Building a sect from scratch.

Chapter 28 Seeking Help from Emperor Guangcheng

After hesitating for three seconds, Fang Xianyu finally decided that if he could rely on others, he would not rely on himself, and turned to head straight for the Guangcheng Sect!
This matter concerns Guangchengzong's territory, so of course it should be reported to Guangchengzong!

Even if Guangcheng Sect can't handle it, there's still Jiaomu Star Lord, whom Guangcheng Sect worships! Although most cultivators have a natural fear of immortals and gods, and even if they worship them, they won't easily summon them, Fang Xianyu, as the former number one Golden Immortal of the Ten Continents and Three Islands, has no reverence for these immortals and gods.

Huang Gong is worshipped by the villagers and knows how to protect the village. As a dignified star deity, having been worshipped by Guang Chengzong for so many years, he can't possibly do nothing, right?
The sect headquarters of Guangcheng Sect is a towering mountain that reaches into the sky, its body resembling a stone pillar piercing the clouds. This is Guangcheng Mountain.

The walls of Guangcheng Mountain are almost vertical, making it inaccessible to humans; only a vertical chain allows for climbing.

Legend has it that every five years, when Guangcheng Sect recruits disciples, the only hard requirement is that they have enough courage and physical strength to climb this chain all the way to the sect's gate.

This standard of testing character over aptitude made the atmosphere of Guangcheng Sect quite good, and the people in its jurisdiction lived relatively well—at least until the sect was destroyed last week.

Fang Xianyu also valued this point, which is why he chose to stay with Guangcheng Sect for a while.

However, while this chain is an insurmountable barrier for ordinary people, it's not so daunting for cultivators.

Fang Xianyu rode the wind and rose up like a dragonfly skimming the water, climbing Guangcheng Mountain with just a few light taps on the chains.

The main gate of Guangchengzong is a very simple stone archway with three openings and five floors. The entire structure is made of stone carvings, decorated with dragon and cloud patterns. Only the plaque has three large characters dyed in ink: Guangchengzong.

There was only one disciple guarding the gate, who had been dozing off. But when Fang Xianyu appeared, he immediately sprang to his senses and looked over.

"Fang Xianyu of the Taiyin Sect has come to pay a visit to the Guangcheng Sect. However, due to important matters, he was unable to deliver the invitation in time. Please forgive him."

The gatekeeper was very polite and did not look down on Fang Xianyu just because he had never heard of her sect. While welcoming her into the sect, he said, "Fellow Daoist, you are too kind. It's just that you have come at an inopportune time. The sect leader has been invited to attend the Penglai Immortal Gathering and will not be in the sect for the next few days. However, Elder Hu and Elder Du of our sect are here. I will send a message right away."

"Thank you for your trouble, fellow Daoist."

The short-range communication method used by Guangcheng Sect, which is also the common communication method used by most sects, is the communication talisman.

Communication talismans are very inexpensive; even ordinary people can make them using special materials. However, cultivators don't need to go through so much trouble; they can simply draw them with cinnabar, only needing to infuse them with spiritual energy while drawing.

Ordinary communication talismans used by sects are also called mother-child talismans. After the child talisman "inputs" information, the mother talisman can "receive" the information from the child talisman. The distance varies depending on the level of the talisman and the ability of the talisman maker, and can be as far as tens of thousands of miles.

The gatekeeper explained the situation in just a few words, and the talisman instantly burned to ashes.

When the two arrived at the main hall of Guangcheng Sect, there were already two cultivators chatting at the entrance, seemingly having been waiting for a long time.

"This is Elder Hu, and this is Elder Du."

The gatekeeper explained.

Fang Xianyu greeted them politely: "Greetings, Elder Hu and Elder Du. I am Fang Xianyu from the Taiyin Sect." "You're too kind, fellow Daoist,"

Elder Hu was the first to speak. He looked very young, but he was not very tall and had a somewhat feminine appearance.

Elder Hu returned the greeting before continuing, "I still remember you. Fellow Daoist, you just registered your sect here at Guangcheng Sect a few days ago. I didn't expect that your cultivation would improve so much in just a few days. You are truly a gifted person."

Elder Du nodded with a smile: "This fellow Daoist is the leader of the Taiyin Sect? He seems to be only in his early twenties, yet he has already reached the Foundation Establishment stage and is the leader of a sect. He is truly young and promising!"

Elder Du looked like a middle-aged Taoist priest, with a long beard and a whisk in his hand, exuding an air of righteousness.

Thanks to the system, Fang Xianyu, though only at the Foundation Establishment stage, could still discern the cultivation levels of the two elders: one was already at the Nascent Soul stage, and the other was still at the Golden Core stage.

The cultivation levels are relatively clear. After drawing Qi into the body, one enters the Qi Refining stage. After Qi Refining is perfected, one establishes the Foundation, which is the Foundation Establishment stage. After Foundation Establishment is perfected, one can form the Golden Core, which is the Golden Core stage. Above the Golden Core is the Nascent Soul stage, and above the Nascent Soul stage is the Deity Transformation stage.

Once one's cultivation is profound enough, one can undergo the Heavenly Tribulation and attain a truly eternally youthful and immortal body.

Of course, even after becoming an immortal, one can still be killed. Only by attaining divine authority can one truly become immortal—one's divine authority remains intact, and one's immortality is eternal.

In the hierarchy of cultivators, Foundation Establishment is a threshold. Below Foundation Establishment, Qi Refining cultivators are merely slightly stronger than ordinary people, at most able to use spiritual power, and that's about it. But once one reaches Foundation Establishment, it means a complete transformation, even living on air and dew, no longer bound by the physical constraints of most mortals. Not to mention, most of the Five Elements techniques open their doors to cultivators at this stage.

The second threshold is the Nascent Soul stage. As the name suggests, the Nascent Soul stage only allows one's soul to leave the body, while the Nascent Soul stage truly breaks through the constraints of the physical body. Even if the physical body is destroyed, a Nascent Soul stage cultivator can find a way to attach to a puppet to survive, or even seize another body and be reborn.

Therefore, although there are two major realms between the Foundation Establishment stage and the Nascent Soul stage, Fang Xianyu believes that the gap is not an exaggeration.

It's important to understand that most people spend their entire lives stuck at the Foundation Establishment stage, barely making any progress. Unless they're spoiled brats from top sects on the Ten Continents and Three Islands, an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator in their early twenties can truly be called a genius—meaning that her future Core Formation is practically a certainty!

Of course, Fang Xianyu, who had benefited from the first playthrough, did not really think she was a genius. She humbly said, "You two are too kind. It is only because my sect has some resources that I was fortunate enough to reach the Foundation Establishment stage."

Elder Du smiled politely: "Haha, young people are so modest. By the way, may I ask what brings Sect Leader Fang here today?"

“It’s like this,” Fang Xianyu said directly without keeping anyone in suspense, “There is an unnamed valley near the Taiyin Sect. At the mouth of the valley is a pool of water with very heavy Yin energy. It seems that something lives in it. Its cultivation level is probably no less than that of the Nascent Soul stage, which is extremely terrifying. Because it is located within the territory of the Guangcheng Sect, I came to ask what’s going on—this thing is blocking the entrance of the Taiyin Sect more than two hundred miles away, which makes me quite uneasy.”

Halfway through the conversation, Elder Hu and Elder Du exchanged a glance. After Fang Xianyu finished speaking, Elder Hu sighed, clearly knowing something.

That makes sense! This thing is so outrageous! It's right near Guangcheng Sect. How could it be that nobody in Guangcheng Sect, from top to bottom, knew about it?

However, Elder Du was the first to speak: "We do know something about that thing. It was originally just a gathering of resentment, but later somehow it cultivated into a kind of 'spirit,' which feeds on villagers and animals that wander into the vicinity. Because it has been entrenched at the bottom of the pool for many years, we didn't notice it at first. By the time we noticed it, it had already become a force to be reckoned with. Our Guangcheng Sect also tried to subdue it, but that thing is very cunning. When it encounters something it can't defeat, it will retreat back to the bottom of the pool. The reason why the pool is filled with yin energy is because it is a bottomless pool that leads to the Netherworld. Living people should not go there lightly... Alas, we are really helpless."

Elder Hu added, "However, we later set up an array in that area, making ordinary people unconsciously ignore that forest. That thing rarely strays too far from the pool, and as long as people don't go there, it won't attack on its own initiative, so we didn't bother to capture it at any cost."

(End of this chapter)