Is It Reasonable for Me to Start a Sect at 12?

When it came to the sect rankings, it was straightforward.

There were four simple categories:

Outer Disciple

Inner Disciple

Elite Disciple

Personal Disciple

Without hesitation, Lin Xiao changed Jiang Youfu's status from Outer Disciple to Personal Disciple.

After all, he was the one teaching Jiang Youfu how to read and cultivate. Even though they were brothers, when it came to their roles, it was important to maintain proper hierarchy.

With a smile, Lin Xiao shared the good news with Jiang Youfu.

"Fuzi, from now on in our sect, you'll be the chief personal disciple of this sect master. How does that make you feel?"

Jiang Youfu had just finished his bun and burped contentedly. He pouted and said, "Huh? So now, Xiao-ge, you've become my master? Aren't we still brothers?"

Lin Xiao flicked his forehead. "We're still brothers, but isn't it true that I'm also your master? After all, I'm the one teaching you the cultivation technique, word by word."

Jiang Youfu instantly brightened up. "As long as we're still brothers, that's fine! So, Xiao-ge, do I have to start calling you Master?"

Lin Xiao waved his hand dismissively. "Let's keep it the same. We'll save the formalities for when we meet others."

After finishing their breakfast, they both began cultivating in earnest.

Strictly speaking, it was Jiang Youfu who got serious about cultivating. He had gone over the Qi Introduction part of the technique several times the previous night and had gained some insights. Today, he could already sense some qi, so he was practicing diligently.

As for Lin Xiao, who had reached Qi Refinement Level 2 within 24 hours, he was much more relaxed.

He leisurely opened the system shop.

Maybe it was because he had no immediate needs, but the recommended items in the shop were all high-tier treasures and pills—things that were far beyond his current reach.

Not only were they beyond his current level of use, but they were also far too expensive, requiring top-grade spirit stones.

So Lin Xiao shifted to browsing through the shop's categories.

However, after just a glance, he quickly lost interest.

There were over a hundred categories alone.

Rather than wasting time scrolling through them, Lin Xiao decided to test whether the shop was truly a "wish-granting" shop that could give him what he wanted on demand.

He thought of the five Mist Spring Grass seeds in his private storage.

Tsk, I wonder if these seeds require special soil or tools for planting...

Immediately, he opened the shop.

Sure enough, the recommendations had shifted from extravagant items to include the [Spirit Grass Soil Synthesizer], [Spirit Grass Tool Synthesizer], and the Beginner's Guide to Spirit Grass Cultivation.

It truly was a wish-granting shop.

Lin Xiao was satisfied.

However, both synthesizers and the cultivation guide each cost one spirit stone.

If he bought them, he'd be left with only one spirit stone—just enough to sustain his auto-cultivation for another 24 hours.

He needed more missions!

[Ding—System Mission: Increase sect reputation to 5 within ten days. Failure will result in forfeiture of rewards.]

Seeing this mission, Lin Xiao opened the sect panel to check his current reputation.

[Sect Reputation: 3]

Not zero, huh?

He stroked his chin thoughtfully.

Aside from himself, those who knew about Lingxian Sect were Jiang Youfu, his father, and his brother. That made three people.

So, sect reputation simply counted how many people knew about the sect?

If that was the case, wouldn't it mean he could just find two more friends and tell them about it? It didn't even matter if they didn't join the sect.

However, he wasn't sure how many of his peers would be free to follow him up the mountain. Most of the boys their age were already being roped into farm work by their families.

If he went to someone's house and said, "Stop working and come cultivate with me," he'd likely get chased out with a stick.

Still, just letting them know about the sect shouldn't be too difficult—they probably wouldn't take it seriously anyway.

He'd give it a try before going home today.

If he completed the mission, he wouldn't need to worry about spirit stones.

After all, the previous missions had rewarded spirit stones, so he expected the same this time.

But Lin Xiao didn't immediately buy the items from the shop.

He was still fixated on something—the Spell Creation Function he had unlocked last night.

With only a few pieces of paper mulberry bark left, Lin Xiao grabbed his axe and headed up the mountain.

By now, the sun was fully up.

Dew glistened on the leaves, reflecting the morning light.

As Lin Xiao happily peeled bark from the trees, he suddenly sensed a strong, unfamiliar presence flash through the forest nearby.

He didn't think he was mistaken.

He had always been sensitive to his surroundings, able to sense when someone approached him. Now that he was a cultivator, his awareness was even sharper.

Lin Xiao didn't stop peeling bark, pretending not to have noticed anything.

The presence didn't reappear after that initial flash, as if it had merely passed by.

After a while, Lin Xiao finally stopped, stashed the bark in his private storage, and returned to the sect base.

It seemed that even in this small, secluded Xiushui Village, things weren't as peaceful as they appeared—not in a world where cultivation was possible.

He could only hope that the presence he encountered today had merely passed by and wasn't a sign of danger.

Back at the sect base, Lin Xiao settled under the Ten Miles Peach Blossom Tree.

Without hesitation, he activated the Spell Creation Function.

He placed the paper mulberry bark and pine soot ink into the first and second slots.

Then, in the third slot, he tentatively placed a spirit stone.

The slot turned green!

Lin Xiao sighed in relief.

Thank goodness—only one spirit stone was needed. That was manageable.

Next, he focused on the final slot.

A spell concept…

After some thought, Lin Xiao decided not to input anything too ambitious.

Who knew what kind of spell would be created?

He didn't want to end up with a spell that was too powerful for him to use, especially since he was only at Qi Refinement Level 2.

He wanted a spell that could grow with him, something that could be useful at different stages of his cultivation.

He had a rough idea in mind.

After organizing his thoughts, Lin Xiao nodded and selected the last slot, beginning to input his spell concept.

[Input spell concept. Countdown: 20 seconds...19...18...]

[3...2...1. Concept input complete.]

[Spell creation in progress, please wait.]

Having already gone through the process of creating a cultivation technique, Lin Xiao calmly sat under the tree, waiting.

[Ding—"Purification Technique" created successfully. Please check your inventory.]

This time, it seemed to have finished even faster than the creation of the "Peach Blossom Void Technique."