Chapter 223: A Successful Conclusion
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
After the Sect Master's Ceremony, Lin Feng's Celestial Sect of Wonders was officially open and recruiting disciples, and the day came to an end.
In essence, under the outstanding leadership of Lin Feng's comrades, his four direct disciples each demonstrated their respective speciality spells, gradually fending off the incoming enemy onslaught, which ended in a merciless defeat for their foes.
With a total of 34 talented disciples with potential values exceeding 25 recruited, Lin Feng has successfully achieved the target he set.
Surely, this was a successful and momentous Sect-Opening Ceremony that all can learn from!
Actually, there were over 50 new disciples inducted. Besides those with potential values exceeding 25, there were around 25 others with potential values exceeding 20.
In this group, there were some with more passable personalities and stronger minds who were also taken in by Lin Feng.
As this was his first time establishing a sect, Lin Feng prioritized quality over quantity. Since his sect was still in its budding stages, taking in too many disciples at once would be impractical as there were not enough resources to go around, and he lacked ample manpower to train them.
Hence, many prospective disciples who displayed less talent were already rejected at Shazhou City. Although it was a cruel move, Lin Feng had to harden his heart and do what he deemed necessary.
Among the majority that were accepted, Lin Feng was most impressed by two individuals boasting potential values of around 30.
They were Yue Hongyan and Yang Qing. They were taken in by Lin Feng as his direct disciples, and they also gave Lin Feng two chances at the Lottery. Although those were technically given by the System, it can also be considered as Yue Hongyan and Yang Qing's Disciple Induction Ceremony.
Lin Feng's Disciple System also listed out their personal particulars.
"Name: Yue Hongyan
Age: 17 Years and 5 months
Current Mastery Level: Middle Level of the Foundation Establishment, Spiritual Altar Realm.
Potential Stats: Innate Ability -> 8; Intelligence -> 8; Determination -> 7; Fortune -> 7.
Recommended Training Method: Recommended to be trained in Fire-type spells. Recommended to take the Divine Martial Way of the Muscular Body as her main direction of development of Abhijina."
"Name: Yang Qing
Age: 17 Years and 1 month
Current Mastery Level: Middle Level of the Foundation Establishment, Spiritual Altar Realm.
Potential Stats: Innate Ability -> 9; Intelligence -> 9; Determination -> 5; Fortune -> 8.
Recommended Training Method: Recommended to be trained in Water-type spells. Recommended to use Spells as the main direction of development of Abhijna. Also talented in nurturing spiritual herbs and medicines, hence recommended to hone the skills in this area.
Note: Determination values are lower. Will tend to produce large inconsistencies during the training process. Requires close attention."
Lin Feng flipped through the pair's particulars and began to come up with various ideas for training them.
As for the guests who came to observe the ceremony, Kang Nanhua and the others were responsible for seeing them off, hence there was no need to trouble Lin Feng.
When the Sect-Opening Ceremony ended, everyone was still in high spirits. But once the guests took their leave, they became disconcerted and at a loss.
The cultivators from the northern foothills of Mount Kunlun were saddened by the monstrous overpowering forces that had suddenly risen in their own area.
The Flying Flames Grandmaster did come in high spirits but left feeling dejected. He was even secretly glad that Lin Feng did not stir any trouble with him.
The Azure Clouds Grandmaster left feeling terribly bitter as if he had eaten a gold thread. Or, in his own words, he had his guts stuffed with gold thread which choked him all the way up his throat.
Yang Tonghui held onto Kong Chang's Nascent Sword, feeling very troubled like the other guests. The Heavenly Sword Sect's subsequent confrontations with Lin Feng would really be like walking on a tightrope.
But if they handle them well, the Heavenly Sword Sect stands to reap amazing benefits. Yang Tonghui felt his heart heating up just from thinking about that prospect and continued on his journey in pain yet feeling hopeful at the same time.
As for Wu Yunliang and Meng Chaoran, although they did get a chance to speak to Lin Feng privately, the reply they received was not a favourable one.
Lin Feng did not mind them sitting on the fence. The Ethereal Mountain Sect and the Celestial Sect of Wonders were not the same, with no previous connections. Since Lin Feng did not demonstrate enough mastery previously, it was definitely normal not to be noticed by them.
Lin Feng's thought process was always very straightforward: if you didn't possess enough skill, why should neutral parties take your side? No one owes you anything.
And vice versa, I don't owe anyone else anything. You shouldn't expect to receive anything from me after coming empty-handed.
After sending off Wu Yunliang and Meng Chaoran, there was only one group of visitors left.
As he looked at Yan Mingyue who was standing in front of him, Lin Feng said softly, "Just one Zhuyan Demon Eye definitely wouldn't suffice."
If outsiders heard what Lin Feng said, they would probably be shocked. How would a Magic Treasure Embryo be inadequate for a Sect-Opening congratulatory gift?
Yan Mingyue, however, looked calm. She knew what Lin Feng was driving at, and simply nodded. "I understand."
The lady in green robes smiled, "There will be a follow-up, I promise."
Lin Feng stared at her momentarily then replied softly, "I hope I can accept your follow-up gift."
Yan Mingyue laughed. "But of course, or else I wouldn't be able to survive Lord Lin's wrath."
"Oh right, there's one more thing." Lin Feng suddenly thought of something. With a flick of his finger, a cloud of black smoke dropped to the ground and morphed into a tall, burly middle-aged man around six meters in height.
His skin colour was a weird purplish black, he had two thick and long strands of moustaches above his lips, and he had two bifurcated antlers growing on his head.
He was the Black Dragon Jieyu in its human form.
He emanated a strong domineering aura as if he was the Ruler of the Heavens. But in front of Lin Feng, Jieyu held back his aura and bowed respectfully to Lin Feng, "My Lord."
Jieyu then straightened back up, turned, and saw Yan Mingyue. He nodded to her. "It's been a long time, Lady Yan."
Yan Mingyue chuckled upon seeing Jieyu, "So you're following Lord Lin now."
Lin Feng waved his hand. "I summoned him to ask him whether he was interested in following you back to the Great Void Sect."
When Jieyu heard this, his face turned pale.
Yan Mingyue, on the other hand, cracked a smile and said casually, "I think this dragon won't be willing to go back there."
"Oh?" Lin Feng was slightly puzzled and turned to look at Jieyu. In all honesty, although Jieyu was not being ill-treated by Lin Feng, he was not being treated exceptionally well either and received very little benefits.
Lin Feng used one-half of the Gengjin Tiger King's corpse to produce the Golden Tiger Avatar, while the other half was given to Tun Tun.
As for the Demon Soul Essence, a third of it was used to craft the Tiger Soul Golden Plate and given to Xiao Budian, another third was used for the Golden Tiger Avatar, and the final third was still with Lin Feng, with none for Jieyu.
Most importantly, dragons are rumoured to be very lecherous, but there are no female beasts here for him to hook up with.
Never mind Tun Tun, that temperamental brat would never fall for Jieyu. He should already consider himself fortunate if Tun Tun does not devour him as prey.
Why would Jieyu accept such treatment yet not wish to return to the Great Void Sect?
Lin Feng looked at Jieyu and said, "I kept you with me that day for various reasons, but if you wish to return to the Great Void Sect now, I wouldn't hold you back ..."
As he spoke, he saw Jieyu shaking his head violently like a Buleng Drum, "No, My Lord, I don't want to go back. I'm very happy here, please don't chase me away!"
Lin Feng was taken aback by Jieyu's reaction. If Yan Mingyue was not standing beside them, Jieyu would already be bawling out loud while hugging Lin Feng's legs.
Yan Mingyue tried to control her laughter, and explained, "Lord Lin, it's like this. Jieyu married a female Immemorial Celestial Dragon in the Great Void Sect's Dragon Pool ... Um, the female dragon has the powers of a Demonic Lord."
Upon hearing this, it dawned upon Lin Feng: all this drama was just because Jieyu was afraid of his wife?
Lin Feng was speechless, and when he mentally compared Jieyu to Tun Tun, he was so flustered that his heart pounded as if there were a hundred thousand alpacas galloping across. "For f*ck's sake, are demons all so pathetic? This is an embarrassment to all men ... no, all male demons!"
Since Jieyu was so unwilling to leave, Lin Feng couldn't force him either, and he just sent Yan Mingyue on her way.
Once the last guest left Mount Yujing, large blinding amounts of light suddenly burst forth from the Black Heavenly Treasure Tree on the summit, and the branches and leaves of its overarching canopy began to sway violently.
The light opened a hole in space, and the entire mountain lifted into the sky. The colossal holy mountain of white jade gradually disappeared into the gap in space.
The majestic holy mountain seemed to have vanished with no effort at all. It was as if it had never existed on the barren plains outside Shazhou City.
This seemingly miraculous sight would later become one of Shazhou City's most well-known legends.
Yan Mingyue stood on the clouds and watched Mount Yujing disappear into space. After a good long while, she just let out a soft sigh without saying anything.
Pang Jie, who was standing behind her, said, "The entire mountain has entered the turbulent flow of space, it's very hard to track its movements. We can't attack them even if we wanted to."
"If all the Great Void Sect's Immortal Soul warriors are activated at once to comb the entire flow of space, we might be able to hunt them down."
Yan Mingyue replied softly, "You know that's impossible."
"Yes, I know. He's not of demon descent." Pang Jie's tone was calm. "Not to mention, with others coveting from afar, if our Great Void Sect launches a full-fledged assault, we'll be leaving ourselves open to those who wish to take advantage of the situation."
His gaze was unreservedly shifting between Yan Mingyue and Mei Wulang.
Mei Wulang smiled humbly without a word.
Yan Mingyue did not reply to Pang Jie's subtle chiding, and just smiled faintly. "If not for Lord Lin's reminders, I would have been tricked by you, Junior Pang."
"Since when were you able to conjure an avatar of the final level of the Nascent Soul stage? If I'm not wrong, your true self hasn't advanced to the Immortal Soul Realm yet."
Pang Jie replied calmly. "Everyone has their lucky breakthroughs. Isn't it the case for you too, Senior Yan?"
"I must thank the Leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders for this." He gazed in the direction that Mount Yujing disappeared to. "I must return to Mount Baiyun now. If I manage to reap any rewards this time, Lord Lin will take half the credit, and you, Senior, will take the other half."
"Thank you both for teaching me this lesson together."
With that, Pang Jie's avatar vanished into space.
Mei Wulang finally spoke. "Lady Yan, your junior is no simple person. If this wasn't an avatar, I would have cracked my brains to make him stay here."
Yan Mingyue smiled and looked towards the distant space at the horizon. "If he's not that simple, then the Leader of the Celestial Sect of Wonders would be even harder to handle."
"I don't even know what he's doing now either."
At that moment, Lin Feng, whom Yan Mingyue was complaining about, was trying to decipher the new Quest given by the System.
Lin Feng raised his eyebrows. "It seems easy, but judging by the System's tendency to give misleading hints, why do I feel like something's just not right?"