The two left the treasure vault and followed the bluestone path toward the main peak.
Along the way, True Lord Ling Han spoke neither hastily nor slowly, casually explaining the Azure Boundary Sect's rules and customs to the girl beside him.
The Azure Boundary Sect had stood for ten thousand years, and its rules were strict.
Its disciples numbered in the tens of thousands, their ranks as distinct as the waters of the Jing and Wei.
Those who had yet to condense a Dao Chess Piece were all outer disciples.
Once they saw through the threshold and entered the Chess-Player Realm, they could stand out from the crowd, advance into the inner sect, and receive the sect's profound techniques.
And if their cultivation advanced further, reaching above the Fourth Rank of Chess-Player, and their talent was exceptional, they would have a chance of being accepted by an elder of one of the peaks as a personal disciple.
At that point, they would no longer need to concern themselves with the sect's mundane affairs, and could simply devote themselves to cultivating the Great Dao.
As for those great cultivators who had reached above the Eighth Rank of Chess-Player—
They were qualified to serve as sect stewards, or even elders, wielding great authority.
As they spoke, they passed through a grove of purple bamboo.
The view before them suddenly opened up.
A magnificent complex of halls had been built against the mountainside.
Azure bricks and green tiles, soaring eaves and upturned corners.
From time to time, cultivators in Daoist robes of various colors rode the wind between the halls.
From deep within the hall complex came faint sounds of fierce debate, accompanied by waves of colliding Daoist auras. It was exceedingly lively.
"Before us lies the Azure Boundary Sect's foremost place for