Chapter 51: Elder Zhuang Xiran

Two days later, at dawn.

After making his preparations, Qin Ming stepped out of the courtyard gate.

Outside the Qingyang Market.

Qin Ming patted his storage bag, and a top-grade Spirit Light Shuttle floated before him.

Unable to conceal his excitement, he stepped onto it and immediately drove his magic power.

Whoosh! The Spirit Light Shuttle turned into a streak of cyan light and vanished into the horizon in an instant.

This was not Qin Ming's first time riding a flying artifact, yet he still felt a slight nervousness.

After piloting the shuttle with some stumbling for a while, Qin Ming grew accustomed to the state and began handling it with ease.

Gazing at the scenery swiftly receding beneath his feet, he suddenly felt a sense of exhilaration and carefree freedom.

Below lay the Yunze Dahuang, where forests and marshes stretched endlessly, layered peaks rose one after another, and lush greenery provided cover; certain areas were shrouded year-round in toxic miasma that blocked out the sun and sky, acting like natural moats and barriers, with savage insects and ferocious beasts lurking within.

Half an hour later.

Piloting the Spirit Light Shuttle, Qin Ming arrived before a massive mountain range.

The highest peak pierced the clouds, while steep cliffs flanked both sides, rising and falling continuously with no end in sight.

Green mountains loomed indistinctly, veiled in white mist.

Wisps of greenish smoke and thin fog coiled around the mountainside, spiraling upward; the higher one went, the thicker the clouds and mist became until they condensed together.

The main peak of the entire Yunmang Mountain resembled a vigorous, ancient flood dragon coiled at the summit of a sea of clouds.

The branch sect of the Lingyu Sect was situated right here upon a second-tier spiritual vein.

Immortal palaces stood in rows atop the mountain summit, with antique-style halls and houses arranged in perfect order.

Even though this was merely a branch sect residence, it displayed an unparalleled grandeur.

As soon as Qin Ming approached with his shuttle, cultivators piloting Dharma boats constantly swept past him.

A protective formation covered the main peak, so Qin Ming descended onto a vast Bai Yu plaza before the mountain gate.

Inside the plaza, a large wave of cultivators had already gathered one after another, seemingly all invited to attend Elder Zhuang's lecture.

The cultivators queued in an orderly fashion, waiting for identity checks before entering the mountain gate.

When it was Qin Ming's turn, he presented his jade talisman; after the guard inspected it, he was allowed to pass, though upon seeing that Qin Ming was a spirit farmer of the Lingyu Sect, the guard couldn't help but glance at him a few extra times.

Holding the jade slip route permit given by the guard, Qin Ming followed the winding stone steps up the mountain path until he reached a massive hall.

The Wuzhen Hall.

This was the place where the elders of the Lingyu Sect usually expounded the Dao and gave lectures.

Qin Ming stepped inside and found the space extremely spacious, decorated simply, with rows of antique-style tables and chairs arranged neatly.

At this moment, over three hundred cultivators had already gathered inside the hall; most were members of the Lingyu Sect itself, but there were also scattered cultivators like him who had rushed over from the Qingyang Market.

Taking advantage of the fact that the lecture had not yet begun, many cultivators gathered in small groups to chat.

Qin Ming casually found a seat in the middle-rear section and sat down.

With nothing else to do at the moment, he took out a spirit plant book and began flipping through it.

Just then.

A voice sounded from behind him.

"Hey, greetings, fellow Daoist; I see you are a spirit plant master from the Lingyu Sect, correct?"

Hearing this, Qin Ming turned around to look and saw that the other party was a lean, middle-aged scattered cultivator.

"I am merely a spirit farmer," Qin Ming replied straightforwardly.

The lean cultivator made a surprised expression and then said, "In that case, it seems your fortune is not shallow, fellow Daoist; you actually managed to obtain a jade talisman."

"Sigh, I'm different; I spent more than half my family wealth just to get one such jade talisman from the Mingzhen Pavilion—it's truly a rip-off."

The lean cultivator put on an expression of great heartache, then lowered his voice to say, "Do you know why Elder Zhuang of the Lingyu Sect suddenly decided to give this public lecture?"

Qin Ming looked completely blank and shook his head, saying, "I do not know."

"Isn't it said that through this public lecture, they intend to select disciples?" a cultivator at a nearby table leaned over and chimed in.

The lean cultivator glanced at the other with great disdain and continued, "You think so? Do you believe these sects would be so kind-hearted as to accept disciples outside their own sect rather than favoring their own?"

"What are you thinking? You're too naive, fellow Daoist!"

Hearing this, Qin Ming furrowed his brows, feeling that the other's words held some truth.

Once the lean cultivator spoke these words, several surrounding cultivators immediately crowded over.

"Fellow Daoist, judging by your tone, it seems you know the inside story; hurry and tell us," the lean cultivator cleared his throat, a trace of self-satisfaction appearing on his face, and continued in a lowered voice, "As far as I know, Elder Zhuang Xiran of the Lingyu Sect has a very strange temper; he dislikes showing off his martial prowess, yet his strength is unfathomable."

"He rarely concerns himself with sect affairs, has long been devoted to the Dao of spirit plants, has no offspring, and has only three disciples under his command: two first-tier upper-grade spirit plant masters and one first-tier middle-grade spirit plant master."

"However, it is said that compared to the disciples of other elders, his three disciples are far inferior in their attainments regarding spirit plants."

"This public lecture and examination to accept disciples must certainly have some ulterior motive behind it."

Saying this, the lean cultivator stopped talking, looked around at the cultivators who had gathered close, and thoroughly whetted everyone's appetite.

"Hey, don't speak in riddles? Just say it quickly! The lecture is about to start soon."

The lean cultivator revealed a meaningful smile and asked the crowd, "Do you know what the final trial for advancing to a second-tier spirit plant master is?"

"Of course we know; isn't it just the Plant Illusion Realm trial?" everyone exclaimed in unison.

The lean cultivator shook his head, then mysteriously revealed a piece of news that greatly shocked everyone present.

"You only know one part but not the other; this Plant Illusion Realm lies within the Lingyu Sect, and every ten years, several strands of the legendary 'Mother Qi of Ten Thousand Trees' are born within it."

"This 'Mother Qi of Ten Thousand Trees' possesses endless wonderful uses, even for second-tier spirit plant masters."

"Any spirit plant master who ranks near the top during the Plant Illusion Realm trial has a chance to obtain a strand of the Mother Qi of Ten Thousand Trees within the illusion realm."

"I suspect that Elder Zhuang is making such a huge fuss this time precisely for the sake of this Mother Qi of Ten Thousand Trees."

"In a few years, the Plant Illusion Realm will once again reach its ten-year cycle; therefore, regarding the matter of cultivators below the first-tier middle-grade spirit plant master level joining Elder Zhuang's sect, don't even think about it; at most, you can attend the two-day lecture and perhaps gain some spirit plant experience."

The lean cultivator's words had just fallen.

"Huh? Why didn't you say so sooner?"

"I'm only a low-grade spirit planter!"

"Sigh, me too!"

"Forget it, let's just treat it as spending a fortune to attend one lecture by a second-rank top-grade spirit planter; broadening our horizons is worth it."

Among the crowd, a burst of sighs and groans immediately erupted.

Hearing this, Qin Ming immediately fell into deep thought; his primary goal was to pass the plant illusion realm assessment and successfully complete his promotion to a second-rank spirit planter.

As for this 'Mother Qi of Ten Thousand Trees'... "Sigh, I'll deal with that when the time comes!"

Whether Elder Zhuang Xiran would even deign to look at him was hard to say.

Although he now appeared to be a young middle-grade spirit planter,

after all, there were many disciples with extraordinary talent within the Spirit Feather Sect.

Amidst the crowd's whispered conversations,

the hour of Chen had arrived.

Boom! Boom! Boom! The bronze bell outside the Wuzhen Hall tolled three times.

Under the gaze of the multitude of cultivators,

an old man with crane-white hair and a youthful face strode into the hall with his hands behind his back; in an instant, a terrifying Foundation Establishment aura descended abruptly.

The hall immediately fell silent; one could hear a pin drop.

Elder Zhuang Xiran wore a gray-white Daoist robe; his beard and hair were entirely white, his complexion ruddy, his gaze deep, possessing quite the demeanor of an immortal wind and Daoist bone.

This was also Qin Ming's first time seeing a great Foundation Establishment cultivator; his eyes widened, his mind slightly shaken.

Elder Zhuang Xiran walked to the central seat of honor, sat down, and slowly asked, "I presume everyone present here is a spirit planter."

"Then, before this old man begins the lecture, I wish to ask a question."

"What is a spirit planter?"

At the same time,

ten li outside the mountain gate of the Spirit Feather Sect, at a hidden mountain hollow,

five cultivators wearing masks and shrouded in black robes stood on the edge of a cliff, gazing from afar in the direction of the Spirit Feather Sect.

"Big Brother, I didn't expect that old man surnamed Zhuang giving a lecture could attract so many people; there seem to be quite a few fat sheep in there!"

"Should we..."

A tall cultivator standing in the middle of the five spoke faintly, "Attend to the main business first; did you not hear what I said?"

At these words, the black-robed cultivator who had just spoken shuddered and closed his mouth, saying no more.

(End of Chapter)