Chapter 621: The Influence of the

Although a True Immortal, Ba Zun is ultimately a body cultivator…

It’s not wrong to think that way!

Ba Zun: “If needed, I can help you improve it—guaranteed to be better than your current version @ Hong Zun”

Hong Zun: “No need, thanks / smile”

Dan Zu: “Hong Zun merely wishes to improve the sect’s atmosphere, not to send them to their deaths”

If you truly use the ‘Body Cultivator’s Elegant Language,’ it won’t just be a ‘mockery aura’ anymore.

Hong Zun: “/ thumbs up”

Ba Zun: “…”

So now my good intention to upgrade your aura makes me the villain?

Jian Zu: “By the way, how long does this aura last?”

If it persists indefinitely, the holder of the ‘mockery aura’ would have to transfer to Longxiang Qingtian Sect to live and cultivate normally among those thick-skinned body cultivators.

Hong Zun: “It’s merely a mild punishment—the mockery aura will degrade into an existence aura after one week.”

Hong Zun: “Then it will fade completely after another month.”

That means the two most severe cases will enjoy one extra week of the ‘mockery aura’ compared to others.

The rest who received the ‘reward’ only need to endure one month of the ‘existence aura.’

They really slacked off too much this time—most completed tasks at the bare minimum, some didn’t even finish them.

Hence the decision to use this aura as a warning.

For those little ones who’d rather hide themselves until the end of time, a one-month ‘existence aura’ is more than enough to teach them a lesson.

Hong Zun: “If similar incidents occur again, the aura duration will be doubled immediately.”

If they still refuse to change, we can always deploy the ‘Body Cultivator’s Elegant Language’ version of the ‘mockery aura.’

As for upgrading it…

No need for Ba Zun—in the early days of the Spirit Net, traces left by body cultivators were everywhere.

But later, to clean up the network environment, most were blocked and deleted.

Yet the Spirit Net was created by the Taishang Dao Sect; simply reverting the relevant data won’t be difficult.

Qi Zun: “What if they adapt to your aura?”

Hong Zun: “That would be ideal—that’s exactly what I hope for.”

If one day they become indifferent to the ‘existence aura,’ it proves they no longer deliberately conceal themselves.

Then they can no longer be called practitioners of the 'Gou Dao'.

Unfortunately…

Judging from their behavior since I deployed the aura, this won’t happen anytime soon.

Soon after, the group chat filled with other topics.

Xu Xing watched for a while, lost interest, closed the messaging app, and put away his phone.

“Existence aura…”

He remembered Xiang Yuanjun mentioning this during the previous ‘Immortal Sect Grand Competition’—didn’t expect it to be used so soon.

The ‘cautious’ little ones of the Taishang Dao Sect are in for a rough time now.

…

…

Outer Gate Sword Master Hall, Jianzong.

Deep inside, a training chamber capable of channeling vein miasma to temper sword intent.

Chii~!

As the chamber door opened, thick, steam-like crimson mists surged outward.

Ye Zhiwei wore the standard black combat suit issued by the Sword Master Hall, her forehead bound with the hair ribbon she’d carried since arriving at Jianzong.

Now, dense, lingering malevolent miasma clung to her body; her eyes flickered with blood-red glints, sending chills down the spine.

Yet the two black-robed Sword Master Hall stewards standing afar merely glanced once, confirmed nothing was amiss, and looked away.

Such phenomena are common among sword cultivators first attempting to temper their bodies with miasma—nothing unusual.

Ye Zhiwei exhaled deeply, steadied her turbulent true qi stirred by the miasma, and walked to the side of the chamber.

A line of text immediately appeared on a screen embedded in the wall.

【Your training duration: 4 hours, 35 minutes, 25 seconds. Total contribution points: 45】

The chamber charges ten contribution points per hour, billed every six minutes.

Thus, many who train here time their exit precisely.

Ye Zhiwei pulled out her identity jade token and swiped it beneath the screen’s sensor area.

Beep!

Twenty contribution points were instantly deducted from her account.

As the top recruit of this ‘Immortal Sect Special Recruitment’ and a Creation Foundation Establishment cultivator, she receives a steep discount when using such auxiliary training areas.

She also receives an additional 500 contribution points monthly.

And this!

Is merely one part of the benefits granted to her as top recruit and Creation Foundation Establishment cultivator.

These benefits last three years—if she ascends to Golden Core within that time, they can be further enhanced.

If she fails to reach Golden Core within three years…

Then there’s no such possibility!

You’ve achieved Creation Foundation Establishment—three years still can’t yield a Golden Core? Are you even human?

Ye Zhiwei retrieved her jade token, checked her account balance, hung it at her waist, and turned to leave.

As she walked, she felt her sword intent sharpened by the miasma’s tempering.

Indeed, Jianzong suits sword cultivators far better—she’d only been here a short while, yet her overall strength had surged several tiers.

Her sword intent, true qi, and sword techniques had all undergone qualitative leaps.

She could now easily defeat her past self within a hundred strikes!

She walked past the two black-robed stewards and entered the long corridor.

Ye Zhiwei suppressed the miasma-induced agitation in her mind, pulled out her phone, and opened her usual messaging app.

Ming Dao Mingxin: “I’m about to undertake a special mission—it may take a while to finish.”

Zhi Lun Jingwei: “Got it, Brother Ruoming!”

Scrolling up through the dense history of past chats, Ye Zhiwei’s eyes flickered with complexity.

Compared to before, their recent chat frequency had dropped sharply.

Zhao Ruoming’s messages had grown stiff, even cautious, since a certain period…

As for this, Zhao Ruoming had never overthought it—he simply felt awkward chatting online with a young girl…

After learning the truth from Ye Zhiwei, he felt deeply guilty.

As for whether Ye Zhiwei had ever intended to prank him from the start…

What nonsense!

Though he lost to Chi Jiuyu, he’s still among the top prodigies of the Immortal Sects—how could he be so easily fooled?

Walking steadily down the long corridor, Ye Zhiwei finished reviewing the recent chat logs and was about to put her phone away.

Dingdong!

A message popped up.

It was from her most frequented cultivation forum—the Jianzong section had a new trending post—

【Help! My sword coated with Taishang Dao Sect’s reinforcement paint has malfunctioned—anyone know how to fix it?】

Out of curiosity, or perhaps because she’d just read her chat with Zhao Ruoming, Ye Zhiwei clicked in.

Seeing the post’s content, her expression flickered with oddness.

The poster was a sword cultivator specializing in sword arrays.

He claimed that months ago, he purchased Taishang Dao Sect’s paint reinforcement service.

Everything was fine—the enhanced sword’s performance satisfied him completely.

But yesterday, for no apparent reason, it suddenly went wrong.

The post included a picture of the sword.

It was a handleless, pale golden sword, translucent as crystal, its surface adorned with sinuous crimson patterns perfectly fused with the blade’s natural texture.

Even through the image, one could discern the painter’s exceptional skill.

Yet…

【Name: Liu Yu】