Top-Tier Perception Starts From Basic Fist Techniques

Lu Changsheng stood in the air.

He had achieved his objective. The spirit stone vein was now in his possession, allowing him to establish the foundation of what would hopefully become a vast faction. Whether a faction possessed a spirit stone vein or not made all the difference.

Only if that condition was met could one truly hope to establish a great faction with an enduring legacy, with countless experts emerging in endless succession, growing infinitely prosperous. Without a spirit stone vein, a faction might flourish for a time, but as the years went by it would slowly decline, never to recover its former glory.

Lu Changsheng looked down at the many Divine Ability martial artists and Golden Core True Ones below, then took a deep breath.

"I, Lu Changsheng, hereby establish the Sacred Earth Heavenly Sect! This new sect urgently requires experts to anchor it. Any Divine Ability martial artist or Golden Core True One willing to join the Sacred Earth Heavenly Sect shall be made a Supreme Elder, with every privilege equal to the master of the sect. This offer stands only for one month from now. After that, whoever joins can be no more than a Guest Elder."

Lu Changsheng's voice rolled mightily in every direction, and at once the countless martial artists of the Myriad Sword Manor were thrown into an uproar.

"What, Venerable Lu wants to found a sect?"

"No wonder Venerable Lu was so set on challenging Sword Venerable Chen Peng and seizing the spirit stone vein. So his objective was founding a sect all along. With Venerable Lu anchoring it, the sect's prospects are boundless. From its very founding it may well leap at once to become a supreme faction of the Heavenly Sacred City."

"Indeed. Of the Heavenly Sacred City's eight supreme factions, the top three are each anchored by a Martial Saint, but the lower five have no Martial Saint, only Martial Venerables, and whether those Martial Venerables are genuine is hard to say. However, this Sacred Earth Heavenly Sect will start off with a genuine, supreme Martial Venerable, so its prospects are boundless!"

"Rogue cultivators among the Divine Ability martial artists and Golden Core True Ones are rather few, but not unheard of. Though they too can join a supreme faction, they only ever hold the standing of Guest Elder; becoming a Supreme Elder is simply impossible for them. The newly founded Sacred Earth Heavenly Sect is indeed a valuable opportunity."

"A most valuable opportunity, indeed. But once you become a Supreme Elder, you'll be bound to the sect. You'll rise, or fall, with the sect."

"Unsurprisingly, Venerable Lu is eager to recruit talented people. So you can become a Supreme Elder within the Sacred Earth Heavenly Sect if you join within a month... I don't know..."

Many felt their eyes light up, yet more had their misgivings about this. Taking up Lu Changsheng's offer meant being completely bound by him, and no one could be certain about the sect's future. What if some disaster befell Lu Changsheng's sect? Sure, he seemed unstoppable at the moment, and his future appeared most promising, but ultimately, anything could happen in the Sacred Earth.

At this point, Lu Changsheng had become too much of a high-profile person. As a supreme genius, Lu Changsheng was bound to walk an unforeseeable path, and should he trip along the way, his Sacred Earth Heavenly Sect could be in deep trouble.

Regardless, some people had faith in Lu Changsheng. What if he actually became a Martial Saint? Then the sect could flourish for a thousand years, perhaps even become a Martial Saint's orthodoxy.

Ultimately, whether to join his sect came down to everyone's own choice.

Lu Changsheng, for his part, was in no urgent hurry. He had aside an entire month to recruit the best of the best, knowing full well that the Sacred Earth Heavenly Sect could not rest on him alone, nor even on the seven Divine Ability cultivators of the Ancient Region Heavenly Sect.

That number of experts wouldn't suffice. It would be considerably difficult to gain a firm footing as a supreme faction of the Heavenly Sacred City without several dozen Divine Ability martial artists.

Lu Changsheng's offer to make anyone who joined the sect within a month a Supreme Elder showed just how desperately he needed competent individuals. Those who took the offer would forever be part of the sect's core. Then, over several centuries, the Sacred Earth Heavenly Sect would gradually nurture more disciples, and naturally, in time, it would take firm root in the Heavenly Sacred City.

"Manor Lord Chen, take me to the spirit stone vein. Today, have the people of the Myriad Sword Manor depart," Lu Changsheng instructed calmly.

He was not going to waste a single moment; he wanted to take possession of the spirit stone vein at once. After all, the sooner he started using it, the more spirit stones it would yield.

"Very well, I shall take you there myself." Chen An drew a deep breath, holding back the fury in his heart.

By killing Chen Peng, Lu Changsheng had made himself a mortal enemy of the Myriad Sword Manor. And yet, Chen An had no choice but to turn the other cheek and swallow all those harsh words he desperately wanted to spit in Lu Changsheng's face. After all, Chen An understood all too well that the Myriad Sword Manor was in a most precarious situation, at its very weakest. One misstep could bring about total ruination.

From this day forward, the Myriad Sword Manor had to keep an extremely low profile, to lie dormant for decades, perhaps even centuries, until it once again produced a Martial Venerable. Only then would the Myriad Sword Manor rise anew.

For now, however, the manor would simply keep quiet and satisfy Lu Changsheng's demands as best it could. Survival had become the manor's only goal.

After Lu Changsheng had left, the Myriad Sword Manor closed its doors to guests, and the crowd dispersed quickly. This battle had made everyone aware of Lu Changsheng, and more so of the sect he had founded, the Sacred Earth Heavenly Sect.

From now on, there would no longer be eight supreme factions but nine. And if the Myriad Sword Manor kept its doors closed and lay dormant, it might even cease to be a supreme faction of the Heavenly Sacred City.

Soon, Lu Changsheng arrived above the Myriad Sword Manor's spirit stone vein.

"The spirit stone vein is here. There are people of the Myriad Sword Manor below, and I will have them withdraw in stages," the manor lord said in a low voice.

Lu Changsheng quickly sensed that there was indeed a spirit stone vein within the mountain range below—one of quite fine quality, no less.

"Have them all stop and leave at once," he instructed.

Chen An nodded and sent a voice transmission at once. "Everyone in the spirit stone vein, do not take a single spirit stone. Leave the spirit stone vein at once..."

His voice echoed through the mountains, and in an instant, countless people raised their heads to look at the sky.

"What's going on? Why is the manor lord telling us to leave the spirit stone vein? Are we not supposed to take any stones with us?"

"What? The Myriad Sword Manor's Sword Venerable Chen Peng lost to Lu Changsheng? Chen Peng is dead, and the spirit stone vein now belongs to Lu Changsheng...?"

"No way... How could the Sword Venerable lose?"

"This spirit stone vein is the lifeblood of the Myriad Sword Manor. We can't just hand it over..."

Many of the people within the vein could not accept the fact of surrendering it to another. In fact, some were openly defying Chen An's order, unwilling to leave, while others secretly tried to carry off a few spirit stones.

Unbeknownst to the people of the manor, their attitude was plain as day to Lu Changsheng's senses, and he was not about to indulge them. The spirit stone vein was now his, and no one was to take another spirit stone from it.

Rumble!

Lu Changsheng unleashed his Mind Space—just his Mind Space, without the divine ability. After all, being in the Divine Ability Realm, his Mind Space alone was also tremendously powerful. .

Within this spirit stone vein, only two Divine Ability experts had stood guard, and those two Divine Ability martial artists had each received a separate voice transmission from Chen An.

Having already accepted the truth, they had by now left the vein. And so, with no Divine Ability martial artist remaining to anchor it, the moment Lu Changsheng's Mind Space descended upon everyone within the spirit stone vein, it was all but a devastating blow.

"Aah, what is this?!"

"It's... someone's Mind Space! I'm being crushed by it!"

"What's going on? Where are our Divine Ability elders?"

"Nooo!"

Lu Changsheng's Mind Space crushed everyone who had tried to make off with his spirit stones.

Then, the rest he simply bound with his Mind Space and shifted out of the spirit stone vein.

"Any who set foot within ten zhang of the spirit stone vein again will be slain without mercy!"

Gazing at the spirit stone vein enveloped by the Mind Space, the martial artists of the Myriad Sword Manor standing ten zhang away wore looks of utter terror. Many of them had just died, all crushed in an instant by the Mind Space, without the slightest power to resist.

"Lu Changsheng... He's the very Lu Changsheng who killed the Sword Venerable..."

Knowing it was Lu Changsheng who had acted, these people, however loath they were to give up the spirit stone vein, dared not linger now. They turned and fled at once, leaving the spirit stones behind.

About an hour later, not a single person remained near the spirit stone vein, leaving only Lu Changsheng and Chen An in the air.