Summer Camp in the Cultivation World

Although people always said that cultivators undergoing trials shouldn’t be like flowers raised in a greenhouse, shielded from every danger, Lin Xiao still wanted to do his utmost to ensure their safety.

After all, what use was a lifetime of cultivation if they lost their lives?

There was, of course, that lofty sentiment: “To hear the Dao in the morning is to die content by evening.”

But they had barely begun cultivating. They were nowhere near the point of needing to contemplate such a state of mind.

This was definitely something he needed to discuss with Senior Liao, the person in the entire sect with the most experience in the cultivation world. Thus, not long after Liao Pantu had chased Lin Xiao away, he turned around and found the sect master—who should have been preparing for their departure—standing before him once again.

Liao Pantu: ?

“Why are you back again?” he asked irritably.

Lin Xiao sidled up to him with a grin. “Senior, I was thinking that perhaps we could bring some disciples along this time, let them gain some experience in the cultivation world. What do you think?”

Upon hearing this, Liao Pantu frowned deeply and considered it.

His first thought was: Those disciples, who spent all day living in the mortal realm—a giant greenhouse—and, on top of that, in the enormous greenhouse that was the Lingxian Sect... Going to the cultivation world? To gain experience? They’d be delivering themselves on a platter.

But then he thought of the leading disciples of Azure Cloud Peak, whose cultivation progress was nearly catching up to Lin Xiao and Sun Yigao’s; of the excellent protective talismans, artifacts, pills, formations, and other tools the sect had provided them over the years; of the thousands of cultivation techniques Lin Xiao had churned out as though wholesaling them; and of the increasingly dense spiritual energy within the sect...

Add to that the diligence of Azure Cloud Peak’s disciples. They had all passed the darkened version of the Heart-Inquirying Path back then, too. Calling them mere greenhouse flowers might not be entirely fair.

After carefully comparing their overall circumstances with those in the cultivation world, Liao Pantu was surprised to realize that so long as the difference in cultivation was not more than two major realms, it was not certain who would be serving whom up on a platter...

So he answered calmly, “Go ahead. It’ll do them good to get out and see more of the world.”

“Alright, then I’ll ask who wants to come along.” Lin Xiao lifted his leg to leave, but when he reached the door, he seemed to recall something. Turning back, he asked, “Senior, do you want to come along and have some fun too?”

Liao Pantu looked at him with an expression beyond words. “I lived there for several hundred years. I’ve had more than enough fun.”

Wasn’t most of that time spent either fleeing from people trying to kill you or being trapped in secret realms? Lin Xiao stared at him silently, not daring to say it aloud.

Liao Pantu had no idea what he was thinking. Otherwise, he would most certainly have let Lin Xiao experience the thrill of being hunted down as well. He continued, “Besides, who’s going to handle all this work if I leave? The projects are already underway. Once the railway project is fully rolled out, all these things will gradually be needed. Here, how about you stay and continue the research while I go out and have fun instead?”

“Farewell, Senior!”

In the blink of an eye, Lin Xiao had vanished from the laboratory, leaving only the trailing echo of his voice behind.

“Hmph. Brat.”

With Liao Pantu’s approval, Lin Xiao felt much more at ease as he went to ask everyone whether they wanted to travel to the cultivation world.

However, the first person he approached was not anyone else, but He Yi.

After all, he wasn’t some rootless independent cultivator in the cultivation world, with no family, no sect, and no connections. He came from a proper major sect. Though he had been young and naïve when Lin Xiao had lured him into the Lingxian Sect, his parents were still in the cultivation world.

Thus, He Yi, who had been engrossed in talisman drawing and research within the sect, received a voice message through his ring from Lin Xiao.

“Go to the cultivation world?” He Yi gave a bitter laugh. “Sect Master, don’t joke with me. It took me forever to sneak out.”

“Don’t you need to go back and see your parents and elders?” Lin Xiao asked.

He Yi refused without hesitation. “No need.” What a joke. His father was an old monster—He Yi suspected that even if he died, his father would still be alive and well.

“All right, then.” Lin Xiao ended the conversation. He then sent a group message to everyone in the sect except the disciples of Qingyun Peak, informing them that he would soon be heading to the cultivation world and asking whether anyone wanted to accompany him on a trip.

The reason Qingyun Peak’s disciples had been excluded was that the message intended for them was somewhat different.

And so, on the front page of the newly issued monthly sect bulletin, the disciples of Qingyun Peak found the following announcement:

【Registration is now officially open for the Sect’s First Cultivation World Summer Camp. Registration period: from now until June 30. Registration location: Summer Camp Registration Desk, General Affairs Hall. Eligibility requirements: late Foundation Establishment stage or above; at least five cultivated techniques studied; each technique cultivated to Level Seven or higher.】

【The Cultivation World Summer Camp is an experiential training activity in the cultivation world. It will benefit participants’ all-round development. However, as high-level cultivators are as common as grass in the cultivation world, the activity carries a certain degree of danger. All disciples are encouraged to participate enthusiastically, but with due caution.】

For Qingyun Peak’s disciples, there still had to be an official name for it. After some thought, Lin Xiao decided to call it a “summer camp.”

Taking a group of disciples—students—out for practical training during the summer... wasn’t that exactly what a summer camp was?

The announcement in the paper sparked a lively discussion among Qingyun Peak’s disciples, but let us set that aside for the moment. As for the group message Lin Xiao had previously sent to the other sect members, asking whether they wished to travel to the cultivation world with him, Lin Xiao had initially thought it would go well. They had all been busy for years, after all; surely many people would be itching to go out and have some fun with him.

Yet reality proved otherwise.

First, even Fuzi—whom Lin Xiao had thought most likely to want to go out with him—declined.

Granny Jiang’s health had seemed somewhat poor lately. During this period, Jiang Youfu had rarely gone to the Spirit Food Hall. Instead, he spent every day at Granny Jiang’s side, preparing meals for her, keeping her company, and chatting with her. Sometimes, he would take her out to Xiushui City or the surrounding areas for a stroll.

Because Lin Xiao had been so busy lately, Jiang Youfu had not mentioned the matter to him. Now that Lin Xiao knew, he hurried over to pay her a visit as well.

Qin Jianghe and Liu Yunan were also extremely busy. Because of their business dealings with the Yuan family and Su Ji, they had both visited the cultivation world to some extent. They had not gone anywhere particularly remarkable, but their horizons had indeed broadened somewhat. At present, their respective departments were both at critical periods of heavy workload, and they truly could not get away.

“Brother Xiao, next time for sure!”

That was their reply to Lin Xiao.

As for Tietou Hu Liang, after spending this stretch of time forging artifacts day and night, he seemed to have gained some new insight. Lately, he had been completely immersed in research, hammering away in the Artifact Refining Hall with tremendous gusto.

When he received Lin Xiao’s voice transmission through the lock ring, he had to make quite an effort to pull his mind away from his smithing work long enough to barely grasp what Lin Xiao meant. He replied, “I’m not going, Brother Xiao. You all have fun,” before eagerly raising his arms again and swinging his sledgehammer.

Little Luan was somewhat tempted, but when it looked at the group of creatures in the beast garden under its care and remembered that Lin Xiao had captured them all from the cultivation world, it decided that the cultivation world was probably no place for demonic beasts. In the end, it gave up on the idea.