Watching the Mountain

Chapter 359 -199: Cultivation

Zhang Zhentian froze for a moment before replying, “Everything is going smoothly so far. We prepared in advance and dispatched the disciples, so the Dust-Sealed Stones appearing within the Sect’s territory have mostly been collected.”

“That includes the ones from the Illusion Spirit Sect’s former territory. I was just escorting a shipment of Dust-Sealed Stones back.”

Xu Ran nodded slightly and asked, “How are the disciples reacting?”

At this question, Zhang Zhentian fell silent for a moment. “Overall, things are fine. Most of the disciples have no objections regarding the selection for the Dust-covered slots.”

Xu Ran noted his use of the word “most.” He wasn’t surprised. ‘With so many people in the Sect, all with their own thoughts, it’s impossible for everyone to be in agreement.’

There were only so many Dust-Sealed Stones. Even counting those collected from the Illusion Spirit Sect’s lands, only a little over ten percent of the people could become Dust-covered. The rest, naturally, would not get the chance.

The Profound Pure Sect wasn’t alone in this; the entire Cultivation Realm had to face this problem.

That was why the process of becoming Dust-covered would be conducted in batches, leaving a portion of the population behind to stand guard—not just against external threats, but internal ones as well, to prevent any mishaps.

The matter of becoming Dust-covered was a major event for the entire Cultivation Realm. The great powers had already issued a joint declaration: no faction or individual was permitted to disturb anyone in a Dust-covered state. To do so would be to make oneself an enemy of the entire Cultivation Realm.

This was established as the most stringent, unbreakable rule.

No one wanted to be disturbed by others after becoming Dust-covered. Such an act was an unforgivable offense, akin to severing one’s path of cultivation.

Upholding this ironclad rule was a matter of self-preservation.

The Profound Pure Sect had already announced its rules for distributing the Dust-covered slots. In addition to their own slots, the Sect’s Supreme Elders at the Nascent Soul Stage would receive five extra slots.

Golden Core Elders would receive one extra slot in addition to their own. Those who had made significant contributions or possessed special talents would also be rewarded with a slot.

The remaining slots would be awarded through various competitions, given to those who distinguished themselves among their peers of the same Realm.

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Xu Ran didn’t give Zhang Zhentian a chance to try and persuade him. After asking a few more questions about the situation, he dismissed him.

The entire Cultivation Realm was currently in a frenzy over the Dust-Sealed Stones.

Just as Xu Ran had expected, in the period immediately after the Dust-Sealed Stones appeared, everyone had been relatively restrained, content to collect the stones within their own spheres of influence.

But as time went on, the scrambling and fighting began.

At first, most factions would at least find a pretext before trying to seize stones from others. But as time passed, pretexts were abandoned altogether.

The reasoning became brutally direct: ‘We think you have a few too many Dust-Sealed Stones. Your faction is small; you don’t need that many. Hand some over, and let us help you with that burden.’

The Profound Pure Sect was in a relatively good position. As the most powerful Sect in Changqing County, its strength had been in a league of its own ever since the rise of Zhang Zhentian and Chen Chang’an’s generation, far surpassing the neighboring sects.

Counting the Flying Immortal Stream, their combined might of over twenty Nascent Soul True Monarchs was enough to make anyone in a place like Changqing County tremble.

Furthermore, the Profound Pure Sect’s previous annihilation of the Illusion Spirit Sect served as a powerful deterrent in Changqing County. Fortunately, the flames of war had not spread to their doorstep.

However, this also placed some constraints on the Profound Pure Sect. They had already destroyed the Illusion Spirit Sect and seized their Dust-Sealed Stones. That alone was acceptable, but if they were to move against another sect, the others would unite against them.

From the perspective of the other factions in Changqing County, it was a matter of: ‘You, the Profound Pure Sect, are strong, so we don’t mind you taking a larger share. But you can’t take too much, or else the rest of us will have no future.’

The Profound Pure Sect was strong, yes, but not yet strong enough to take on all the other factions in Changqing County combined.

The Profound Pure Sect understood this and had no designs on the other factions’ stones. Instead, they sent their disciples out to public, unclaimed territories to gather scattered Dust-Sealed Stones.

「One hundred days later.」

While the other factions were still in turmoil, the Profound Pure Sect had already stabilized and begun the selection process for its Dust-covered slots.

The entire selection process would take over a year, and not all slots would be assigned at once. A portion would be reserved over the next millennium for those with exceptional talent or those who might make great contributions to the Sect in the future.

This was also a way to placate the disciples and give everyone a measure of hope.

Xu Ran watched the selections a few times before losing interest. ‘Besides, I don’t need to become Dust-covered anyway.’

Not long after the selections began, he happened upon Elder Xu from the Instructor Hall of Qing Xuan Peak. The man was decked out from head to toe in all sorts of gear, bundled up tightly. He carried an air of grim determination, as if marching off to a battle he might not return from, and was heading toward the sect’s main gate.

Xu Ran found his getup rather strange. As they met face-to-face, he couldn’t help but ask, “Elder Xu, what’s all this?”

Elder Xu stopped when he saw Xu Ran and began to explain. “You know about the current batch of disciples in the Instructor Hall—there aren’t many of them. After we received your Hidden Mountain Spell, seven of them chose to cultivate it.”

“They are all cultivating it quite well. I can see they have potential and might achieve great things in the future.”

“It’s just that the Hidden Mountain Spell you created is somewhat disadvantageous for those in the early stages of cultivation. They failed to secure a single slot in this round of selections.”