Chapter 44 The Nameless Sect: A sect just as impoverished as they were.
A moon-white boat carrying pavilions and terraces set sail gracefully. The boat was huge, yet it moved silently on the water. Not long after leaving the shore, the boat slowly rose into the air and headed towards the clouds.
"Their ships can fly!"
"As expected of the ten cultivators of the Dao Sect, their demeanor is truly extraordinary."
After the Hongqi Sect's ships disappeared into the clouds, everyone's gaze turned to the Dingsheng Sect's ships, which had been busy all day but had not yet set off.
"The ship that Dingshengzong is on looks familiar. Isn't this the ship that is usually used to transport goods at the dock?"
"That's right, they were just unloading cargo that was on the ship."
One person summarized and commented: "A bit shabby. Nothing special."
I think so too.
As the deck approached the shore, the sounds of laughter and merriment could be clearly heard. The Dingsheng Sect disciples, busy on deck, could only lower their heads awkwardly and silently prepare for departure. The young disciple who ran over to stow away the planks was closer and could clearly see the expressions of the crowd on the shore. He immediately blushed, but couldn't say anything, and could only glare angrily at the crowd on the shore.
Before he knew it, the scepter slipped from his hand and fell straight at his foot. The young disciple couldn't dodge in time and braced himself for pain, but the scepter remained suspended in mid-air.
The disciple looked up and saw Zhu Shibai standing on the deck, giving overall command. He also heard the discussions of the crowd on the shore, but his expression remained calm, his demeanor composed and elegant. He used magic to move the boat aside. "What are you daydreaming about? Stand still for a moment. We'll get to the first interdimensional teleportation array in less than half an hour."
With a smile in his eyes, he comforted us, saying, "Ours is just as good. Why bother yourself with unintentional words from others?"
Yes, although their ships cannot fly, their speed is far beyond that of ordinary ships. They are so fast that even cultivators need to be careful lest they be thrown off.
The disciples of Quanfeng regained their confidence and replied, "Yes, Grandmaster." They put away the plank and urged the other disciples to hurry up. With their combined efforts, the ship finally set sail.
Zhu Shibai's gaze swept over the sect disciples on the ship, each performing their duties, and finally settled on Ji Mingran, who was leaning on the deck, chin in hand, enjoying the sea breeze.
Ever since she boarded the ship, her gaze had never left Hongqizong's vessel, filled with admiration, and even now her eyes had not turned away from the direction in which the giant ship had disappeared.
In fact, it wasn't just her; the other disciples were the same.
Zhu Shibai's smile faded slightly, his eyelashes lowered, concealing the sadness in his eyes.
Not bad? Far from it.
Their ships were merely ordinary vessels that had been temporarily modified, while the ships of the Hongqi Sect were actually high-grade spiritual artifacts. Such spiritual artifacts would require countless Nascent Soul stage or higher weapon refiners to forge.
If he could create such a high-level spiritual artifact, perhaps his fellow disciples wouldn't pale in comparison today.
But when will he be able to obtain high-level spiritual artifacts...?
Just then, Ji Mingran suddenly turned to look at him, pointed in the direction where the spirit boat had disappeared, and asked with great interest, "Shibai, when can you give us one too?"
The Jin siblings, who were always by her side, were only trying to please her: "This boat is so dilapidated, why don't you wait a couple more days and take our Jin family's boat?"
"Yes, our Jin family's ships are much better than this!"
Ji Mingran had already taken a few steps to stand in front of him, and asked persistently, "How long?"
"Hey!" Jin Yu, who was following closely behind Ji Mingran, also turned to look at him and said fiercely, "My great-grandmother wants a boat, so hurry up and buy one for her! The sect may not have money, but your Zhu family certainly doesn't!"
She wasn't going to buy a boat; she was going to build one herself. Zhu Shibai understood what Ji Mingran meant.
With a slight lift of his eyes, Zhu Shibai met Ji Mingran's probing gaze. His thoughts, which had been drifting away from his dejected mood, began to focus, and he began to seriously consider the spiritual weapon that he had not dared to dream of creating before.
After carefully considering the structure of the magical artifact, the collection and polishing of materials, and the forging and construction, Zhu Shibai realized that it was not so far out of reach. Taking into account the time required for advancement in his cultivation level, Zhu Shibai's lips curled up again: "It may take shape in five years."
Ji Mingran clenched his fist and clapped his hands together, his eyes sparkling: "I think three years is enough. I just counted, and their ships use no fewer than ten hover arrays. I'll add more later."
Upon seeing the four people gathered in the distance, Guan Wangzhen, who had been eagerly running over with his sails raised, said, "I'll fix the barrier so we can arrive earlier!"
After arranging for the disciples to take turns guarding the ship, Shen Qingluo returned to their side and pondered, "Hmm... I can be the first person to try it out. Or, let's test if the ship is sturdy enough?"
“Then, the timber and ore for the ship’s hull will be provided by my Jin family.” Jin Yu didn’t know why everyone was talking about what they would provide, but with her competitive spirit, she raised her chin and snorted, “It must be provided by us.” Jin Lu nodded vigorously beside her.
The group sat down and discussed the shipbuilding project back and forth.
The ships traveled at incredible speed, cutting through the waves for over a hundred miles in less than a quarter of an hour, arriving precisely at the moment the first sea teleportation array was activated. Under the thick darkness of night, the dozen or so ships silently sailed towards the moon, disappearing into the horizon.
The sea teleportation system, which allows for travel of thousands of miles, was activated on time. At dawn, the ships of all sects docked at the Luoshui Cape of the Hongqi Sect in Qingzhou. The preliminary round of the Spiritual Cultivation Competition was held in Qingzhou. The Baiyang Sect, Hongqi Sect, and Zhu Family, all ten major Daoist sects, were located in Qingzhou, so they separately welcomed the participating sects. The Hongqi Sect was responsible for welcoming the sects that came by water.
Although additional personnel had been dispatched, the simultaneous arrival of various sects left the Hongqi Sect overwhelmed. They could only have the ships wait in advance and enter in turn. More than thirty sect ships of various sizes and styles were moored on the shore, creating a truly magnificent scene.
To avoid missing the sea teleportation array, Ji Mingran stood on the deck all night, enjoying the sea breeze without closing his eyes. Now, seeing the various sects gathering, his curiosity was so strong that he felt no fatigue and stayed put to watch the excitement.
The disciples from various sects were bored while waiting on the ship, so they came out of their cabins to the deck, exchanged pleasantries with each other, and secretly noted down the sects they were participating in the competition with, making comparisons with their opponents in their minds.
Although not as luxurious and grand as the Hongqi Sect's spirit ship, almost every sect that can sail here has its own spirit ship, which is distinctive and easy to recognize. On the contrary, the ordinary Dingsheng Sect's passenger ship is somewhat eye-catching among them.
"The flag is decorated with a pattern of five peaks and two rivers, which is definitely the Dingsheng Sect."
"There's no smoke without fire. The rumors are true. Dingsheng Sect is indeed participating in this competition."
"No way? Our sect came here aiming for the top ten."
"It has been in decline for three hundred years and has no future. What is there to worry about?"
The sea breeze carried the lively discussions of various sects, and Ji Mingran couldn't help but wonder: "Why are they surprised and a little nervous about our participation in the competition?" Their gazes toward them were also wary.
Shen Qingluo: "It's because he's so strong that people are wary of him."
“That’s right.” Guan Wangzhen said proudly, “Moreover, back then, as long as Dingsheng Sect participated in the competition, they never fell out of the top three, and once won the championship for three consecutive sessions, a record that has not been broken to this day.”
Ji Mingran: "What happens after you quit?"
"Dingsheng Sect withdrew from the Spiritual Cultivation Competition for three hundred years. During that time, the competition was held four times, and Hongqi Sect won the championship three times and was consecutively awarded the title twice. If they win the championship again this time, Hongqi Sect will undoubtedly be the leader of the new Daoist sects among the top ten cultivators." Before Dingsheng Sect withdrew, it was ranked first among the Daoist sects. Now, Hongqi Sect, which was previously at the bottom, has risen to the top. The decline of his own sect contrasts with the rise of other sects. As he spoke, Zhu Shibai also felt a little sad.
"Three consecutive championships, two in a row?" Ji Mingran's focus was different from Zhu Shibai's: "Which sect interrupted their dream of a three-peat?"
“The Unnamed Sect.” Guan Wangzhen was completely unconcerned about the success of the Hongqi Sect, but he knew its failure like the back of his hand: “It is a reclusive ancient sect in Lingzhou. For some reason, more than two hundred years ago, it unusually sent its disciples to participate in the Grand Competition and directly won the championship, becoming the most prominent sect.”
“I know, I know,” Jin Yu interjected. “I heard from the elders in my family that the disciple of the Nameless Sect who led the sect to victory was only thirteen years old at the time. He obtained the Divine Sword Hidden Life in the competition. He showed his talent during the competition and reached the Great Ascension Realm in less than a hundred years. He was a genius among geniuses.” She clicked her tongue. “No wonder he got the Divine Sword. I heard it was an extremely beautiful sword.”
Ji Mingran was always more interested in the strong: "Oh? He was already at the Mahayana stage before Senior Brother Sanyang. How is this genius among geniuses doing now?"
Jinlu picked up where her sister left off, saying, "I heard that he later changed completely, as if he had become possessed by a demon. He almost wiped out the Nameless Sect and was later punished by the Ten Cultivators of the Dao Sect. The Nameless Sect rarely appeared in the world, and after suffering this calamity, it disappeared without a trace."
"Alas." Guan Wangzhen felt regretful. "If the Buming Sect had been more active for a few more years, the Hongqi Sect wouldn't have had to win the title again."
"Anyway," Ji Mingran said, resting his chin on his hand and leaning against the side of the ship, his gaze meeting the scrutinizing eyes as he smiled, "we'll take over and shatter Hongqizong's dream of consecutive reigns."
Her gaze was open and unwavering, meeting his eyes without flinching. The cultivator who had been secretly observing her felt uneasy and silently looked away.
At the ferry crossing, the disciples of the Hongqi Sect registered the spirit boats one by one, directed them to docking, and led the cultivators from various sects to their resting places.
Now it's the turn of a uniquely shaped boat. This boat is simply made up of ten rafts connected together, with one person sitting on each raft. There is a pole standing upright on the raft in the very center, with an unmarked gray cloth strip hanging on the pole. A child of eleven or twelve years old is kneeling in front of the pole.
The child had a delicate and refined appearance, with his hair tied up in a bun, and a tuft of yellow hair sticking up on his forehead, which was quite eye-catching.
The strange "ship" and the eye-catching child drew the attention of various factions back to the ship.
The handsome child's eyes darted around, scanning the surroundings. Noticing that his family's raft was attracting a lot of attention, his face flushed red, and his eyes blazed with fury as he yelled, "What are you looking at! Haven't you ever seen a raft before?! Look again and I'll gouge out your eyes one by one and throw you in dog poop! I'll xxxxx!!"
The child, whose personality was completely opposite to his appearance, kept swearing. The Hongqi Sect disciple who happened to be standing in front of him was the first to be scolded. He was stunned for a long time before he finally came to his senses and asked, "I am, I am Mu Huanhui, a disciple of the Hongqi Sect. I have come to greet you. May I ask which sect you belong to and how you should be addressed?"
The child then stopped, regained his previous tranquil demeanor, and sat upright under the flag, saying, "Unnamed Sect, Ji Xingyang."
"Unnamed Sect." Ji Mingran raised an eyebrow, exchanging surprised glances with his fellow disciple.
Didn't we just say that they were wiped out a hundred years ago?
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