Chapter 63: Bridging the Two Continents

Led by Jiang Fuyan, Long Aotian and his group soon arrived at the Morning Light Sect in the Myriad Demon Mountain Range. The moment they stepped into the sect, Long Aotian and the others realized what kind of lives they had been living before; describing it as a purgatory on earth was no exaggeration. The sect was a true holy land for cultivation, far surpassing even the Heavenly Origin Sacred Domain. At that moment, all they wanted was to stay and cultivate here, but without seeing Liao Chen first, such thoughts could only remain fantasies.

Upon meeting Liao Chen, the group cupped their fists in salute and said, "Greetings, Sect Master!"

Liao Chen nodded and said, "There is no need for such formality, everyone, please take a seat."

With a wave of his hand, rows of meditation cushions materialized on both sides of the hall. Without standing on ceremony, the group sat down in an orderly fashion. Liao Chen produced a package of top-grade Enlightenment Tea and tossed it to Jiang Fuyan, saying, "Patriarch Jiang, you have worked hard during this period. This package of Enlightenment Tea is your reward."

Accepting it without hesitation, Jiang Fuyan cupped his fists and said, "Thank you for the reward, My Lord! If Your Lordship has no further instructions, this subordinate will take his leave."

Liao Chen naturally had no intention of keeping him for a meal, as the man was not yet qualified. He simply nodded and said, "Since Patriarch Jiang is here, you may go and check on that girl Jiang Qian."

Jiang Fuyan acknowledged the command and vanished in a flash. He possessed self-awareness; the Jiang family was dispensable to the Morning Light Sect, and as a mere head of a minor family, he was essentially an errand boy for the sect. Leaving early was undoubtedly the wisest choice.

After Jiang Fuyan departed, Liao Chen looked at Long Aotian and the others, asking, "How do you all find this sect?"

He Chengfeng was the first to speak up, unable to contain himself. "My Lord, previously I would have sworn that the Heavenly Origin Sacred Domain was the ultimate holy land of cultivation, and everyone took immense pride in joining it. But upon arriving at our sect, I realized how superficial and narrow-minded I was. Compared to our sect, the Heavenly Origin Sacred Domain is nothing more than a piece of garbage. Even if they begged me to go, I wouldn't step foot there."

Li Yuan chimed in from the side, "My Lord, I recall that the Heavenly Origin Sacred Domain also possesses a single Enlightenment Tea tree, but its quality falls far short of the top-grade variety. Yet in our sect, top-grade Enlightenment Tea is as common as cabbages in the street, planted in neat rows all over the place. It is simply unimaginable! If other sects were to find out that we possess so much top-grade Enlightenment Tea, wouldn't they be consumed by envy, jealousy, and hatred?"

Long Aotian nodded in agreement as well. "My Lord, the moment I entered the sect, I sensed several great earth spiritual veins here, and none of them are of low grade. If I am not mistaken, they are at least top-grade spiritual veins. Even the Heavenly Origin Sacred Domain possesses only one such vein. The foundation of our sect is truly unfathomable!"

Seeing that they still did not fully grasp the true foundation of the Morning Light Sect, Liao Chen explained, "The sect currently possesses a full two Emperor-realm spiritual veins, alongside four top-grade spiritual veins. And these are only temporary; as the sect grows stronger, we will inevitably acquire even more spiritual veins. Now that you have all joined the Morning Light Sect, I hereby announce your positions and duties: Long Aotian, Li Yuan, and He Chengfeng, your cultivation is at the Emperor realm, so you shall serve as Outer Sect Elders. Here are your Outer Sect Elder tokens! Once you accumulate enough mission contribution points, you may be promoted to Inner Sect Elders. As for your subordinates, according to their cultivation levels, those at the Great Saint realm shall serve as Outer Sect Elders, and those at the Saint realm shall serve as Outer Sect Protectors."

The three men accepted their identity tokens and bowed gratefully to Liao Chen. Armed with these identities, they were no longer independent members of a minor faction, and their joy was beyond words. Though the others felt a tinge of regret, the thought that even their leaders were merely Outer Sect Elders in this sect instantly brought them a sense of relief.

Liao Chen then turned his gaze to Zhao Wuji, Qin Feng, and Wang Ze, saying, "Wuji, according to the rules of the sect, the current cultivation levels of the three of you qualify you as Inner Sect Elders. Here are your identity tokens. Next, you may each choose a Mission Pagoda at will and take charge of guarding it! If any disciples come to seek guidance, you must not shirk your duties and must do your utmost to instruct them."

"Yes, My Lord!" Zhao Wuji and the two others accepted their tokens and vanished in a flash. Summoned by Liao Chen, they held absolute loyalty to him, meaning the rank of Inner Sect Elder was well-deserved and not a slight in the least.

"Very well, since this is everyone's first time entering the sect, let us all taste the sect's Enlightenment Tea!" Liao Chen signaled Li Yuanyuan to pour tea for everyone. The girl's stunning beauty left Li Yuan and the others momentarily dazed. To prevent any misunderstandings, Liao Chen clarified, "This is my fifth disciple, named Li Yuanyuan. She was previously the Empress of the Great Yong imperial court."

"Yuanyuan greets all seniors!" Li Yuanyuan saluted the group with poised grace.

A jolt went through Li Yuan's heart; he thought to himself that it was fortunate he had not made any flirtatious remarks just then, or he might never have secured his position as an Outer Sect Elder. The others felt the exact same way. After all, the girl was the personal disciple of the Sect Master; offending her would mean expulsion from the sect, and quite possibly the loss of their lives.

Following this, the group showered Li Yuanyuan with endless flattery, praising her to the skies. Any other thoughts vanished without a trace, and before long, everyone was utterly astounded by the top-grade Enlightenment Tea. After all, this was no ordinary tea leaf; even though they had previously worked as mercenaries with some wealth, they had never tasted anything so exquisitely delicious.

As the name suggested, the purpose of Enlightenment Tea was to aid in comprehension. There are three thousand Great Daos and one hundred thousand minor paths; every cultivator, whether human, beast, or of any other race, must comprehend the Heavenly Dao to continuously advance. Yet comprehending the Dao was never an easy task. Born in accordance with heaven and earth laws, Enlightenment Tea possessed wondrous efficacy in helping cultivators comprehend the laws of the Heavenly Dao.

The sweet taste of the Enlightenment Tea was merely the flavor of the tea leaves themselves. After drinking a single cup of the tea liquor, the group immediately attained a sudden state of comprehension. None of them wanted to miss out on this first opportunity for enlightenment, as it was said that the effect of the first cup of Enlightenment Tea was the strongest, while subsequent cups yielded diminishing returns.

Of course, this was not necessarily absolute. After all, those fortunate enough to drink a cup of top-grade Enlightenment Tea were exceedingly few, and no official statistics existed regarding the potency of drinking multiple cups. Perhaps that rumor was deliberately fabricated by powerful beings who owned Enlightenment Tea to deceive others so that no one else would covet their tea.

For Liao Chen, however, none of this mattered. Having time to drink Enlightenment Tea every day, he had never felt that the tea had any significant effect on his own comprehension of the Dao. Presenting a large package of Enlightenment Tea to the Jiang family head, Jiang Fuyan, earlier was the best proof of this. Compared to Enlightenment Tea, Liao Chen preferred the cultivation experience points rewarded by his cheat system. The more points awarded, the happier he was—though accumulating cultivation experience points required constantly completing system missions. Fortunately, many hidden missions offered cultivation experience points; otherwise, he shuddered to imagine how many points would be required to advance to the Celestial Human realm.

At this thought, Liao Chen could not help but sigh. Securing more experience points going forward was of paramount importance. As for how to acquire them, he already had a plan. The primary choice was to initiate sect recruitment once again, which would yield a massive amount of experience. Of course, this was contingent on the sect recruiting disciples with exceptional talent—ideally seventh-grade talent or higher. However, such prodigies had become exceedingly rare throughout the entire Great Yong Dynasty, so Liao Chen decided to expand the recruitment scale to the entire Qianyuan Continent.

After Li Yuan and the others finished their periods of comprehension, Liao Chen issued missions to these Outer Sect Elders and Protectors: "Everyone, do you not wish to earn sect pill rewards and contribution points? I now have a mission that requires your collective cooperation: travel across the Qianyuan Continent to publicize the sect's recruitment. If any recruits lack the means to travel here yourselves, you may take charge of escorting them back. The time limit is one year. One year from now, everyone must bring all candidates participating in the assessment back to the sect. Do you have the confidence to accomplish this?"

Hearing this, the group felt it was a trivial task beneath their true capabilities, yet they nodded in agreement without hesitation. With the issuance of the mission, the entire sect began operating at high speed.

Once Li Yuan and the others departed, Liao Chen summoned Duan Yiming and his family.

"Yiming, which level have you practiced the *Heavenly Dao Puppetry* to, which I bestowed upon you?"

"Reporting to Master, this disciple has practiced the *Heavenly Dao Puppetry* to the mid-stage of the second level. Refining Mysterious King realm puppets is no longer a problem!"

"Very good! You must continue to work hard. There is only so much Master can teach you; your ultimate cultivation path relies mostly upon yourself."

"Yes, Master!"

Liao Chen then turned his gaze to Elder Duan. "Old Duan, what standard has your weapon-forging technique reached recently?"

Elder Duan replied respectfully, "Reporting to My Lord, I have already mastered the forging of top-grade spirit weapons, and I imagine it won't be long before I can forge precious treasures!"

Liao Chen nodded. "Splendid. Old Duan, if you need anything, just speak to Elder Azure Dragon. Should any disciples of the sect wish to learn weapon forging, you are free to admit them into your Weapon Pavilion!"

"Yes, My Lord!" Elder Duan was overjoyed; with this permission, his Weapon Pavilion was bound to soar.

Finally, Liao Chen looked at Lady Lei and inquired, "Lady Lei, how is the construction of your warship progressing?"

Lady Lei answered with absolute confidence, "Reporting to My Lord, this subordinate is already capable of constructing three-star warships. As long as there are sufficient artifact refiners, batch-producing three-star warships will be no issue at all!"

Liao Chen nodded once more. "Good! Since that is the case, whatever you need, just make your request to Elder Azure Dragon. All resource allocation for constructing the warships is under your sole authority."

"Yes, My Lord! This subordinate will certainly not fail the mission." Lady Lei's heart was filled with boundless excitement; Liao Chen's promise undoubtedly elevated her status within the sect by a massive margin.