Hunyuan Dao Palace really was huge

"I am Daoxi, the seventh-generation successor of the Hunyuan Dao Palace and an elder of the Transmission Pavilion. I was unaware that you, a disciple of Layman Yun Fengyang, were visiting our Hunyuan Dao Palace using a [Daoist Talisman]... We are truly sorry for not welcoming you properly!"

Inside a main hall of the Hunyuan Dao Palace, an old Daoist priest dressed in a green robe with white hair and beard hurriedly stepped into the hall, bowed to Lin Yu, and performed a disciple's salute.

Behind the old Daoist priest, Yan Yanxu and several other middle-aged Daoist priests stood behind him, waiting respectfully like grandsons.

Lin Yu, who had been led here for tea, felt as if he were shortening his lifespan when he saw this old man, who looked as if he had just been unearthed, bowing to him. He quickly stood up and helped the old man up, saying, "Senior, you flatter me... there's no need for such formality."

The old man, whose Daoist name was Daoxi, craned his neck and said, "Senior, please don't say such things. Layman Yun Fengyang was a close friend of Laws Daoist Myriad, the founder of our Hunyuan Dao Palace. He was even like a teacher to Wanfa Daoren... Patriarch Wanfa mentioned Yun Jushi many times in his notes. It can be said that without your master, Yun Jushi, there would be no Hunyuan Dao Palace!"

"As a direct disciple of Layman Yun Fengyang, you should be treated like a patriarch when you come to my Hunyuan Dao Palace. Logically, the Palace Master and all the elders should be here with you today. However, my master and my senior uncles, who are the Palace Master and several Supreme Elders of my Hunyuan Dao Palace... are all in a state of mental instability due to some past events and are unable to see anyone."

"My Acting Palace Master Senior Brother, the acting palace master, and most of my fellow Senior Brother and nephews are traveling in the mountains, and it will be difficult to recall them in a short time."

As Daoxi spoke, Lin Yu nodded in understanding.

"It's alright. You are the Orthodoxy of the Daoist Sect and have important matters to attend to. How can you let them be neglected just because I'm here?"

He did understand, after all, he had dealt most with people from the Taiqing Sect before.

Lin Yu had witnessed the temperament of the Daoist priests of the Taiqing Sect; they were all the type to perish together with Yaomo at the slightest provocation.

Although the Taiqing Sect is considered exceptionally extreme within the Daoist Sect, it doesn't mean that the remaining Daoist Sect are more moderate.

Although the Hunyuan Dao Palace is clearly not as fierce as the Taiqing Sect, it has now passed down to the eleventh generation. The fact that the seventh generation elder can still appear in public and that there are still living Senior Brother is enough to show that the Hunyuan Dao Palace still values inheritance.

If he went to the Taiqing Sect, Lin Yu seriously doubted whether the sect could even muster three whole old men.

But...

From these Daoxi words, Lin Yu could still sense the atmosphere of the Daoist Sect in the Prison Mountain Realm.

It wasn't hard for Lin Yu to guess why the master of the Hunyuan Dao Palace was incomplete in spirit.

Moreover, Lin Yu could roughly deduce why Daoxi's Senior Brother and Acting Palace Master were traveling around the mountains.

"Exorcising demons and upholding justice is far more important than entertaining an outsider like me who only has seniority."

As Lin Yu spoke, Daoxi no longer stood on ceremony and nodded.

"What you say is very true, senior. Indeed, the disciple chosen by Yun Jushi is extraordinary."

Lin Yu laughed, "I really can't tarnish my master's reputation—although I'm just Named Disciples, or even only half Named Disciples, I've come here this time for the purpose of 'eliminating demons and protecting the righteous path'."

"I will slay some troublesome Yaomo and hand over their Inner Core to you to deal with."

As Lin Yu spoke, Daoxi Lin Yu's admiration for him only grew stronger.

"Senior is truly righteous! I just wonder what my Hunyuan Dao Palace can do for you?"

"Naturally, you're telling me where there are troublesome Yaomo," Lin Yu said, then paused before continuing, "Moreover, as I mentioned before, I came here because a friend gave me a [Daoist Talisman], and I didn't intend to disturb your Hunyuan Dao Palace."

"So... I'd also like to know where my friend is right now?"

"After all, he must have used a [Daoist Talisman] to get here, and he said he wouldn't be too far from me."

As Lin Yu spoke, Daoxi added, "The other party also came using a [Daoist Talisman]... and said it wouldn't be too far, right?"

"I understand now. Please follow me, senior."

Daoxi spoke, he turned and walked out of the hall.

Lin Yu followed Daoxi out of the main hall and onto an open space outside the hall. Since he had come from the direction of the guest rooms, Lin Yu had just walked through a corridor led by Yanxu, so this was Lin Yu's first time in this open plaza.

Upon arriving at this place, he found that they were in a Daoist Daoist temple halfway up the mountain. Looking out, there were mountains shrouded in clouds and mist. Among those lush forests, there were also many other ancient buildings, which, judging from their structure, resembled Daoist temple composed of halls and houses.

Daoxi raised his hand and pointed to the nearest solitary peak, then to the Daoist temple on several mountains a little further away. "Senior, your friends might be on those mountains. As for which ones... I'll use Sound Transmission Talisman to inquire for you later."

Lin Yu nodded. "Then thank you. Although he said he would come to find me, it would be a good thing if we could find him earlier and get him to leave as soon as possible."

After saying that, Lin Yu asked with some curiosity, "But which Daoist Sect belong to those mountains?"

"Since it's the same [Daoist Talisman], how come he went to another mountain?"

As Lin Yu began to speak, Daoxi said, "Senior, you misunderstand. These [Daoist Talisman] were all crafted by the founder of my Hunyuan Dao Palace... and those mountain gates Daoist temple are also the mountain gates of my Hunyuan Dao Palace."

Lin Yu was stunned when he heard Daoxi say that.

"Those... are all from the Hunyuan Dao Palace?"

He strained to see, and in the depths of this misty expanse lay even more peaks and Daoist temple —more than a dozen in all but a few visible. "So what about the others?"

"These mountains are the site of my Hunyuan Dao Palace's mountain gates," Daoxi said, and the old Daoist smiled, "They are perhaps larger than you imagine, senior."

"It's not just bigger, it's much bigger."

Lin Yu made no attempt to hide his shock and spoke up.

He finally understood why, when he arrived at the Hunyuan Dao Palace, he hadn't found the buildings he had seen in "A Yin's" Karma Illusion on this mountain.

Lin Yu initially thought he hadn't looked carefully enough, but now it seems... it's because those buildings really aren't on this hilltop!

This Hunyuan Dao Palace was much larger than he had imagined.

Lin Yu knew that... because the Taiqing Sect's style was too fierce, the Taiqing Sect, which was once considered the "leader of the Daoist Sect," had actually declined considerably.

And now, the true leader of the Daoist Sect in the Prison Mountain Realm is undoubtedly the "Hunyuan Dao Palace".

This Daoist Sect was powerful and had many experts. It did indeed fulfill the responsibility of being the leader of the Daoist Sect, replacing the Taiqing Sect as the Righteous Path sect that was most active on the front line in fighting against Yaomo and contributed the most manpower and effort.

However, compared to the Taiqing Sect, Hunyuan Dao Palace places more emphasis on "sustainable development." Although its disciples also prioritize "slaying demons and eliminating evil," the sect clearly values its lineage and will not actually send all its disciples out at once.

After all, although there are many Yaomo in the Prison Mountain Realm, there are actually very few true Great Demon lords left after their long Struggle with the Daoist Sect.

The kind of Great Demon demons that could cause millions of corpses and rivers of blood to flow, making life miserable for the people of the Two Mountains and Six Hells, and stirring up the world, are now rare. Even if there are some very powerful Great Demon... most of them have learned from the lessons of how the Daoist Sect and martial artists united to kill these Great Demons in the past, and have turned to occupying mountains as kings and developing their strength in secret, so as not to become the target of the Daoist Sects.

Instead, the wild demons and monsters, and even some bandits and villains, became the more common scourges on the people of the Prison Mountain Realm.

Therefore, Daoist Sect and Martial Arts School also gained considerable time to develop during this period. It is normal for them to grow larger in scale after recuperating.

Only...

Lin Yu originally thought that no matter how big the Hunyuan Dao Palace was, it was only a few times the size of the Taiqing Sect back then.

After all, he had some understanding of the coverage area and total number of people of the Taiqing Sect back then, and knew that even at its peak, Taiqing Sect didn't actually have many people.

There are only a few hundred disciples.

Even...

According to some information provided by Layman Yun Fengyang, before the "Chaos of Huotian," the largest Daoist Sect sects had no more than a thousand members and occupied a single mountain.

That's where the term "mountain gate" comes from—one mountain, one gate; one gate, one mountain.

Therefore, based on these experiences, Lin Yu naturally deduced that the Hunyuan Dao Palace only had a few thousand people at most.

While "Order" contains information related to the Hunyuan Dao Palace, Player forums mention that the Hunyuan Dao Palace is a large sect when discussing the background of the Prison Mountain Realm and various forces, its exact size remains unclear...

Lin Yu really hadn't heard of it.

Today is Lin Yu's first day inside the mountain gate of the Hunyuan Dao Palace. It is through this method that he has gained a direct and intuitive understanding of the scale of the Hunyuan Dao Palace, the current leader of the Daoist Sect.

Lin Yu's only thought so far is...

"Isn't the development of the Hunyuan Dao Palace a bit too exaggerated?"

This is less like a Daoist Daoist Sect and more like a large sect from those cultivation novels.

The territory it occupies is not even a single hilltop or peak...

It seems to be an entire mountain range!

Lin Yu suppressed his shock and looked at Daoxi, the seventh-generation successor of the Transmission Pavilion, who was standing to the side.

"Um... may I ask, approximately how many disciples does this Hunyuan Dao Palace have right now?"

Daoxi also noticed Lin Yu's surprise and seemed quite satisfied with it.

He smiled, stroked his beard, and spoke with a touch of reserve.

"Reporting to Senior... there are currently 15,000 Inner Disciples within the Hunyuan Dao Palace."

"If we include Outer Disciples and Named Disciples... then this old Daoist is also unsure."