Chapter 265 Mutual Understanding
Although the intense gazes of the Nirvana cultivators were somewhat unsettling, Xiao Danhuang was a man of the world—when surrounded by countless Nirvana cultivators begging for pills, their gazes were just as enthusiastic!
After a moment of surprise, the strong young man immediately straightened his posture and was in a great mood.
The two looked at Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan.
Xiao Danhuang said kindly, "So we have such a connection. We really are family."
The robust young man laughed and chimed in, "Once you two come back with us, the entire sect and the hall will be overjoyed!"
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan both smiled, showing their closeness.
·
Now that things have come to this, the other Nirvana Realm cultivators were certainly in a bad mood, but they wouldn't bother to give the two juniors a meaningful look—this kind of competition wasn't the first time, and in the past when recruiting disciples, which family hadn't won?
It's just that we lost this time.
Furthermore, this genius... is even more of a genius.
However, there is still a long road ahead. Today's geniuses may not always be geniuses. If they always are—then they are just unlucky.
...In the end, they are all geniuses of the human race.
Many who had undergone Nirvana maintained their composure and offered a few words of encouragement to Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan.
Everyone finished their meal in a peaceful and harmonious manner.
Yes, they hadn't forgotten that the banquet was still ongoing and things still needed to wrap up.
After eating and drinking to their hearts' content, the many Nirvana beings left the palace, bidding farewell amicably as always, and then vanished in a flash.
With another "whoosh," the palace vanished—taken away directly by the owner of this mysterious artifact.
Those who remained were only a few Nirvana cultivators from the Spirit Immortal Sect and the War God Temple.
·
Zhong Cai quietly observed these future senior disciples of his and Lao Wu.
The Lingxian Sect sent Xiao Danhuang and two female alchemists—both of them were quite beautiful and had a gentle temperament, dressed in light yellow and light blue clothes that accentuated their elegance.
The fragrance emanating from these senior alchemists was extremely complex, demonstrating their profound knowledge of alchemy and the countless types of pills they had refined throughout their lives, making them almost impossible to distinguish.
Besides the Nirvana youth who remained anonymous and appeared quite robust, the other people from the Temple of War were a man and a woman, both wearing armor and very tall—the male elder of the Temple of War was at least two meters tall and very muscular, while the female elder was half a head taller than the male elder! Very athletic.
Zhong Cai blinked.
and……
If he wasn't mistaken, Xiao Danhuang and the muscular senior were a couple, the yellow-clad female alchemist and the armored fierce woman were a couple, and the blue-clad female alchemist and the armored strong man were also a couple.
Zhong Cai blinked again.
The relationship between the Lingxian Sect and the War God Temple is indeed extremely close; even the Nirvana Sect members sent to recruit them are in pairs.
It should be noted that while the number of Nirvana Realm experts in the ninth-level forces of the top continent is not small, it is not too common either—yet, under such circumstances, they can still produce three pairs!
There may even be more who haven't been sent out by either of the two factions.
This entanglement in marriage is truly profound.
However, Zhong Cai was in a very good mood.
Wu Shaogan understood Zhong Cai's feelings best, and seeing Zhong Cai happy, his eyes also lit up with a smile.
Several Nirvana members kept a close eye on the two juniors they had already recruited.
They watched Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan exchange glances and felt quite pleased – these two newly emerged geniuses were perfectly suited to their families, and were destined to be their disciples!
·
The two sides sized each other up for only a brief moment.
At this moment, Xiao Danhuang nudged the strong young man beside him and reminded him, "Warship."
The strong young man immediately swung his arm.
In an instant, a huge warship appeared suspended in mid-air, incredibly majestic and with an extremely terrifying aura.
Emperor Xiao Dan laughed and said, "Let's board the ship together, it's time for us to go home."
Zhong Cai, holding her husband's hand, happily agreed, "Okay!"
Wu Shaogan echoed in agreement.
Xiao Danhuang glanced at the strong and fit young man.
The strong young men quickly got up first, boarded the ship, and activated the defensive formation.
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan, led by Xiao Danhuang and others, also leaped away and landed on the deck.
The warship shimmered with light and instantly flew tens of thousands of miles away.
The power of a level nine flying artifact is extremely terrifying.
After it moved away, the wild beasts and rare animals that had been vaguely agitated in the nearby mountains finally calmed down...
·
Zhong Cai held Wu Shaogan's hand and curiously looked at the various buildings on the deck.
Their attitude was quite natural and casual, as if after agreeing to join the Lingxian Sect and the War God Palace, they immediately changed their mindset and regarded the Nirvana of the two families as true elders.
Xiao Danhuang and the others were very pleased with the way the two were behaving, and they smiled as they introduced the warship to the two of them about its origins, firepower, defenses, and so on.
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan listened attentively—at the same time, they were also pondering the aspects of the warship's offense and defense that were worth learning—after all, their ancient city would be upgraded in the future, and after the materials were put in, all changes would take into account the changes in the two men's mentality and thoughts.
That ancient city is their eternal home, and of course, it has to be the best.
·
After introducing the warships, Xiao Danhuang smiled and began to introduce the Nirvana cultivators present.
Zhong Cai's attitude became more proper.
Wu Shaogan remained the same, but he didn't put on a long face. He just didn't show much emotion except for his Daoist partner who kept staring at him. His eccentric personality wasn't a problem.
Xiao Danhuang first pointed to himself and said, "My name is Xiao Zinuo, the lineage master of the first mountain range of the Lingxian Sect." He pulled the strong young man over, patted his chest, and said, "This is Lou Chuan, the hall master of the first branch hall of the War God Hall, my Daoist partner."
Lou Chuan gave the two of them a hearty laugh.
Xiao Danhuang said, "The sect leader lives on the main peak, and the head hall master lives in the main hall."
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan both understood. The sect leader of Lingxian Sect and the head of the War God Hall were both terrible at naming things, so apart from their residences, all the other mountains and branch halls were numbered sequentially, without so many fancy names—perhaps the most fancy one was the Biyi Mountain Range, which appeared later, and it was probably named by a younger disciple.
Xiao Danhuang then introduced them one by one.
He pointed to the female alchemist in yellow and the fierce woman in armor, and said, “Qu Ke of the Lingxian Sect is the master of the fifth mountain range. Di Junyao of the War God Hall is the master of the tenth hall. You can call them Master Qu and Hall Master Di, or you can call them Grandmaster Qu and Grandmaster Di.”
Xiao Danhuang then pointed to the female alchemist in blue and the burly man in armor, and continued, "Zhong Wenyue of the Lingxian Sect, the master of the Sixth Mountain Range. Lei Yuan of the War God Hall, the master of the Fifth Branch Hall."
After listening to the introductions, Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan also greeted everyone.
Next, Xiao Danhuang gave a brief introduction to the two forces, showing that he was not only very familiar with the Lingxian Sect, but also knew everything about the War God Temple.
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan carefully wrote everything down.
·
Within the Lingxian Sect, besides the main peak, which is a solitary peak belonging solely to the sect leader, there are eleven major mountain ranges.
Thus, the mountain range was arranged from "First Mountain Range" all the way up to "Eleventh Mountain Range".
The master of each mountain range is a Pill Emperor—but the chances of forming a pill and the chances of producing a top-grade pill are different.
Of the eleven Pill Emperors in the sect, only three have a success rate of over 50% in pill formation, which already makes them the best among the Pill Emperors.
Besides the main mountain range, there are also many smaller mountain ranges—some of which are governed by an ordinary eighth-level alchemist, who is called an "elder"; others are governed by a seventh-level alchemy king, who is called a "junior elder".
As it was a level nine power founded by the Pill Master, besides the Pill Emperor, there were also forty-two ordinary level eight pill masters!
There are even more seventh-level Pill Kings.
Ordinary seventh-level alchemists can only be given the treatment of "core disciples".
The number of martial arts cultivators is very small compared to the number of alchemists. Once they reach the Spirit Transformation Realm, they can become members of the Martial Arts Hall and be responsible for guiding ordinary martial arts disciples.
Any martial arts cultivator who reaches the Nirvana Realm, just like an ordinary eighth-level alchemist, can obtain a small mountain range and become an "elder"—a martial arts elder.
Within the sect, disciples are ranked according to their alchemy master level, while martial arts cultivators are ranked according to their cultivation realm.
If a disciple of a pill master is not trained from a young age, then pill masters of levels one to four belong to the outer sect, and those of level five automatically enter the inner sect. If a disciple is taken into the sect from a young age, then the disciple will undergo some tests. Those who meet the standards will directly enter the inner sect, while those who do not meet the standards will have to wait until they become level five pill masters.
The same principle applies to martial arts disciples. From Heavenly Guidance to Suspended Illumination, they are considered outer disciples. Fusion begins the process of entering the inner sect. Those who arrive at a young age have their aptitude checked. Those of Earth Rank or above directly enter the inner sect. Otherwise, even if they have the opportunity to improve their aptitude, they still have to wait for Fusion.
However, none of these are absolute.
If an outer disciple is on good terms with an inner disciple and the inner disciple has a recommendation quota, they can be recommended to become an inner disciple, but they must also undergo some tests. If an elder or lineage leader takes a liking to an outer disciple, they can directly bring them into the inner sect through the discipleship system. However, if an elder admires an outer disciple but has no intention of taking them in, then their recommendation quota must be used, and they must also undergo tests.
The so-called recommendation slots can be obtained through various channels within the inner sect, but they are not only expensive, but also limited in number.
Even fewer are in the hands of inner disciples.
·
In addition to the main hall, there are 123 branch halls in the Temple of War.
The master of each branch hall is a Nirvana cultivator, but there is only one Nirvana cultivator in each hall. Even if they are master and disciple or relatives, the disciple or descendants must leave the master and establish their own hall after reaching the Nirvana realm. Even if they are Daoist partners, they each have their own hall.
Branch halls all belong to the inner halls. Their size and scale depend entirely on how Nirvana manages them. Each branch hall occupies a territory that could be a mountain range, a valley, or a plain. However, there will always be a hall that represents the branch hall in that area, which may be the residence of the hall master or the office of the hall master, etc.
There are four outer halls in total, from the fourth outer hall to the first outer hall, which respectively accommodate disciples from Tianyin to Xuanzhao.
As the martial arts disciples level up, once they reach the outer hall and merge with it, they can directly enter the inner hall—but at this point, they must choose a hall to join.
The Temple of War also has alchemist disciples, but in even smaller numbers. They live together in the Alchemist Hall, and due to their different alchemist levels and their different hobbies, they receive courtyards, palaces, and other facilities of varying specifications.
There is no distinction between inner and outer halls for alchemists; the entire alchemist hall is located within the inner hall. Alchemist disciples receive different treatment only based on their different levels of alchemy skills.
The criteria for accepting apprentices, the assessments, and the quotas for recommendations are all quite similar between the War God Temple and the Spirit Immortal Sect.
·
Xiao Danhuang also explained in detail the issues concerning "internal currency" within the Lingxian Sect and the War God Hall.
Most factions are similar in this respect; the currency unit within the Lingxian Sect is Danshu Points, while the War God Hall uses Martial Arts Points.
Both factions have trading halls, trading palaces, trading markets, trading pavilions, etc. Regardless of what these places that manage "trading" are called, all of them use Xuan Pearls and Xuan Stones for trading.
Internal currency is often obtained as an extra reward for completing certain faction missions. It represents one's contribution to both factions and is exchanged for cultivation channels and certain privileges provided by the two factions.
For example, the Temple of War has many inner secret realms, some of which are even sacred cultivation grounds. Some of them are priced in Xuan Pearls or Xuan Stones, others are priced in Martial Arts Points, and still others require both—disciples who want to enter need to pay the corresponding price.
To give another example, the Lingxian Sect has many pill formulas and classic texts, and alchemists can only exchange them using pill-making points.
Of course, alchemy points and martial arts points are not interchangeable.
However, within both factions, alchemy points and combat points can be transferred to fellow disciples—but only if they are willing. If someone resorts to coercion or robbery, it might be tolerated if it's not exposed, but once exposed, the punishment will be extremely severe.
·
The disciples of the Lingxian Sect and the War God Hall are not only forbidden from killing each other, but also from killing disciples of the other faction.
However, it is impossible for any faction to be completely free of conflict. Therefore, when each faction resolves life-or-death disputes, they will set up a life-or-death platform. Once someone goes up on the platform, they can decide whether to live or die.
But beyond the various factions...
Generally speaking, they shouldn't kill each other, but if they encounter a situation where killing is unavoidable, they can't care about that anymore.
There are too many unexpected things that can happen in this world.
·
Zhong Cai listened, resting her chin on her hand, seemingly lost in thought.
Overall, the internal rules of the Lingxian Sect and the War God Hall are simple and not strict, and it is not easy to accidentally violate the rules.
The atmosphere feels similar to that of Azure Dragon Academy... well, not really. Azure Dragon Academy is very free, but Spirit Immortal Sect and War God Hall seem even freer because there are so many young couples there.
Zhong Cai was very satisfied.
Wu Shaogan was also very satisfied.
At this point, Emperor Xiao Dan took out a mustard seed ring and handed it to Zhong Cai.
Lou Chuan also took out a similar one and handed it to Wu Shaogan.
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan understood.
These are the resource benefits mentioned on the scroll.
The two souls swept through it and found that there was nothing missing, and even some extra.
·
Xiao Danhuang laughed and said, "Your disciple tokens are also inside. Contribution transfers within your respective factions, storage of Xuan Stones, internal travel between different regions, authority over various matters, and keys to different regions can all be done through this item."
Lou Chuan was very familiar with how to use this thing, and added, "After you two complete your Daoist couple registration, whether you are both in the Lingxian Sect or the War God Hall, or separately in the two forces, you can contact each other at will using the token. If the token contains the aura of disciples from both sides, you can also contact those disciples at will."
He thought for a moment and then added more.
"If you are outside the territory, as long as you are not more than 10,000 miles away, you two can contact each other and receive messages from the disciples of the other two sects. You must pay attention: if the token gets hot, it means a message for help. Other messages will just cause the token to vibrate. The token will vibrate twice for disciples of the Spirit Immortal Sect and three times for disciples of the War God Hall."
Zhong Cai pondered for a moment and found that it was still quite useful for now—once he and Lao Wu's ancient city adapted to the rules of the top-tier continent, the communication function of this thing would become rather useless.
Wu Shaogan poked Zhong Cai.
Zhong Cai smiled brightly at him.
The two happily refined the disciple token and carefully put it away.
Xiao Danhuang suddenly thought of something else and continued, "Any disciple who makes it onto the Sky Ranking will be given special privileges in their monthly allowance based on their ranking after being recruited into the sect."
Zhong Cai asked curiously, "How much?"
Emperor Xiao Dan liked his frank nature very much, and said gently, "The top ten will receive a hundred times the monthly allowance."
Zhong Cai: "Wow!"
Xiao Danhuang: "The third place is 120 times, the second place is 150 times, and the first place is 200 times."
Zhong Cai: "Wow!!"
Xiao Danhuang smiled slightly: "The treatment will increase or decrease according to the changes in the Sky Ranking. In addition, there are other resource privileges."
"The War God Hall and the Spirit Immortal Sect receive the same treatment in this regard. The lesser one can receive 120 times the monthly allowance, and three special resource shares per year, one for each of the fifth to seventh levels. These shares can be accumulated; once a certain number of shares of lower-level resources are accumulated, they can be exchanged for higher-level resources."
"Although Cai'er is tenth, she is exceptionally talented. If she weren't so young and inexperienced, she would be ranked much higher."
Zhong Cai said excitedly, "So you have to offer me better treatment!"
Xiao Danhuang smiled and said, "Yes." He looked at the young couple and his smile deepened. "Raising Cai'er's resources and treatment to the level of a junior cadre is probably what you two want most."
Zhong Cai happily replied, "Of course!"
Wu Shaogan smiled and said, "Thank you, senior."
·
This recruitment was clearly led by Xiao Danhuang and Lou Chuan. It would take some time to travel, and the two gave each other many detailed instructions for the rest of the journey.
Gradually, the outline of a large city appeared in the distance.
Emperor Xiao Dan looked at Lou Chuan.
Lou Chuan first maneuvered the warship to hover, instead of immediately choosing to detour.
Zhong Cai was a little puzzled.
Emperor Xiao Dan laughed and said, "There is a teleportation array inside this great city. If you enter it, you can be teleported directly to another great city in the Western River Region. If you two are interested, we can go into the city. If not, you can just continue using this warship for transportation."
Zhong Cai said without hesitation, "This warship is the one!"
Emperor Xiao Dan raised an eyebrow.
Zhong Cai chuckled.
If he wants to use the teleportation array, he can use it when he travels with Lao Wu in the future. If they go directly there now, it will attract too much attention.
Keep a low profile.
Besides, the warships did take a bit longer to arrive, but during that time, he and Lao Wu could improve their understanding of the two factions and also deepen their friendship with these senior fellow disciples.
·
Emperor Xiao Dan understood.
Lou Chuan then maneuvered his warship around the city—there were also top-tier experts inside, and it wouldn't be appropriate to simply run over them from above.
At this moment, Emperor Xiao Dan pondered.
Zhong Cai was very forthright: "Grandmaster Xiao, just say what you want to say!"
Emperor Xiao Dan smiled and asked, "The origins that Cai'er mentioned..."
Zhong Cai understood and, without hiding anything, told him everything his master had told him.
Emperor Xiao Dan pondered for a moment: "Liu Di from the Liu family..."
Zhong Cai asked excitedly, "Grandmaster Xiao remembers him?"
Xiao Danhuang sighed, "It seems he did give me some pointers before, but I don't remember it well. I only remember that he had good talent. Later, Liu Di went out to travel and didn't return for many years, so there was no more news about him in the sect." He paused, "It turns out he went to the Flying Star Continent and went to live with his wife again."
Lou Chuan said, "Our two families' disciples should be this kind of loyal and affectionate."
After sighing, Xiao Danhuang asked, "Is Cai'er's master on the Flying Star Continent also a Danhuang?"
Zhong Cai became very excited when she mentioned her master: "Yes! Master Sang is incredibly powerful! He became a Pill Emperor on his own! And he even refines pills beyond his level! He can refine several kinds of top-grade pills! His success rate is 30% to 50%! He ranks only below two level nine pill masters in the entire Flying Star Continent!"
Xiao Danhuang could see that Zhong Cai had a very deep relationship with his master, so he understood that after he joined the sect, he would not choose another Danhuang to become his disciple, especially since his master was originally a Danhuang... Perhaps only if Danzun accepted a disciple could he be somewhat swayed.
Thinking of this, Xiao Danhuang's mood became somewhat complicated.
If the sect leader were willing to take on a top-tier alchemy genius like Zhong Cai, he would definitely like him. Even if level five was a bit early, he would still be accepted when Zhong Cai reached level six.
However, the sect leader never accepts disciples.
After establishing the sect, the sect leader merely recruited some alchemists to provide guidance.
The reason is quite simple...
The neighboring Palace Master Pei was unwilling!
Palace Master Pei himself does not accept disciples, nor does he allow the sect leader to do so.
It is said that the master-disciple relationship is too close. Disciples are like children. Once a disciple is accepted, it will distract the sect leader and establish a very close relationship with the sect leader. However, Palace Master Pei only wants the sect leader to establish a relationship with him alone.
Neither of them had any offspring, nor did they take on any disciples. Although they had established their own power, they could also step down at any time. As a result, the sect leader's family (adopted brothers), close friends, and Daoist partner were all left with only Palace Master Pei.
As for other relatives?
They had both died when they were each other's only family.
·
Emperor Xiao Dan regained his composure and said with a smile, "Liu Di left a thousand years ago... Cai'er's Master Sang must also be very young."
Zhong Cai immediately became excited: "That's right! My master is only a little over two hundred years old! Not even two hundred and fifty! Old..." He quickly corrected himself, "Shao Gan's master is only a dozen years older than Master Sang, and he is also a very powerful Nirvana senior!"
Emperor Xiao Dan was taken aback for once.
The other Nirvana beings present were also somewhat surprised.
A mid-level continent, with scarce resources and weak spiritual energy, has actually produced only a little over two hundred Pill Emperors and Nirvana Realm cultivators.
It's one thing if they're just young.
But Danhuang is above his level, truly possessing exceptional talent.
Nirvana, even during the Spirit Transformation stage, can slaughter opponents of the eighth rank... With such combat power, if he undergoes further training on a top-tier continent, he would likely be comparable to a Dou Huang.
·
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan are now disciples of the Lingxian Sect and the War God Hall, and they have given a general account of their origins.
Thus, Xiao Danhuang and the others learned that, in addition to their masters Sang Yunchu and Jiang Chongguang, the two new disciples also had a grandmaster named Jiang Yun—a Nirvana late-stage cultivator who was just over a thousand years old. Perhaps he was slightly inferior to Jiang Chongguang, but he was still a remarkably outstanding martial arts genius.
Xiao Danhuang smiled and invited, "When Sang Danhuang and the Jiang family come to the top continent in the future, my Lingxian Sect and the War God Hall will certainly welcome them with open arms."
Zhong Cai chuckled, but didn't say anything immediately.
But in his heart he was thinking: Master will definitely come to Lingxian Sect, and Master Jiang will definitely go to the War God Hall to accompany Old Wu!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
