Chapter 288: Five Elements Sect

All parties were closely watching the royal family's reaction, but it had been several days since the Brocade Guard approached Hua Changxi, and the royal family still hadn't responded.

"Are they planning to let this slide?"

The Brocade Guard were the royal family's private soldiers. By attacking the Brocade Guard, Hua Changxi was undoubtedly slapping the royal family in the face publicly. Was the royal family not going to pursue this at all?

Then on August 27th, the Brocade Guard came to the Medical Department again and notified Hua Changxi to go to the Northern Garrison Office in three days to discuss the matter of cultivators entering the capital. Only then did all parties confirm that the royal family truly did not intend to pursue Hua Changxi.

Many people were deeply disappointed by this.

"What a pity!"

Xia Zhen was very regretful. Hua Changxi's displayed strength was even greater than he had imagined. He had originally thought he could use this confrontation between her and the royal family to further probe what cards she held, but unexpectedly the domineering royal family chose to smooth things over.

Compared to the disappointment of the other parties, Hua Changxi breathed a sigh of relief.

She certainly did not want a direct confrontation with the royal family, even though she had the Vermillion Bird Army.

As she had said, once certain things begin, the subsequent direction of events and how they end are not something anyone can decide.

Mobilizing the Vermillion Bird Army would not be a good thing for her.

Managing a single Danyuan Secret Realm already kept her too busy to handle everything. Once she mobilized the Vermillion Bird Army, the aspects involved would only increase, and the affairs she would be responsible for would snowball larger and larger.

At that time, it would infinitely compress her cultivation time, which was absolutely not what she wanted.

Although striking the Brocade Guard this time was somewhat impulsive, Hua Changxi did not regret it. As the saying goes, the good are bullied and the meek are ridden. She also had to properly show her claws.

But revealing her strength had indeed stirred her sense of crisis, making her realize that the cards in her hand were still too few.

Before this, she felt that having four strongholds—Shennong Hall, Five Finger Mountain, Lingguang Hall, and Danyuan Peak—was already quite good, but this time her opponent was the royal family. Comparing herself to them, she instantly felt that her accumulation was far too insignificant.

Moreover, besides Danyuan Peak and Shennong Hall where she participated in management, Five Finger Mountain and Lingguang Hall were left to their own devices. When real trouble came, the support they could provide was very limited.

This hard confrontation with the royal family also served as a reminder to Hua Changxi that she should properly get Five Finger Mountain and Lingguang Hall running.

Just at this time, her cultivation had stalled, freeing up a portion of her cultivation time.

Five Finger Mountain was still manageable, with Anze and Anran watching over it, and she could directly adopt the management model of Danyuan Peak.

But managing Lingguang Hall gave her a headache.

Although the Vermillion Bird Army now only had over six thousand men, it was still an army. Where would she get experience in managing an army?

Without experience, she could only borrow from others' methods.

She couldn't easily ask outsiders about the Vermillion Bird Army; this was one of her trump cards. Thus, Hua Changxi could only borrow from the management models of the Demon Suppression Army and the Demon Subduing Guard that she could access.

The soldier rank system of the Demon Subduing Guard was: General → Major General → Garrison Commander → Commander of Ten Thousand → Commander of Thousand → Commander of Hundred → Squad Leader → Guard Soldier.

The promotion path was very simple and clear, obvious at a glance.

Hua Changxi wanted to borrow it directly, but to be safe, she went to the Lecture Hall and, while chatting with a lecturer who was a former veteran of the Demon Suppression Army, learned about the soldier management system of the Demon Suppression Army.

When she learned that the Demon Suppression Army also followed the management model of General → Major General → Garrison Commander → Commander of Ten Thousand → Commander of Thousand → Commander of Hundred → Squad Leader → Guard Soldier, she was genuinely surprised.

"It seems this management model can be directly applied."

With her experience planning the Danyuan Secret Realm, Hua Changxi effortlessly began planning the operational schemes for Five Finger Mountain and Lingguang Hall.

Hua Changxi planned to establish a Five Elements Sect on Five Finger Mountain, so as to better maintain order there.

The Five Elements Sect would have six departments: Personnel Department, Logistics Department, Mission Hall, Merit Hall, Lecture Hall, and Enforcement Hall.

The disciple promotion path: Apprentice → Outer Disciple → Inner Disciple → Personal Disciple.

After finalizing this management model, Hua Changxi teleported directly to Five Finger Mountain, summoned Anran and Anze before her, and told them about her plan to establish the Five Elements Sect and its planning scheme.

Hearing Hua Changxi's words, Anran and Anze showed expressions of surprise and delight.

As spiritual energy continued to recover, more and more people became cultivators. Due to the shortage of training grounds, Five Finger Mountain had become the top training choice for cultivators.

With more cultivators coming, conflicts followed. If not for Qingzhou being under the jurisdiction of Prince Dong'an, and Prince Dong'an owing the Immortal a favor and helping them suppress some covetous parties, Five Finger Mountain would certainly have been very turbulent.

Although they also recruited some cultivators, due to the lack of a formal external title, in the eyes of outsiders, they were still like the martial arts gangs of the past.

But now, with the establishment of the Five Elements Sect, they would surely attract more and better cultivators to join them.

Mountain Spirit and Little Pine had come over at some point. Upon hearing that Hua Changxi was going to build the Five Elements Sect, Mountain Spirit jumped for joy: "Immortal, you've finally come to your senses."

With a proper sect in charge, it would surely attract more disciples. More disciples mean more incense offerings, and Five Elements Mountain would naturally become better, allowing it to advance faster to become the Mountain God of Five Elements Mountain.

Seeing that the mountain spirit now looked like a child of five or six, Hua Changxi patted its round head and said with a smile, "You've grown again."

The mountain spirit snuggled up to Hua Changxi, acting very affectionately, its eyes squinting into slits as it laughed: "The Immortal has grown stronger, so I follow suit and grow stronger."

Hua Changxi looked at the mountain spirit: "The Five Elements Sect has just been established, and everything is still being figured out. I'm often away, so you need to help me keep an eye on things."

The mountain spirit puffed out its chest: "Don't worry, I will."

Hua Changxi asked further: "By the way, what is the highest cultivation realm of the beasts on Five Finger Mountain?"

Cultivating the Blood Refining chapter of the Nine Transformations Mystic Art requires the blood of demon beasts. Before this, she hadn't paid much attention to them.

Mountain Spirit: "Core Formation."

Hua Changxi: "No Nascent Soul beasts?"

Mountain Spirit: "Five Finger Mountain is your Dao field, Immortal. The demon beasts dare not transform into human form within human territory. In the past two years, a few peak Core Formation demon beasts have secretly left Five Finger Mountain."

It paused.

"Immortal, are you thinking of taking a spirit pet?" As it spoke, it grew excited on its own.

"The Five Elements Sect definitely needs a few guardian mountain beasts. Demon beasts that grew up on Five Finger Mountain would surely be more loyal. Immortal, I know there are a few peak Core Formation beasts in the mountains with decent bloodlines. Do you want to take them in?"

Hearing this, Hua Changxi became interested. She gave the planning proposals for the Five Elements Sect to An Ze and An Ran, telling them to look over them for now, then took the mountain spirit and Xiao Song to find those demon beasts.

As a peak Nascent Soul cultivator, Hua Changxi's perception of every part of Five Finger Mountain grew increasingly precise. But probing everywhere required using divine sense, and her divine sense was not strong; probing each area would be too draining. So she had to follow the mountain spirit on a tour around Five Finger Mountain before she managed to gather all five demon beasts.

At the foot of Middle Finger Peak, a golden eagle, a five-colored deer, an emerald python, a fiery red queen bee, and a black ape lay trembling before Hua Changxi.

Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth—these five demon beasts' spiritual vein attributes represented a full set of the five elements.

This was Hua Changxi's first time dealing with demon beasts, and unsure how to strike the right balance, she looked to the mountain spirit.

Seeing this, the mountain spirit immediately grinned and said to the five demon beasts: "This is the Fire Lotus Immortal."

Hearing this, the five demon beasts trembled.

The Fire Lotus Immortal, the Mountain Lord of Five Elements Mountain!

At that moment, all five beasts were filled with regret.

They had coveted the dense spiritual qi of Five Elements Mountain and believed that human cultivators couldn't keep up with demon beasts in cultivation speed. Even if the mountain lord returned and found them, if her cultivation was beneath theirs, she could do nothing to them. So they had stayed out of wishful thinking.

If they had known that the Fire Lotus Immortal was so powerful that a single glance could freeze them in place, they would never have stayed on Five Finger Mountain even if it meant death.

Mountain Spirit: "The Immortal wishes to establish the Five Elements Sect and needs a few guardian mountain beasts. Are you willing to acknowledge the Immortal as your master?"

Hearing this, the five demon beasts collectively sighed in relief—at least they weren't going to be killed.

"We are willing."

Hua Changxi was surprised that these five demon beasts agreed so readily and decisively.

The mountain spirit explained: "In the demon race's world, the strong are revered; the weak have no choice but to submit."

After hearing this, Hua Changxi nodded and immediately had the five demon beasts sign a spirit pet contract.

Once the contract was complete, the mountain spirit cheerfully congratulated them: "Now that you've become guardian beasts of Five Finger Mountain, you'll be able to advance and transform here in the future."

Knowing they wouldn't die, the five beasts relaxed a little. Then, seeing their master toss out five bottles of pills as if for them, they quickly stepped forward to take them.

Hua Changxi: "These are third-grade Beast Origin Pills I made for fun. Taking them should help with your cultivation."

The five beasts didn't know much about human pills, but when they opened the bottles and the rich fragrance of the pills entered their noses, their faces lit up with ecstasy.

"Thank you, Master, for granting us the pills."

After confirming that Hua Changxi wouldn't enslave them without reward, the remaining reluctance in the five beasts' hearts dissipated considerably.

Hua Changxi: "Guard Five Finger Mountain and the Five Elements Sect well for me, and I won't treat you poorly. At the very least, there will be no shortage of pills."

She paused.

"Even helping you refine your bloodlines is not out of the question."

Hearing this, the five beasts immediately swore their loyalty with fervor.

Demonic beasts' bloodlines are crucial to their cultivation limits; the higher and purer the bloodline, the further and higher they can go.

The five beasts were huge, making it inconvenient to take them to the outer mountains. Hua Changxi spent some more time bonding with them, then left with Mountain Spirit and Little Pine.

For the next two days, Hua Changxi remained at Wuzhi Mountain, discussing the specific details of managing the Five Elements Sect with An Ran and An Ze.

On August 30th, as the first light of dawn appeared, Hua Changxi teleported back to the Danyuan Secret Realm.