The Celestial Guide frowned as he looked at William Thompson. This disciple from the mortal realm was advancing in cultivation at an abnormally fast pace. Although he himself had never experienced cultivation before the Nascent Soul stage, surely it wasn’t normal to leapfrog through every stage, right? The first time, he jumped from late Radiance to mid Fasting; the second time, from mid Fasting to early Enlightenment; and this time was even more outrageous—he went straight from early Enlightenment to mid Fusion, skipping four levels in a row. While this was certainly related to the pills he’d given him and the abundant spiritual energy here, it was still far from normal.

Looking more closely, although the kid’s cultivation had skyrocketed, strangely enough, there were no signs of an unstable foundation. It was as if he had cultivated step by step on his own, rather than being forcibly boosted by pills.

Burying this doubt in his heart, he put on a smile, rubbed his hands together, and said, “Disciple, cultivating immortality, are you?”

William Thompson rolled his eyes. “No kidding!”

The Celestial Guide let out two awkward laughs. Ever since William Thompson found out he’d tattled to the Immortal Emperor, he hadn’t shown him a pleasant face. He’d even extorted a ton of pills and a storage ring from him, claiming it was compensation for emotional distress. What kind of disciple was this? He was a total bandit.

“Heh heh, disciple, I have good news for you,” the Celestial Guide said with a smile.

“Spit it out!” William Thompson said without even blinking.

“Ahem!” The Celestial Guide stumbled, nearly falling to the ground. He barely managed to steady himself and calm his breath, thinking to himself, “Don’t get angry, don’t get angry!”

He slowly took out a jade slip from his ring and said, “News from the sect, sent by your grandmaster. The Western Angel Legion is invading, so the Immortal Emperor probably won’t have time to bother with a rookie like you for a while.”

“Really?” William Thompson was overjoyed. He jumped up, grabbed the jade slip, and sent his divine sense into it.

After a while, he returned it to the Celestial Guide with a cheerful grin.

“Master, does the Immortal Realm have wars too?” William Thompson asked in confusion.

The Celestial Guide stroked his goatee and gazed into the distance, putting on a profound look. “Wherever there are people, there are conflicts!”

William Thompson straightened his back, looking righteous and resolute. He clenched his fist, took a step forward, and declared loudly, “Whoever offends my immortal might, no matter how far, shall be punished!”

The Celestial Guide glanced at William Thompson and smiled slightly. “Rare to see you care about the greater good.”

“Of course. Whose disciple do you think I am?” William Thompson said with an awkward laugh.

“Hmph... hmph!” The Celestial Guide snorted coldly.

“Wuwuwu... Master, I was wrong. I really was wrong.”

“I heard someone has something called a cellphone, right?”

“Master wants... oh no, of course it’s only right for this unfilial disciple to present it to you.” With that, he trembled as he took out the cellphone and handed it over with both hands.

“I’ll accept it. Here, this is a Foundation Pill—take it and cultivate.”

...

Chapter 5: Breakthrough

The “Spiritual Gathering Compendium” truly deserved to be called the “Demonic Cultivation Bible.” In just one year, it had allowed William Thompson to cultivate from mid Radiance to late Heart Movement, just one step away from the Spirit Silence stage.

And this was even with the Celestial Guide deliberately suppressing him. Although during this time, under the Celestial Guide’s observation, this disciple from the mortal realm showed no signs of an unstable foundation, after living nearly a thousand years, he knew all too well that haste makes waste. If this disciple’s cultivation speed continued at this rate, the final result would surely be qi deviation.

The Celestial Guide now somewhat regretted teaching William Thompson the “Spiritual Gathering Compendium.” No wonder when Immortal Hongxing gave him this cultivation manual, his expression was a bit unnatural, as if there was something he hadn’t said. Now the Celestial Guide was certain there was something off about this cultivation method. Presumably, Immortal Hongxing thought that people in the Immortal Realm wouldn’t be interested in mortal cultivation techniques, so he boldly gave it away. Who could have predicted that, by fate, a mortal with no prior cultivation would pop out of the Immortal Lake?

But he couldn’t tell this disciple to stop cultivating, or else his beard would definitely be plucked out one hair at a time.

Thinking of his bare chin, the Celestial Guide couldn’t help but shiver.

The only solution now was to implant the Spirit Sealing Technique in this disciple, slowing his absorption of spiritual energy.

The Celestial Guide looked at William Thompson meditating not far away, formed a hand seal, and in a flash appeared behind him, shouting, “Hah!” A golden light shot from the Celestial Guide’s left hand, striking William Thompson’s back. The golden light surged, then burst apart, transforming into a Taiji yin-yang diagram that merged into William Thompson’s body.

As William Thompson was absorbing spiritual energy, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back. Immediately, the spiritual energy that had been flooding into his body seemed to have its tail yanked—now it could only trickle in bit by bit.

The drastic change caused William Thompson to lose control of the flow of spiritual energy in his meridians. One side was running at high speed, while the other had no source of replenishment. The powerful pressure difference made William Thompson cough up a mouthful of blood with a “pfft,” finally feeling a bit better.

Opening his eyes, William Thompson felt uncomfortable all over. Looking at the bloodstain in front of him, he couldn’t help but feel a wave of fear.

Am I about to go into qi deviation?