Chapter 1025: Sect Affairs

Chen Mobai nodded slightly, smiling as he told them there was no need for such formality.

Zhuo Ming had worked in Dongwu for thirty years, and the Grand Astrologer Boy and Little Yellow Dragon Girl had also diligently served for just as long. There were even a few years when Zhuo Ming was in seclusion in Beiyuan City, breaking through to a new realm, or was dispatched by Chen Mobai to transplant Purple Haze Tea Trees and other tasks. However, the two unusual beings before him had remained in Dongwu without fail. Given the immense mess in Dongwu, their significant contributions were crucial in its restoration within thirty years.

Chen Mobai had always rewarded those who performed well. Coincidentally, he had recently refined the Five Elements Dao Fruits, and the Earth Element Dao Fruit among them would be extremely beneficial to them. However, a Dao Fruit, even at its lowest level, could only be borne by cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage, and specifically, by those within the Nascent Soul stage who possessed an exceptionally strong mind and will. Although the Grand Astrologer Boy was a transformed spirit creature of the fourth rank, it could only barely be considered Nascent Soul-level; in an actual fight, it likely wouldn't even be a match for Zhou Shengqing. Moreover, with its simple intellect and straightforward nature, it would certainly be impossible for it to refine a complete Earth Element Dao Fruit.

Nevertheless, Chen Mobai could use a secret method from the One Yuan Dao Palace to separate a wisp of the Dao Fruit's branching spiritual light and bestow it upon them. This was also a common method related to Dao Fruits, practiced by all major sacred lands in the Tianhe Realm. After all, Dao Fruits were the foundation of sacred land legacies spanning thousands of years, and before being passed on to disciples, they always required repeated trials. For instance, before Ye Qing accepted the Taihe Dao Fruit, sword qi transformed from the Dao Fruit had already been embedded within her body, serving as a preliminary trial for truly bearing and refining the Dao Fruit, and even altering her physique. Although the One Yuan Dao Palace had a somewhat weaker foundation, it was still a sacred land and possessed this set of methods.

"This item will be greatly beneficial to your cultivation; the longer you can sustain it, the better..." As Chen Mobai spoke, the Five Elements Spirit Tree appeared above his head. A yellowish-brown Dao Fruit on its jade-like branches gently swayed, then released three wisps of spiritual light of the same color, which descended upon Zhuo Ming, and the Grand Astrologer Boy and Little Yellow Dragon Girl on either side of her.

"Thank you, Master!" Zhuo Ming didn't know what it was, but the Earth Mother Seal on her forehead spontaneously appeared at that moment, indicating it was undoubtedly a spiritual item of immense help to her cultivation.

"Thank you, Great Lord!" The Grand Astrologer Boy and Little Yellow Dragon Girl bowed deeply again before beginning to receive the spiritual light infusion from the Earth Element Dao Fruit.

Among them, the Grand Astrologer Boy had the highest cultivation but the shallowest foundation, thus it was the first to complete the spiritual empowerment. Next was the Little Yellow Dragon Girl. As a true spirit, it persisted twice as long as the fourth-rank Grand Astrologer Boy. After receiving the Earth Element Dao Fruit's spiritual light empowerment, Chen Mobai noticed its aura becoming more profound and weighty, seemingly on the verge of breaking through to the fourth rank.

When Chen Mobai rescued it, its true spirit blood had been repeatedly drained by a venomous dragon, resulting in severe depletion and weakness. Later, it was Qing Nü who refined pills, and Zhuo Ming who guided it in refining earth essence, allowing it to replenish the missing vital blood within its body. Furthermore, during its thirty years of hard work in Dongwu, the Little Yellow Dragon Girl also accumulated merit, which caused the third-rank bottleneck that had hindered it for over a thousand years to begin to shatter under the spiritual light empowerment of the Earth Element Dao Fruit. Chen Mobai watched the Little Yellow Dragon Girl sitting upright on the ground, pure fifth-rank spiritual energy from within the Yellow Dragon Cave Mansion continuously converging towards it, and he couldn't help but nod gently. He waved his sleeve, and instantly, a silver light enveloped the Little Yellow Dragon Girl, transporting it to its own cave mansion. The advancement of a true spirit involved world-shattering transformations at each stage, thus the process would be much longer compared to human cultivators.

Chen Mobai instructed Qing Nü to keep an eye on the situation, then shifted his full attention to Zhuo Ming. Logically, her foundation could not compare to that of the true spirit Yellow Dragon; she had only absorbed roughly the same amount of spiritual light as the Grand Astrologer Boy. However, a greater portion of the Dao Fruit's spiritual light was absorbed by the Earth Mother Seal on her forehead. Chen Mobai even sensed that the main body of the Earth Element Dao Fruit on his Five Elements Spirit Tree was stirring, seemingly wanting to detach from its jade branch and fall directly onto Zhuo Ming. Upon realizing this, Chen Mobai immediately formed the One Yuan Seal to prevent it. It wasn't that he was reluctant, but rather that the Dao Fruit contained a terrifying amount of power for a Core Formation cultivator. Zhuo Ming would certainly be able to form a Nascent Soul in the future; bestowing it upon her then would be just as effective, with no need to take risks now.

Time slowly passed. With an expression of shame on the Grand Astrologer Boy's face, Zhuo Ming finally stopped absorbing the Earth Element Dao Fruit's spiritual light. After opening her eyes, Zhuo Ming's aura became more stable and profound, seemingly indicating an improvement in her cultivation.

"How was it? Did you gain anything?" Chen Mobai asked gently.

"Master, I feel my understanding of the Yellow Emperor's Treatise on Profound Virtue has deepened significantly, and my control over the Myriad Virtue Cauldron has also become much smoother..." Zhuo Ming recounted the changes she experienced. As she cultivated the Earth Element Immortal Scripture of the Longevity Sect, there were no predecessors within the sect, so most of the content had to be explored by herself. Thus, despite already possessing an Immortal Earth Spiritual Root, her progress had not been particularly fast. However, after receiving the spiritual light empowerment from the Earth Element Dao Fruit, most of the confusion regarding her current realm was instantly resolved. She felt that after a period of secluded meditation and comprehension, she would essentially have no more questions before forming a Nascent Soul.

In addition, Zhuo Ming's innate magical artifact, the Myriad Virtue Cauldron, had always felt somewhat unwieldy to her because Chen Mobai had refined most of it. Over the years, with the advancement of her cultivation and her own collection and integration of thousands of different ores from the Eastern Continent's frontier, she had only recently begun to manipulate it freely. But after today's spiritual light empowerment from the Earth Element Dao Fruit, she felt that the previous sense of sluggishness between herself and the Myriad Virtue Cauldron had vanished. It now felt like a true innate magical artifact, moving as if an extension of her arm.

"Very good. Continue cultivating steadily like this. After you form a Nascent Soul, I will bestow this Earth Element Dao Fruit upon you. With it, you will have no more doubts in cultivating the Yellow Emperor's Treatise on Profound Virtue." As Chen Mobai spoke, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck him. He wondered if the Five Elements Dao Fruits left behind by True Monarch One Yuan might belong to the Longevity Sect. If that were truly the case, then the Five Elements Sect would be incredibly fortunate. After all, the complete Five Elements Immortal Scripture was already in his possession. Both Qing Nü and Yin Qingmei possessed Heavenly Spiritual Roots. If not for the two extremely obscure immortal scriptures they cultivated and the lack of prior experience, they would likely have successfully formed Nascent Souls long ago. If the Dao Fruits could compensate for this, wouldn't it mean they would have at least a complete path to Spirit Transformation? Thinking this, Chen Mobai felt that his luck was truly exceptional. If the Five Elements Sect were to have five Spirit Transformation cultivators in the future, he dared not imagine the vastness of the area covered by his Dao Law Fruit. The entire Eastern Continent wouldn't be an exaggeration, would it?

"Thank you, Master!" Zhuo Ming naturally knew what a Dao Fruit represented. Although she didn't know where Chen Mobai obtained it, it didn't diminish her joyful expression.

"This is what you deserve. After all, my future legacy will depend on you to carry it forward." Chen Mobai looked at his disciple, feeling increasingly satisfied, and then inquired about her future plans.

"Master, although the lands and spiritual veins in Dongwu have been restored, there's still a significant amount of Five Elements Thunder Essence lingering deep within the earth. I hope to lead the sect's Spiritual Plant Department and Puppet Department to fully plant Five-Colored Rice, thereby establishing the largest and most extensive spiritual fields in the Eastern Continent for the sect..." Zhuo Ming explained her idea. The restoration of Dongwu, after being ravaged, was naturally carried out according to spiritual field standards. Coupled with its original flat terrain, large-scale reclamation and cultivation could be directly undertaken. In this way, the various large-scale mechanical puppets that Chen Mobai had specifically designed for agriculture could now be put to good use. It was possible that cultivating the entirety of Dongwu would require less than one percent of the manpower used in Donghuang.

Chen Mobai naturally gave his full support to this. After all, the successful cultivation of Five-Colored Rice would allow the Five Elements Sect to rectify its last weakness. With Qing Nü and Yin Qingmei having formed Nascent Souls, along with Chen Lingming, the Five Elements Sect now had a considerable number of Nascent Soul cultivators, making mature and complete fourth-rank spiritual rice a necessity. Although Zhou Shengqing had successfully cultivated Golden Jade Spiritual Rice at Giantwood Ridge, its higher grade meant slow maturation and limited yield. To produce it in large quantities, mechanization and vast farmlands would be required.

"Excellent, excellent. However, you won't need to stay in Dongwu for extended periods anymore. A quick inspection during planting, maturation, and harvest will suffice..." Chen Mobai said to Zhuo Ming, explaining that after so many years, the shadow of the righteous-demonic war had completely dissipated, and Donghuang had resumed its usual Five Elements Sect infrastructure projects. Among these, farming, desertification control, and the cultivation and transplantation of various precious spiritual plants would all require Zhuo Ming to oversee. Zhuo Ming naturally nodded obediently.

Just as the master and disciple were discussing the Five Elements Sect's agricultural and spiritual plant development plan for the next century, several Nascent Soul spiritual lights flew into the sky above the Yellow Dragon Cave Mansion. Chen Mobai personally went out to greet them. All who arrived were Nascent Soul cultivators from the Five Elements Sect: Zhou Shengqing, Mo Douguang, Chen Lingming... After Chen Mobai met with them and shared a few cups of tea, Zhou Ye, who was far away in Dongyi, also arrived, as did Su Ziluo, who had been protecting the Five Elements Merchant Association in Dongtu. With the exception of Yin Qingmei, who was consolidating her realm, all Nascent Soul cultivators of the Five Elements Sect were gathered together. Subsequently, key Core Formation cultivators of the Five Elements Sect, such as E Yun, also received permission to enter and pay their respects. Chen Mobai looked at the people seated on either side of the main hall, his face filled with satisfaction. After more than a century of development in Donghuang, not only had a vast territory been secured, but also a remarkable number of talented individuals had been cultivated.

"Judging by Junior Brother's aura, it seems he's not far from Spirit Transformation." The eldest, Zhou Shengqing, spoke first, and Chen Mobai immediately shook his head humbly.

"Still quite a ways to go, but within the Nascent Soul realm, no one will be my match." Chen Mobai's statement came with the caveat of not including magical artifacts; after all, if Ye Qing wielded the sixth-rank Taihe Sword, he would still feel a bit intimidated.

"To think that the Five Elements Sect, left behind by Master, might have the chance to ascend to a sacred land in our generation. This is all due to Sect Master Junior Brother's efforts..." Zhou Ye followed Zhou Shengqing, having heard that Chen Mobai had brought back the complete legacy of the One Yuan Dao Palace. With his talent and accumulation, if he were to switch to cultivating the One Yuan Dao Scripture, he might truly be able to glimpse the profound mysteries of the Spirit Transformation realm within his lifetime.

After Chen Mobai returned, he instructed Chen Lingming to organize and place the legacies copied from Five Emperors Mountain into the library in Beiyuan City, including the chapters of the One Yuan Dao Scripture up to the Nascent Soul stage. However, without Chen Mobai's permission, Beiyuan City dared not make these resources available for sect disciples to exchange. Although Zhou Ye was a Nascent Soul cultivator, he knew who held ultimate authority in the Five Elements Sect and dared not overstep. This time, upon hearing that Chen Mobai had emerged from seclusion, he immediately teleported from thousands of miles away, hoping to gain permission.

"I have already comprehended the entire One Yuan Dao Scripture; there are no issues. If any of you senior brothers are interested, you may directly exchange for and study it." Chen Mobai immediately understood Zhou Ye's intention and spoke. The Five Elements Sect's cultivation methods were open to cultivators of all levels within the sect. Among them, Nascent Soul cultivation methods could be freely exchanged by Nascent Soul cultivators, though each required an enormous amount of sect contribution points. However, for Zhou Ye, contribution points were what he least lacked, as among the many Nascent Soul cultivators in the Five Elements Sect, he was the most hardworking.

"I'll go take a look too." As soon as Chen Mobai finished speaking, Mo Douguang, who was nearby, also spoke. He possessed two strands of Primordial Chaos True Qi, bestowed upon him by Patriarch Li Zhongji. However, suffering from the lack of a complete cultivation method, he had never completed the Grand Cycle circulation of Primordial Chaos True Qi, beginning with the Metal element, before forming his Nascent Soul. And now, the legacy of the One Yuan Dao Palace happened to contain this very content.

At this point in the conversation, the Nascent Souls of the Five Elements Sect lost interest in their tea, hastily bid farewell, eager to go to Beiyuan City to exchange for the One Yuan Dao Scripture. "Lingming, you are familiar with the One Yuan legacy; please accompany the senior brothers there." Chen Mobai addressed Chen Lingming, who was seated on the outermost Nascent Soul-level seat, and the latter immediately stood up and assented.

"Since the senior brothers are also here, although Lingming's grievances have been cleared, he has consequently left the One Yuan Dao Palace. My intention is to bring him into our Five Elements Sect..." Chen Mobai took the opportunity to introduce Chen Lingming to Zhou Shengqing and the others.

"Junior Brother, you may decide. We just wonder which generation he will be ranked in?" Naturally, everyone recognized this former Dao Child of the One Yuan Dao Palace. Gaining a Nascent Soul cultivator without effort, Zhou Shengqing and the others had no reason to refuse, merely posing a question.

"Let him be of the fourth generation. It's opportune, as our sect is flourishing, and we need to appoint Dao Children and Saintesses to represent the sect throughout the world. Lingming previously served in the One Yuan Dao Palace and is experienced..." Chen Mobai explained that since he and the others were of the third generation, it was awkward for Chen Lingming to keep calling him 'Little Grandmaster'. So, he decided to place him in the same generation as Zhuo Ming. Zhou Shengqing and the others listened. Although they felt it might be a slight loss of face for the Five Elements Sect to "pick up" the Dao Child of the One Yuan Dao Palace, since Chen Mobai had spoken, they certainly wouldn't object.

"Junior Brother has a point. Who will be chosen as the Saintess? That girl Qingmei?" Zhou Shengqing asked again. Ideally, both the Dao Child and Saintess of the Five Elements Sect should be Nascent Soul cultivators, as this would command sufficient prestige. However, Chen Mobai had long ago internally decided that Zhuo Ming would be the first-generation Saintess. He immediately shook his head but subtly gave several reasons: "Nephew Yin is not good at socializing and prefers cultivating within her own training ground. This would be detrimental to spreading the Five Elements Sect's culture and promoting its reputation, and I doubt she would be willing to travel around daily..."

"Indeed, that was my oversight. I think Zhuo Ming is quite good and perfectly meets Junior Brother's requirements," Zhou Shengqing said, immediately understanding Chen Mobai's meaning, and pointing at Zhuo Ming, who stood in the first row of Core Formation cultivators.

"Agreed." The others, including Zhou Ye and Mo Douguang, all nodded in agreement, indicating that Zhuo Ming was very suitable.

Inside the grand hall, the gaze of everyone from the Five Elements Sect turned to Zhuo Ming, who still seemed somewhat bewildered. Although Chen Mobai had mentioned this matter before, now that it had actually fallen upon her, she still felt a sense of unreality. It was only when the Nascent Souls of the Five Elements Sect rose to leave that Zhuo Ming reacted, immediately thanking them.

"The sect's future is vibrant!" Zhou Shengqing chuckled, signaling Zhuo Ming not to be overly formal, then departed with Mo Douguang and the others.

With the Nascent Souls gone, Chen Mobai dismissed the remaining Core Formation cultivators of the sect. However, key figures like E Yun remained.

"Sect Master, these are the sect's archives from recent years..." E Yun first reported on the Five Elements Sect's development during Chen Mobai's years in seclusion. Chen Mobai was mostly unconcerned with the majority of it, focusing primarily on the newly established counties and immortal cities after the righteous-demonic war. These had all developed according to his previous plans. Furthermore, in Donghuang, the introduction of talented cultivators from Dongwu had revitalized the previously stagnant market. The desolate ruins between Donghuang and Dongyi had also been thoroughly opened and connected over thirty years of continuous effort by the Five Elements Sect, extending from six immortal cities as their core. The three immortal cities above Cloud Dream Lake, needless to say, had flourished under Zhou Wangshen's guidance. Even after Dongwu was restored, the Five Elements Sect was already planning the reconstruction of the twelve counties of Dongwu without Chen Mobai needing to mention it.

"Let Nephew Zhou be responsible for this matter." After listening to E Yun's description of the Five Elements Sect's next thirty-year plan, Chen Mobai assigned the task of rebuilding Dongwu to Zhou Wangshen, who was standing nearby.

"I respectfully obey the Sect Master's decree!" Zhou Wangshen spoke with a serious expression, but the overflowing sense of pride from his entire being made it clear to everyone how delighted he was. E Yun, however, maintained an unchanging expression. After rolling up the planning blueprints in his hand, he calmly handed them to Zhou Wangshen, which left the latter somewhat disappointed. What Zhou Wangshen most wanted to see was E Yun losing his composure.

"Sect Master, this is the list of the four newly promoted Core Formation cultivators in the sect during your seclusion..." E Yun then spoke of another matter. Chen Mobai took it with interest and looked it over. He found they were all people he knew: Yuan Chiye, Qi Rui, Lü Zhu, Tan Rong.

Among these, Yuan Chiye and Qi Rui had both been reserved a Golden Liquid Jade Restoration Pill by Chen Mobai and were fortunately successful on their second attempt. As for Lü Zhu, Zhou Ye had forcefully advanced her with resources; because she hadn't exchanged for the sect's Core Formation spiritual medicine, the cultivators of the Five Elements Sect looked upon her with envy. The one who surprised Chen Mobai the most was Tan Rong. She had previously failed to form a core after consuming the Golden Liquid Jade Restoration Pill and the Wood Element Golden Core Pill. Theoretically, she should not have been able to receive Core Formation resources from the sect again. However, during the righteous-demonic war, the Five Elements Sect obtained too many third-rank internal cores, and Tan Rong had also made significant contributions. Furthermore, when Sheng Zhaoxi retired, he pleaded on behalf of this disciple. Therefore, Chen Mobai made an exception, deciding not to count the Outer Path Golden Core among the sect's Core Formation resources. This time, Tan Rong's Core Formation was achieved precisely by shattering an Outer Path Golden Core. It was important to note that without the Golden Liquid Jade Restoration Pill, if she had failed, she would have certainly died. With the firm conviction of 'succeed or die,' Tan Rong took this step, crossed the chasm, and became a true Core Formation cultivator. This reminded Chen Mobai of the secret he had learned from Fu Zongjue when he himself formed his core. However, his own conditions were too favorable; even without such conviction, he had succeeded easily. Could it be that Tan Rong had read Fu Zongjue's Core Formation insights in the Beiyuan City library?

Thinking this, Chen Mobai also asked Qing Nü, who was beside him, about the situation of Xue Ting and Gu Yan. "They have both reached Foundation Establishment Completion. I've given them their Core Formation spiritual medicines, and they are currently in seclusion..." Qing Nü explained. As they were her own people, she naturally arranged Core Formation resources for them first.

"One more thing, Zhiling has also reached Foundation Establishment Completion. However, the sect no longer has any Golden Liquid Jade Restoration Pills, so I plan to open the furnace again to refine some..." After speaking about Xue Ting and Gu Yan, Qing Nü brought up Han Zhiling. As the third-generation senior disciple of Mount Xiaonan, she had just broken through to the late Foundation Establishment stage when the righteous-demonic war began. Now, twenty-odd years later, she had reached Foundation Establishment Completion; her speed wasn't fast, but it wasn't slow either.

"You may arrange it, madam." No sooner had Chen Mobai finished speaking than E Yun immediately produced another list and handed it to him.

"Reporting, Sect Master, this is the list of disciples who have recently reached Foundation Establishment Completion..." Chen Mobai took it and saw that there were actually twelve people. These were all part of the Five Elements Sect's century-long accumulation of resources. Chen Mobai also saw many Foundation Establishment cultivators from his own generation, for example, his friend Xi Jinghuo, Liang Lingzhen from the Hall of Rewards, Fu Huakun from the Hall of Punishments, and others. Having boarded the ship of their era, they had all reached the threshold of Core Formation, utilizing the sect's resources. Among them, some did not possess outstanding talent and relied solely on the accumulation of time, but since they were members of the Five Elements Sect, Chen Mobai would certainly grant them an opportunity to form a core.

"Besides the Golden Liquid Jade Restoration Pill, madam, you could also refine a batch of Fire Element Golden Core Pills. The number of Core Formation cultivators in the Fire Vein within the sect is somewhat low." Chen Mobai spoke after reviewing the list. Although he originated from the Wood Vein, as the current Sect Master of the Five Elements Sect, he naturally had to consider the broader picture. To deploy the Five Elements Dao Soldiers of the Five Elements Sect, Core Formation cultivators of all five elements were needed. However, since he had initially only taught within the Wood Vein, a large majority of the sect's Core Formation cultivators were of the wood attribute. Chen Mobai intended to gradually rectify this imbalance starting now. Conveniently, his friend Xi Jinghuo also cultivated the Crimson Flame Sword Art, so if he failed his first attempt in the future, a second opportunity could be arranged quickly. Qing Nü naturally had no objections to this.

"One more thing, both Martial Uncle Fu and Martial Uncle Sheng are also close to Core Formation Completion." Finally, E Yun reminded Chen Mobai of one more matter.

"Fortunately, there are still two portions of Three Lights Divine Water. Later, we can see if we can prepare another batch of Nascent Soul Cultivation Pills." Chen Mobai could only repeat his instruction to Qing Nü.

"After I form my Nascent Soul, I plan to attempt refining the complete set of the three Nascent Soul spiritual medicines." Qing Nü, however, was full of ambition, desiring to improve all three Nascent Soul spiritual medicines of the immortal sects here, thereby adding more Nascent Soul cultivators to the Five Elements Sect.

"Then I shall trouble you, madam." After discussing sect matters, Chen Mobai dismissed E Yun and the others.

Remaining were his several disciples. Liu Wenbai, Zhuo Ming, Luo Yixuan, and Jiang Zongheng, his four disciples, were rarely gathered together under his command.

"Master, the dragon vein beneath Donghuang has shown signs of forming. What should we do?" Jiang Zongheng brought up something Chen Mobai had almost overlooked. As the Five Elements Sect brought Dongwu and half of Dongyi under its control, its territory greatly expanded. Furthermore, after thirty years of favorable weather, the population exploded again, causing the Zhao Kingdom's dragon vein, which relied on the mortal dynasty, to grow rapidly under the directive of promoting culture and building civilization. Once a dragon vein developed sentience, the Heavenly and Earthly Xuanji Astrolabe of the Dao De Sect would detect it. Although Chen Mobai was now unrivaled below the Spirit Transformation stage, and the number of Nascent Soul cultivators in the Five Elements Sect had greatly increased, they would certainly be no match for the Dao De Sect. This matter still required cautious handling. Chen Mobai could not guarantee that he could make the Dao De Sect turn a blind eye to the Five Elements Sect, pretending not to know about the dragon vein's sentience.

"I recall there was once a pill formula for the Hidden Dragon Pill; it can be used to consume the dragon vein's energy." Chen Mobai searched for keywords related to dragon veins in his Celestial Abacus Bead and quickly remembered this.