Shi Jiu quietly listened to everyone's questions and Helian Tao's answers, gaining a little more understanding of Cultivation.
During the test, he had heard that with his Aptitude, he would likely not be able to Cultivate to a very profound Realm, probably hovering around Qi Refining Level 5.
He never expected that the Realms after that would be increasingly powerful.
At powerful Realms, perhaps one could truly move mountains and fill seas, or turn beans into soldiers!
While Shi Jiu was lost in thought, Helian Tao led them to a Flying Ship.
This Flying Ship looked a bit strange, shaped like a rugby ball Shi Jiu had seen before his Transmigration, entirely light gold, about 20 meters long and over 3 meters high.
It had a red sun symbol on it, with the two large characters "Helian" written below, looking quite imposing.
Helian Tao led them onto the Helian Family's Flying Ship, and the interior's arrangement greatly astonished Shi Jiu and the other Mortals who had never encountered Cultivation.
The Flying Ship's interior was exceptionally luxurious, with various colored gems of unknown Material inlaid on the four walls.
In some corners, different Formations and mysterious runes were carved, and the floor was covered with the fur of an unknown species of Yao Beast, exceptionally soft.
This imbued the entire Flying Ship with an air of nobility and luxury.
Helian Tao glanced at them, guessing that they must have been utterly shocked.
So, after a long time, he calmly told them that this was the Helian Family's Flying Ship used for missions.
If it weren't for the distance from Feixian City, even Helian Tao himself wouldn't be able to use this Flying Ship.
Because it consumes an extremely high amount of Spirit Stones, under normal circumstances, ordinary Disciples of the Helian Family would either rent flying Yao Beasts or prepare a stack of light body talismans to stick on themselves for travel when going out on missions.
After Helian Tao finished speaking, he walked alone to the bow of the ship and began to control the Flying Ship, while Shi Jiu and the others found their comfortable positions and sat down.
Shi Jiu watched Feixian City gradually shrink outside the window, mountains and rivers seemingly rapidly left behind, and his thoughts, like the Flying Ship, spun endlessly.
A few days passed like this, and besides the girl from the wealthy Family, Shi Jiu became quite familiar with Zhang Da and the others.
Under Zhang Da's persistent questioning, everyone learned that the girl's identity was actually the second daughter of a prince from the Great Wei Kingdom, named Cao Yunqi, and she indeed carried herself with an air of nobility.
This afternoon, just as Shi Jiu was dozing off from the journey.
Suddenly, the Flying Ship controlled by Helian Tao began to slowly descend.
Everyone was startled and craned their necks to look out the window, and sure enough, they saw a vast complex of buildings built against the mountains, slowly appearing in their sight amidst the surrounding peaks.
"This is the legendary Cultivation Family—the Helian Family! And it's where you all will Cultivate in the future."
Helian Tao confirmed their suspicions.
As the golden Flying Ship slowly landed on the ground, the few of them, full of curiosity, walked down the gangway, their mouths agape with wonder.
"Follow me to the main hall of the Helian Family to pay respects to the Family Head, and then you can go to the General Affairs Hall to formally be assigned your future location and receive necessary supplies."
Shi Jiu and the others followed Helian Tao, looking around curiously, until they reached a magnificent mountain wall.
This mountain wall had been hollowed out in the middle, and a grand hall was built inside.
As expected of Cultivators, such non-humanly constructed buildings would be very difficult for Mortals to build successfully.
Shi Jiu saw that in the distance, other similar golden Flying Ships of the Helian Family were slowly landing, indicating that other newly recruited Disciples of the Helian Family had also arrived this year.
As everyone formally stood in the Helian Family's main hall, a slender and tall figure slowly walked to the front.
It was the current Family Head of the Helian Family—Helian Zhenhai.
Helian Zhenhai slowly scanned the crowd below, paused, and then spoke:
"A very warm welcome to all new Disciples who have chosen the Helian Family as the starting point for their Cultivation. I am also very pleased to have all of you join us this year.
Our Helian Family's Old Ancestor started with Alchemy, and is now one of the renowned Pill Hall Elders of the Seven Luminaries Sect."
"Therefore, Alchemy and the cultivation methods of Spiritual Plants are also our Helian Family's renowned skills."
"Because of these two skills, our Helian Family can be considered the wealthiest among the six major affiliated Families of the Seven Luminaries Sect."
"For other Families, a Qi Refining Peak Cultivator needing a Foundation Establishment Pill to help with Foundation Establishment is almost as difficult as ascending to heaven, but our Helian Family can refine Foundation Establishment Pills ourselves!
As long as you diligently Cultivate and contribute to the Helian Family, I, Helian Zhenhai, guarantee to all you young talents here that everyone can obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill, and everyone can pursue the Grand Dao of Longevity!"
By the time Helian Zhenhai finished his passionate speech, enthusiastic applause and cheers had erupted both inside and outside the main hall.
The emotions of these newly inducted external Disciples had been completely stirred by Helian Zhenhai.
At this moment, if anyone dared to say anything negative about the Helian Family, everyone would probably fight that person to the death.
Shi Jiu was actually moved by Helian Zhenhai's words, but he had lived two lives, and Professor Lin used to feed them, his students, a lot of empty promises.
Therefore, Shi Jiu's excitement was not as high as others'.
But he could also hear that ultimately, one needed to accumulate enough merit for the Helian Family to have a chance to be rewarded with a Foundation Establishment Pill.
And the magnitude of this merit would certainly not be easy to achieve; perhaps there was also some room for manipulation within it.
Helian Zhenhai was very satisfied with the reactions of the crowd before him. After whispering a few words to a heavily bearded Elder beside him, he encouraged the crowd again and then transformed into a streak of light, disappearing into the sky.
After Helian Zhenhai disappeared from their sight, the bearded Elder began to assign the groups in a booming voice.
Since Shi Jiu had mentioned to Helian Tao and others that he knew some plant cultivation and maintenance during the Spiritual Root test in Feixian City,
He was not surprised to be assigned to the Spirit Herb Hall to learn how to become a Spirit Plant Master in the future.
Shi Jiu was quite satisfied with becoming a Spirit Plant Master.
He had already learned on the way that although professions like Spirit Plant Master, Formation Master, and Alchemist might be disadvantaged in terms of combat ability compared to other Disciples of the same level,
Their advantage lies in guaranteed safety. No matter when or what situation they encounter, due to the rarity of their profession, they will always be valued by the Family.
Moreover, Spirit Plant Masters and Alchemists, due to their professions, have more access to Spiritual Plants and Materials.
Therefore, they often have priority in enjoying many valuable Medicinal Pills and Spiritual Plants.
However, because cultivating Spiritual Plants and Alchemy are very time-consuming and labor-intensive tasks, their Cultivation time is often severely squeezed.
Even with the aid of Medicinal Pills and Spiritual Plants, their progress is often inferior to that of other Disciples.
Therefore, one cannot always have the best of both worlds; there will always be unsatisfactory aspects.
After Shi Jiu was assigned to the Spirit Herb Hall, he paid attention to everyone else's assignments.
Zhang Da and Qin Caier were both assigned to the Beast Taming Hall. Feng Ming, whose Aptitude was truly concerning, was assigned to the Imperial Kitchen, responsible for cooking Spirit Meals for the Family. Cao Yunqi, surprisingly, was led to the Pill Hall.
After Shi Jiu nodded farewell to everyone, he followed a group of other external Disciples who were assigned with him to the Spirit Herb Hall.
A round-faced elder saw them arrive and slowly walked forward, saying:
"I am Ma Gen, the Deacon Elder of the Spirit Herb Hall. Since you have been assigned to my Spirit Herb Hall, I will now explain the rules of the Spirit Herb Hall.
You must listen carefully, otherwise, if you break the rules, you will suffer the consequences."