The sect leader's authoritative voice came from above: "Mo Xuanyu?"

"Disciple is here," Yu Ling said respectfully.

"Hmm, you have excellent aptitude and are a practitioner of the ruthless path, which makes you a better fit for Master Si Beihan of my Cloud Peak. Today, I will accept you as my closed-door disciple on behalf of Master Si. Are you willing?" the sect leader said slowly.

"This disciple is willing," Yu Ling replied without hesitation.

The sect leader nodded and continued, "Very good. This time, I will accept the apprenticeship ceremony on behalf of Peak Master Si."

After saying that, the sect leader gave a wink to the side, and the apprenticeship ceremony officially began.

—After the ceremony.

A young female cultivator dressed in white slowly entered, carrying a sandalwood tray. The tray contained some high-grade spirit stones, rare pills, and a token signifying her status as a disciple of Yu Ling.

Even in the Upper Realm, these pills would be priceless treasures, but in this setting, they seemed utterly ordinary. This was because these were the apprenticeship gifts prepared by every master who accepted a personal disciple.

The tray was placed in front of Yu Ling, and the sect leader said calmly, "These are your gifts for becoming a disciple. Please accept them."

Yu Ling, holding the tray, performed the disciple's salute, clasping her hands respectfully and saying, "Disciple greets Master."

"Okay, get up!"

"Thank you, Master."

After the entire process was completed, the apprenticeship ceremony was over, and the sect leader gave some words of encouragement.

The other peak masters also warmly welcomed Yu Ling to audit their classes, since her true master, Si Beihan, was still in seclusion.

The sect leader also gave a similar instruction: "Good junior nephew, if you need anything in the future, go to Cen Yan to handle it. If he can't make a decision, come to me. Although you are still a bit behind your fellow disciples in cultivation, I believe you will catch up soon. Don't be shy."

Yu Ling smiled and replied, "This disciple understands. Thank you for your kind words, Sect Master. Xuan Yu will certainly live up to expectations and break through to the next level as soon as possible."

The other direct disciples, including the sect leader's apprentices, all heard this conversation clearly. Tsk, she called Yu Ling "junior niece" so affectionately, but called them "that one," "those two," or "those few." Was the sect leader's favoritism really that obvious?!

After the apprenticeship ceremony ended, Yu Ling was still not free. Since her master was not present, the other peak masters symbolically gave her some top-grade spirit stones as a greeting gift, and arranged a series of benefits for the newcomer, such as soaking in spirit liquid. After all this, another day had passed.

Yu Ling didn't even have a chance to take a break and deliver the Demon Lord and the wristband to Chu Fan. After that, she was too lazy to make a special trip and stayed in her room to focus on her cultivation.

As an outer disciple, Chu Fan naturally did not have the opportunity to participate in the apprenticeship ceremony held for direct disciples. Even though he entered the sect with Yu Ling, he still had to continue to participate in the courses for newly initiated disciples.

He no longer saw Yu Ling as a target for revenge. But since they were brothers, she wasn't the kind of weakling who needed his help. In addition, Chu Fan's strong sense of pride made him unable to accept the fact that his cultivation level was low, so they tacitly refrained from going to find Yu Ling.

The consequence of ascending ahead of schedule was frantic seclusion and cultivation. The two of them, without prior arrangement, began cultivating madly together, with no entertainment or rest, focusing on intense competition. In addition, Chu Fan also had to catch up on his courses to prepare for tests, so he wished he could split his time in half.

Fortunately, with Qin Yu, a minor boss at this stage, in the outer sect, his cultivation life can be described as rich and colorful. His cultivation level also began to rise rapidly through various events, and he soon stepped into the Nascent Soul stage and advanced towards the Deity Transformation stage.

Yu Ling, however, did not have such unnecessary worries. She comprehended sword techniques to break through her mental state with sword intent and to break through her physical strength with the ruthless path. She never even encountered a bottleneck. In just over a month of cultivation, she soared from the Void Refining Realm to the early stage of the Mahayana Realm.

He advanced two major realms in a row. In the words of the Demon Lord, even those who fell into demonic cultivation didn't advance as fast as him. In short, he was a prodigy.

Compared to the lower realm, the improvement of one's realm is naturally very fast in an environment with abundant spiritual energy. Yu Ling is also hardworking enough, but there are some things that cannot be made up for by hard work alone.

Since entering the late stage of Mahayana, Yu Ling's progress has stagnated. No matter what she does, she cannot make any further progress, and there is not even the slightest sign of breaking through to the next realm.

This is not a matter of his state of mind, or a problem with his cultivation method.

Becoming a wandering immortal is the first step in separating oneself from humanity. Even genuine humans need time to slowly explore and find the opportunity to break through.

Yu Ling isn't even human; as a tree spirit, he can't truly understand the mysterious and special aspects of humans. He'll need even more time.

Even the Demon Lord couldn't stand it anymore. Others only go into seclusion to cultivate when they've reached a bottleneck, their cultivation time seemingly endless. But Yu Ling is clearly engaging in frantic competition, not even finding it tiring. He offered some advice:

"Alright, alright, I really don't know what you're so serious about. If others had your cultivation progress, they'd be laughing all the way to the bank. It's been so many days and you're still stuck here forcing yourself to practice. Don't make things difficult for yourself, or it will backfire."

Upon hearing this, Yu Ling composed herself and sighed in disappointment. Her abundant spiritual energy dissipated, making any further advancement seem impossible.

The Demon Lord had been guiding Yu Ling these past few days. Although Yu Ling couldn't use his skills, who wouldn't like to see a beautiful woman? So she didn't stop him. What he said was true, but besides cultivation, he had no interest in anything else. Whether it was for survival or finding his original body, improving his cultivation level was a necessary condition.

"Sigh..." Yu Ling shifted her posture and sighed, "I'm still too weak. The Demon Lord should know that in this world where rogue immortals are everywhere, my cultivation is simply not enough. Do you have any good ideas to help me break through quickly?"

Demon Lord: "........."

I am the Demon Lord, but I'm not some turtle in a wishing well. If such a method truly existed, guess why I haven't escaped from the Demon-Subduing Tower yet?

"If you're really bored, you can practice swordsmanship, learn alchemy and weapon crafting, draw talismans, or cultivate your mind through music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. If all else fails, you can travel around and see the world's splendor, or find a Daoist partner..."

"Stop, you don't actually know either, do you?" The more she listened, the more outrageous it became, so Yu Ling directly interrupted this nonsense.

The Demon Lord shamelessly admitted it, saying:

"Of course I don't know. I'm just offering a friendly suggestion. I'm a demonic cultivator, unlike you orthodox cultivators. I can do whatever I want and break through without being bullied."

As for you... why don't you ask the other peak masters or something, and give them a surprise? Anyway, it's better than continuing to torment yourself like this, right?"