Chapter 222: The Sect Master's Ceremony
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
"My sect's shabby grass-thatched cottages have certainly amused you lot."
As he said this, Lin Feng activated his hidden System Establishment Deed. In a flash, a ray of light shot up towards the sky.
This ray of light carved an arc across the sky, before bursting violently into a splendid cloud of effulgence, slowly falling towards the Black Heavenly Treasure Tree.
The resplendent blaze made everyone gasp in shock.
The cloud of light dissipated, gradually revealing its true identity - a magnificent, towering palace.
The light and shadows slowly fused into tangible entities, finally morphing into a physical mass, with the towering palace descending upon Mount Yujing.
The palace's main hall was thirty meters high, eighteen rooms wide, but no one knew how far it extended. The entire building glimmered with a faint purplish gold, with cornices mounted on all four corners and the Dragon, Phoenix, Turtle and Qilin resting on each one respectively. Six layers of platinum-glazed tiles shimmered brilliantly.
The palace walls were skirted with elegant, regal white jade fences, made of material similar to that of Mount Yujing, which rimmed the entire main hall.
The nine storeys of stairs were also constructed from the same material, which made the main hall's majestic infrastructure look like the stairways to heaven. The entire hall seemed incredibly lofty and imposing.
A seemingly virtual nebula floated above the apex of the main hall. It was as dazzling as a galaxy - mystical, vast, and endless.
The Sun, Moon, Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars and Saturn.
Among the roving stars were these seven celestial bodies suspended over the galaxy, like masters of the heavens controlling everything beneath them.
And at the still, dark base of the main hall's nine storeys of stairs, was a wheel of light, gently spinning along.
The wheel of light was spinning with ceaseless and indifferent determination, an unbending will that could decide it all.
A will that would decide the fate of all living things for one, ten, hundred, thousand generations!
Like the ever-flowing river of history, the wheel of fate always spins forward. Nothing in existence can stop it, everything has been determined! Fate cannot be stopped! Fate cannot be changed!
In the Netherworld, this ever-spinning wheel of light drives, regulates and records the tens of thousands of generations and the cycle of life and death for all living things in the universe.
The Seven Luminaries above are eternally unmoving, while the Netherworld below is always spinning.
There was a plaque placed above the entrance of the main hall, with the characters representing "Heavenly" calligraphed on it, emanating an imposing immortal aura that could move the earth and the heavens.
Everyone stared blankly at the Heavenly Palace standing before them. It wasn't just Yang Tonghui's visiting convoy who were astounded, even Lin Feng's own disciples, Kang Nanhua, and Miao Shihao, gazed at their sect's grand palace in awe.
After a good long while, Wu Yunliang finally recovered from the shock and laughed bitterly at Meng Chaoran. "Why do I feel that the Ethereal Mountain Sect's palace seems like a straw-house when compared to this palace?"
Meng Chaoran nodded unhesitatingly. "A house that would be blown down by just one gust of wind."
Yan Mingyue's eyes glimmered, and thought to himself, "Creating things from empty space? With such abhijna, his true mastery levels must be higher than I thought."
Lin Feng scanned his audience. This spectacle was indeed presented to carve a deep impression in the minds of Yan Mingyue, Mei Wulang and Yang Tonghui, but it was also to instil pride and faith in the hearts of the young cultivators about to enter his sect.
Lin Feng silently thanked the Cyclone Master and Yu Wanfeng, who were both selfless and benevolent people.
The Battle of Huangyuan was for Lin Feng to highlight his strength, but Xiao Yan's current battle would totally be an exhibition to showcase the fruits of the Celestial Sect of Wonders' teachings.
They were unmatched by all others with the same mastery level, and their Aurous Core cultivators can even hold their own against Nascent Soul cultivators.
After this day, the name of the Celestial Sect of Wonders will definitely be renowned through the whole of the Grand Celestial World.
For the young talent about to enter the sect, this has paved them a long yet bright path to a blazing future.
But to protect them, Lin Feng has been using his own mana to shield them. Although Xiao Yan and the others were battling outside with all their might, the newcomers were still separated from the battlefield by a barrier, hence they couldn't experience the full impact of the ongoing action.
Lin Feng then used the sect's deed in a manner similar to creating objects from empty space to engrave another deep mark in their minds, letting them know that their future would definitely be promising if they follow him.
The response was quite assuring. A band of youngsters were flabbergasted and speechless with sparkling eyes, regardless of whether they had already explored the world.
While the crowd was still reeling in shock, Lin Feng didn't stop his onslaught. With three consecutive flicks of his fingers, another three rays of light blazed through the skies and landed simultaneously on the empty patch behind the Celestial Grand Palace.
On the left stood a massive house shaped like an abode. At first glance, it seemed simple and bulky, but upon closer inspection, its intricate details gave forth a sense of imperial grandeur.
The abode was filled with the spiritual energy of greater intensity than that of Mount Yujing. This was because the abode contained a spell formation that continuously drew in and gathered the spiritual energy from Mount Yujing.
The Flying Flames Grandmaster stared at that Disciples' Abode in complete astonishment. Even though he didn't enter it, he could still feel the densely concentrated amounts of spiritual energy inside just by standing outside with his Nascent Soul mastery.
"Residing and training here would definitely yield twice the results with just half the effort." The Flying Flames Grandmaster exclaimed. "Heck, if he raised a pig in that place, it might even transform into a demonic beast after a few years!"
Under Lin Feng's control, the other two structures landed on the other side of the Black Heavenly Treasure Tree, opposite the Disciples' Abode.
Two rustic and quaint buildings fell into place. One of them gave off a strong herbal aroma that could relax one's entire body, so potent that even cultivators suffering from many years of pain would enjoy slight relief.
This was the Elixir Chamber. Lin Feng opened the chamber doors wide. The Eight Trigrams were arranged on the floor in their specific positions at the heart of the room, and in the middle of the formation stood a single Elixir Cauldron.
The floor of the chamber was dotted with several futons, with a Wind and Fire Fan resting on each futon.
Numerous large gourds were hung on the walls. Preserving the elixirs in these gourds would prevent them from losing their medicinal capabilities, which may even strengthen after aging in the gourds.
Upon sensing the area, Lin Feng realized that, although the cauldron he prepared was of high quality, it still missed the mark by a bit. With a wave of his hand, the original cauldron vanished, and the Ethereal Heart Cauldron now sat in the centre of the chamber.
Yang Tonghui was puzzled. "Lord Lin, this cauldron is ..."
"This is the Ethereal Heart Cauldron." Lin Feng smiled, "I obtained this by chance. I think it's not bad."
Everyone who recognized the cauldron took a full gulp of air.
It isn't just 'not bad', it's jaw-droppingly formidable!
Yang Tonghui was thoroughly amazed. "I heard that this cauldron can only be effective using fires at least of the level of the Scarlet Thunderous Fire or the Acalanātha Inferno. It has endless uses, and can even rely on its core to strengthen the flames, allowing it to complete crafting elixirs at minimally thrice the speed of normal cauldrons.
"It's just that this cauldron had been missing for almost a thousand years, with its whereabouts perpetually unknown. I never thought it would be in Lord Lin's hands."
Lin Feng smiled. "It happened by chance."
He turned to look at Xiao Yan, then threw the Elixir Chamber's deed at him. After construction is completed, a building's deed can only be used for allocating ownership.
"Xiao Yan, you're in charge of the Elixir Chamber. From today onwards, you'll be the master of this chamber."
Xiao Yan caught the deed, turned and glanced at the chamber and the Ethereal Heart Cauldron, then grinned joyfully. He bowed and said, "I shall abide by your orders, Master."
The Azure Clouds Grandmaster, who had been silent this whole time, laughed to himself bitterly. "This brat has the talent for crafting elixirs? Ugh, this is really agonizing!"
The building beside the Elixir Chamber was the Tripitaka Block. Lin Feng, however, did not open it for viewing, and simply introduced it briefly.
Everyone understood why, but couldn't help inspecting the exterior of the ten-meter-high three-storey building out of curiosity. "Who knows, perhaps this block holds the Mantra Scrolls of the Celestial Sect of Wonders?"
Lin Feng held onto the deed to the Tripitaka Block and looked at Wang Lin. "Wang Lin, train harder. The day you form your Aurous Core will be the day you inherit this block."
Wang Lin took a deep breath then bowed respectfully. "I won't let you down, Master!"
Lin Feng then turned to look at Zhu Yi. "Zhu Yi, from today onwards, I'm appointing you as the Chief Instructor of all the new disciples of this sect. All the new disciples will build their foundations under your wing before being trained by other instructors."
"Compassion, righteousness, fairness, and strictness - these are the qualities I require, and expect, from you as your master."
Zhu Yi straightened his robes, then grovelled to the ground and said, "I will abide by your teachings, Master."
When Xiao Budian noticed Lin Feng's gaze shifting towards him, he spat his tongue out and lowered his head before taking a peek. He immediately heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Lin Feng shaking his head smilingly before prying his vision away.
When Yang Wulang and Zhang Hai witnessed all this, they looked at each other without saying anything, with their gaze showing a tinge of distress.
Lin Feng then led everyone to the main hall.
The massive doors slammed open, and a soft pleasant sound drifted from within. The interior of the hall was shrouded with purple Qi which glowed with vigour.
Below the roof of the hall hung a galaxy, with countless stars that formed numerous mystical and splendid constellations.
In a flash, Lin Feng was already seated cross-legged on the hall's main throne, being oddly laid back and not at all serious. But in the eyes of everyone else, he was brimming with regalness and authority.
Xiao Yan and the other disciples already knew the flow of events, and split into two groups and led the guests down the two sides of the hall.
Kang Nanhua and Miao Shihao stood beside Lin Feng, and grinned as they observed Zhu Yi direct the horde of new disciples into the main hall and to Lin Feng's throne.
As expected, at the vanguard of the convoy of new disciples was a well-mannered young man in white and a lady with scarlet hair, dressed in red robes. They were Yang Qing and Yue Hongyan.
They were the first two who were completely overwhelmed and subdued by Lin Feng in the Battle of Huangyuan.
They were at the front of the army of disciples and led the rest in bowing before Lin Feng.
"We pay our respects to you, Grandmaster!"
Lin Feng looked at the horde of people below and felt a weird tingling sensation in his heart. A voice then resonated in his mind, "This is my sect ..."
This was Lin Feng's own voice.
The System's prompter then sounded in his ears.
"Congratulations to Lord Lin for officially founding his own sect, and for recruiting thirty disciples with potential values exceeding 25, establishing the foundations for the sect's second stage!"
"Congratulations to Lord Lin for completing the Main Quest of the System 2.0!"
"We now present him with the Special Prize for completing the Main Quest of the System!"