Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
For some reason, Lonemoon’s attraction resulted in there being more disciples from Honesty Sect than from Divine Heavens Sect. Furthermore, most of the disciples who came forward were sword cultivators who were interested in breaking through the sword array. The Honesty Sect accepted so many spirit stones that their hands began to feel weak. The fees they were charging were more than ten times the fees charged for entry into the mystic realm.
Lou Hong felt extremely confused about this. He had no idea when Lonemoon even managed to strike a deal with the Divine Heavens Sect. Previously, the disciples could enter for free. Now, they were paying a big price to enter the same sword array, yet they looked like they were the ones at an advantage.
What’s more, Supremacy Lonemoon’s sword array was spectacular, but it was not unique to their sect alone. A mighty sect like the Divine Heavens Sect surely had a similar sword array. The only good thing that Lou Hong could observe from this was that this sword array could accept cultivators who were as weak as Nascent Souls.
Lou Hong remained confused by all of this, until the first batch of Nascent Soul cultivators were sent forward. Each of them brought spirit stones, causing Lou Hong to be tongue-tied. The money they were earning was equivalent to half a year’s worth of income that Honesty Sect received. Unable to hold back any longer, he finally asked Lonemoon.
“Oh.” Lonemoon looked unfazed. “I told them that within these three years, apart from disciples from our sect, only Divine Heavens Sect’s Nascent Soul cultivators would be allowed to enter the sword array.” Of course, the price of an exclusive membership would be much higher than usual.
Lou Hong, “…”
So that was the case. Their own sect did not have many Nascent Soul cultivators, but there were many other Nascent Souls in the Three Azure Realms. it was certainly not easy for all of them to become Soul Formation cultivators. In every ten Nascent Soul cultivators, nine would fail. Primarily, these cultivators were lacking the opportunity to improve. It was extremely difficult for them to find a suitable training ground. Naturally, then, many sects would be tempted by the idea of a sword array setup especially for Nascent Souls to be trained. Afterall, this would mean that their Nascent Souls would have a better chance of increasing their cultivation. The Divine Heavens Sect ranked first among the immortal sects. It was reasonable for them to want to produce more Soul Formation cultivators – the more the better. Given that their current ranking was being threatened, they were obviously willing to pay any price to secure it.
Since Honesty Sect was able to give the Divine Heavens Sect such a security the two sects were expected to have very good relations moving forward. This was advantageous for Honesty Sect as well. Indeed, Lonemoon was worthy of being called a Soul Formation Supremacy. He had actually thought so far ahead for the sect. As the sect master, Lou Hong was utterly ashamed!
“Supremacy, you really are very strategic!” Lou Hong cupped his fists and bowed respectfully to Lonemoon. For the umpteenth time, he felt the urge to let Lonemoon take over as the sect master.
Lonemoon, who was walking around with a signboard to increase the price on the spot: “…”
The facts have shown that Lonemoon’s sword array was extremely useful. Within a few short years, all the disciples in the sect had increased by a full level. The few Golden Core disciples they had were already Nascent Souls by now. Honesty Sect was no longer the sect it was before, with only two Nascent Soul cultivators.
The disciples from the Divine Heavens Sect experienced the same phenomenon, especially the few Nascent Soul cultivators who came to train in the array. Although they had not become Soul Formation cultivators yet, they did improve a great deal more than they ever did before. Everyone who heard about this was surprised. All the more, people were willing to pay the high price to enter and train in the sword array. Some even took the initiative to offer a higher price.
Honesty Sect’s treasure storage was increasing at a rapid speed. The sect was receiving a windfall from this business.
Yet, Lonemoon felt that this standard of business was too low for him. He handed all the operations over to Lou Hong and washed his hands off it for good. Instead, Lonemoon focused on training Yi Qing. He was determined to prevent Shen Ying from influencing him to become a body cultivator. Just like that, three years went by with Lonemoon watching over Yi Qing.
From the time they entered the mystic realm, Yi Qing seemed to have undergone some kind of shock. He cultivated with much more vigor. Even his sword techniques were looking more complete. His original cultivation was still there, but he was lacking the spiritual power to recover it. Now that he was training very seriously, his powers increased rapidly. Within three years, he became a full Golden Core cultivator, and was on the verge of becoming a Nascent Soul.
Lonemoon had no choice but to hold back on giving advice to Yi Qing. Yi Qing had only been training for less than six years when he formed his core. Lonemoon could explain that away by saying that Yi Qing got some kind of epiphany in the mystic realm, but now Yi Qing was on the verge of becoming a Nascent Soul after training for less than ten years. That was absolutely frightening. Although they were not afraid of attracting others’ attention, Yi Qing had not yet recovered his memories. If he became so strong in such a short time, his body might break down. That would mean their efforts would go down the drain.
Yi Qing had nothing to say about this. He was stuck at the stage he was at and had no choice but to stop training
“What? A competition between the sects?” Lonemoon glanced at Lou Hong, who was smiling confidently.
“That’s right!” Lou Hong nodded. “The different sects in the Three Azure Realms would take turns to organize a competition like that once every ten years. In recent years, our disciples have been improving significantly. It would be good to let them battle in one or two events.”
“Hey, then go!” Why was Lou Hong explaining this to him?
“But…” Lou Hong looked away, as if he had some difficulties. Glancing at Lonemoon’s face, he gritted his teeth and said, “The sects are suggesting that… my sect should organize the competition this time!”
“What?” Lonemoon looked at Lou Hong. All over his face was written, would they give me money to organize the competition here?
Lou Hong wiped the perspiration from his face. “Well… the competition has always been hosted by sects like the Divine Heavens Sect and Blackheaven Sect. I don’t know why they want to organize it here this time.” Honesty Sect was doing much better in terms of money and skills in recent years, especially so since Supremacy Lonemoon arrived. However, immortal sects were the ones that really had the skills to host events like these. Honesty Sect only had two Soul Formation Supremacies. They were not comparable at all to the first-rate immortal sects.
“What do you think?” Lonemoon frowned.
“Hosting a competition like this would improve our reputation. What’s more, all we would have to do is provide the grounds for the competition. I think… we could try.” Lou Hong nodded.
“Since you’ve already decided, you can go ahead and plan it.” Lonemoon nodded as well. Thinking of something, he added, “Oh yes, from tomorrow onwards, seal up the sword array. Tell the Nascent Souls from Divine Heavens Sect that we have to close it in order to prepare for the competition.”
Lou Hong’s eyes brightened, as if he understood something. He nodded excitedly. “Lou Hong understands!”
The competition among the sects was being pushed to the mid-tier sects. Anybody would have guessed that the first-tier sects had something up their sleeves. What’s more, the only thing people could covet after from their Honesty Sect was the sword array. In these three years, they only accepted disciples from Divine Heavens Sect into the array. All the other sects must have gotten wind of this and wanted to use the competition as a chance to check out the space. They probably wanted to send their disciples here to train while they were at it.
The Divine Heavens Sect probably did not know about this yet. That was probably why the other sects had informed Lou Hong directly. Therefore, Lonemoon decided to close the sword array and notify the cultivators from Divine Heavens Sect.
To Honesty Sect, there was not going to be much loss incurred. Lonemoon had initially promised to only let them use the array for three years. Now that the time was up, it was perfectly reasonable for the Honesty Sect to allow other sects into the array. The key was that only a limited number of people could enter the sword array. If disciples from other sects were allowed into the array, the number of Divine Heavens Sect’s disciples in the array would decrease. Lonemoon was expecting the Divine Heavens Sect to be anxious about this.
To get more space in the array, the Divine Heavens Sect would likely offer help to Honesty Sect in organizing the competition. And Honesty Sect… would just have to lie down and receive all the help and money.
