Becoming an inner disciple has always been the dream of these outer peak disciples.

For example He Yun, when she was first accepted, due to her not-so-good aptitude, she could only stay in the outer peak for the time being. This also made her very unwilling, and she put all her efforts into cultivation, determined to prove herself.

The Mirror Sea Sect can now be said to be in a state of decline. Originally, their strength was not strong. Since the death of Elder Weng Hua eight years ago, there has been no cultivator of the Core Formation stage to take over, resulting in the embarrassing situation of only two elders below the sect leader.

As for the inner disciples, apart from Lu Yanping, who has advanced to the late stage of Foundation Establishment, most of the others have been lingering in the early and middle stages of Foundation Establishment.

Like Ye Yunjing, the overseer of the outer peak, he has been stuck at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, and his hopes seem slim.

In this situation, injecting new blood into the sect has become a top priority.

In addition to recruiting as many new disciples as possible from outside each year, Zou Jingyuan also promoted a group of outer peak disciples, with Huang Wenjun and others being among them. Since Zhou Yin was already at the seventh level of Qi Refining before going into seclusion and always handled matters calmly, he naturally also became an inner peak disciple.

He Yun introduced all this to him with great enthusiasm and said happily, "This is great. The disciples of our Mirror Sea Sect will grow more and more. One day we can also become one of the major sects. I heard that in ten years, there will be an Appraisal Conference where major sects from all over the world will gather and exchange insights. Ah Yin, with your hard work, maybe by then you can make a name for yourself and gain fame across the continent."

"Time waits for no one."

"What?" He Yun was stunned for a moment.

"If a sect goes for a long time without a Nascent Soul cultivator presiding, it will slowly decline. Even if there are more new disciples, it will be to no avail. No matter how high the talent of these people, it's impossible for them to suddenly become high-level cultivators."

He Yun rarely heard him say so much, but she was also an intelligent person. Upon hearing this, she thought for a bit and said in surprise, "You mean, the Mirror Sea Sect will eventually... that can't be. The Sect Leader and the two Elders are all at the late Core Formation stage, just one step away from Nascent Soul."

"The higher the cultivation, the harder it is to take the next step forward."

And whether it was Zou Jingyuan or the other two Mirror Sea Sect elders that he saw, they were all people whose Core Formation stage lifespans were about to end, who had failed to advance several times and were unlikely to make any more breakthroughs, unless a miracle occurred.

He Yun sighed softly, "But we are disciples of the Mirror Sea Sect after all. If the skin doesn't exist, where will the hair attach itself?"

Zhou Yin did not answer this question, because he was also pondering.

Foundation Establishment stage cultivation might still be something to show off in the Mirror Sea Sect, but if placed outside, one could only be lost in the vast sea of people. There were thousands of cultivators in this world. Not to mention Foundation Establishment, even those who had formed Golden Cores at the Core Formation stage were innumerable.

Even for someone like Zhou Yin who had come all the way from being a rogue cultivator in his previous life, he had to admit that unless one had no other choice, being able to cultivate under a major sect was the safest and most stable method.

The Mirror Sea Sect was in decline, but it still had a lot of foundation - spirit stones, magic treasures, disciples - all resources that many other sects wanted to take for themselves. Once Zou Jingyuan failed in his breakthrough and perished, the sect would be leaderless and very vulnerable to being taken advantage of by others.

Zhou Yin suddenly discovered that such an unexpected development had greatly deviated from his original plan.

He had originally planned to find an inconspicuous small sect to cultivate quietly, without being disturbed by too many external conflicts. Who knew that after five thousand years, the situation would be turned upside down.

The dynasties on the continent were fragmented, the victors became kings and the losers became bandits. And because cultivators possessed much greater power than mortals, many human desires no longer needed to be concealed. Small sects were often not necessarily safe, and might even be more dangerous.

Zou Jingyuan only wanted to see Zhou Yin, so He Yun accompanied him to the outside of the Sect Leader's study and stopped there.

"You go in by yourself, the Sect Leader is waiting for you inside."

It wasn't Zhou Yin's first time at the inner peak, but he had never been to the Sect Leader's study. As far as the eye could see, lush greenery and beautiful flowers surrounded the study, growing around it. In fact, these plants formed a hidden formation, so that no matter what happened inside, even the loudest sounds would not easily be transmitted out.

Lu Yanping was also there. Zou Jingyuan was just telling him about some daily sect affairs. Seeing Zhou Yin enter, he was first surprised and then delighted, and then smiled, "You've already reached the Foundation Establishment stage? Very good, very good!"

He had expected that after Zhou Yin's eight-year seclusion, he would have made significant gains, but Zhou Yin's performance still exceeded expectations.

Lu Yanping was equally surprised. He didn't expect that Zhou Yin, an outer sect disciple with average aptitude, would go from an ordinary person with no foundation to breaking through Qi Refining and successfully laying the foundation in just over a decade.

Zhou Yin said, "If it weren't for the pills and spirit stones bestowed by the Sect Leader, I wouldn't have been able to progress so quickly."

Zou Jingyuan waved his hand and kindly let him sit down, "Since you have entered the inner sect, from now on, call me Master like Yanping does, there's no need to stand on ceremony. Elixirs can only play a complementary role. If one relies solely on elixirs, although it can have an immediate effect, the further one goes, the weaker the foundation becomes, and it's very easy to suffer a backlash.

"Now I see that your cultivation is stable and your spiritual energy is pure, obviously you have gained your own insights and reached a certain level, naturally breaking through, so there's no need to be too humble!"

After affirming Zhou Yin's progress, Zou Jingyuan was worried that he would become complacent, so he said, "But you must not slack off because of this. You should know that the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold. Not to mention that your aptitude is average, even if you have excellent talent, if you are not willing to practice hard, you will still be mediocre in the end. You came at the right time today, I have something to say to you both."

Lu Yanping heard the implication in his master's words and also became solemn.

"With the destruction of Anyang, it was annexed by Dongyue. Although our Mirror Sea Sect is a cultivation sect and does not get involved in mundane affairs, it is still inevitably affected. Moreover, within the sect, Yanping, Zhou Yin, you two have never traveled far since entering the sect, so it's inevitable that you have a limited perspective.

"Now, the number one sect in the world, Shangxuan Sect, has as many as thirteen Nascent Soul cultivators, not to mention the dozens of Core Formation cultivators in the seven peaks below. Tianyan Sect, Qinggu Sect and the others also have eight or nine Nascent Soul cultivators. Even Jinting Sect, which is in the same Anyang territory as us, has two Nascent Soul cultivators, so others will also be wary and not dare to offend them easily.

"As for our Mirror Sea Sect, although it has a long history, its talent has withered away. Now it's not even comparable to a third-rate sect. Once I also perish..."

"Master!" Lu Yanping interrupted hurriedly, disregarding etiquette, and knelt on the ground with a thud. "Please don't say such ominous words!"

"Get up, although our Mirror Sea Sect is small, the disciples should not act like whiny girls!" Zou Jingyuan's tone became a little stern, contrary to his usual kindness.

After Lu Yanping got up, he continued, "What I said just now is not thoughtless. You should all know that for cultivators, the lifespan is two hundred years at the ninth level of Qi Refining, four hundred years at the peak of Foundation Establishment, and at most five hundred years at the late Core Formation stage. Among them, depending on the depth of cultivation, even if there are discrepancies in this number, it's only a difference of a dozen years or so.

"My lifespan has already reached four hundred and ninety-five years. In recent years, I've been busy managing the sect and have long since put aside cultivation. There is no hope of advancing in the remaining five years of my life."

Lu Yanping listened with a pounding heart. He couldn't help but raise his head and noticed that his master's face was indeed much more haggard than before, with more white hair at the temples and even wrinkles at the corners of his eyes that could not be concealed.

Once a cultivator reaches a certain level of cultivation, unless they encounter a mishap, their appearance will remain unchanged until they pass away. However, in such a short time, Zou Jingyuan's appearance had changed so drastically, which was obviously not a good sign.

"Master..."

Zou Jingyuan ignored him and continued speaking to the two of them: "Once I pass away, the remaining two elders have many disagreements with each other. If one of them becomes the sect leader of Mirror Sea Sword Sect, the other will definitely not accept it, which will lead to internal strife within our sect. So after much thought, I have decided to let Yanping take over as the sect leader."

"Master!" Lu Yanping was shocked. He was easygoing by nature, skilled at maneuvering between the elders and junior disciples in the sect, getting along with everyone and being well-liked.

However, he never expected that his master would pass the position of sect leader to him, who only had late Foundation Establishment cultivation, when there were elders in the sect who had reached the Core Formation stage.

Zhou Yin stood there, listening indifferently, neither speaking nor expressing any opinion, as if it had nothing to do with him.

Fighting against the Qinggu Sect members made Zou Jingyuan notice Zhou Yin for the first time, but what satisfied Zou Jingyuan the most was his calm response during the demon beast incident.

After Weng Hua's death, there were only two elders left in the sect, but Zou Jingyuan was not close to them. This time, he stubbornly decided to let Lu Yanping take over as the sect leader, which made the two elders even more displeased.

Although they had not yet reached the point of openly confronting him, Zou Jingyuan was very clear that once he was gone, with Lu Yanping's late Foundation Establishment cultivation, it would be very difficult for him to suppress the two elders who had Core Formation cultivation at the Core Formation stage.

In order to give his beloved disciple enough ability to contend with the two elders, he had no choice but to uncover talents among the rising stars of Mirror Sea Sect to assist Lu Yanping.

Zou Jingyuan had already explained the general situation to Lu Yanping before Zhou Yin entered. Lu Yanping understood immediately and realized his master's painstaking efforts.

He let Lu Yanping leave first, then said to Zhou Yin: "Over the years, I have seen your performance and am very satisfied. In the entire Mirror Sea Sword Sect, there may be senior and junior disciples whose cultivation surpasses yours, but none of them have your prudence and keenness. Are you willing to assist Yanping in revitalizing the Mirror Sea Sword Sect?"

As soon as he let him enter and said those words, Zhou Yin understood his intention, but he did not express his loyalty with trepidation and gratitude. Upon hearing this, he said: "I entered the Mirror Sea Sword Sect, and it was you who provided me with cultivation pills and spirit stones to establish my foundation. Naturally, I must repay this kindness."

Zou Jingyuan sighed and said with a bitter smile: "Zhou Yin, I am not using kindness to demand repayment. The current situation of Mirror Sea Sect is difficult, and for the greater good, I have no choice but to make such arrangements. I know you are focused on cultivation and do not like to get involved in these matters, but the rise and fall of the sect is also your responsibility.

"As long as you wholeheartedly work for the sect, you need not worry about the spirit stones and cultivation pills needed for your future cultivation. When Yanping takes over, with your aptitude, it is not impossible for you to become an elder of our sect."

He looked at Zhou Yin, feeling a little regretful. If he could have cultivated him from a young age, Zhou Yin's cultivation might not be limited to what it was now. But now time was pressing, and he no longer had the leisure to do these things himself.