Chương 82: 1.82 Is it wrong to build a cult in a cultivation world?

"Are you okay, Junior Brother?" Ling Yinran asked, patting Ning on the shoulder. He had been staring blankly at the field without moving.

"You've been staring at the same spot for the past few minutes." Hearing her voice, Ning slowly looked up and spoke.

"I was merely pondering the inevitability of the universe. To gain something is to lose something. In the end, all things return to nature itself, and someday, even the world will cease to exist."

"Hm?" Ling Yinran studied him carefully.

"Did something happen after your match? I only caught a brief glance, but you seemed to be completely dominating him. Was there some hidden danger I missed?"

"There was nothing like that." Ning shed a single tear. The tragic incident played out in his mind once more. He had lost courtyard sixty-nine. It was said that numerology was closely connected to fate. If that was true, then perhaps the creation of the Vitality Pill had also been cosmically tied to that courtyard's legendary number. A place of innovation for questionable pharmaceutical achievements. Gone now. Replaced by courtyard sixty-six. Okay, okay. He was spiralling.

But despite this devastating loss, he would press forward. The universe took, yes, but the universe also gave. The road to culture was long, but he would not flinch at setbacks. Ning took a breath and clenched his fist. Ling Yinran stared at him. In the span of roughly three breaths, his expression had cycled through what appeared to be genuine grief, quiet philosophical reflection, reluctant acceptance, and finally something approaching renewed purpose.

"So," she said carefully.

"Have you sorted everything out?"

"Yup." Ning nodded. Hearing that, Ling Yinran just shrugged. For anyone else, witnessing such strangeness from someone close to them would have been worrying. But at this point, Ling Yinran was already used to it, not only from her aunt, but from her junior brother as well. Maybe the condition to enter the Spiritual Flower Peak as a disciple should simply be weirdness? Ling Yinran seriously considered it for a moment.

"So, are you going to watch my fights, or will you check out the Heavenly Origin Tower?" Ling Yinran asked.

"Since your ranking is quite low, you probably won't get challenged. As for me, I'll probably get a lot more challengers now that I beat Shen Wei." Every change in the top twenty rankings of a peak drew attention, so Ling Yinran was certain that some disciples would come for her, figuring she was an easier target than Shen Wei. As for the Heavenly Origin Tower, since this was the week celebrating the sect's establishment, how could there not be special events? Climbing the Heavenly Origin Tower was one such event.

The Heavenly Origin Tower was the Nascent Soul artifact of the late Patriarch Li Changsou. During this event, any inner sect disciple could challenge the tower, and those who cleared certain floors would receive rewards. Ning shook his head.

"I can check out the Heavenly Origin Tower later. Today, I'm here to cheer for my dear senior sister. So, unless you force me to go, I'll be right here providing moral support." In truth, Ning just wanted to relax and watch fights. He was taking a break, and spending that time cheering for his senior sister sounded perfectly fine. On the side, he could also train his spiritual control using his threads. Hearing Ning's answer, Ling Yinran tilted her head slightly, then smiled.

"Since my junior brother wants to support me so much, how could I disappoint him? Watch closely as I kick some ass."

"Um." … Fatty Li walked toward the Heavenly Origin Tower alongside the endless stream of disciples flooding the inner sect. The streets were unusually crowded today. Outer sect disciples had been temporarily granted access to portions of the inner sect during the Heavenly Origin Tower event, and countless people had rushed over immediately. Many even planned to stay for the full seven days, cultivating nonstop to take advantage of the denser spiritual energy within the inner sect grounds.

After all, even breathing here felt smoother. Spiritual qi drifted naturally through the air like morning mist, far richer than what the outer sect offered. For many lower-ranked disciples, opportunities like this were rare. Of course, most people were not here purely for cultivation. They were here to watch. The Heavenly Origin Tower was one of the Pure Qi Sect's most important events. Not only Qi Condensation disciples participate, but even Foundation Building elders also competed for rankings within the tower.

Since Foundation Building experts clashing in ordinary training grounds would prove disastrous given their sheer power, their rankings were determined by how high they climbed within the tower. It was one of the primary ways to determine the standing and treatment of elders. Fatty Li himself was not particularly interested in the rankings, though. Using his now towering physique, he moved through the crowd surprisingly easily.

His broad shoulders and muscular frame naturally parted pathways as disciples instinctively stepped aside. Eventually, he found the person he was looking for. At one of the open viewing fields near the tower, a large projection screen floated above the crowd through the use of Projection Stones. Several such projections were scattered around, each showcasing a different floor. Fatty Li found his target standing before one of these screens.

On it, a Foundation Building elder was charging through a massive horde of puppet soldiers inside the tower. The elder raised two fingers calmly. The next instant, several crescent-shaped blades of compressed wind formed around him before tearing forward violently. BOOM! The wind blades cleaved through rows of puppets like invisible scythes harvesting wheat. Broken limbs and shattered metal scattered across the floor. Yet despite the overwhelming display, the elder's expression remained serious.

Because those puppets were merely cannon fodder. The true challenge of the Heavenly Origin Tower always came later.

"Hm. Cleaving Wind Art," Ning commented while staring at the projection screen thoughtfully.

"Foundation Building wind spell. Pretty strong offensive power."

"Not just strong," Zhang Feng snorted beside him.

"It seems quite versatile as well." He then punched Ning lightly on the shoulder.

"Still, if it were me, I'd rather stab things directly than cast spells. The feeling of going head-to-head in close combat against multiple enemies would certainly be thrilling." Zhang Feng mused.

"One of man's great romances, surely." Ning nodded solemnly.

"I know."

"There you are, Brother Ning." Fatty Li finally approached the two. Ning turned immediately.

"Oh, Fatty Li. You made it." Zhang Feng also looked over curiously. Ning gestured between the two casually.

"Zhang Feng, this is Fatty Li. He's a very skilled spiritual chef." Then he pointed toward Zhang Feng.

"Fatty Li, this is Zhang Feng. He helped train my spear arts and is also from the Mutual Aid Association."

"Oh!" Zhang Feng immediately grinned and clasped Fatty Li's forearm enthusiastically.

"Any friend of Ning's is a friend of mine!" Fatty Li laughed.

"Same here. Just call me Fatty Li." Zhang Feng blinked before openly looking Fatty Li up and down.

"…Fatty?" Honestly, the current Fatty Li looked more like someone capable of strangling a demonic bear barehanded. His previous chubby appearance was almost completely gone, replaced by thick muscles packed beneath his robes like forged steel. Fatty Li coughed awkwardly.

"Well… this is temporary."

"Temporary?" Zhang Feng looked even more confused.

"It's because of my physique," Fatty Li explained helplessly.

"Normally, I'm actually quite chubby."

"I see." Zhang Feng nodded seriously. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. In the cultivation world, bizarre physiques were extremely common. Especially recently, many elders claimed they were living in an "era of rising physiques," where rare and new constitutions appeared more frequently than before.

Compared to stories about people born with dragon bones, phoenix blood, or naturally glowing eyeballs, temporary muscles honestly sounded pretty normal.

"So," Ning asked curiously, "what did you want to talk about? Please tell me it involves spirit stones." Fatty Li immediately grinned.

"You're right." He handed over a storage pouch directly.

"This is the profit from the last three days. One thousand seven hundred spirit stones total." Even Ning raised his eyebrows slightly at that figure.

"The hotdogs and the other recipes you gave us have completely exploded in popularity," Fatty Li continued proudly.

"Especially among outer sect disciples visiting the inner sect. You can expect the profits to increase even more over the next few days." Fatty Li was genuinely impressed. His friend had a unique perspective when it came to food. Especially now, having learned spiritual chef techniques, the dishes Ning's recipes produced were considered proper spiritual dishes. One might assume that the new recipes Ning had sold them were not much different from the first batch, but that would be a mistake.

Even though the changes Ning had made were minimal on the surface, by incorporating various spiritual meats and basic spiritual cooking techniques, they qualified as spiritual dishes. The price of the recipes had increased accordingly. Moreover, Ning's recipes, though simple, were strangely optimized for mass production. Ning took the pouch and smiled.

"Thank you, Fatty Li. Honestly, getting even five percent of the stall profits is already amazing. I originally thought I'd only get one percent at best."

"It's what you deserve," Fatty Li said immediately. In truth, there was something he had not told Ning. Fatty Li had not taken his own cut from the profits. Instead, he had quietly redirected a large portion of his share toward Ning's earnings without ever mentioning it aloud. The reason was simple. Gratitude. Fatty Li was not someone with many genuine friends. Cultivators talked about brotherhood and loyalty all the time, but most relationships within the sect were ultimately built around benefit or status.

When one was weak, others ignored you. When one was poor, others mocked you. When one lacked talent, even breathing too loudly could irritate people. When your backing was weak, one would be walked all over. Fatty Li understood this better than most. Xiao Fan was one of the very few people who had treated him sincerely from the very beginning, before strength or opportunity had changed anything. And now, Ning had become another. Perhaps Ning himself did not think much about it.

Perhaps to Ning, helping him awaken the Emperor Tyrant Spiritual Body had simply been something interesting, a theory worth testing, nothing more. But for Fatty Li, that moment had changed everything. Before obtaining the Emperor Tyrant Spiritual Body, Fatty Li's future had been painfully ordinary. At best, he would have remained another outer sect disciple scraping endlessly for resources, hoping to someday stumble into Foundation Building through sheer luck. That was the reality for most cultivators.

But the Emperor Tyrant Spiritual Body had changed that fate entirely. Not only had he gained the recognition of a late-stage Foundation Building master, but for the first time in his life, Fatty Li could actually see a future stretching farther ahead than mere survival. That kind of favor could not easily be repaid. Which was why Fatty Li had used his master's influence to secure Ning such absurdly favorable business terms in the first place.

Otherwise, there was no way a non-affiliated disciple could have received such a contract from a spiritual food stall operating during the Heavenly Origin Tower event. Meanwhile, Ning himself remained completely unaware of the emotional weight behind all of this.

"So," Ning asked curiously while weighing the storage pouch lightly in his hand, "how's your progress with the Food Qi Nourishment Method?" The moment the topic shifted to cultivation, Fatty Li's eyes brightened immediately.

"It's incredible," he said honestly.

"Seriously, this technique fits my physique almost perfectly." He subconsciously patted his own chest while speaking.

"My Emperor Tyrant Spiritual Body naturally absorbs and refines the essence from everything I eat in order to continuously strengthen my physique. But before this, a huge amount of spiritual essence was still being wasted during digestion." Fatty Li shook his head with visible amazement.

"Now it's completely different. Ever since learning the Food Qi Nourishment Method, my absorption efficiency has increased massively. Even ordinary spiritual beast meat is more effective than before." His expression grew more animated as he continued.

"Previously, eating one pound of spiritual beast meat might only convert thirty or forty percent into useful nourishment. The rest would dissipate naturally as waste. But now? I can actively guide the essence through my organs and meridians while digesting." Fatty Li clenched his fist.

"I can physically feel my body growing stronger every single day." Then his expression softened.

"Seriously," he said sincerely, "thank you." Ning waved his hand as though the matter were insignificant.

"You should thank Xiao Fan more than me," he replied.

"He's the one who found the technique in the first place." Then Ning's gaze drifted toward the distant direction of the Scripture Pavilion.

"Anyway," Ning said while stretching lightly, "you two enjoy the tournament. I'm finally going to buy my archery technique." Zhang Feng blinked.

"…You're leaving already?"

"Just for a moment. I'll be back before you know it." Then, before either of them could respond, he vanished into the crowd. Zhang Feng stared at Ning's disappearing back before letting out a helpless laugh.

"That guy seriously never rests, huh? And here I thought I was obsessed with martial arts." Fatty Li also smiled faintly while watching Ning disappear into the sea of disciples.

"That's just how Brother Ning is." Then his expression gradually became strangely solemn.

"Honestly… it's exactly what you'd expect from a man who walks the Path of the Grind." Zhang Feng blinked.

"…The what?" Fatty Li immediately straightened his back and clasped his hands behind him, like an ancient grandmaster preparing to reveal a forbidden scripture.

"The Path of the Grind," he repeated gravely.

"A supreme philosophy centered around relentless self-improvement through continuous accumulation." Zhang Feng raised an eyebrow.

"Ho? That doesn't sound bad."

"Yes." Fatty Li nodded in satisfaction.

"As expected of Brother Ning's friend. You grasped the core of it instantly." He lifted one finger.

"The grind is not merely training. It is waking up weaker than your enemy, getting beaten in the morning, practicing at noon, collapsing in the evening, then crawling back up at night, because tomorrow's humiliation must at least be reduced by three percent." Zhang Feng stared at him. Fatty Li's tone got heavy.

"Look, the weak want shortcuts, and ordinary people just want to be comfortable. The arrogant think that they will obtain everything they desire. But guys like us, the ones on the Path of the Grind? We only care about one thing."

"What?" Zhang Feng leaned in closer. He was finding that the way Fatty Li spoke about this grind was quite something.

"Progress." Fatty Li continued solemnly.

"To fail at a technique nine hundred and ninety-nine times, then fail the thousandth time with slightly better posture. To see a genius advance three realms overnight and not despair, but think: 'Good. Now I know it's possible.' That is the grind."

"That's wild." Zhang Feng was getting a pretty vivid picture of this grind now.

"The Path of the Grind does not ask whether heaven favors you, whether your spiritual root is superior, or even whether you were born with a rare physique."

"It asks only one thing."

"And that is?" Zhang Feng prompted. Fatty Li clenched his fist.

"Did you do your reps today?"

"I see." Zhang Feng nodded slowly. Fatty Li patted his shoulder.

"Remember this well, Brother Zhang. Having talent is terrifying, and a powerful background is daunting. But a man who wakes up every single day and willingly chooses suffering, all because he believes the struggle might be worth it? That is a grinder."

"You have a way with words," Zhang Feng said.

"I ought to, having been preaching this for quite a while now." Fatty Li had been spreading this philosophy among his fellow disciples and had even managed to convert a few of them. He had no ulterior motive. He simply wanted to lend others the same kind of hand that Ning had once lent him.

"I'm sure Brother Ning would be very pleased with me when he finds out," Fatty Li thought, and then pulled Zhang Feng aside to continue talking about the grind. … Ning, completely unaware of the strange missionary work Fatty Li had undertaken in his name, swiftly made his way to the Scripture Pavilion and finally purchased the manual for the Lightning Cry Arrow Technique, successfully accomplishing his original goal. The only unusual thing during the entire process was Elder Shen.

Or more specifically, just how much more of a bum the old man somehow looked today. Usually, there would at least be disciples coming and going around the pavilion, creating the illusion that Elder Shen was a mysterious, hidden expert guarding ancient scriptures. Today, however, with most disciples having rushed toward the Heavenly Origin Tower event, the old man had completely given up pretending.

He was currently lying sideways across a wooden chair in the sunlight, one sandal half-fallen off his foot, lazily fanning himself with what looked suspiciously like a low-grade technique manual. Ning respectfully handed over his contribution token and technique request. Elder Shen barely opened one eye.

"Lightning Cry Arrow…" the old man muttered lazily before glancing at Ning briefly.

"Archery? Finally decided to buy a proper martial arts after window shopping for so long?"

"Elder, I was just considering my choices." Ning may or may not have annoyed the elder regarding various martial arts. It was not his fault, okay? People really need to learn how to write good introductions with pros and cons.

"You really did." Elder Shen slowly sat up, though "sat up" was perhaps too generous. It was closer to a boneless shift from one lazy position to another. He took the contribution token, swept his spiritual sense over it, then waved his hand toward the pavilion shelves. A thin jade slip flew out from the inner section and landed in his palm. Instead of handing it over immediately, Elder Shen glanced at Ning again.

"So, was your sudden decision due to the Heavenly origin tower?"

"Yes, I wanted to prepare for anything. Having an extra option for long-range attack would not hurt." The old man snorted softly.

"At least your head works. Most brats are too busy polishing their boots and imagining themselves shocking the sect. They are too carefree these days." Ning accepted this wisdom in silence. Elder Shen tossed the jade slip lightly in his hand.

"The Heavenly Origin Tower only opens once every five years. For disciples like you who have never entered before, the first five floors are the real opportunity. After that, the tower will not treat you the same way again." Ning's eyes moved slightly. Although he had already heard some information about the tower, anything coming from an elder of the Scripture Pavilion was naturally worth listening to. Elder Shen seemed to notice his attention and yawned.

"Foundation Building cultivators and disciples who have entered before usually start from the sixth floor onward. The first five floors are left for fresh Qi Condensation disciples. It is both a test and a blessing left behind for the younger generation." He finally threw the jade slip over. Ning caught it carefully.

"A test and a blessing?" Ning asked.

"Mm." Elder Shen leaned back into the chair and resumed fanning himself with the unfortunate manual.

"If you perform well, you may obtain an inheritance. A spell, a technique, a secret art, sometimes even something stranger. But the tower is not a charity hall. Reaching the third floor is usually the minimum before anything decent appears." Ning stored that information away. Third floor. So the first two floors were likely screening trials. Elder Shen's half-closed eye opened slightly.

"Don't think only combat matters either. The tower tests many things."

"Like?" Ning prompted.

"That's for you to figure out." Elder Shen chuckled, seeing the young disciple's aggrieved expression at that. This would teach this kid not to leave his novels in cliffhangers every damn time.

"Thank you." Ning still thanked the elder. Now, all he needs to do is grind out this technique till he can launch it. But the Heavenly Origin Tower was a trial ground. No one knew what kind of enemies, formations, or strange restrictions would appear inside. Having another ranged method, especially one with lightning attributes and piercing power, could only increase his options. And Ning liked options. Elder Shen watched him for a moment, then suddenly said, "You are sixth stage now, right?"

"Yes."

"Good timing." Ning raised his head.

"Good timing?"

"Your master did not tell you?"

"She did, but she did not elaborate much. She only said that having lower cultivation can be advantageous when entering the tower." Ning answered.

"Then she did tell you." Elder Shen clicked his tongue.

"That woman is lazy, but not careless." Ning wisely chose not to comment on his master's laziness. Elder Shen continued, "The first five floors do not simply reward whoever has the highest cultivation. If that were the case, every clan brat would suppress their entry until ninth-stage Qi Condensation and walk in covered in spirit artifacts. The tower is not that easy." The old man pointed at Ning with the manual he was using as a fan.

"It measures you according to your cultivation level. All of it is weighed against the realm you are actually in. A sloppy eighth-stage disciple may not perform as well as a refined sixth-stage disciple." Ning's gaze sharpened. This was the key point. A top-tier cultivator at a lower stage could receive a better evaluation than a higher-stage cultivator whose foundation was unstable. In other words, entering too late was not always better. There was a balance between cultivation level and relative performance.

And right now, Ning was at the sixth stage. So was Xiao Fan. Having the lowest cultivation in the inner sect, but their foundations are top-tier on their own right. This was a very good situation to be in. But was it a coincidence? Ning thought not. Still, armed with slightly more information, Ning cupped his hands.

"This disciple will remember Elder Shen's guidance."

"Good. Now go away. You are blocking my sunlight." Ning looked at the sunlight, then at the completely empty pavilion courtyard, then back at Elder Shen. He was not blocking anything. However, arguing with old people who could possibly slap him through a wall was not part of his preparation plan. So Ning respectfully bowed and left.

"I can only hope this is one of those arcs where the protagonist beats up a bunch of arrogant young masters and shocks the entire sect," Ning muttered under his breath as he descended the pavilion steps. … Thanks for reading~