Sect Master’s Immortal Journey

Chapter 529: Good News

Great Wind City is considered a formidable force within the Jiuqu League, and its influence makes others wary of offending it easily. The official authorities and major cultivation families of Great Wind City are currently the primary trade partners for Taiyi Sect. Naturally, they do not want to see Taiyi Sect establishing new trade routes.

For Taiyi Sect to bypass Great Wind City and find new trading partners within the Jiuqu League is undoubtedly not an easy task. Taiyi Sect's current relationships are mostly concentrated within Great Wind City and are of no help in such matters.

Meng Zhang shares a good rapport with Luo YeDaoist Master from the black market. However, such personal relationships do not have a decisive impact on the interaction between their respective factions. While Luo YeDaoist Master holds some influence in the black market of Jiuqu League, they are not the main decision-makers.

Luo YeDaoist Master had previously warned Meng Zhang that although the black market may seem cooperative, they are untrustworthy and can turn against others for their benefit.

If Taiyi Sect were to secretly contact the black market without involving Great Wind City, the most likely outcome is that the black market would betray Taiyi Sect to gain favor with the more powerful Great Wind City.

In addition, Meng Zhang had minor dealings with Jade Sword Sect in the past, but their relationship is insignificant. Jade Sword Sect, being a Sword Cultivator sect, holds a unique position within the Jiuqu League and cannot be relied upon by Taiyi Sect in this matter.

With no direct channels available, Taiyi Sect must patiently search for new avenues. They must not only avoid arousing suspicions from Great Wind City but also keep their activities concealed from Gu Yue Family.

For several years, Luo YeDaoist Master's disciple, Jue Ying, has been staying in Demon Wind Gobi, teaching An Moran various skills and assisting him in establishing and developing Secret Hall.

During the recent joint battle of the three forces against Fire Cloud Sect, Meng Zhang asked Jue Ying to stay in Demon Wind Gobi to help Taiyi Sect guard their territory.

Jue Ying has been with Taiyi Sect for quite some time, and she is preparing to leave. As a gesture of gratitude for her significant help, Meng Zhang entrusted her with an important task.

He selected two clever individuals from the Foundation Building stage of cultivation within Taiyi Sect and asked them to accompany Jue Ying to Jiuqu League. Their mission is to familiarize themselves with the situation in Jiuqu League under Jue Ying's guidance and slowly search for new trading partners.

If possible, they should also try to establish a branch of Secret Hall in Jiuqu League under An Moran's leadership, arrange informants, and gather various information.

After dealing with these matters, Meng Zhang can focus his primary energy back on his cultivation.

Meng Zhang's main cultivation technique, "Sun-Moon Wheel Turning Sutra," encompasses the entire journey from the Refining Qi stage to the Gold Core stage. He doesn't need to worry too much about his cultivation during the early, mid, or late stages of Gold Core.

The valuable experiences gained from exchanges with Gu Yue Huaidie and Luo YeDaoist Master have greatly benefited his cultivation.

After the awakening of the Extreme Sword Spirit General, Meng Zhang has actively sought his advice several times and gained significant insights and useful experiences.

The Third-Rank spirit vein at Grand Lion Ridge provides more than enough spiritual energy for him to cultivate alone.

Multiple battles with opponents at the Gold Core stage not only improved his combat experience but also deepened his understanding of his cultivation technique.

Just a few years after the battle to reclaim Feihong Mountain, Meng Zhang successfully advanced to the mid-stage of Gold Core at the age of one hundred and nine.

His cultivation speed remained swift, even after entering the Gold Core stage, which earned him a respectable position among Gold Core Daoist Masters.

Many Gold Core Daoist Masters, like Qin Hongying, a former guest of Taiyi Sect, could only reach the early stage of Gold Core until their lifespan was nearly depleted.

Meng Zhang's breakthrough to the mid-stage of Gold Core at this age truly marked him as a promising young cultivator.

With the advancement to the mid-stage of Gold Core, Meng Zhang's demand for spiritual energy from the heavens and earth increased significantly. At this point, the supply of spiritual energy from the Third-Rank spirit vein at Grand Lion Ridge was slightly inadequate.

After years of effort and substantial investment of resources, Deep EarthSpirit General achieved significant progress in repairing the Third-Rank spirit vein at Yachao. Although it hasn't been fully restored and is still insufficient to sustain Gold Core Daoist Masters, with some means, it can barely support the Hundred Grass Pavilion.

Deep EarthSpirit General utilized precious materials to establish a vast gathering formation, concentrating all the spiritual energy in one place. Then, Meng Zhang placed the Hundred Grass Pavilion within the formation.

Once established, the Hundred Grass Pavilion began operating autonomously. Besides a tall tower, there is also a spirit medicine garden covering an area of over one hundred acres.

The spirit medicine garden is filled with various types of spirit medicine, some of which have been growing for hundreds of years.

While the age of the spirit medicine is sufficient, the lack of adequate care and attention from skilled farmers results in poor appearance and reduced medicinal properties. Many spirit medicines are struggling and on the verge of losing their vitality.

Since the supply of spiritual energy from the Yachao spirit vein is insufficient, regular investments of a large number of spirit stones are necessary to sustain the growth of the spirit medicines.

To address the issue of inadequate care in the spirit medicine garden, Meng Zhang recruited the most exceptional farmers within the sect, instructing them to do their best to revive all the spirit medicines.

Maintaining this spirit medicine garden requires continuous investment of significant human and material resources, which poses a considerable burden on Taiyi Sect.

However, the diversity and age of the spirit medicines in the garden, including several main and auxiliary herbs for refining Foundation Building Pills, make it worthwhile for Taiyi Sect to keep it operational.

As long as Taiyi Sect has the production of this spirit medicine garden, they can guarantee the supply of Foundation Building Pills, which holds significant strategic importance for the sect's heritage.

In fact, due to several previous attempts to obtain materials for refining Foundation Building Pills, Taiyi Sect has already successfully produced Foundation Building Pills several times. As for the number of Lesser Foundation Building Pills produced, it is even higher.

Currently, Taiyi Sect has nearly forty Foundation Building stage cultivators. Other forces within the Hanhai Alliance have also benefited greatly. Those close to Taiyi Sect can purchase Lesser Foundation Building Pills from them. Traditional allies like Qiaoshou Sect even have the privilege to purchase Foundation Building Pills.

Throughout the Hanhai Alliance, apart from Taiyi Sect, there are over thirty Foundation Building stage cultivators. The presence of numerous Foundation Building stage cultivators not only solidifies the foundation of the Hanhai Alliance but also accelerates the development of Demon Wind Gobi. Moreover, having a sufficient number of Foundation Building stage cultivators allows them to set up special formations to resist the power of Gold Core Daoist Masters.

Additionally, the spirit medicine garden contains many Third Rank spirit medicines. Once Taiyi Sect has a Third Rank Alchemist, they will be able to refine Third Rank spirit pills that are useful for Gold Core Daoist Masters.

Less than two years after Meng Zhang broke through to the mid-stage of Gold Core, Delicate WaterSpirit General, who had been in seclusion refining the Tianyi True Water, finally came out of seclusion.

After coming out of seclusion, Delicate WaterSpirit General's Cultivation Base had restored to the early stage of Gold Core.

Among the four Guardian Spirit Generals, Delicate WaterSpirit General was the second to awaken, with far fewer years of experience compared to Deep EarthSpirit General and Shocking ThunderSpirit General. Yet, she was the first one to restore her Cultivation Base to the Gold Core stage.

This result had both innate and fortuitous reasons. If it weren't for the small bottle of Tianyi True Water obtained from True Monarch Tian Zhu, Delicate WaterSpirit General's return to the Gold Core stage would have remained a distant dream.

The other three Guardian Spirit Generals considered Delicate WaterSpirit General's return to the Gold Core stage as a matter of course. According to what Shocking ThunderSpirit General privately told Meng Zhang, Delicate WaterSpirit General was once the top cultivator of Taiyi Sect after its reconstruction. With a Cultivation Base at the Gold Corelate stage, she was the pillar of the sect.

However, an accident led to her losing all hope of breaking through to the Primordial Spirit stage. Later, she voluntarily transformed into a Guardian Spirit General, and her Cultivation Base fell to the early stage of Gold Core.

While her return to the early stage of Gold Core was significant, Delicate WaterSpirit General didn't find it a reason to be happy. Before becoming a Guardian Spirit General, all four of them were talented cultivators in the sect, with a chance to become Primordial Spirit True Monarchs. However, after giving up on their breakthrough, they chose to become Guardian Spirit Generals to continue protecting the sect.

Although Guardian Spirit Generals had a long lifespan, they also faced many drawbacks. Among the four Guardian Spirit Generals, except for Extreme Sword Spirit General, the rest only had Cultivation Bases at the early stage of Gold Core.

Even though they tried their best to cultivate and made various efforts after becoming Guardian Spirit Generals, their Cultivation Bases remained stagnant, unable to advance.

To most cultivators in the Cultivation World, Gold Core stage cultivators were considered high-level and unattainable. But for these Guardian Spirit Generals, who were once strong Gold Core Daoist Masters, transforming into Guardian Spirit Generals with only the early stage of Gold Core was not something to be happy about.

Transforming from Gold Core Daoist Masters to Guardian Spirit Generals was not a simple task and had a high failure rate. Otherwise, Taiyi Sect would have continuously produced Guardian Spirit Generals.

Due to the extremely low success rate of transformation, Guardian Spirit Generals became precious and rare. Because Delicate WaterSpirit General had a Cultivation Base at the early stage of Gold Core before, her restoration to Cultivation Base didn't cause any significant changes, unlike when Foundation Building stage cultivators breakthrough to the Gold Core stage.

After recovering her Cultivation Base, Delicate WaterSpirit General hasn't interacted with anyone in the sect. Only the other three Guardian Spirit Generals know about it.

After discussing with the three Guardian Spirit Generals, Meng Zhang decided to temporarily keep this news sealed and use Delicate WaterSpirit General as a hidden trump card for Taiyi Sect.

Externally, including other cultivators in Taiyi Sect, it is strictly confidential. They only mention that Delicate WaterSpirit General is still in seclusion and has not come out yet.

For Foundation Building stage cultivators, going into seclusion for decades is not uncommon.

While Delicate WaterSpirit General's recovery to the Gold Core stage is a great thing, it has also brought a new problem.

The Third Rank spirit vein of Grand Lion Ridge was barely enough to support Meng Zhang alone, and now with the addition of Delicate WaterSpirit General, the spiritual energy was even more insufficient. The task of repairing the spirit vein by Deep EarthSpirit General was far from completion.

During regular days, Delicate WaterSpirit General tried to avoid absorbing the spiritual energy from the Third Rank spirit vein and instead used high-grade spiritual stones to set up gathering formations. As a Guardian Spirit General, her Cultivation Base was already difficult to advance. As long as she could barely maintain her daily cultivation and preserve her Cultivation Base from falling, it was considered satisfactory.

Meng Zhang knew that this was not a long-term solution. The vast consumption of high-grade spiritual stones by Delicate WaterSpirit General was a heavy burden on the entire sect. Furthermore, he, as well as the other Spirit Generals, hoped that Delicate WaterSpirit General would continue to progress in her Cultivation Base.

Among the young disciples of Taiyi Sect, individuals like Wen Qiansun and Yang Xueyi, with exceptional talent, had already reached the late stage of Foundation Building. Their breakthrough to the Gold Core stage was not far off.

Currently, Taiyi Sect's demand for the Third Rank spirit vein became an unavoidable issue. Throughout the Endless Sea of Sand, there were no unclaimed Third Rank spirit veins. Northern Desert Qi Family had one, but it seemed to have some significant flaws. Besides, Northern Desert Qi Family was a potential ally, and Taiyi Sect couldn't possibly have hostile intentions towards them.

Flying Swan Sect had the best conditions, possessing two Third Rank spirit veins. Especially the Third Rank spirit vein in Feihong Mountain, which was originally owned by the Primordial Spirit sect, Purple Gold Sect, and had excellent quality.

Even if Flying Swan Sect currently only had two Gold Core Daoist Masters, even if they had a few more, the spiritual energy provided by that Third Rank spirit vein would still be more than enough.

Unfortunately, from all perspectives, Taiyi Sect couldn't take action against Flying Swan Sect right now.

As for the remaining areas in Demon Wind Gobi, firstly, it was uncertain whether there were any Third Rank spirit veins, and secondly, there were many Third Rank demon beasts within, making it difficult to clear them out.

After much thought, Meng Zhang came up with the only feasible solution: to return to the Deadly Sea of Sand and try to obtain the spirit essence once again. However, this time, he wouldn't go personally.

He had heard from Jin LiDaoist Master that the Deadly Sea of Sand was the battleground where the Fifth Rank great power and True Monarch Tian Zhu contended. The Fifth Rank great power kept a keen eye on the Deadly Sea of Sand through numerous sand monsters.

Foundation Building stage cultivators entering the Deadly Sea of Sand might not draw the attention of the Fifth Rank great power. However, Gold Core Daoist Masters had the strength to become pawns in the fight between the Fifth Rank great power and True Monarch Tian Zhu.

So, once a Gold Core Daoist Master entered the Deadly Sea of Sand, they would quickly be discovered by the Fifth Rank great power, attracting a continuous pursuit from sand monsters. Even if they managed to escape the chase of the sand monsters, the Fifth Rank great power might personally take action at the cost of some price.

This was also the reason why other Gold Core Daoist Masters didn't dare to enter the Deadly Sea of Sand.

Jin LiDaoist Master dared to enter and leave the Deadly Sea of Sand because he had an agreement with True Monarch Tian Zhu. Besides, within the Deadly Sea of Sand, he couldn't take the initiative to act.

Meng Zhang decided to select a group of elite Taiyi Sect Foundation Building stage cultivators and let them go to the Deadly Sea of Sand. This would be a kind of training for them, and they could also attempt to seize the spirit essence.

In fact, Taiyi Sect, along with other cultivators of the Hanhai Alliance, mainly focused on training in Demon Wind Gobi.

However, as the surrounding demon beasts were hunted in large numbers, Foundation Building stage cultivators found it increasingly difficult to gain sufficient training.

The other Foundation Building stage cultivators in the Hanhai Alliance could afford to be less concerned, but if Taiyi Sect cultivators had aspirations to break through to the Gold Core stage, various trials were inevitable.

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