Chapter 241

Chapter 241: The Linglong Pavilion’s Invitation

After a long stretch of thought, a bright idea flashed in Shen Sang Ruo’s mind.

But she didn’t have the right materials yet, so she set the Heart-Guard Feather aside for now.

With the ceremony done, her focus turned to her own cultivation and to raising the Ninghua Sect’s overall level.

She was now at Nascent Soul Early Stage, the first of her generation to break through to Nascent Soul. Her strength was enough to serve as an Elder of the Ninghua Sect, and she was very pleased.

As for her own training, she only needed to keep her usual pace. With Kui Ox as her contracted beast, her speed would only get faster.

What she needed to think hard about now was how to improve the Ninghua Sect as a whole.

A breakthrough brings not only power, but also a deeper sense of responsibility for what rests on your shoulders.

Daoist Wu Wei was happy to hand sect affairs to her. Whatever she suggested, he wanted to agree with both hands and feet.

She had no doubt that if she proposed renaming the Ninghua Sect to the “Ascension Sect,” Daoist Wu Wei would huff and puff, pick up a brush, and personally change the plaque above the gate.

Then he would come ask if his calligraphy suited her taste. [Maybe this is what unconditional trust looks like.]

For now, the Ninghua Sect could rely on the treasures she had brought back from the Phantom Mirage Domain. Used carefully, they might last ten or twenty years.

But they would run out in the end. If the Flying Cloud Sect targeted them again then, they would be forced into a passive spot.

Besides, she didn’t want to scrape by on these treasures.

The simplest way to lift the whole sect is to pour resources into its people.

Since they had joined the Ninghua Sect, she couldn’t let them train just like before, relying only on themselves. Otherwise, what was the point of joining?

This was where the Ninghua Sect needed to prove it could raise their strength.

No matter the talent, if resources flow like water, even a common stone can become a spirit stone. There will always be gains.

But feeding ten thousand cultivators eats up a mountain of resources. At that rate, the treasures would be gone in a year.

So the urgent question was where to find more resources.

Thinking this over, she sorted through the gifts sent by the Linglong Pavilion, and her gaze landed on something.

“This is a letter?”

On the front was written “To Fellow Daoist Sang Ruo,” in Li Qing Wen’s hand.

Why would Li Qing Wen write to her?

Curious, she opened it.

“Fellow Daoist Shen,” the letter read, “recently the Linglong Pavilion and the treasure-hunting teams of several top auction pavilions discovered a new region to the west of the Cultivation World.”

Auction pavilions can’t rely only on consignment, so each has its own treasure-hunting team.

“We explored the edge and found the resources inside are incredibly rich!!!”

Three exclamation points showed how excited Li Qing Wen was.

“But when we went forward, we found a barrier ward blocking the way. Only a very small number of people can pass.”

Even with all the teams together, those who could enter could be counted on one hand. Relying on them to search would be far too slow.

“So our pavilion master discussed with the other pavilion masters and decided to work with the sects to host a treasure-seeking meet.”

In short, each auction pavilion would sign a one-to-one agreement with a sect. The auction pavilion would provide the site, the sect would provide cultivators, and the harvested resources would be split by agreement.

A win for both sides.

This letter was an invitation for the Ninghua Sect to partner with the Linglong Pavilion.

Shen Sang Ruo tucked the letter away, her smile almost impossible to hide.

She had just been wondering where to find resources, and here the chance came to her door.

Maybe she could even find the materials she needed.

It really was like someone handing her a pillow right when she got sleepy.

“They named the region Starfield Plain.”

Why Starfield Plain? Probably because the treasures there were as many as the stars.

“It’s in the west of the Cultivation World. Let me see…” She took out her map, ready to check the location of Starfield Plain.

But as soon as the map touched her hands, it turned into orange and red points of light and faded away.

She didn’t notice that the points of light drifted into the space between her brows.

Shen Sang Ruo stared at her empty hands, baffled: [Where did my big map go? I haven’t taken it out in ages, and the moment I do, it vanishes?]

She had only two decent magic items from her past life, and now there was only one left.

“Forget it. Starfield Plain is a brand-new region. This map wouldn’t help anyway.” She comforted herself. She had most of the map’s marked places memorized, and after going to Starfield Plain, she could visit those spots to seek resources.

Still, since it had accompanied her for two lives, she felt a little sad.

After that, she went to the Sect Master’s Hall to tell Daoist Wu Wei. He grinned so wide his mouth could not close and agreed at once.

“Sect Master, was there such a region in the west back in your time?” she asked.

Daoist Wu Wei thought hard and said: “Hmm. Maybe not.”

“At that time, the whole west of the Cultivation World was known territory. After so long, it must have changed and become unknown.”

The Ninghua Sect’s active era was far too long ago.

Shen Sang Ruo nodded and let the question go. “Li Qing Wen says their teams have scouted Starfield Plain once. The danger level isn’t high.”

The letter also contained a crystal made based on the nature of the barrier ward. It could test if someone could enter Starfield Plain.

You injected spiritual power into it, and if it lit up, you could pass the barrier.

She had already tried. Her spiritual power made it shine.

Daoist Wu Wei, Immortal Lord Chang Li, and her four senior siblings each injected spiritual power, but only her four senior siblings matched her result.

The crystal passed through every hand in the Ninghua Sect. In the end, besides those five, only five more could go, including Fang Yu, Ji Zi Cang, and Lin Qian Yin.

Ten people in total, and not a single Elder.

They analyzed the results from every angle, but still could not find the barrier’s selection rule.

Their final conclusion was that the barrier ward was very picky.

The treasure-seeking meet would take place in one month.

Over in the Flying Cloud Sect:

Master Ling Xiao was rushed to the Medicine Hall for emergency treatment, and the scene shocked everyone.

All the Medicine Hall Elders joined forces and worked for a long time before they calmed the wild spiritual power inside him.

Feng He Yun, Wen Xuan, Lu Shi Qing, and Luo Chu crowded around Master Ling Xiao, faces tight with worry, and asked the healers: “How is Master? Why did he suddenly cough blood and faint?”