Mention of that mysterious senior brought joy to some and worry to others.
At that moment, an elder couldn't help voicing his concern.
"Although that senior is powerful, the strong are still the strong. This world is one where the strong prey on the weak. They might help us once or twice, but that doesn't mean they'll act again. We have no way to influence that senior's will; everything depends on their mood..."
"If anything goes wrong, the entire sect will be wiped out."
There was some truth to that.
"So we must first forge our own iron strong."
"Turning to that senior is only a last resort. We still need to grow stronger ourselves."
Zhang Feng nodded.
Then he turned to Meng Tangtang and asked, "The most important thing is that there's less than a year until the Ten Thousand Alliance Assessment. Is the Young Sect Master confident she can break through to the Innate Realm before then?"
"I'll do my best."
Meng Tangtang thought of the pills her master had given her. More than ninety percent were for healing or combat, but some could still be used to improve her cultivation.
With enough Pill Pattern-grade pills, she could probably force her way into the Innate Realm.
"Too bad I gave away quite a few earlier."
"Otherwise, I'd have a better chance."
Meng Tangtang had challenged the sect elders all over the place. Only a few familiar faces had received Pill Pattern-grade pills as rewards, but she hadn't been so cautious with some of the high-quality ordinary pills.
Most importantly,
Lin Cheng had chosen to refine almost entirely healing pills and the like, which did little to help with cultivation.
These pills could be kept in the sect's reserves and used to supply it in wartime.
But using them to improve one's cultivation? They could forget about that.
The pills she had left were only enough for herself. She had originally wanted to help the elders and disciples too, but now she thought better of it.
She just didn't have enough to go around.
While Jingyun Sect's leadership was fretting over what lay ahead,
elsewhere, in the Library Pavilion,
"Seventh level of Foundation Establishment."
Feeling the innate true qi rushing through him like a great river, Lin Cheng slowly stretched on the chaise longue and yawned. "I've finally cultivated to the late stage of Foundation Establishment. I'm exhausted. Sleeping has made my neck go numb."
"Huh? How come there are so few people left in Jingyun Sect?"
"Could it be disbanding?"
As usual, Lin Cheng casually swept the area with his divine sense and noticed something was wrong.
"Jingyun Sect sure lacks cohesion. What kind of ragtag bunch did they recruit? They ran off over something as trivial as a sesame seed."
"But maybe it's for the best. With those useless freeloaders gone, focusing on an elite force isn't a bad idea."
After all, although Jingyun Sect counted as a major sect in a little place like the Southern Region,
it was still a long way from being a first-rate sect across the continent. It wasn't even close to third-rate.
Why did it need so many disciples?
The two or three hundred people left now seemed just right.
A reasonable number.
Lin Cheng's thoughts wandered on, utterly unconcerned.
To him, a power like Jingyun Sect no longer held even the slightest mystery or grandeur.
At most, it was a small sect tucked away in some desolate corner.
According to the books, north of the Southern Region lay a nation of cultivators.
Any large city there would have overall strength no weaker than the Southern Region's ten major sects.
Those Innate families—
even the largest had only one or two hundred members, and at most they recruited a few servants and outer guards to help with odd jobs.
But when it came to actual strength, they were far stronger than sects like Jingyun Sect.
That was because families had stronger cohesion.
On top of that, sects like Jingyun Sect had too little power to keep their disciples in line and no contracts to bind them. They could stay if they wanted, and leave if they wanted.
Lin Cheng wasn't surprised the sect had ended up like this.
Never mind two or three hundred people.
Even if only a hundred or so remained, Lin Cheng wouldn't be too surprised.
Now that he had been in this world for a long time, his strength had gradually grown, and his horizons and knowledge had broadened.
He was no longer like when he had first transmigrated, when he would worship and fear anyone of the seventh or eighth rank as if they were an immortal.
"System, sign in."
As he thought, Lin Cheng casually performed his daily sign-in.
"Ding! Congratulations, host. Sign-in successful. Reward obtained: Nine-Nine Creation Tower (Divine Artifact, inactive)."
Lin Cheng's eyes widened!
Well now, this was the first time he had signed in and received a divine artifact.
Some of his previous rewards might have had astonishing abilities, but they either had limited uses or were special pills and the like.
They were of no use to him.
"But the Nine-Nine Creation Tower is different! A divine artifact! Even if I can only unleash a sliver of its power, I should be able to roam the world unhindered, right?"
Lin Cheng was thrilled.
The next second, he immediately claimed his reward.
Silence!
Nothing happened.
Lin Cheng froze.
What was going on?
"Where is it?"
He looked around. Nothing had appeared. Treasures like this were supposed to form some kind of connection with him.
But right now, there was nothing unusual at all.
Lin Cheng was baffled.
He hurriedly checked his system storage space and, upon closer inspection, found a strange golden symbol.
"What's this?"
The moment his divine sense touched the golden symbol, Lin Cheng's head suddenly spun. Then the world whirled around him.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself no longer in the Library Pavilion.
He had arrived in a place filled with a mysterious aura.
"Welcome, Master, to the Nine-Nine Creation Tower."
"I am the tower spirit, Xiao Jun. What are your commands?"
Just as Lin Cheng stood there, bewildered, a clear, cold voice echoed across the world.
"This is the inside of the Nine-Nine Creation Tower?" Lin Cheng was stunned.
How was this a tower?
It was clearly a vast world!
There was a sky and a continent, and even living beings. Some of the auras made Lin Cheng tremble.
Fortunately, Lin Cheng was the Creation Tower's master.
Here, he was the supreme ruler. Otherwise, merely sensing some of those auras would have been enough to shatter his mind.
Moreover, he could faintly sense that this world had its own laws of the Heavenly Dao.
In terms of level, it seemed to far surpass the world he lived in by several ranks.
No wonder it was a divine artifact!
"Master, the Creation Tower is currently still dormant and cannot display its proper power. Please activate it as soon as possible," the tower spirit Xiao Jun said.
Inactive?
Lin Cheng remembered and hurriedly asked, "How do I activate it?"
"First, you can activate it with overwhelming strength. You clearly don't meet the requirements."
Lin Cheng gave an awkward smile.
He knew his own limits. Just from the title of divine artifact and the immortal aura that permeated everything, he could tell how difficult it would be to activate.
At least, given his current circumstances,
he might be able to try once he had perfected the Nine Transformations of the True Spirit, but that would take a very long time.
"Second, absorb the faith of all living beings and continually nourish the Creation Tower, gradually unlocking its power," Xiao Jun replied calmly.
Absorb faith?
Wasn't that something only gods from legends did?
Lin Cheng secretly wondered what the system wanted him to do, giving him a divine artifact like the Nine-Nine Creation Tower so readily.
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