Chapter 671 - 509: Star-Picking Initiation
The Void-Soaring and Distant-Guarding Divine Ship sped across the sky, with the myriad of landscapes on the ground rapidly receding—mountains, rivers, peaks draped in lush greenery—all sights unseen before. The Spirit Seedlings, still mere children, were excited beyond measure, chattering ceaselessly.
Only Wei Zhaixing stood alone by the ship’s railing, quietly observing the landscape below, silently verifying it against what his master had taught him.
After passing Lingsha River and heading north, we first encountered several Qi Cultivation Sects on First-Level Spiritual Veins.
The Yunshan Sect enforces a strict peace policy prohibiting subordinate sects from launching attacks on their own; even Qi Cultivation Minor Sects are directly incorporated as vassal sects.
However, among the twenty-two Qi Cultivation Minor Sects within the Yunshan Sect’s territory, eight originally had vassal relations, and there were no changes made. Therefore, Yunshan Sect currently possesses a total of fourteen vassal Qi Cultivation Sects.
The teacher said that our sect has been based at Minglong Mountain for twenty years, enjoying a long period of peace, allowing the subordinate sects to recuperate and thrive. It’s very likely that these Qi Cultivation Minor Sects will soon have cultivators breaking through to Foundation Establishment.
Besides these Qi Cultivation Minor Sects, Yunshan Sect has two partner Foundation Establishment Sects and three subordinate Foundation Establishment Sects. Except for the Zhou Family, which has two Foundation Establishment cultivators, the other five sects each have one.
But according to the Spiritual Root’s average cultivation speed, population size, and Spirit Seedling growth, they are reaching the point where the number of Foundation Establishment Feather Scholars will increase.
Oh, just ahead, it’s the Treasure Pavilion of Yongcui Valley?
There’s only over a two hundred li distance left to Minglong Mountain.
The Treasure Pavilion sells high-end treasures. By logic, with high selling prices, the profits should also be high. But my teacher mentioned that the net profit here is instead the lowest among the three marketplaces we oversee.
Why is that?
Just then, seeing that it was only half an hour to reach Minglong Mountain, the cultivators responsible for guidance and protection no longer let the children giggle and frolic; they ordered everyone to gather for an announcement.
The Spirit Seedlings’ enlightenment includes simple collective actions. Now, upon receiving the command, these children, barely eight or nine years old on average, were already able to gather quickly, forming an imperfect square.
The leading cultivator nodded in satisfaction, gesturing with his hand, "Look to the left!"
The Spirit Seedlings turned their heads, and there stood a vast, towering mountain range, piercing the clouds.
He gestured to the right, "Look to the right!"
The little ones exclaimed and turned their heads to the right.
There lay a vast expanse of unspoiled forest, dense and verdant, stretching to meet the sky and blend with its azure.
The cultivator spread both hands, drawing a circle in the air.
"Above and below, left and right, north, south, east, west—everything you see now is the territory of our Yunshan Sect!"
"Our sect stretches across Zhongming and Sanshan counties, from the southern Shuangye Square to Minglong Mountain in the north, reaching the desert in the east and Xinghu in the west, spanning an area of 1,300 li with 137 county cities and a population of 24 million, all our Yunshan paradise!"
This filled his fellow sect members with unbidden pride, standing tall with chests out, basking in honor. Yet the little ones, their eyes wide and faces blank, looked at him, making his face fall, feeling utterly defeated.
Ahh, enough, he shouldn’t be talking about such profound matters with these little ones; how could they possibly understand?
Just at this moment, applause broke out—it was Wei Zhaixing, visibly stirred, clapping his hands enthusiastically.
The cultivator looked up, his heart filled with great relief.
"Zhaixing," he chuckled, "it looks like you understand?"
Wei Zhaixing nodded, "The teacher also mentioned this in class, saying it’s the overall domain range of our Yunshan Sect. But if we only consider the directly governed territories, we possess Spiritual Veins like Minglong Mountain, Lingsha City, New Castle, Yongcui Valley, Qingli Mountain, Liuhua Valley, and have direct control over 72 county cities, with a population of over 1.2 million, capable of producing 34 or 35 Spirit Seedlings annually!"
Hearing this, several cultivators looked at him in amazement, recognizing that this far exceeded the typical cognitive level of a child. Truly a remarkable prodigy, his emergence perhaps signaling the rise of our sect’s fortune again?
Among them, their attitude towards Wei Zhaixing changed noticeably, no longer treating him as a mere child.
In the blink of an eye, the half hour passed, and under expectant gazes, a range of majestic and winding mountains, shrouded in mist, appeared before them.
Minglong Mountain, with its undulating terrain, stretched over hundreds of li, resembling a giant dragon at rest amidst the swirling clouds.
"This Minglong Mountain range consists primarily of four peaks: Dragon Head Peak, Dragon Claw Peak, Dragon Ridge Peak, and Dragon Tail Peak. Our sect’s core is located on Dragon Head Peak."
"Having been established at Minglong Mountain for twenty years, our sect now has 850 disciples, of which 340 are Inner Sect Disciples. You must strive diligently to enter the Inner Sect as soon as possible."
As they drew closer, they could see a massive array within the fog that covered the peaks, its white, blue, black, red, and yellow lights enclosing most of Minglong Mountain, including Dragon Head Peak and Dragon Claw Peak, surpassing even the grand array of Lingsha City in scale.
The children were in awe, rendered speechless by the mesmerizing sight.
The Divine Ship headed directly toward Dragon Head Peak, approaching the grand array, where two Flying Ships came forward to greet them—one of the patrol teams stationed at Minglong Mountain.
"Master Nephew, I am Hao Qiuguang, assigned to escort the Spirit Seedlings back now."
"Greetings, Junior Martial Uncle Hao." The leading Inner Sect Bing-Class Disciple gave a salute, showing no sign of relaxing, "I must first perform a routine inspection of the ship, I beg for your understanding, Martial Uncle."
Hao Qiuguang nodded, and the Divine Ship stopped before the grand array. The patrol team boarded the Divine Ship, carefully checking it, and after confirming the cultivators and Spirit Seedlings onboard, they waved them through.