Chapter 398 I Established a Sect in the Cultivation World (27)
Cloud City, Heavenly Mystery Pavilion.
The pavilion is simple and unadorned, with few carriages and horses in front of it, which contrasts sharply with the hustle and bustle of the city.
However, today, this peaceful place has been visited by several uninvited guests.
"You truly cannot calculate it?"
The Nascent Soul cultivator who lost Zhou Jue first had a gloomy face. He stared at the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion Master in front of him, who was wearing a bronze mask and whose aura was erratic, and his tone carried a hint of threat.
The pavilion master simply shook his head slightly, his voice hoarse, revealing no discernible age.
"Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed, nor can they be forced."
“This person has a great karmic connection, and there is an unparalleled power that has obscured the secrets of heaven, which I cannot fathom.”
"snort!"
The Nascent Soul cultivator snorted coldly and left with a flick of his sleeve.
He didn't believe it.
The so-called "hiding of heavenly secrets" is probably just that the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion doesn't want to offend anyone, so it doesn't do anything.
No sooner had he left than two other Nascent Soul cultivators arrived together, only to receive the exact same answer.
The two exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with suspicion, yet they were helpless. The Heavenly Mystery Pavilion had a mysterious background, and they dared not actually make a move here.
Finally, even the city lord of the city lord's mansion appeared in front of the pavilion door.
The Lord of Cloud City personally came to visit. Unlike the previous visitors, he was not aggressive and simply looked at the Pavilion Master calmly.
"Master, let's not beat around the bush."
"I don't need her exact location, I just need to know if she's still in the city."
The gaze beneath the bronze mask seemed to shift slightly.
The pavilion master remained silent for a moment before slowly uttering four words.
"Yes, and no."
The city lord raised an eyebrow: "What do you mean?"
"Body in the city, spirit wanders beyond the heavens." After saying this, the pavilion master closed his eyes, as if to see the guest off.
The city lord gave him a deep look, asked no further questions, and turned to leave.
"Body in the city, but mind wandering to the heavens..."
He pondered those eight words, his eyes gleaming.
...
Time slipped away quietly amidst the storms and undercurrents that swept through the city.
Two years have passed in the blink of an eye.
That mysterious female cultivator vanished as if she had evaporated from the face of the earth, never to be seen again.
The bounty for Cloud City still hangs high, but no one has bothered to claim it.
The monks' enthusiasm gradually faded with time, turning from initial fervor into mere topics of conversation over tea.
And this rumor finally crossed the vast distance and reached Linyuan Town on the edge of the Ten Thousand Mountains.
In the teahouse, Chen Mo and Lin Qingqian were listening to the cultivators at the next table talking animatedly.
"Senior brother, have you heard? Two years ago, a remarkable person emerged in Cloud City!"
"A female cultivator, a Nascent Soul stage expert, pretended to be a Golden Core cultivator, fooled everyone, stole the inheritance of the Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Palace, and ran away in front of three powerful beings of the same level!"
"What's so special about that? The version I heard is that the female cultivator was actually at the Golden Core stage, but after receiving the inheritance, she broke through to the Nascent Soul stage on the spot, which is how she managed to break through the encirclement!"
"It's strange, several major forces have been chasing her for two years, and the bounty has been increased again and again, but they still haven't found out anything about the female cultivator's identity."
"I've heard that the female cultivator has a mysterious background, and even the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion can't figure out her location."
"Really? Could it be a cultivator from the upper realm who secretly came down to the lower realm, stole the inheritance, and ran back to the upper realm?"
"Fellow Daoist is right! Otherwise, how could the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion have failed to calculate the location?"
Chen Mo and Lin Qingqian exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of suspicion in each other's eyes.
The changes in Linyuan Town in the past two years have been even greater than the rumors about Yunzhong City.
A shop called "Xuantiange" has moved from a small storefront in a corner of the market to the most prominent location on the main street.
From the outset, the rise of Xuantian Pavilion immediately aroused the vigilance of the three major local sects: Qingye Sect, Tiejian Sect, and Luoxing Valley.
They first sent people to the store to provoke and cause trouble, but Chen Mo and Lin Qingqian beat them up and drove them away. Then, after beating the younger ones, the older ones came. Fortunately, Cheng Gan and several disciples were the first to break through to the Nascent Soul stage and fought back and forth with the three major sects, eventually forming a strange balance.
Unable to win by force, they then began to suppress businesses.
The Iron Sword Sect announced a 30% price reduction on all flying swords, attempting to crush the Xuantian Pavilion through a price war.
As a result, Xuantian Pavilion offered a "Rune Sword" of higher quality, with rune effects such as armor penetration and sharpness, priced only slightly higher than the Iron Sword Sect's original price.
The disciples of the Iron Sword Sect even lined up to buy it, which infuriated the sect leader so much that he almost vomited blood and had to hastily end the event.
The Qingye Sect also tried to pull some tricks. They monopolized several key spiritual herbs around Linyuan Town, trying to strangle the Xuantian Pavilion. However, the Xuantian Pavilion was not affected at all and continued to produce even more effective pills.
Little did they know that Xuantian Pavilion was backed by the entire Hundred Thousand Mountains, and the medicinal garden established by the Pill Hall had a variety of spiritual herbs of far greater age than they could match.
The worst off was Falling Star Valley. They had hoped to get back at their losses in weapon crafting, so they sent their most outstanding weapon crafting genius to the shop to publicly challenge them and "exchange" weapon crafting tips.
Chen Mo simply took out the latest magical artifacts crafted by the disciples of the Weapon Refining Hall. The genius studied them for three days and three nights, and finally, clutching the materials, he ran back to the sect in tears and went into seclusion, vowing not to leave until he had thoroughly understood the purification and forging techniques.
After several rounds of clashes, the three major sects were utterly humiliated and completely demoralized.
They speculated that behind this Xuantian Pavilion might stand a behemoth that they could not afford to offend.
From then on, they not only dared not cause trouble again, but also took the initiative to befriend them, and even sent their disciples to Xuantian Pavilion to "learn" under the guise of "exchange and cooperation".
"It's time to go back." Chen Mo put down his teacup. "The channels in Linyuan Town are now completely secured, and the intelligence network covers several surrounding towns. Our mission is complete."
Lin Qingqian nodded: "The Xuantian Pavilion is also on the right track, and there are five Golden Core disciples overseeing things here, so we are no longer needed."
...
Xuantian Sect, Council Hall.
The former temporary wooden huts have long been replaced by a magnificent stone palace.
Within the valley, magnificent palaces and celestial fields stretched out, resembling the scene of a celestial sect.
At this moment, the main hall was filled with people.
Zhao Sizhe, Cheng Gan, Li Ming, and others sat on either side.
The aura emanating from them was no longer that of the Golden Core stage two and a half years ago; they were now all Nascent Soul stage experts!
In just two years, ten out of the sect's hundred members broke through to the Nascent Soul stage! Among them, Cheng Gan, the head of the Enforcement Hall, even reached the third level of the Nascent Soul stage.
"Tell me about it, how have you been lately?"
Zhao Sizhe pushed up his glasses and glanced at everyone.
Li Ming spoke first, his face filled with barely suppressed excitement.
"Peak Master Zhao, our herb garden has been fully developed, and the output of spiritual herbs is sufficient to support the needs of the entire sect. Combined with the resources we obtained from the Xuan Tian Pavilion, our pill reserves are enough to support all disciples in cultivating to the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage!"
The head of the weapon-refining hall followed up with a report: "The storage equipment has been upgraded, and everyone now has a storage ring! In addition, based on the blueprints brought back by the Xuan Tian Pavilion, our first 'Xuan Tian No. 1' flying boat has successfully completed its test flight!"
Cheng Gan stood up, his voice steady.
"The Enforcement Hall has formed two lines, one overt and one covert. The overt line's duties are the same as other sects in the cultivation world, while the covert line explores the Ten Thousand Mountains, which has now expanded to the central part of the entire Ten Thousand Mountains."
"The three-eyed falcon to the east has been subdued by me, and we have formed an equal contract. It is now the guardian bird of my sect."
As soon as she finished speaking, a clear eagle's cry came from outside the hall, as if in response to her words.
“That Xuan Shui Demon Python in the west…” Cheng Gan’s expression became somewhat strange: “Two years ago, its temperament changed drastically, and it stayed at home. The day before yesterday, it suddenly cried and begged to join us, and a junior disciple from the General Affairs Hall took advantage of the situation and entered into an equal contract.”
"According to that disciple, the python told him that it had been bullied by a demon beast two years ago, so it went into hiding. A few days ago, it sensed the aura of the demon beast that had bullied it again, and fearing that it would be bullied again, it came out to seek protection."
Everyone smiled upon hearing this.
Zhao Sizhe nodded and concluded, "Very good. Now, my Xuantian Sect has the central part of the Ten Thousand Mountains, with the Xuantian Pavilion as its tentacles outside and two great demonic beasts guarding it inside. Its foundation is already solid."
He looked at Cheng Gan: "Now that the sect's strength has greatly increased, it's time to consider the next step."
A glint of light flashed in Cheng Gan's eyes.
"You mean... expansion?"
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