Chapter 58: Qingwu… Qingwu Group?

Southern Territory, outside the mountain gates of the Clear Sun Sect.

Lofty peaks pierced the skies, towering among the boundless mountains. Upon those peaks stood countless buildings shrouded in spiritual mist. Cultivators clad in azure robes rode their magical artifacts through the clouds—like immortals wandering a heavenly realm.

Lu Yan stood in place, staring at the grand palaces nestled among these mountains. His eyes were filled with indescribable awe.

“Such a spectacle… could only exist in the Immortal Cultivation version.”

Strictly speaking, everything Lu Yan had experienced in this version thus far had been at the lowest rung of the world. Most loose cultivators toiled between trading markets and demonic beast ranges, barely earning enough spirit stones to sustain their path of cultivation.

The true core of the Immortal Cultivation version lay with the sects that controlled vast resources and the immortal cities where countless powers converged.

Unfortunately, such places were beyond the reach of most loose cultivators.

Lu Yan’s presence here was entirely thanks to Ji Xingyao’s help.

The note she left inside the storage pouch not only explained the function of the Sutra Transmission Token, but also included some background.

After departing Green Valley Market, Ji Xingyao had tracked down Xie Yun and, under interrogation, uncovered the truth behind the so-called “demonic cultivator investigation”—which had actually been an excuse to suppress rogue cultivators and sabotage the market. She used this information to initiate duels against several other personal disciples of the sect.

But because her path forward was once again hopeful, Ji Xingyao did not kill them. Instead, she only heavily injured them.

With her damaged foundation showing signs of recovery—and those disciples’ petty plots lacking legitimacy—the higher-ups of the sect ultimately turned a blind eye to her actions.

After crippling those disciples, Ji Xingyao even offered them compensation, securing various sect resources in return.

The Sutra Transmission Token Lu Yan now held was obtained through those very resources, exchanged discreetly through special channels.

Those personal disciples, suffering grave injuries and even coughing up a heap of resources, had already set their sights on Ji Xingyao.

If she were to associate openly with Lu Yan now, he would undoubtedly become a thorn in their side as well.

To avoid implicating him, Ji Xingyao had sent the Sutra Transmission Token in secret, instructing Lu Yan to head to the Sutra Repository alone and choose what he needed.

With this token in hand, Lu Yan would be granted entry into the Clear Sun Sect’s Sutra Repository, with access to the first three floors of archived manuals—where the crafting method for merit-based artifacts was most likely recorded.

In addition, he might even be able to find other inheritances from the Dao Virtue Sect, though only the merit-based artifact crafting method could be taken out of the repository.

Even this alone was enough to illustrate the immense value of the Sutra Transmission Token.

——

At the sect’s grand gates, a line of cultivators was waiting for entry registration. Meanwhile, disciples in azure robes bypassed the line entirely, flying in on magical artifacts with an air of effortless ease.

Every time one of these disciples flew past, the rogue cultivators in line couldn’t help but look on with envy.

Fortunately, most of those present had prepared proper documentation, so the registration process wasn’t slow. Soon, it was Lu Yan’s turn.

“Name?”
“Lu Yan.”
“What business do you have entering the Clear Sun Sect? Do you have a referral token from a sect disciple?”

Behind the desk sat a middle-aged cultivator at the peak of Qi Refining. His tone was lazy, voice flat and uninterested.

Lu Yan said nothing. He simply pulled the Sutra Transmission Token from his storage pouch and placed it on the counter.

The moment the man saw the token, his entire posture changed. He immediately sat up straight and quickly took the token into his hands.

“S-Sutra Transmission Token?!”

There was a tremble in the man’s voice. He looked Lu Yan up and down with suspicion and cautiously asked:

“Who gave you this token?”

Lu Yan frowned. “Since when does the Clear Sun Sect ask for the source of a Sutra Transmission Token?”

The man jolted in shock and waved his hands rapidly. “No, no! That’s not necessary at all!”

He then pulled a jade disk etched with formation runes from the drawer and handed it to Lu Yan.

“This is your temporary jade disk. It’ll keep you from being repelled by the sect’s protective formation while inside the mountain. The validity is for one month.

If you need to stay longer, come back here to renew the disk.”

Lu Yan nodded, put away the disk, and strode confidently into the mountain gate.

Behind him, a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator couldn’t help but ask:

“Why is it that we, even with inner disciple referrals, only get a three-day entry token, yet he gets the highest-grade jade disk—and can even renew it?”

The registrar merely cast a glance at the young man and scoffed from his nose.

“If you want in, then get in. If not, get lost.”

——

As the jade disk lit up, Lu Yan successfully stepped past the protective formation and into the sect. The moment he crossed the boundary, he was hit by a surge of spiritual energy.

With his heightened senses, Lu Yan could practically trace the movement of spiritual energy in the air. Spirit power was so thick within the formation that even passive breathing drew it into one’s meridians.

“It’s said the Clear Sun Sect’s Nascent Soul ancestor moved mountains and redirected rivers, gathering over a hundred spirit veins above the third rank and sealing them within the sect’s territory. That’s how this density of spiritual energy was formed.

The spiritual qi here is at least five times richer than that of Green Valley Market’s cultivation zone. In this place, you don’t even need to actively cultivate—spirit energy flows into your body naturally.

And this is only the base of the mountain. The inner sanctums where disciples reside and cultivate must have even denser spiritual energy.”

Only now did Lu Yan fully understand why the sect required one to be Foundation Establishment before gaining any standing.

Qi Refining was merely a stage for building spiritual reserves. In an environment like this, as long as one put in the effort, reaching the peak of Qi Refining was almost guaranteed.

It was only at the Foundation Establishment stage that talent and potential became true thresholds—thus the divide between outer and inner disciples.

Feeling deeply impressed by the lavishness of a true orthodoxy, Lu Yan followed the note’s instructions and flew toward the location of the Sutra Repository on his low-grade flying vessel.

——

As he passed over the servant quarters near the mountain base, a beautiful female cultivator in a palace dress rode a flying sword across the sky.

Though it was only a fleeting glimpse, Lu Yan clearly caught sight of her face.

“…Why does she look familiar?”

Before he could ponder further, another man stepped out from a mountain peak. He was riding a lotus leaf artifact, and though his face was unusually distinct, his cultivation was at the late stage of Qi Refining.

The man seemed surprised to see someone like Lu Yan here and was about to strike up a conversation.

But the moment he noticed that Lu Yan was flying on a low-grade vessel, his expression turned disdainful. Without a word, he turned his lotus leaf and flew away into the distance.

Yet Lu Yan stood frozen in place.

The man’s extremely recognizable appearance instantly reminded him of a minor internet celebrity from the modern urban version—one who became known for making comedic faces and had amassed tens of thousands of fans in Luocheng.

And that sparked something.

Thinking back to the beautiful palace-dressed woman, Lu Yan suddenly recalled another popular influencer with over 100,000 followers from the urban version—her face matched as well.

Before Lu Yan could unravel this strange coincidence, his vessel soared past a mountain peak where dozens of cultivators were gathered around an arena platform, watching a duel.

Sweeping his gaze across the crowd, Lu Yan was astonished to realize that many of them bore striking resemblance to online influencers from the urban version’s short video platforms.

And there was one thing they all had in common.

“…Qingwu Group?”

(End of Chapter)