True Person Guangling

On a towering Spirit Mountain several thousand li from the Floating Cloud Mountain Range, True Person Guangling, the General Affairs Elder of the Carefree Sect, was resting with his eyes closed inside the hall.

Before long, a gray-robed Foundation Establishment disciple hurried into the hall, a red communication talisman paper in hand. Upon seeing True Person Guangling, he quickly said:

"Master, Senior Brother Tian has sent a voice talisman. They have already found that Spirit Fruit Tree in the Floating Cloud Mountain Range and are now returning to the sect with Junior Brother Li and the others. At the speed of his Azure Spirit Boat, they should reach Tongxuan Mountain in another three or four days."

"Congratulations, Master, on rendering another great service to the sect. This time, you have found a Five Elements Fruit Tree for the sect. If Martial Uncle Sect Leader learns of this, he will surely reward our Logistics Hall."

True Person Guangling slowly opened his eyes and said with a smile, "Obtaining a Five Elements Fruit Tree—such a spiritual treasure that can strengthen the sect's foundation—is naturally a blessing for the sect. Before the Demonic Beast Turmoil in the Northern Frontier, if we can nurture one or two more Foundation Establishment cultivators for the sect, that will be one or two more sources of support."

Dressed in black, True Person Guangling appeared to be no more than twenty or thirty years old. He narrowed his sharp eyes, smiled, and nodded at the disciple reporting before him, then calmly gave an order.

"Tianyu, send a disciple to Qinghe Market to notify Lu Yuanfeng. There is no need for the Jingyuan Mountain Liu Family of Qinghe County to continue existing. Send all of their cultivators to Volcanic Rock Mountain to mine the Black Iron Ore Vein."

"Master, if all the Liu Family cultivators are sent to Volcanic Rock Mountain, how should the remaining mortals be handled? Should they be placed under Qinghe Market?"

True Person Guangling smiled at his thoughtful disciple. "Let Lu Yuanfeng handle it himself. If he is willing to take them in, place them under Qinghe Market. If not, let the Huang Family and the nearby families take them in. The mistakes of cultivators should not implicate the ordinary mortals below."

Lin Tianyu nodded and was about to leave when he seemed to recall something and asked again, "Master, we only know that the Liu Family organized people to go demon hunting in the Floating Cloud Mountain Range. We have not confirmed that the Liu Family definitely knew about the Spirit Fruit Tree. Should we bring the Liu Family members in and question them further, lest we wrong them?"

"There is no need. The Water Spirit Fruit obtained by that Liu Family member who achieved Foundation Establishment a century ago must have come from this place. A mere Qi Refining Family now dares to hide resources beneath the sect's very eyes. This time, we must spread the news as well, to cow those dishonest families and let them understand the consequences of trying to outsmart us."

"But Master, why did you treat that Qi Refining disciple who discovered the Spirit Fruit Tree with such courtesy? His character is flawed, and for his own benefit, he did not hesitate to sell out his own clan."

True Person Guangling narrowed his eyes and rose to his feet. Walking toward the entrance of the hall, he continued, "I knew you would not understand. Indeed, under the Spirit Questioning Talisman that day, the man proved to be selfish and self-serving. Yet his first thought was to offer the Spirit Fruit Tree to the sect. He would not hesitate even to betray his own family's interests. The sect must reward such people, and we must let the cultivators of those subordinate families know that the sect is also their protector."

"I hold the position of head of the Logistics Hall and manage several hundred vassal families beneath the sect. Yet more and more of those families have forgotten the sect's protection. They know only their own family's interests and have no regard whatsoever for the sect. There are no shortage of those who eat the sect's bread while betraying it. If this continues, they will grow ever more estranged from the sect. When the Demonic Beast Turmoil comes to the Northern Frontier, how will the sect still be able to rely on them?"

After hearing this, Lin Tianyu nodded blankly. Though he did not fully understand his master's arrangements, he had never dared to oppose them.

At that moment, Du Yucheng, standing aboard Tian Qinghu's Azure Spirit Boat, had no idea that when he had gone to the Carefree Sect to report the news of the Water Spirit Fruit Tree, the Carefree Sect cultivators had already used a Spirit Questioning Talisman to investigate the matter from top to bottom.

The Spirit Questioning Talisman was a Level 2 Talisman. When used on ordinary Qi Refining or even Foundation Establishment cultivators, it could briefly immobilize their minds, preventing them from lying and allowing questions to easily draw out whatever answers one sought. However, it was of little use against cultivators above the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Though this talisman was merely a Level 2 Talisman, it was quite valuable, costing more than a hundred Spirit Stones apiece. Yet to confirm the news of the Water Spirit Fruit Tree, True Person Guangling had not hesitated to use one on Du Yucheng. Before using the Spirit Questioning Talisman, he had even used the Soul Guiding Technique on him beforehand. Even now, Du Yucheng had no idea that the Carefree Sect had expended such a precious Spirit Questioning Talisman on him.

With his Golden Core Fourth Layer cultivation, True Person Guangling ranked only around the middle among the Carefree Sect's nine Golden Core Cultivators.

Though he looked only twenty or thirty years old, that was merely because he had taken a Youth Preserving Pill in his early years. In truth, he had cultivated for more than three hundred years, which was not considered young among Golden Core Cultivators.

Golden Core Cultivators possessed a lifespan of five hundred years. If they also consumed certain third-grade life-extending spiritual treasures, they could live another hundred years. So long as nothing else affected their lifespan, they could generally live to six hundred.

True Person Guangling had formed his core rather late. He had attempted core formation three times in succession and only succeeded by a stroke of luck when he was nearly two hundred years old. Nearly two hundred years had passed since then, yet he was only at the Golden Core Fourth Layer. Within the Carefree Sect, he was considered a Golden Core Cultivator whose potential had been exhausted, which was why the Sect Leader had assigned him the position of Elder of the General Affairs Hall, a post burdened with countless miscellaneous affairs.

However, True Person Guangling himself was not so despairing of his path of cultivation. He often thought of rendering service to the sect and exchanging it for more Merit Points, hoping to accelerate his cultivation progress.

Over the years, he had used the conveniences of his position as head of the Logistics Hall to gain no small number of benefits and exchange them for plenty of cultivation resources. Yet his cultivation speed was truly slow. Whether he could reach the Late Golden Core Stage before his lifespan ran out was difficult to say, much less attempt the Nascent Soul Realm.

For the sake of this Water Spirit Fruit Tree, True Person Guangling had truly spared no effort. Had the sect not been overwhelmed with affairs lately, he would have wanted to personally lead a team to the Floating Cloud Mountain Range.

Within the Carefree Sect, aside from Li Mufeng, the Grand Elder who had already advanced to the Nascent Soul Realm three hundred years ago, only Sect Leader Yao Ganshu and Bai Yuxian among the remaining nine Golden Core Cultivators had the greatest hope of forming a Nascent Soul.

As the Sect Leader of the Carefree Sect, Yao Ganshu was a figure second only to Grand Elder Li Mufeng and above tens of thousands. His cultivation had long since reached the Ninth Level of Golden Core, and he had even attempted to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm once. He still had more than a hundred years of lifespan remaining and roughly a twenty to thirty percent chance of forming a Nascent Soul.

The other female Golden Core Cultivator, Bai Yuxian, though a woman, possessed extraordinary talent. She was the only Heavenly Spiritual Root Cultivator Wei State had seen in several hundred years. At just over two hundred years old, she had already cultivated to the Golden Core Seventh Layer. Her future hope of forming a Nascent Soul was even greater than that of Sect Leader Yao Ganshu.

Most of the Carefree Sect's resources naturally leaned toward these two. Golden Core Cultivators like True Person Guangling were somewhat dissatisfied with this, but there was nothing to be done. Whether it was a cultivation family or a great sect like the Carefree Sect, such measures were unavoidable if they wished to successfully nurture Nascent Soul Cultivators to carry on the sect's inheritance.

If a Nascent Soul Sect suffered a gap in its generations, and its previous Nascent Soul Cultivator passed away only for there suddenly to be no Nascent Soul Cultivator left to guard the sect, it would surely draw the covetous eyes of the surrounding powers. The sect would inevitably struggle to avoid decline and ruin.

Still, the Carefree Sect was in relatively good shape. Li Mufeng, the Nascent Soul Grand Elder of this generation, was only a little over seven hundred years old. Nascent Soul Cultivators generally had lifespans of at least twelve hundred years, and with certain high-grade life-extending spiritual treasures, they could live another two or three hundred years. Normally, they could endure to around fifteen hundred years old. So long as their luck was not too poor, the Carefree Sect should have sufficient time to cultivate a new Nascent Soul Cultivator.