Immortal Sect

Qixia Mountain.

This is the mountain gate of the Qixia Immortal Sect.

The Qixia Immortal Sect has been rooted in Linyuan Prefecture for a vast span of time.

However, before the Great You Dynasty was established, this world underwent a cataclysmic change.

The entire continent was like a punctured bubble, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth began an irreversible decline.

The consequences of this spiritual exhaustion were fatal. The lifespans of cultivators and the realms they could attain plummeted alongside the fading energy.

Following that catastrophe, the Great You Dynasty rose to power, reshuffling the various factions and establishing a new equilibrium.

In the past, the Immortal Sects stood high above, treating the mortal dynasties with an attitude of divine right; yet today, as spiritual energy continues to wane and the foundations of the sects are eroded, the Great You Dynasty has become increasingly dominant when facing them.

With one side rising and the other falling, the resources of the Qixia Immortal Sect are far inferior to what they once were.

When resources were abundant in the past, the sect would recruit disciples with "mixed spiritual roots" in large numbers. But in the last hundred years, because cultivation resources have become so scarce, the sect's requirements for spiritual root aptitude have become increasingly harsh, accepting almost exclusively those with variant spiritual roots or heavenly spiritual roots.

This is because, in the environment of declining spiritual energy, people possessing spiritual roots are becoming increasingly rare. Furthermore, once a cultivator enters the Qi Refining Realm, the higher their cultivation, the lower the probability of producing offspring.

If one frequently uses dual cultivation techniques for the sake of procreation, it will backfire on their own cultivation.

Although offspring born from the union of cultivators have a higher chance of possessing spiritual roots than those of mortals, it is not absolute.

Therefore, many cultivation families now place their greatest hope and requirement on the ordinary, non-spiritual-root descendants within their clans: to desperately produce more children, hoping to strike luck through sheer numbers.

Beyond the decline of spiritual energy, the gap in the high-level combat power of the Immortal Sects is also extremely severe.

In the current cultivation world, the legendary "Nascent Soul Realm" great cultivators have long since vanished, and even "Golden Core" cultivators have become as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

Before the catastrophe, Foundation Establishment cultivators wishing to form a Golden Core had to undergo the critical process of "opening the Purple Mansion." However, the resources required to open the Purple Mansion are massive, and the current conditions of the world simply cannot support it.

Consequently, modern cultivators have no choice but to give up on opening the Purple Mansion and force the formation of a Golden Core. The price, however, is that without the foundation of a Purple Mansion, the possibility of advancing to "Spirit Transformation" is severed for a lifetime.

Furthermore, according to ancient legends, although those with mixed spiritual roots cultivate extremely slowly in the early stages, if they can endure until the Nascent Soul Realm, their probability of breaking through to Spirit Transformation is actually far higher than those with heavenly or variant spiritual roots. Yet today, not only has Spirit Transformation become a delusion, but even forming a Golden Core is fraught with difficulties.

The advantages of heavenly and variant spiritual roots—fast early-stage cultivation and low resource consumption—have become even more prominent.

The current Qixia Immortal Sect, even if it emptied out most of its reserves, might not be able to support a single mixed-spiritual-root cultivator in forming a Golden Core. More tragically, the lifespan limit of today's Golden Core cultivators is only a little over three hundred years, which cannot be compared to the Golden Core cultivators of the pre-catastrophe era, who could easily live for five or six hundred years.

Faced with this overall decline, the Qixia Immortal Sect can only forcibly maintain its facade.

One must know that when the Great You Dynasty was first established, the Qixia Immortal Sect was the absolute local tyrant in Linyuan Prefecture. They would even openly seize mortal martial artists from within their territory to bring up the mountain, treating them as "human materials" for cultivation or even as "great medicine" to assist in alchemy.

But times have changed; the strength of the Great You imperial court grows daily, and they have specifically established the "Bureau of Profound Mysteries." The court strictly prohibits the Immortal Sects from capturing martial artists. Once a cultivator is discovered doing so, the experts of the Bureau of Profound Mysteries will show no mercy in arresting and suppressing them.

Of course, although the rules are strict, under the pressure of extreme scarcity in cultivation resources, there are still some cultivators whose lifespans are nearing an end or who are stuck at a bottleneck who will take the risk and secretly reach out toward mortal martial artists.

Qixia Mountain Inner Sect.

Qin Wan has been a disciple of the Qixia Immortal Sect for some time now.

Only after truly entering the sect did she discover that this place is not the holy land of immortality that mortals imagine, filled with detachment from desires and inexhaustible resources.

In order to fight for the meager spirit stones and medicinal pills distributed to disciples, the infighting among fellow sect members is even more cruel than the power struggles in wealthy mortal households.

Furthermore, while perusing the classics here, she finally learned what the "Dao Registry" was.

It turns out that the reason the Great You Dynasty was able to rise on this continent and suppress the Immortal Sects is that, at the beginning of its founding, a group of terrifyingly powerful cultivators contributed greatly.

This group of cultivators originally held extremely high status within the major Immortal Sects or Demonic Sects, some even being the designated heirs of their sects. But during that great change, they chose to completely break away from their original sects and instead support the mortal dynasty.

It was precisely because of the betrayal of these people that the major Immortal Sects suffered heavy losses, and the Great You Dynasty used this to establish its nation.

In the mouths of the Immortal and Demonic Sects, these people are traitors who deceived their masters and destroyed their ancestors, collectively and contemptuously referred to as "Dao Traitors."

According to the records, at the beginning of the Great You Dynasty, there were thirty-six families of these top-tier cultivators known as "Dao Traitors."

The Great You Dynasty granted the descendants of these thirty-six families many generous benefits, one of which was the bestowal of the "Dao Registry."

Not every descendant can possess a Dao Registry, but as long as the family bloodline continues, the imperial court guarantees that at least one person in each generation can inherit it. However, if only women remain in a generation, the Dao Registry ends there, as it is never passed on to bloodlines of a different surname.

Regardless, these people who possess the Dao Registry constitute the most solid foundation of the Great You Dynasty. Among the nobles of Great You active in the imperial court and local regions today, there is no shortage of those who hold a Dao Registry.

Qin Wan discovered within the sect that every Dao Registry descendant with a spiritual root can directly receive an initial set of cultivation resources from the Imperial Household Department of the Great You royal family.

What she has found so far includes one "Foundation Establishment Pill" and one "Ascension Order."

Qin Wan does not clearly understand the specific function of the Ascension Order.

But she has now deeply realized the importance of the Foundation Establishment Pill to a cultivator.

In recent years, the Great You Dynasty has completely monopolized the key medicinal herbs for refining Foundation Establishment Pills.

Even if the Immortal Sects wanted to refine Foundation Establishment Pills themselves now, it has become extremely difficult. Not only that, but the imperial court has also set quotas for the refining of Foundation Establishment Pills for the major Immortal Sects. If a sect dares to refine them in excess privately, once discovered by the court, they will face severe punishment.

In short, the Great You imperial court is doing everything in its power to weaken the Immortal Sects.

Even if an Immortal Sect sends someone to infiltrate the court as a mole, they are easily rooted out or simply assimilated by the court. After all, following the court is clearly more promising and resource-rich, and those capable of cultivation are basically intelligent people who know how to seek advantages and avoid harm.

Originally, with an aptitude like Qin Wan's variant spiritual root, she could have directly established her foundation even without the aid of a Foundation Establishment Pill. But now, with the exhaustion of heaven and earth's spiritual energy, the environment no longer supports doing so.

In the current world of cultivation, even those with the one-in-ten-thousand Heavenly Spiritual Root must rely on a Foundation Establishment Pill to successfully reach the Foundation Establishment stage.

Although the Qin Family is a wealthy household in the mortal realm, at the end of the day, they are merely a merchant family with no background or backing within the Qixia Immortal Sect. The competition for the limited quotas of Foundation Establishment Pill within the sect is incredibly brutal; in this round, it is highly probable that it will not be Qin Wan's turn.

Without a Foundation Establishment Pill, she cannot establish her foundation; without establishing her foundation, the brilliant path to immortality she once anticipated naturally becomes dim and lusterless.

Yet, this cruel truth was never mentioned by the Immortal Sect when they first accepted her as a disciple. Ultimately, the Qin Family's information was too outdated, and their understanding of the cultivation world was too shallow.

The reason Qin Wan went to check the Dao Registry was that she recalled the marriage contract between herself and Xia Dong. She clearly remembered that Xia Dong's household registration stated he was of the Dao Registry.

Now that she has entered the Immortal Sect and learned these things, Qin Wan finally realizes what she missed out on when she broke off the engagement.

But Qin Wan is a proud person; the path was her own choice, and she could never bring herself to shamelessly go back and find Xia Dong now.

Furthermore, the laws of Great You are strict, and marriage between Dao Registry descendants and Immortal Sect disciples is explicitly forbidden.

Once their private union is discovered by the authorities, it would be a violation of national law. She is unsure if Xia Dong would be severely punished as a Dao Registry descendant, but as an Immortal Sect disciple, she would definitely be harshly disciplined by the Great You government.

Therefore, in reality, this retreat had long since been blocked.

As for why Xia Dong possesses a Dao Registry status, Qin Wan's father is also unclear. Although Master Qin had known Xia Dong's father for a long time, he actually knew nothing about the specific origins of Xia Dong's father.

He only knew that the couple had come from the capital.

And in their lifetime, they never returned to the capital again.

However, Xia Dong's Dao Registry status is beyond doubt.

On this point, Master Qin has already verified it with the veteran clerks at the Linyuan Prefecture Office.

It is just that these veteran clerks do not know much about the Dao Registry either.

In truth, to put it plainly, the Dao Registry is merely an admission ticket; how much utility it can provide depends on individual ability and the favor of fate.

But Qin Wan knows that possessing a Dao Registry status is, in itself, being "favored" by fate.

She is still a long way from Foundation Establishment, so if Xia Dong could father a child with a spiritual root, she would have some opportunity in the future to trade for one.

This is because the Foundation Establishment Pill for Dao Registry descendants is "legal."

Moreover, that Ascension Order is certainly not ordinary.

In short, since she has already missed out, she must do her best to remedy the situation.

However, since she last sent a letter and spirit stones to Xia Dong, Xia Dong has not replied, so Qin Wan has no excuse to send another letter.

Fortunately, her father mentioned in his letter that Xia Dong and the Qin Family still have a partnership.

Qin Wan has also read that Tale of Liu Yi.

But after finishing it, she could not help but wonder.

In reality, she is the "Liu Yi" in that story.

But she herself missed out on Xia Dong, the "Dragon Princess."

As expected of a Dao Registry descendant, even without a spiritual root, he easily passed the exam to become a xiucai.

"Forget it, since I missed the chance to provide help in a time of need, I must do more to add flowers to the brocade."

During these days, as Xia Dong kept failing to reply, Qin Wan sent another letter, secretly tucking in two spirit stones—these were what she had managed to save with great difficulty.

As the daughter of a merchant family, she believes that such things will yield returns in the long run.

She is still young; she can afford to wait!