Is It Reasonable for Me to Start a Sect at 12?

However, in the next moment, those gazes shifted away from his position.

Seeing this, Lin Xiao let out a small breath of relief.

It seemed that they hadn't noticed him—his concealment technique was still effective.

This vast snowy forest behind the great snow mountain, near the Ice Lake, was something he had heard about back in Yuanling City. It was said to be one of the most dangerous places in the entire Frozen Secret Realm.

Rumor had it that the number of beasts inside was extremely high, and they were far more ferocious than the ordinary ones wandering elsewhere in the secret realm—several times more savage, in fact!

Moreover, these beasts were almost all white in color, blending perfectly into the snowy landscape and trees. Something in the forest also seemed to interfere with divine sense, making it incredibly difficult to detect them.

Many cultivators who had ventured inside never returned unscathed. And even those who did manage to escape came back empty-handed.

After spending half a day fighting for survival, they ended up with nothing.

Gradually, people started avoiding this White Forest altogether.

That was why those cultivators fishing by the lake preferred to crowd together rather than venture to the lake's edge on the other side of the mountain.

And yet, the savage beasts of the White Forest never left its boundaries.

Now that Lin Xiao thought about it, something was suspicious about this.

According to the usual logic of secret realms, the stronger the beasts guarding a place, the higher the chance that some kind of treasure was hidden there.

Perhaps the cultivators who entered before him had the same idea.

Only, maybe whatever was inside wasn't something useful to them.

It seemed like he needed to take a look.

Maybe the method he was looking for was inside.

With that in mind, Lin Xiao quietly slipped into the depths of the forest.

The moment he stepped inside, he realized that his divine sense was indeed being affected.

In some areas, the interference was minor, but in others, it was extremely strong—his range of perception fluctuated unpredictably, sometimes clear, sometimes murky.

At one point, he almost stepped directly onto a beast lying in the snow! If not for the fact that the sleeping beast suddenly snorted in its sleep, he wouldn't have even noticed it.

That had been a close call.

Fortunately, it only happened once. From then on, Lin Xiao remained on high alert, moving with utmost caution.

So far, he hadn't disturbed a single beast.

He soon noticed that all the beasts within the White Forest were at the Hua Dan stage—the equivalent of the Foundation Establishment stage for cultivators.

Liao Pantu had mentioned beast classifications to him before.

Above the Hua Dan stage was the Gu Dan stage, which corresponded to the Golden Core stage for human cultivators.

And beyond that was the Tong Yuan stage, like the Silver Frost Python demon he had encountered before—a Nascent Soul-level beast.

Back then, Lin Xiao had asked if there was a Hua Xing (Transformation) stage.

Liao Pantu had been a little surprised by the question but still explained it to him.

Hua Xing beasts were extremely rare and powerful. In all his years, he had never encountered one himself.

And transformation didn't mean taking on a human form—it referred to a beast evolving into the ultimate version of its own bloodline.

Liao Pantu had provided further details, but Lin Xiao had come to his own understanding.

Most beasts had mixed bloodlines with various mutations. The Hua Xing stage was likely a refinement of their best traits—a sort of genetic optimization.

Thinking along these lines, Lin Xiao suddenly thought of Xiao Luan.

Would it, upon reaching the Hua Xing stage, extract the one-in-a-billion trace of phoenix blood in its veins and become a true ultimate phoenix?

That was something worth looking forward to.

Sigh.

All of a sudden, he started feeling homesick.

By his count, he had already been away for over ten days.

He wondered if his father was balancing work and rest properly.

How were Grandpa and Grandma doing back at the old residence?

Once he got out of this secret realm, he needed to search the cultivation world for any medicines or treasures that could enhance longevity and well-being—he had to bring some back for them.

And when he returned, he was definitely going to make them start cultivating, whether they wanted to or not.

If they said they weren't interested, it was only because they didn't want to trouble him.

His grandparents had lived hard-working lives, but he could tell that they truly loved life itself.

Anyone who cherished life wouldn't want it to end too soon.

He also wondered how everyone at the sect was doing.

How was their cultivation progressing?

Had Fuzi been too focused on cooking and neglected his own training?

Was Jianghe still out working hard? Had he sent any letters back?

How was Yigao's private academy running?

And Tie Tou—out of all the brothers, his cultivation progress was the slowest. Lin Xiao hadn't had time to encourage him lately… Was he feeling discouraged?

The more he thought about Xiushui Village, the stronger his longing grew.

For the first time in his two lives, he truly understood what it meant to miss home.

He had never felt this way in his past life.

But now, the moment he left home alone for the first time, he tasted the feeling of longing for home.

So this was what they called "homesickness."

The urge to return home burned within him.

He just needed to deal with everything here as quickly as possible—rescue the people, wait for the secret realm to open, then leave immediately.

And then—go home!

That was all that mattered.

Forget using this trip as a chance to visit new places or make connections.

Forget the Heart-Seeking Stone.

That could all wait for next time.

If the travel expenses were high, so be it.

It wasn't like he couldn't afford it.

What was two thousand spirit stones for a round trip?

He could dig a few more in the mines and earn it back.

Nothing was more important than going home!

After carefully making his way through the dense, beast-filled White Forest for over two hours—

Finally, he reached its deepest part.