Building a sect from scratch.

Chapter 116 On the Eve of the Sect Ceremony
The only inn in Chang'an City is called "Sand Sculpture Hotel".

The name sounds like something a player would come up with, and in fact it is—the shop owner is the famous [Master].

The Master spent a lot of money to build a square building for practicality. However, after Wang Ergou and other players begged him to add some decorations so as not to affect the city's appearance, the Master finally agreed to add two layers of Chinese-style tiled eaves to the top of the tenement-like building and to add rain shelters with carved eaves to the outside of all the windows.

At first glance, it seems rather incongruous, but upon closer inspection, it becomes much more pleasing to the eye and possesses a unique kind of beauty.

Since no other player besides Master Fu is wealthy enough to own a large hotel, this hotel with such an unrefined name has become the only legitimate hotel in Chang'an City.

Of course, in the minds of Du Cihuai and others, it was actually an inn.

“This is currently the only inn in Chang’an City, but they all call it a hotel,” Du Cihuai said, pointing to a square sand pit at the entrance of the hotel and a bird made of sand that was frozen solid by magic. “They call this a ‘sand sculpture.’ They always laugh when they pass by. Maybe this animal has some special meaning to them.”

The Sand Sculpture Hotel is built entirely of red bricks and painted with white lime plaster. The staggered eaves are covered with emerald-green glazed tiles, and the ridge beast on the eaves is a large glazed bird that is as green as the tiles, looking exactly like the birds in the sand pit.

There was no signboard at the hotel entrance, but five large characters carved from wood and painted red were clearly displayed on the entire hotel building: Sand Sculpture Hotel.

Upon entering, you are greeted by a very large hall with a long counter in the center.

Checking in is very simple. Just show your ID card, choose a room type, and pay a deposit of 200 coins.

The deluxe suites, of which there were only two, were always fully booked. The superior suites, however, were still quite available, and Du Cihuai generously booked two—each for only 600 wen, a sum that would be a fortune for ordinary people, but utterly insignificant for cultivators.

"Actually, there are also regular guest rooms for 150 coins and dormitory rooms for 60 coins, but we don't need to be frugal. If we really want to live here, refining two batches of pills would be enough to cover a month's accommodation fee."

Du Cihuai earnestly instructed Ling Xuan: "However, remember not to refine pills in the room. The houses here are not as reinforced as those in our Guangcheng Sect. If the furnace explodes, it will be very dangerous. If you really want to refine pills, either go back to the Guangcheng Sect or refine them in the wild. In short, do not do it in the inn."

The familiar rambling finally gave Ling Xuan a sense of familiarity, and she waved her hand impatiently: "I know, senior brother."

"Then you rest first, I'll call you for dinner later, and we'll go for the 'interview' again first thing tomorrow morning!"

"Okay!"

"Oh, by the way, there's a guestbook on the table in the room with a takeout menu. You can order takeout if you're hungry, and also..."

"Alright, alright! I can see for myself!" Seeing that Du Cihuai was going on and on, Ling Xuan simply used a trick she often used in Guangcheng Sect—pushing her senior brother away, and said, "Senior brother, you should go back to your room and rest! I'm not a child anymore!" Du Cihuai said helplessly, "Alright, alright, I won't nag anymore. If you don't understand anything, just knock on the door and ask me!"

……

Compared to the bustling city of Chang'an, the Guangchengzong Palace is now quite deserted.

Most of the disciples who had already reached the Foundation Establishment stage went to the neighboring Taiyin Sect, ostensibly to exchange cultivation experiences, but in reality, they all went off to have a good time. Only those who had not yet reached the Foundation Establishment stage and a small number of disciples who disliked socializing remained in the sect to maintain operations.

The Taiyin Sect's grand ceremony has been set for the first of next month, September 1st. Fang Xianyu sent invitations to Guangcheng Sect and Chiyuan Cave, and then there was no further news. He showed no signs of tension. On the contrary, the disciples of Guangcheng Sect were all busy, afraid of losing face at the Taiyin Sect's grand ceremony.

This is because, in addition to inviting Chiyuan Cave and Guangcheng Sect as witnesses, Taiyin Sect also entrusted Guangcheng Sect to send out dozens of guest invitations for its grand ceremony.

Originally, the elders of Guangcheng Sect thought that they could at most invite some small sects to make a show of things. However, as various novelties of Taiyin Sect were released, many large sects also subtly conveyed their intentions through the Fulu Shou Merchants Association and asked for invitations. Among them was even Taiyi Ziwei Sect!
The Taiyi Ziwei Sect is the second largest sect after the Taiyi Qiankun Sect. Although it is only a sect, it is actually a legitimate sect. It is only called a "sect" because of historical reasons.

The Ziwei Sect is one of the three major sects of the Taiyi Sect, and also a force that emerged after the Taiyi Sect split. After splitting into three parts a thousand years ago, the Taiyi Sect fought a cold war for hundreds of years, finally breaking the ice thanks to the efforts of the former leader of the Qiankun Sect.

Later, the three sects discussed the matter and successfully reached a consensus. They then declared themselves to the outside world as belonging to the Taiyi Sect, and each added the prefix "Taiyi" to their sect names to show their "unity".

Because the Qiankun Sect has the largest number of members and the greatest power, far surpassing the other two, the name of the number one sect in the Central Continent is always the Taiyi Qiankun Sect.

Even so, the Taiyi Ziwei Sect, which bears the name "Taiyi," is far superior to the Guangcheng Sect, let alone the Taiyin Sect, whose high-level combat power consists of only Fang Xianyu.

For such a first-rate sect to insist on coming here, it's simply to show support for the Taiyin Sect, with whom they have no connection. No one in their right mind would believe that!
Privately, Elder Hu had inquired about the matter with concern, wondering what would happen if those major sects came with ill intentions. Fang Xianyu, however, said she was completely unconcerned. She was confident that even if the Taiyi Ziwei Sect or the Taiyi Qiankun Sect came looking for trouble, she could protect herself.

Since the main party had spoken so, the members of Guangcheng Sect had no choice but to prepare cautiously to be witnesses to the establishment of their sect. This meant that Guangcheng Sect was now completely bound to Taiyin Sect's cause—the difference between a guest and a witness lies here. A guest is merely invited to make an appearance, while as one of the witnesses, Guangcheng Sect was essentially aligned with Taiyin Sect, forming a natural alliance.

Therefore, Fang Xianyu's calmness doesn't mean Guangcheng Sect is unperturbed! As they're all in the same boat, Guangcheng Sect also needs to consider how to kneel before the Taiyi Ziwei Sect should something go wrong...

Fortunately, the Crimson Primordial Sect was there to protect them; otherwise, the Guangcheng Sect would have been quite vulnerable facing so many powerful sects and forces as guests.

However, there has been some good news in the past two weeks.

I heard that the patriarch of the Misty Immortal Sect, the Misty Golden Immortal, caused a great disturbance at the Penglai Sect, slaughtering two cities. He was then injured by the Penglai High God, who could no longer tolerate him, and went into seclusion to recuperate!
When the news reached Emperor Guangcheng, everyone breathed a sigh of relief—at least the sword at their necks was a little further away!
Because I'm having some writer's block, I made a bet with everyone in the group today: 10,000 points per day!
(Don't ask me why Calvin's logic is to bet 10,000 per day, I don't know either!!!)
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(End of this chapter)