World 999 of the sect worlds, Evergreen Sect.
Lin Feng examined the Evergreen Sect's current strength.
Nearly half a day had passed since yesterday's demonic beast invasion trial ended.
For the Evergreen Sect's disciples, however, that half a day had been half a year.
Liu Yurou, who possessed a Supreme-Grade Spirit Root, remained the strongest in the sect. Her cultivation had now reached the Qi Refining Tenth Layer.
With the heavenly spiritual root trait equipped, Tie Dali had broken through from the Qi Refining Sixth Layer to the Qi Refining Eighth Layer in half a year.
Tie Dali stood a chance of successfully achieving Foundation Establishment before Liu Yurou. Such was the terrifying power of a heavenly spiritual root.
Of the three disciples with Middle-Grade Spirit Roots, the first to join the sect had reached the Qi Refining Fourth Layer. The other two remained at the Qi Refining Third Layer, forming the sect's backbone.
Of the six disciples with Low-Grade Spirit Roots, Zhao Qingyan, the first to join the sect, had reached the Qi Refining Third Layer. The other five were all at the Qi Refining Second Layer.
Of the five disciples with Five-Element Mixed Spiritual Roots, two had entered the Qi Refining Second Layer, while the others were all at the Qi Refining First Layer.
The difference in cultivation speed between Middle-Grade Spirit Roots, Low-Grade Spirit Roots, and Five-Element Mixed Spiritual Roots was not as great as imagined. Whoever had cultivated longer had a somewhat higher cultivation level.
But compared with Supreme-Grade Spirit Roots or heavenly spiritual roots, the difference in cultivation speed was like heaven and earth.
Someone with a heavenly spiritual root might achieve Foundation Establishment in three years, while someone with a Five-Element Mixed Spiritual Root might need to cultivate for a hundred years.
Lin Feng already had a plan for this expedition into the [Myriad Spirits Secret Realm].
The sect's ten menial disciples without cultivation aptitude would not enter the [Myriad Spirits Secret Realm]. They would maintain the sect's daily operations.
One of them would carry the spiritual root testing jade disc and handle the sect's routine recruitment. Now that they had azure wolves as mounts, the travel time to more distant nearby towns had also been greatly reduced.
He would also send five of the remaining nine to the nearby towns to spread word of their Evergreen Sect, letting more people learn about it.
In addition, among the disciples who had already entered the Qi Refining Realm...
The three outer disciples still at the Qi Refining First Layer would handle the sect's daily patrols.
All the other sect disciples at the Qi Refining Second Layer or above, along with their azure wolf mounts, would enter the [Myriad Spirits Secret Realm].
Once Tie Dali and Liu Yurou captured strongholds, they would still need people to garrison them.
After assigning the tasks, Lin Feng led thirteen disciples at the Qi Refining Second Layer or above and nearly twenty wolf demon mounts that had entered the Qi Refining Realm into the [Myriad Spirits Secret Realm] in a grand procession.
Myriad Spirits Secret Realm.
At a certain basic fertile spiritual land stronghold.
The sect masters of two small sects, leading their handful of disciples, were locked in a bitter battle with the spirit demons guarding the stronghold.
Since this was only a basic fertile spiritual land stronghold, the spirit demons guarding it were all in the Houtian Realm. Not one had even reached the Houtian Perfection Realm.
There were three Houtian Realm spirit demons in total. They had already been surrounded by nearly ten Houtian Realm cultivators, yet the three spirit demons were not at any clear disadvantage.
"Old Zhao, this won't do! We can't let these three Houtian Realm spirit demons hold us up!"
"Old Liu, send someone to lure two of the spirit demons away first. We'll join forces to kill one, then pick them off one by one."
"Old Zhao, you should send someone to lure the spirit demons away instead. My Mystic Bamboo Sect disciples are better at fighting together!"
"Hmph, my Ancient Dust Gate disciples don't have any experience pulling monsters!"
The two had met after entering the [Myriad Spirits Secret Realm]. Their sects were roughly equal in strength, and neither had any disciples who had reached the Qi Refining Realm.
Originally, the two had planned to team up to attack strongholds.
Now, however, each harbored his own hidden agenda, unwilling to send his own sect's disciples to pull the monsters.
The situation reached a stalemate.
The same scene was playing out all across the [Myriad Spirits Secret Realm].
The sects that had originally intended to team up began passing the buck to one another when it was time to actually put in the effort.
Just as the two were passing the buck, a loud, furious roar rang out from afar.
"Get the hell out of my way! Our Shadow Demon Sect has claimed everything within fifty li of this spot! If you know what's good for you, scram!"
The faces of the two sect masters, who had just been passing the buck, stiffened.
The Shadow Demon Sect was another major sect with an initial S rating. It had ranked seventh in the first week's competition and maintained a top-ten position in the first week's demonic beast invasion trial.
It was said that the Shadow Demon Sect already had several disciples who had entered the Qi Refining Realm, including one at the Qi Refining Second Layer!
Moreover, unlike the other top-ten sects, the Shadow Demon Sect was a demonic cultivation sect. For the sake of their sect's interests, they cared nothing for courtesy and were capable of anything.
The sect masters of the Mystic Bamboo Sect and the Ancient Dust Gate exchanged a glance, anger flashing through their eyes.
What could they do when the other side was stronger?
In the cultivation world, the strong had always reigned supreme.
The fact that these people from the Shadow Demon Sect had not killed them on the spot already counted as mercy.
Both sighed, cupped their hands, and headed off into the distance.
The Shadow Demon Sect was not the only sect doing this.
Several of the top-ten sects had adopted the same approach.
Each claimed a territory for its own sect, forbidding cultivators from other sects from setting foot inside.
World 999 sect world chat channel.
[Mystic Bamboo Sect master: You major sects are utterly shameless! Small sects like ours finally manage to capture a stronghold, and you come sniffing around and snatch it straight from us!]
[Ancient Dust Gate master: Exactly! I just want to ask, is there any justice left in our sect world 999? Is there any law left? Are all the top-ten major sects like this?]
[Stream Moon Gate master: When their sect's interests are at stake, what does being a top-ten sect matter? They're all cut from the same cloth!]
[Tranquil Peak Sect master: @Evergreen Sect Tiancan Tudou @Daoxuan Sect Perfected Daoxuan @Azure Luan Sect Fairy Qingluan: Are leading sects like yours going to fight small sects like ours over these scraps of resources too?]
[Daoxuan Sect Perfected Daoxuan: My Daoxuan Sect would naturally never do such a thing. As sect master, I promise that our Daoxuan Sect will only attack strongholds guarded by Qi Refining Realm demonic beasts ourselves. We will not seize strongholds already occupied by other sects!]
[Azure Luan Sect Fairy Qingluan: I also promise not to seize strongholds already occupied by other sects. My sect will likewise mainly attack strongholds guarded by Qi Refining Realm demonic beasts.]
When the many sects in the world chat channel saw that the Evergreen Sect master, Tiancan Tudou, still refused to state his position, they began tagging him one after another.
After a long while, Lin Feng finally couldn't take it anymore. These people were so annoying.
[Evergreen Sect master Tiancan Tudou: Stop tagging me, all of you. Aren't you tired of being annoying? Those few melons and dates in your basic strongholds aren't worth this sect master's attention. Only intermediate and advanced strongholds catch my eye.]
[Evergreen Sect master Tiancan Tudou: This sect master hereby officially announces that all spirit demons at the Qi Refining Third Layer or above in the [Myriad Spirits Secret Realm], along with the strongholds they occupy, belong to my Evergreen Sect.]
[Evergreen Sect master Tiancan Tudou: Don't bother this sect master with such trivial matters again.]