After saying that curse word, a lady in the prime of her youth flicked her sleeves and walked away, causing a whiff of fragrance to gust forth. She then left after getting into a horse carriage with a sullen expression.
"What? It was clearly your aptitude being weak and not meeting the standard of joining our Immortal Sect. Why are you turning things around and scolding me crazy?"
Wen Ping helplessly spread his hands wide. After that, his gaze turned to the people in the surroundings, wanting to find someone in the crowd that agreed with his point of view.
But it was ultimately useless!
There wasn’t even one at all.
On the contrary, the people were shooting bizarre gazes at him as though they were looking at a retard.
"Sect Leader Wen, your Immortal Sect isn’t even a 1-star sect, so why are you indulging in a fantasy?"
"15 years old at the fifth level of the Body Refinement Realm? Even 3-stars sects would scramble and vie against each other for geniuses of this level! Why would they go to your Immortal Sect, huh?"
"I think you must have gone silly."
"Let’s go, we should head to another place. He might not have us in his sights, but all of us also look down on his Immortal Sect." A seven-year-old kid that was eating a tanghulu* coldly snorted and shot a look of contempt at Wen Ping, all while sniffing back his snot that was hanging around his mouth level.
At this moment, everyone started to murmur to each other and disperse.
"Hey child, come over. I guarantee that I won’t beat you to death. Have you weaned? How dare you mock me!"
Wen Ping still stood at his original location, but his expression had turned somewhat unsightly.
When everyone at the registration area left, Wen Ping could only lift his head and stare at the sky as he sighed.
(My heavens! Could it be that I cannot climb back up even with a system aiding me?)
(System, you are such a fraud. Why did you set such a standard?)
Cultivation started with tempering the body. Generally speaking, kids would be able to reach the first level at about ten years old, but if they wanted to reach the fifth level, other than geniuses who were destined to set foot on the path of cultivation, they would require ten years at the very least.
Therefore, kids who could reach the fifth level of the Body Refinement Realm before their fifteenth birthday were destined to be rare geniuses.
As long as their fame spread, even 2-stars and 3-stars sect would pay them a visit personally.
So, why did a small sect that couldn’t even be considered a 1-star sect have such high entry criteria?
The story had to be told from that afternoon a week ago!
As per usual, Wen Ping stood at the stone steps at the foot of the mountain, waving his hands as he gazed blankly at the other end of the street.
Behind him was the sword monument of the Immortal Sect that was made from steelstone. It was five meters tall and one meter wide, looking like a sword pointing up the sky. The three words—the Immortal Sect—were engraved on it.
These words were engraved personally by the founding ancestor, who was also Wen Ping’s great great great great grandfather. As a matter of fact, being able to leave words behind on a steelstone was a sign that one had exceeded the Body Refinement Realm, as even experts at the highest peak of the Body Refinement Realm, which was the thirteenth level, couldn’t do so.
People in this cultivation realm were all hegemons of a certain area.
The Immortal Sect. Although it was a mere three words, its aura was majestic and penetrating. Back then, even the City Lord of Cangwu City down below had come up to bow to the sword monument, and over ten thousand people would pass underneath the monument daily.
But now, Wen Ping could only stand before it and bade farewell to others.
A single goodbye sent away the last ten disciples of the Immortal Sect.
The Immortal Sect, a former 2-stars sect that was the hegemon of several hundred lis* of land, consisted only of an 18-year-old sect leader, an old man in charge of miscellaneous jobs named ’Uncle Wang’, and a mountain dog named ’Haha’.
The Immortal Sect only existed in name, but in reality, it was already a dead sect.
But at this moment, a voice suddenly drifted toward Wen Ping’s ears.
"Currently activating...the Super Sect System."
This voice sounded mechanical, completely devoid of feelings.
As a result, Wen Ping started. He then turned and glanced at the patches of greenery beside him.
"Come out! Who is there?"
"Host, stop looking. I’m in your mind. Unless you are willing to cut your head open, you won’t be able to find me even if you die."
"I’m not a human and neither am I alive. However, I’m your destined companion - the Super Sect System."
After that, a pop-up window suddenly appeared in his vision.
Cultivation Base: Seventh level of Body Refinement
Sect’s star grade: None
[Super Sect System: To build a sect, other than requiring powerful instructors and elite disciples, the most important thing is to have enough resources to attract teachers and nurture disciples. Hence, this system will specially provide unique resources—from dumbbells, teleportation arrays, and everything—to the host, all for the sake of building a unique super sect!]
Wen Ping didn’t bother to look at his own information. He turned his gaze toward the explanation provided by the sect system.
It could help him climb back up on his feet?
It could revive the Immortal Sect?
Before Wen Ping could speak again, the system’s voice rang out like it was scheduled. "After considering the host’s current situation, it’s too difficult to revitalize the Immortal Sect. Hence, the first benefit mission shall be issued."
[Main mission - Remodel the main hall]
[The main hall is the face of a sect and also the ’office’ for the upper echelons, so it naturally shouldn’t be too shabby. It has to bring a certain degree of awe and reverence to people to highlight the sect’s grandeur.]
[The first remodeling is free. Time required for remodeling: 10 hours]
[Completion rewards: a 3x gravity field]
A free remodeling to the main hall including good benefits?
Ever since a year ago when a corner of the main hall was destroyed by a foreign expert, Wen Ping hadn’t gone there yet. However, he still vaguely remembered the remnant of the broken wall. Back then, the elders of the sect would often bring up the matter of renovating the main hall, but he always denied the motion.
There wasn’t any other reason but that the sect was in the red.
Due to his father’s passing and the lack of money, Wen Ping naturally had had no thoughts of revitalizing the Immortal Sect.
However, since the heavens wanted to help him and had granted him the Super Sect System, revitalizing the Immortal Sect was naturally imperative. It wasn’t because he could have some dignity and raise his head up before others, nor was it because he could eat and sleep well or have people serving him. Rather, the only reason was because he wanted to have the authority of a sect leader.
Back then, a single sentence from his father would cause ten thousand people to comply with it. No matter where his father went, people would greet his father as ’Sect Leader Wen’. Furthermore, a few elders from some clans would even take the initiative to send their beautiful daughters over, in hopes that his father would accept them as disciples...
It felt great just thinking about it.
"Let’s leave and head back home!"
After seeing the last ten people descend the Cloudmist Mountain, Wen Ping turned and headed back up the stone stairs.
However, just halfway through, he saw Uncle Wang, who had a face filled with wrinkles, rushing down carefully. He still had a broom in his hand, and the mountain dog named ’Haha’, which was as big as half a human, was following beside him.
Wang Bo shouted, "Sect leader, things are bad. Earlier, the main hall was suddenly enveloped by fog. In addition, many strange sounds rang out from within. It’s very possible that demons might have intruded on our Immortal Sect."
Wen Ping started. After that, he hurriedly ran toward the main hall.
It couldn’t be, right? Why would demons come to the Immortal Sect?
After reaching the plaza, when the main hall was 100 meters away from him, Wen Ping finally saw the white fog enveloping it. It looked really extraordinary.
Although they called it fog, it wasn’t actually fog because Wen Ping’s perception couldn’t penetrate it.
However, after moving closer, Wen Ping was relieved when a conspicuous notification appeared within the fog.
[Time remaining for remodeling: 9 hours 55 minutes]
[1] Sugar-coated hawthorn, a type of extremely sweet candy found in China