If you ask a monk what he spends most of his life doing, he will definitely answer "meditation and breathing."

The so-called "breathing" means exhaling turbid air and taking in fresh air, thereby constantly purifying oneself and slowly improving the level of cultivation. This is the traditional Taoist practice method.

The Kunlun monks who focused on self-cultivation were the best in the art of meditation and refining Qi. Each of them could stay in a cave for decades without going out.

But if you ask a cultivator where most of the cultivation gains you have made throughout your life come from, he will definitely answer "secret realms and adventures."

How much can one increase in cultivation by meditating and refining Qi? You should know that the life span limit of the foundation-building stage is only about two hundred years at most.

But as long as one is lucky enough to find a secret realm of Purple Mansion, one can improve one's cultivation by ten to thirty years. In rare cases, it can even be fifty or seventy years...which is countless times higher than refining Qi through meditation.

The reason why most monks do not seek secret realms is simple:

First, there is no chance.

There was no Internet in this classical world, so naturally there was no possibility of information explosion.

Most of the ancient books that may record information about secret realms are treasured by large sects and are difficult for ordinary cultivators to obtain.

For the monks of the big and powerful sects, there is so much information to look up that it can be described as "voluminous" and "filling up the building with books".

Most of those that are easy to interpret have been searched out by our predecessors, and those that remain are even more obscure and difficult to distinguish, and it is unclear whether they are true or false.

Second, I’m not sure.

Secret realms were created by ancient powerful beings, and their design purposes vary.

Some are for training younger generations, some are for passing on the Taoist tradition, and some are simply used for living and storage...there are all kinds of uses.

Correspondingly, the degree of risk may be ridiculously high and the returns may be pitifully low.

It is difficult for any cultivator to accept the fact that after going through so much trouble and risking one's life to explore the secret realm, one returns empty-handed.

In short, if breathing and refining Qi is like "working", which can steadily earn a meager return; then exploring secret realms is like "starting a business", where risks and returns are completely unrelated and the instability is ridiculously high.

The larger the sect and the more abundant the resources, the more inclined the cultivators are to practice breathing and refining qi every day rather than wasting time searching for secret realms.

There are relatively more casual cultivators who are willing to "take a chance" and "fight for a path", but judging from the base proportion, the vast majority of them also tend to practice breathing and refining qi, and only when their life span is about to end will they risk their lives. This shows that risk aversion is human instinct, whether it is cultivators or mortals.

Of course, I am different, Qiu Changtian thought to himself.

Although I also hate risks, I have a heavy mission on my shoulders, which is to fight for the survival of the world.

Therefore, I had to overcome my instinct of loving laziness and hating work, to look for clues to those illusory ruins, explore the various secret places left over from ancient times, take risks, go through life and death, and finally build up such a magnificent foundation of cultivation!

"If it weren't for the extraordinary talent that Yaoyao gave you, and the information advantage brought by being involved in multiple sects at the same time, could Lord Sword Master have achieved what you have today?" Qingping Sword suddenly asked jokingly.

"Of course." Qiu Changtian said calmly, "If a young phoenix grows in a magpie's nest, does that mean it is not a phoenix? I admit that my basic starting point is indeed a little higher than everyone else's, but the main factor that led to my success is my great perseverance, wisdom, and skills..."

"And such an astonishingly thick face." Qingping Jian sighed.

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Kunlun Jing scolded, and then turned to comfort Qiu Changtian, "It's okay, Guanshui, ignore it. It's just jealous."

Qiu Changtian: ...

You are playing a double act here to ridicule me, do you think I can't hear it?

When he opened his eyes from resting, he saw that his fellow junior brothers and sisters had all arrived.

Xu Yinglian, Guan Zhan, Yan Zhitui, Chen Zhen, Zhong Tianhuai, and Jian Qingnan, who had finally recovered his composure, all gathered in the cave, ready to listen to his lecture.

Qiu Changtian was in no hurry to start talking. He just pondered for a moment and suddenly asked:

"I have been thinking about this recently. For a cultivator to achieve success on the path of Taoism, is background foundation more important? Or is character and ability more important?"

Xu Yinglian seemed to be thinking about something.

In the past, when she was just starting out, she would have answered without hesitation, “Mental character and ability are more important.”

However, ever since she joined Kunlun Sect, no matter how hard she struggled, she was always suppressed by Senior Brother Qiu, so much so that she now has a vague sense of self-awareness:

Mental abilities, these things that can be cultivated after birth, are just the basics for practitioners. What is more important is the natural talent for practicing Taoism which can only be acquired by nature.

You keep struggling and honing your own mind and abilities. But there are people with talent who struggle just as hard as you do, and whose talent for cultivation is even stronger than yours. How can you compare with them?

"Of course it's the ability of the mind." The other junior brothers and sisters also fell into deep thought, only Guan Zhan said without hesitation, "If you don't have the ability, but only have talent, what's the difference between you and a pig or a dog?"

"That's true." Kunlun Mirror and Qingping Sword echoed at the same time.

Qiu Changtian: ???

He was about to frown and say something when suddenly a stream of light shot in from outside the cave and dropped the jade slip into his palm.

It’s the flying sword of the master that sent the letter!

Qiu Changtian quickly read the message, stood up and said:

"let's go."

"Let's go?" The junior brothers and sisters looked at each other in bewilderment. The impatient Zhong Tianhuai asked directly, "But senior brother, today's sutra has not been taught yet."

"I won't talk about it for now." Qiu Changtian laughed, "A great fortune is coming, just follow me and you will know."

Everyone left the Jinling Cave and flew into the air on their swords.

Jian Qingnan quietly approached Xu Yinglian and asked in a low voice:

"Sister Ying Lian, what exactly is this great blessing..."

"I think the secret realm within the sect is about to open." Xu Yinglian said in a low voice.

"The secret realm within the sect?" Jian Qingnan's eyes lit up, and the other fellow disciples were also excited after hearing this.

Qiu Changtian stood in front with a calm expression, thinking that his junior sister probably learned the news from the Xu family in advance.

As the leader of the Three Pure Ones and occupying the Kunlun Mountains, the Kunlun Taiqing Sect controls the most secret realms in the world.

However, the sect is very cautious about opening secret realms and promoting the cultivation of disciples. It is not like the Shushan Demon Locking Tower, which is opened every few years and provides benefits to everyone continuously.

Because the conservative elders within the sect believe that if disciples rely too much on encounters in secret realms, they will not be willing to practice diligently and down-to-earth.

Although this reason sounds a bit outrageous, it is normal when you consider that it is a point of view put forward by conservatives.

However, this time the Baiyujing competition is coming up. If the first place is taken away by the Shushan Sword Immortal, how can Kunlun have the face to call himself the leader of the orthodox religion?

Therefore, Master Ziwei took the opportunity to give an order, and the elders all agreed to open the secret realm of the Palace of Light deep in the mountains to provide temporary reinforcements for Kunlun's elite disciples.

As far as Qiu Changtian knew, this Guangming Palace was the former residence of Emperor Zhurong, and now it has become a secret place.

There are innumerable treasures among them, but unlike the East China Sea Palace, they will select the ones suitable for you and give them to you. Instead, they are distributed randomly after you complete the test in the secret realm... Therefore, the gap between the upper and lower limits is huge, a bit like a mobile game card pool, the lucky ones get the upper limit, and the very unlucky ones get the upper limit.

Thinking of this, Qiu Changtian couldn't help but feel a little hatred and regret.

The secret realm of Guangming Palace is an important place of Kunlun Taiqing Sect, and no one other than Kunlun disciples has ever entered it throughout the generations.

Otherwise, if he could come over to explore with Miss Shi, relying on her unreasonable luck, wouldn't he be able to take off directly?