Chapter 163: Fish Lian, Siblings of the Luo Family

The first to step forward was Liu Wenbai, the genius from the Liu family. In Chen Mobai's absence, as a scion of an influential family and possessing excellent three-spirit root talent, he had already rallied most of the rogue cultivators, effectively becoming their leader.

“Junior Brother Liu, are these rogue cultivators all recruited by the sect from other parts of Yun Nation?”

Chen Mobai had joined the Divine Wood Sect for cultivation and the Foundation Establishment Pill, completely uninterested in power struggles.

“Yes, there are four cultivation market cities in Yun Nation in total. Our Naxi area is the closest to the Divine Wood Sect, so it was chosen as the gathering point for this departure.”

Although Liu Wenbai had already brought most of the rogue cultivators from the Naxi Market City under his influence, his attitude towards Chen Mobai remained as respectful as before.

“Alright.”

Chen Mobai nodded, then found a less crowded spot and sat down.

Liu Wenbai was a bit perplexed by his actions. Wasn't this person quite ambitious for power? However, since Chen Mobai wasn't stepping forward, he could only grit his teeth and reluctantly return to his previous position.

On the streets of Naxi Market City, the cultivators who had distinguished themselves from Yun Nation's four major cultivation market cities and joined the Divine Wood Sect stood distinctly in four separate groups. Among them, the group to the east was led by a stern-faced young man in black. The western group clustered around two late-stage Qi Cultivation realm cultivators, a man and a woman. Only the group to the north was disorganized, a loose collection of individuals.

The southern side, naturally, represented the Naxi Market City. Although many stood behind Liu Wenbai, after seeing Chen Mobai approach, their expressions hesitated, and some even jogged directly over to stand by Chen Mobai's side.

“What are you doing here?”

Chen Mobai couldn't help but look surprised when he saw the person. It was Zhuo Ming.

“Among our current intake, you possess the most potential to become a true disciple. I'm aligning myself with you now; if you successfully establish your foundation in the future, it will be a significant contribution to your rise.”

“Oh, you trust me that much?”

Chen Mobai had seen that Liu Wenbai wanted him to step forward and directly confront the Divine Wood Sect disciples from the other three areas. Having decided to act cautiously in the Heavenly River Realm, especially after the successive ambush attempts by the rogue sword-cultivator brothers and the Southern Mountain Bandits, Chen Mobai was now singularly focused on improving his cultivation and achieving Foundation Establishment. He had no interest whatsoever in these troublesome matters that would clearly consume a lot of his energy.

“Of course. You have the best talent among our intake; you’re already at the seventh level of Qi Cultivation at such a young age. If I don’t favor you, who else would I favor?”

As Zhuo Ming finished speaking, her gaze subtly darted towards Liu Wenbai. Chen Mobai gave a wry smile and ignored her.

Just then, five or six more rogue cultivators walked over and greeted him.

“Senior Brother Chen.”

Chen Mobai didn't dismiss them; he calmly nodded. Before long, nearly half of the rogue cultivators who had been with Liu Wenbai had come over to this spot. Even if Chen Mobai wanted to keep a low profile, his extraordinary talent revealed during the spirit root testing, and the fact that a true disciple of the Divine Wood Sect personally escorted him, led many rogue cultivators who disliked cultivation families to automatically gravitate towards him.

Liu Wenbai seemed to have anticipated this, his expression unchanged as he calmly stood at the very front of his group.

*This person's self-composure is quite good,* Chen Mobai silently appraised him.

“Are there any individuals we should pay particular attention to?”

A voice reached Zhuo Ming's ear, and she immediately pointed to the stern-faced young man in black and the young boy and girl standing at the very front of the other two groups.

“His name is Yu Lian, a genius with a two-spirit root. He’s already at the eighth level of Qi Cultivation and is highly regarded by Senior Brother Yuan. It’s said that Martial Uncle Shan also intends to take him as a disciple and pass on his legacy.”

Chen Mobai looked at the stern-faced young man, knowing that this person was likely the Divine Wood Sect's biggest gain from this spirit-crossing mission in Yun Nation.

“Is he a rogue cultivator or from an influential family?”

“He hails from a small sect. His master passed away three years ago, and he is now the sect master of that small sect. However, to achieve Foundation Establishment, he resolutely decided to join the Divine Wood Sect.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Mobai's eyes narrowed slightly as he carefully observed Yu Lian. Then, he subtly gestured with his eyes towards the remarkably handsome young boy and girl.

“These are the geniuses from the Luo family. The boy is Luo Yixiu, and the girl is Luo Yixuan, both possessing three-spirit roots. The former is at the eighth level of Qi Cultivation, and the latter is at the seventh. They have always been raised in the Luo family’s main residence, Tianfeng Mountain. It’s unclear why they were allowed out and sent to the Divine Wood Sect this time.”

Although Zhuo Ming appeared indifferent, she had actually thoroughly investigated all the outstanding geniuses from Yun Nation's four major market cities during these past few days.

“Is there no one notable from the north?”

Chen Mobai pointed again to the disorganized group, and Zhuo Ming shook her head, explaining the reason.

“That area borders the Snow Nation. Two years ago, when the Blowing Snow Palace extensively conducted their spirit-crossing ritual, many rogue cultivators had already gone to the Snow Nation to participate in spirit root testing. Those with exceptional spirit roots were already recruited prematurely.”

“Oh, does the Divine Wood Sect not interfere with such matters?”

“That, I don't know.”

Zhuo Ming shook her head. How could a small rogue cultivator like her inquire about the conflicts among the higher echelons?

After listening, Chen Mobai nodded gently. He noticed that Yu Lian and the Luo siblings were also observing him, and he naturally smiled back at them. All three responded with indifference. Under the watchful eyes of the Divine Wood Sect's true disciples, no one dared to cause trouble.

Time quickly advanced to the next morning. Amidst a rumbling roar, a massive airship appeared above Naxi Market City.

“Everyone aboard, maintain order.”

Yuan Chizhi's voice rang out, and then the airship slowly descended. Chen Mobai saw a burly, bearded middle-aged man standing at the highest point of the airship's bow. Yuan Chizhi and Ding Ying stood respectfully on his left and right sides. Clearly, this was Shan Hongyi, the Divine Wood Sect's Foundation Establishment elder stationed in Yun Nation.

Yu Lian, without any hesitation, was the first to jump aboard, then bowed to the three Divine Wood Sect members. With him leading the way, the Luo siblings also followed. Liu Wenbai was eager to go, but just as he was about to board, his expression suddenly became hesitant. After much consideration, he walked over to Chen Mobai's side.

“Senior Brother Chen, please go first.”

Chen Mobai was quite surprised. He truly hadn't expected to hold such prestige in Liu Wenbai's mind. He had even been considering letting things take their course and handing over the position of spokesman for the Naxi Market City's new Divine Wood Sect disciples for this intake. He hadn't expected Liu Wenbai to know how to take a step back even in this situation.

Since the atmosphere had been built up to this extent, there was no reason for Chen Mobai to decline. He was the fourth to board the airship. Liu Wenbai followed. Once those five had boarded, the remaining rogue cultivators also stopped holding back, choosing empty sections of the deck and jumping on.

“Is this the person you mentioned?” Shan Hongyi asked Yuan Chizhi, who was beside him. The latter knew that Chen Mobai hadn't arrived yesterday, and the fact that another true disciple personally went to pick him up sparked the interest of even a Foundation Establishment elder like himself due to the importance placed on him.

“Yes, Senior Brother E believes he is someone worth nurturing.”