Chapter 674: Pledging Allegiance

Chapter 674: Chapter 456: Pledging Allegiance

At present, all the Nascent Soul Cultivators from the major powers in White Mountain have been summoned up the mountain. Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say they achieved the Nascent Soul realm *on* White Mountain. These Nascent Soul Cultivators are forbidden from leaving the mountain for the rest of their lives. Even when summoned by their disciples, they can only descend as a manifested body, and with many restrictions.

Right now, the Nascent Soul Ancient Beast, Bear Wind, is the only one below White Mountain. Will the Master of White Mountain make Bear Wind follow the same rules as the other Nascent Soul Cultivators? Will he, in the future, only be able to rely on a Bronze Oil Lamp to descend as a manifested body at critical moments?

Ever since learning that the Master of White Mountain wasn’t truly dead, this thought had been haunting Fang Qingyuan’s mind. If that was truly the case, then Fang Qingyuan felt he had truly doomed Bear Wind.

If it really came to that, he would have Bear Wind seek refuge with Tu Wuzhao in Black Wind Valley and let Tu Wuzhao wrangle with the Master of White Mountain. Anything was better than obediently going up White Mountain to become a living-dead bear, trapped for life.

At this thought, Fang Qingyuan looked at the vast, empty sky and couldn’t help but sigh. ‘I’m only at the Fifth-Layer Golden Core. Why am I already having to consider the schemes of Divinity Transformation experts? First, it was the Yue’e Jade Rabbit, and now the Master of White Mountain. And the root cause of it all was a single, reckless comment I made years ago: ‘Become my master’s Companion Beast!’ Thinking about it now…’ Fang Qingyuan just wanted to go back to that moment, clamp his hand over his own mouth, and make sure he never said such a thing again.

…

Time flew by. The large willow tree in front of the Qingyuan Sect’s main gate withered and grew green, then greened and withered again. In the blink of an eye, another two years had passed.

This year was the sixty-ninth year since the founding of the Qingyuan Sect, and Fang Qingyuan was now exactly one hundred and fifty years old.

Today, the Qingyuan Sect was exceptionally lively. Cultivators from the various sects of White Mountain arrived in a continuous stream. Every cultivator had a joyous expression, and regardless of their true feelings, they all wore a pleasant smile for everyone they met.

“Disciple Jue Wu Gou pays his respects to the Old Ancestor! I wish you a long and celebrated life, with a cup raised high to immortal years. May your longevity rival the eternal pines of the southern mountains, and your fortune be as boundless as the waters of the East Sea.”

Up on the dais of the great hall, Fang Qingyuan beamed with a benevolent smile. The several Golden Core Bear Beasts beside him also watched the eight-year-old Jue Wu Gou, all with smiles on their faces.

The other chairmen and directors of the Qingyuan Sect were arranged on both sides, joyfully watching as Jue Wu Gou, already at Late-stage Qi Cultivation, wished Fang Qingyuan a long life.

“Excellent, excellent. Little Wu Gou has spoken well. Grant him a reward!”

At a signal from Fang Qingyuan, a peak second-rank magical artifact was placed into Jue Wu Gou’s hands. After Jue Wu Gou kowtowed in thanks once more, Fang Qingyuan began to ask about his studies.

Jue Wu Gou was not being privately tutored. After Fang Qingyuan had sent Jiang Wanqin away for some mandatory training, he had placed the six-year-old Jue Wu Gou into the sect’s introductory class for young children.

Having memories of a past life, Fang Qingyuan knew that a genius like this could not be raised in isolation; it would be too easy for his personality to become warped.

Only through contact with his peers could Jue Wu Gou experience true joy. Even princes in ancient times needed study companions, and Jue Wu Gou’s status was hardly so precious as to be above that.

The general education class within the Qingyuan Sect had only thirty students, half male and half female. They were considered the true children of the sect’s elite. Liu Xun’s youngest daughter and Jiang Tianfang’s third son, both Immortal Seedlings with Spirit Roots, were also placed in this class.

As for the offspring without Spirit Roots, they underwent a different kind of upbringing from the day they were born, but we will not elaborate on that here.

A class of thirty children was formed every three years. A new class would be assembled after the next Ascension Ceremony.

The general education class had only thirty children, but it had forty to fifty teachers. This was because, per Fang Qingyuan’s requirements, the knowledge imparted was not limited to Daoist and Confucian classics but also included various arts of cultivation. For example, the major course of Talisman Making was broken down into smaller classes like “Making Talisman Parchment,” “Grinding Talisman Ingredients,” and “Analysis of the Three Major Rune Structures.”

Fang Qingyuan placed great importance on the education of these Immortal Seedlings, borrowing some models from universities in his past life. Originally, Fang Qingyuan wanted to implement this system throughout the entire sect, but after careful investigation, he discovered that ideas that are too advanced can easily lead to catastrophic consequences.

The model currently implemented in the Qingyuan Sect was not very different from other sects: disciples complete missions to be allocated contribution points, which they then use to exchange for the cultivation resources they need.

This included a large amount of knowledge on various skills, such as planting, Artifact Refining, talisman making, and formation setting. This knowledge had to be paid for, with the price varying according to rank.

But if Fang Qingyuan’s free education model were to be implemented, the Qingyuan Sect’s internal contribution point system would collapse within a few years. In other words, the current Qingyuan Sect could not yet afford to make all knowledge completely free.

Therefore, Fang Qingyuan was currently only running an experiment with these young children, using only first-rank knowledge for teaching. As for second and third-rank knowledge, he still followed the original rule: if you want it, you have to exchange contribution points for it.

After Jue Wu Gou paid his respects, the other disciples also came forward to wish Fang Qingyuan a long life, according to their status. The cultivators who were able to appear before Fang Qingyuan basically all held some status within the Qingyuan Sect. As for the lowest-ranking disciples, they could only follow the crowd and shout their congratulations in unison from outside.

After the disciples of his own sect had finished their congratulations, it was the turn of the envoys from other sects. By now, basically all the major powers of White Mountain had sent people, including the Pill Alliance, Spirit Wood, and the Li Huo Alliance, who were all still in a state of war.

Even seven or eight Golden Core Sects from the Loose Cultivator Land had sent envoys. Only the people from Star-Picking Pavilion had not arrived.

But this was also in line with Star-Picking Pavilion’s usual way of doing things. Unless it was a matter that truly concerned them, Star-Picking Pavilion never involved itself in the affairs below White Mountain.