Journey to the head

It was already dawn. After the hustle and bustle of the night, Meihuafang entered the quietest time of the day.

The noisy flow of customers has basically taken a break, only the various shops in the five districts and eleven cities are busy. The shop assistants, with silent tacit understanding, quickly complete operations such as inventory, purchasing, checking accounts, cleaning, and stacking goods.

Occasionally, a loud and distant cry pierced through the morning light; it was the giant manta ray slowly descending to the Plum Blossom House carrying goods.

And in the quiet morning, except for Gu Nishang, all the Yuanying and Jindan of Yunshan Sect received the message, woke up from their meditation, and gathered in front of Lu Qian.

This meeting should be called the "General (Expanded) Meeting of the Yunshan Sect Elders Council" because a large number of the participants were not actually Yunshan elders.

When the Sect Master is away, the Yunshan Sect Elders Council can make decisions on various matters, but they cannot modify the sect's rules and regulations, nor can they decide on the appointment or removal of elders.

Even though Lin Le served as the acting head and theoretically had such power, he never used it.

Therefore, the same elders of Yunshan who were there fifty years ago are still the same now, except that one elder, Zheng Duan, is missing.

"In addition to Elder Yunshan, the people present here also include the heads of various departments, the stewards of various halls, and the backbone of my sect." Lu Qian sat in the upper seat and spoke slowly. The two Nascent Souls and fifteen Golden Cores were all concentrating. "I have been trapped in the secret place for fifty years. All these years, it is all thanks to everyone's management and the disciples' dedication. I, Yunshan, lead the Northland, and it is prosperous and powerful. My prestige is growing day by day. I have already gained some prestige in the surrounding prefectures. I am here to thank you all."

Lu Qian bowed and saluted, and the disciples quickly stood up to return the greeting, saying they dared not.

"I have just returned from my 50 years of hard work and I don't know what the results are. Now, I would like to ask everyone to give a brief report on the work they are responsible for and the problems they have encountered over the years. Talk less about the achievements and more about the problems. Discuss the plans briefly, especially the urgent and difficult issues that need to be resolved."

Most of the people became serious, knowing that the master wanted to inquire about the situation and judge the merits and demerits. At that moment, their minds were working rapidly and they were all trying to prepare a speech in their minds.

"After that, I have something important to announce."

"Lin Le, you start first."

Lin Le responded. He was not only in charge of the sect, but also in charge of the specific work of the Transmission Department. In fact, he knew the overall situation of the Yunshan Sect very well. If he really wanted to talk about it, he could explain the development of the past fifty years by himself.

But he could vaguely guess Lu Qian's intention, and thought to himself that the master's return was probably to assess the situation of the disciples, adjust the work arrangements, and select a new Yunshan elder.

So he only gave a brief introduction to the overall situation, omitting everything he had already told Lu Qian along the way, and focused on the work of the Transmission Department, the overall practice, development and cultivation of spiritual seedlings of the Yunshan Sect disciples.

Now it is April of the 520th year of Jiashen. After fifty years of development, the total number of disciples of Yunshan Sect has exceeded 10,000, and there are about 8,500 disciples in the middle stage of Qi training and above. According to the level of tenth-level disciples, there are more than 5,000 people who have been implanted with the formation core by Lu Qian and Lin Le and are practicing the "Hanhai Xingchen Great Formation".

This battle formation gathers the strength of the crowd, and is both offensive and defensive. Theoretically, a team of 200 people can exert the power of the early stage of the golden elixir. If calculated in this way, 5,000 people are equivalent to 25 golden elixir masters.

But in fact, this is not the case. Although these 5,000 people have learned battle formations and can form a battle formation in an emergency, under normal circumstances, only 2,400 people belong to the Yunshan combat sequence, who frequently train and are responsible for warfare.

The other 2,600 disciples, together with those disciples who have not entered the Geng class and have not learned combat formations, contribute to the Yunshan sect in the fields of production, operation, intelligence, supervision, patrol, and security.

The 2,400 people in the combat sequence are the best of the best, the elite of the elite, and are only responsible for offensive and defensive battles. They are divided into four combat battalions, namely, "Bichao", "Lingsha", "Mianlong" and "Hanjiang".

Each brigade has 600 people organized into formations, with power comparable to that of a late Jindan cultivator.

Each brigade is divided into three squadrons. Each squadron has 200 people and their power is equivalent to that of an early Jindan.

Each squadron is divided into twenty teams, each with ten people.

The captain and squadron leader are not fixed candidates, but are temporarily assigned to the positions during wartime. Perhaps in the distant future, when there are enough Jindan Zhenren in the Yunshan Sect, the Jindan Zhenren can serve as the captain and squadron leader full-time.

The team leaders are relatively fixed and are selected from elite backbone members through assessment.

Looking at the middle and high-level cultivators, the Yunshan Sect currently has four Nascent Soul cultivators, fifteen Golden Core cultivators, and seventy Foundation Establishment cultivators.

"It is worth noting that among the foundation-building feathered cultivators, there are six people with dual spiritual roots, and among the Qi training cultivators, there are eleven people with dual spiritual roots. With their talents, they can develop rapidly and are worth focusing on training."

Just as Lin Le finished speaking, he suddenly saw Li Sheng standing behind Lu Qian and said with a smile, "I forgot about Junior Brother Li. So, there are now twelve people with dual spiritual roots among the Qigong cultivators."

After parting with Ningzhou Wuliang Xuanjun, Lu Qian introduced the newly joined Xiang Kong, Huo Jin and Li Sheng to everyone in Yunshan. He concealed the small world origins of the three people, and Lin Le and Wu Yan also understood the seriousness of the matter and never spread it.

The new combat guest Xiang Kong, Huo Jin, the wife found for Jade Dragon Fairy, and Lu Qian's new disciple Li Sheng, all of them aroused everyone's curiosity and were warmly welcomed.

Especially Li Sheng.

Everyone in Yunshan knew what Lu Qian was worried about.

Ever since Tan Yunxing's rebellion, Lu Qian has not accepted any disciples for all these years. Until now, he actually put aside the knot in his heart and accepted a new disciple!
He must be an outstanding person!
Although they only said a few words, it was already clear that this Junior Brother Li was a very confident and strong person, and his behavior also had a natural nobleness and arrogance, which was indeed extraordinary. His spiritual roots were the same gold and water attributes as Lu Qian, with a five-inch and seven-point spiritual power, and his talent was also quite good.

I just hope that he can grow up smoothly and become a pillar of the Yunshan School as soon as possible.

Therefore, in just a short while, Li Sheng received a large number of greeting gifts, many of which were precious items that he could not use at all as he had just started practicing Qigong, but they also showed the love and care of the Yunshan brothers.

The young emperor, who had been lonely since childhood and had been fighting against the treacherous prime minister alone, had never received so much love. He could tell that although everyone's gifts were meant to make friends, the concern was not fake. He was immediately touched and remembered what Lu Qian had said many times, "I am for everyone, and everyone is for me." This was a sect that was different from his own dynasty.

Senior sister Wu Yan secretly swore that this time she must take on the responsibilities of a direct senior sister and help Lu Qian to discipline Li Sheng, and she must not let this junior brother go astray.

After the meeting, everyone suggested holding a grand initiation ceremony for Li Sheng.

After all, how can the current head of Yunshan be compared to the time when he lived in Chongming? If the head of the sect accepts the second disciple, it is absolutely necessary to announce it to Cangzhou and invite all the sects to watch the ceremony.

But Lu Qian refused. He said that after returning from Taiyi Paradise, he would hold a grand banquet to thank the Cangzhou sect for their welcome and to announce the news of his return to the world. He would just introduce Li Sheng at the banquet.

Including yesterday's banquet at Deyue Tower, Lu Qian did not allow Li Sheng to attend.

Lin Le knew that Lu Qian was worried that Li Sheng’s starting point was too high and that he would be confused by all kinds of flattery, which would be detrimental to his practice.

Now, after listening to Lin Le's introduction, Li Sheng once again realized that the Yunshan Sect was full of talented people. Among the Qigong practitioners alone, there were eleven people with talents comparable to his own. This aroused his fighting spirit and made him determined to work hard.

Lu Qian silently calculated the situation described by Lin Le and frowned, saying, "It seems that although our sect has a large territory now, the population is not abundant and the spiritual seedlings are not prosperous. Otherwise, in the past fifty years, the number of disciples should be far more than ten thousand."

Lin Le nodded: "Master, you are wise. This is what I wanted to say, the biggest problem in the current disciple training."

It turned out that the zombie riot that affected the entire Cangzhou was a disaster that killed six out of ten ordinary people. Cangzhou was filled with graves overnight and ghosts cried every night. Although Yunshan Sect now controls Xuantu and Pinghu counties, half of Junle County, half of Chongming County and a quarter of Sanshan County, the total population is only 70 million. If the territories of its partners and subordinate sects are excluded, the population directly under Yunshan is only 52 million.

Compared with the population before the corpse chaos, this was only the population of one and a half counties!
Lu Qian had just returned and was not aware of the consequences of the corpse chaos. Now, when he heard about it and thought about the horrific scene of corpses piled up like mountains and burning corpses turning into haze, he could not help but shake his head and sigh.

"Master, this is the result of fifty years of hard work in breeding and promoting population in various ways." Lin Le said, "We have tried every possible way, even tonic potions, energy potions, etc., which have been diluted in large quantities before being distributed to ordinary people for use, or directly injected into water veins and wells."

"All the counties and towns opened their granaries and distributed land, ensuring that the people had enough food and clothing."

"I heard that the Spiritual Beast Sect has developed a medicine for humans based on the medicine used to breed spirit beasts. Even a weak person can have sex nine times a night, and it also increases the chance of conception." Lin Le introduced it seriously, and Wu Yan beside him twisted his waist hard. "But the rate of fetal malformation is very high, so we gave it a try."

Li Jing suddenly stood up and angrily shouted, "Master, I think promoting fertility has gone too far. I, the great Yunshan, actually started to print color books, and even feared that the people were illiterate, so I made a large number of small picture books and distributed them all over the world. How shameful!"

"This is not the right way to go when desperate! Even some disciples have started to pass around pornographic books, which has a very bad influence! Master, please give an order to immediately stop this trend of chaos."

Zhao Kongque blushed a little and looked at Jiang Baitao secretly. The latter looked at her nose and mouth with a calm look, as if it had nothing to do with me, which made Zhao Kongque admire her very much.

Lu Qian burst out laughing, and Lin Le was quite embarrassed.

"…It was just an experiment at the time, and it did have a certain effect on promoting fertility. Later, considering the image and impact, we stopped doing it."

Lu Qian shook his head: "Population reproduction is a natural act. Rushing it recklessly is against the laws of nature and human ethics. Don't try blindly. Promoting population growth is just eight words."

"No worries about food and clothing, nothing to do."

"With our wonderful practice, we can ensure favorable weather, peace, abundance, and prosperity for all. This will free the people from any pressure in life, and they will naturally be willing to have more children."

"Let everything else take its course. As a great Yuanying sect, we can't just enjoy controlling the lower body of mortals and press them to the bed every day, right?"

Everyone burst into laughter.

Li Sheng, who was listening behind him, was full of admiration for Lu Qian's summary. The time when the population of the Li Dynasty was booming was exactly the time when, as Lu Qian said, all the people in the world were well fed and had nothing to do. This was exactly the so-called "when one is well fed and warm, one will think of sex".

Lin Le nodded in praise and wrote down Lu Qian's words.

He added: "Now the former Huaiyou County, now the Junle County Zhiling Sect, and the Dongping County Guangyao Sect have already had a Jindan Zhenren and have restored their independent status. They are no longer managed by my sect, so there is less spiritual seedlings to share between the two places. Now the source of spiritual seedlings for my sect is half of the spiritual seedlings from the directly governed territories and Cheorwon County, and there are about 170 to 180 spiritual seedlings every year."

Lu Qian nodded and said, "Although I have been in trouble these years, I have also gained something."

"As for the spiritual seedlings, I have brought back 300 young spiritual seedlings, just in time to take them to Lingsha City for cultivation."

"I gained a lot more from the manuals on martial arts, and the quantity is huge, including many high-level masterpieces."

Lin Le's eyes lit up. He knew that Lu Qian was talking about the harvest from the small world. He thought to himself that it was a huge fortune from another world, and what Lu Qian had selected must be good.

"I will hand over this collection of skills to you later. You must lead the Skills Transmission Division to carefully sort out the dross and recompile the Yunshan Seven-Level Dongxuan True Scripture, adding a few more wonderful skills for Yunshan."

Lin Le bowed and responded, and then said, "Master, you may not know that our sect now has a vast territory, and the spiritual seedling cultivation base is no longer limited to Lingsha City. We now have one level 5 spiritual vein, two level 4 spiritual veins, five level 3 spiritual veins, twenty-one level 2 spiritual veins, and fifty-two level 1 spiritual veins. After fifty years of management, each has its own function. In every county, there is a place to cultivate spiritual seedlings."

Fifty years have seen earth-shaking changes. Lu Qian was overwhelmed with emotion when he heard this. He praised, "You have all worked hard. On the way back to the mountain gate, I will visit various spiritual veins and conduct on-site research on the conditions of each spiritual vein."

After Lin Le finished his report, he stopped talking and asked other brothers to come up and report.

But everyone hesitated for a moment, because according to convention, the next person in charge of the Transmission Department should be the Business Department.

However, Xie Yongchang, deputy director of the Business Department, was not yet a Jindan, and Lu Qian did not invite him to the meeting this time, which was somewhat beyond everyone's expectations.

Lu Qian said calmly, "Next, please let Senior Brother Wang tell us about the Internal Affairs Department and the Penal Department."

"At the same time, Tao Boliang gave additional explanations on the work of the Internal Affairs Department's Weapon Refining and Arms Departments, Dongfang Hui on the Internal Affairs Department's Treasury Department, and Li Jing on the Punishment Department."

Wang Yu smiled and bowed to Lu Qian. Tao Boliang, Dongfang Hui and Li Jing also stood up and saluted.

Wang Yu immediately reported on the work status of more than a dozen halls of the Internal Affairs Department, including the Mission Hall, General Affairs Hall, and Attendant Hall, as well as the overall situation of the Punishment Department.

Jiang Qingfeng was listening on the side. On the one hand, he was happy that the Internal Affairs Department had been well organized and expanded under the management of Senior Brother Wang Yu while he was away. But even more, he was very happy that Senior Brother Wang had regained his human warmth.

God bless, Senior Brother Wang finally recovered. Now there are only me, Junior Brother, Taotao and Senior Brother Wang left in the fourth generation of Yunshan disciples. The four of us must be well...

After Wang Yu finished speaking, he bowed to Jiang Qingfeng and said with a smile: "I didn't know until I got started that the Internal Affairs Department is the busiest department in my sect. Junior Sister Jiang has always worked hard, and from now on, this important task will be handed over to Junior Sister."

Jiang Qingfeng suppressed his excitement and quickly returned the greeting: "Thank you, Senior Brother Wang, for running the Internal Affairs Department so well. The huge Yunshan is running in an orderly manner, all thanks to Senior Brother Wang's hard work."

Wang Yu smiled and shook his head: "It's all for Yunshan. Besides, between us, why should I thank you?"

Full of warmth, Lu Qian was very happy.

Immediately afterwards, Tao Boliang, Dongfang Hui and Li Jing made supplementary speeches respectively.

In particular, as Tao Boliang said, the Yunshan Sect has iteratively upgraded several small individual soldiers, or small unmanned puppets, as well as a more powerful "air fortress" system, as well as two champion-class airships that have just been built, and the "Tengshe" Nascent Soul-level Taoist soldiers that are under construction.

Most of these weapons are in Hanjiangzhu. Lu Qian can go there to investigate the spiritual veins and check them out.

The next to speak were Wu Yan and Jiang Baitao.

Wu Yan was in charge of the Reward Department, and after Zheng Duan's death, she also served as director of the Foreign Affairs Department. Jiang Baitao was the deacon of the Reward Department, assisting Wu Yan in her work.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Wu Yan opened her mouth, everyone's expressions brightened up.

"The Foreign Affairs Department and the Intelligence Department just received news that Bai Ling, the head of the Yuehua Sect in Quyang County, Qingzhou, has successfully survived the heavenly tribulation and achieved the status of a golden elixir!"

(End of this chapter)