You quickly rode your horse to Lin Mo's home. The ten-year-old Lin Mo had already reached the peak of Bone Tempering, not far from Marrow Washing. Seeing you, Lin Mo happily said, "Uncle Yu, you came to see me again!"

You nodded. "I came to check how you're doing with the little test I left you last time." Lin Mo's joyful expression immediately turned somewhat troubled. "Uncle Yu, I haven't successfully modified the Treading Heaven Steps yet..."

You didn't expect Lin Mo to fail. Testing the waters, you said, "It's alright, show me how far you've gotten." Lin Mo hesitated but nodded reluctantly.

Boom! Without any warning, Lin Mo shot into the sky like a cannonball, leaving a cloud of dust where he had been standing. At incredible speed, he circled around you in the air several times. After a few breaths, Lin Mo gracefully landed.

He walked up to you sheepishly. "Uncle Yu, I don't think I've reached the maximum speed you mentioned, but I can improve it further!" Your eyes widened in shock, completely dumbfounded. Inside, you were screaming, "This is what you call a failed modification?! If this is failure, then everyone else might as well give up!"

It took you a while to calm down. Patting Lin Mo's head, you said, "Good kid, you've done well already. You've reached about my ankle level from back in the day." Lin Mo jumped for joy. "Yay~ I love reaching ankle level!"

You had Lin Mo give you the modified Treading Heaven Steps and instructed him to continue optimizing it. While the new version's speed had improved dramatically, it still fell short of an Ultimate Grandmaster's speed. The aerial duration hadn't increased either, making it somewhat limited overall, but you were confident Lin Mo would surprise you. You renamed the technique to Wandering Heaven Steps.

You then told Lin Mo to start recruiting martial artists to form his own small group, which could eventually grow into a proper sect. You explained that many hands make light work and everything would be more convenient. What you didn't tell Lin Mo was that this was mainly for your own convenience - future operations against Yan Zhixue couldn't be traced directly back to you.

You left Lin Mo with large quantities of Blood Qi Pills and internal spirit pills, along with various healing and restorative pills popular among martial artists, to help recruit talent. Deeply moved, Lin Mo literally flew with you for two miles to see you off. You told him to keep a low profile and never reveal your relationship, with all future meetings to be conducted discreetly. Though confused, Lin Mo agreed without hesitation. You also had Lin Mo's family relocate to a small town about ten days' journey from Danxia Sect.

Returning to Danxia Sect, you immediately began practicing the Wandering Heaven Steps. By the twentieth year, you had completely mastered the technique. Racing to a remote bamboo forest deep in the sect's back mountains, you wildly zigzagged through the trees and skimmed just above the ground. Hovering in midair, you looked down at the green ocean of bamboo below and roared excitedly to the sky, startling flocks of birds into flight. Your maximum flight duration remained only eighteen breaths, but with brief rest periods you could now use the technique for short-distance travel.

After exhausting your excitement, you returned to Danxia Sect to continue cultivation. Meanwhile, the competition for sect leadership had intensified dramatically. Fifth Elder Shen Dingyuan's faction had even drawn blood from Grand Elder You Yun's followers, forcing Deng Rusong to intervene. The offending disciple had his martial arts abolished and was expelled, though Deng Rusong didn't actually discourage the competition - as long as it remained within reasonable bounds, he actually encouraged such struggles, having risen to power through similar conflicts himself. A leader who hadn't weathered storms wouldn't be able to steer the sect.

Though slightly conflicted about his successor and already ninety-seven years old, Deng Rusong wasn't in any hurry - past Danxia Sect leaders typically lived past 110, some even reaching 120, thanks to regular pill consumption. You couldn't care less who ultimately became leader - they could beat each other's brains out for all you cared. You maintained your disciplined cultivation routine.

Before long, you completed your sixth true qi condensation, which finally stabilized your Divine Micro-Vision at the beginner level - succeeding twice out of every ten attempts. You confirmed that true qi condensation acted as a catalyst for Divine Micro-Vision. You also advanced your Lightning Shadow Sword Technique to mid-stage Organ Fortifying, further enhancing your sword attributes.

Carrying this sword-enhanced state, you again attempted to perceive Earth Source, making slight progress this time. The sword energy around the Earth Source longsword completely accepted you, circling around like an affectionate puppy. Sensing this cheerful energy, you nodded in satisfaction, knowing the day you could truly utilize Earth Source wasn't far off.

By the twenty-third year when you turned thirty-eight, the sect leadership struggle had reached fever pitch. Fifth Elder Shen Dingyuan approached you - as one of the few remaining unaligned members - subtly suggesting you support his faction's candidate Bi Wenyu. You declared your sole interests were cultivation and pill refining, with no involvement in leadership disputes.

Unaware that you'd voluntarily withdrawn from the succession (making their current struggle possible), Shen Dingyuan persisted with empty promises that held no appeal. He also didn't know you were actually a fifth-grade pill refiner - superior to both competing candidates - or he'd have regarded you as serious competition for his disciple. "Elder Shen, please leave," you said calmly without even opening your eyes, showing little courtesy as his interruption annoyed you. At mid-stage Dragon Transformation, Shen Dingyuan would be lucky to withstand three moves from you, no matter how well-connected his ancestors were underground. Recognizing your special relationship with Deng Rusong as Xie Huide's disciple, he dared not press further and left, forming an impression of your arrogance - which you ignored as you resumed cultivation, sensing an impending breakthrough.

Six months later while practicing in your courtyard, with a sudden stretch and stare, you broke through to late-stage Organ Fortifying, simultaneously completing your eighth true qi condensation. Your combat power now surpassed late-stage Dragon Transformation practitioners, approaching peak Dragon Transformation level. In all of Danxia Sect, only Deng Rusong could potentially escape your Soul Awakening Blade - and if sufficiently provoked, you might even test yourself against him. Death held no terror for you.

The eighth true qi condensation directly advanced your Divine Micro-Vision to initial proficiency, with significantly reduced side effects. Recovery time shortened from ten days to six, while usable duration doubled from fifteen to thirty minutes - very satisfactory results. Though still far from minor achievement, Divine Micro-Vision greatly improved your pill refining success rates.

That day, you officially began refining sixth-grade pills, keeping Divine Micro-Vision active throughout to train proficiency. The results were outstanding - your first batch yielded three sixth-grade pills, skipping the beginner level entirely to reach initial achievement. "I'm a fucking genius!" you cheered.

"Genius, what have you accomplished now?" Deng Rusong and Hu Zhongxuan walked into your courtyard smiling.