Chapter 27: Qingyang Gate

  A group of people headed north, riding against the strong wind and galloping forward at an extremely fast speed. In just a few breaths, they flew out of the range of Fei Ling City. After two hours of rushing along the way, they finally stopped to rest in a dense forest. After all, they were all foundation-building cultivators, and flying with people was still very consuming of spiritual power. If they didn't take a break, it would be difficult to sustain themselves. Moreover, the most important thing was that when they were outside, they couldn't compare to being in their family, and they had to maintain a certain amount of spiritual power to prevent any unexpected events. Another reason was because of Yang Ze, Yang Ze only brought Lin Feng with him, but he was the one with the lowest cultivation among them, and his spiritual power consumption was actually the most. The main reason for resting every two hours was to take care of him.

  When the masters were resting and recovering their spiritual power, Lin Feng and several younger generations were responsible for keeping watch and preparing some food. Although the masters had Valley-repelling pills, the taste of the medicinal pills was far inferior to that of ordinary food, so even when cultivating the truth, most people still preferred to eat ordinary food.

  After flying for almost six hours, the group entered a mountain range three days later. From Yang Ze's mouth, Lin Feng learned that this was indeed the Qilian Mountains where the Qingyang Gate Sect was located.

  Looking down at the endless forest below, the lush greenery stretched out endlessly, and the distant mountains were shrouded in mist, like a mystical realm. Lin Feng took a deep breath, and his spirit was suddenly invigorated. The spiritual energy of this mountain range was far more concentrated than that of the Dan Temple's back mountain, truly worthy of being a coveted training ground for cultivators.

  He continued to fly forward, Lin Feng stood behind Yang Ze, secretly adjusting a wisp of spiritual energy into the jade in his body. Suddenly, he saw several bright spots of different colors moving rapidly on the jade. Judging from the heat emitted by the jade, there were not a few first and second-tier spiritual objects, and even third-tier spiritual objects were occasionally discovered.

  Moreover, as he delved deeper into the mountain range, the number of spiritual objects increased, making the entire mountain range seem like a vast treasure trove. Lin Feng's heart was racing with excitement, and if he hadn't known he was standing on a narrow sword in mid-air, he would have almost jumped up. Although he knew this was due to the rapid movement allowing the jade pendant to detect more spiritual objects, even setting aside this reason, Lin Feng could estimate that the density of spiritual objects here was at least five times higher than that of the Yang family's back mountain.

  If I were to collect for a few days in this mountain, how many spiritual medicines would I have collected! Lin Feng was having a beautiful dream of making a big harvest in this mountain, when suddenly a sharp whistle startled him back to his senses. He then heard a loud voice ringing in his ears: "This is the mountain gate of Qingyangmen, stop here!"

  As the sound approached and ended, a black dot quickly enlarged in front of everyone's eyes, and in the blink of an eye, it arrived in front of everyone. It turned out to be a middle-aged cultivator wearing a green Taoist robe. Lin Feng couldn't see his cultivation level, but those who could ride swords and fly were all high-level experts above the foundation-building period. The golden elixir stage was the top existence on the entire Tianyuan Star, and it was absolutely impossible for them to come and lead guests and guard the mountain gate. So, it can be inferred that the person who came should also be a foundation-building cultivator.

  Several of Yang's masters had been to Qingyang Gate before, so they naturally knew that this was the guardian of Qingyang Gate. They didn't dare to be slow and all paid their respects at once. Only Yang Mu spoke up and said: "Fellow Taoist has shown courtesy! We are cultivators from the Yang family of Feiling City, today we bring our disciples to participate in your sect's mountain gate selection ceremony, I hope fellow Taoist will report this."

  From Yang Mu's use of a peer-to-peer title to address the newcomer, Lin Feng knew that his guess was correct - the newcomer was indeed a Foundation Establishment cultivator. The Qingyang Sect cultivator had obviously received prior notification from within the sect and had recently received many visiting cultivators coming to pay their respects, so he merely glanced at Lin Feng and the other Qi Refining disciples before returning the greeting and reciting in a manner akin to reciting a familiar text: "The Master has already issued an edict; all who have come to participate in the initiation ceremony are to rest and wait in front of the Zhenwu Hall. You may follow me as well!" With that, he turned around and left.

  Yang Muhe said with a smile: "Thanks for your trouble, fellow Taoist!" After that, he followed him to fly down not far away. Yang Ze and others also hurriedly followed up.

  The mountain gate restrictions have been lifted, and there are also Taoist priests in green robes leading the way, so it's naturally a smooth journey, with no one blocking the way.

  "Nowadays, many people come to the Japanese gate. To avoid chaos, the master has specially ordered that all guests are not allowed to fly in the sky and must walk up the mountain from the mountain gate. I hope you can understand!"

  "It is our honor to come to Qingyang Gate, and naturally we should follow your sect's rules." Yang Mu replied.

  "After entering the mountain gate, no matter what happens, you are not allowed to quarrel with anyone. Everything must be followed according to the arrangement of the disciples of this sect. If you don't listen to orders, you will be driven out of the mountain gate at best, and at worst, you will be banned!" The green-robed Taoist recited as he walked, his tone extremely sincere, yet with an unyielding majesty that brooked no questioning.

  Yang Mu followed behind him, listening to the Qing Yi cultivator's words and responding with a sentence of his own, his attitude extremely respectful. This was not surprising, as the Yang family was a major power in Fei Ling City, but in the cultivation world, they were just a very small family, with fewer than ten Qi Condensation stage cultivators, which made them seem insignificant compared to any medium-sized family that had dozens of Qi Condensation stage cultivators, let alone when facing a large sect like Qing Yang Men.

  Lin Feng still understood this point, and on the way, when he had nothing to do, Yang Ze told him everything he knew about Qingyang Gate, so now Lin Feng also had a general understanding of Qingyang Gate.

  It is well known that the Xiu Xian world is roughly divided into three categories based on their cultivation methods and styles: Dao Xiu, Mo Xiu, and Xie Xiu. Those who practice Mo Xiu generally cultivate brutal and violent techniques, and they act solely based on their emotions, often resorting to killing and slaughter. As a result, they are completely at odds with the Dao Xiu practitioners, and conflicts between them frequently escalate into fierce battles.

  On the other hand, those who practice Xie Xiu have a wide range of cultivation methods that are chaotic and disordered. They often take unconventional and unorthodox paths, and their actions are not clearly good or evil, but rather based on their own personal preferences. Their relationship with both Dao Xiu and Mo Xiu is neither particularly good nor particularly bad.

  Although the power of the Xie Xiu practitioners is clearly inferior to that of the Dao Xiu and Mo Xiu, due to the roughly equal strength between the latter two, neither side is willing to easily make enemies of them. As a result, there is a tendency for both sides to try to win them over.

  While the Qingyang Gate, due to its excellence in alchemy and artifact refinement, has always been the first choice for Taoist cultivators when joining a sect, it has developed greatly over millions of years.

  There are over 50,000 disciples in the Qi-refining stage within the Qīng Yáng Sect, nearly a thousand cultivators in the Foundation Building stage, and more than ten Golden Elixir Patriarchs. It is also said that there may be hidden Nascent Soul stage masters. Although this is just a rumor, based on the fact that it has almost twice as many Golden Elixir stage cultivators as other major sects, Qīng Yáng Sect has already become the largest Daoist sect in terms of momentum.

  In the Xiu Zhen realm, strength is revered, and the words of those with great strength are law. As the top sect in Dao cultivation, Qing Yang Gate's power is formidable, and on their own turf, no one dares to defy their words. So when that green-robed cultivator spoke as he walked, it was more like issuing commands and setting rules than reminding others. And for someone of Yang's status, there was only obedience.

  Fortunately, from the mountain gate to the Zhenwu Hall is not far away. With the strength of the crowd of monks, although they didn't rush, they wound their way up and arrived at a huge flat ground in front of the Zhenwu Hall in less than a cup of tea time. The flat ground was extremely large, more than twice as big as the entire Yang family. Such a large flat ground suddenly appeared on the mountain waist, obviously it was opened by the Qingyang Gate with great magical power for gathering purposes, and now it is temporarily used for selection.

  Due to the large number of foreign monks, and their arrival times were different, Qingyang Gate had set up rows of simple sheds around the plain as temporary residences for foreign monks. Although the sheds were simple, they could block the wind and rain, and since they were all monks, a few days would pass quickly with just sitting in meditation, so there was no need to prepare too much.

  Lin Feng and the others followed the Qing Yi cultivator all the way, seeing that many of the sheds were already fully occupied by cultivators, some in the foundation building stage and some in the energy refining stage. It seemed they had also arrived several days ago as candidates for the selection. Seeing new people arrive, these individuals didn't pay much attention, taking a glance and not recognizing them, then continuing with what they were doing without responding.

  Lin Feng had now thoroughly understood the nature of the cultivators, knowing that they were calm and quiet due to their long periods of meditation. They generally didn't show much enthusiasm except when it came to useful spirit stones or elixirs, or when meeting very familiar friends. After many years of cultivation, this almost apathetic demeanor had become second nature to them, so Lin Feng didn't find it strange at all.

  After walking through several cool sheds, they soon arrived at an empty shed. The monk said: "The grand ceremony will begin tomorrow, and you can temporarily stay here for the night. If you have any needs, please ask the disciples in charge of miscellaneous affairs at the shed in front of the temple gate. I still have a task to receive guests, so I won't keep you company."

  The seemingly simple arrangement of Qingyang Gate was also thoughtful. Yang Mu hastily thanked him and sent away the Taoist priest, only then did he arrange for everyone to rest and prepare for the grand ceremony the next day.

  Just as they were talking, a few foundation-building cultivators suddenly walked over from the side, looking like ordinary family cultivators who had also come to participate in the selection. The leader hadn't arrived yet, but his voice came first: "I was wondering who it was, turns out it's the remnants of the Yang family. What? After being driven out of Mongyang City, can't find a place to settle down, thinking of joining Qingyang Gate?"

  Another voice immediately chimed in: "Brother, why are you so generous to this useless person? With just these few pieces of material, the Qingyang Sect would have to take a liking to it!" As soon as he finished speaking, a group of people burst into loud laughter.

  Lin Feng knew that there were struggles in the Xiu Zhen realm, but he had never encountered one personally before. Seeing the approaching figure's fierce aura, he couldn't help but feel a bit tense. However, after thinking about it for a moment, he realized that this was the territory of Qing Yang Gate, and no matter how arrogant these people were, they wouldn't dare to cause trouble in such a large Xiu Zhen sect as Qing Yang Gate. He then relaxed again.

  He reached out and pulled at Yang Ze's clothes, saying: "Master uncle, who are these people? Why are they so fierce?"

  Yang Ze looked at the newcomer with a serious face and said harshly: "It's an enemy of the Yang family!"