Chapter 234

Chapter 234: A Chaotic Ninghua Sect, All Talents

A large crowd gathered before the Sect Master’s Hall.

When the Sword Cultivators Branch saw Shen Sang Ruo and Daoist Wu Wei come out, they started complaining at once: “Sect Master, Young Sect Master, please judge this for us. The people from the Joyous Union Sect Branch block our members at the door every single day!”

Another swordsman added, fuming: “They wave spirit stones at us and try to make us their Dao companions so we will dual cultivate with them. It would already be wrong with the opposite sex, but they do not even spare people of the same sex!”

A third swordsman threw up his hands: “In broad daylight, under the clear sky, they talk so shamelessly. Do they not feel any shame?”

A fourth said with pride: “We Sword Cultivators may be poor, but we have backbone. How could we sell ourselves for a few spirit stones?”

Just then Liu Ru Yan hurried over, glanced at the Sword Cultivators’ Elder, and said crisply: “Oh? But more than ten people from your Sword Cultivators Branch have already agreed, including your chief disciple. Did they not tell you?”

The Elder’s eyes trembled as he swung to face his chief disciple and asked in a hoarse voice: “Did you really agree?”

The chief disciple ducked his head and nodded shyly: “Mm.”

A whole line of young swordsmen behind him nodded hard.

Someone gasped as the Elder swayed: “Master, master, are you fainting?”

The chief disciple scrambled forward to catch the Elder before he toppled.

The Elder pointed a shaking finger and could only stammer: “You, you, you…”

Liu Ru Yan stepped up with a straight face and spoke toward Shen Sang Ruo and Daoist Wu Wei: “Sect Master, Little Sister Sang Ruo, dual cultivation is the Joyous Union Sect Branch’s specialty. It benefits both sides and is a proper cultivation method.”

She raised a hand, insisting: “We also stress mutual consent. We never force anyone.”

In truth, they had already restrained themselves a lot. Back when the Joyous Union Sect was still strong, her Master’s generation openly used Enthrallment Pills on people.

The Sword Cultivators’ Elder suddenly jerked upright from the brink of fainting and snapped: “Your so-called consent means camping at our branch’s gate every day until people give in?”

Liu Ru Yan coughed twice, eyes a bit guilty but tone still tough: “Ahem. We are all Ninghua Sect members. Walking around the sect and looking at the scenery is perfectly reasonable, right?”

“Nicely said.” Yuan Jin from the Beast Taming Branch spoke up with a cold snort: “But could your Joyous Union Sect Branch stop staring at our spirit beasts all the time?”

Another beast tamer blurted, alarmed: “They are spirit beasts. You would not be that depraved, right?”

Liu Ru Yan’s eyes widened. She swept a hard look over the group of disciples behind her who were pretending to whistle innocently, then clenched her fists and forced a smile: “They are pretty to look at. It is reasonable if we look a few more times, right?”

Her expression went dark as she muttered under her breath, [You little brats, I will deal with you later.] She then jabbed a finger back: “And your Beast Taming Branch is not any better either!”

The Spirit Plant Branch, made up mainly from the Spirit Herb Valley, stepped out to join the fray and shouted at the Beast Taming Branch: “We do not even want to talk about your spirit beasts. We planted a new field two days ago. By the next morning, it had been rooted up!”

Yuan Jin laughed weakly and scratched his cheek: “Haha, I thought they were wild plants. I was ready to thank nature for the gift.”

The Spirit Plant Elder’s beard nearly twisted out of shape as he roared: “Would wild plants grow in such neat rows?”

Seeing a crowd, the Talisman Branch, formed mainly from the Divine Talisman Sect, set up a stall on the spot and called cheerfully: “Talismans for sale, talismans for sale: one sheet for three mid grade spirit stones, three sheets for ten!”

Someone snapped right away: “What, are you trying to rip us off?”

The talisman seller shrugged: “Sorry, occupational habit. I see a crowd and I cannot help setting up a stall. I also cannot help acting like a profiteer.”

The scene grew more and more chaotic as the branches began accusing one another.

The Alchemists Branch complained that several demon cultivators newly admitted to Ninghua Sect had sold them medicine brewing materials at sky high prices that turned out to be the dead skin they had just peeled from their own feet.

Demonic beasts, on the other hand, accused a Medicine Cultivator of almost neutering them because he nearly mistook them for the Beast Taming Branch’s spirit beasts.

If Bai Ruo An had been present, he would definitely have said with delight: “Great, it is a pot of porridge again. Let us drink it while it is hot.”

Shen Sang Ruo and Daoist Wu Wei exchanged a look, and each saw a complicated mix of feelings on the other’s face.

One disciple cried to Shen Sang Ruo and Daoist Wu Wei: “Sect Master, it feels like our Ninghua Sect is about to be finished.”

This was nothing like what they had imagined. The grand vision of a thriving sect creating glory together was nowhere to be found.

Shen Sang Ruo frowned and asked Daoist Wu Wei in a low voice: “Sect Master, are you sure the testing artifact the Ninghua Sect left behind is not faulty?” She glanced at the bickering crowd and thought, [How did this group of eccentrics pass the test? Are these really the elite cultivators we picked out layer by layer?]

Daoist Wu Wei looked unsure and admitted: “Uh… it is possible that age and disrepair caused a malfunction.”

Shen Sang Ruo rubbed her chin and made up her mind: [Time to set new sect rules.]

In the old days the Ninghua Sect did not have so many branches, so the previous rules did not cover today’s problems.

They soothed the crowd and settled the conflicts between branches. After everyone dispersed, they immediately began drafting new rules.

After working on them for a full day, the two finished the draft and, the very next morning, distributed it to everyone in the sect for trial use.

The rules included the following: no loitering at other branches’ gates, especially the Joyous Union Sect Branch; the Beast Taming Branch must guard its spirit beasts and may not walk them inside the sect; fences will be added around the Spirit Plant Branch’s fields; and no stalls or trading are allowed within the sect.

Violators would be severely punished.

With this, the crooked trends in the Ninghua Sect were finally curbed, and the sect began moving onto the right track.

Only then did Shen Sang Ruo believe the testing artifact had no problem. [As long as they do not act absurd, they are still better than ordinary cultivators in many ways.]

More than two months had passed since Immortal Lord Chang Li began closed-door cultivation.

That day, Shen Sang Ruo and the others finally saw layers of tribulation clouds gather above the peak where he was cultivating.

Even from far away, they could clearly see the clouds and even feel the restless power building in the air.

It was easy to imagine how terrifying that tribulation cloud was.

The cloud kept gathering until it almost swallowed the entire mountain.

The sky all around quickly dimmed.

Wind and rain were about to arrive.

Shen Sang Ruo, Ye Huai, and the others silently clenched their hands for Immortal Lord Chang Li.

A bright flash split the sky, lighting the world in an instant; then a deafening thunderclap exploded in their ears.

The rolling boom shook half the Cultivation World.

A Heavenly Lightning Tribulation of this strength only appears for cultivators at Mid Divine Transformation or above.

Countless cultivators stopped to look.

Elders of every sect sent people to investigate which sect had produced a grand adept this time.

When they learned it was Ninghua Sect’s Immortal Lord Chang Li, they were utterly shocked.

At the Sect Grand Tournament, he had still been at Mid Divine Transformation; within just a few months, he was now breaking through to Late Divine Transformation.

He had been able to fight Master Ling Xiao even when still at Mid Divine Transformation. Now that he would share the same realm, who would be first in the Cultivation World going forward was truly hard to say.

Elders stared at the tribulation clouds in the sky.

First, the Ninghua Sect had snatched the top sect’s seat from the Flying Cloud Sect. Now Immortal Lord Chang Li was aiming to challenge Master Ling Xiao for the title of number one cultivator.

The pattern of the Cultivation World might really be about to change.