After a Qi Refining Stage Cultivator reaches the age of sixty, their chances of successfully achieving Foundation Establishment plummet. Even Cultivators with Dual Spirit Roots have little hope of succeeding.
Thus, sixty is the final deadline the Celestial Cloud Sect sets for its disciples.
Anyone who fails to reach Foundation Establishment by the age of sixty must either leave the Celestial Cloud Sect or become a Sect Steward.
'Maybe he just looks old for his age? But even then, a Cultivator shouldn't look *this* old.'
'Or maybe he was poisoned…'
As Fang Yun looked at the old man, his mind raced with possibilities.
"I don't believe I've seen you around, Junior Brother." The old man was already walking toward Fang Yun and greeted him first.
"Greetings, Senior Brother. My name is Fang Yun. I just became a Sect Disciple today."
"I'm Tian Ruifeng." The elderly senior brother introduced himself, then added, "Junior Brother Fang, you must have become a Sect Disciple because of your Planting Talent, right?"
"That's right."
"If I recall correctly, disciples who join under these circumstances get a three-month grace period where they don't have to accept any missions."
"Senior Brother Tian, I accepted the mission voluntarily."
Hearing this, the way Tian Ruifeng looked at Fang Yun changed slightly. "Oh? It seems Junior Brother Fang is quite passionate about planting."
"I guess you could say that," Fang Yun replied nonchalantly.
"You're wondering why I look so old, aren't you, Junior Brother Fang?"
Fang Yun was, in fact, still thinking about that very thing.
Having been called out, Fang Yun could only scratch his head and smile awkwardly.
"It's no secret. Even if I don't tell you now, you'd find out eventually, Junior Brother." Tian Ruifeng revealed his age. "I'm almost eighty."
"Huh?"
Fang Yun was stunned. He had thought it was more likely that Tian Ruifeng had been poisoned and was actually only in his forties or fifties.
"From what I understand, at your age, Senior Brother, you should have become a Steward by now."
"Are you familiar with the Spirit Plant List?"
"A little."
Not long ago, Steward Song had told him that entering the top one hundred would earn him an annual bonus.
"As long as you can maintain a spot in the top ten of the Spirit Plant List year-round, you can be like me and enjoy the benefits of a Sect Disciple even at a hundred years old," Tian Ruifeng explained, answering the question in Fang Yun's mind.
Once you become a Sect Steward, you lose many of the benefits afforded to disciples.
For instance, the fixed monthly stipend is gone.
"So that's how it is. Thank you for the explanation, Senior Brother Tian."
Fang Yun gazed at the vast field of growing Purple Corn.
Although he wasn't very familiar with the list, he knew that planting high-level Spirit Medicine was an easier way to earn more points and climb the ranks. Being able to break into the top ten by growing nothing but Purple Corn was an impressive feat in itself.
"Don't mention it. Since you were assigned a Spirit Field over here, you most likely took on the mission to grow Purple Corn. If you run into any issues, feel free to ask me. I'll help you out whenever I'm free."
"I told you, don't mention it."
Seeing that Fang Yun was about to thank him again, Tian Ruifeng didn't give him the chance.
He turned and was gone in a flash.
Fang Yun saw that Tian Ruifeng had already entered the Spirit Field. He inspected the Purple Corn stalks with incredible speed, taking in their condition with a single glance.
Compared to Fang Yun, his efficiency was undoubtedly on another level.
He arrived at his three-mu Spirit Field.
The first thing Fang Yun had to do, naturally, was till the soil before planting the Purple Corn seeds.
「Half a month later.」
Fang Yun had completely adapted to his new life as an Outer Sect disciple of the Celestial Cloud Sect.
Early this morning, instead of tending to his Purple Corn, Fang Yun went to the sect's Spirit Plant Hall.
This was where the sect's Spirit Plant Masters held their lectures.
Upon entering the Spirit Plant Hall, Fang Yun saw several hundred people already there.
He'd thought he had arrived early, but he was actually quite late and could only find a seat on a meditation cushion at the back.
As his gaze swept across the Spirit Plant Hall, Fang Yun immediately spotted Tian Ruifeng on a cushion in the front row. Among all the disciples present, he was the only one with graying hair—a sign of decaying vitality.
Over the past half a month, Fang Yun had learned a bit more about Tian Ruifeng.
Ever since becoming a disciple of the Celestial Cloud Sect, Tian Ruifeng had dedicated himself to growing Purple Corn, nearly perfecting its cultivation. Unfortunately, he had yet to become a Spirit Plant Master.
One of the requirements to become a Spirit Plant Master was to cultivate a mutated Spirit Medicine.
This condition was easiest to achieve with Tier One, Lower Grade Spirit Medicine.
Fang Yun considered his own one-star Planting Talent. 'The probability of causing a Spirit Medicine to mutate is too low. With a two-star Planting Talent, the chances would be higher. If I could reach a three-star Planting Talent, I think cultivating a mutated Tier One, Lower Grade Spirit Medicine would be relatively easy.'
He hadn't been seated for long when he saw an Elder of the Celestial Cloud Sect.
This was his first time seeing a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. This very Elder from the Celestial Cloud Sect was the Spirit Plant Master giving the lecture today.
"The Way of Spirit Planting is easy to begin, but difficult to master. The transformation of medicinal power, the Spirit Transformation Technique..."
Right from the start, Fang Yun felt like he was back in school.
It was dry, boring, and he could barely understand any of it.
His Planting Talent gave him more of a natural affinity for Spirit Medicine. By observing a plant, he could somehow understand what it needed. 'Is it lacking Spiritual Qi? Is its environment uncomfortable?' Things like that.
Listening to someone else talk about it was a completely different experience from feeling it himself. For Fang Yun, the latter was far, far superior to the former.
He had shown up today partly to go with the flow and not stand out, but also to see if attending a lecture could earn him any Talent Points.
'Reality is so much more complex than a game. There might be opportunities to gain Talent Points from all sorts of things.'
Forcing himself to stay awake, he managed to sit through the entire lecture.
'Hopefully, it'll pay off.'
…
「That night.」
Fang Yun opened the light screen five breaths early.
In five breaths, the Talent Points for October would be tallied.
He was eager to see how the tally would change in his first month as a disciple of the Celestial Cloud Sect.
——
Cursory Listening: Planting, Talent Points +12.
Perfect Rainfall x15, Talent Points +45.
Standard Rainfall x3, Talent Points +3.
Perfect Weeding x8, Talent Points +24.
Standard Weeding x13, Talent Points +13.
Perfect Pest Removal x16, Talent Points +48.
Affiliated Faction: [Celestial Cloud Sect]
Sect Level: 3
Sect Position: Outer Sect Disciple +20%
Sect Influence: 0%
Regional Influence: [Not Unlocked]
Talent Point Bonus: 60%
Tally: Talent Points +232.
——
Seeing this month's tally, Fang Yun nodded in satisfaction.
He was finally reaping the benefits of the sect affiliation bonus.
The Celestial Cloud Sect's level was 3, just as he'd expected.
The faction's Talent Point bonus was easy to calculate. You just added the sect position bonus to the sect influence bonus, and then multiplied the result by the Sect Level.
In the game, raising a Sect's Level required meeting two conditions: the first was the quality of its Cultivators, and the second was its activity level.
If the activity level was too low, it wouldn't matter how high-quality the Cultivators were.
That's why some whales would send red packets in the group chat to boost the number of online players and increase the activity level.
'In reality,' Fang Yun mused, 'activity level probably doesn't matter. It's likely just based on the total number of Cultivators in the sect, and quality is probably determined by the number of High Tier Cultivators.'