Chapter 375 - 370: Founding Ancestor

That day, Li Fei had already finished getting ready at midnight. She eagerly made her way to the sect gate under the cover of darkness, her spirits high, prepared to lead the reception for the guests.

Considering that many sects would be traveling from far away, they might set out early to avoid any potential delays.

The invitations sent out by the Four Principles Sect had clearly stated that they would begin receiving guests starting today, and the official sect establishment ceremony would be held half a month later.

The sects arriving early should begin to trickle into Four Principles Mountain starting today. Whatever this mountain was called before was irrelevant; from now on, it was Four Principles Mountain.

Li Fei was the first Law Enforcement Elder appointed by Du Youqian, as well as the designated heir to the position of Sect Leader. However, most people believed she would die long before him. Her chances of reaching Core Formation were slim, whereas Du Youqian was only in his seventies and still had several hundred years of life ahead of him.

Li Fei didn’t mind being the Sect Leader’s successor in name only. In fact, she was delighted. To her, being chosen meant that "Brother Zong" trusted and cared for her.

She knew very well that she could never become Brother Zong’s lover.

’But to become Brother Zong’s trusted aide, to die as the Sect’s first Law Enforcement Elder and designated heir, to be forever remembered in the Sect’s annals and revered by future generations... that wouldn’t be so bad either.’

She had no idea that Du Youqian actually planned to serve as Sect Leader for only a decade or so. He intended to solidify his status as the founding patriarch, then pass the position to her and become the Supreme Elder himself.

The Sect Leader was responsible for handling concrete matters, much like a company’s CEO or general manager.

The Supreme Elder, on the other hand, was like the chairman of the board. They generally didn’t meddle in affairs, but if they chose to, their word was final.

The night was vast and dark, but Li Fei wasn’t the only one to arrive so early.

Many disciples were too excited to sleep. They had once been like weeds by the roadside—always starving, clothed in rags, never knowing when they might be killed in the crossfire of a gang war. They could have been wiped out by a famine they couldn’t endure, becoming just another unnoticeable body among the fields of the starved.

But then, Li Fei and Du Youqian took them in, giving them a chance to practice Cultivation and rise above their station. To them, this was a debt of gratitude equivalent to being given a second life.

Of course, even if Li Fei and Du Youqian hadn’t accepted them, they still would have had a chance to join a gang and make a name for themselves once they were older. But they had seen with their own eyes just how slim that chance was, and the price that had to be paid in blood.

In the resource-barren Endless Desert Sea, when gangs recruited disciples, they didn’t care about talent. Even someone with a Celestial Spirit Root would have to brave a mountain of blades and a sea of fire to seize their own resources. Gangs didn’t support freeloaders.

When these children grew up and saw the survival rate of children their age who chose to join gangs, they naturally understood just how good Du Youqian and Li Fei had been to them.

Previously, although they were loyal to Li Fei and Du Youqian, they always felt that something was vaguely missing.

And now, with the sect’s establishment imminent, they finally understood what was missing.

A sense of belonging.

And a sect of their own perfectly filled this void.

From now on, in addition to being ready to lay down their lives to repay the kindness of Du Youqian and Li Fei, they had something more to strive for—a weighty responsibility they could now protect.

The Sect. Their very own Sect.

Many of the children joined Li Fei, their faces beaming with excitement and hope as they stood against the cold desert wind at the sect entrance, waiting until dawn.

Du Youqian had actually also gotten up early.

But as the founder of the Four Principles Sect, he had always cultivated an image of being mysterious and powerful. He wasn’t taking an approachable path.

So he did not appear, but just watched from a distance with a smile.

’These are the first generation of my Sect. What they become will largely determine the Sect’s direction, scale, and philosophy for the next several hundred, or even several thousand, years.’

Previously, Du Youqian hadn’t paid them much mind.

He had simply let Li Fei do her own thing with them.

He would occasionally teach a class himself, give out some rewards and punishments, and cultivate a mysterious, powerful, and majestic image in their minds.

But from now on, he would put more thought into managing things.

’Because the rise and fall of the Four Principles Sect will determine if I can rise quickly in each of my future lives, and whether the safety of Lin Sha, Fang Hua, and the others can be guaranteed after they reincarnate!’

By the time the sun was high in the sky, guests had begun to arrive one after another.

As the Sect Leader, Du Youqian naturally wouldn’t personally greet the guests. Instead, Li Fei led a group of disciples—all at least at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage—to welcome them at the sect entrance.

Having Li Fei, the "first-in-line successor," lead the reception showed more than enough respect.

Even the most critical guest would have no cause for complaint.

Once welcomed through the sect entrance, guests were guided by eloquent and articulate disciples of the Four Principles Sect to grotto-residences where they could rest and refresh themselves.

Most of these guests were meticulous thinkers; otherwise, they would not have been chosen as envoys.

After sitting down, they would secretly observe and assess, judging the quality and future prospects of the newly established Four Principles Sect from the details.

For instance, they would examine the various furnishings and artifacts in the rooms, observe the Spirit Plants being cultivated outside, sense the grade of the Spirit Vein, and test the effectiveness of the Arrays.

Every detail they observed indicated that although the Four Principles Sect was brand new, it was not entirely without a deep foundation.

The Spirit Vein was decent, the Arrays were arranged with almost ostentatious skill, and the various artifacts and Spirit Plants all indicated that the Sect was home to many skilled Cultivation Practitioners.

They had not been seated for long when exquisite Puppets arrived, serving tea and Spirit Fruits. This prompted many of the guests to make another mental note.

Given the momentum the Four Principles Sect was demonstrating, the day it became a Nascent Soul Sect was perhaps not far off.

As more guests arrived, mediating their conflicts and preventing representatives from rival powers from breaking out into Magical Combat became the most severe test of the disciples’ organizational and coordination skills.

To this end, Du Youqian had specifically borrowed some hands from the Shengxia Sect and had also brought in people from the Qingxu Commerce Association to train his disciples. This was to ensure everyone was aware of the basics: which sects were hostile to each other and couldn’t be seated together; which powers had recently clashed and whose representatives were best kept apart; which sects were constant rivals and must be treated with absolute impartiality...

At first, the disciples of the Four Principles Sect made some mistakes due to their inexperience, but fortunately, the well-paid staff from the Qingxu Commerce Association were on hand to smooth things over.

Gradually, everyone learned the ropes, and they began to handle these matters with increasing confidence and skill.

As the sect establishment ceremony drew near, an uninvited guest arrived on Four Principles Mountain.

"Announcing the arrival of the Observation Envoy from the Cyan Yang Sect, Master Tian Zhe!"

The guests who had already arrived broke into a flurry of discussion, many of them glaring daggers at Master Tian Zhe. Some were so incensed they looked ready to attack him on the spot.

The commotion even reached Du Youqian, who had been maintaining his mysterious persona and had publicly claimed to be in ritual fasting and purification.

The Cyan Yang Sect... a notorious Human Traitor Sect.

Ten thousand years ago, they faked their own demise, pretending to have been wiped out by the Demon Race. In truth, the entire Sect had been hidden away by a Great Power wielding the Spring and Autumn Brush, allowing them to escape the ravages of time and only reappear in the modern era.

The moment they reappeared, they coordinated with the Demon Race to launch a surprise attack against the Human Race’s Profound Sects Orthodox Camp. They killed several Divinity Transformation experts and severely wounded one of the Human World’s peak cultivators—a Great Power at the Tier Six Void Step realm.

If Momenan’s Blood Slaughter Sword hadn’t, at that moment, used its "Annihilate" Sword Intent to slay the Cyan Yang Sect within an Illusion Realm—an attack whose effects carried over to reality and dealt them a devastating blow—the Human Race would have surely suffered even more grievous losses.

Rumor had it that the Cyan Yang Sect was now thriving. The sect had even produced another Great Power at the Void Step Realm. Moreover, this was a Void Step cultivator who had grafted a Demon Race bloodline onto themselves, granting them a lifespan far exceeding that of their Human Race counterparts.

But no matter how well they were doing, Du Youqian didn’t want to get mixed up with them.

’I have no desire to be a human traitor!’

’So, can I afford to offend the Cyan Yang Sect?’

’This is a sect presided over by a Tier Six Void Step Great Power...’

After Void Step comes Harmonization. Harmonization Cultivators, in many ancient texts, are called "Quasi-Immortals" and can no longer remain in the Human World for long.

The Void Step Realm represents the pinnacle of combat power in the Human World.

’It’s no exaggeration to say they could annihilate my fledgling Four Principles Sect with a single breath...’

’I really can’t offend them too grievously.’

’But I also absolutely cannot get entangled with the Cyan Yang Sect. The future trouble would be endless.’

That said, among the powers of the Human Race, quite a few sects maintained ambiguous relationships with the Demon Race.

For example, Du Youqian had heard that some of the old Demons from the Demon Sect Camp, due to certain scruples, couldn’t personally slaughter humans in large numbers or use vicious methods to torture them for refining Demon Artifacts.

So what did they do?

They secretly reached agreements with certain Demon Race factions.

Those Demon Race factions would raise humans in a few cities, or even an entire nation, as if they were livestock. They would encourage rampant procreation, only to slaughter the population every few decades or centuries. The harvested Essence Blood and souls would then be delivered to the old Demons for refining Demon Artifacts, and the Demons would simply pay for the service.

Sometimes, these Demon Race factions would even provide "custom orders." For example, they might force fathers and daughters or brothers and sisters into incestuous unions to produce specific infants. They might have women conceive at particular times to give birth to infants with auspicious birth charts. They might even use poisons to induce special physiques in newborns. All of this was done to supply the old Demons of the Demon Sects with materials for refining their vicious Demon Artifacts.

Sometimes, some sects from the Profound Sects Orthodox Camp would also secretly engage in certain specific trades with the Demon Race.

But!

Making deals was one thing, and maintaining shady relationships was another.

Betraying the Human Race, attacking the Human Race alongside the Demon Race, and killing the Great Powers of the Human Race—that was a completely different matter.

The Cyan Yang Sect was, without a doubt, a public enemy to all powers of the Human Race!

If the Four Principles Sect dared to associate with the Cyan Yang Sect in any way, they wouldn’t face a crisis of survival, as the Cyan Yang Sect would surely protect them.

But they would have absolutely no future among the powers of the Human Race!

So, after a long moment of consideration, Du Youqian sent a message to Li Fei via his Divine Sense: "Loudly announce that the Four Principles Sect did not send an invitation to the Cyan Yang Sect, nor do we wish to befriend them. Ask Elder Tian Zhe to leave at once. We do not welcome him at our ceremony."

Li Fei was stunned for a moment, then immediately complied.

After she spoke, Master Tian Zhe’s expression remained unchanged, and he continued to smile calmly. The other guests, however, looked visibly relieved.