Su Zhiqing sighed softly, a trace of understanding flashing in her beautiful eyes: "I now somewhat understand why Daoist Shen Jizi has always been so pessimistic about the ’great calamity’ and even planned an ’escape’ strategy early on. He has the highest cultivation and the broadest knowledge, perhaps he has long glimpsed a bit of truth and knows what kind of terrifying enemies or disasters we are going to face.

In the Great Thousand Worlds, there must be many Immortals and Divine beings whose cultivation strength far exceeds this realm. If they are not enough to resist the great calamity, how can we possibly win?"

However, Xiao Jie seemed deep in thought and proposed a possibility that was even more unsettling: "Fellow Daoists, I have a hypothesis. According to Ma Yuan, the Upper Realm encountered its apocalyptic great calamity tens of thousands of years ago, and our world is now also prophesied to face an apocalyptic great calamity. If there really is some connection between these events, or even the same disaster erupting in different times and places...doesn’t that mean that even if we abandon this realm and flee elsewhere as Shen Jizi planned, we might eventually face the same outcome? Could this disaster be...inevitable?"

The pavilion fell into silence instantly. Although Xiao Jie’s theory seemed a bit fantastical, it was not entirely impossible. If the disaster was not confined to one time and place but was something that chased worlds and spread through the heavens, then running away would lose its meaning.

"Makes sense..." After a long while, Lin Xuance finally spoke, his voice slightly dry, "Unfortunately, Ma Yuan’s whereabouts are elusive, and we don’t know where he has gone. If we could find him, we must ask clearly what this so-called ’apocalyptic great calamity’ is about, its origins, its nature, its weaknesses... Any information could be crucial and might help us find a way to prevent it, or even completely solve it."

"However, it’s not necessarily essential to find Ma Yuan to make a difference." Wu Qingyue suddenly said, his gaze turning to the not-too-distant Hao Mie, Wentian Wuji, and others who were diligently cultivating, a peculiar expression on his face, "The plan proposed by Daoist Sui Feng to train these ’Returning Villagers’ to face the great calamity seems quite feasible now, and possibly even more crucial than we initially thought!"

"Oh? Why do you say that, Brother Wu?" Xiao Jie asked curiously.

Lin Xuance, Wu Qingyue, and Su Zhiqing exchanged a glance, all with mixed feelings of amazement, excitement, and a hint of disbelief on their faces.

"The three of us have been wholeheartedly teaching these nine Returning Villager disciples for the past few days, and we’ve discovered a shocking phenomenon." Miao Fa Yuanjun Su Zhiqing marveled, her voice filled with amazement, "These Returning Villagers, whatever their origins, each can be described as exceptionally talented and with incomprehensible comprehension! Their learning of the Immortal Laws and Divine Skills is incredibly rapid, an astounding progress! Though they have barely lived in this world for long and their foundations are shallow, they have managed in just a few days to grasp many entry-level Immortal Law basics and combat Divine Skills that would typically require years of diligent study to master. It’s truly incredible!"

The Martial Arts Immortal could not help but join in excitedly: "Indeed! Those disciples I’ve been teaching, especially that Hao Mie kid, have already been able to initially harness nature’s spiritual energy to perform fairly powerful Extraordinary Battle Skills. Although they are still essentially mortal and have not transformed, the potential and combat power they exhibit are quite impressive, surpassing decades of hard work by ordinary mortal martial artists!"

Lin Xuance also nodded repeatedly, stroking his beard and sighing: "Back in the day, when I cultivated Sword Qi and sought the Dao through the sword, I spent countless years and faced numerous life-and-death struggles before gradually mastering the essence. Yet Xia Yi the Unrivaled seems to grasp things almost immediately, forming Sword Qi and awakening Sword Heart within days... It’s truly extraordinary! Though Jiu Jianxian and Ting Yu are slightly behind, the gap isn’t massive by comparison; I must have been considered quite dull back then."

Xiao Jie chuckled to himself: Of course! They’re players—once they meet the skill learning conditions, they basically learn any skill instantly with a click in the Skill Bar, unlike NPCs who rely on Satori and study. Moreover, players can gain attribute growth and profession advancement by leveling up through defeating monsters, unlocking Core Skills and exclusive Talents—this is like a ’cheat’ under the system’s rules, not something ordinary people can catch up with through sheer effort.

In other words, within the system’s framework, the player template itself is the greatest ’prodigious talent.’

Moreover, an important reason: these nine individuals come reincarnated with memories from their past lives, allowing them to directly ’unlock’ high-level skills and high-level professions they’ve already mastered before, leading to their ’rapid progress’ in cultivation. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Considering all this," Xiao Jie steered the topic to the main point, "do they have the opportunity to become Immortals in the future?"

Upon hearing this question, Lin Xuance, Wu Qingyue, and Su Zhiqing all showed expressions of hesitant contemplation and did not outright deny it like they did the first time this topic was brought up.

After pondering for a moment, Lin Xuance slowly spoke: "If it were in the past, from a common-sense perspective, the divide between mortals and Immortals is like an insurmountable chasm, and I would certainly say there’s no possibility. But having now personally witnessed their ’beyond reason,’ I feel that perhaps there’s not completely no chance. In the vast universe, there are all sorts of wonders, and maybe within them lies a chance to break conventional limits that we have not yet perceived."

Su Zhiqing also nodded slightly: "If they can continue maintaining such learning and growth speed, constantly pushing past limits, there’s no telling just how far they could go in the future. Maybe they truly could forge an unprecedented...mortal path to becoming Immortals?"

Although the tone wasn’t very certain, Xiao Jie felt quite delighted hearing this.

Having a chance is good; if among friends there are a few more Immortals, then when he ventures into a high-level map, the Great Thousand Worlds, at least he’d have teammates to have each other’s backs.

Otherwise, going alone to such a perilous new map indeed gives him a sense of trepidation.