chsdbacks Chapter 254: Setting Sail
Chapter 254: Setting Sail
"hateful!"
"It's just a dilapidated sect that's only just established itself, how could it possibly have a semi-spiritual artifact? They probably got incredibly lucky and dug it out of some ancient tomb..."
At the Qingniu Sect's temporary encampment, what should have been a lively lunchtime was now eerily quiet. A group of Qingniu Sect disciples sat together, silently gnawing on their roasted meat, none daring to speak loudly.
Sitting in the main seat was Xu Hao, whose face was so gloomy it could drip water. He was holding a roasted, charred, and oily monster hind leg in his hand, but he had no appetite at all. His knuckles were so clenched that they turned white and even cracked.
These cultivators in the Body Refinement Realm were at a stage where they needed to hone their bodies with a large amount of blood and flesh essence. Normally, they could eat half a demon beast in one meal, and even if they had just eaten that morning, they should be wolfing it down now. Not to mention that when Long Zuo joined the sect this morning, Xu Hao was in a hurry to curry favor and specially had someone bring out a lot of treasured demon beast meat, making quite a show of it.
But now, under the warm sun, the disciples are sitting together, but Long Zuo, who should be the center of attention, is nowhere to be seen.
An inner disciple cautiously approached Xu Hao and whispered, "Senior Brother Xu, that person is, after all, a direct descendant of the Long family. Are we really going to just leave him hanging like this?"
Xu Hao, with a bit of meat still stuck to the corner of his mouth, glanced at him coldly upon hearing this. The ruthlessness in his eyes frightened the disciple so much that he immediately shrank back, not daring to utter another word.
"Hmph, what's the panic?" Xu Hao spat out the bone fragments in his mouth and said in a gloomy voice, "I've already found out. It's true that Long Zuo is a direct descendant of the Long family, but his parents were expelled from the family long ago for violating the family rules and had their cultivation crippled. He's just an outcast who was kicked out of the Long family, with absolutely no background."
Upon hearing this, the surrounding disciples immediately stirred, and the fawning and fear they had shown in each other's eyes were much less pronounced.
"No wonder. I knew he was a highly regarded direct descendant of the Long family. Why would he voluntarily come to our Green Ox Sect?" someone muttered.
Although it's unpleasant to hear, it hits the nail on the head.
The overall strength of the Long family is comparable to that of the Qingniu Sect, or even on par. However, a family and a sect are never the same thing.
The disciples of the sect come from all over the country, with various forces behind them. Most of them are just there to collect resources and learn cultivation techniques. Apart from a few favored personal disciples who are deeply bound to the sect, the vast majority of inner and outer disciples only rely on completing sect tasks to exchange for cultivation resources. When the sect faces the crisis of annihilation, no one will be there to share life and death with them.
But families are different. Blood ties are the strongest bond, and when faced with the threat of extinction, everyone will unite as one and fight to the death for a way to survive. This is why, in the Thousand Mountains region, families of equal strength have always held a higher status than sects.
When choosing a sect, family disciples always choose one that is stronger than their own family.
Having figured this out, the Green Ox Sect members' initial awe of Long Zuo vanished instantly. Since he was a discarded pawn without any backing, there were naturally no resources or benefits that could tempt them.
On a large blue stone in the corner of the camp, Long Zuo sat alone, clutching a piece of dry, hard jerky in his hand.
The jerky had been sitting for too long and was as hard as a rock. Biting into it made his gums ache, but he seemed oblivious, tearing at it bite by bite, as if he were biting into the bones of Xu Hao and Dongfang Shuyi, not jerky.
His eyes were bloodshot, his cheeks bulged from clenching his teeth, and a torrent of rage and resentment surged within him: "Damn it! The damned Green Ox Sect! The damned Yin Yang Sword Sect! The damned bastards!"
"You all just wait! Once I've mastered the Evil Nether Technique, I'll drain all your cultivation, leaving you wishing you were dead!"
……
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye, and the grand recruitment conference for disciples of the Thousand Mountains and Hundred Sects finally came to a close.
Ever since the day the semi-spiritual artifact appeared, scaring away the Green Ox Sect and intimidating all the surrounding sects that were eyeing it covetously, no one has dared to come to the Yin Yang Sword Sect to cause trouble.
On the contrary, as the news of "the sect master of the Divine Realm presiding over the sect", "half-spiritual artifacts at one's side", and "zero threshold for learning auxiliary cultivation" spread, more and more female cultivators came from all directions, scrambling to join the Yin Yang Sword Sect.
When the final headcount was taken, Dongfang Shuyi was both surprised and delighted—not only had they successfully completed the target of 500 people set by Zhang Ping, but they had even exceeded the target by 300 people.
This was after they tightened the selection criteria because there were so many applicants. If they had followed the initial lenient requirements, the number would have at least doubled!
"Miss Dongfang, you are truly remarkable. It seems that most of the most beautiful female cultivators in the Thousand Mountains region have joined your Yin Yang Sword Sect. Your sect's future is limitless!"
A hearty laugh rang out as a middle-aged cultivator in white robes, accompanied by his disciples, passed by the Yin Yang Sword Sect's headquarters. He stopped and smiled, cupping his hands in a gesture of appreciation.
"Fellow Daoist Feng is too kind." Dongfang Shuyi returned the greeting with a smile, responding calmly. "Our Yin Yang Sword Sect has only recruited eight hundred disciples, while the number of female cultivators in the Thousand Mountains region is well over a million. How can we say that they are the majority?"
Feng Xingyu smiled and shook his head, saying nothing more, but his eyes were full of understanding.
His sect, the Wind Dao Sect, primarily cultivates wind-attribute techniques and secondarily focuses on formations. It consistently ranks seventy-third among the sects in the Thousand Mountains region, making it a respectable sect. The Wind Dao Sect's headquarters were originally not close to the Yin Yang Sword Sect. The reason he was able to strike up a conversation with Dongfang Shuyi was because he had heard about the semi-spiritual artifact and made a special trip to meet him.
"In my opinion, the benefits and treatment your sect provides to its disciples are among the best in the entire Thousand Mountains region," Feng Xingyu said meaningfully, then smiled and waved his hand before turning and heading down the mountain with the disciples he had recruited.
His back view was dashing, and he had only taken a few steps when many familiar sect cultivators took the initiative to come up and greet him, proving that he was indeed known for having a wide circle of friends.
"This Feng Xingyu is indeed very shrewd and has friends all over the world." Wu Tianyu walked up to Dongfang Shuyi at some point, crossed his arms, and looked at Feng Xingyu's back as he spoke softly.
Dongfang Shuyi nodded without replying, then turned to look at the eight hundred female cultivators standing neatly behind her. They filled the large encampment to the brim, their eyes filled with anticipation and longing.
Dongfang Shuyi spoke, her voice clear and melodious, reaching everyone's ears: "Junior sisters, pack your belongings and come with me down the mountain to the Baidu River. We will take a boat from the Baidu River back to the sect!"
Finally, it's time to go to the sect!
Finally, we're going to the legendary Yin Yang Sword Sect!
The girls instantly erupted in excitement, their eyes shining brightly with anticipation. They were eager to see what the sect they had chosen, risking their futures, was really like.
In the long years to come, they will cultivate themselves here, grow here, and perhaps some will dedicate their entire lives to this place. This will be their second home on this vast Penglai Plain.
For those wandering cultivators who came from all over the world, without any support, this place was their first real foothold in this dog-eat-dog world of cultivation.
Standing at the back of the crowd, Jiang Qingya gazed at the bustling throng ahead, her eyes unfocused. Her hands, hidden beneath her robes, unconsciously clenched her sleeves, her fingertips trembling slightly. She couldn't quite tell if her heart was filled with trepidation or anticipation.