From the newly appeared epic quest, this was forcing Jun Changxiao to improve the sect’s strength. He couldn’t be lazy anymore.

Two years.

Not too long.

To meet the quest requirements would definitely be somewhat difficult.

“Elder Liu.”

Jun Changxiao said, “If I give you abundant martial arts resources, how long would you need to reach upper-tier?”

“Two thousand years.”

“……”

Dog Egg nearly fell off his chair.

Two years and two thousand years—the difference between them was… who knows how many times!

Jun Changxiao went to ask Gongsun Hou. The answer was still several thousand years. He collapsed, pressing his face against the desk, saying miserably, “This is so hard for me…”

There were still 5 middle-tier Truth-Seeking Realms and 10 lower-tier Truth-Seeking Realms needed.

“Don’t lose heart.”

The system said, “As long as your thinking doesn’t slip, solutions outnumber difficulties!”

“Right.”

Jun Changxiao raised his head, “I can recruit ready-made powerhouses from outside!”

Relying on cultivation couldn’t achieve it in two years.

But recruiting high-level Truth-Seeking Realm cultivators from outside and directly appointing them as elders would nicely solve the problem, right?

The system said speechlessly, “You’re cheating.”

With this idea, Jun Changxiao began considering who to recruit.

The first person he could think of was naturally Tonggu Zhenren and his circle of friends.

If he recruited them all, not only would he smoothly meet the target, he could exceed it. During settlement, he might achieve over 1000% completion!

“An opportunity!”

Jun Changxiao’s eyes immediately brightened, “A good opportunity to skip grades!”

Elders could be recruited, disciples could also be recruited. When the epic quest was completed with excess, he might advance from lower-tier Truth-Seeking Realm straight to Heaven’s Mystery Realm!

“Host is dreaming!”

Though the system had been slapped in the face countless times, this time it was most confident, because it absolutely didn’t believe the dog author would dare let Dog Egg advance from the Second Step directly to the Third Step—because that cheat… would be simply insane!

……

The appearance of the epic quest meant Jun Changxiao had already reached the critical point.

No matter how much he comprehended afterward, there would be no improvement, so he gave up cultivation and hurriedly set off for Extreme Dao Cave Mansion to recruit his master.

“I refuse!”

Learning the purpose, Tonggu Zhenren said, “This master is indifferent to fame and fortune. I won’t join a sect.”

“Master…”

“No need to say more.”

A powerhouse like Tonggu Zhenren yearned for freedom without restraint, yearned for playing chess and taking back moves. Naturally he wouldn’t join a sect, because that was an invisible shackle.

“Alright.”

Jun Changxiao dejectedly left.

Master didn’t agree. What about the Ethereal Seven Sages and others?

To make them interested, Dog Egg brought generous gifts and persuaded them with his glib tongue. Finally, he successfully recruited one upper-tier Truth-Seeking Realm cultivator. After completing the procedures, the epic quest target… didn’t improve.

“Hahaha!”

The system couldn’t help laughing loudly.

“Damn!”

Jun Changxiao cursed in his heart.

He thought he could use a bug to farm the quest, but it didn’t work out as planned.

“Senior.”

“You’re free now.”

Jun Changxiao expelled the just-recruited Ethereal Seven Sage from the sect and sat alone in the great hall, sad and lonely.

“Running into trouble?”

Hua Meigui jumped up and sat beside him.

“Sort of.”

Jun Changxiao said listlessly.

Over the years he’d done many epic quests. Some were quite simple, some quite difficult. This one alone could be called hell mode.

Actually, he was confident he could help the upper echelon advance, but two years was too short.

“I followed Senior Gongsun in cultivation. The troubles I encountered shouldn’t be smaller than yours, right?” Hua Meigui said. “Didn’t I still get through it?”

She and Jun Changxiao only had the title of husband and wife, so when addressing Gongsun Ruoli she always used ‘Senior’.

“Right!”

Dog Egg’s eyes brightened, “How did you cultivate?”

Before Hua Meigui followed Gongsun Ruoli in cultivation, her realm was only Pill Condensation Realm. In just over a year, she broke through to lower-tier Truth-Seeking Realm. This speed was faster than cheating!

“Senior Gongsun took me to a forbidden land.”

“What forbidden land?”

“Life Abyss.”

“Life Abyss?”

Jun Changxiao had never heard of this forbidden land.

Hua Meigui said, “Inside there are abundant heaven and earth attributes and laws of heaven and earth that can be freely absorbed. That’s why I could advance by leaps and bounds in such a short time.”

“Where is it!”

Jun Changxiao was immediately interested.

That damn Upper Realm edition system mall had limited refresh times. Once good items didn’t appear, he had to wait another month. So he could only choose another reliable method.

“You want to go?”

“The upper echelon and disciples will go.”

Being stuck at a realm bottleneck, Jun Changxiao didn’t need to advance and couldn’t advance. So he could only let the upper echelon and core disciples enter.

“No way.”

Hua Meigui shook her head, “You’ll die.”

“I’ll die?” Jun Changxiao looked confused.

Hua Meigui said, “Life Abyss is actually an ancient formation that has existed eternally. Someone must serve as the formation eye to activate it.”

“Not just serve as the formation eye, right?”

“It also consumes lifespan.”

“If it can make them stronger, consuming lifespan doesn’t matter.” Jun Changxiao said.

Hua Meigui said, “To make me stronger, Senior Gongsun personally served as the formation eye. In just over a year, he consumed a thousand years of lifespan.”

“That much?”

Jun Changxiao’s eyes widened.

For someone like his father whose half a foot was already in Heaven’s Mystery Realm, a thousand years of lifespan was nothing. But for ordinary martial artists, that was a bit too much.

A martial artist’s lifespan would naturally increase with major realm advancement. Losing a thousand years meant losing a thousand years of cultivation opportunity. If one couldn’t advance to a higher level afterward, that was equivalent to committing suicide early.

“That’s just for one person.”

Hua Meigui said, “Senior Gongsun said if many martial artists enter, the consumed lifespan will increase accordingly.”

“……”

Jun Changxiao fell silent.

According to the epic quest target, 16 people needed to meet the standard.

Having them all enter with him serving as the formation eye—how much lifespan would that consume!

Simply put.

A forbidden land like Life Abyss was basically using one’s own lifespan to give others experience points. So many powerhouses had heard of it, but almost no one had gone, because… better a dead friend than a dead poor person. Unless in special circumstances, who would selflessly sacrifice?

“Go!”

Jun Changxiao said, “Let’s try!”

Having them follow the regular cultivation path over two years might not achieve the target. By then, being stuck at the realm meant death. Better to consume lifespan to help them advance—at least there was absolute hope.

“This forbidden land can only advance martial artists to lower-tier Truth-Seeking Realm. Whether they can succeed still depends on their opportunities.”

Precisely because it was full of uncertainty, even fewer people were willing to go to Life Abyss and consume lifespan.

“That works too!”

The quest required ten core disciples to advance to lower-tier. Jun Changxiao planned to first get as many of them up as possible, then consider the upper echelon’s realm advancement problem.

The road.

Had to be walked step by step.

……

The next day.

On the training grounds.

Lu Qianqian, Li Qingyang, Xiao Zuiji, Su Xiaomo, Li Fei and other ten core disciples successively flew onto the Tonggu Battleship.

“Whoosh—”

The battleship cut through the void, heading toward Life Abyss.

Hua Meigui also followed, because she’d been there once before and had experience in this area.

However, when they arrived at the Life Abyss hidden in the mountain range, Jun Changxiao realized her purpose in coming wasn’t to show the way, but to serve as the formation eye. He scolded, “Get out here quickly!”

Hua Meigui said, “With so many disciples entering, it requires a large amount of lifespan. You still need to manage the Eternal Sect in the future. Let me make this sacrifice.”

—