“Not eligible?” Chen Jingzhai looked at him, somewhat doubtfully.
“Hidden Branch disciples, who are new to Luo Tian Immortal Faction, can only be ranked as casual disciples,” Fuyunzi explained. “If they are particularly gifted, there will be elders from the main branch who will accept them, for them to become inner disciples.”
“Is that how it works?” Chen Jingzhai frowned slightly. “But my cultivation is only in the Foundation Establishment Plane. Even if I am an inner disciple, how can I participate in the clan competition?”
“Because this clan competition is all about competing between naturally endowed talents,” Fuyunzi said with a chuckle. “The cultivation of these genius talents is below the Golden Core Plane. They are the cream of the crop in the clan.”
“Is that so?” Chen Jingzhai breathed a sigh of relief, feeling less worried.
“Let’s not talk too much about that just yet. They are about to wake up,” Fuyunzi said with a smile. “If you have any questions, we can talk about them on the way. If you don’t want to explain it to them, you can ask the immortal receiver to explain it on your behalf.”
“Alright!” Chen Jingzhai pondered for a while. “I don’t want to lie to them.”
Fuyunzi smiled and clapped his hands at Chen Jingzhai. Suddenly, the world was spinning.
Chen Jingzhai landed on the ground, grabbed Tu Ruoyan, and threw her into the Starlight Demon Subduing Tower.
Then he just disappeared from where he was.
Not long after that, Celestial Maiden Miao Fa woke up first, followed by Celestial Maiden Han, then the others in turn.
Just as they were wondering about Chen Jingzhai’s absence, several streamers flew from Woods Ocean City.
“Hey, senior brother Luo?”
“Master-Uncle Jin?”
“Senior sister Bai?”
Elixir Twilight Clan, Soaring Clouds Clan, and Luo Sheng Sword School had dispatched their respective messengers.
They were all cultivators from their respective clans, coming out from the cultivation world of Pulao Kingdom.
They were very familiar with each other. And even if they were not, they had seen each other before.
Everyone was pleased to meet and greet one another.
Sage Lu Tao smiled and asked if senior brother Luo had seen Little Master-Uncle.
“Little Master-Uncle has already left. You will meet him at the clan,” senior brother Luo said with a smile. “Speaking of which, why are there only disciples from the three branches?”
“The other three branches are not traveling with us,” Sage Lu Tao explained with a smile.
They had already wasted a lot of time here!
The cultivators from the other three branches had not appeared yet. Clearly, they were too far behind, and that made them pretty happy.
Although everyone regretted Chen Jingzhai’s quiet departure, they didn’t mind it too much.
As long as he was not in danger, they were fine with his absence. Perhaps Little Master-Uncle had something important he had to do. After all, Little Master-Uncle was different from them. Besides, everyone was cultivating before, so he probably did not want to interrupt them.
In the air, Chen Jingzhai stood beside Fuyunzi and watched the disciples following the receiver into Woods Ocean City. When he saw that they did not seem to mind his departure, he was relieved and a little lost at the same time.
“Senior brother, what will they do next?” Chen Jingzhai asked.
“Next, they will stay in Woods Ocean City for a year,” said Fuyunzi. “The teleportation formation in Woods Ocean City will open for one to two years.”
“Teleportation formation? It has been preserved in Pulao Territory?” Chen Jingzhai said in amazement.
“Each major clan has their method of arranging the teleportation formation, but the consumption is too high, so they are not used very often,” Fuyunzi continued. “In this year, they will familiarize themselves with the Luo Tian Immortal Faction as quickly as possible and integrate into the cultivation life here at Pulao Territory. This is very important.”
“What about me?” Chen Jingzhai was quick to ask.
“You will have time to get yourself acquainted.” Fuyunzi smiled. “For now, you should get yourself acquainted with the Luo Tian Immortal Faction first.”
“I will need guidance from you, senior brother.” Chen Jingzhai nodded.
The two stood on top of the cloud, disregarding the changes taking place in their surroundings and heading in a certain direction.
Their speed was neither fast nor slow, and even a shield had risen. It was transparent and not obstructive.
“The Luo Tian Immortal Faction has been rebuilt after it was destroyed. Although it revered the Archmage Luo Tian as its founder, it has been such a long time and new immortals have continued to make their appearances. Changes were inevitable.
“In today’s Luo Tian Immortal Faction, aside from the missing ninth-generation master, the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth-generation masters have all been immortals. There was also one who joined in after Luo Tian Immortal Faction was re-established, and that was at the beginning of the Age of the Immortal Alliance. This one successfully crossed the tribulation in year 3000 of the Immortal Alliance Calendar.
“That was the fifth immortal in the clan, known as Iron Sword Celestial.”
Leisurely, Fuyunzi began telling him about the history of the clan.
From the Age of the Nine Territories to the Age of the Immortal Alliance, with Dark Age somewhere in between, the Luo Tian Immortal Faction had had a long history. Its clan was backed by an ancient and profound past.
Luo Tian Immortal Faction, as the first tier of the Immortal Alliance, was one of the top celestial clans in the Heaven Essence Realm. It was not something that Luo Sheng Sword School could hope to compare. Apart from the immortals, cultivators in the Spirit Plane were strong leaders, and lords were everywhere amongst their ranks.
Among the Luo Tian Immortal Faction, the Archmage Luo Tian was still regarded as the founder of the faction.
The lineages, by comparison, were not that complicated. There was only the difference between main lineage and side lineage.
The main lineage was the lineage headed by celestial beings. The disciples, descendants, followers, or associates inherited from the celestial beings all belonged to the same lineage, also known as the celestial leyline.
For example, the Iron Sword Celestial of the Luo Tian Immortal Faction led the Iron Sword Lineage. Currently, the Iron Sword Lineage dominated the Luo Tian Immortal Faction, which was not only very prosperous but also enhanced the prospect of the Immortal Faction.
“The relationship between the main lineages is a close one.
“For example, the hidden branches.
“Disciples from hidden branches after Woods Ocean City can be admitted into any main lineage that they want.
“But they must not be admitted into side lineages.
“This is not only a rule but the law of the clan.
“So, you can find many hidden branch disciples in every major main lineage.
“For the past 20,000 years, disciples from our Luo Sheng Sword School’s three major sword branches have mostly joined the Iron Sword Lineage.”
The master of the ninth generation entered the Pulao Territory from Luo Sheng Sword School and rebuilt the Luo Tian Immortal Faction together with the other three generations of masters. From then on, the disciples of the Luo Sheng Sword School had all been assigned to these four masters.
Basically, the hidden branch disciples were accepted according to inheritance.
But now that there was an Iron Sword Celestial, there was one more place for hidden branch disciples.
Therefore, the relationship between the main lineages was a harmonious one just as they were from the same big family.
“What about the side lineages?” Chen Jingzhai asked.
Fuyunzi said lightly, “You can think of the side lineages as the peripheral forces of Luo Tian Immortal Sect. Most of them were established by cultivators who once admired the reputation of the Immortal Faction. But the highest inheritance method is the sky scripture.
“So far, none from the side lineages have become immortals. The main reason is that the potential of the sky scripture is insufficient. Therefore, in recent years, these cultivators from the side lineages have been very active, hoping to obtain the inheritance of the celestial scriptures.
“This is also a relatively bigger problem inside the Luo Tian Immortal Faction. Most of the side lineages are mainly centered around clans, with an existing alliance between them. This is how they inherit the celestial scriptures as well as the right to speak inside the immortal sect.
“They are just some ambitious mavericks. But there are celestial beings to stop them, so they can’t make any waves.”
Compared with the warmth with which he spoke of the main lineages, Fuyunzi’s attitude was one of cold indifference.
Chen Jingzhai immediately understood that his position had to be firmly in the main lineage because side lineages were regarded as outsiders.
This was not unusual. Besides, the situation was not that complicated. It was just that immortal sects are different from ordinary clans. There were very few cultivators who fought for power and profit. Even if there were, they could not pose any harm to the clan. After all, there were immortals everywhere.
“Since there is a difference between the main lineages and side lineages, why is there a distinction between inner and outer?” Chen Jingzhai continued with more questions.
“In addition to ease the management, the allocation of resources is also one of the considerations,” said Fuyunzi. “Casual disciples are trained at will, but the inner disciples are trained with focus. Only those who are admitted under the sect of immortals are called true disciples.”
The main lineages and the side lineages were for inheritance.
The inner and the outer were for clan operation and management.
These structures were interconnected with each other, and there was no contradiction.
In Luo Tian Immortal Faction or among the top clans in the entire Heaven Essence Realm, the casual disciples were all cultivators of Golden Core plane and below. Among them, Golden Core disciples can take up their positions to become deacons or elders of the outer sect. Once promoted to Nascent Zhenjuns, they could enter the inner sect to become deacons.
Nevertheless, they could only be deacons because the elders of the inner sect were all True Venerable Spirit Plane. Because they were promoted from the outer sect, they could never become inner disciples. There was a great difference.
If they had always been casual disciples, once they had broken through to the Nascent Zhenjuns level, not only would they be able to apply to become an inner disciple but will also be automatically assigned to the inner branches according to the methods they cultivate.
Some local disciples could use it to enter the main lineages, while the family members of the side lineages would be assigned to the side lineages. While some genius talents amongst them may be admitted by the main lineages, their position must be solidly aligned with the main lineages. If they ever violated this golden rule, the elders and masters wouldn’t need to issue an order before the violators were cleaned up by the others in the main lineages.
In addition to being able to enter the main lineages, disciples and deacons were also treated differently in terms of methods and resources. This is something that only true cultivators from Luo Tian Immortal Faction could understand.
