The night was slightly cool.
After assigning these newly admitted disciples, Lin Feng left them in Tie Dali's care and selected a mountain peak beside the External Affairs Hall as their temporary residence.
Once they were officially promoted to outer disciples, they would each be formally assigned a cave abode.
But the Evergreen Sect had now become a blessed grotto-heaven. Anywhere within its territory was a sacred ground for cultivation, far superior to other ordinary sects.
After arranging their accommodations, Lin Feng also tasked the newly promoted inner disciple Zhao Qingyan with guiding these new disciples in their daily cultivation.
Their training primarily involved the upper yellow-grade Three-Transformation Evergreen Art, the lower yellow-grade Tiger Roar Fist, and the middle yellow-grade Wind-Splitting Claw.
For newly admitted disciples, learning the most basic lower yellow-grade Tiger Roar Fist and middle yellow-grade Wind-Splitting Claw was enough.
Once their cultivation realms had risen and their contributions to the sect met the requirements, they could learn the advanced versions of Tiger Roar Fist and Wind-Splitting Claw.
Those with a talent for sword cultivation could also be taught the lower profound-grade Clear Breeze Returning Spirit Sword Art.
After arranging the sect's affairs, Lin Feng began to look forward to the new week's competition tomorrow.
Based on past precedent, the third week's competition should compare the progress the sects' disciples had made in cultivating their techniques.
And with the Evergreen Sect's One Day Like a Year trait, quite a few disciples had cultivated techniques such as the Three-Transformation Evergreen Art, Tiger Roar Fist, and Wind-Splitting Claw to major accomplishment or even higher over these years.
Lin Feng believed their Evergreen Sect should rank among the leaders from the very start of this week's competition, without having to put in extra effort as they had during the first two weeks.
A gentle breeze drifted past Liu Quan's room in the city lord's residence in East Forest City, while a dark figure descended into the courtyard.
Noticing the disturbance, Liu Quan hurried out of his room and looked toward the dark figure with a broad smile. At first, he thought the Evergreen Sect's sect master, or perhaps his daughter, had returned.
But when the dark figure turned around, revealing his hideous face, Liu Quan froze on the spot, a trace of disgust flashing deep in his eyes.
The dark figure did not notice the look in Liu Quan's eyes. Instead, he walked straight into Liu Quan's room and seated himself in the place of honor without ceremony.
Sipping tea, he spoke indifferently:
"City Lord Liu, I trust you've been well. How are this year's tributes coming along?"
At these words, Liu Quan first froze, then inwardly cursed.
For the past half month, he had been so immersed in the joy of his daughter Liu Yurou joining an immortal sect that he had forgotten all about the hundred young boys and girls he had to prepare as tribute every year.
The dark figure came from the Myriad Demon Abyss, and Liu Quan had met him twenty years ago.
Back then, this man had only just crossed the threshold of Qi Refining. Twenty years later, he had long since reached mid Qi Refining. From what Liu Quan had once heard him say, he seemed to have even taken a protector's position in the Myriad Demon Abyss.
Over these twenty years, the man had come to East Forest City almost every year and taken away a hundred young boys and girls.
Liu Quan had resisted before, but mortals were no match for cultivators.
To ensure the safety of East Forest City's nearly hundred thousand people, he could only dutifully prepare a hundred young boys and girls to hand over to this man every year.
Hearing the dark figure's question, Liu Quan hastily replied:
"Please don't be anxious, my lord. Stay in East Forest City for a few days while this lowly one prepares the full tribute."
The dark figure nodded, drained the tea on the table in one gulp, then flew away, saying as he left:
"Five days from now, I will return to collect the tribute. If you still haven't prepared it by then, don't blame this old man for turning hostile and showing no regard for our acquaintance."
Liu Quan hurriedly assented.
Once the dark figure left, Liu Quan began pacing anxiously around the courtyard.
For East Forest City, with its population of a hundred thousand, gathering a hundred young boys and girls would be easy.
But in the past, East Forest City had no sect's protection and could only swallow its grievances to preserve itself.
Now, East Forest City had a backer too, and his daughter had even become the personal disciple of the Evergreen Sect's sect master.
Yet Liu Quan did not know exactly how strong the Evergreen Sect was. If it could not withstand the Myriad Demon Abyss, wouldn't he be bringing harm upon the Evergreen Sect, and even more upon his own daughter?
After hesitating for a moment, Liu Quan picked up his communication jade token and sent his daughter a message, intending to ask about it first.
If the Evergreen Sect was strong enough to deal with this demonic cultivator, and even the sect behind him, then he would break with this demonic cultivator completely this time.
If he learned from his daughter that the Evergreen Sect's strength was only average, he would have to continue enduring in silence. He could not let all the people of East Forest City become sacrifices to the Myriad Demon Abyss.
Within the Evergreen Sect, after settling the newly admitted disciples, Liu Yurou sat upright in the spirit pool on the Spirit-Attracting Platform, carrying out her daily cultivation.
At present, only personal disciples in the Evergreen Sect had permission to cultivate in the spirit pool.
With her entire body immersed in spirit liquid, she could cultivate somewhat faster than before.
But today, just as she closed her eyes and began circulating the Three-Transformation Evergreen Art to cultivate, she sensed a slight vibration from her communication jade token.
Her master had issued these jade tokens to all the sect's disciples. They could normally be used to transmit messages within a radius of five hundred li.
But most of the sect's disciples were currently within the sect, and if her master needed her, he would come directly rather than use a communication jade token.
In an instant, Liu Yurou realized who had sent her a message through the communication jade token.
Then she activated the communication jade token, and a trace of anger appeared on her face as she read her father's message.
She recalled that time in her childhood when she had nearly become tribute to the Myriad Demon Abyss. Had her father not done everything he could to stop it, her fragrance would long since have faded, her jade shattered...
Counting the days, it was once again nearly time for the Myriad Demon Abyss to come to East Forest City to collect its tribute.
In the past, she would have had no power to stop it.
But now, she had become a great cultivator at early Foundation Establishment, no longer the ignorant novice she had once been.
If this demonic cultivator from the Myriad Demon Abyss still dared come to East Forest City to collect tribute, she would make sure to teach him a lesson. She even resolved that, if the opportunity arose, she would eradicate the Myriad Demon Abyss.
Liu Yurou immediately stood up and headed to Lin Feng's cave abode to report the matter to him.
Lin Feng looked thoughtful. He had heard about the Myriad Demon Abyss from Liu Yurou before.
But at the time, he had thought it better to avoid unnecessary trouble, as the sect's strength was still only average.
Now, however, things were different. Including himself, the sect already had three Foundation Establishment stage cultivators and would soon be able to advance to a Golden Core sect.
If the Myriad Demon Abyss was merely a Qi Refining demonic sect, it was time to cut out this malignant tumor.
Thus, Lin Feng said:
"Yurou, I order you to investigate the Myriad Demon Abyss's strength and lead several sect disciples to capture the demonic cultivator who intruded into East Forest City."
"If the Myriad Demon Abyss's strength is ordinary, and it is merely a Qi Refining sect, then make it disappear from this day onward. No such demonic sect is permitted to exist near the Evergreen Sect."