Immortal Refiner

In the blink of an eye, several months had passed. Within this brief span, the former mountain gate of the Shangqing Sect had been completely transformed, reborn anew.

No, it should now be called the mountain gate of the Lingyun Sect!

With the combined efforts of hundreds of sect members and the support of various cultivation clans from the outside world, majestic, ethereal structures now stood once more, their immortal aura permeating the air. Not a trace remained of the ruins that had once scarred this sacred ground.

During this period, news of the Shangqing Sect’s destruction had spread throughout the Azure Ridge Domain, reaching the ears of cultivators both great and small.

The Azure Ridge Domain had undergone a seismic shift!

Atop an isolated spirit peak deep within the Lingyun Sect’s mountain gate, Li Qing stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing down at the sect’s sprawling landscape.

Immortal peaks pierced the heavens, shrouded in swirling mists. In the distance, the sea roared against the shore, while the air thrummed with abundant spiritual energy—a true cultivation paradise coveted by all cultivators.

”The final Hall of Technique Transmission is complete,” Li Qing murmured to himself. ”From now on, this will be the Lingyun Sect’s mountain gate.”

Yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing.

The mountain gate was vast, covering a sprawling territory, but it felt sparsely populated, leaving the place feeling too empty.

It made sense. Having weathered a calamity, the newly established Lingyun Sect comprised only a few hundred members at most.

”Ah, we should choose an auspicious day to formally hold the founding ceremony. We can also use this opportunity to host an ascension conference.”

This wasn’t just for show; it was a necessity.

Consider this: even a cultivator who successfully forms their core holds a Core Formation Ceremony. How much more essential, then, is a founding ceremony for a cultivation sect?

Lingyun Sect now dominated the entire Azure Ridge Domain. Apart from the vast, sparsely populated Grasslands, no other immortal dao faction could rival its power.

Calling it the true supreme authority would be no exaggeration.

To govern the entire Azure Ridge Domain and monopolize its cultivation resources, the sect needed to establish clear laws and regulations.

Of course, with its limited manpower, Lingyun Sect couldn’t seize all the domain’s cultivation resources with just a few hundred members. This required cooperation and coordination with the cultivation clans scattered throughout the region.

In essence, Lingyun Sect would claim the meat, but the clans would get to drink the soup.

”Issue the order: the founding ceremony will be held in one month. We will also host our sect’s first ascension conference, welcoming talented individuals from across the land to become our disciples!”

”Announce this matter to the world immediately!”

”...”

With Li Qing’s command, the news swept through the Azure Ridge Domain like a storm, spreading with astonishing speed.

”An ascension conference? That makes sense. Unlike the Shangqing Sect, the Lingyun Sect’s numbers are quite small. They’ll definitely need to recruit many new disciples!”

”This is a golden opportunity! The Shangqing Sect’s ascension conferences were notoriously strict. Even cultivators with three spirit roots struggled to secure a spot.”

”Exactly! The requirements might be much more lenient this time, given the Lingyun Sect’s small size. I heard they have fewer than a thousand members in total.”

”Hard to say. They might prioritize quality over quantity.”

”True, but we should still go and see what the fuss is about.”

”Agreed. The Lingyun Sect’s founding ceremony is not to be missed.”

”...”

The news spread rapidly, stirring the hearts of every cultivator in the Azure Ridge Domain.

After all, the Lingyun Sect now stood supreme in the region. Joining their ranks, even as an outer sect disciple, would undoubtedly bring endless benefits.

The news spread like wildfire across the Azure Ridge Domain’s cultivation world. Upon hearing the announcement, cultivators immediately began converging on Liang Country, eager to secure their place at this region-wide grand event.

Returning our focus to the Lingyun Sect’s mountain gate, we find elders approaching Li Qing to discuss the arrangements for the upcoming ascension conference and founding ceremony.

”Ancestor Limitless,” an external affairs elder inquired curiously, ”we haven’t yet decided how many disciples to recruit for this ascension conference. Will we follow the sect’s usual practice and select only fifty?”

In the Sect Leader’s Hall, Li Qing held an ancient manual in his hands, flipping through its pages as he replied, ”Times have changed. Now that we’re opening our doors to cultivators across the Azure Ridge Domain, limiting ourselves to fifty disciples would be too narrow-minded. At that rate, we’d be waiting until the year of the monkey and the month of the horse to replenish our ranks with fresh blood.”

TL/N: The idiom ”the year of the monkey and the month of the horse” means ”an indefinitely distant time” or ”never.” While it happens every ≈12 years, it’s used to stress that the wait would be too long or fruitless.

”I propose we provisionally set the number at three hundred.”

Upon hearing this, an elder frowned slightly. ”Three hundred? Isn’t that a bit excessive?”

”Indeed, Martial Uncle Li, recruiting three hundred disciples at once will make it difficult to thoroughly investigate their backgrounds. Won’t managing them become too cumbersome? After all, our entire sect currently has fewer than five hundred members.”

”The sect is newly established, and things haven’t stabilized yet. Adding three hundred disciples will significantly strain our resources, potentially creating a substantial deficit.”

This was a valid concern. Li Qing nodded slightly, stroking his chin in contemplation.

”Here’s what we’ll do,” he proposed. ”All newly recruited disciples will be classified as outer sect disciples. Three months after their entry, we’ll hold an inner sect assessment. Based on Sect Contribution and aptitude, we’ll select fifty disciples for the inner sect.”

”These inner sect disciples will enjoy the same benefits as our current sect members!”

”Furthermore, the top twenty performers in the inner sect assessment will each receive a foundation establishment pill!”

With this, the regulations for the upcoming ascension conference were finalized. The sect’s external affairs elders nodded in approval, endorsing Li Qing’s proposal.

It wasn’t that Lingyun Sect was being stingy; rather, as a newly established sect, its finances were genuinely strained.

The situation was particularly dire when it came to medicinal pills. For such a large sect, they only had two Second-Tier Alchemists!

After adding the medicinal pills scavenged from the Shangqing Sect, allocating twenty foundation establishment pills proved to be a considerable challenge.

Moreover, while the Lingyun Sect had now become the dominant force in the Azure Ridge Domain, the region’s cultivation resources had yet to be fully harvested. These matters would only be finalized after the founding ceremony.

After dismissing the sect elders, Li Qing rubbed his temples, muttering to himself with a headache, ”Being the sect leader of a major sect is truly no easy task. The sheer volume of trivial affairs is overwhelming.”

With a sigh, Li Qing now deeply understood the burdens Sect Leader Xu Yun had carried.

And this was only at the sect’s inception. He shuddered to think of the complexities that would arise as the sect expanded.

Setting down the ancient manual he had finished reading, Li Qing still hadn’t found any records related to the Stone Embryo.

Just as he was about to turn to another ancient text, a voice called out from outside the Sect Leader’s Hall:

”Ancestor Limitless, the Shangqing Sect’s assets have been fully inventoried!”

Upon hearing this, Li Qing’s expression finally softened slightly.

”Present it to me for review.”

Li Qing accepted the bamboo slip and began to skim through the Shangqing Sect’s former assets.

To his surprise, despite the Azure Ridge Domain’s relatively poor heaven and earth spiritual energy, its sheer size meant that the combined cultivation resources across the entire great domain were quite substantial.

There were four Spirit Stone Mines, one of which Li Qing had even mined himself in the past!

Like the Heavenly River Sect before them, the Shangqing Sect had entrusted the mining of these Spirit Stone Mines to nearby cultivation clans, fostering competition among them. The sect’s disciples and elders oversaw the operations.

These four Spirit Stone Mines alone generated a considerable annual income of spirit stones for the sect.

In addition to these, there were over a dozen spirit gold veins, including the Purple Heart Copper Mine and Fire Cloud Stone Mountain, all excellent materials for refining magic artifacts.

Furthermore, several small secret realms could be accessed every few years, yielding valuable spirit herbs.

Scattered throughout the domain were numerous market towns, the largest of which remained the former Heavenly River Sect’s market town. The revenue generated by these markets was also quite impressive.

”Such a vast enterprise is truly astonishing,” Li Qing murmured, nodding in satisfaction after reviewing the various industries. ”No wonder the Shangqing Sect’s treasury was so abundant.”

He declared, ”We’ll take over all these industries as they are. For now, let’s continue managing them according to the Shangqing Sect’s original methods.”

The Shangqing Sect’s management system had been simple: they forced nearby cultivation clans to perform manual labor, taking seventy percent of the annual output from the various mineral veins and leaving only thirty percent for the local clans.

After all, as disciples of an immortal dao sect, their primary focus should be cultivation. It was only natural that they wouldn’t have their disciples engage in such crude and strenuous work.

Thus, by simply sitting back and collecting resources each year, they enjoyed a steady stream of wealth—a truly enviable position.

And the reason they could enjoy all this was thanks to their own strength.

”No wonder the Shangqing Sect schemed so meticulously to eliminate the Heavenly River Sect and my Lingyun Sect. The profits here are truly immense.”

By lording over the entire Azure Ridge Domain and draining its resources, it was almost impossible not to grow powerful. This was the kind of opportunity any faction would dream of.

After reviewing these industries, Li Qing’s earlier anxiety finally began to ease.

With no urgent matters to attend to, he immediately immersed himself in the newly constructed Hall of Technique Transmission.

As the Sect Patriarch, he naturally had unrestricted access to this sacred hall.

The Hall of Technique Transmission primarily housed cultivation manuals and ancient texts plundered from the Shangqing Sect.

”It’s a pity,” Li Qing mused. ”Even the Shangqing Sect didn’t possess a complete copy of the Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art. Does this mean I’ll have to switch to another cultivation manual in the future?”

Indeed, Li Qing had encountered a significant dilemma.

The cultivation manual he had been practicing was nearing its end.

He had initially hoped that conquering the Shangqing Sect would yield the remaining Chapters of the Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art, but his hopes had been dashed.

Currently at the mid Core Formation Realm, he didn’t need to worry about this issue in the short term.

However, as he continued to cultivate, he would inevitably need to advance to the nascent soul realm, which would require the missing Chapters.

The Shangqing Sect’s collection of cultivation manuals was vast, and naturally included fire attribute cultivation manuals capable of reaching the nascent soul realm.

The Myriad Flames Manual!

”This cultivation manual is utterly unremarkable in every aspect, completely incomparable to the Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art, which has been refined with heavenly spirit fire!”

After skimming through the Myriad Flames Manual, Li Qing couldn’t help but frown.

His reaction was perfectly natural; it’s easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to return to frugality.

Having experienced the immense benefits of the Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art, switching to another ordinary fire attribute cultivation manual felt like a downgrade he struggled to accept.

To be honest, the Crimson Blaze Heaven-Burning Art had played a crucial role in his progress to this point.

”Sigh, for now, I’ll just memorize this manual as a backup option.”

With that, Li Qing imprinted the contents of the crimson jade slip into his Sea of Consciousness.

He then set down the jade slip and moved on to explore the other levels of the Hall of Technique Transmission.

The hall contained a vast array of inheritances, ranging from cultivation manuals and divine abilities to cultivation techniques, all meticulously cataloged.

However, Li Qing’s focus wasn’t on these. He headed to a corner filled with ancient manuals and began flipping through them rapidly.

His most urgent goal was to find information related to the Stone Embryo!

Using his formidable divine sense, Li Qing rapidly scanned through ancient manuals.

With the current strength of his divine sense, he could effortlessly read a hundred lines at a glance and retain every detail.

He could even imprint the entire contents of an ancient manual into his Sea of Consciousness with ease.

Amidst this intense reading, Li Qing finally stumbled upon similar records in an obscure ancient bamboo slip.

”When heaven and earth first parted, primordial chaos divided, and chaos clarified, yin and yang began to cycle, and life began to emerge upon the great earth.”

”Legend has it that during this time, some entities that had not yet transformed into living beings would completely retreat into the earth, becoming strange stones.”

”These strange stones are known as Earth Stone Embryos!”

”An Earth Stone Embryo can plunder the entire primordial origin of a dying creature, then transform into a true infant form, possessing all the potential of that creature.”

”Long ago, a powerful cultivator accidentally obtained an Earth Stone Embryo. After enduring countless years of patient waiting, he finally found a cultivator with a Heaven-Ordained Immortal Physique.”

”This cultivator, relying on his formidable cultivation, used the Earth Stone Embryo to completely plunder the primordial origin of the Heaven-Ordained Immortal Physique, then refined it for his own use!”

”Alas, due to the excessively long wait, the cultivator was already in his twilight years. Moreover, the act of refining the Stone Embryo defied the natural order, further depleting nearly a century of his Lifespan.”

”The moment he fully refined the Heaven-Ordained Immortal Physique’s primordial origin, his Lifespan was completely exhausted, leading to his sudden and violent death!”

After reading this passage from the ancient manual, Li Qing’s eyes flashed with a sharp glint.

The description matched his own Stone Embryo perfectly!

Before he could fully revel in his elation, a sudden, excruciating pain erupted in Li Qing’s Sea of Consciousness, as if his skull were about to split open.

”Hiss!”

”Damn it! Reading too many ancient manuals has overburdened my divine soul, triggering the hidden injury inflicted by Ling Long’s Exquisite Immortal Sound!”

Clutching his forehead, Li Qing nearly collapsed to the ground. The agony in his divine soul was vivid and profound, utterly resistant to any attempts at relief.

Waves of searing pain relentlessly assaulted Li Qing’s Sea of Consciousness, threatening to tear his divine soul asunder.

At first, Li Qing didn’t pay much attention to the hidden injury, assuming it would heal naturally over time.

However, the overwhelming complexity of recent sect affairs, coupled with the excessive strain on his divine soul, finally triggered the dormant wound.

Li Qing’s face paled as he struggled to his feet, then withdrew the Soul Nurturing Bell from his robes.

Cling-clang!

The crisp, melodious chime of the bell echoed through the air, offering only a slight reprieve from the agonizing pain.

”Even the Soul Nurturing Bell can’t cure this—it only alleviates the pain, but can’t eradicate this hidden injury to my divine soul.”

”As expected of the Exquisite Immortal Sound... this is a far greater problem than I imagined!”

In that moment, Li Qing finally grasped the true terror of the so-called Exquisite Immortal Sound. Anything bearing the word ”immortal,” regardless of its nature, proved exceedingly difficult to deal with.

”If I don’t find a way to treat this, this hidden injury to my divine soul will undoubtedly become a catastrophic problem in the future!”

Imagine if this hidden injury were to suddenly strike during a crucial moment—while he was in secluded cultivation, attempting a breakthrough, or even in the midst of a life-or-death battle. Such a sudden attack could prove fatal!

(End of the Chapter)

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