Chapter 967: Tianfu Sect

Yunzhou is a large coastal province located in the eastern part of the Great Jin. It boasts numerous port towns, and many overseas cultivators frequently appear in its coastal markets, exchanging various demonic beast materials for inland cultivation resources. Consequently, the major markets in this province thrive all year round, and the sects managing these markets enjoy a steady influx of wealth, receiving substantial spiritual stone income annually.

Even some more remote small markets, if strategically located, also generate considerable income.

Kaijiang Town is a small settlement about two hundred li from the coast. A few li from the town lies a small mountain. This mountain is only two to three hundred zhang high, covers an area of over ten li, and possesses a small, inferior spiritual vein. Even slightly larger immortal cultivation families would deem it insignificant.

Yet, in this small mountain, which can barely be called a spiritual mountain, resides a minor immortal cultivation sect named "Tianfu Gate" (Heavenly Talisman Gate). This sect is almost at the very bottom of immortal cultivation sects, with barely over a hundred members, including the sect leader, elders, and disciples. Thus, despite the small spiritual vein, it can just about accommodate the sect's disciples.

Although Tianfu Gate appears to be in decline, it has a long history.

While it's not an ancient sect like Taiyi Sect or Yinluo Sect, which have existed since antiquity, tens of thousands of years ago, the Venerable Tianfu, who founded this sect, once shook the entire Great Jin with his self-created Three Secret Talismans. The sect almost made it into the ranks of the top ten orthodox sects of that era. At one point, the sect had tens of thousands of members and dominated an entire province.

However, what made it also broke it! While Tianfu Gate possessed certain attainments in talisman crafting, its primary cultivation methods were unremarkable. Consequently, after a few generations, the sect rapidly declined. Tens of thousands of years later, Tianfu Gate now barely maintains its lineage, relying solely on some special secret arts related to talismans.

With such a fallen sect, high-level cultivators rarely visited, apart from those from other small sects in similar circumstances. The Tianfu Gate disciples on daily duty were naturally very idle, usually spending their time meditating, cultivating, or chatting.

On this particular day, two Qi Condensation stage disciples guarding the mountain gate were sighing and looked dispirited.

"Senior Brother Li, is the market really going to close?" asked a handsome male disciple, about sixteen or seventeen years old, mumbling to the other. "Even though I'm new to the sect, I know that the San Yuan Market accounts for almost half of our sect's income. Without this source of spiritual stones, it will be even harder for our sect to survive."

"Whether it closes or not isn't something our sect can decide," replied the other person, a slightly chubby young man in his mid-twenties, sounding helpless. "A few days ago, Lingfeng Sect issued an ultimatum to our sect leader: either the market merges with theirs, or it closes within three months. They're simply bullying us with their power!"

"Merging the market, that sounds... acceptable?" the younger disciple asked in surprise.

"Acceptable? What are you talking about?" the young man scoffed, indignation evident in his voice. "I heard from an Uncle-Master that after the merger, we won't be allowed to interfere in any market business, and Lingfeng Sect will only give us a few thousand spiritual stones annually. What's that enough for? It's not even a third of our previous income."

"They're giving so little, how can our sect agree to that? Even if Lingfeng Sect is powerful, how would Golden Haze Mountain and Bright Sun Valley agree?" the younger disciple said, his eyes darting around in confusion. "The San Yuan Market is managed jointly by those two sects and our Tianfu Gate. If the three of us unite, we won't need to fear Lingfeng Sect too much."

"Hmph, if it were just Lingfeng Sect, our sect wouldn't need to fear them overly much," the young man explained. "But I heard that there seems to be the shadow of the Shayang Sect behind this whole affair. That's a genuine mid-tier sect, not something small sects like us can contend with. Today, the sect leader has invited the leaders of the other two sects to the mountain, surely to discuss countermeasures. Those two sects aren't in a much stronger position than our Tianfu Gate, so they won't easily give up the market income."

"Shayang Sect? This... this is indeed not someone our Tianfu Gate can afford to provoke. It seems our sect will have a difficult time getting through this." The younger disciple felt deeply disheartened upon hearing the name Shayang Sect.

"If the sect's income drops significantly, the spiritual stones we disciples receive annually will naturally decrease drastically." He sighed as if resigning himself to the situation. "Forget it. These matters aren't for us low-level disciples to meddle with; let the sect leader and elders handle everything. In any case, no matter how bad our sect gets, it's still better than being a rogue cultivator. Let's just diligently guard the mountain gate. And stop discussing this matter, otherwise, if any other Uncle-Masters find out, our spiritual stones will be deducted again... Huh, what's that?" He suddenly exclaimed, having glanced casually up at the sky.

The younger disciple, hearing this, stared in astonishment and looked up as well. In the distance, a spiritual light flickered in the sky, and then a several-zhang-long azure rainbow suddenly appeared, streaking towards them.

"Which senior is that? It seems to be heading our way!" the younger disciple cried out in alarm. The azure rainbow's escape speed was incredibly fast, and in a blink of an eye, it was close by. Although he had only recently joined the sect, such an astonishing escape light was definitely not something the few Foundation Establishment stage Uncle-Masters in their sect could display, which naturally made him very uneasy.

"I don't know, maybe they're looking for our Grand Uncle-Master," the young man replied, equally bewildered, trying to reassure himself.

A moment later, the azure rainbow reached the vicinity of Baizhu Mountain. As if spotting the two Tianfu Gate disciples from afar, the escape light flickered, and the azure rainbow descended directly, its radiance dimming.

A young man in a green robe, appearing to be in his twenties, materialized a few zhang in front of them, with his hands clasped behind his back.

"Is this Baizhu Mountain's Tianfu Gate?" the young man asked calmly, his appearance ordinary but his presence extraordinary, as he glanced at the faintly visible sect gate restriction behind the two disciples. This was Han Li, who had been lying low since the trade fair. Four months had passed since his escape from the ancient demon.

"This is indeed Baizhu Mountain. Is there anything this junior can do for you, Senior?" Although the two disciples' cultivation was shallow and they couldn't discern Han Li's true cultivation level, they instantly recognized that the cultivator before them was definitely a formidable senior, at least of the Core Formation stage or higher. After exchanging glances, the young man hastily bowed deeply and spoke.

"It's good that I haven't come to the wrong place. I've brought something that has a deep connection with your esteemed sect, and I need to see your sect leader. Please inform them." Han Li nodded, speaking calmly.

"Yes, Senior, please wait a moment." The young man fumbled for a sound transmission talisman, whispered a few words into it, and then quickly threw it backwards.

The talisman instantly transformed into a flash of fire, disappearing into the restriction in a fleeting moment.

Han Li appeared motionless where he stood, but without revealing any sign, he had already swept his divine sense lightly across the small mountain. Although there was a layer of restriction, Han Li could still vaguely sense the general situation.

As a result, his brows furrowed slightly.

Although he knew Tianfu Gate wouldn't be large before coming, for an immortal cultivation sect to have only over a hundred members, and only one Core Formation stage cultivator's aura detected on the mountain, it seemed this sect was indeed just a minor, low-tier sect, as the elderly Yun-named individual from the Netherworld had described.

This time, if it weren't for the fact that the wicked flood dragons appeared in Huayun Province, and he had also learned the method for refining spirit-descending talismans, he wouldn't have specifically come to such a place.

A moment later, a flurry of yellow light flickered behind the two gate-guarding disciples, and then a mountain gate over ten zhang tall materialized.

Several cultivators then emerged from the mountain gate, walking side by side.

These cultivators bypassed the two disciples, and after their gazes swept towards Han Li, several of them instantly changed their expressions. An elderly man in a yellow brocade robe even rushed forward a few steps, bowed deeply to Han Li, and spoke with extreme reverence:

"This junior is Yue Zhen, Sect Leader of Tianfu Gate. We were unaware of Senior's esteemed presence at our humble sect and failed to greet you from afar. We hope Senior will pardon our oversight!"

This person, a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, similarly couldn't discern Han Li's exact cultivation level. However, as a sect leader, his experience was naturally far superior to that of the two disciples. He had also encountered Nascent Soul stage cultivators a few times. Therefore, upon sensing a similarly powerful aura from Han Li, he couldn't help but feel terrified.

Such a powerful cultivator could likely obliterate their small sect with a mere flick of a finger. It was truly unpredictable whether their visit to Tianfu Gate would bring fortune or disaster!

When he first received the sound transmission talisman, he thought it was just a Core Formation stage cultivator. To be safe, he had asked someone to fetch the sect's only elder, the Core Formation stage Uncle-Master, before coming out. But now, it seemed entirely unnecessary.

"Heh heh! There's no need for you to be alarmed. I've come here simply at someone else's request; I bear no ill will," Han Li said, chuckling softly as he saw the cultivators' uneasy expressions.

"At someone else's request? This junior is a bit confused. However, this is not the place to speak. Senior, please come up to the mountain and sit; it won't be too late to explain then." Yue Zhen felt his heart ease upon hearing this, and then, with a thought, he proactively invited Han Li up the mountain.

"Up the mountain, hmm, alright. This matter indeed cannot be explained clearly in just a few words," Han Li mused for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

"Then please enter, Senior." Yue Zhen was overjoyed and quickly stepped aside, gesturing for Han Li to go first as a sign of respect.

Han Li didn't stand on ceremony, lifting his leg and stepping through the mountain gate.

The other cultivators followed respectfully and obediently behind.

Baizhu Mountain was not large, so there weren't many buildings at the peak. Besides a main hall and some pavilions, the disciples had separate cultivation areas. Han Li was directly led into the main hall by the Tianfu Gate Sect Leader.

To Han Li's slight surprise, there were two other middle-aged cultivators sitting in the hall, not dressed in Tianfu Gate attire.

Upon seeing Han Li and sensing his presence, these two instantly leaped from their chairs in shock and rushed over to pay their respects.

Han Li waved his hand dismissively, then unceremoniously sat directly on a chair.

The other cultivators dared not sit and could only stand by, waiting. Yue Zhen, with a hint of apology, spoke to the two cultivators from other sects:

"Fellow Daoists, our sect has an esteemed guest. It seems we'll have to reschedule our discussion on that matter."

"Heh heh, with this Senior's esteemed presence, it's only natural that Daoist should attend to them first."

"Indeed. Brother Lu and I will take our leave for now."

The two cultivators quickly expressed their understanding, displaying expressions of unusual envy. They then bowed once more to Han Li and took their leave, exiting the main hall.

Almost simultaneously, a spiritual light flashed outside, and a beam of white light shot directly into the hall. A white-robed old man materialized within the light.

Seeing this, Yue Zhen and the other cultivators immediately beamed with joy and hurried forward to bow, greeting him as "Uncle-Master Wen" and "Senior Uncle Wen."