Chapter 387: Deep Cultivation: 20,000 Years! [Thanks to 'Xuan_Pi' for the generous gift of 10,000!]
The Immortal Ascension Ceremony was lively for a time, but eventually returned to tranquility.
Chen Jichuan, under the alias 'Qii Baihu', entered the Eight Extremes Holy Hall.
Since the Immortal Ascension Ceremony, the newly promoted Fourth-order 'White Tiger Immortal' of the Eight Extremes Holy Hall has gradually become well-known throughout the Star Constellation Sea.
The days that followed.
Chen Jichuan spent most of his time cultivating in his cave mansion.
The cave mansion was not on Mysterious Turtle Island, so he found another island outside and named it 'Mishen Island' for some peace and quiet.
Although he was focused on cultivation, it wasn't as if he was a complete recluse.
From time to time, he would interact with Fourth-order Immortals of the Eight Extremes Holy Hall or in the Star Constellation Sea, discussing the Dao, sparring, or chatting about the past and present to broaden his knowledge.
Chen Jichuan was very familiar with this type of lifestyle and rhythm.
In the Dao Fruit World, he spent most of his time like this—
Cultivating.
Making friends.
This life was no different.
Occasionally, there were official duties.
Such as overseeing an area, mediating disputes, or dealing with alien suppliers and channel partners.
But after all, he was a Fourth-order Immortal, and time was abundant. Many mundane tasks in the Eight Extremes Holy Hall didn't require his attention; often, just showing his face to lend support was enough.
Moreover.
If the Immortals in the sect discovered tricky cave mansions or relics outside, they would also invite other sect Immortals to assist.
Usually, these were minor affairs that Chen Jichuan didn't care much for, but he mostly went along.
Sometimes, he would join group battles to support the Immortals of the sect.
Once one joins a sect, the cultivators within it rally together, each displaying their strengths and obtaining what they need. No matter what problems arise, if one person can't handle it, they tackle it together.
There is strength in numbers.
Help each other today, and tomorrow they'll return the favor.
No one can do without another.
Therefore, Chen Jichuan never backed away from a fight.
After advancing to the Fourth-order, he had Immortal Light as protection; even as a One-Pattern Immortal, his defensive and recovery abilities were astonishing. If he further cultivated a defensive magic or had a defensive Magical Treasure, he was almost unkillable.
Even a Six-Pattern or Seven-Pattern Immortal would find it difficult to kill a One-Pattern Immortal equipped with magic and a Magical Treasure.
Unless you trap him and wear him down over hundreds or thousands of years.
But in the Eight Extremes Holy Hall, including the newly promoted Chen Jichuan, there are eight Immortals in total. Each supports and helps the others, making it not easy to trap any one of them for a thousand years.
It's hard to kill an Upper Immortal.
Chen Jichuan was even more fearless when it came to magical duels.
Cultivating.
Making friends.
Exploring.
Fighting.
The days passed smoothly, but they were far from uneventful; they were equally vibrant and exciting.
Cultivation requires resources.
For a Fourth-order Immortal to enhance their cultivation, besides requiring immense time, they also need a vast amount of resources.
Chen Jichuan, relying on the Eight Extremes Holy Hall, lacked no basic resources.
But he cultivated four True Sect Level Cultivation Methods, and the resources consumed were more than ten times that of ordinary Immortals.
Additionally, he had a magic that needed Enlightenment.
He was practically a bottomless pit.
Luckily, he also had a decent Alchemy Skill, which barely helped make ends meet. Furthermore, he had the 'Purple Mansion Immortal Mansion', which allowed him to rapidly cultivate spiritual insects and medicines, yielding good returns.
Coupled with the income from the Eight Extremes Holy Hall, it barely supported Chen Jichuan's current stage of cultivation.
But as his cultivation improved, it would surely become more and more financially tight.
Chen Jichuan was not thinking of anything else or expecting to strike rich; he was solely focused on enhancing his Alchemy Skill. As long as he elevated his Alchemy Dao to the Fourth-order, he could increase his Spirit Stone earnings by several times, benefiting him in this life, and all future reincarnations.
This was the fundamental solution.
His cultivation was slowly improving.
His Alchemy Skill was progressing little by little.
After advancing to the Fourth-order, it was a whole new world, with fewer shackles in magic, allowing further enhancement.
It's not just about cultivating.
Nor just about himself.
Staying in the Star Constellation Sea and entering the Eight Extremes Holy Hall, Chen Jichuan resumed his old business, often traversing the mundane world, selecting likable good seedlings, accepting them as disciples, bringing them to Mishen Island for careful nurturing.
Chen Jichuan selected disciples by first looking at character, then aptitude.
If they had good character and decent aptitude, they were taken under his wing.
He focused on cultivating a sense of belonging in his disciples and on nurturing the teacher-student relationship.
Compared to the other seven Upper Immortals in the Eight Extremes Holy Hall, and to numerous Immortals in the Chongming Realm, the way Chen Jichuan accepted disciples could be described as 'doing as he pleased', 'preferring excess to deficiency', 'winning by quantity', and 'casting a wide net'.
This approach seemed somewhat unconventional.
Just like other Upper Immortals, such as Immortal Wan Ming in the Eight Extremes Holy Hall, he also accepted disciples, having taken them during the True Person and Divinity Transformation stages. After becoming an Upper Immortal, he even spent time cultivating a few.
However, including registered disciples, the total was only around thirty or forty.
It seemed like a lot.
But Immortal Wan Ming had lived ten thousand years, and over that long period, at most, there were only a few disciples at any one time.
On one hand, there was limited energy.
On the other hand, the standards were too high.
For a person like Immortal Wan Ming, if he decided to take disciples, he naturally wanted the best of the best, holding great expectations.
Every disciple taken was intended to be cultivated into a Fourth-order Immortal.
Even achieving True Person or Divinity Transformation would be considered a failure.
It wouldn't help him much.
But they themselves found it immensely difficult to become Upper Immortals, let alone cultivating a Fourth-order one. Even after carefully selecting and devoting time to nurture them, it all ended up being in vain.
None of the disciples managed to break through to the Fourth-order, nor could they outlive their master.
As a result, over time.
The interest in taking and teaching new disciples waned.
From the relationships and origins of the eight Upper Immortals in the Eight Extremes Holy Hall, including Chen Jichuan, it can be seen that half of them joined halfway, already at Peak of Divinity Transformation and ready to break through when they joined.