Sage of Humanity

Before, when various factions occupied the outposts of Ten Thousand Demons Ridge, the only gains in the late stages were the enhancements from the Heaven's Augury Pillar, because no power under Ten Thousand Demons Ridge dared to resist when the Haotian Alliance's allied forces attacked. They all evacuated early, and whatever could be taken from the outpost was taken; whatever couldn't be removed was destroyed on the spot.

However, in the early stages, there were still quite a few battles.

Where there were battles, there were casualties, and where there were casualties, there were spoils of war, along with some supplies confiscated after taking over an outpost.

Lu Ye didn't take much of these spoils, because most of them were used to compensate the sects of the cultivators who had died in battle.

Yet even so, the accumulations from each instance were quite substantial.

The most valuable among them were several complete sets of protective arrays—acquiring these from the Heaven's Augury treasure vault would cost over ten thousand merits, and naturally, selling them would not be cheap.

The sect needed to develop, disciples needed to cultivate, and cultivation required Spirit Stones and elixir pills.

Considering the current output from the Righteous Blood Sect's station, it could just barely meet the basic cultivation needs of the disciples; if they had more elixir pills and Spirit Stones, the disciples could cultivate faster.

Especially now, when the nature's spiritual energy at the station had greatly improved, this too significantly accelerated the cultivators' cultivation.

Currently, the Righteous Blood Sect had few people available, so Shui Yuan was in charge of these supplies, distributing them to the disciples monthly.

Leaving the matter of recruiting people to Shui Yuan, Lu Ye entered the station using the Heaven's Augury Pillar.

Inside the Heaven's Augury Hall, two disciples were on guard, cultivating in meditation; perhaps startled by Lu Ye's arrival, they both opened their eyes, and seeing it was Lu Ye, they hastily greeted him, "Fifth Senior Brother."

Lu Ye nodded slightly, stepped out of the Heaven's Augury Hall, and looked outside, but saw no one.

Curious, he sent out a message.

While waiting, he took several Blood Red Trouts from his storage sack, lifted his hand to his mouth, and whistled.

A huge shadow descended from the sky. Little Gray flew down from a nearby spirit mountaintop, and Lu Ye fed it several fish as a reward.

"Fifth Senior Brother," Guk Yang's voice rang out, having apparently rushed over immediately after receiving Lu Ye's message.

"Where is everyone?" Lu Ye asked.

"They're all in cultivation," Guk Yang explained.

Only then did Lu Ye understand why there were no people around—the tremendous boost in nature's spiritual energy had ignited the disciples' passion for cultivation, with everyone meditating in their own residences or the training room.

Now the spiritual energy of the Righteous Blood Sect's station had already reached a limit, so the effect of the spirit energy gathering arrays in the training room was almost negligible, and not just the arrays, but also the Spirit Energy Gathering Spirit Runes Lu Ye previously constructed.

The effect of gathering spirit was greatest when the spiritual energy was neither too high nor too low; with the current situation at the Righteous Blood Sect's station, it was practically useless.

That is to say, the Righteous Blood Sect's station no longer needed any training rooms; as long as one was still in the station, no matter where they were, the efficiency of their cultivation would be the same.

"Hua Ci mentioned that you guys properly planned the station while I was away," Lu Ye said while grooming Little Gray's feathers.
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"It was Sixth Senior Sister's idea, also considering Second Senior Sister's opinion. We just helped out, doing the tough work."

"Show me around," Lu Ye patted Little Gray, signaling it to return to its own spirit mountaintop, then summoned his own spirit ark, called to Guk Yang, and took him up into the sky together.

Guk Yang was clearly experiencing weapon control-flying for the first time, and found it novel; however, he was a rather steady person. Without such a disposition, Hua Ci wouldn't have appointed him as Deputy Governor. He quickly steadied his mind, stood on the spirit ark, looked down, and pointed to a building, "This is the newly built Council Hall. Before, we used to hold meetings in the Heaven's Augury Hall, but Sixth Senior Sister said that wasn't quite appropriate, so she had us build a Council Hall."

"Over there is the visitors hall. If there are guests visiting, they can be received there."

"This area is the Spirit Plant zone. It's not small; Sixth Senior Sister said that our sect has been declining for many years with not much saved up. Initially, the Spirit Stones and elixir pills distributed were subsidized by Second Senior Sister, and later by you, Fifth Senior Brother, from defeating enemies. So, we opened up a Spirit Plant area here, where we can plant some medicinal herbs and spirit flowers and rare herbs, thus reducing the sect's burden. If there is a disciple interested in this, they can also claim a zone to plant whatever they want. However, after the harvest, part of the yield needs to be turned over to the sect."

"This here is the residential area. Sixth Senior Sister said that the living places don't need to be very fancy, so she chose this area. Anyone who is an official disciple of Righteous Blood Sect can come here to build their own house. As for disciples in name and dependent independent cultivators, they are located over there."

"This area is for more special lodging, the environment is better, all are separate small buildings. Sixth Senior Sister said that inevitably, many people will come to visit the Righteous Blood Sect in the future, so we built ten buildings in advance. If necessary, we can still add more since there's enough space reserved."

"Over there is a place for disciples to spar…"

As the spirit ark continued to sweep through the sky, Guk Yang slowly explained, revealing the entire face of the Righteous Blood Sect's station to Lu Ye.

It must be said, the station had really transformed during his absence. After this uniform planning and setup, the entire station had a feeling of being stable, orderly, and thriving.

The spirit ark carried Lu Ye and Guk Yang to land in front of the Council Hall. Lu Ye stepped into the hall, where a center chair, ridiculously large, awaited, surrounded by rows of chairs with plenty of space between them. This Council Hall could easily accommodate a hundred people.

Lu Ye walked over to that center chair and took a seat, the surroundings feeling sparse; calling it a chair seemed less accurate than calling it a couch, entirely suitable for sleeping.

Guk Yang stood in front of him.

"Guk Yang."

"Present."

"Do you know what your biggest problem is?"

Guk Yang thought for a moment, then honestly shook his head, "I don't know."

"You just led me along, explaining how Second Senior Sister did this and that; of course, I'm not saying that's wrong. The sect's plans are made by Hua Ci, and it's understandable that you talked to me this way, but being overly cautious isn't necessarily a good thing. Your Second Senior Sister is no longer the Deputy Governor. Now, you are the Deputy Governor, and who knows who will be next."

"I am now at Spirit Stream Level 9. Once I advance one more level, I will enter the core circle. By then your Second Senior Sister will surely leave as well. With neither me nor her in the garrison, you will have to take charge, and you will need your own opinions and judgments even more."

"Governor, Deputy Governor, they sound nice, but they aren't particularly good positions, as you must have already realized. In the early stages of cultivation, time is the most precious, yet Governors and Deputy Governors need to worry about the sect. Of course, our sect doesn't require much attention, but there will always be times when duties interfere with your cultivation. Just make sure you don't neglect your own cultivation."

Guk Yang replied earnestly, "Don't worry, Senior Brother, I will redouble my efforts."

"Another thing, you're already at Spirit Stream Level 7. You need to start looking for someone who can take over your roles soon because once you reach Spirit Stream Level 8, you'll be leaving the outer circle."

"Yes."

"Do you have the sect's disciple ledger with you?"

"I do."

"Let me see it."

Guk Yang quickly handed over a ledger, which Lu Ye took and perused.

Although there were six or seven hundred cultivators in the station, there were fewer than twenty official disciples. The rest, about two hundred, were disciples in name, and many others were independent cultivators.

After a brief search in the ledger, Lu Ye recognized some names, but most were unfamiliar. He handed the ledger back to Guk Yang. "Give me two days to filter out a hundred people from this list. The sect will accept new official disciples, and we should also include the independent cultivators who performed well during this period as disciples in name."

Guk Yang received it seriously, "No need for two days; half a day is enough."

"Go ahead."

Guk Yang turned and walked outside.

"By the way, where is Phong Yue from the Phong family?" Lu Ye's voice suddenly rose.

Guk Yang stopped, saying, "She's usually over by the Spirit Plant area, taking care of the spirit plants. Nobody asked her to do it; she took it upon herself. Second Senior Sister used to give her some Spirit Stones and elixir pills seeing her plight. When disciples get injured during sparring, they also go to her for healing. Besides, she has been meticulously instructing those who wanted to become healing cultivators."

"Now she seems quite opinionated, doesn't she?"

Guk Yang's face turned red.

"Have her come see me."

"Yes." Guk Yang turned and left.

Soon after, a timid figure appeared in the Council Hall, resembling a bullied young bride, standing three yards away from Lu Ye, head bowed, silent, her breathing suppressed to the utmost.

With Lu Ye's victorious return, the entire Righteous Blood Sect was jubilant, but if anyone was terrified, it was undoubtedly Phong Yue.

During Lu Ye's absence, she had integrated into the Righteous Blood Sect. Though without an official title, her identity as a healing cultivator and her own skills had won over most of the sect's cultivators.

Technically speaking, she was considered an auxiliary member of the Righteous Blood Sect.

In the presence of any other member of the Righteous Blood Sect, she could converse freely, but in front of Lu Ye alone, she didn't dare to breathe heavily.

Having heard earlier that Lu Ye had returned, she had hastily hidden, afraid of being seen by him, because usually at this time, she would be tending to the spirit plants, which Lu Ye and Guk Yang would have seen during their inspections of the Spirit Plant area.

Upon hearing Guk Yang's message that she should come to the Council Hall to meet Lu Ye, Phong Yue was so frightened she almost died on the spot.

But she couldn't escape this situation. Arriving here terrified, she didn't know what miserable fate awaited her...

"Level 8 now?" Lu Ye's voice resonated in the empty great hall.

Phong Yue's face drained of color, her body shivering more intensely, "Yes."

"Come here!"

Phong Yue turned pale, wanting to refuse, but lacking the courage. Despite the many days that had passed, the memory of the blade swinging toward her at the Phong family station was still her nightmare. Had she not knelt quickly that day, she would have been under three feet of weeds by now.