“Sects can be auctioned off?”
In the Moon Monastery, Fang Chen frowned in bewilderment after hearing a rather peculiar piece of news from Abbess Moonchaser.
“Sects are usually founded in places with spirit springs, spirit fields, or spirit veins. In any case, those are blessed lands, so naturally they have a value to them. Anything of value in the world of cultivation can be auctioned off,” Abbess Moonchaser explained. “Of course, you’d need to have the power to conquer the land and make others acknowledge it too.”
“You’re saying that the Spirit Heaven Sect and the Flying Eagle Sect can be traded for spirit materials?” Fang Chen asked contemplatively.
“Young master Fang, do you need more artifacts? Your flying sword appears to be a high-grade artifact,” Artifact Moonchaser asked.
“The more the merrier.” Fang Chen chuckled, not elaborating more on it. “How much do you think the Spirit Heaven Sect and the Flying Eagle Sect’s locations are worth?”
“The Spirit Heaven Sect has a small spirit spring that produces 500 grams of spirit water each day. Other than that, they also have a spirit field that spans around 300 meters square. That should be worth far more than 2000 low-grade ki stones, but such trades… tend to come with risks for the buyer, so the prices are suppressed,” Abbess Moonchaser said.
“As for the Flying Eagle Sect, they have a spirit vein that boosts the surrounding spirit ki concentration by 50% to 60%. It’s enough for a Foundation Establishment cultivator and a hundred Ki Refinement cultivators to use. That should be worth at least 2500 low-grade ki stones.”
Abbess Clearlotus widened her mouth, and shock flickered across her eyes. She hadn’t expected a sect’s location to be worth that many ki stones.
2000 and 2500 ki stones? How much is that?! She tried to make a comparison with whatever she could think of.
“Let’s not waste time. Shall we set out now, Abbess Moonchaser? Let’s split our earnings by half,” Fang Chen said.
“Ah… I’ll pass on it.” Abbess Moonchaser shook her head.
“Oh? Abbess Moonchaser, I don’t think you would be indifferent to ki stones, right?” Fang Chen asked with a smile.
Abbess Moonchaser chuckled. “Of course not, but there’s a condition to selling a sect’s location. You must be influential enough to hold your ground. I’m only an early Foundation Establishment cultivator. That isn’t enough to intimidate others. I won’t be able to shoulder the consequences if something happens. But it’s different for you, young master Fang. If I may ask, are you a sword cultivator?”
Her face turned grim at this point.
“Indeed I am.” Fang Chen nodded.
He was faking it in the past, but he was now a true sword cultivator after having practiced the Eight Barrens Immortal Subjugation Peerless Swordsmanship. Just his Sword Body itself made him invulnerable to many means.
“Indeed…” Abbess Moonchaser remarked. “Your identity as a sword cultivator qualifies you to sell the Spirit Heaven Sect and Flying Eagle Sect’s locations. The others won’t dare to say a thing about it.”
After some discussion, they decided to target the Spirit Heaven Sect first.
It was unlikely that the Flying Eagle Sect knew that the Flying Eagle Sect Master was dead yet, so that could still wait.
“I… shall steer clear for this matter,” Abbess Moonchaser said. “I shall have Clearlotus lead the way, all right?”
“Fine, but I can only bring one person with me. Can I leave Liu Mu with you in the Moon Monastery for the time being?” Fang Chen asked.
“Of course. He’s only a child.” Abbess Moonchaser nodded with a smile.
Fang Chen grabbed Abbess Clearlotus and soared into the sky, moving at an incredible speed of over 500 kilometers per hour. Even so, he still spent a day before arriving at the Spirit Heaven Sect.
“Young master Fang’s cultivation has reached an unfathomable level…” Abbess Clearlotus was stunned.
Abbess Moonchaser had brought her to the Spirit Heaven Sect too, and they traveled via the sky too, but they took two days before arriving at the destination. They even had to take a short break for her to recover her spirit ki in between.
In contrast, Fang Chen didn’t need to rest at all, though he did slow his speed a couple times…
“So, the Spirit Heaven Sect, Flying Eagle Sect, Qing Province Sword Sect, your Moon Monastery, and Li Daoye’s Eight Trigrams Sect are all located in the Qing Province? How many provinces are there in Infernoblaze?” Fang Chen casually asked.
Abbess Clearlotus thought about it before replying, “There should be four provinces—the Qing Province, the Xu Province, the Hong Province, and the Wei Province. Infernoblaze’s capital is located in the Xu Province. The South Heaven Sect is also located in the Xu Province.
“The Hong Province and the Wei Province in the northern region, and they are considered to be the Beast Spirit Valley’s turf. It’s more common to see faes and beasts there.”
“How long does it take to travel from here to the Xu Province?” Fang Chen asked.
“My master said that it took her six to seven days to rush there, but in young master Fang’s case, I think it’ll only take you three days or so,” Abbess Clearlotus said.
“That’s good to hear.” Fang Chne nodded.
“Young master Fang, the Spirit Heaven City is up ahead. The Spirit Heaven Mountain is located in the city.” Abbess Clearlotus pointed out.
Fang Chen looked over and saw a massive city sprawled on the ground like a ferocious beast. The scale was much grander than Great Xia’s capital.
And this was only one of the hundred cities in Infernoblaze’s Four Provinces! Its capital was bound to be even more majestic!
“Young master Fang, Infernoblaze has an imperial law that prohibits flight in the city. Shall we land at the city entrance?” Abbess Clearlotus asked.
“Is Infernoblaze’s imperial clan stronger or the South Heaven Sect stronger?” Fang Chen asked out of curiosity.
“Of course the imperial clan is stronger! All of the sects in Infernoblaze are subservient to the imperial clan, similar to the martial arts sect in Great Xia,” Abbess Clearlotus replied.
Fang Chen nodded. He had deduced as much since this was a more stable configuration.
All sorts of problems would have arisen if the sects had shaken free of the imperial clan’s influence. For instance, the imperial clan would struggle to implement its laws in some areas. Perhaps, a prince might even be randomly decapitated while walking on the street.
Even worse, if a sect were to eliminate the imperial clan on a whim, it could cause great trouble. The sect could just strut away, but it would spark a war among the territories under the imperial clan’s governance, potentially causing great casualties.
This might happen to Great Xia as it developed too.
Fang Chen didn’t want to challenge the authority of Infernoblaze’s imperial clan, so he and Abbess Clearlotus landed in front of the city’s entrance.
Cultivators were more common in Infernoblaze than Great Xia, but that didn’t mean that they were commonplace. It was even rarer to see a cultivator capable of flight—that was viewed as the mark of a powerhouse.
The nearby populace noticed that Fang Chen and Abbess Clearlotus had descended from the sky, so they looked at them with deferential eyes.
“Where are you from?” one of the garrison troops politely asked.
The rules dictated that even cultivators had to register themselves before entering a city.
“Guhe,” Fang Chen casually replied.
The garrison troop didn’t even bother to ask where Guhe was before letting Fang Chen pass. Clearly, this was only a standard procedure. The garrison troops wouldn’t fuss over whether the details were true or not, so long as the guest had registered with them.
Meanwhile, the Spirit Heaven City Lord was holding a feast.
Jade tables filled with all kinds of delicacies were presented to the guests, while they enjoyed the graceful dance performance of beautiful artisans. Two spirit incense sticks were lit, suffusing the room with spirit ki.
The Spirit Heaven City Lord’s hair had already turned white, but his body was built like a bear. He merrily raised his wine cup to a skinny old man, saying, “Flood Dragon Island Master, let me toast you!”
The skinny old man impassively nodded. He gulped down the spirit wine before saying, “Spirit Heaven City Lord, I don’t know many people in Infernoblaze. I visited you today with the hopes that you can find a person for me.”