New Additions to the Family
On the seventh day of the tenth month of the 424th year of the Qianfeng Great Wei Immortal Dynasty Qianlong, the Emperor celebrates his birthday. Heaven and earth are at peace, and all things are auspicious.
Unlike many families who wore white mourning clothes, Chongming Sect had two joyous occasions.
Firstly, Pei Yi was engaged. This prized student of Martial Uncle Li only went to Tanggu County to mourn Kuai Wu, and upon seeing the youngest sister of the Kuai Household crying her eyes out, she couldn't help but fall for her.
It wasn't that Pei Yi was lustful, but rather that the Kuai Household now only had three cultivators left, and only one of them was at the Middle Qi Refinement. Such a weak cultivation Lineage could hardly be considered Lineage anymore.
Pei Yi worried that if he refused the marriage proposal, the Kuai Household might really lose control of the sacred land of Dantong Cliff.
It should be noted that this place was once the stronghold of the Fire Saber Stronghold, a band of cultivators who, at their peak, numbered nearly thirty. Although Dantong Cliff could not actually accommodate so many cultivators, the Kuai Household was Chongming Sect to have this spiritual land protected by the Chongming Sect, which had attracted the covetous eyes of many before. Now that Kuai Wu was dead, it was even more tempting.
After all, she was his master's maternal clan, so Pei Yi couldn't bear to refuse any longer. After returning to the sect and reporting to Kang Dabao, the latter couldn't persuade him any further and agreed to the marriage. However, the head of the Kuai Household had just passed away, making it difficult to organize the funeral. Also, it wouldn't be good to have a cultivator overseeing things at Dantong Cliff for the time being. Therefore, the younger sister of the Kuai Household would need to stay for a few more days.
While the title of "Chongming Sect" was far from being a powerful symbol for a small clan like the Kuai Household, the fact that they were "the wife's family of the Fei Household's eldest son-in-law and junior brother" was enough to intimidate some petty Kuai Household.
In this way, Pei Yi gave up the marriage alliance with the He Household and chose to marry the younger sister of the Kuai Household, which had a significant impact on his Dao Path. The couple were of one mind and shared destiny, and their fates were intertwined.
He Dezong, the current head of the He Household, is expected to reach the Foundation Establishment. If he does, and Pei Yi successfully proposes Foundation Establishment, then he will have a wife from Foundation Establishment Lineage.
This is undoubtedly a good thing for both the individual and the sect, but what does the youngest sister of the Kuai Household have to offer?
However, one cannot act solely based on pros and cons. Since Pei Yi had made up his mind, it was not appropriate for Sect Leader Kang Da to refuse him.
Ultimately, this was the path the former chose himself, and Kang Dabao could only offer some advice at most.
Secondly, today is the Emperor's birthday, which coincides with the ancestral worship ceremony. Chongming Sect also chose this day to formally include Ye Zhengwen, Wei Gu, Mo Ku, Ye Yaoling, and Ye Pingshui into the Double Brightness lineage.
Wei Gu and Mo Ku have been in the Chongming Sect for quite some time now. The former refines formations, while the latter manages the spirit fields. Neither of them is very skilled, especially the latter, who is nearly forty years old. Not only is his cultivation only at the Qi Refining Second Layer, but his mastery of farming is also inferior to that of nine-year-old Kang Rongquan. He has not yet entered the next level and can only do some rough and clumsy work.
However, their strength lies in the fact that they are all honest cultivators. If it weren't for a life-or-death situation, Sect Leader Kang Da wouldn't have called them up to fight. Now that we need manpower, they are willing to work diligently, and I can rely on them with peace of mind, which is enough.
Ye Yaoling and Ye Pingshui are the only remaining immortal seedlings of the Ye Household. They are both very young, even younger than Duan Anle, only twelve or thirteen years old, and their cultivation is only at the first or second level of Qi Refinement Refining.
If people with such cultivation levels were simply abandoned in Heng Mountain, let alone expecting them to protect mortal races, it would be questionable how long they themselves could survive.
Zhou Xinran talked with them for a while, they all came to a decision. Rather than living in constant fear of being beheaded by some passing Evil Cultivator, it would be better for them to first formally join the Chongming Sect and cultivate.
Once they have achieved success in their cultivation, whether they ask the sect leader to allow them to return to their ancestral home to rebuild the Lineage, or they select one or two promising descendants from among the Ye Household members to leave the clan and return home, it would be much more reliable than the current situation where the two siblings are in charge of the Lineage.
The fate of the Ye Household siblings was thus decided. Ye Pingshui became a disciple of Yuan Jin, but this time he was no longer just a student who taught him martial arts, but a disciple who was as close as a father and son.
As for Ye Yaoling, since Jiang Qing is still unwilling to take on apprentices, then let her become Pei Yi's disciple and become Kang Rongquan's junior sister.
In the mind of Sect Leader Kang Da, although the entry of these four disciples into the sect was a major event, it was still not as important as Ye Zhengwen's entry into the sect.
This guy is a genuine Eighth Layer of Qi Refining cultivator and First Tier Spirit Appraiser, and he can also obtain important information from many places. If he can really join the Chongming Sect, he can really make up for some of the sect's current shortcomings.
Although Ye Zhengwen has a fierce appearance, he is not bad at heart. Kang Dabao had originally thought of bringing him into the sect, but he still had some reservations because of some past events.
After hearing Jin Shilun recount Ye Zhengwen's performance in the market, he lowered his guard and took Ye Zhengwen into the Chongming Sect with a rather forceful attitude.
Therefore, Kang Dabao originally intended to do the same as Zhou Yixiu, to bring Ye Zhengwen under his master's tutelage, teach him skills on behalf of his master, and take him as the fifth junior brother of the sect leader. Unexpectedly, the latter blushed immediately upon hearing this plan, and shouted that he would rather die than comply.
Left with no other choice, Kang Dabao had to bring Ye Zhengwen under the tutelage of his Uncle Lian, the same one who had taught Pei Yi alchemy back then.
This senior uncle was quite talented, but he left the sect in his early years because he couldn't stand the power struggle between the old sect leader and Martial Uncle Li. As a result, he didn't leave any disciples or followers in the Chongming Sect. Roughly speaking, there has been no news of him for nearly twenty-six or twenty-seven years. For Qi Refinement cultivator, that's a very long time.
Sect Leader Kang Da guessed that this Martial Uncle Lian must have died out there. Otherwise, when Master died and the other uncles were all clamoring to divide the family business, he should have come back to take a look.
Ye Zhengwen was officially appointed as the Foreign Affairs Elder by Kang Dabao. Jin Shilun, a mere First Layer of Qi Refining cultivator, never expected that the elder position he bestowed upon Ye Zhengwen would actually be fulfilled.
As soon as Ye Zhengwen became the Elder of External Affairs, Kang Dabao put him in charge of four disciples in the sect who did not yet have a master: Ji Wuwu, Du Qing, Wei Gu, and Mo Ku.
Apart from Mo Ku, who was nominally under Ye Zhengwen's command but actually had to help Zhou Yixiu with farming, the other three, including Ji Wuwu, were transferred to Chongming City as a protector, to shield the mortals in the vicinity of the city from attacks by Evil Cultivator and Demon Beast.
Chongming City wasn't too far from the mortal cities of the Ye Household, and Ji Wuwu could manage to travel between the two places using his flying sword. As for whether or not to bring the mortals of the Ye Household under the jurisdiction of the Chongming City Lord's Mansion, Kang Dabao didn't concern himself with such minor matters and left it to Ji Wuwu to decide.
Du Qing has learned his trade in the caravan quite well and is considered an important deputy to Lu Xun. Kang Dabao gave him a reward when they last met, and his new wife in Chongming City has finally given birth to a son for him. Now he is working with great enthusiasm.
Wei Gu was someone no one needed to worry about; his daily routine consisted of repairing and maintaining the sect's formations. He was already past forty, and his cultivation was only at the Qi Refinement Fourth Layer. Objectively speaking, he hadn't had any major opportunities and had no hope of reaching the Foundation Establishment.
So even when he wasn't repairing the formation, he preferred spending time with his mortal wives rather than engaging in austere and lonely meditation and cultivation, hoping to have a descendant with Spirit Root as soon as possible.
In addition, Wei Gu could hardly be said to have any great talent in the art of formations. He spent decades painstakingly exploring and stumbling his way across the threshold of entering the realm of formations, so he lost his ambition.
After Wei Gu entered the sect, Sect Leader Kang Da still wanted to encourage him to continue his efforts, so he asked Pei Yi to find out the essential teachings of array formations from several senior uncles for Wei Gu to study. However, these seniors were only First Tier, and their skills were only slightly better than Wei Gu's. It was unknown how much inspiration their annotations and explanations would provide for Wei Gu.
After sorting out these matters, Sect Leader Kang Da couldn't help but feel a bit worried. Now that they had lost the Chongming Market as a source of income, not only had the Chongming Sect's revenue been halved, but they also had to pay annual salaries to five more disciples.
It must be said that the Chongming Sect is much more lively now than it was when Sect Leader Kang Da first took over the position and there were only a few people.
There are currently three late-stage cultivators: Ye Zhengwen, Pei Yi, and Jiang Qing.
Four mid-stage cultivators: Kang Dabao, Yuan Jin, Zhou Yixiu, and Wei Gu.
The initial eleven cultivators are: Zhou Xinran, Han Yundao, Duan Anle Jin Shilun, Kang Rongquan, Zhang Le, Mo Ku, Ye Yaoling, Ye Pingshui, Ji Wuwu, and Du Qing.
Four individuals who have not yet entered the Daoist realm: Mo'er, Yuan Changsheng, Song Hui, Dong Liu'er.
It's surprising to realize that, including disciples involved in external affairs, the Chongming Sect already has more than twenty members.
In terms of numbers, they are no less powerful than the Luo family of Black Forest Fortress, Iron Sword Sect, Green Bamboo Gang, and other second-rate forces in Pingrong County that had some reputation back then.
However, not to mention that these forces have all declined in recent years for various reasons and are incomparable to the Chongming Sect today, even at their peak, although they may have had slightly more disciples Chongming Sect, in terms of quality, they were completely incomparable to the Chongming Sect.
Of the three late-stage cultivators, Pei Yi is probably the least capable in combat, but he should still be able to defeat two or three Rogue Cultivators of the same level by himself. Not to mention, he is also Alchemist, so his life is precious. He probably won't be going into battle much in the future.
Ye Zhengwen is not much stronger than Pei Yi. As for Jiang Qing, there is no need to say much. His reputation has already spread through busybodies, and he is considered by many in the surrounding counties to be a promising candidate for Foundation Establishment.
If Jiang Qing's name doesn't appear on those pointless rankings compiled by idle people these days, such as the "Pingrong Phoenix" or the "Heavenly Pride Ranking," it will definitely be questioned.
Regardless of their combat prowess, the others are at least skilled in weapon crafting, farming, and formation. Duan Anle and Jin Shilun are also highly talented in beast crafting and cooking, and they are expected to achieve some success in the near future.
Compared to ordinary small families, Kang Dabao's Chongming Sect is full of talented people. As long as Jiang Qing Foundation Establishment soon, the Sect Leader Kang Da will be able to rightfully take the position of the ancestor of the sect's revival.
However, Sect Leader Kang Da is currently worried about his annual salary. He is considering whether to go to White Sand County first to collect the heads of people and exchange them for Spirit Stone, or to stay in the sect and spend a year or two breaking through to the Qi Refining Seventh Layer before going.
But just then, another message arrived from the Pingrong County, which Kang Dabao initially had no intention of paying attention to.
Luo Heng, who is still sitting in the position of county magistrate, is merely a figurehead in Pingrong County, and the Sect Leader Kang Da is too lazy to even glance at him. With the Chongming Market just destroyed, he wants to put aside many things here for the time being and decide to devote himself to cultivation for a while, let alone pay attention to the trivial official business of Pingrong County.
The current situation is unstable, seemingly even more turbulent than when Kuang Liuting first came to Cloud Horn Prefecture.
Therefore, Kang Dabao had long ago decided that unless necessary, he would only go to Pingrong County to make a formality during the annual tax collection season when he could receive a share of Spirit Stone. Otherwise, he should stay at his own sect.
The letter that Kexin Fu brought bore the personal signature of Huo Bing of Cloud Horn Prefecture, which left him no choice but to read it.
Although he knew that Huo Bing was just an old ghost waiting to die in the eyes of many Foundation Establishment True Cultivator, even so, it was not up to Kang Dabao, a mere Qi Refining Qi Refinement, to be negligent in the slightest.
Thinking of this, Kang Dabao took the letter and opened it, then took out the official document from the governor's office and quickly read it. His face immediately showed a bitter expression.
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