Treasure Gathering Immortal Furnace

The Feng Kingdom has six major sects: Xuan Yang Sword Sect, Thousand Shadows Sect, Moon Gazing Sect, Spirit Void Valley, Heavenly Puppet Sect, and Xuan Ming Sect.

The overall strength of the sect is higher than that of the Great Yan.

The Xuan Yang Sword Sect, in particular, has four Nascent Soul elders and one mid-Nascent Soul cultivator. Their strength is second to none among the six sects of the Feng Kingdom.

But what Lu Fan really didn't expect was that the sect's atmosphere was so lax.

At first glance, these cultivators were either gathered together fighting crickets or watering their vegetable gardens with water gourds—ordinary people's vegetable gardens, not medicinal herb gardens.

Lu Fan could even see several children playing and frolicking in the distance, clearly indicating that some cultivators were having children there. This made him wonder if he had come to the wrong place.

The most powerful sect in the Feng Kingdom acts like an ordinary mortal.

This extreme contrast between strength and weakness is so striking that it can be disorienting.

But since he was already there, Lu Fan braced himself and stepped forward, cupping his hands in a gesture of respect, saying, "Excuse me..."

The middle-aged man who had just won the cricket game turned around and saw Lu Fan. He then stood up, stepped forward, and casually cupped his hands, saying, "Fellow Daoist, are you here to visit a friend?"

Lu Fan hurriedly took out the small sword token from his storage bag and said, "My name is Li Erniu. A few years ago, I met your sect's ancestor, Jingchuan. He took good care of me and gave me this token, saying that if I had nowhere to go, I could use this token to join your sect."

"Oh, it's Elder Jing's token," the middle-aged man said after taking the token and examining it. "My name is Zhang Shouye, and I am a steward of the Xuan Yang Sword Sect. We are both at the late Foundation Establishment stage, but I should be a few years older than you, so let's address each other as senior brother."

"Senior Brother Zhang, when will I..." Lu Fan was about to ask when the sect entrance assessment would take place.

But Zhang Shouye interrupted him directly: "What's your name again?"

"Li Erniu," Lu Fan replied.

Then Zhang Shouye used his spiritual power to write his name on the token and tossed it to Lu Fan: "Congratulations, Junior Brother Li, you are now a disciple of the Xuan Yang Sword Sect."

"This..." Lu Fan was completely dumbfounded. Wasn't this entry into the sect a bit too perfunctory?

"Junior Brother Li, you've just arrived at the Xuan Yang Sword Sect, so you might not be quite used to the atmosphere here yet. But that's alright, there's plenty of time. You'll get used to it in a few years," Zhang Shouye patted Lu Fan on the shoulder and said with a smile.

"Don't you want to ask about my spiritual root, senior brother?" Lu Fan asked curiously.

"Why ask about your spiritual root? Do you want to form your core? What idiot would come to the Xuan Yang Sword Sect to form his core? Don't be ridiculous, Junior Brother Li, hahaha," Zhang Shouye laughed.

Lu Fan: "..."

"Our Xuan Yang Sword Sect is infamous far and wide as a graveyard for Core Formation cultivators. All the fellow disciples you see here have no hope of reaching Core Formation and are spending the rest of their lives here."

"Since Elder Jing invited you here, and you have come, it means that Junior Brother also has no hope of forming a Core and wants to find a safe place to spend his old age in peace, so there's no need to be so particular."

Zhang Shouye said casually.

Lu Fan was embarrassed, finally understanding.

The Xuan Yang Sword Sect has no Core Formation cultivators, which is equivalent to having no successors. Although it has four Nascent Soul ancestors, they can only maintain their glory for a short time.

The remaining Foundation Establishment disciples were basically hopeless at forming their Core Formation and were just wasting their time here.

After all, the Xuan Yang Sword Sect has a Nascent Soul cultivator in charge, and the spiritual veins in this area are too strange. Even without a Nascent Soul ancestor in charge, other sects would definitely not set their sights on the spiritual veins.

Over time, these disciples got used to their comfortable lives and lost their desire for advancement.

It was almost a collective act of giving up.

"Junior brother understands," Lu Fan said with a slight bow, then asked, "Senior brother, are there any rules or regulations that we should be aware of in our Xuan Yang Sword Sect?"

Since he was new to the area, Lu Fan wanted to ask about the precautions to avoid any setbacks.

"Senior brother, what are you doing? Junior brother Liu is bringing his mighty general to challenge you, Black Fiend Old Demon, to a duel!"

Just then, a shout came from the pavilion in the distance.

"What's the rush! Just wait and see how I wipe them out!" Zhang Shouye replied.

Hearing the shouts, Lu Fan looked helpless. It seemed that the disciples of the Xuan Yang Sword Sect, whether they were cultivating Qi or building their foundation, had made cricket fighting, watering the fields, and growing vegetables their main occupations...

The entire sect has virtually no future...

"Junior brother, I'll keep it short. Our Xuan Yang Sword Sect doesn't have many complicated rules, but there are two places you absolutely cannot go."

"One is the former site of the Xuan Yin Sword Sect next door. That place has too much yin energy and is easy to be tainted by bad luck. The other is the secluded cultivation cliff in the back mountain. That is the training ground of the four Nascent Soul ancestors. Don't go there to disturb them."

"Apart from these two places, you are free to wander around the entire Xuan Yang Sword Sect. If you still have any questions, I will answer them for you one by one when I have time."

After Zhang Shouye finished speaking, he hurriedly ran back to the pavilion, rolled up his sleeves, and continued to "slaughter all around".

Lu Fan shook his head with a wry smile. Oh well, what's done is done.

Since no one is there to guide him, he can explore on his own, familiarize himself with the Xuan Yang Sword Sect, and then find a safe place to set up the formation needed for Core Formation.

After leaving the small square, Lu Fan wandered around the Xuan Yang Sword Sect.

Because the Xuan Yang Sword Sect has no Core Formation cultivators, the sect's atmosphere has been lax for hundreds of years. Therefore, there is no distinction between inner and outer disciples here. Regardless of whether they are Qi Refining or Foundation Establishment, they can all get along well.

It seemed that there was no distinction between junior and senior among them, but rather a neighborhood relationship like that of ordinary people in the city.

As he strolled around, Lu Fan unknowingly arrived at the foot of a tall tower. On the tenth floor of the tower hung a plaque that had long since faded and cracked, with the three large characters "Scripture Pavilion" printed on it.

Lu Fan scanned the area with his divine sense and found that there were no restrictions set up in the library. The only thing blocking him was a rusty iron lock hanging on the door.

"The Scripture Pavilion, the most important foundation of a sect besides its spiritual veins, is just left to be observed by anyone without any protection?" Lu Fan found it unbelievable.

However, upon closer reflection, it's unlikely that anyone would be foolish enough to steal the technique, since the four surviving Nascent Soul Ancestors are the strongest restriction.

Since Zhang Shouye had said that he could wander around freely, Lu Fan didn't stand on ceremony. He simply raised his hand and released a wisp of spiritual energy, easily opening the iron lock.

crunch...

"Ahem!"

As the rotten wooden door was pushed open, the overwhelming musty smell inside made him cough.

The entire library was covered with cobwebs, and the ground was covered with layers of dust, leaving a thick footprint with every step.

It's estimated that no one has entered this library for at least several hundred years.

Moreover, the books on those rows of bookshelves were dilapidated because no one had cleaned them for years; they had been eaten by insects and rodents.

"Is this the foundation of the number one sect in Feng Kingdom? It's utterly rotten," Lu Fan couldn't help but complain.