sinovels Chapter 172 Mountain Puppet Sect, Rogue Cultivator
Chapter 172 Mountain Puppet Sect, Rogue Cultivator
Xizhou.
Mt. Muto.
A mountain range stretching for eight hundred miles.
Numerous rivers meander through the mountains, and there are at least ten first-tier spiritual veins scattered throughout the mountains.
These spiritual veins were divided between two major foundation-building forces in the mountains.
The Mountain Puppet Sect and the Mu Family each divided their territory into five areas, and within each area were several towns of varying sizes, with a combined population of over 100,000 civilians.
Especially the second-tier superior spiritual vein of Muteng Mountain, where the two Foundation Establishment forces each occupy a peak, only a few miles apart.
Each is protected by a second-order formation, and the two are close to each other, with very close interactions.
Mountain Puppet Sect.
The sect has two Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, and it is said that there is also a puppet that can exert the strength of a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator. It is this second-tier puppet that has allowed the Mountain Puppet Sect to dominate the area of Wood Vine Mountain for hundreds of years.
The Mu family is currently facing a crisis because one of their disciples with an earth-elemental root failed to advance during the Foundation Establishment process at the Spirit Control Sect, a powerful sect in the Core Formation stage, due to being troubled by inner demons.
This also caused the Mu family to lose a lot of vitality.
The Mu family now only has one patriarch at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. However, the Mu family also has a second-tier spirit beast that guards the mountain. It is a Shadow Corpse Cat with a rare bloodline, due to its corpse cultivation inheritance.
Its lifespan is even longer than that of some sacred turtles.
Although the Mu family suffered some losses, several of its younger disciples possess dual-elemental true spiritual roots, each with remarkable talent, ensuring the family's continued prosperity.
Furthermore, the Mu family and the Mountain Puppet Sect jointly control the Wood Vine Mountain Secret Realm. Although the spiritual energy in the secret realm has been declining year after year, it is still able to maintain a second-tier low-grade spiritual energy environment.
Three hundred acres of spiritual fields were cultivated, and a considerable amount of spiritual herbs and grains were planted. The output of the small secret realm was enough in just two or three years to buy a Foundation Establishment spiritual item outside.
If the family saves up spirit stones over several years, and if Foundation Establishment Pills are sold in the market, they can afford to buy one if they are frugal.
The effects of Foundation Establishment Pills are far superior to those of Foundation Establishment Spiritual Objects. In most powerful sects, their core disciples use Foundation Establishment Pills to break through to the next level, while Foundation Establishment Spiritual Objects are secondary.
now.
The sky was high and the clouds were light.
At the foot of the mountain where the Mountain Puppet Sect's mountain gate stands.
There were more than forty rogue cultivators at the Qi Refining stage, some old and some young. However, most of them didn't even have a complete robe. Many of them were wearing ordinary mortal robes and looked very poor.
These are all Qi Refining stage cultivators who gathered from the surrounding area, many of whom have traveled from other places.
Mt. Muto.
Among the vassal forces of the Yuling Sect within a radius of thousands of miles, it can be considered to be in the middle to upper range.
Furthermore, because of the secret realm of Muteng Mountain, both Foundation Establishment forces on Muteng Mountain need a lot of spiritual plant growers, and the spiritual items produced each year are quite numerous.
The most crucial point is that there are two Foundation Establishment forces on Mount Muteng, working together to deter them.
There were a total of five or six Foundation Establishment cultivators here.
This is precisely why there aren't many Tribulation Cultivators in the vicinity. Generally, Tribulation Cultivators in the Qi Refining stage don't dare to act recklessly within the area of Muteng Mountain. Once they are targeted by the two Foundation Establishment forces, their chances of death are extremely high.
At this moment, we are on an open space at the foot of the mountain.
One of the young men, dressed in black and appearing somewhat thin, looked at the mountains shrouded in mist before him, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes.
"We've been waiting for a month and a half."
"We don't have any accurate information about that inner disciple of the Mountain Puppet Sect. Brother, why don't we go check with the Mu family?"
The thin young man in black had already finished his fasting pills; there were only a few left, and they weren't of very high quality. After that, he would have to find some wild fruits to eat in the mountains.
The disciples of the Mountain Puppet Sect did not bring any food; they simply told the children to fend for themselves.
At this moment, to the side of the man in black was a burly middle-aged man with short hair, who was casually sitting cross-legged on the grass. He only slowly opened his eyes after hearing what his fourth brother said.
"Nonsense!"
"The Mountain Puppet Sect originally had different recruitment criteria every year. Last time, those who had reached the fifth level of Qi Refining were recruited into the sect to become ordinary outer disciples. After completing sect tasks, they could exchange for the skills of cultivating spiritual plants and farming."
"With Lingzhifu's cooking skills, we won't have to worry about making a living!"
"The Namu family only recruits rogue cultivators once every three years, and the requirements are extremely strict."
"No one with five spiritual roots."
"And in one fell swoop, we also need to sign a thirty-year contract with the Namu family."
"The contract terms are extremely harsh. What were you thinking when you decided to go to the Mu family?"
The burly, short-haired middle-aged man suddenly stood up, staring wide-eyed at his thin fourth brother, feeling a sense of disappointment and frustration.
"Yes, brother."
"I was wrong."
The thin man, Jin Laifu, who looked to be close to thirty, lowered his head and hurriedly replied to what his elder brother was saying.
His elder brother, Jin Laibao, seeing that his younger brother had become much thinner from hunger, immediately took out two fasting pills from his pocket and put them into his brother's hand.
"Hold on for a few more days."
"We've traveled so far, if we brothers can't find a place to stay in this Mountain Puppet Sect, then we'll have no choice but to find a market and become demon hunters."
Jin Laibao's tone was solemn.
Just now.
As if sensing something, a stream of azure light descended from the sky and landed on the open space where these rogue cultivators were. Within the light, two figures, one large and one small, were revealed.
The elder one was dressed in a red robe, with a red jade gourd hanging at his waist. His pale red eyes revealed his extraordinary physique.
On the other side was a boy in white robes, who looked to be only ten years old, but the boy's aura already reached the third level of Qi Refining.
As for the young man in the red robe, his aura had reached the eighth level of Qi Refining.
A cultivator at the late stage of Qi Refining!
When the surrounding rogue cultivators sensed Lin Li's late-stage Qi Refining cultivation, they all looked surprised and dared not look directly at him.
A cultivator at the late stage of Qi Refining is so young, dressed in a red robe; he doesn't look like a rogue cultivator at all.
When Lin Li landed there, he raised his hand and took out a communication talisman. After activating his magic power, the talisman transformed into a blue stream of light and flew into the majestic mountain peak hidden by the sea of clouds.
Not long after.
On the bluestone path leading to the summit of the Mountain Puppet Sect, an old man and a young man, both dressed in black robes, arrived at the open space outside the mountain gate as fast as the wind.
They immediately saw Lin Li standing in the center of the open space, and Bai Ling'er, dressed as a Taoist boy, standing beside him.
The old man with a goatee and graying hair lit up when he saw Lin Li and Bai Ling'er, and hurriedly went forward.
"He Quan, an outer disciple of the Mountain Puppet Sect, greets fellow Daoist!"
"My master requests your presence!"
"Please follow me, fellow Daoist."
He Quan stepped forward and spoke very politely.
"it is good."
"Then I'll trouble you to lead the way, fellow Daoist."
Lin Li cupped his hands and said.
"Not at all, fellow Daoist, you're too kind."
After hurriedly returning the greeting, He Quan took out a white jade token from his pocket, activated the magic power within the token, and opened a passage in the Mountain Puppet Sect's formation, welcoming Lin Li and the other person inside.
When the forty-odd Qi Refining cultivators on the remaining open space saw this scene, their eyes revealed a lot of speculation.
That red-robed cultivator must have an extraordinary background, otherwise the disciple of the Mountain Puppet Sect wouldn't have been so polite in welcoming him in.
After He Quan led Lin Li and the others away, a young disciple who looked to be only twenty years old was left outside the mountain gate. His name was Ge Dan, a man with a face full of freckles. He glanced at the Qi Refining stage rogue cultivators present.
He didn't say anything more, but instead reached out and took out a memory bead from his pocket.
After activating the image-recording bead with magic power, several lines of text appeared in the void in front of him. These texts contained the requirements for the rogue cultivators recruited by their Mountain Puppet Sect this year.
Nowadays, the requirements for lower-level disciples in the Mountain Puppet Sect are not as high as they were two years ago.
The reason why so many disciples were recruited in the past two years was because there was a beast tide attack in the Boundary Mountain, which affected their Muteng Mountain. In the past few years, the disciples of the two Foundation Establishment forces of Muteng Mountain suffered extremely heavy losses.
Many disciples have become crippled and can only grow some spiritual grains in small secret realms.
It was precisely because of these gaps that they lowered their requirements for outside cultivators to the fifth level of Qi Refining. They were even willing to take in pseudo-spiritual roots with five spiritual roots, allowing them to quickly fill the gaps in the sect and keep the sect running.
Now that the gap has been filled and most of the vacancies have been filled, the requirements for recruiting independent cultivators naturally need to be raised.
"I don't want the five spiritual roots anymore."
"Only those with four spiritual roots are eligible, and their cultivation level must be at least the sixth level of Qi Refining."
"Those who have reached the fourth level of Qi Refining and possess a basic skill in one of the various cultivation arts are also welcome."
Swish!
After reading the conditions for recruiting disciples by the Mountain Puppet Sect, the more than forty Qi Refining cultivators present all had their pupils shrink violently, their eyes filled with astonishment.
This requirement is much higher than before, and many rogue cultivators with five spiritual roots present couldn't help but look gloomy upon seeing it.
Among the forty-odd Qi Refining cultivators, only three had reached or exceeded the sixth level of Qi Refining.
"elder brother!"
"They don't even want the fifth level of Qi Refining!"
At this moment, Jin Laifu looked at the few lines of text conditions floating in the air. His heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly felt a little dizzy. His elder brother was now at the sixth level of Qi Refining, which was considered to have met the standard.
"elder brother!"
"They don't even want the fifth level of Qi Refining!"
At this moment, Jin Laifu looked at the few lines of text conditions floating in the air. His heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly felt a little dizzy. His elder brother was now at the sixth level of Qi Refining, which was considered to have met the standard.
However, Jin Laifu was only at the fifth level of Qi Refining, and he had only reached that level by force using pills and secret techniques. If he wanted to advance to the sixth level of Qi Refining in the future, it would be several times more difficult than other cultivators of the same level.
But now, after he desperately advanced to the fifth level of Qi Refining, the Mountain Puppet Sect's requirement for this year has been directly raised to the sixth level of Qi Refining.
As for cultivating immortality and mastering various arts, how could he possibly know them?