Chapter 176: The Spiritual Conference of Hanhai
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Upon hearing Kang Nanhua mentioning the Blessed Nine-Petalled Lotus, Lin Feng was jolted to his senses. "Oh, where is it?"
To obtain a Blessed Nine-Petalled Lotus through an exchange in the system would be too expensive, and as Lin Feng had limited amount of points he was unable to afford a single one.
Kang Nanhua replied," To the north of Mount Kunlun lies a wide expanse of barren land, and at the place where the barren land intersects with Mount Kunlun lies a plain. The plain is the westernmost territory of the Great Qin Empire, and it's called Shazhou."
"While Shazhou nominally belongs to the Great Qin Empire, it is actually controlled by a sect called the Pavilion of Heavenly Trade. The Pavilion, while extremely powerful, is extremely secretive as well. While it never interferes in conflicts of the Divine Lands, it controls mainly trade and resources."
"Every year on the ninth of the tenth month, the Pavilion of Heavenly Trade would organize a Spiritual Conference of Hanhai where all participating cultivators can engage in the free exchange of resources for cultivation. The cultivators across all the lands would participate," Kang Nanhua recalled. "I once participated in it too. The scale of it was indeed big and it was crowded beyond belief. There were numerous treasures there."
"When I was in the Great Swamp of the Ancient Region earlier, I had mentions of the Blessed Nine-Petalled Lotus appearing there in the past three years. The Lotus apparently appeared twice, and it was apparently the same person who procured it."
Lin Feng asked, "Do you know of his background?"
Kang Nanhua shook his head, "This I do not know, but according to others the person was searching for something at the conference. As he did not obtain it before, he probably would attend the upcoming one."
Lin Feng nodded his head as he made a mental note of the Spiritual Conference of Hanhai.
According to the geographical demarcations given by the system, the Spiritual Conference of Hanhai would be held near to the northern foot of Mount Kunlun. Hence, if Lin Feng could create a name for himself there, it would help with his popularity in the region.
If he did a good job, he would not need to fight to attain his desired popularity.
Especially since Shazhou was the most populated area in the northern foot of Mount Kunlun, it would be unlike the sparsely-populated Mount Kunlun where dangers lay abound.
If he increased his popularity there, it would help in his recruitment of disciples.
Lin Feng even thought of recruiting disciples from Shazhou and bringing them up to Mount Yujing together. Regardless, Mount Yujing was located on top of the Lingyun Peak in the depths of Mount Kunlun. For an ordinary person, it would be extremely difficult to find this place.
However, the problem with recruiting disciples in Shazhou was that he could attract the unwanted attention of Pang Jie and company.
For its concrete details, more deliberation was required.
"However, I must attend the Spiritual Conference of Hanhai to increase my popularity. At the same time, I need to resolve the problem with Xiao Budian's cultivation." Lin Feng looked at the four of them and sighed. "I'm like a father and a mother."
Speaking about one's father and mother, Lin Feng suddenly remembered the kids he brought back. That was another headache for him too. He summoned Zhu Yi and said, "Zhu Yi, I'll leave you in charge of these kids. Teach them the rules of this place, and as for accommodations..."
Lin Feng lightly pushed skywards with his palm, and with this action, a bunch of Heaven-Revolving Purple Clouds descended and morphed into rows of houses. Despite it being an illusion, but once the purple cloud houses touched Mount Yujing it appeared to stand firmly on the mountaintop as if they had been erected with sturdy foundations.
"As for food and clothing..." Lin Feng flicked his finger and a bunch of purple clouds covered the twenty-odd kids. They became clad in a bunch of form-fitting purple attire, which looked as if they were tailor-made.
Lin Feng released the hundreds and thousands of magical herbs and plants he'd obtained from the Hundred Herbs Sect, and he shot Xiao Yan a look.
Xiao Yan smiled and whistled. Lucky bounded over from the Heavenly Cosmic Ray World and after Xiao Yan fed him some Nefarious Spectral Primordial Fire he squealed in delight as he pigged out on the food. Suddenly, he collapsed on the ground and turned into a bunch of spiritual soil.
Xiao Yan waved his hand, and the seedling of the spiritual herbs planted themselves on the spiritual soil. In a blink of an eye, odd plants began to blossom from the seedlings. They resembled a bunch of fat babies running around wildly.
"This is called the spiritual potato. That's the purple broccoli and that's the Hidden Canyon Fruit and that's the Holyman Fruit..." Lin Feng counted the herbs like he was counting treasures, for they were indeed critical for any cultivator.
Those medicines that did not require cultivation could be simply taken care of by devouring them. They could be consumed raw, and since they were full of spiritual aura as well as soft and cotton-like, they could be consumed by ordinary people who were not cultivators. However, that would be waste of their potential.
Xiao Budian took a purple fruit and threw it into his mouth, as he chewed he smiled and said, "This tastes not bad."
The kids looked at the curious sight before them, and those who were braver approached hesitantly. Xiao Yan looked at them and smiled, he picked some fruits for them to eat too.
They were soon smiling in delight.
Zhu Yi looked at them and asked Lin Feng, "Master, they are..."
Lin Feng introduced the kids to them, and said, "These are some wretched kids, they can't even remember where did they come from. Let them stay here for now."
"Let them cultivate here for now to regain their memories. Once they can recall their childhood, they can decide whether they want to leave or stay. Before that happens, they are considered to be disciples of my sect. You can teach them about the rules."
Zhu Yi nodded his head and said, "Master is indeed merciful. I would take care of it."
Lucky transformed back into his human form and flew back next to Xiao Yan.
Mount Yujing was already filled with spiritual aura, and hence suited for the growth of these various herbs. Coupled with Lucky's fertilization, the quality of these herbs were no doubt higher. Even if Lucky returned to his human form, the patch of medicinal herbs would gradually take shape.
Lin Feng's consciousness connected with Mount Yujing and through his abhijna, he incanted, "Rise!"
The mountain rocks on top of Mount Yujing circled the plot of medicinal herbs. Slowly they rose and formed a small canyon. Within the canyon, the various forms of herbs and medicine began to grow.
"Hmm, something seems lacking. Eh, nevermind. Let's not think about it first," Lin Feng irresponsibly called Xiao Yan over. "Xiao Yan, in the future, you are in charge of our sect's plot of herbs."
"Why?" Xiao Yan's face turned glum, but he then saw Lin Feng's expression as he eyed Lucky.
Xiao Yan hung his head and bemoaned his fate silently as he accepted this task.
That's not all, as he heard Lin Feng say, "This patch of herbs lack something. Find it and apply it. Treat it like a test from me."
"Yes, master," Xiao Yan replied sullenly as he stared with a pain expression at the plot of herbs.
To resolve these inconsequential issues, Lin Feng dismissed everyone for the time being. Zhu Yi brought a bunch of kids to settle down while Xiao Budian followed behind. Ever since he left Shi Village, he had never seen before so many kids of his own age.
Xiao Yan stared blankly at the plot of herbs, while Wang Lin returned to Heavenly Cosmic Ray World after reporting his status to Lin Feng.
Yue Hongyan found a quiet place on Mount Yujing and began to practise cultivation by herself. It was almost as if she did not want to waste a single second.
Kang Nanhua too found a corner in the mountain to cultivate.
Lin Feng originally wanted to invite him into the Heavenly Cosmic Ray World to cut down on the amount of time he needed to cultivate. However, after thinking about it for a while, he decided against it.
Blessed spots like this that could speed up the flow of time were the foundation for the sect. While the aura within the Heavenly Cosmic Ray World was plentiful and renewable, it was ultimately limited. It could accommodate too many cultivators.
While there were few people in the sect as of now, there would ultimately be a day where the sect would be filled with other members. It was best to set the sect's rules immediately.
Rules were always easy to break and hard to keep.
Lin Feng decided that only his immediate disciples and himself could enter and exit the Heavenly Cosmic Ray World freely. As for a sect guardian like Kang Nanhua and his future grand-disciples and great-grand disciples, entrance into the cave shall be kept given based on merit.
This would create an incentive and disincentive system in the sect, as well as create healthy competition, which would be an important driving force in the sect.
Kang Nanhua understood this principle, and hence while knowing about the existence and properties of the Heavenly Cosmic Ray World he did not mention it to Lin Feng to avoid putting him in a difficult position.
After bidding goodbye to Kang Nanhua, Lin Feng did not return to the Heavenly Cosmic Ray World but instead, entered the system instead.
When Kang Nanhua became the sect guardian, Lin Feng obtained a chance at a lucky draw. He did not forget that.
However, this choice did place him in a bit of a dilemma. He agonized over whether it would be worth fighting for the Blessed Nine-Petalled Lotus through the system.
Lin Feng thought of it for a long while before deciding against it.
Firstly, he did not know about the odds of this lucky draw. Nextly, he did not have any cheap goods on his hand right now.
"I'll wait for the Spiritual Conference of Hanhai. If I did not get anything from there, I'll fight for another chance at a lucky draw then." Lin Feng thought as he spun the wheel in the system.
In a daze of flashing lights, the items that were available for the draw appeared before Lin Feng.
Lin Feng swept them with his gaze before settling on the "Disciple's Abode".
The Disciple's Abode was a place for new disciples to live. While Lin Feng used the purple clouds as houses, it was ultimately an issue of a power play. Should others see it, it would appear deficient.
While Lin Feng could blast open caves in the mountain, which would provide more aura compared to the purple houses, it would still be unsightly for all his disciples to reside inside.
Having a Disciple's Abode would greatly alleviate this problem. According to the description, a disciple's abode would be the only solution with the capability for expansion.
The first construction would not require too many houses and could accommodate all his disciples.
Once he had more disciples, the Disciple's Abode would expand automatically and provide customized and sufficient accommodations for all.
As he was about to start a sect, Lin Feng was particular about this requirement.
Looking at the numbers of the wheel, Lin Feng gave a command and it began to spin.
The Disciple's Abode belonged to the 14th section. After some calculations, Lin Feng began the spin at the third section.
As the wheel began to spin faster, it blurred into a wheel of light. Lin Feng stared anxiously at the wheel and counted in his heart, "First section, second section...third section!"