After two days of Ling Tian agreeing to join, an idea occurred to me. We are effectively a team, but our leaders need to build and develop their strength, not recruitment, which is the last thing. I don't have any plan for this topic yet, but I thought we could go to a mountain with monsters whose power levels start from the peak world level. It's a suitable idea to build their foundation, and I estimate that a year and a half would be more than enough to develop their levels, even for a small child.
I called Sheng Yan, Sheng Jin, and Sheng Xue, and said: "Okay, you are fine, but training in halls is of little use. In the future, if we build a mercenary unit, you are supposed to be at a strength no less than the peak integration with the sword, even Sheng Xue. I will stay with you all this time, and Ling Tian and I will remain to ensure your safety. Also, if monsters appear that you cannot handle, we will eliminate them. However, in training, we will not assist you much; just ask us about anything, and we will advise you. As for developing your personal level of work in general…"
I asked the servants to call Ling Tian and informed him that we would only observe the conditions on the mountain, nothing more. Then after a week, we would leave and let the youths train freely. He agreed, and we set off.
We arrived at the mountain, and I sensed an ominous aura from it. Even its appearance was massive. The mountain is 4 km wide and over 8 km long, larger than a small city. We camped and set up provisions. After a week, we inspected every inch of the cave and found nothing, leaving enough provisions for the youths for more than two years.
During this, each of the youths decided to walk their own path and agreed that once they reached the level they aimed for, they would gather in the center of the mountain. Currently, Sheng Jin is gazing at the sky, contemplating, sighing, and saying: "Well, after all, four months have passed, and I have not found the motivation I want, nor even the conditions to achieve it. I don't think I will get what I want, but I leave it for now. We are still in the search phase; after all, one should not give up so easily." He lifted his sword, released his aura, and sensed every movement and feeling he had.
Meanwhile, Sheng Yan, despairing of his attempts because he realized the weakness of his talent, spoke to himself: "Even after trying to search, I have nothing. I am desperate. My talent is weak, and even that child is better than me. Every time I try to break a limit and surpass my boundary, my talent feels like a huge stone blocking me, not letting me pass. I have become obsessed with envying those talented compared to someone like me, entering a threshold of thirty-year-old strength, even when surpassing the peak world level."
Sheng Yan fell into a deep sea of despair, unable to get out, while both other youths—one despairing, the other still motivated—contrasted with him. The young child still enlarged his Dantian, yet he lost passion and does not know any goal to drive him, worse than Sheng Yan, who has a goal but forgets it due to despair and delusion.
Sheng Xue muttered: "Even though I am described as a genius, what is special about this? I force myself to something I don't know, why push myself to this limit, and I have even lost my passion a long time ago. I paid the price for this talent with emptiness, the feeling that you have a void, but whatever you try to fill it, it's like filling a broken bucket that never fills no matter how much you pour into it."
However, we did not look at the other side of the bucket; we saw that part of it is already full. The difference is in perspective. The same goes for Sheng Xue; it is full, but he does not realize it because he only sees the half that is empty. After Sheng Xue sank into his emptiness, he realized that half of what he saw is indeed full, but his lost passion and what drove him were not passion but diligence. Combining diligence with desire produces passion—the greatest passion the youth was looking for. He found it in moments of realization and acceptance, striving to accept himself as he is.
During this, something appeared in the sky with an overwhelming aura that rooted those standing in place. The massive form revealed itself—a giant black dragon covering the entire mountain. It unleashed huge aura attacks in various locations. One attack came to Sheng Xue's position, who rolled around it and cut it in half.
The dragon noticed him due to the aura fluctuations caused by the destruction. After being struck, he woke up in a very pure white place that gave a feeling of reassurance.