The old Daoist's surname was Tao.
As for his name, he didn't say, and Du Youqian naturally didn't feel it was proper to ask.
In any case, calling him "Master" couldn't be wrong.
What surprised Du Youqian the most was that Elder Tao wasn't actually a Loose Cultivator, but came from a Sect.
And it wasn't just any ordinary Sect.
It was a "Second-class Sect" from the Nine Countries of Momenan Desert!
That said, Du Youqian didn't quite understand what a Second-class Sect actually signified.
Old Tao... Elder Tao didn't explain either.
But seeing how his eyes suddenly lit up and his tone filled with pride when he mentioned the Sect—even though he wasn't beaming with joy—Du Youqian figured a Second-class Sect must be... pretty damn impressive.
"Then, Master, why didn't you stay in the Sect?"
"Heh, your master is old, and it's hard to advance my Cultivation any further. The monthly stipend from the Sect is meaningless for someone of my Cultivation level. I didn't want to deal with menial tasks in the Outer Sect and tire myself out just to earn a few extra cultivation resources. After all, I'm all alone, with no close relatives or disciples. I don't care about those scraps, so I just left to cultivate in seclusion."
After a pause, the old Daoist added with a touch of melancholy, "Sigh, if I had known I'd take a disciple, I would have put in a little effort to build some connections in the Sect. Now you're the one who suffers. Your Spirit Root is poor, you lack resources, and your Cultivation speed is ten, even a hundred times slower than the elites in the Sect."
"It's alright, Master. Even if my Cultivation speed were a hundred times faster, I'd have no hope of reaching Foundation Establishment in this lifetime. It's like the old saying goes: if I can learn the Dao in the morning, I can die in the evening without regret."
"Since you see things so clearly, I won't say any more."
The Cultivation Technique Du Youqian practiced was an Entry Level Cultivation Method from Elder Tao's Sect.
The *Five Elements Spirit Absorption Technique*.
As an Entry Level Cultivation Method, the *Five Elements Spirit Absorption Technique* was moderate and stable.
Its Breathing efficiency was a bit low, and the Cultivation speed was a bit slow.
But the Magical Power it generated was extremely pure, and there was no risk of qi deviation.
What was even more valuable was that anyone, regardless of which of the Five Elements their Spirit Root was aligned with, could practice this technique.
And for a Cultivator with Five Spirit Roots, it even provided a slight boost to their Cultivation speed.
This was a major boon for Du Youqian.
That's right, Du Youqian had the legendary trash-tier Spirit Root—the Five Spirit Roots.
After Elder Tao tested him, he was left rather speechless.
Because of the "A Class" evaluation from his previous life, he had received 5 Spirit Root points for this reincarnation. He had thought his aptitude wouldn't be too bad.
But he never expected there to be a problem with how the points were allocated.
If all 5 Spirit Root points had been added to a single element, he would have likely had a mid-to-upper quality Spirit Root.
But instead, one point was added to each of the Five Elements.
'Are they trying to build a jack-of-all-trades character?'
Du Youqian could only console himself. 'A trash-tier Spirit Root is what it is. As long as I can cultivate, it's fine.'
'As for the slow Cultivation speed... that's not a big deal either.'
'After a few more reincarnations and adding more Spirit Root points, my Cultivation speed will increase.'
'Even if my Spirit Root is poor and I can't become an Immortal in this life... '
'If one reincarnation isn't enough, then two, or three... won't be either.'
'But after a thousand, or ten thousand reincarnations, I'll surely be able to become an Immortal!'
"Master, won't the Sect hold you accountable for giving a Sect Cultivation Technique to your disciple?"
"It's just an Entry Level Cultivation Method. What's there to investigate? As an Inner Disciple, I have that much authority."
"Master, what's our Sect called, anyway?"
"Don't say 'our' Sect. This is *my* Sect. You haven't been accepted into it yet."
"So what is it called?"
"The Chongzhen Sect!"
'The Chongzhen Sect?'
Du Youqian was a little puzzled.
In his previous life, he had a brief exchange with an Immortal Master who was a Tributor for the Wu Kingdom.
The man had stated his affiliation.
It wasn't the Chongzhen Sect.
'Could it be that a Second-class Sect like the Chongzhen Sect isn't the one pulling the strings behind the Wu Kingdom?'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BANG!
Covered in soot, Du Youqian rushed out of the room, with thick smoke chasing relentlessly after him.
The Pill Furnace hadn't exploded, but this batch of elixirs was definitely ruined.
Elder Tao wasn't in seclusion recently, so he heard the noise and quickly rushed over with the Monkey.
After surveying the scene, he shook his head at Du Youqian, filled with disappointment. "Alchemy is but a minor Dao. Why must you waste so much time and energy on it?"
"It's been a year since you became my disciple, yet you're still at the Qi Cultivation First Layer. You're my only disciple. Although I don't have many great things to give you, I haven't held back on your supply of Elixirs and Spirit Stones. Even if your aptitude is a bit lacking, if you had just focused a little more and cultivated harder, you should have reached the Qi Cultivation Second Layer by now, right?"
"Have you forgotten how old you are? Are you really going to wait until you're seventy or eighty, with one foot in the grave, before you start regretting it?"
Du Youqian lowered his head meekly. He let Elder Tao's scolding wash over him.
Elder Tao was a good person, no doubt, but he was a chatterbox.
He loved to nag even more than Du Youqian's parents back on Earth.
But that was fine. After all, Du Youqian had lived for three lifetimes; he could certainly endure this much.
When Elder Tao finally tired of his lecture, Du Youqian respectfully said, "Master, no matter how hard I try, it's impossible for me to reach Qi Cultivation Perfection before I'm sixty. After all, once the new year passes, I'll be fifty-five."
"Even a genius with an Upper Grade Spirit Root and unlimited resources couldn't possibly go from the Qi Cultivation First Layer to Qi Cultivation Perfection in just five years, right? After all, in the Qi Cultivation Late Stage, just advancing from the Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer to the eighth layer takes more time than going from the first to the seventh layer combined."
"And once a person passes sixty, there's almost no hope of achieving Foundation Establishment. You said so yourself, Master."
"So, I was thinking, even if I have no destiny with the Great Dao in this life, it would still be good to experience more of the world. Be it Alchemy, Artifact Refining, Talisman Making, or the Array Dao, as long as I can learn them, I want to learn a little bit of everything."
"In any case, even if I spent all this time on Cultivation, I still wouldn't be able to reach Foundation Establishment, don't you think?"
Du Youqian had his own plans.
'He had already learned the Cultivation Technique, but he was old now and his Spirit Root was poor, so his Cultivation speed was bound to be extremely slow.'
'Rather than waste time on Cultivation, wouldn't it be better to learn some skills and accumulate experience? Isn't that a better deal?'
'Anyway, after I reincarnate, it won't matter if I reached the Qi Cultivation Second Layer or the third, fourth, or fifth layer in this life. I'll have to start all over from the beginning.'
'On the other hand, Immortal Cultivation Techniques, once learned, are mine to keep. I won't lose those skills just because I reincarnate.'
Elder Tao thought for a moment, opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word.
Finally, he just waved his hand impatiently. "Go, go. Just looking at you is annoying."
Elder Tao turned and left. The docile monkey suddenly bared its teeth and mocked Du Youqian with a flurry of hand gestures.
Du Youqian didn't even lift an eyelid, pretending not to see.
'That detestable monkey always pretends to be quiet and tame in front of Elder Tao.'
'But the moment Elder Tao looks away, its true monkey nature is revealed.'
As a Tier One Peak Demon Beast, the Monkey's intelligence was equivalent to that of a ten-year-old child; it was extremely clever.
After discovering that Du Youqian was at the bottom of the food chain, it grew even more insolent in his presence.
It was a good thing it couldn't speak. Otherwise, with its mischievous nature and insolent attitude, Du Youqian would have been tempted to eat hot oil-drenched monkey brains long ago.
As for now, it was still tolerable.
It thought it was bullying Du Youqian.
But it had no idea that its comical performance was a great source of amusement for him.
It was one of the few bright spots in Du Youqian's life over the past year.
Cultivation was truly arduous, arduous and lonely.