Watching the Mountain

Xu Ran had complicated feelings as he looked at the spirited Shen Wuchen standing before him.

"Master Xu, why do you look a little unhappy? I came to congratulate you."

Shen Wuchen looked at Xu Ran with a hint of reproach in his eyes.

’On the way here, I kept wondering how Master Xu would react,’ he thought. ’I broke through to the Nascent Soul Stage so quickly. He must be shocked, proud, and gratified, right?’

After his breakthrough, he had entered seclusion for over a month to consolidate his cultivation. When he emerged, he had heard some of the legends circulating about him.

The youngest Nascent Soul True Monarch in the Cultivation Realm in a hundred thousand years.

’This title alone should have made Master Xu proud.’

’So why does he look a little unhappy?’

Shen Wuchen felt truly exasperated. It wasn’t the first time; he always seemed to end up feeling hurt by Master Xu.

Seeing Shen Wuchen’s reaction, Xu Ran sighed softly. "To be honest, I didn’t want you to break through so hastily. I had hoped you would take more time to consolidate and make up for your previous deficiencies."

Ever since he learned about the Flying Immortal Stream’s performance in the Nascent Soul Stage and its many other shortcomings—including the speculation by some Great Powers that its practitioners’ lifespans might not compare to those of normal cultivators—he had hoped Shen Wuchen could take the conventional path to the Nascent Soul Stage.

Shen Wuchen was still young. Even if his lifespan in the Golden Core Stage couldn’t match the twelve hundred years of a normal cultivator, living for eight hundred years should have been no problem.

At his current age, he would have had more than six hundred and fifty years to work his way down from a higher level and make up for his previous lack of insights. It wasn’t an impossible task.

Besides, during his Purple Mansion Stage, Shen Wuchen had serendipitously comprehended a Mental Realm and formed his Golden Core, which had further increased his chances of a successful breakthrough.

That was why, if possible, he had wanted Shen Wuchen to first attempt a conventional breakthrough. It wouldn’t have been too late to use the Flying Immortal Stream method if that failed.

He had even mentioned it to Shen Wuchen when the term "Pseudo-Cultivator" began to circulate. At the time, Shen Wuchen had replied that he would consider it carefully.

Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, Shen Wuchen would directly achieve the Nascent Soul Stage? It had caught him completely off guard.

After hearing Xu Ran’s words, Shen Wuchen was taken aback for a moment. He immediately understood his master’s reasoning, and the trace of grievance in his heart dissipated.

In fact, at this very moment, he was deeply touched. While everyone else was cheering and celebrating his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Stage, only Master Xu was worried about his future path.

’No wonder Master Xu looked unhappy. It’s because he cares about me and is looking out for me.’

This made him feel incredibly fortunate to have met Master Xu. It was truly a fated encounter.

Shen Wuchen took a slow breath, then raised his hands and bowed slightly to Xu Ran. He spoke in a solemn tone.

"Thank you for your concern, Master Xu. However, I had to break through using the Flying Immortal Stream method."

Xu Ran, taken aback, looked at him in confusion. "Why?"

Shen Wuchen replied firmly, "Anyone else faced with this choice could hesitate or back down. But as the first person to cultivate using the Flying Immortal Stream, I have a responsibility and an obligation to continue down this road and prove to the world that this path is viable."

"Not just for the Nascent Soul Stage, but for the future Divinity Transformation Stage, the realms Above Divinity Transformation, and even to one day attain immortality using the Flying Immortal Stream."

Xu Ran was taken aback as he looked at Shen Wuchen’s determined expression, a storm of thoughts raging within him.

’So that was the reason.’

After a moment of silence, he shook his head and sighed. "You should know that I don’t care about any of that. Compared to proving the path, I care more about *your* path."

A grateful expression appeared on Shen Wuchen’s face. "I know, but this is my conviction."

After a brief pause, he added:

"Besides, Master Xu, the path you mentioned earlier... it’s actually not viable."

"Hm?" Xu Ran grunted in surprise, looking at him with a bewildered expression.

Shen Wuchen explained calmly, "I have already tried the method you mentioned, of working from a higher Realm to make up for the insights I lacked in previous ones."

"At the earlier stages, it was manageable. During the Foundation Establishment Stage, I was able to make up for the comprehension I lacked from the Qi Cultivation Stage. It wasn’t perfect, but it was close enough."

"But by the Purple Mansion Stage, I was already falling short when I tried to make up for my Foundation Establishment insights. It wasn’t until I reached the Golden Core Stage that I finally completed my comprehension of the Foundation Establishment Stage. However, when I then tried to complete my Purple Mansion insights, I could only get about halfway before it became incredibly difficult to proceed. Everything felt obscure and incomprehensible."

"While it is easier to gain insights by looking back from a higher Realm, a single misstep leads to a cascade of errors. Some things, once missed, are missed forever. You can’t just make up for them whenever you wish."

"Looking back from a higher Realm, you can see most of it, but not all. There are some insights that can only be grasped while you are in that specific Realm. For example, the feedback from the heavens and the earth at the very instant of a breakthrough cannot be replicated later."

"My Realm has advanced, but my fundamental Comprehension hasn’t. This is especially true for insights in my current Realm. Even if I’ve compensated for all my previous deficiencies and am only missing the tiniest sliver, that one sliver makes comprehending my current Realm infinitely more difficult."

"Before I broke through to the Nascent Soul Stage, I spoke with the seniors in the Sect who had already reached it. They said that at the Nascent Soul Stage, it’s practically impossible for them to comprehend their own Power of Law. They can only try to make up for it after reaching the Divinity Transformation Stage."