While his avatars, Lie Zheng and Elder Zhao, were scaring off two cowardly people, Aotian himself had already gone out for a walk with Rihai.

But upon leaving, through Bao Wuji’s eyes, he saw the boy who possessed the treasure blatantly staring, enchanted, at Rihai.

Anger inevitably surged in his heart, and his gaze, through the avatar, didn’t hide that fury.

It was exactly that anger which Grandpa Liu saw in Bao Wuji’s eyes and ended up mistaking for that of a protector watching over his charge… which, in a way, wasn’t entirely wrong.

Aotian only held himself back because he knew he couldn’t act recklessly—or it could be fatal—and because it didn’t take long for the boy to avert his eyes and walk away.

Still, Aotian continued to stare at him for a while, now more out of caution toward a boy with a dangerous super artifact.

Seeing that the boy truly left and nothing strange was going on, he relaxed a bit.

He then began walking with Rihai while his avatars took care of the recruitment.

Walking through the streets, already somewhat familiar thanks to his avatars who had lived there, he didn’t see much change and simply enjoyed the walk with Rihai’s presence.

‘Talisman shops, alchemy shops, weapon shops, material shops… honestly, this continent is very poor and quite uninteresting.’

Looking at the stalls and typical pavilions, Aotian couldn’t help but feel bored.

‘No judgment towers, no stone-cutting treasure hunts, mystery boxes, battle arenas, or even those associations where you register and take some test to get a badge proving you’re a true master in something… or anything else interesting… it’s really kind of boring. I hope the middle continents are more fun and like the things I read about. These desert continents don’t even have ancient heritages emerging, what a dump…’

Aotian thought, holding Rihai’s hand as he glanced at the shops, in a bored mood.

Some people in the crowd also noticed the beautiful couple and their high-quality, matching robes, emitting a faint aura of treasure. From that, they deduced that they were probably from the currently trending sect everyone was talking about.

Their walk was short. The city, as Aotian had expected, offered nothing special or exciting.

All the businesses there boiled down to people doing whatever they could to obtain cultivation resources for themselves or their families.

‘Uhmm… when the sect grows, why don’t I just set up all these interesting things I imagined, with the help of disciples? It’s not worth starting now since it would only bring more problems and work than fun, because I’d have to handle most of it myself, but in the future? After I’ve taken over the continent, with thousands of disciples and my influence spread everywhere? Maybe then.’

The more he thought, the more Aotian’s eyes lit up for the future, and ideas began filling his mind.

“What are you thinking about?”

Rihai asked suddenly, a playful smile on her face as she noticed his thoughtful silence, catching him off guard with her unexpected question.

“Uh… I was just thinking about how boring things are around here, and making plans to change that in the future.”

Aotian quickly snapped out of it and smiled, winking mischievously at her.

But Rihai looked at him strangely.

“Why did you suddenly get the urge to change Black Rock Mountain?”

She asked, puzzled.

“Ugh… no Hai’er, I’m not talking about Black Rock Mountain specifically, I meant this entire continent—or even all the desert continents.”

Caught off guard by the question, he quickly corrected himself and clarified.

“Ah… I see. I did think it was odd that you suddenly showed interest in this city. But you weren’t talking about it specifically.”

Rihai smiled in understanding and continued.

“Big dreams, huh, Tian’er? I support you, hehe. So, what do you want to change specifically? Honestly, the desert continents do lack interesting things. The lack of cultivation resources makes everything very difficult for people here, and things end up becoming monotonous—just a constant, almost fruitless struggle for growth, to live a few more years, or to gain a little more strength to access more resources.”

She smiled playfully, but then slowly began analyzing, looking at the few people in the street trading at small stalls.

Aotian grew curious about what she said and unconsciously looked at the stalls but quickly looked away. He had already scanned for treasures using Bao Wuji’s radar ability earlier, and there was nothing of value there—or anywhere in the city, really.

“Hey, now that you mention it, I was also thinking everything felt a bit dull, but a question came to mind. There are probably countless disadvantages, but do you think there’s any advantage?”

Aotian thought of something and turned to look at her, curious.

“An advantage? Of the desert continents over the middle and central ones?”

She turned her gaze from the stalls to Aotian, uncertain.

He nodded.

“I think there is… maybe… peace?”

Rihai tapped her chin and spoke with a bit of uncertainty.

“Peace?”

Aotian hadn’t expected that answer and raised an eyebrow at her.

“Well… let’s say I was a very protected girl as a child, before coming to the desert continents, so I don’t speak from personal experience, but from what I’ve read and heard. It seems there’s a lot of chaos and war over resources there. Killing and robbery are things cultivators have to deal with daily and constantly.”

She explained, but it only made him more confused.

“Isn’t it the same here?”

He asked, not understanding.

“Actually, no. There really are fights and robberies here, but it’s much, much less. Almost incomparable. Despite the large expanse, there are few cultivators and few spiritual beasts in the desert continents. And, adding to that the scarce resources which are extremely scattered, it ends up that if someone finds something useful, unless they’re really unlucky, they can take it home without anyone finding out or fighting over it.”

She explained calmly.

Rihai liked this kind of conversation—thinking and analyzing—and so did Aotian. Many times, they would discuss things like this.

“I see. So the middle and central continents must have lots of cultivators and beasts, then.”

Aotian commented, remembering that in those places there was probably first-grade or even higher spiritual energy everywhere, which greatly facilitated the birth of cultivators and beasts.

“Yes, but it’s not just a matter of quantity. Due to the large number of cultivators, resources are hardly ever freely available in nature, because at some point they’ve already been harvested. And that’s the key point: most resources are cultivated by the cultivators and sects themselves, like spiritual herb fields, or else they’re found in dangerous places like forests with powerful spirit beasts.”

She smiled at him and didn’t finish the sentence, seeing that he already understood by the interested look in his eyes.

“So, the thefts and disputes over resources end up concentrated around the entrances to forests with powerful beasts, or in forbidden zones rich in resources, or when hidden inheritances emerge, attracting many cultivators.”

He completed her thought.

“Not only that. Auction houses, trading pavilions, and other such places are also hotbeds of resource conflict. Many cultivators and many resources to be stolen create many thieves. In the desert continents, on the other hand, robbing the poor is almost pointless, and only the best thieves survive because there are few people worth stealing from—and those few are often not easy to deal with. Of course, I’m not saying it’s safe here just because almost everyone is poor, but in comparison, it’s far more peaceful than the central continents.”

She explained, not forgetting to add that last sentence, which she considered important.

Aotian nodded, understanding what she meant.

There were thieves, of course—he had dealt with some himself. The kind that attacked caravans and even had protection from the former lord of the city to do so.

So it wasn’t that they didn’t exist, but rather it was different from the more central continents, where anyone could be a thief and kill for resources. There, you had to be discreet and cautious, even in the open, due to the high chance of ambushes and robbery.

It wasn’t about people having better hearts in the desert continents, but rather there being fewer opportunities for them to show their worst sides.

“Ugh… sounds like a chaotic place.”

Aotian took a deep breath, looking at her.

“Yeah, it is. But why are you smiling?”

She agreed, but looked at him strangely upon noticing the small smile on his lips.

“Because it sounds familiar to me.”

Aotian replied, amused, unable to hide his urge to visit those places immediately.

Not that he liked chaos, but he had read so much about that kind of environment in xianxias that he simply couldn’t resist the desire to see it for himself.

Of course, that was because he had power and a system to protect him. Otherwise, he’d prefer to stay far away from places like that.

Rihai simply shook her head, smiling at Aotian’s peculiarities.

They resumed walking and finished the stroll without seeing anything interesting.

Aotian couldn’t help but complain in his thoughts.

‘Dammit, there wasn’t even the classic cliché of a hairpin stall for me to buy one for Rihai. Just cultivation stuff, how boring…’

“Next time, let’s go walk through a mortal city. It sounds more interesting.”

He decided, with a resolute look.

“Huh? What could possibly be fun in a mortal city?”

Rihai looked at him, confused.

“You’ll see…”

…

After the walk, they returned to the top of Black Rock Mountain, which was currently under the care of an outer elder from the Bamboo Sword Sect.

During the time he was traveling to the sect for the first time, being carried by Bao Wuji, Aotian had brought all his avatars to the Bamboo Sword Sect, including Elder Zhao, whom he had left behind to manage Black Rock Mountain at the time.

But since he killed the former lord of the mountain, and with that family expelled, there was no one left to lead the mountain in his absence. So he asked Jian Huiyin, the leader of the Bamboo Sword Sect, to send an outer elder with Qi Refinement cultivation to care for the mountain. He also handed over control of the formation to that elder, and everything went smoothly. Naturally, he split the profits of the mountain with her, so as not to be unfair.

In truth, he wasn’t even that interested in Black Rock Mountain or its small profits. He just didn’t want chaos to erupt after his departure.

That way, all was well, and with Aotian and Rihai finding the place where they would spend the night on the mountain, the first day of recruitment slowly came to an end.

End of the day…

Total disciples recruited today: 275

Total disciples recruited on the expedition: 275

Total disciples in the sect: 398 (123 originally)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep