While a robbery of epic scale was quietly happening on the Central Continent, back on the Nanyun Continent things seemed much calmer.

On the new mountain of the Infinite Dao Sect, while everything was being put in order and the land was restored to its original spirituality, in the sect’s main hall Tian Zhu sat on his throne in reflective silence.

The hall did not have many lights lit at the moment and seemed slightly dark.

Without the beautiful decorations that had not yet been a focus in the sect’s construction, everything looked simple, but before the grandeur of the place, with a ceiling several feet high, it only contributed to making the entire atmosphere slightly desolate, yet dignified.

And with only the presence of the leader in that immense hall, the environment could not help but exude a faint aura of loneliness.

At that moment, the only sound echoing through the silence was the soft tapping of the leader’s finger on the arm of the black throne. His back remained straight and powerful against the tall backrest, while his gaze was lost in the void, deep in thought.

‘The disciples cannot stay in the sect indefinitely. They need to go out and adventure, gain wealth and experience on their own, which in turn strengthens the sect and me.’

‘Besides, it wouldn’t be good for me to keep giving techniques for free, so they need to earn contribution points to proceed.’

Aotian pondered solemnly.

In fact, he had already increased the disciples’ credit, allowing them to borrow cultivation techniques and one attack and defense spell from each realm up to the Core-Tier. But if they wanted other inheritances, they would have to settle the loan debt first.

Such a decision was made so as not to make life too difficult for the new recruits and to facilitate everyone’s strengthening until they reached a similar level.

For example, most of the new recruits were Qi Refiners, but there were a few at Foundation Establishment and even one who had reached the Golden Core realm.

If Aotian made them obtain techniques and spells using only the contribution points they earned on their own—especially on a continent with techniques far more powerful than those of the desert continent they had lived on before—those poor fellows would probably die before gathering enough points to buy anything at their own level.

And his concern was not limited to the new recruits.

‘Haah… even for the veteran disciples, the Nanyuan Continent is very dangerous for them. Many of them are close to reaching the Nascent Soul realm, but there are still many stronger cultivators here, like those ancestors in Soul Formation.’

‘And even if I hold off those powerful Soul Formation cultivators, it still wouldn’t be safe for the disciples. There are many powerful cultivators in the Nascent Soul realm as well, and it wouldn’t make sense for me to get rid of all of them just so the disciples wouldn’t be in danger.’

‘Of course, I could wait a few more years, until the disciples grow stronger after entering the Nascent Soul realm. Then it would be safe, with me only holding off those old ancestors and leaving the rest to them. But having no challenges wouldn’t be good for their growth either, and with the end of the world approaching, any help they can give me before the final battle will be essential.’

Tian Zhu’s finger tapped faster and faster on the throne as Aotian continued thinking endlessly.

‘There is also the option of sending all of them, both junior and senior disciples, to the Mahayana mansion, which should indeed be safer with the protection that prevents stronger cultivators from intimidating the weaker ones, besides there being many opportunities. The problem is that without me controlling the formations there, the chance of something going wrong is still very large, since there is still Dragon Peak with an unknown and probably enormous base of cultivators in its ranks.’

‘The disciples of the Infinite Dao Sect are strong, but not as strong as me. Perhaps the strongest among them can fight someone who has perfected the same realm even while still in the early stage of that realm—perhaps even someone slightly beyond that. But they can still be overwhelmed by waves of enemies, run out of energy and become unable to escape, or die if they fall into traps or formations.’

His eyes blinked uncertainly the more he thought.

Aotian did not want his disciples to be greenhouse flowers that would easily perish when facing bad weather because they had never known the storm.

But at the same time, he also did not want to place them in too much danger, because they were all good people with gentle souls, selected specifically by him. If many died, his heart would be filled with guilt and remorse.

‘Should I really prevent them from going out until they become stronger?’

At that moment, Tian Zhu’s finger, which was about to tap the arm of the throne, stopped. His body leaned slightly forward, and his eyes grew dark and heavy.

Gripping the arms of the throne with his hands, he slowly stood up with a cold expression.

‘I’m doing it again…’

Aotian frowned at himself.

‘I’m making decisions without listening to the opinions of those I give orders to. They are not characters in a game who can only act under my control, where if they die the blame is entirely mine for lacking the skill to control them.’

‘I am the sect leader and I can give them a choice, restrict who can or cannot go to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, and make them aware of the risks before they try. But I cannot control them every step of the way, nor prevent them from growing and facing the storm as every strong cultivator must do.’

‘There will always be deaths, and I will be harming most of them if I continue preventing them from venturing out and facing dangers. Perhaps now it doesn’t make much difference, but when they have to comprehend the Dao, if they continue being greenhouse flowers, they may not be able to recover the experience they are losing now.’

The more he thought, the heavier his heart became, but the more determined his mind grew.

Closing his eyes, Tian Zhu sighed audibly.

“I hope I don’t regret this decision…”

His low voice echoed through the large, empty, dimly lit hall.

And with it, the avatars scattered in various places began to act.

…

“Quick! Quick! The sect has just issued countless tasks in the Missions Pavilion!”

A loud and excited shout rang out as a group of friends ran toward a large pavilion that was already crowded with people.

“Haha! Finally, many tasks have been issued! I’m already close to reaching the perfection of the Golden Core, and it’s time to get the points for my Nascent Soul techniques.”

“Yeah, I was starting to get worried too. Although we can slowly earn points in the sect by completing tasks, we end up spending most of them on spells and other things. I didn’t have much saved anymore. Missions that involve leaving the sect and finding treasures guarantee far more points, and much faster.”

“That’s true. Too bad these missions are kind of seasonal, and after a few months they all end up being completed.”

The group talked excitedly as they joined the long line to enter the pavilion.

By chance, a new disciple was near them. He had come because of the commotion in the area, not really knowing what was happening, and ended up overhearing their conversation.

Scratching his head, he decided to approach the group to ask.

“Senior brothers!” He clasped his fists and bowed politely, drawing their attention. “Sorry to interrupt, but may I ask what these external missions are and why they’re so good?”

The young man asked sincerely, confused. He had previously belonged to another sect, and external missions really did exist there, but the rewards were only average. It was far better to create pills, talismans, and other items to earn money within the sect.

If it were not for the difficulty of following the path of auxiliary arts, the need for talent for it, and the preciousness of the inheritances—often hardly shared—no one would even bother doing those external missions.

Of course, that was true in other sects. In the Infinite Dao Sect, however, the need for talent had been greatly reduced due to the perfection of the cultivation auxiliary arts inheritances. Because of that, he had been very happy to discover that he actually had the ability to learn the art of Alchemy there, and he had never even considered going out to complete missions after that.

Although he had also discovered that basically everyone in the sect mastered some auxiliary art, which made the rarity and value of created items much lower.

The veterans, upon hearing his question, looked at each other and then smiled with amusement when they realized that they were now truly seniors in the sect, having lived through a part of the sect’s history that only a few had experienced, and that from now on they would be responsible for leading the new generation of disciples.

“Junior brother, you don’t know. The sect has a way to identify the location of treasures and, on average, the dangers involved in the endeavor, although accidents can happen and increase the level of difficulty. So with that, you just go to the location, face the dangers there, and gain many treasures and points. And the sect is very generous with us regarding the gains in such undertakings.”

One of them explained, crossing his arms proudly.

Then each of them added a few more details, making the boy’s eyes shine more and more as his interest became evident.

“Uhh… senior brothers. In that case, what kind of missions are there this time?”

He finally asked, taking a deep breath and becoming determined to earn some points from this, no longer daring to look down on such missions.

There were many benefits in the sect, but all of them required contribution points, and he had almost none at the moment. On the contrary, he had a huge debt.

The senior disciple who had answered earlier scratched his chin with a more serious look as he responded.

“From what a friend who arrived earlier today informed me through a sound-transmission jade, things are different this time. There will be a division of mission locations.”

“The first type is limited to Golden Core cultivators with a Supreme foundation and will take place on the Nanyun Continent where we are. These missions are more dangerous, and the sect will only be responsible for preventing Soul Formation cultivators from interfering. The rest will be up to us.”

He said, making the junior blink thoughtfully.

“So those will be more aimed at you veterans.” The young man nodded.

“Yes.” the senior disciple confirmed and continued explaining. “But we can also participate in the others. It’s just that they’re not as profitable for us and are more aimed at you juniors gaining experience and points without taking so many risks.”

“And what will those be?” the junior asked quickly, interested.

“The other missions will take place on the desert continents.”

“Bases will be established there, and the disciples will be responsible for conquering and exploring the three remaining desert continents, laying the foundation for the empire’s expansion. They will also be tasked with obtaining the scattered, hidden treasures, whose locations the sect will reveal to them…”

While they talked, the line continued to grow and slowly advance. Soon they accepted their missions and went to prepare to depart.

The Infinite Dao Sect had already scheduled ships to travel to and from the desert continents once a week, carrying disciples back and forth as a means of transportation.

There would also be a ship traveling between the forbidden desert where the sect was located and a more active and central area of the Nanyun Continent, for disciples who chose to carry out missions there.

Thus, under the increasingly organized arrangements of the sect, the disciples began to depart in large numbers toward their objectives, and the sect, once lively, slowly calmed down once again.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep