Chapter 246: Dragon Horse Prison and Beast Arena (16,000)

"Isn't this wrong? How is the Tradition Hall so massive?" Long Xiao exclaimed the moment he stepped inside. He looked up and asked, "Is this the sky or the land?"

"The saying 'the Tradition Hall has its own heavenly cave' is to be taken literally," Chen Shijie said. "It was constructed by piecing together ninety-nine Heavenly Cave fragments."

"From the outside, the building doesn't look large, but the space of just the first floor is actually bigger than Gucheng city."

Long Xiao clicked his tongue in wonder, "Truly befitting the grandeur of an ancient divine sect."

Zhao Xing shook his head. "This was built after the Blazing Fire Sect joined the Great Zhou. It used ninety-nine Heavenly Cave fragments, and over a hundred thousand artificers participated in its construction. It was overseen by 'Huang Jian,' the Grand Minister of Works during the Great Ancestor's reign."

"So, it has nothing to do with whether it's a divine sect or not; it was purely a national project. It's uncertain if the Blazing Fire Divine Sect could have built it during their time; they likely wouldn't have had that many people."

"Who are you to dare critique an ancient divine sect?" Just as Zhao Xing finished speaking, a middle-aged man in a yellow robe passing by looked over.

Zhao Xing looked back and saw that the man was dressed in an ancient style, holding a fly whisk, and looking at him with displeasure.

"What did he say that was wrong?" Long Xiao asked curiously.

The man in yellow scoffed, "It's true that Huang Jian, the Grand Minister of Works during the Great Ancestor's time, oversaw the construction of the Daoist Academy's Tradition project, but the Heavenly Cave fragments were materials passed down by the Blazing Fire Sect."

"Out of the one hundred eighty-seven thousand six hundred forty-five people involved in the construction, thirty-one thousand six hundred seventy-two were disciples of the Blazing Fire Sect."

"Before the Great Zhou was established, the Blazing Fire Divine Sect was the state religion of 'Southern Tang.' They cultivated no less than ten million disciples. How can you say the divine sect didn't have that many people?"

"I stand corrected," Zhao Xing quickly bowed, "My knowledge is shallow. Please forgive my offense, senior."

It was clear at a glance that this man was an old pedant and a rather rigid 'traditionalist.'

Zhao Xing didn't want to argue about such matters, which would only cause trouble and risk his identity being discovered.

The man in yellow returned a bow, then huffed, "In the future, you should be careful with your words and actions. Do not recklessly comment on the divine sect."

"Yes," Zhao Xing said, appearing humble and receptive, then pulled Long Xiao and Chen Shijie away.

"That Daoist felt strange to me," Long Xiao said, glancing in the direction the man had left. "Oh, I remember now. His demeanor and actions are a bit like those unorthodox cultivators I saw in the Southern Wilderness. Old Chen, don't you think so?"

"Hmm," Chen Shijie nodded.

Zhao Xing whispered, "It's normal for you to feel that way. The seventy-two Daoist Academies were originally sects."

"That person is likely a more traditional conservative."

"What do you mean?" Long Xiao asked.

Zhao Xing transmitted his voice through the wind, ensuring only the three of them could hear.

"The process of the seventy-two sects joining the Great Zhou's Fate Dynasty system was not entirely smooth."

"At that time, there were severe upheavals, and the major sects fell into three categories."

"First were those who embraced the prevailing trend. They quickly accepted reality, integrated into the Great Zhou, became deans of the Daoist Academies, and abandoned old laws and customs."

"Second were the extremely stubborn. These power holders were accustomed to being high and mighty, wielding life-and-death power over others, and could not accept the Great Zhou's strict laws. So, during that special period, some splintered, others defected, taking their disciples and followers outside the Great Zhou territory."

"Third were some elders and protectors. Although they followed the orders of their sect masters and joined the Great Zhou, their habits and ideologies remained old-fashioned. They simply didn't want to leave the nineteen prefectures."

"They weren't as extreme; on the surface, they followed the Great Zhou's laws and accepted the Fate Dynasty's restrictions on cultivation."

"However, deep down, they still adhered to ancient sectarian traditions."

"What kind of traditions do sects have?" Long Xiao transmitted.

Chen Shijie replied, "For example, the practice of asceticism. I once saw a group of Daoist Academy experts in Mingshan. Every so often, they would meditate on mountain peaks without eating, drinking, or sleeping."

"They would sustain themselves for months or even a year on their inner energy and rainwater."

"These people would starve themselves to the brink of death. In the past, there were even cases where ascetics died from hunger strikes."

Zhao Xing nodded. "There's also the tradition of transmitting arts. Many unique skills they simply won't reveal. If they don't find disciples willing to follow ancient methods to become their apprentices, they'd rather take those skills to their graves."

"During the reigns of the Great Ancestor and Emperor Wen, there were many incidents in the various Daoist Academies where teachers beat students to death."

"Why?" Long Xiao asked, surprised.

Zhao Xing explained, "Many Daoist Academy students would learn a spell from one teacher, then go to another teacher the very next day to learn more."

"Such behavior was considered 'deceiving one's master and exterminating one's ancestors,' and many elders couldn't tolerate it. So, they would cripple their disciples' cultivation."

"When crippling them, if they didn't control their strength well, they would pierce through the fate protection granted to Daoist Academy members by the Great Zhou, and many members died while losing their cultivation realms."

"Even more extreme cultivators from the sects would kill people just because a disciple didn't offer morning and evening greetings."

A trace of shock appeared on Long Xiao's face:"Killed just for not saying good morning or good night to their master?"

"That's absurd!"

"It is quite absurd," Chen Shijie said. "Fortunately, Emperor Wen was benevolent and didn't deal a fatal blow to these old stubborn ones."

"His policy was to send imperial family members into the Daoist Academies to gradually replace those old stubborn ones after they completed their studies."

"Through a thousand years of change, chief positions like deans and vice-deans in the seventy-two Daoist Academies are now mostly held by imperial family members."

"That's right," Zhao Xing nodded. "Like Princess You Ruo's mother, she was originally the sect master (dean) of the Azure Water Sect. After giving birth to Princess You Ruo, Princess You Ruo even held an honorary vice-dean title."

"If nothing unexpected happened, this position would have been Princess You Ruo's after her mother's death."

"It's a pity that old harridan later gave up this position and actually accepted a political marriage, marrying into the Holy Light Royal Court of the Southern Wilderness. I really don't know what she was thinking."

"Your teacher, Liu Tianning, beat up people from the Daoist Academies. Were they these conservatives?" Long Xiao asked.

"Not beat, but killed," Zhao Xing corrected. "The most brutal form of sparring among the major Daoist Academies was called the 'Contest of the Great Dao'."

"In this mode, it was both about determining superiority and deciding life or death. Stepping on others' paths to advance further was a common sparring method in the ancient sect world."

"The Great Ancestor, being warlike, preserved this tradition. Emperor Wen abolished it for a period."

"But later, it was reinstated. The current Emperor particularly enjoys this practice; he even personally fought in seven Contests of the Great Dao."

"Oh?" Long Xiao said. "The Emperor fought too?"

"Yes," Zhao Xing said. "In the first six matches, he killed thirty-seven vice-deans from six Daoist Academies. As for the reason, you understand."

"I don't understand," Long Xiao said honestly.

"Didn't Zhao Xing just say those old fellows were unwilling to transmit their arts?" Chen Shijie snapped. "You've really dulled your mind playing around in Gucheng these days."

Zhao Xing chuckled, "That's right. Since those old fellows wanted to take their secret arts to their graves, what good was it to keep them alive? The Emperor personally sent them off, letting them enter their coffins sooner."

"I see," Long Xiao said. "What about the seventh match? What happened there?"

Zhao Xing shrugged. "After the seventh match, the Azure Water Sect Master entered the imperial harem, and Princess You Ruo was born."

"Well, I'll be."

The three chatted as they explored the first floor.

The first floor was mostly frequented by cultivators of the ninth-grade Qi Gathering Realm and eighth-grade Spirit Bridge Realm.

The Dharma Walls were distributed in all directions, incredibly tall, and the space was vast, enough for people to practice.

Zhao Xing observed that there were many Dharma Walls, categorized in various ways.

For example, by profession, there were martial arts, spells, musical arts, soul arts (here, soul arts refer to specific priestly skills, not the common methods of cultivating and attacking with the life soul), dance arts, and formations.

They were also classified by the Five Elements, wind, and thunder.

The Path of the Agricultural Official, as an important cultivation path, naturally had its own dedicated section.

"The spells derived from comprehending the Seasonal Orders and the Houtu Returning to Origin Secret Canon are all quite weak," Chen Shijie commented. "The first floor is only good for a novelty."

"Indeed," Zhao Xing said. "There are no True Self Sect spells here. Very few people of eighth and ninth-grade comprehend the Myriad Growth Diagram and the Yin-Yang True Self Sutra."

"There's nothing worth seeing on the first ten floors. Let's go straight to the eleventh floor," Long Xiao pouted. "Those martial arts are all very crude."

"Daoist Academy students will do anything to graduate."

"It's the same set of sword moves, but some student changed the opening stance, and that was enough to pass. What a talent, damn it."

Zhao Xing, Chen Shijie, and Long Xiao communicated via sound transmission as they ascended the cloud ladders.

Between floors, there were 'cloud ladders' everywhere, with white clouds moving up and down between the sky and the ground—a perfect fantasy version of an elevator.

They rode the cloud ladders all the way up to the tenth