"This is the selection requirement set by me and several junior brothers and sisters. I also asked my two senior uncles to review it."
Xu Chunniang felt quite uncomfortable and said, "Uncle Yue, just call me as you did before."
"The etiquette cannot be abolished."
Yue Lingzheng refused with a serious face, "As the leader of a sect, I must lead by example."
Xu Chunniang couldn't persuade her any more, so she took the jade slip handed over by Uncle Yue, and with a quick glance of her consciousness, she went through the entire process.
The selection of new disciples is divided into three stages.
In addition to the spiritual talent, the disciples will also be tested on aspects such as their character and understanding, which is much more stringent than in the past.
If your character and understanding are not up to par, no matter how good your talent is, you may not accept it.
In order to save resources, the sect has new regulations. All new Qi practicing monks can only enter the outer sect.
"It is a helpless move to make this arrangement."
Yue Lingzheng explained, "Although there are eight spiritual veins in the door, the root cause of the disappearance of the spiritual energy cannot be solved. These spiritual veins will eventually become smaller and smaller."
When there is not enough spiritual energy, accepting too many new disciples will hinder the development of the sect.
Sheng Qingyun sighed and shook his head, "Each generation is really worse than the last. Is the age of the end of the Dharma really coming?"
"maybe."
Yue Ling was smiling bitterly and shaking his head. As if something suddenly occurred to him, he looked at Xu Chunniang.
"Master Xu came back from the world of overseas cultivation. I wonder if the spiritual energy overseas has decreased?"
"I have not noticed changes in my aura during the years I have spent abroad."
"Perhaps the overseas land is vast and rich, and if it loses some spiritual energy, it won't have much impact for a while."
Xu Chunniang hesitated to speak, but did not express her suspicions.
She felt that it was not that the end of the Dharma era was coming, but that there were other reasons that caused changes in spiritual energy.
"If the two master uncles have nothing to do, they can come to watch the ceremony for the entrance election in the future. If there are good talents that you like, you can accept them as registered disciples first."
Sheng Qingyun looked sad, "I have no intention of recruiting disciples, so I won't join in the fun."
Xu Chunniang also shook her head and said, "I plan to go to the Tibetan Scripture Pavilion to check some things, but I have no plans for the time being."
"All right."
Yue Lingzheng was not disappointed after being rejected by the two.
The time of the Nascent Soul cultivator is very precious, so naturally he will not spend too much energy on these small things.
After Yue Lingzheng left, Sheng Qingyun looked at Xu Chunniang.
"You went to the library, but you wanted to find the reason why the spiritual energy disappeared?"
"good."
Xu Chunniang nodded. She could clearly feel that compared to more than eighty years ago, the spiritual energy between heaven and earth was about one-tenth less.
If this continues, the strength of the entire northwest continent's cultivation world will become worse and worse.
In the end, even breaking through the Nascent Soul became impossible.
Sheng Qingyun sighed inwardly, "What if I say that there is no result in this matter?"
"Everything has a cause and an effect. This matter concerns you and me, all our fellow sects, and even the entire cultivation world in the northwest continent. How can we just sit back and ignore it."
Seeing the stubbornness in her eyes, Sheng Qingyun knew that she couldn't stop this.
"That's all, you come with me."
Although Xu Chunniang was a little puzzled, she still followed the instructions and followed Sheng Qingyun towards an inconspicuous barren mountain.
"In the years since the evil cultivators occupied the Xiaoyao Sect, many hills have been poisoned by their evil hands. However, even every plant and tree in this No-Return Mountain has been perfectly preserved."
Sheng Qingyun did not use escape skills, but kept his feet on the ground and set foot on this barren mountain called No Return Mountain.
"Do you know what is so special about this mountain?"
Xu Chunniang's consciousness quickly swept across the Mountain of No Return, and she shook her head in confusion.
This mountain has no aura at all, and there is nothing special about it.
Sheng Qingyun smiled slightly, "I don't blame you for not being able to see it. I didn't take it seriously when I first came here.
But this Mountain of No Return is the place where the bones of Yuanying monks from all generations of Xiaoyao Sect are buried."
Xu Chunniang was slightly startled. She scanned the Mountain of No Return with her spiritual consciousness, but she didn't see even a tomb or a tombstone.
"Stop looking for it. If we really set up tombs and tombstones, wouldn't they have been hollowed out by those evil cultivators long ago?"
Sheng Qingyun smiled indifferently, "Although our monks have cultivated to the Nascent Soul stage and become an ancestor-like existence in the eyes of others, we cannot break through to the realm of gods. The thousand-year journey will always be in vain."
As she spoke, she walked to a tree, took out a jar of spiritual wine, slapped it away, and spilled all the spiritual wine in the jar.
"The monks who can break through to the stage of becoming gods are all blessed with great opportunities and great luck, and the loss of spiritual energy makes the emergence of monks who become gods even more difficult.
Back then, my master consulted countless ancient books, and finally went deep into Shiwan Mountain, trying to find the reason why the spiritual energy kept disappearing."
"One Hundred Thousand Mountains?"
Sheng Qingyun came back to her senses and explained.
"When you left the sect, you were only building your foundation, so it's normal that you don't know this.
The Hundred Thousand Mountains are located in the Western Region. If you cross the Wuliang Mountain and continue to the west, it will take you and me three to five months to travel with all our strength."
After listening to her talk about the mystery of Shiwandashan, Xu Chunniang had a guess in her mind.
The answer is probably hidden in the endless mountains of the Western Region.
"Did your master find the reason back then?"
Sheng Qingyun shook his head, "I don't know, because the master left and never came back.
This tree was planted by me with my own hands, and the tomb of our ancestor is under this tree."
Sheng Qingyun stroked the thick tree body with a look of reminiscence in his eyes.
"Back then, there were a total of five Nascent Soul monks who went to Shiwan Mountain together.
One is for adventure experience and searching for all kinds of rare treasures, and the other is to try and see if we can find the reason why the spiritual energy disappears."
Xu Chunniang vaguely guessed the ending.
"Did they...fail?"
Sheng Qingyun nodded, with a look of sadness in his eyes.
"Yes, of the five Nascent Soul cultivators, only one came back alive."
Since then, Shiwandashan has become a tacitly taboo place in the world of cultivation, and no one dares to set foot there easily.
Xu Chunniang was silent for a long time and thanked her.
"Thank you, Master, for telling me this. Otherwise, if I were just looking through ancient books in the Sutra Pavilion, I don't know how long it would take to find out."
Sheng Qingyun frowned slightly, "After hearing so much, do you still want to go?"
"Master, in your opinion, which one is more dangerous, the Hundred Thousand Mountains or the Dead Sea?"
"It's all very dangerous. Even if you successfully cross the Dead Sea, you may not be able to cross the Hundred Thousand Mountains.
Senior Nascent Soul, who luckily escaped with his life, once said that there was something dangerous in the mountains."
"But Master, I want to find out the reason why the spiritual energy disappeared, and it's also for myself."
Xu Chunniang said frankly, "With the current intensity of spiritual energy in the sect, it will take thirty to fifty years of hard training to improve one level of cultivation."
"You are still young now and have a lot of time to practice. It is better to enter the country a little slower than taking risks."
Sheng Qingyun still didn't agree with her idea. Anyway, Yuanying monks have a thousand-year lifespan. Even if they practice hard for hundreds of years, as long as they can break through to the late Yuanying stage, it will be very good.
"But has Master ever thought that maybe a few hundred years later, the spiritual energy will completely disappear?"