That night, Su Hua and the other servants worked together to prepare dinner for the other disciples.

Except for An Xiao and Wu Yue, the other disciples began lining up, ready to enjoy the dinner menu that had been prepared.

"Senior Sister An Yue?" one disciple, a girl, asked.

An Yue turned and smiled kindly. "What is it, Fei’er?"

"Why does Sect Master Lin Tian never join us for dinner?"

The girl smiled faintly as she looked at her. Yun Fei wasn’t there, but the other disciples besides the five main disciples were also curious.

They’d been having dinner together for more than a year, and An Yue and the others were always present.

However, they’d never seen Sect Master Lin Tian sitting at the same table with them.

Yun Yun and Ji Xue often explained Lin Tian’s situation, but they were still curious. They wanted to hear it directly from An Yue, as the Grand Elder of the Lingxian Sect.

"To answer your question, I have to explain the concept of energy and strength for cultivators."

While waiting for dinner to be ready, they sat neatly and listened carefully to An Yue’s explanation.

Just as she was about to begin, the door of the sect’s main hall building opened.

Those sitting at the dining table in the sect’s front courtyard gasped, their attention shifting.

"It’s Sect Master Lin Tian!" they greeted.

An Yue was shocked and turned around. She saw Lin Tian coming in the sect’s white-gray robe, his face handsome and bright, his long black hair neatly arranged.

"Master Lin?" An Yue asked, surprised.

Lin Tian came over and raised his hand, greeting them while waving. An Yue stood and gave her seat to Lin Tian. The man thanked her.

"Will you also join us for dinner, Master Lin?" An Yue asked.

"I don’t really need it. I came only to greet my disciples. It’s been quite a while since I interacted with all of you, right?"

They nodded in agreement. One of them raised a hand, and Lin Tian focused on the teenager, who was none other than Li Huan.

"Sect Master Lin Tian. May I ask something?" Li Huan asked.

"Go ahead."

"I studied knowledge about cultivation and human spiritual roots. It’s written in the sect records that humans can cultivate."

"Is... that true?"

Lin Tian stayed silent for a moment, looking at his disciples, whose eyes and attention were all focused on him.

To Lin Tian, explaining whether humans could cultivate or not required a complex and subjective answer.

However, because all the disciples in front of him were Qi Condensation cultivators, they didn’t need a complicated explanation. What they needed was a simple but clear one.

"About that... the answer can be yes, and it can also be no."

"So what’s written in the sect records isn’t true?"

"I’ll explain it with a simple qi projection so you can understand," Lin Tian replied.

He clenched his hand and directed his spiritual qi forward. Lin Tian’s spiritual qi condensed and formed the shape of a human, complete with meridian pathways and spiritual roots.

All the disciples’ attention focused on the spiritual qi projection.

"What determines whether humans can cultivate or not is their spiritual root."

"From ages 1 to 20, the spiritual root is still strong and stable. It hasn’t fully supported the human life force yet. At this age, you have the potential to cultivate with the right cultivation technique."

"However, once someone reaches adulthood, above 20 years old, the spiritual root begins releasing spiritual energy to help the human body. At this stage, the spiritual root almost merges with the mortal’s soul," Lin Tian replied.

"Slowly, the spiritual root fully merges with the human body and loses its ability to absorb qi. That’s why their physical strength increases, because there’s a spiritual root helping them."

"As they grow older, the effectiveness of the spiritual root begins to decrease and causes their strength to be weaker than when they were young. At this stage, cultivating would be the same as sacrificing one’s life," Lin Tian explained.

"Because of this, I said the answer to your question can mean yes, and it can also mean no."

"So, my mother will never be able to cultivate?" Li Huan asked.

Su Hua looked shocked and even stopped cooking, then turned toward Li Huan. "Li’er, don’t be like that. Mother is fine."

"There’s one way for you to help Su Hua cultivate."

"What is it?" Li Huan asked, curious with a serious face.

"You have to reach Nascent Soul... before Su Hua dies."

An Yue and the others were shocked. They didn’t know what Lin Tian meant. Li Huan looked stunned, his eyes wide.

"Nascent Soul?"

"The ability of Nascent Soul is acknowledged by Earth and Heaven. At this stage, you can control someone’s reincarnation under certain conditions."

Li Huan looked confused after Lin Tian explained the concept of reincarnation. Lin Tian had already expected that it was too early to explain that concept to them.

However, his effort wasn’t wasted. He could see the ambition appearing on Li Huan’s face. It was a good spirit, a good act of filial piety toward a parent.

"After Su Hua dies, I can preserve her mortal memories and bring her soul to reincarnate into a newly formed fetus."

"When that happens, you have to spend your entire life teaching her to cultivate until Su Hua’s new body reaches Nascent Soul."

"After reaching Nascent Soul, the seal on her mortal memories will open, and she’ll remember everything."

"B-But... wouldn’t that be a long and exhausting time?" An Yue asked, and Lin Tian nodded.

"That’s right. However, that’s the only way for Su Hua to cultivate in her new body."

"Even so, you have to reach Nascent Soul to do that, Li Huan."

Li Huan clenched his hand and turned his head with a strong expression, full of conviction. Lin Tian once again saw the ambition showing in the teenager’s features.

"Mother!"

Su Hua turned and looked at Li Huan. "What is it, Li’er?"

"I promise in front of Lin Tian and under the heavens that I’ll reach Nascent Soul before you die."

"I won’t leave you. I won’t!" Li Huan said firmly.

Lin Tian smiled widely. He felt proud and happy to have a disciple like him, a potential candidate for the future of the sect.

"That’s good, Li Huan." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"If you manage to show impressive cultivation progress, I’ll help you later."

Li Huan turned, clasped both hands together, and lowered his head respectfully.

"I, Li Huan, promise I won’t disappoint you."