The sky was dimming.

Wang Xiu patted his clothes and stood up, descending the hillside to approach the disciples. As he drew closer, the chatter of the disciples became clearer.

"Bros, my Flame Tail Snake is the coolest Soul Pet, no objections, right?"

"Just that? I could catch one ten thousand times cooler than yours in a minute!"

[DING!]

[Nearby bragging detected. Congratulations, Host, for gaining Mana +6.]

"..."

"Hahaha, check out my Thoracic Ape! The little guy has quite a temper. Several of my senior brothers couldn't catch it together, but when I went over... I just glared, and it immediately started obeying me. What do you call that? The might of a king!"

[DING!]

[Nearby bragging detected. Congratulations, Host, for gaining Mana +6!]

"..."

"Tch, you guys are clueless. Haven't you heard that 'a melon forced from the vine isn't sweet'? A truly powerful person, one with the soul of a champion, is always sought out by Soul Pets who wish for them to be their master... Take me, for instance. You all just missed it. A whole group of Soul Pets was chasing after me, refusing to leave. Sigh... sometimes, being too charming is a real burden!"

[DING!]

[Nearby bragging detected. Congratulations, Host, for gaining Mana +6!]

"..."

As the System's notifications echoed incessantly in his ears, Wang Xiu's Cultivation Level, already on the verge of a breakthrough, finally reached completion.

BOOM!

A thunderous sound rumbled from within his body. His Mana boiled over, and his aura surged dramatically.

Inside his Dantian, a vast ocean of Mana condensed into a massive vortex. It continued to converge, gradually forming a perfectly round and full Golden Core.

Golden Core, First Heaven!

...

Feeling the surging power within him and his limitless vitality, Wang Xiu couldn't help but sigh in contentment. This move was definitely the right one.

Although the quality of bragging from these ordinary disciples couldn't compare to that of the Great Abilities, they made up for it with sheer quantity and frequency. He had sat on the hill for half an afternoon, and the gains he had made were actually not much less than those from listening to the Great Abilities or Venerables brag.

Wang Xiu had thought this matter through quite clearly. The Cultivation World was like a pyramid: the higher you went, the fewer people there were. It truly wasn't easy to get a chance to listen to the top-tier Great Abilities brag, but the base of the pyramid was teeming with people!

When he did the math, a single brag from an Emergence Stage Great Ability was roughly equivalent in effect to a hundred or so ordinary Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment disciples each bragging once or twice.

Moreover, due to the larger sample size, the probability of triggering a 'critical hit' from the bragging of hundreds of ordinary disciples was also higher.

Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment disciples were common, but Great Abilities were not.

So, really... we cultivators come from the mortal world, and so we should return to the mortal world. We need to interact more with the common masses. If you completely detach from the mortal realm, untouched by worldly affairs, can you truly cultivate into a genuine Immortal? No! That would be a castle in the air, utterly without foundation!

...

As he approached the crowd, the disciples looked over. Their eyes instantly lit up when they saw it was Wang Xiu.

"Ahh, it's Senior Brother Wang Xiu!"

"Senior Brother Wang Xiu!"

"He looks even better than the rumors suggested!"

"Hello, Senior Brother~"

"Greetings, Senior Brother Wang Xiu!"

It had to be said that Wang Xiu's reputation among the younger disciples had improved dramatically. In the past, while they might not have acted against him directly, they certainly would have kept their distance, whispering words of disdain or pity. After all, they were indebted to him now.

Wang Xiu greeted them with a wide smile, "Hello, everyone. It's been a long day, you must be tired."

The crowd was slightly taken aback before shaking their heads in unison. "Not at all, not at all!"

Wang Xiu nodded and said, his tone apologetic, "I'm truly sorry. This matter of providing you with Soul Pets should have been handled entirely by our Divination Sect, but... as you know, the Divination Sect is sparsely populated, so we simply couldn't manage the logistics."

Hearing this, the disciples were stunned, and a wave of emotion washed over them. He lent us Spirit Stones and gave us Soul Pets... yet Senior Brother Wang Xiu isn't the least bit arrogant. He's even apologizing to us? Heavens! Could Senior Brother Wang Xiu *be* any better? What kind of divine Senior Brother is this?

They quickly spoke up. "We were mining for ourselves and catching Soul Pets for ourselves, how could that be considered hard work?"

"Senior Brother Wang Xiu, you're being too kind!"

"We're the ones who should be thanking you! If it weren't for you, I never would have gotten this adorable little bunny!"

"That's right, we're all incredibly grateful to you, Senior Brother!"

"We talk about it in the group chat every day. Everyone says you're our lucky star!"

"..."

The disciples immediately began talking all at once, their gazes filled with sincerity.

Wang Xiu, however, latched onto a key word. "Group? What group?"

An exceptionally beautiful female disciple from the Sonic Sect replied, "It's a group we made ourselves. All the senior brothers and junior sisters who borrowed money and mined together are in it!"

Hearing this, Wang Xiu's eyes lit up instantly. Whoa, something like this exists?

"Can I join the group?" Wang Xiu asked eagerly.

"Of course you can!" the female disciple responded without hesitation, her eyes filled with excitement. "Senior Brother Wang Xiu, let's exchange Messaging Marks, and I'll add you to the group!"

"Great!"

Wang Xiu took out his Communication Token and exchanged Messaging Marks with the Sonic Sect disciple, whose name was Liu Shi'er. A moment later, he was added to a brand-new group.

Liu Shi'er was thrilled. She clutched the Communication Token to her chest like a precious treasure, her face flushed red.

Amazing! I actually got Senior Brother Wang Xiu's Messaging Mark! This means... from now on, I can video call Senior Brother Wang Xiu! Just thinking about it is so thrilling... no, so romantic!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.