the Immortal Path surpass the Demon Path and the Monster Race. Conversely, it was almost impossible for those demons and beasts to work together. Unity was the greatest advantage of the sects of the Immortal Path. During his seclusion, Su Che had already made plans. He replied, “Yes, master. I intend to visit the Taiyi Sect.” “The Taiyi Sect…” The venerable warned out of concern, “The road to the Taiyi Sect is not easy. You’ll need to pass through the territories of the two major Demon Path sects.” “Thank you for your concern, master,” Su Che thanked him with a bow and added, “I’ve already studied that route. I’ll treat it as an opportunity for experience.” In truth, Su Che had already made plans—specifically to acquire enough souls and capture a demon cultivator at the foundation stage—hence his decision.

Who was Venerable Mysterious Insight? He immediately realized that Su Che must have had his reasons for making such a choice, so he asked, “What is it? If there’s anything I can help you with, just speak up.”
Su Che was moved, but he still couldn’t reveal anything related to the Immortal Prison. He could only give a vague explanation, “Master, this is a path of growth I’ve chosen. If it succeeds, my cultivation level can improve rapidly, and I’ll have a better chance of winning in the internal competition in two years.”
“Good. You’re a child with your own opinions and ideas,” Venerable Mysterious Insight nodded approvingly. “That’s very good. Then I don’t need to worry.”
The usually stern Venerable of the Main Peak now showed only kindness and gentleness on his face. Su Che was deeply moved but didn’t know what to say. He could only bow to his master.
Venerable Mysterious Insight slowly raised his hand, emitting a gentle force to help him up, then asked, “So, when do you plan to set off?”
“In a month,” Su Che replied. “During that time, I also need to go to the library to consult some ancient books.”
“Hmm.”
Venerable Mysterious Insight nodded and then said with a faint smirk, “You’re already at the Foundation Establishment stage. If you encounter another true disciple who deliberately looks for trouble, don’t be polite with them. Fight back when necessary. Even if you cause trouble, I’ll stand by you.”
Su Che couldn’t help but smile, knowing he was referring to Senior Songtao, who wanted to reward him with twenty spirit stones last time.
Thinking of this, Su Che asked curiously, “Master, a person’s character can be seen in even the smallest details. That Senior Songtao clearly has moral issues. Why was he still able to become a true disciple?”
“Even the most perfect system has loopholes,” Venerable Mysterious Insight sighed slightly. “These things can’t be explained in just a few words. In short, even I don’t have the authority to revoke a true disciple’s status, unless they have committed an unforgivable grave mistake.”
Su Che nodded and said in admiration, “That’s why one must obtain the status of a true disciple to avoid being oppressed. Otherwise, even with a Foundation Establishment cultivation level, if I encounter such people, they’ll still order me to run errands and deliver messages.”
Now, Su Che could speak to Venerable Mysterious Insight so casually. The closeness between them seemed to have gone beyond the master-disciple relationship, more like that between father and son or grandfather and grandson.
Venerable Mysterious Insight chuckled and couldn’t help but recall his own past, when he had also climbed up step by step from the bottom. Back then, hadn’t he had similar thoughts…

After chatting for a while longer, Su Che left the Mysterious Golden Hall and headed straight for the Library. He stayed there for over ten days, during which he thoroughly researched various materials related to the demonic sects: the Illusion Demon Sect, the Blood God Sect, and the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sect. This was because the route to the Taiyi Gate required passing through the territories of these two sects, meaning he would inevitably have to deal with their demonic cultivators. As for the Illusion Demon Sect, Su Che wanted to understand how to lift the restrictions within Fei Yun’s body, so he sought to figure out where to start. After that, he went through almost all the ancient books in the library related to ancient magical artifacts but found no information about the “Purple Jade Faceless Statue” he had obtained. Knowing it was a treasure yet not knowing its exact function was extremely frustrating. Yet, he didn’t dare to ask around casually, as any suspicion from those with ulterior motives could lead to disaster. In the Immortal Prison, Lao He also held the statue all day long without figuring anything out. With no other choice, Su Che consoled himself by thinking, “The time isn’t right yet, so its effects won’t manifest.” A month was about to pass, and Su Che visited the residence area for outer sect disciples to see his younger cousin, Su Nian’er. Under Linglong’s care, the little girl had already advanced to the first level of Qi Cultivation. With someone like Su Che as her supporter, her cultivation path would surely be smooth and unobstructed. “Brother Su Che, are you leaving again?” Having just seen him, she was very reluctant to hear that he was leaving once more. Su Che said gently, “This time, I’ll happen to pass by Sujiang County. I’ll stop by home to check in. If you have any messages, I can deliver them for you.” After thinking for a moment, the little girl replied, “I don’t have any messages. Just tell Dad and Mom that everything is fine.” Su Che nodded and instructed her, “Keep practicing hard. Wait until you reach the third level of Qi Cultivation before going out for further experiences,” before floating away. Su Nian’er stood in front of her beautiful little building, gazing affectionately at her brother’s back, her young heart filled with unknown thoughts. Since joining the sect, she had received much better treatment than other outer sect disciples—the best accommodations, plenty of spirit stones, medicinal pills, sect contribution points, and cultivation techniques… Everyone treated her, a child as she was, with courtesy.

The young girl never expected that her elder brother had achieved such success and reached such a high status in the Tianxuan Sect. All the hardships and difficulties she had imagined earlier turned out to be non-existent at all. Of course, having no hardships wasn’t necessarily a good thing, so she took Su Che’s advice to “go out and gain experience after reaching the third level of Qi training” as an order to be strictly followed.