Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 176 Learning from the Strengths of Many
Chen Ye's refusal of the Yunlu Immortal Sect's invitation already surprised Yu Shenxing.

As a result, this person even asked those cultivators who had been rejected by the Yunlu Immortal Sect to their faces, which was a bit outrageous to poach them directly.

But Yu Shenxing wasn't angry; instead, he found Chen Ye quite interesting.

The reason is simple: Chen Ye is a capable person with such high talent that even the Yunlu Immortal Sect is reluctant to part with him.

That's just how the world is; it's always more lenient towards those with extraordinary talent. If you're capable, no matter how unconventional your actions are, others will just see it as being eccentric. If you're mediocre, even if you're cautious and follow the rules, you might still be subject to nitpicking.

Chen Ye understands this well and never minds enjoying this "privilege" that comes with his talent.

The Yellow Springs Sect is currently destitute, and it seems that the only people they can truly rely on are their three old friends, Fu, Lu, and Shou. But they can't really let these people do menial tasks like serving tea and water.

Whether mechanical arts can be of great use remains to be seen; ultimately, sects need to recruit disciples.

Chen Ye also had great confidence in the Yellow Springs Sect. After all, their sect provided food and lodging, the sect leader personally guided their cultivation, and even guaranteed a job after death—a position as a ghost official in the underworld. Such a comprehensive service from birth to death was unparalleled in the world. Expecting disciples to serve the sect for several years seemed reasonable, didn't it?
Unfortunately, his plan to "snag a bargain" from Yu Shenxing failed.

“Yunlu Immortal Sect usually only invites talented cultivators and does not openly recruit disciples, so there is no question of someone coming to join and then being rejected. I'm afraid I can't help with this.”

Chen Ye asked curiously, "I've heard that the five major sects all have their own affiliated sects. The Qinghe Sword Sect has the Qinghe Sect, the Fenxiang Sect has the Randeng Sect, and the Yunlu Immortal Sect should also have similar affiliated sects, right?"

Yu Shenxing said, "The Burning Lamp Sect can indeed be considered an affiliate of the Incense Burning Sect, but among the five major sects, only the Incense Burning Sect operates in this way. The Qinghe Sect is even more openly bullying the Qinghe Sword Sect's integrity. I think if Master Zhang were more ruthless towards the weak, they wouldn't dare to take advantage of the Qinghe Sword Sect so blatantly. Although my Yunlu Immortal Sect is indifferent to worldly affairs, not everyone dares to bully us."

Chen Ye immediately understood: the Qinghe Sword Sect was reasonable, so it was taken advantage of; the Fenxiang Sect was its own subordinate, so it also had subordinates; the Yunlu Immortal Sect was not easy to bully and did not want to have subordinates, so it did not have such a thing.

This broadened Chen Ye's horizons. Although the five major sects were all righteous, there were huge differences between them.

The two chatted for a while longer before Chen Ye took his leave.

The Dharma Assembly was only three days away, but it was still incredibly lively. However, the gathering place was no longer the puzzle set up by the Yunlu Immortal Sect, but the stalls set up by the cultivators themselves.

It's already the end. The simple puzzles have long been solved. The remaining difficult problems are beyond the comprehension of ordinary cultivators, so they don't bother wasting their time. They might as well set up a stall or browse around to see if they can find a bargain.

Chen Ye also walked around the stall, but didn't see anything useful, except for a strangely shaped saddle. He had brought a windproof cover for it.

It wasn't some powerful magic weapon, but rather a mesh cover cast from refined steel, with transparent crystals embedded in each mesh, making it look like some kind of translucent gemstone.

It's not pretty, and it's bulky. The space inside is enough for one person, but it's too cramped for two.

But Chen Ye was immediately tempted when he saw it. He decided to modify it and install it on Black Whirlwind so that he would no longer need to use the bronze bell to cover himself.

Such things are really rare. Most flying magical artifacts are not as fast as the Black Whirlwind, so they won't make people's faces shake. Moreover, the sword qi flying spell of Su Chunyi has its own wind-blocking effect, so such devices are very rare.

Even fewer people asked about the price. With such a large cover placed in front of him, passersby would only glance at it a few times before walking away, and very few people actually used it.

Seeing that the old man selling things had white hair but was still only at the Qi Sea Realm, Chen Ye asked curiously, "Why did you think of making this kind of thing, fellow Daoist?"

The old man sighed, “I used to have a spirit pet, which was also a bird. I felt uncomfortable being blown around by the wind every day, but I never thought about how to improve it. A few days ago, my spirit pet died of old age, and I realized that my own days were numbered. I don’t know why, but I suddenly wanted to do some small things that I had forgotten about before. This thing is no longer useful to me. If you take a fancy to it, you can take a Azure Pearl.”

This price is really cheap, almost like it's free.

Judging from the man's expression, Chen Ye could see that he was indeed weak and frail, even weaker than Chang Shou before, and his lifespan had truly come to an end.

Chen Ye put down a blue pearl, took the cover away, and then said to the old man, "If you have time, fellow Daoist, you might as well take a trip to the Northern Frontier. I am Chen Ye of the Yellow Spring Sect."

The old man looked at Chen Ye with a puzzled expression, then muttered to himself, "The Northern Frontier, that's fine. After a hundred years of arduous cultivation, I'm about to be buried. It's time to travel around. When I get there, I'll trouble you for a cup of tea, fellow Daoist."

Chen Ye smiled and said, "Then I will definitely welcome you with open arms."

The two parted ways. Chen Ye didn't know if the old man would go to the northern frontier, but he was a man of great loyalty and affection. If fate allowed, perhaps they would meet again.

Chen Ye walked around the venue a few more times, but still didn't find anything else he liked. However, he finally found the three members of Fu Lu Shou.

However, the three of them were not setting up a stall or strolling around, but rather gathered around a puzzle set up by the Yunlu Immortal Sect, seemingly trying to come up with something.

Upon seeing Chen Ye appear, Hou Lu and Lü Fusheng didn't even have time to be happy. Their first question was, "Brother Chen, have you really reached the Profound Realm?"

Seeing Chen Ye nod, the two men had rather complicated expressions.

Even though they had already heard Chang Shou say it once, and had shouted "Impossible, absolutely impossible" several times, now that Chen Ye had admitted it, the two could only sigh that the gap between them, who were both cultivators, was simply too great.

However, the three of them quickly came to terms with it. This was their Yellow Springs Sect's leader, and he was a rogue cultivator at that. They were proud of his achievements, and with such a leader, their future was sure to be bright.

Hou Lu even said, "I told you changing our names would work. Ever since we changed our names to Fu Lu Shou, our good luck has never stopped, and we've always turned bad luck into good."

Lu Fusheng quickly said, "No matter how much good fortune you have, you can't keep talking about it all the time."

Hou Lu quickly shut his mouth, afraid of missing out on any good fortune.

Chen Ye was pleased to see the three of them; with their addition, the Yellow Springs Sect finally had a bit more "popularity".

After exchanging pleasantries, Chen Ye asked, "Were you three brothers just working on this riddle?" Lü Fusheng quickly replied, "We've been walking around for half a day, and this is the only one we can ponder. It's not difficult at all; all we have to do is blow up this wooden ball..."

Chen Ye became interested immediately after hearing Lü Fusheng's introduction.

The mystery of Yunlu Immortal Sect is very simple; anyone can try it.

A wooden ball is placed on a tray, and the puzzle solver is asked to design a small array to be inscribed on the tray and then blow it up.

Any cultivator knows minor spells like summoning wind and rain; blowing up a small ball is not difficult.

The problem is that there is a restriction on the tray where the ball is located. If a certain amount of spiritual energy flows in, it will automatically block all spiritual energy from entering.

Under these conditions, the higher the wooden ball can be blown, the greater the reward.

Chen Ye looked at the previous records. Someone had already blown the wooden ball up to a height of three feet and three inches, but that seemed to be the limit. The record had been there for more than ten days and no one had been able to break it.

Lu Fusheng said helplessly, "I tried for a long time, and I could only blow it up to a foot high."

Chen Ye found it very interesting; this was a test of how to generate greater wind power with less spiritual energy.

The Yunlu Immortal Sect truly lives up to its reputation as experts in this field; a simple game is enough to test the puzzle solver's abilities.

Moreover, they seemed quite willing to share, recording the formations designed by the second to tenth ranked students.

Aside from keeping the first-place winner a secret, all the top-ranked formation designs can be freely observed and studied, in the hope that someone can develop an even more powerful formation based on the work of their predecessors.

Chen Ye carefully examined the array formations recorded on the side and immediately felt that he had benefited greatly.

There are so many talented people in the world. Many of their designs really impressed Chen Ye. He never thought there were such ingenious techniques.

Truly befitting a prestigious sect, such demeanor is something that ordinary smaller sects can never emulate.

After studying it carefully for a long time, Chen Ye suddenly had an inspiration. He took a tray from the disciple of the Yunlu Immortal Sect and inscribed a wind-summoning formation on it.

Chen Ye was very meticulous, and it took him almost half an hour to complete the formation.

The disciple of Yunlu Immortal Sect accepted it with both hands and then examined it carefully.

The purpose was not to check Chen Ye's formation, but to check whether the restrictions on the tray were still effective.

Someone once tried to cheat by breaking the seal on the tray, thus freeing the spiritual energy and allowing them to blow the wooden ball into the sky.

However, once such a person is discovered, they will be immediately thrown out of the venue.

The Yunlu Immortal Sect is not as tolerant as the Qinghe Sword Sect. This is a puzzle they have carefully prepared to draw on the strengths of various schools of thought, and they will not allow others to disrupt it.

After confirming that the restriction was intact, the disciple of Yunlu Immortal Sect placed the wooden ball on the tray and then activated the array on it.

A whirlwind arose from the tray, blowing the wooden ball upwards.

It wasn't fast, but it was very stable. It flew up to three feet high, then the runes on the formation dimmed instantly, the whirlwind disappeared, and the wooden ball landed back on the tray.

The disciple from the Yunlu Immortal Sect was somewhat surprised and quickly said to Chen Ye, "Congratulations, sir, for breaking the record for second place."

The first place was originally 3 feet 3 inches tall, but the second place was only 2 feet 8 inches tall. Although Chen Ye's formation did not completely break the record, it still surpassed the others.

"According to the rules, if you are willing to make this formation public, you can receive a Treasure Life Pill or an equivalent Azure Pearl."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ye exclaimed in surprise, "Such a generous reward?"

Although I've seen this thing many times, it doesn't diminish its value.

Chen Ye had quite a few Azure Pearls, so he decisively chose the pill. Although there was only one, it could replenish spiritual energy and might save his life in a critical moment.

The disciple from the Yunlu Immortal Sect explained, "Only the top three receive such a generous reward."

After receiving the pills, Chen Ye asked, "There must be quite a few people who don't want to show off their designed formations, so my second place is probably undeserved."

"Rest assured, fellow Daoist, whether it is publicly announced or not, it will be recorded. However, those who make it into the top ten all have the intention to share and exchange ideas. They will come back to check every few days. The more people share their insights, the more profound and extensive the Dao of Formations will become."

"If it weren't for the sake of fairness, the formation of the first place would also be made public, only when someone breaks his record can everyone see it."

Chen Ye thought for a moment, then said, "I want to try again."

Upon hearing this, the disciple of Yunlu Immortal Sect reminded him, "Breaking your own record does not allow you to win the award repeatedly. Some people have thought that by hiding their talents and gradually raising their records, they can continuously receive elixir rewards, but our Yunlu Immortal Sect does not welcome such opportunistic individuals."

Chen Ye smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist, rest assured, I just want to see the formation designed by the first place winner."

(End of this chapter)