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

Lin Xiao took out the newly created "Purification Technique" from his private storage.

As he flipped through it, his eyes lit up with excitement.

It turned out even better than he had imagined!

The "Purification Technique" was a progressive spell with five stages.

The first stage was the Dust Removal Spell, which, as the name suggests, could remove surface-level impurities like dust.

The second stage was the Air Purification Spell, which could purify polluted air, including refining spiritual energy or even human breath.

The third stage was the Mind Purification Spell, capable of cleansing the mind and spiritual sea.

The fourth stage was the Cleansing Spell, which could cleanse both people and objects. In other words, as long as he had enough spiritual energy, he could even convert a non-spiritual cultivator into a spiritual cultivator.

The fifth stage was the Eradication Spell—eradication, meaning to eliminate or completely wipe out.

[Ding—Since the system detects that the host is currently the sect leader and may have limited time, a special spell cultivation privilege has been unlocked. From now on, all spells created by the host will be automatically learned to save time. This will help the host focus on growing the sect and not let the system down.]

Hearing this great news, Lin Xiao was overjoyed and then asked the system, "Can the cultivation technique also be automatically learned?"

[Ding—Since cultivation techniques are directly tied to the host's path to enlightenment, they require both time and the right mindset to be refined for future ascension. If the host chooses to give up the pursuit of immortality, the system can unlock an auto-cultivation upgrade function—achieving the Golden Core stage overnight won't be a dream.]

[Would the host like to give up the path to immortality and activate the auto-cultivation upgrade function?]

Heh, no thanks.

Lin Xiao decisively chose no.

After all, he could already auto-cultivate. There was no need to give up the chance at immortality just for a quick boost to the Golden Core or Nascent Soul stages.

It wasn't worth it, not at all.

Auto-cultivation was still the best option, and it only cost a few spirit stones.

Besides, whenever he had free time, studying the cultivation technique could greatly accelerate his progress.

With his new spells in hand, Lin Xiao felt like a child who had just gotten a new toy.

He stood up and cast a Dust Removal Spell on the straw mat he had been sitting on.

In the blink of an eye, the mat, which was already new, looked even fresher. The dried yellow wheat straw even had a bit of shine to it.

Lin Xiao didn't feel any noticeable reduction in the spiritual energy in his dantian.

Perhaps the Dust Removal Spell consumed very little spiritual energy, or maybe even at Qi Refinement Level 2, he already had a decent amount of spiritual energy.

It would be great if Jiang Youfu could also use spells—then he'd have something to compare.

Looking at the second-stage Air Purification Spell, Lin Xiao decided not to try it out just yet.

One reason was that he didn't have a target to use it on.

The other reason was safety.

Theoretically, Lin Xiao could use all five stages of the Purification Technique now, as long as he had enough spiritual energy.

But there was also the issue of output capacity.

Each stage of the Purification Technique required vastly different amounts of spiritual energy to be output at once.

Given that Lin Xiao was only at Qi Refinement Level 2, even if he had enough spiritual energy, attempting to use a high-level spell could result in his meridians being overwhelmed and possibly damaged.

So, despite his curiosity, Lin Xiao decided not to test the higher-level spells just yet. When it came to cultivation, it was better to be cautious.

It was nearing noon.

Jiang Youfu came out of the grass hut, holding his stomach. "Xiao-ge, is it lunchtime yet? I'm so hungry."

Lin Xiao looked up at the sun hanging directly overhead and stood up. "Let's go. Today, we're catching shrimp."

Hearing about shrimp, Jiang Youfu's eyes lit up.

He wasn't exaggerating—no one in the village was better at catching shrimp than Xiao-ge!

Other people might spend half a day catching less than what Xiao-ge could catch in just half an hour!

Even though the shrimp in spring weren't very fat, they tasted amazing. Jiang Youfu quickly grabbed some dry food and followed Lin Xiao down the mountain.

A stream surrounded Xiushui Village.

The villagers called it Mountain Stream because it flowed down from the northern mountains.

The stream encircled half of Xiushui Village, which made the villagers believe that their village was blessed by the mountains and waters. Whenever they met people from surrounding villages, they liked to boast about their superior geography.

They reached a spot along the stream where fish and shrimp were abundant. Jiang Youfu and Lin Xiao splashed water on their faces to freshen up.

Jiang Youfu relaxed on the soft green grass, saying, "Cultivating and catching shrimp in this good weather, followed by a nice meal—Xiao-ge, I think I could live like this forever."

Lin Xiao, preparing to catch shrimp, smiled and replied, "I feel the same way."

Jiang Youfu lay there, watching Lin Xiao, and couldn't help but think, Xiao-ge is really handsome. And when he smiles, he's even more handsome. No wonder everyone in the village, from old ladies to little girls, likes him.

If only I could be even half as handsome as Xiao-ge...

Then Jiang Youfu looked down at his own belly.

After a moment's pause, he quietly averted his gaze.

As he looked downstream, something caught his eye. Sitting up quickly, he nudged Lin Xiao, who was busy catching shrimp.

Without looking up, Lin Xiao asked, "What's up?"

Jiang Youfu pointed downstream. "Xiao-ge, look! Isn't that Sun Yigao, the one who's been studying diligently at home for ten years? He's actually out here fetching water—has the sun risen in the west today?"

Lin Xiao glanced up briefly, barely catching a glimpse of the figure before returning to his shrimp-catching.

"Maybe he's just helping out his family for once."

Jiang Youfu continued, "No way! Xiao-ge, you don't know his mother. Their house is behind mine. Let me tell you, that auntie is something else. I once went with Iron Head and the others to find Sun Yigao, and she chased us away, saying we were distracting her son from his studies.

She doesn't even let him touch a broom or a rag, let alone fetch water. One time, when Uncle Sun asked Sun Yigao to buy some meat from the hunter Yang, Auntie Sun argued with him all day. I could hear everything from my house."

Lin Xiao, treating it as a piece of gossip, casually remarked, "Overprotecting a child is as harmful as neglecting them."

Jiang Youfu nodded vigorously. "Exactly! My mom says Sun Yigao is a good kid, but if Auntie Sun keeps raising him like this, he'll end up ruined. Uncle Sun isn't clueless, but he can't handle Auntie Sun's constant nagging, so he usually just turns a blind eye and gives Sun Yigao advice in private.

I wonder what happened today that made them send Sun Yigao out to fetch water."

After hearing this, Lin Xiao looked downstream again.

Now that he was at Qi Refinement Level 2, his vision was excellent.

He saw a young man, around fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing a long robe. He was awkwardly trying to fetch water with a wooden bucket, clearly inexperienced.