Hunyuan Immortal Sect

Chapter 173 Qingyun Old Friend
Song Xian smiled and nodded to everyone one by one. After everyone had introduced themselves, he said, "Our sect does not distinguish between inner and outer sects, but there is a distinction between combat and non-combat disciples."

"Non-combat personnel are responsible for the sect's various specific affairs. Their salaries are paid according to the Qingyun Sect's spiritual root qualification standards, and they don't need to worry about the sect's wars."

"Combat personnel salaries are uniformly distributed according to the fixed standard for Qingyun Sect's dual-spiritual root disciples, that is, 15 spirit stones per month for cultivators in the early stages of Qi Refining, 30 spirit stones per month for cultivators in the middle stages of Qi Refining, and 45 spirit stones per month for cultivators in the late stages of Qi Refining."

"Do you fellow disciples know this?"

Yu Lian glanced at everyone, then stood up and replied, "Master, we have already discussed this on the way here. We are all willing to serve as combat personnel for the sect and contribute our efforts to the sect."

The reason why so many people left their hometown and came here from Pingyuan County was that they were resentful of Chang Jinmian's suppression and exclusion.

Second, he is pessimistic about the situation of Qingyun Sect and indignant about the current situation.

Before the three hundred years were up, Yuan Yi Zong had already stationed himself at the gate of Qingyun Sect, and intervened in all internal affairs as the master, giving orders to the former disciples of Qingyun Sect.

In another ten years, when the three-hundred-year period is up, the Qingyun Sect will inevitably be swallowed up. This is almost a foregone conclusion. Rather than becoming a second-class disciple of another sect and having to rely on others for everything, it is better to leave as soon as possible.

The third is that according to Zhang Ningyuan's new sect, everyone's salary is paid according to their double spiritual root qualifications, and there are additional dividends at the end of the year.

None of them had dual spiritual roots, and with Chang Jinmian's deliberate suppression, their situation in Qingyun Sect became worse and worse, so they made up their minds to defect here. Many of them came for the high salary, so they were willing to become combatants.

In their view, if there is a war in the sect, it is their duty as disciples to fight back. This is a matter of course and a rule that everyone in Qingyun Sect must abide by.

"Okay." Song Xian said in a resounding voice, "Since you fellow disciples do not mind the remoteness of our new sect and the simplicity of its mountain gate, and have come all the way here, I promise as the headmaster that I will never treat you unfairly."

"Whether you're new to the sect or a recent addition, we treat everyone equally. As long as I get a share of the benefits, everyone else will benefit."

"Also, we are a new sect after all, and we have new rules and regulations. Please be sure to abide by them. If anyone violates the sect's rules, they must also act according to the rules."

"Everyone has come from afar and must be tired. Let's rest for the night. Tomorrow the sect will hold a celebration to welcome all the brothers and sisters."

"Senior Brother Wenyuan, please take the other brothers to rest first and have them prepare meals. I will host a welcome dinner for everyone in the evening."

Zhong Wenyuan responded and said, "My fellow apprentices, you have come all this way and worked hard. Please follow me!"

He was originally the inner sect steward of Qingyun Sect, responsible for sect affairs, so he was still very prestigious in the hearts of these Qingyun Sect disciples. Everyone stood up, said goodbye, and followed him.

"Senior Brother Ning Yuan, have you received the families of all our fellow brothers and sisters in the sect?" Song Xian asked after everyone left.

Zhang Ningyuan said, "Brother Zhang Yi is already on his way back with the family members. He left earlier than us. He was worried that if these brothers left Qingyun Sect, it would arouse Chang Jinmian's vigilance and he might take the family members hostage. So Brother Zhang Yi led the family members out of Changping City first, and then we set out."

"We took different routes, so I don't know where Senior Brother Zhang Yi is now or what his situation is."

Song Xian nodded. "What about the families of these new brothers and sisters? Did they also come with Senior Brother Zhang Yi?"

"Yes, all the direct relatives of Qingyun Sect have already left, including the headmaster's family."

"My family?" Song Xian was stunned for a moment: "My parents are both dead, and I don't have any brothers or sisters. What family do I have?"

"Your grandfather and your uncle."

When Song Xian heard this, his eyes widened even more. He did have a grandfather who had not passed away, but he had not lived with his grandfather since he was a child. To be honest, there was no deep relationship between the two. After joining Qingyun Sect, they had never met each other. They only saw each other for a few days when he returned home for a funeral.

If Zhang Ningyuan hadn't said it, he would have almost forgotten that he had such a relative, but the problem was that he had never mentioned it before!
"Brother Wenyuan, how do you know I have a grandfather and an uncle? Have you met them?"

Before Zhang Ningyuan set off, everyone in the sect wrote down their family information, including the names and addresses of their relatives, but Song Xian did not write anything because he only had his parents as relatives in his heart and he had forgotten about his grandfather.

"Your grandfather lives in Changping City. When I was contacting my fellow disciples, someone mentioned your grandfather, so I went to visit him. Your grandfather was very happy to hear the news about you. I asked him if he would like to come with me, and he agreed immediately."

"That's what happened!"

Song Xian didn't take it seriously. "It's okay if it comes! It's not a big deal."

Then he carefully inquired about the situations of each of the fourteen monks.

The two chatted for a long time, and then Zhang Ningyuan said goodbye and left.

.........

At night, in the brightly lit hall, everyone gathered together to drink, and both the guests and the hosts were having a great time.

After the welcoming banquet, Song Xian returned to his mansion, lay on the bed, took out the black banner from his storage bag, and used his spiritual sense to explore inside. He found that the black banner, which originally had only two layers of restrictions, had now become a magical weapon with six layers of restrictions.

In addition, the blood shadow outline has evolved into a human-shaped ghost, and there is such a blood shadow ghost in each layer of restrictions.

Its nose, mouth and eyes are the same as those of a human, but it looks ugly. It has two long horns on its head and a tail.

The black banner absorbed the flesh and blood of monsters and cultivators, but it did not change immediately. It needed to grow slowly over a period of time, just like food needs to be digested.

The same thing happened the last time it devoured the silver-armored ants. There was no change at that time. It was only after about a month that it evolved from blood light into a blood shadow outline and grew into a second-level forbidden magic weapon.

At this moment, Song Xian was both surprised and happy.

The good news was that the black flag had indeed changed as expected after absorbing the flesh and blood of the Green Spirit Snake.

What is surprising is that the black flag only has six levels of restrictions so far.

You know, this time it absorbed the vitality of five green spirit snakes, including a demon snake that was close to the great perfection of Qi Refining, a demon snake of the ninth level of Qi Refining, and three demon snakes of the middle stage of Qi Refining. With so many high-quality demon beasts, it only strengthened its four levels of restrictions.

According to this calculation, it would probably take at least the vitality of a second-level monster to produce a mid-grade magic weapon.

A second-level monster. If I can kill a second-level monster myself, why would I still rely on this mid-grade magic weapon?
Song Xian was eager to try out the power of the black banner after it grew, so he took it to the backyard, and the spiritual power in his body poured into it, breaking through the internal restrictions.

In an instant, the banner began to glow with a blood-red light, and the ghosts in the magic weapon flashed out one after another, standing in a row, standing there expressionlessly.

Their eyes were also bloodshot, like those of puppets.

Song Xian's mind maintained close contact with the six ghosts. As soon as he moved his mind, the six ghosts moved. Three of them went to the left, and the other three went to the right.

There was a soft thud as the three ghosts on the left slammed their horns against the stone, while the three on the right slammed their horns against the stone wall. Neither the stone nor the wall was damaged, but the six ghosts' bodies shook as if they were about to collapse.

Under Song Xian's observation of the True Eye, the attacks of the five ghosts all caused three points of attack power.

As for the ghost's true form, no data appeared in his mind, only a blank???
This fighting power is still not enough! He shook his head, and with a thought, all the ghosts returned to the black flag.

………………

The arrival of everyone from Qingyun Sect at Guzi Peak made the originally deserted mountain gate suddenly much more lively. After the celebration, Song Xian assigned positions to everyone.

Some are responsible for guarding the mountain gate, some are responsible for external affairs, some are responsible for purchasing supplies for the sect, and some are responsible for financial management...

He also found two disciples with fire spiritual roots and went to the Alchemy Hall to learn from Qi Xiaobai how to develop the Jade Fragrance Pill.

On this day, Song Xian finished a day of practice in the training room as usual, and returned to the mansion to prepare to make talismans.

As soon as he returned to the mansion, the housekeeper came to greet him and reported to him, "Master, Immortal Shen Fan has come to see you twice today. He said he has something important to tell you and asked me to tell you after you return home."

"Oh! Then go find him!"

The housekeeper left in response. Not long after, Shen Fan arrived at the mansion, accompanied by a thin man in his thirties, who was Wu Lian, a former disciple of Qingyun Sect.

"Master." After the two entered the room, they bowed and saluted.

"No need to be so polite, just sit down!" Song Xian glanced at the two of them and asked, "Junior Brother Shen, what can I do for you?"

"Disciple hopes that the Master will allow Senior Brother Wu to study the puppet refining method with me."

"Oh? Senior Brother Wu is also interested in puppet refining?" Song Xian was a little surprised. He didn't expect that Shen Fan came here for this matter.

He had only met Wu Lian once or twice when he was in Qingyun Sect, and did not have a deep impression of him. Wu Lian was an outer disciple who originally worked in the External Affairs Peak of Qingyun Sect. He had four spiritual roots and had reached the fourth level of Qi Refining.

Song Xian had previously arranged him to be under Zhang Ningyuan and be in charge of external affairs. After all, this was what he worked on in Qingyun Sect, so it was a suitable field for him!

"I've been idle these past few days, so I wandered around the sect. When I went to the Puppet Hall and saw Junior Brother Shen refining a puppet, I was curious and asked a few more questions. Junior Brother Shen briefly explained the puppet-making process, and I tried it myself. I found it very interesting."

Wu Lian is usually taciturn, but his demeanor is not as timid as Shen Fan's. Instead, he is very confident, his words are clear and powerful, his eyes are bright, and he doesn't show any timidity at all.

"Master, Senior Brother Wu is amazing. He performed very well on his first try. He is much better than me." Shen Fan echoed from the side.

"Really?" Song Xian looked at Wu Lian. "Brother Wu, have you really decided to engage in puppet refining? Have you thought it through? This isn't something you do on a whim."

"Yes. I have considered it carefully. I beg Master to grant my request."

"Well, from now on, you and Junior Brother Shen Fan will be responsible for puppet refining! Junior Brother Shen, please copy a copy of the Divine Mysterious Treasure Scroll and pass it on to Junior Brother Wu."

"Yes." Shen Fan responded immediately.

Although he is dull and can endure loneliness, he feels a bit depressed and boring staying alone at the puppet site for a long time, repeating the puppet making every day without anyone to communicate with. Now that he has someone to accompany him, he is naturally happy.

Moreover, the two of them have been talking over the past few days and their conversations have been quite interesting.

"Thank you, Master." Wu Lian said.

"Brother Wu, this Divine Mysterious Treasure Scroll is a secret of our sect. It is the most crucial and important step in puppet refining. I am passing it on to you today, and you must promise not to leak it."

"I guarantee with my life that I will never reveal this matter."

At this time, footsteps were heard outside, and the butler tiptoed to the door.

"what's up?"

"Master, Immortal Master Wang Xuan of the Qingyuan Sect has arrived again and requests to see you. He is already waiting in the main hall of the palace."

"Alright, go ahead! If you have any difficulties with puppet refining in the future, feel free to come to me."

"Disciple, take your leave." The two men then got up and left.

.........

Inside the spacious and bright main hall, Wang Xuan saw Song Xian coming in and quickly stood up to greet him: "Master Song, sorry to bother you."

"Fellow Daoist Wang, please take a seat. I thought you had returned to your sect's mountain gate."

"The mountain gate of our sect has been heavily besieged by several teams of the Loose Cultivator Alliance. Although their peripheral teams have been very lax over such a long period of time, frequent travel still carries great risks. Now that I have come out of the mountain gate, I will certainly not go back easily." Wang Xuan's eyes were full of hope.

"Master Song once said that once a new batch of disciples from your sect arrives, they will immediately lobby the Ding family to form an alliance. I heard that your sect has recently received a group of people. I wonder if they are the ones Master Song mentioned."

"Yes, they are indeed the disciples of our sect's predecessor."

Wang Xuan's eyes lit up even brighter. "I have informed our sect's master of the request Sect Master Song made earlier. As long as your sect can help us escape this predicament, we are willing to provide our training room for our disciples to use."

"Oh? Really? Didn't Fellow Daoist Wang return to your sect's mountain gate?"

"Although the Loose Cultivator Alliance has surrounded our sect, making it difficult to transport food, there is still a way to pass on the message. Our sect has agreed to Master Song's conditions. We hope that Master Song will fulfill his promise and go to the Ding family as soon as possible."

Song Xian sighed slightly. "To be honest, I sympathize with your plight and want to help you out of this predicament. But it seems that forming an alliance is difficult to achieve."

Wang Xuan's expression suddenly changed: "What do you mean by this, Master Song?"

"I wonder if Fellow Daoist Wang has heard about the robbery of our sect's Jade Fragrance Pills at Mount Qixia. Fortunately, disciples of the Luoyun Sect intervened and drove the Qixia Mountain cultivators away. After this incident, I immediately went to the Ding family and met with Fellow Daoist Ding Wenxiang. I explained the pros and cons of forming an alliance, but Fellow Daoist Ding disagreed."

"I have done my best. The problem now is not with our sect. If you want to help your sect, you should find another way! Or, talk to the Ding family again and see what conditions they have."

After hearing this, Wang Xuan's face instantly turned pale. Song Xian comforted him with a few more words and sent him away.

(End of this chapter)