Mythical Cultivation

In the blink of an eye, more than two months had passed, and the day for Qingyun Sect to accept new members was drawing near. Everyone was diligently cultivating, those who hadn't yet reached the Qi training stage intensified their efforts, and those who had successfully achieved this stage were striving to reach the next level.

That day, the village chief gathered everyone and said, "In five days, Qingyun Sect will be recruiting new members. Choose a few people to lead our people to Linhe County tomorrow." After discussion, four elders and Instructor Zhang were appointed to lead the group. Early the next morning, more than a dozen young men were summoned to the village square to prepare for their departure.

"Listen to the elders and Instructor Zhang along the way. When you reach the county seat, just wait for the Qingyun Sect's envoys. Don't feel pressured. Success or failure, you're all good men of Li Village." With that, the village chief summoned a spiritual boat. It looked like any other aquatic craft, except one was submerged, the other suspended in the air. Wu Ming and the others were seeing one for the first time and wanted to touch it, but Instructor Zhang stopped them.

Finally, the three elders and Wu Ming's grandfather boarded first, followed by Wu Ming and his fifteen half-grown companions, and finally Instructor Zhang. Then, under the gaze of the crowd, the spirit boat slowly rose into the air, accelerating directly out of the village.

"I wonder how many people will be able to join the Qingyun Sect this time. It should be more than ten years ago." said an elder of the clan.

"If this is indeed the case based on the situation ten years ago, I hope so," said the village chief.

"Wow, that's exciting," a young man said, and everyone nodded in agreement. None of them had ever ridden a spirit boat, including Wu Ming.

"Okay, everyone, be quiet. Sit down and listen to me. This is your first time going out and your first time riding a spirit boat. Let me tell you some things you should pay attention to." Instructor Zhang waved his hand to interrupt everyone's discussion.

"Since our Lijia Village is more than 2,000 miles away from Linhe County, and we have to take detours at some places along the way, it will take us more than three days to get there. During this time, several elders and I will need to constantly supply spiritual power to the spirit boat, so you should practice well on the spirit boat. You can talk, but don't make loud noises." Instructor Zhang left after he finished speaking.

"The ground looks so small from the Spirit Boat. That's probably our village out back," one young man said. Everyone looked in his direction, watching the village shrink until it vanished from sight. Wu Ming looked and saw that the Spirit Boat must be over a thousand meters above the ground. It wasn't as high as an airplane. A journey of over two thousand miles, including detours, would take more than three days. That means it could travel nearly a thousand miles a day, or about a hundred miles an hour. It wasn't particularly fast, but it was convenient and flexible. He wondered when he'd finally have his own Spirit Boat.

"Old Wu, why are you going with us to the county town this time?" asked an elder surnamed Li. "This isn't my grandson's first time traveling far away, and I'm worried. Plus, I need to go to the county town to buy some things, so I'm going with you," Wu Tianlong said.

"What's there to worry about? We have walked this road no less than ten times. Except for taking a detour to Yinfeng Mountain, there is no danger at all." Taoist Li and several elders of the clan also exchanged greetings.

Since the Spirit Boat required spiritual energy to fly, using Spirit Stones was the most convenient method. However, a journey of two to three thousand miles would require at least a hundred Spirit Stones, and even if they had them, they couldn't afford to waste them like that. Furthermore, they were worried about any accidents along the way, so they asked several elders to join them. Each person could provide five hours of spiritual energy for the Spirit Boat, but that wasn't necessary. So, they agreed to each provide two hours of spiritual energy, with the five of them taking turns, ready to handle any unexpected situations.

Tired of constantly looking at the scenery outside the boat, everyone began to meditate. It was almost dark, and all they could see outside the boat were mostly forests and towering mountains. Wu Ming had just realized that in the world of immortal cultivation, travel wasn't always a straight line; detours were necessary. After all, flying at an altitude of thousands of meters, you could only see halfway up a mountain. Imagine how high that mountain must be—probably tens of thousands of meters! No wonder they took detours.

"Everyone should be prepared at all times. We have arrived at Yinfeng Mountain ahead. If anything happens, don't panic." said the elder of the Li clan.

A hundred miles from the mountain, an elder of the tribe drove the spirit boat around. This circumnavigation took four or five hours, and all they could hear was the roar of monsters everywhere in the mountains. Everyone was so frightened that they dared not speak, fearing that they would disturb the monsters. In fact, no monsters could hear them, otherwise the journey would not have been so smooth.

Not until they had bypassed Yinfeng Mountain did everyone breathe a sigh of relief, including several elders. "Elder, can you tell us about Yinfeng Mountain?" Wu Ming asked.

"Since you asked, Wu Ming will let your grandfather tell you." said the elder.

"Yinfeng Mountain is the largest gathering place for monsters in Linhe County. There are countless monsters there, from the first-level monsters equivalent to the Qi training period to the third-level monsters equivalent to the human Jindan cultivators. This is a forbidden area for humans. The area within hundreds of miles of Yinfeng Mountain is the world of monsters." Wu Ming's grandfather said.

"Why is there no one coming to eliminate so many monsters?" Wu Ming asked.

"With so many monsters, ordinary families and sects are powerless to eradicate them. Sects like Qingyun Sect also have corresponding monster tribes to confront, and they simply cannot spare the time to intervene. That's why they have always existed here, threatening humans within a thousand miles. For example, the beast tide that appears every few decades is guided by Yinfeng Mountain." Wu Tianlong said with emotion.

"When I've achieved success in my cultivation, I'll be the one to eradicate the cancer of Yinfeng Mountain," Wu Ming thought. "I will eradicate Yinfeng Mountain in the future, and there will be no more beast tides in our village," Li Fei vowed.

Hearing this, the elders were very pleased and simply encouraged Li Fei. In fact, when they first embarked on the path of cultivation, they had also thought so. However, the longer they practiced and the more they understood, the more these thoughts faded. Now, they only felt like a wish buried deep in their hearts. However, seeing their children and grandchildren have such drive, they would not destroy the young people's dreams. After all, who didn't have dreams when they were young?

The night passed quickly during cultivation. Watching the sun slowly rise in the east, another beautiful day began. After several shifts of elders, around noon, they finally saw a city. Its walls were over ten feet high. Yes, you read that correctly: forty or fifty meters high, and it was just the wall of a county town.

Under everyone's puzzled eyes, the spirit boat slowly landed a mile in front of the city wall. The elder had no intention of clearing up everyone's doubts, but led everyone out of the spirit boat, then put away the spirit boat and ran towards the city gate with everyone.

There were two long queues at the city gate. There were ordinary people who came to the city to attend the market, as well as young men and women followed by servants. They all lined up in order, and there was no queue-jumping. This was somewhat beyond Wu Ming's expectations. It seemed that the team of guards standing at the city gate was very intimidating.

When it was their turn, the guards at the city gate asked them directly, "Where are you from? What is your purpose in coming to Linhe County?"

"We are from Lijia Village and are here to participate in the Qingyun Sect's recruitment." Wu Tianlong said politely.

"So you are here to recruit new members for the Qingyun Sect. Then you can just go directly to the county government office." said a guard.

As they entered the city through the city gates, they saw a constant stream of people coming and going. The fifteen young men were dazzled by the sight. The elders asked Zhang Jiaoshi to take them to an inn in the city while they went to the county government office to investigate.