"Boy… is your invitation for me to join the sect still standing?"
Hearing Liu Taixuan's somewhat awkward request, Aotian looked at him with amusement, but inwardly he was deeply excited.
If his words had helped Old Liu basically become a Mahayana, only not completing the process due to physical issues, that meant the old man's comprehension had touched the Dao, or at least come extremely close to it. Therefore, it was to be expected that the feedback this time would be very powerful.
'Dao… could it really be the Dao I know? A force I've read about so many times, a force mastered by immortals to perform miracles beyond comprehension. Crossing time, creating worlds and also destroying them. It's so strange to think that with just a word I will touch something like that… it almost feels unreal.'
Aotian's thoughts were frantic as he stared at Liu Taixuan's face, almost frozen in time, since his numerous minds processed everything at a speed beyond comprehension.
Despite his complex feelings—and even wondering if he was just dreaming an extremely long dream, from which he might wake up the next second back on Earth, in his bed, ready for another day of work—he knew none of it was an illusion.
Three years had already passed since his arrival, and with his numerous minds he remembered every detail of those days. Therefore, his doubt was not real, it was merely disbelief when faced with something that, to him, had been nothing more than fiction and unreality, even though throughout all this time in this world, he had always encountered such things.
Taking a deep breath, he smiled at the old man, who was watching him seriously and who, in truth, was genuinely anxious inside.
Fortunately, Aotian did not keep him waiting.
"You will have to speak with the sect leader to be officially assigned to any position, but…" he spoke with amusement and made a small pause, stretching his words, which made the ghostly fragment of whatever the old man possessed in his chest rise to his throat. "…well, welcome to the sect, Elder Liu."
As soon as his words fell, everyone in the room immediately smiled.
Rihai, with her bright blue eyes almost turning into crescents of happiness.
Shen He, smiling half happily, half awkwardly, still stunned by the fact that his master, who had once been cautious about the Infinite Dao Sect, had suddenly become an elder.
And Old Liu, who secretly sighed in relief—but Aotian noticed, and his smile widened. Apparently, not even a Mahayana monster was immune to the charm of his sect.
"Hmm!" Liu Taixuan murmured a faint thanks, still not knowing how to react to being accepted as an elder so easily, even after his previous unfair opinions.
He had expected several conditions—perhaps even to be refused outright. So it truly surprised him how easily the boy decided, despite how much he had offended him before.
But he should not really worry about that. Being Rihai's grandfather, Aotian was simply practicing blatant nepotism and not making things difficult for him. Moreover, the old man was strong enough to justify the position.
However, unbeknownst to them, at that moment Young Master Long was no longer paying attention to the man's reaction. As soon as Old Liu nodded at the "welcome to the sect," Aotian's pupils contracted for an instant before returning to normal.
His trembling eyes, struggling to remain calm, turned toward the old man.
It was then that he saw something different. He could feel, in an extremely subtle way, small fluctuations almost invisible around Rihai's great-grandfather and, in fact, in everything around.
But through the vision of his ancestors behind him, hidden in the void, those small fluctuations were more visible, revealing themselves as some kind of patterns written into reality itself that he had not been able to see before.
Everything was the same, nothing had changed, but now he could see what he could not before. It was like an animal that sees few colors and, suddenly, gains human vision, perceiving tones it could not before.
'These patterns… are they the Dao?'
Aotian blinked, wanting to reach out and play with it, but this was not the moment.
'Even seeing them is already very difficult for my main body. They are like blurs. I wouldn't even be able to distinguish that they are patterns if it weren't for the vision of my ancestor-level avatars.'
'Apparently, my main body is still too weak and cannot interact or obtain any real advantage, even knowing a Dao.'
'Maybe it's because Liu Taixuan's comprehension is still too rudimentary for me to perceive them clearly, even in a weak body—and that will change in the future. Or maybe interacting with the Dao simply requires a sufficiently high level of cultivation.'
'Whatever it is, at least my ancestors should be able to use this to increase their combat power, since they are in the Tribulation Transcendence realm.'
He pondered, feeling more confident, then returned to smiling thoughtfully at Liu Taixuan, who still seemed embarrassed at how easily he had been recruited.
…
In the sect's main hall, several inner and outer elders were gathered.
Among them was the beautiful elder Jian Huiyin, with her silver hair, discreetly but attentively looking at the serene sect leader seated on his tall and imposing black throne.
But suddenly, an arm nudged her. Turning her face, she saw a woman with black hair beside her, who, like her, wore the purple robes of an inner elder.
The woman smiled mischievously and leaned close to Jian Huiyin's ear, whispering:
"Could it be that our Huiyin has fallen for our authoritarian sect leader?" she asked teasingly.
That was Yue Ling, the inner elder who had once needed Jian Huiyin's help to explain anatomy to little Bai Jingjing, who had menstruated for the first time.
Since then, they had become great friends, and Aotian had learned a lot about being a woman from Elder Jian, strange as that might sound.
Now, he teased her, both for his own narcissism, since the sect leader was also him, and to eliminate such thoughts from her early, if they existed, because he did not want to mislead Jian Huiyin. His avatars would not have partners, since he would not deceive or toy with a woman's feelings by pretending to be someone he was not.
Aotian also decided to never have other women with his main body, because he did not want to force the woman he loved, Rihai, to watch him selfishly lie with others.
And it was not only an emotional matter. There would also be drawbacks, since other women would only slow down his cultivation, even with dual cultivation. Of course, even if there were benefits, he still would not do it, but the drawbacks served as another reason to reinforce his decision.
Fortunately, regarding Jian Huiyin's "secret love," the problem he feared was nothing more than a common illusion among men.
Elder Jian rolled her eyes at her friend and looked at her with slight irritation, breaking her usually cold expression.
"Don't talk nonsense. I'm only interested in cultivation. Men would only hinder my path," she replied directly, without even bothering to whisper.
Not that whispers really meant anything in a room full of cultivators, who were already watching the scene with amusement and eyes full of gossip.
Elder Yue Ling laughed, amused, not intimidated.
"I know, I know, I was just teasing." She winked at Huiyin playfully.
Aotian was not surprised to see that she really wasn't interested. He knew Elder Jian well; he simply didn't want to take any risks, so he decided to intervene. Moreover, it also fit the personality he had crafted for Yue Ling.
"Then why were you looking at him?" Elder Yue asked, puzzled.
"Hmm… I wanted to try to see what realm he's in," Jian Huiyin replied simply, lowering her voice a bit this time.
"Oh! That? You could've just asked me." Yue Ling lightly patted her modest chest, smiling cunningly. "The leader released the seal on his cultivation up to the Void Refinement realm."
Her revelation made Elder Jian take a deep breath unconsciously.
She had heard of the so-called self-imposed seals of the elders; being in a high position in the sect, it was normal to know some of its secrets. Yet hearing it directly from her friend, whom she knew never lied, sent chills down her spine.
Knowing that the sect leader had already reached such a level was truly unbelievable.
Just a few years ago, she had fought directly with Tian Zhu, with both of them at the Golden Core realm. Even if he had been holding back at the time, there had still been a certain balance. But now, in such a short time, he was already at an unreachable distance from her.
While Jian Huiyin was still stunned, Yue Ling lightly patted her shoulder.
"Don't be like that. From the beginning, the sect leader's cultivation was much higher than yours, it was just sealed. You are still young, and with the sect's help, the realm you will reach in the future is far beyond your imagination," Elder Yue said kindly and firmly.
Aotian truly believed that, and he was not joking when he said that.
Jian Huiyin lowered her head slightly, thoughtful, and then nodded softly.
"Hmm… thank you, Lingling," Huiyin thanked sincerely, looking into her eyes.
A smile grew on Yue Ling's lips.
"Don't worry. We're friends."
Thus, the two continued chatting naturally, as if one of them was not, in fact, Aotian, who had long since become accustomed to playing that role.
For him, the beginning had been the hardest when dealing with situations like that, but over time, he realized that men and women, in the end, were still human, and that the difference between them was not that great.
He only needed to adjust his mannerisms a bit so as not to appear excessively masculine, seeking to be more open and light, and in the end that worked.
Although he was still not a fan of acting that way, with his numerous and powerful minds he could swallow the discomfort and perform the role without problems.
And the results were clear.
Throughout the sect, the female disciples began to feel more relaxed, primarily seeking advice about life and cultivation from the female avatars. In matters of justice, they also turned to them frequently.
The female disciples felt more represented and freer to live in the sect, finding comfort and perspectives far superior in the place they called home.
Before, when they looked at the upper ranks, composed only of men, they felt a certain imbalance in their hearts, and even a bit of fear, even though the elders had always been kind.
Perhaps for men it was difficult to understand this. But one only had to imagine the roles reversed, as in a sect where only women occupied the upper ranks, and the discomfort in the hearts of male disciples would not be small either.
Such sects truly existed in the cultivation world, and unless it was a typical protagonist, who ended up becoming the dao companion of all the elders and the leader, practically taking control of the sect, there usually was not much future for men in such an environment.
That was why the presence of a balance, even if minimal, between genders in a sect was important. That was also the motivation for why Aotian would continue playing these roles.
While everyone talked and finished arriving, the sect leader's gaze swept across the hall from one side to the other, thoughtful.
When the last elder entered, he raised his hand, drawing everyone's attention.
As soon as they saw the leader move, the hundreds of elders in the hall immediately fell silent.
Lowering his hand gently and resting it on the arm of the throne, Tian Zhu turned his eyes toward the large closed doors of the hall.
"Let him enter."
Once his emotionless voice echoed, the large doors were immediately opened by a pair of elders.
Behind them stood an imposing man with red hair and a beard, hands clasped behind his back, wearing a serious expression.
With the doors open, he stepped forward and entered the hall.
Walking with imposing presence, but also with a certain restraint, he advanced to the front of the throne and took a deep breath.
Then he cupped his hands and bowed deeply, without any trace of reluctance on his face.
"Liu Taixuan greets the sect leader."
That was none other than Old Liu, who now greeted Tian Zhu sincerely.
This was also the first time he had seen that mysterious man face to face.
"Rise."
Tian Zhu spoke simply, looking at him with his cold black eyes, and Liu Taixuan did not hesitate, rising and nodding in thanks.
But secretly, the old man analyzed the sect leader. Not even he could sense that man's cultivation, but he did not find it strange.
To him, the upper echelon members of that sect were all immortals who had mastered the Dao, far above his level, so that was natural.
What he did not know was that this was one of the gains from Aotian's uninterrupted plundering in recent weeks. It was a synthesized Void-Tier Qi concealment technique, whose effect was so powerful that, if Liu Taixuan merely probed passively, he would not be able to detect the avatars' cultivation.
Of course, with Old Liu's power, an active investigation could still easily reveal Tian Zhu's realm.
The two continued to look at each other for a moment, and a strange silence spread through the hall.
Narrowing his eyes slightly, the sect leader nodded at Taixuan.
"Not bad. You have gained insights into the Phoenix Dao."
He spoke suddenly, making the old man inhale deeply in surprise.
It was one thing to know that a possible immortal stood before him. It was something completely different to see him directly read his achievements without even moving.
Old Liu had not even told his disciple about his Dao, and everything had happened secretly inside the necklace. Therefore, the fact that the sect leader knew about it was, in a way, frightening.
Ignoring the old man's shock, Tian Zhu continued indifferently.
"The Phoenix Dao is complex and involves several other Daos. You seem to have touched upon the Dao of protection, fire, and vitality, which brought you closer to the Phoenix Dao. Your prospects are very good."
The leader spoke calmly, causing the old man—who had barely recovered—to cup his hands, still slightly trembling, and bow once more.
"Thank you for your words, Sect Leader."
He thanked quickly, swallowing hard, now with much more respect than before.
"Hmm…"
Tian Zhu nodded calmly, unconcerned, and continued:
"Since you wish to join the sect, you may choose the pavilion with which you feel the most affinity and become a part of it. Although your current cultivation is relatively low, due to your special circumstances, I will grant you the position of inner elder. I therefore hope you will live up to our expectations."
"Welcome to the sect, Elder Liu."
With that declaration, which for Aotian meant gaining a powerful elder for the sect, while for Liu Taixuan it seemed merely like an obvious case of nepotism placing him in such a position in a sect filled with immortals, the meeting quickly concluded that topic and moved on to the next.
Thus, discreetly, without the world knowing, the Infinite Dao Sect had become stronger once again.
And with that, the day for the final confrontation with the central continent seemed ever closer.