091. The Sect

Lan Muyang led the many disciples aboard a flying vessel and set out from Ringing Isles, flying for a full three days.

The other seven major sects did the same, and several of them even sent along Core Formation cultivators. Ling Yu felt that this must have had something to do with what had happened inside the great formation, but for now she was only an ordinary junior disciple and had no standing to take part in such matters. So there was no need to think too much about it; in any case, it had little to do with her.

With that thought, Ling Yu leisurely took in the scenery of the Starshatter Sea.

From the flying vessel, the Starshatter Sea was especially beautiful. Beneath the clear sky, the ocean lay calm and deep blue, while islands of every size and shape were scattered everywhere like stars, resting quietly upon a length of blue silk, a sight pleasing to the eye.

"Junior Sister Cheng seems to enjoy looking at the scenery?"

A familiar voice sounded by her ear.

Ling Yu turned and saw He Xiaoshi standing beside her, smiling gently.

This Senior Sister He enjoyed the favor of Uncle-Master Fu and held some standing in Taibai Sect. Ling Yu had once thought that if given the chance, she must cultivate a good relationship with her. Unfortunately, as a newly admitted junior disciple, she had no opportunity to strike up a conversation. Now that Senior Sister He had come to her on her own, how could she possibly let the chance slip by?

"Does Senior Sister He also think the scenery of the Starshatter Sea is beautiful?"

He Xiaoshi nodded lightly and gazed into the distance. "In Lingcang, you won't see such sights. It makes one feel broader of mind as well."

Lingcang... Thinking of that place she was about to enter, Ling Yu was filled with longing. Major sects, countless cultivators, ascending to the heavens and descending into the earth, riding swords and flying like immortals.

"Senior Sister He, what kind of place is Lingcang?"

"Hmm... Lingcang is very, very vast, much larger than the Starshatter Sea Region, with spiritual veins spread widely and cultivators in great abundance. Our Taibai Sect is located on Taibai Mountain in the center. The entire mountain range stretches for thousands of miles, with dozens of sects large and small established there, and ours is the largest one..." He Xiaoshi was a fine person to talk to. From Lingcang to Taibai Sect, and then from Taibai Sect to the other major sects, the conversation naturally broadened, with local customs, traditions, and interesting anecdotes all flowing from her lips with ease.

After talking for most of the day, they finally saw a large island ahead, and He Xiaoshi smiled. "We've arrived at our destination."

Ling Yu stared at the island below in confusion. "Have we already left the Starshatter Sea Region?" It certainly didn't look like it.

"Of course not. By flying vessel alone, it would take at least several months to reach Lingcang from the Starshatter Sea Region," He Xiaoshi said. "So we’re going to Spirit Pivot Island and leaving through a teleportation array."

A teleportation array! Ling Yu had heard of it before: a formation capable of instantly sending people thousands of miles away, profound and wondrous. Throughout the entire Vast Dark Realm, only some major sects and great powers knew how to set one up.

"If there’s a teleportation array, why don’t we just teleport directly from Feilian City?"

He Xiaoshi laughed. "If you can teleport from Feilian City, then others can also teleport into Feilian City. If the Starshatter Immortal Alliance were to set up teleportation arrays right under its own nose, would that not be like opening a path for others beside its very bed? The same goes for the major sects of Lingcang; they would never place a teleportation array directly inside the sect gates. Otherwise, if the array were ever controlled by others, the sect would be no different from a fortress already breached."

Ling Yu suddenly understood. "So that's how it is. If not for Senior Sister He's guidance, I would never have known that the location of a teleportation array is so important. I have learned much."

He Xiaoshi was very satisfied with her attitude. The reason she had made friendly overtures to Ling Yu was because Fu Changchun had mentioned that Ling Yu's constitution was very similar to Ancestor Lan's, and her chances of advancing were higher than other people's. Ancestor Lan was already a Core Formation true person, and Ling Yu also had a strong chance of forming a core. Of course she had to win over such a promising person early!

Upon arriving at Spirit Pivot Island, disciples from the various sects disembarked from the flying vessels and were arranged for teleportation.

"Ten per group, no crowding!" Several hundred people packed into the teleportation hall of Spirit Pivot Island, instantly filling it to the brim.

Every qi refining disciple who teleported would be issued a talisman. The power of a teleportation array spanning ten thousand miles was far too immense; qi refining disciples could not withstand it and needed a talisman to protect themselves.

The same applied to the Heaven Punishing Gate and the Nether Palace, though the Foundation Establishment cultivators overseeing them were no longer the same two as before.

Soon it was Taibai Sect's turn. Ling Yu squeezed into a group of ten, pressed her talisman in place, and the array activated.

The sensation of teleportation was somewhat like the day she entered the great formation, only the tearing force was greater. From body to meridians, everything was suppressed by a powerful force. Without the talisman's protection, by the time the teleportation ended her meridians would certainly have burst and she would have suffered severe injuries.

When the white light of the teleportation array faded, Ling Yu had already arrived at Ning'an City in southern Lingcang.

Once in Ning'an City, the sects would part ways.

The farthest away were the Heaven Punishing Gate and the Netherworld Cult, whose mountain gates stood by the icy lake in the far north of Lingcang. Next were the Supreme Intent Sect and the Violet Firmament Sword Sect, both in the west. Closest were the Crimson Glow Palace and the Nether Palace, whose sect grounds lay to the south, while Taibai Sect and Compassionate Insight Temple were in the middle, quite near one another.

Ling Yu found an opportunity to bid farewell to Luo Yun. Taibai Sect and the Violet Firmament Sword Sect were not close, and by the pace of qi refining disciples it would take at least several months to travel there. They had entered the sect for the sake of drawing nearer to the immortal path, and likely would not be going out any time soon.

Afterward, the major sects arranged teleportation once more.

When she emerged again from the teleportation array, Ling Yu saw a fairy city even more magnificent than Feilian City. Staring at it in speechless awe, she had once thought that after seeing Feilian City, she was no longer a country bumpkin. Only now did she realize she had merely gone from a big bumpkin to a smaller bumpkin.

This fairy city was called Cloud-Topping City, the nearest fairy city to Taibai Sect and Compassionate Insight Temple. Its population numbered in the millions, and it was one of Lingcang's great cities.

Looking at this grand city, Ling Yu blurted out, "With such a fairy city, why would the major sects need to go to the Starshatter Sea Region to recruit disciples?"

Not far from her, He Xiaoshi smiled. "Junior Sister Cheng really is clever. Disciples from the Dream Marsh and the Starshatter Sea Region together account for only one to two tenths."

Ling Yu did the math on her fingers and was astonished. "So the sect has so many disciples!"

Every ten years, Taibai Sect would probably recruit about a hundred disciples from the Starshatter Sea Region. Presumably the Dream Marsh was much the same. If those two regions together accounted for only one to two tenths, then the total number of disciples recruited each time would be over a thousand. A thousand disciples every ten years—wouldn't that be ten thousand in a hundred years? Even if some fell along the way, qi refining disciples lived more than a hundred years. By that measure, Taibai Sect's qi refining disciples numbered well over ten thousand!

He Xiaoshi waved a hand and said calmly, "Junior Sister Cheng may not know this, but disciples within our sect also marry and have children. If their descendants have acceptable aptitude, they are all brought into the sect. So the number of disciples is probably even greater than Junior Sister Cheng imagines."

Ling Yu was stunned once again, inwardly sighing that if she wanted to shed the air of a bumpkin, she would need to see even more of the world.

Thinking of it carefully, there was nothing strange about it. Even a single Feilian City had nearly ten thousand Foundation Establishment cultivators; what was so odd about a major sect having tens of thousands of disciples?

That day, the flying vessel set out again from Cloud-Topping City, and this time it would go straight to the Taibai Sect mountain gates.

A day later, the vessel landed halfway up Taibai Mountain, and Lan Muyang led the disciples down.

The Taibai Sect mountain gates were exactly the same as those seen in the trial, only in person they were even more imposing and transcendent.

Disciples came and went all around, immortal cranes fluttered through the air, and spirit beasts played at ease, making the place full of vitality.

"Very well, you may all go and make your arrangements. I still must go report to the sect master."

Fu Changchun and the other disciples bowed their heads and cupped their hands. "We respectfully see off Uncle-Master Lan."

Lan Muyang waved a hand and left on his own.

Fu Changchun led the disciples to verify their tokens and enter the sect, then turned directly into the great hall beside the sect grounds, which was the Steward Hall they had seen during the trial.

"Take out your convention tokens and exchange them for disciple tokens." Fu Changchun gave a reminder and handed the roster to the steward of the hall.

The steward called each person in order, collected the convention tokens, left a true essence imprint, and issued disciple tokens.

After that came arrangements for lodging, distribution of miscellaneous items, and other such tasks. By the time everything was finished, it was already evening.

Ling Yu and the other female disciples were sent to a somewhat secluded peak and settled in.

This peak was called Moon-Bearing Peak, and all the residents were female disciples. At the best spiritual-vein location near the summit lived more than a dozen Foundation Establishment female cultivators, and below them were several hundred qi refining junior female disciples.

In terms of scale, Moon-Bearing Peak ranked nowhere near the top within Taibai Sect, and its spiritual veins were not considered good either. It was far inferior to the peaks guarded by Nascent Soul cultivators, and there was not even a single Core Formation cultivator there.

Still, Ling Yu was already very satisfied. However poor Moon-Bearing Peak's spiritual veins might be, they were certainly better than where she had lived in Feilian City. Besides, fewer people meant more space, more room to live comfortably, and more spiritual energy to share.

He Xiaoshi brought these female disciples to Moon-Bearing Peak and told them directly to choose any house they liked halfway up the mountain, then report to the steward office of Moon-Bearing Peak. If they were dissatisfied, that was fine too—they could simply find a place and build a house themselves. Of course, most newly admitted disciples would not do that; they would just pick one.

Moon-Bearing Peak specialized in all kinds of bamboo, and the houses built there were all bamboo dwellings. Ling Yu chose one that looked fairly neat and would not need much repair, then moved in.

To her surprise, there were even two servant slots available, though the servants' food and lodging had to be handled at their own expense, with no responsibility taken by the sect.

Ling Yu simply went to ask whether her spirit pet could count as one of the servants. The steward of Moon-Bearing Peak, upon seeing A Bi, was startled. Beings with low cultivation who had already taken human form were quite rare. There were only a few such creatures in Taibai Sect, and those were all spirit pets of Core Formation cultivators. However, the sect rules did not say that qi refining disciples could not bring along transformed spirit pets.

Ling Yu was not worried about others coveting A Bi. That foolish demon was practically useless except for being somewhat decent at cooking. Who would covet her? Keeping such a foolish demon as a spirit pet was not as good as simply finding a servant; at least a servant would be respectful and would not cause trouble.

The steward office readily approved it, and A Bi successfully received a servant token. That carefree fool, once she arrived at Taibai Sect, did not miss Feilian City at all. Especially after she discovered that Moon-Bearing Peak had moonlight stones as a specialty...