Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 435: Sect Internal Situation
Time flies, and several years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Bianxi City remained peaceful, and the Hunyuan Sect continued its steady development. The Tianshan Market grew larger and more renowned, attracting more and more powerful forces to settle there.

Even the Xuan Yuan Sect, which dominated Xishu County, moved into Tianshan Ward and opened shops. More and more forces from the Muhe Grassland region also flocked in.

Just two years ago, Tianshanfang underwent an expansion, and now it far surpasses Qingfengfang in terms of scale, fame, and prosperity.

The Hunyuan Sect's business was not limited to sects in the Xijiang County area; several sects in the neighboring Huayang County and Anfeng County also signed cooperation agreements with it.

In addition, products under the Hunyuan Sect have also entered neighboring areas, such as Huayang County and Anfeng County, where the sect's Jade Fragrance Pills, Spirit Wine, Dharma Robes and other items are sold.

Song Xian's vision of making the Tianshan Mountains the largest trade platform between the Qin State and the Muhe Grassland has begun to take shape.

The sect's annual revenue has now exceeded two million spirit stones and is approaching three million.

Correspondingly, the sect is also recruiting a large number of people. At present, the sect has nearly 1,600 formal disciples, plus young children with spiritual roots who have not yet transformed into mortals, totaling nearly 2,000 people.

Eighty percent of the formal disciples are recruited cultivators, and only about three hundred are direct descendants cultivated by the sect.

Besides the original core group of several dozen people, this group consisted of young children with spiritual roots who had not yet shed their mortal form, recruited after returning to Bianxi City.

There's no way around it; for a sect to cultivate a direct descendant of a Transcendent being, it's not enough to just spend money, it also takes time.

From the time a child is recruited into a sect and taught cultivation methods until they meet the conditions for transcending the mortal realm and embarking on the path of cultivation, it takes anywhere from five or six years to ten years.

Transformation from the ordinary is not something that can be done at any time; there are thresholds to be met.

Firstly, one must remain a virgin; secondly, one's physical constitution must meet the standards for transcending the mortal realm.

The purpose of mortal cultivation is to strengthen one's constitution so that it can withstand the impact on the body during the mortal transformation.

If the requirements are not met and the transformation into a mortal is forced, the body may be unable to withstand the enormous impact and the meridians may be completely shattered, leading to death.

Since Hunyuan Sect returned to Bianxi City, it has been less than twenty years. They simply haven't had the time to cultivate many capable direct disciples. Therefore, they have to recruit a large number of independent cultivators to enhance their combat strength and expand their manpower.

Because of its abundant financial resources, the sect offered high salaries and benefits to its disciples, thus easily recruiting a large number of independent cultivators.

Of the sect's 1,600 official disciples, 750 belong to the Martial Guard Pavilion, and all of them are under Lin Zixiang's jurisdiction.

Regardless of their spiritual root aptitude, all disciples who join the Martial Guard Pavilion are uniformly assigned based on having dual spiritual roots.

In the early stage of Qi Refining, one receives fifteen spirit stones per month; in the middle stage, thirty spirit stones per month; and in the late stage, sixty spirit stones per month.

The disciples of the Martial Guard Pavilion do not concern themselves with the specific affairs of the sect; they are only responsible for guard duties. Because of their high salaries, many rogue cultivators with poor spiritual roots choose to join. If the number of disciples were not limited, there would be at least a thousand disciples in the Martial Guard Pavilion.

The inner cabinet disciples are paid according to their own spiritual root aptitude; those with dual spiritual roots receive fifteen spirit stones per month for the early stage of Qi Refining.

In the early stages of Qi Refining with Three Spiritual Roots, each month costs ten spirit stones.

In the early stages of Qi Refining with Four Spiritual Roots, each person receives five spirit stones per month.

In the early stages of Qi Refining with Five Elemental Roots, one only receives three spirit stones per month.

Inner cabinet disciples are responsible for mundane affairs, so they receive bonuses and task rewards. However, in general, those with poor spiritual root aptitude earn far less than the disciples of the Martial Guard Pavilion, unless the affairs they are responsible for are lucrative and they are minor leaders themselves.

After the number of formal disciples in the sect reached 1,600, Song Xian ordered a halt to the recruitment of independent cultivators, as the large number of people would also be a financial burden.

With the sect's current size, having this many people is already sufficient. The important thing now is to cultivate more direct descendants of the sect.

Unlike the peaceful Bianxi City, the war in Nanhan County continues. With the support of the Chu Kingdom's Tianxuan Sect, the rebels have gained a foothold in Nanhan County. The war has now entered a stalemate and a protracted battle. Every now and then, new news comes in, and all sorts of rumors, some true and some false, are circulating.

No matter how fierce the war was in Nanhan County, it did not affect this place, so the cultivators in Bianxi City mostly talked about it with smiles.

.........

In the dimly lit secret room, Song Xian sat cross-legged with his eyes closed and his palms clasped together. His spiritual power surged wildly within him, and his head, arms, and entire body visibly turned red, as if he were being roasted in a raging fire.

As he slowly opened his palms, veins bulged on his forehead, his body shone with a bloody light, as if it were about to burst open, and his facial features gradually distorted.

"Hoo," after a short while, Song Xian opened his eyes and gasped for air as if he were drowning. His hands fell limply to his sides, and large beads of sweat rolled down his face.

He fell backward and lay on the ground, his chest still heaving, as if he had just survived a life-or-death battle.

He was just practicing the Taiji Yin-Yang Divine Power of the Human Path in the Six Paths of Reincarnation. Although he had tried many times over the years, he had not made any progress.

He couldn't feel the Yin and Yang energies being generated within his body at all, let alone harmonize them.

No wonder Dong Xuanchen had been unable to grasp the essence of it for over a decade and had to search for treasures containing Yin and Yang energies; the supernatural powers of the Six Paths of Reincarnation were indeed difficult to cultivate.

It seems that one cannot master this technique on one's own; one still needs external assistance. Dong Xuanchen was right.

After resting for a while, Song Xian got up and left the secret room, arriving in front of a magnificent hall. This was the sect's weapon-refining hall. He strode into the inner room, where the disciples on duty hurriedly came forward to greet him.

"Take me to Junior Brother Xia's weapon-refining room."

"Yes." The disciple quickly responded and led him to a long corridor with a stone gate.

Song Xian didn't knock and just pushed the door open and went into the inner room.

Inside the spacious room, a huge, three-legged, two-eared, crimson cauldron stood in the center, flanked by numerous cabinets and shelves.

At this moment, a raging fire with a faint blue light is burning fiercely inside the tunnel beneath the cauldron. This is a second-tier high-grade blue flame vein, which was built as early as the time of the Falling Cloud Sect.

Before the crimson cauldron, a scrawny, unkempt old man with a weathered face was intently sensing the changes within. He gripped the cauldron's handles with both hands, his eyes slightly closed, his divine sense already inside, perceiving every subtle change within. He rhythmically exerted force with both hands, gently shaking the crimson cauldron, his spiritual energy flowing into it at varying speeds.

This person was Hu An. After Song Xian hired Hu Yue as a guest elder of the sect, according to the agreement, he would spend two or three months every year going to Hunyuan Sect to refine Yin Po Pearls.

Sometimes he would stay for half a year, and then he would be busy with his own things the following year.

Hu Yue also knew that his position as a guest elder was merely nominal, and he probably felt embarrassed about it. Therefore, he did not cultivate at Hunyuan Sect, but stayed at Huaxuan Sect in Anfeng County. Even when Hu An came to refine the Yin Po Pearl, he did not come along.

Apart from their first meeting, even Song Xian hadn't seen him again in all these years.

Inside the room, besides Juan, there was a middle-aged man, who was burly with a square face and a serious, unsmiling demeanor. This man was named Xia Yu, a newly promoted Foundation Establishment cultivator in the sect.

It's worth mentioning that he only joined the sect six years ago.

At that time, Song Xian instructed Jiang Zichen to recruit more independent cultivators with strong foundations in weapon crafting. After being introduced by someone, Xia Yu joined the sect. He was also a weapon crafter. At that time, he had not yet established his foundation and only had the cultivation level of the tenth level of Qi Refining.

Song Xian treated him with considerable favor, not only allocating him a private cultivation room so that he could concentrate on his cultivation, but also providing him with a salary and benefits in accordance with the standards for deputy heads of various halls within the sect.

Because his cultivation was close to the Great Perfection of Qi Refining, he needed a spiritual vein with abundant spiritual energy to build his foundation. In addition, the sect offered high conditions, so he chose to join the Hunyuan Sect.

After several years of arduous cultivation, he finally reached the Great Perfection of Qi Refining. Song Xian lent him some spirit stones to buy Foundation Establishment Pills to help him break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Six months ago, he was fortunate enough to succeed and enter the ranks of Foundation Establishment cultivators. He currently serves as the deputy director of the Internal Affairs Hall.

The reason why Song Xian took such good care of him, not only by offering such high conditions but also by lending him money to buy Foundation Establishment Pills, was that in addition to him being a weapon refiner, he also had good spiritual roots and possessed dual spiritual root aptitude, making him absolutely worth cultivating.

In recent years, the sect has added two Foundation Establishment cultivators. He is one of them. The other is Zhang Yanqing, who is the leader of the Qingxuan Sect, a rogue cultivator force in the western city. He also has dual spiritual roots and established his foundation earlier than Xia Yu. He successfully established his foundation three years ago and is currently the deputy director of the Surveillance Hall.

"Sect Leader." Hearing the sound of the stone door turning, Xia Yu turned around, glanced at it, and then bowed.

Song Xian waved his hand, indicating that there was no need for such formalities.

Juan, standing before the crimson cauldron, frowned, but he ignored Song Xian and didn't even turn his head.

After a while, Hu An finally removed his hands from the cauldron, glanced at Song Xian, and made no attempt to hide his dissatisfaction: "Fellow Daoist Song, you don't need to come and check up on me all the time. Since I promised to teach Fellow Daoist Xia how to refine the Yin Soul Pearl, I will teach him everything I know. Once he has learned it, my burden will be lighter, and I won't need to come to you every year to help you refine this Yin Soul Pearl."

"Even for my own sake, I wouldn't hold back. If you just come in without any prior notice and I get distracted at a crucial moment in the refining process, it will be the materials you provided that will be wasted."

Knowing his temperament, Song Xian didn't mind: "Fellow Daoist Hu, I hope you can stay in our sect for a while longer this time. It would be best if you could stay until Junior Brother Xia has fully mastered the technique of refining Yin Soul Pearls before leaving. Once Junior Brother Xia can refine high-quality Yin Soul Pearls like you, we won't have to trouble you to come every year anymore."

Juan snorted: "Sect Leader Song is overestimating the art of weapon crafting. Do you think crafting Yin Soul Pearls is a simple matter? Can it be mastered in just a few months? Even someone with Fellow Daoist Xia's cultivation level has only just reached the threshold of being able to craft. To master the skills, it is impossible without years of practice."

Song Xian smiled slightly: "I just want to relieve you of your burden. You just need to teach me the techniques, and Junior Brother Xia can handle the rest. Although I don't understand the art of weapon forging, I know that practice makes perfect. As long as you keep trying, you will master it sooner or later."

In recent years, Juan has refined more than eighty high-quality Yin Soul Pearls. With the number refined this year, the total will be around one hundred.

The reason why the number of refining beads is not large is not because of a lack of materials. Although the materials required to refine Yin Soul Beads are not common goods, it is not difficult for Hunyuan Sect to obtain them with its current strength.

Thanks to the unique advantages of Tianshan Market, it is not too difficult to gather these materials.

The reason why the quantity produced is limited is mainly because the process is complicated, and Juan's energy is limited, so he only spends two or three months a year on it.

Each Yin Soul Pearl costs about three thousand spirit stones. These materials cannot be accounted for by the sect. Firstly, these things are for private use, and secondly, Song Xian does not want others to know that he is secretly refining a large number of Yin Soul Pearls, for fear of attracting the attention of Yin Yuan Island.

If it were to be paid by the sect, not to mention that such a large expense would inevitably attract the curiosity and attention of many people in the sect, and the sect disciples would also gossip. After all, this is something that ordinary people can't use, and he wouldn't be able to explain why he had to refine so many Yin Soul Pearls. It would also be troublesome to trade Yin Soul Pearls in the future.

Therefore, he paid for all these materials out of his own pocket and had Xiao Ling secretly purchase them.

Fortunately, he was extremely wealthy and could afford such extravagance.

In the past few years, he has spent five or six hundred thousand spirit stones on materials alone, and there is still a pile of materials in the warehouse of his mansion!

He plans to finish refining this batch of Yin Soul Pearls this year and then go to that alien ghost island to exchange them for crystal cores.

If he keeps only spending and not earning, even if he had a mountain of gold, he would eventually empty it all. After exchanging crystal cores on the alien island, he plans to sell a few bottles of spirit milk to make up for the deficit.

This item is in high demand and won't have trouble selling; the only concern is attracting the attention of people from Yinyuan Island.

"I will stay here for half a year, refining the Yin Soul Pearl while teaching Fellow Daoist Xia the refining method. I won't come next year, but I will come back the year after. During this time, don't be stingy with materials and give Fellow Daoist Xia plenty of opportunities to practice. Although his foundation is good, firstly, he has never been exposed to this item before, and secondly, his cultivation is not profound enough. At the beginning of refining this item, it is impossible for him to master it so well, and there will inevitably be a lot of failures."

"Fellow Daoist Hu, there's no need to worry. I certainly won't skimp on the materials."

Juan glanced at Song Xian, then turned around and inserted a fiery red stick into the cauldron to stir it, the sound slowly escaping.

"If you ask me, with Fellow Daoist Xia's current skills and cultivation level, he is not suitable for refining Yin Soul Pearls. Even if I teach him the refining techniques, his spiritual power and divine sense are not strong enough, and it will be difficult for him to master the subtle timing of refining. It would be best to wait until his cultivation level is more advanced and he reaches the mid-Foundation Establishment stage before making a decision."

"I've heard that Fellow Daoist Song is a talisman maker with superb skills. You should know that some things can't be mastered simply through practice. If your cultivation level isn't high enough, you simply can't do it. Just like asking a Foundation Establishment cultivator to forge a magic weapon—how many people in the world could do that?"

"If Fellow Daoist Song insists that Fellow Daoist Xia learn how to refine Yin Soul Pearls now, I will naturally teach you carefully. Anyway, the materials that are wasted are not my money."

Upon hearing this, Song Xian remained silent. Over the years, he had come to realize that Hu An was a decent person. Although he had a bad temper and was not kind to people, he had no ill intentions.

These words were undoubtedly heartfelt. From his perspective, the sooner Xia Yu could independently refine the Yin Soul Pearl, the sooner he could get rid of this mess, and he wouldn't need to worry about the materials.

If it were a cunning person, they would be happy for Hunyuan Sect to throw money into it. As they said, it's not their money that's being spent. Even if a lot of money is spent, it won't make Xia Yu refine the Yin Soul Pearl immediately, but it will still have some benefits. It will help him grasp the mysteries of this place.

Juan's words of advice, however, demonstrate his integrity and kindness.

(End of this chapter)