A Province of Land

"You've arrived?"

As soon as Yi Xuan entered the sect's main hall, he heard his master's voice. He saw that the three elders of the Azure Cloud Sect were sitting on the high platform.

Sect Master Cui and the many elders could only sit to their left and right.

Yi Xuan looked around the main hall and found that almost all the sect's high-ranking members were present. Even some elders who had been stationed abroad for many years were now in the hall. It seemed that his master did indeed have something important to announce.

Yi Xuan nodded to his master, then quickly sat down in the empty chair behind Sect Leader Cui Yan.

"Ahem!" Xiao Anhe coughed a few times, drawing everyone's attention in the hall. He then glanced at the Old Madam and Supreme Elder Li before addressing the crowd:

"You all know about what happened to the Gazing Immortal Sect, right? And many of you went to the Gazing Immortal Sect with me immediately! However, there are still quite a few who didn't go, so I'll address everyone here! From this day forward Gazing Immortal Sect becomes history in the Southern Frontier!"

Although everyone knew more or less about the Gazing Immortal Sect, they were still shocked when Xiao Anhe revealed it in public.

Then, Xiao Anhe said with a smile, "Of course, as everyone should know, this incident is entirely the fault of the Gazing Immortal Sect. If it weren't for our Protector Yi's timely intervention in the Artifact Ruins, the Gazing Immortal Sect's conspiracy might have succeeded, which would have been a disaster for our Southern Frontier!"

All eyes turned to Yi Xuan, making Yi Xuan somewhat embarrassed. He quickly nodded to everyone and said, "It's all thanks to the sect's excellent leadership; I just got incredibly lucky!"

Seeing Yi Xuan's behavior from the high platform, Xiao Anhe knew that his disciple disliked such Zhang Yang, so he quickly steered the conversation back on track. "After the many sects of the Southern Frontier destroyed the Gazing Immortal Sect, they discussed the ownership of its resources. Because my Azure Cloud Sect acted first and is adjacent to the Gazing Immortal Sect, coupled with Protector Yi's actions in the Artifact Ruins, we obtained a great deal of resources this time. There are quite a few Cultivation Method, Law Artifact, and pills, and we also acquired all two Spirit Stone mines of the Gazing Immortal Sect, as well as a mortal kingdom!"

Everyone was so surprised by Xiao Anhe's description of their gains that they didn't know what to say. Putting aside the Cultivation Method, Law Artifact, and pills, the two Spirit Stone mines alone were a windfall for the Azure Cloud Sect. It should be noted that these Spirit Stone mines were not comparable to the ones that Yi Xuan had previously destroyed.

This is a genuine Spirit Stone mine. Although it's not very large, each Spirit Stone yields enough to sustain the Azure Cloud Sect's daily needs for a hundred years.

Then there's the mortal realm, though it may seem to have nothing to do with cultivators.

However, it should be noted that the Azure Cloud Sect controls five mortal kingdoms, although the Azure Cloud Sect rarely interferes with these mortal kingdoms under normal circumstances.

However, these mortal kingdoms regularly provide their respective sects with immortal rice, immortal tea, and even some low-grade spiritual herbs from the Cultivation Realm. Furthermore, the Spirit Stone mines of the various sects are also mined by mortals. In fact, each sect has far more servants than cultivators. Where do these servants come from? They come from the mortal kingdoms.

Otherwise, if cultivators didn't rely on mortals and had to do all these chores themselves, they wouldn't need to cultivate at all.

Furthermore, the disciples recruited by cultivation sects each year come from the mortal kingdoms under their jurisdiction. The sects will select disciples with excellent Spirit Root in the mortal realm to enter the sect. Once they can enter the sect, these disciples are like carp leaping over the dragon gate, ascending to heaven in one step.

Therefore, the mortal kingdom obtained from the Gazing Immortal Sect this time can be said to be no less valuable than the two Spirit Stone mines.

In Yi Xuan's view, every world is the same; it's all about the big fish eating the small fish, and the small fish eating the shrimp.

However, the political system of this world is somewhat strange, which reminds Yi Xuan of the political system of ancient Western countries in his previous life, namely the divine right of kings!

Although the situation in the Cultivation Realm is slightly different, it is essentially the same. Dynasties change, sects shift, and in the end, it's all about harvesting the lowest-level peasants.

"Yi Xuan? Yi Xuan?"

Just as Yi Xuan was lost in thought, Cui Yan, who was sitting in front of him, called his name twice.

Yi Xuan up and realized that everyone was looking at him, so he could only look up at the high platform with a puzzled expression.

Seeing that Yi Xuan had finally stopped daydreaming, Xiao Anhe took the initiative to speak, "Yi Xuan, besides the significant benefits our sect gained this time, you thwarted the Gazing Immortal Sect's conspiracy in the Artifact Ruins, saving the core strength of various sects. Therefore, after discussion among the various sects, to express our gratitude, we have specially granted you a province!"

"A single state?"

Yi Xuan was puzzled by this. What did it mean? Was it to thank him by giving him land? Did that mean they were going to allocate houses next?

Seeing Yi Xuan's expression, Cui Yan knew that his junior brother had no idea what was going on.

So he spoke in a low voice, "What Grand Elder Xiao means is that these sects, to thank you, have given you a province from the mortal realm originally controlled by the Gazing Immortal Sect!"

"This..."

Hearing Cui Yan's words, Yi Xuan was somewhat incredulous. Then, as if realizing something, his eyes lit up as he looked at his master on the high platform and asked, "Does that mean everything in that entire prefecture belongs to me?"

"Good!"

"So, the Spirit Stone mine here also belongs to me?"

Hearing this, Xiao Anhe curled his lip and said, "You're dreaming! Do you think other sects would give you a prefecture with Spirit Stone mines? Don't dream! It's just an ordinary mortal prefecture!"

Upon hearing this, the other elders all wore expressions of suppressed laughter.

Yi Xuan also realized what was happening.

I must say, the people in the Cultivation Realm are really hypocritical. They all patted their chests and said they would repay Yi Xuan after returning to their sect, but now they're just giving him an ordinary mortal kingdom as repayment?

If a small sect were to be given a state without any Spirit Stone mines, it would be fine. Such a small sect could exploit the state to profit, even if it's not much, every little bit helps.

But if you give it to a cultivator, it would be too useless. After all, cultivators have limited energy, so they don't have time to exploit mortals.

Xiao Anhe on the high platform also realized this, so he took the initiative to speak up, "Yi Xuan, you don't need to be too discouraged. If you find it difficult, then you can merge this province into the mortal kingdom newly acquired by the sect. Of course, you have made great contributions this time, and the sect will not let you suffer any injustice. You and the other nine disciples don't need to hand over the spoils you obtained in the Artifact Ruins this time! How about it?"

Yi Xuan didn't listen to his master's words at all. He was thinking about whether the so-called province would be useful to him, so he nodded perfunctorily.