Chapter 354: Heading to the Spirit Fox Sect

Other than that, there were no other ill effects.

Even having a few players with high cultivation take over didn’t work, and chugging potions was useless too.

The players weren’t stupid. Building a Nüwa Statue in the Yunzhou Continent had been a rather random idea.

But the fact that they couldn’t carve its face made the whole thing seem strange.

This was because, on the Yunzhou Continent, those with low cultivation were incapable of carving the likeness of someone with extremely high cultivation.

’But isn’t Nüwa a legend from our Blue Star?’

Besides, just because they said they were carving Nüwa didn’t mean the statue was actually her.

In the end, the system suddenly spoke up. "Stop carving. It’s fine just the way it is."

So, Tang Qiuxiang and the others stopped.

Even without a face, the stone statue already exuded a solemn, divine aura.

Just as the statue was completed, Han Daozi, who was in Wang’an County, seemed to sense something.

With a flicker of thought, he appeared at the foot of the mountain in the Longevity Sect’s Inner Sect, his hands clasped behind his back.

He looked up at the giant female statue, and his brow suddenly furrowed.

’Strange...’

It clearly wasn’t emitting any fluctuations.

It was just an ordinary statue.

And yet, it gave off an indescribable feeling to Cultivators.

Han Daozi released his Divine Sense, but the moment it entered the statue, it was silently devoured.

Han Daozi’s eyes flew wide open.

’How... how is this possible!’

No one could see his astonishment and shock; after all, the players couldn’t detect him.

Han Daozi instantly returned to Wang’an County and found a player he had interacted with before.

It was Fan Guzhou.

Han Daozi strode over and hurriedly grabbed Fan Guzhou’s arm. "Let me ask you, that statue you built—whose is it?"

Fan Guzhou looked at Han Daozi, knowing this old man was not to be trifled with. Upon hearing the word "statue," he instinctively glanced at the statue of Song Jiulai in Wang’an County.

’Then again, it can’t be Song Jiulai’s,’ he thought.

’He most likely saw the Nüwa Statue built inside the Sect.’

For someone who had been here so long, it was rare for Han Daozi to lose his composure like this.

Fan Guzhou wanted to lie—after all, Lady Nüwa was a figure who didn’t exist on the Yunzhou Continent. But he feared what consequences a lie might have here, so he answered vaguely, "Senior, that statue is of a legendary ancient ancestor of our Sect."

’After all, she’s a legend from our Huaxia,’ he reasoned.

The corners of Han Daozi’s mouth twitched.

’That’s possible...’

’...My ass!’

’The Longevity Sect was just founded. How could it possibly have any ancient legends?’

But as he looked at Fan Guzhou’s face, he saw that while the young man spoke hesitantly, his eyes were clear.

It proved he wasn’t lying.

As for Fan Guzhou, being scrutinized by Han Daozi like this, he was instantly drenched in a cold sweat.

He was used to seeing this old man as cheerful and carefree, but now, a single glance sent a chill down his spine. He felt a fear and pressure that seemed to emanate from his very soul.

’This is an existence that might be even more powerful than the Nascent Soul Stage!’

Fan Guzhou forced a bitter smile. "System, am I going to get myself killed?"

The system replied, "Let me run the calculations. I can’t say no, but I can’t say definitely not, either."

Fan Guzhou: "..."

’This system is getting more and more unhinged.’

After a long moment, Han Daozi released Fan Guzhou’s arm. "Never mind."

He turned his head, his gaze distant, as if lost in thought.

After a while, Han Daozi left.

Fan Guzhou watched him go. As the wind blew over his sweat-drenched back, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Didn’t the Sect Master say that no Yunzhou locals could enter besides the Core Disciples?"

The system said, "Those weaker than her can’t get in."

Fan Guzhou: "?"

’So that’s how you play with words?’

But that was a decision for the Sect Master to make.

And now, they had to prepare to welcome new players.

At midnight, as soon as the seven hundred slots were released, new players began entering the game directly.

The system’s character creation now had two beautiful face templates as a base, which could be modified into a wide variety of looks. It was much more interesting than before.

At least it wasn’t an eyesore anymore.

With the influx of new players, the Longevity Sect became lively once more.

This time, Fan Guzhou was the most active among them.

After all, he had a responsibility. The Sect Master had asked him to select one hundred suitable players to maintain the Sect’s grand array.

They would work in rotations of fifty.

This was a task only life-skill players could take on, as the combat-focused players couldn’t be expected to stay in the Sect for extended periods.

It was hard to guarantee that one hundred life-skill players within the Sect would be consistently online.

Now that there were seven hundred more potential candidates, the pressure of this task was lessened.

Fan Guzhou had also naturally applied for a position in the management department and was now starting his duties.

Naturally, he had to handle these miscellaneous tasks.

Among the seven hundred new players, not as many chose the Longevity Sect as one might have expected.

This new batch of players had probably watched a lot of streams. Only half of them chose the Longevity Sect, while the other half all picked other sects.

Clearly, the Longevity Sect was simply too safe, offering little room for new players to grow.

Places like the Taohua Sect were now only loosely managed by the main sect, which meant there was still potential to earn a lot of points there.

This was especially true for the Netherworld Sect.

Song Jiulai had no intention of greeting the new players. They were all Outer Disciples now, so there was no need for her, the Sect Master, to make an appearance.

She had originally planned to leave, as her main body needed to return to the Dragon Frost Swamp while her clone was about to arrive at Demon Cave Valley.

However, a piece of news put her on alert, and she decided not to leave just yet. She planned to go somewhere first.

Back when Gu Yunxi saved Su Huanli, she had overheard that man, Ma Feng, say that the Feique Sect might soon cease to exist.

This incident served as a wake-up call for the players.

Fan Guzhou had previously dispatched a group of life-skill players to investigate the site of the Spirit Fox Sect’s demise, under the guise of a training mission. They had their eyes on the Spirit Fox Sect’s territory as a place to raise spiritual beasts, and in the end, they actually stumbled upon something.

"There are traces of other Cultivators’ activities on the Spirit Fox Sect’s territory. It doesn’t look like the work of Demon Cultivators."

The Spirit Fox Sect had been annihilated so brutally that plenty of clues had been left behind.

The leader of this group of life-skill players was a female player named Yu Lishan. She was normally very meticulous, and her cultivation talent was impressive—she had already reached Early-stage Foundation Establishment.

The system reported to Song Jiulai, "Yu Lishan’s conclusion is that the annihilation of the Spirit Fox Sect probably had little to do with Demon Cultivators. It was the work of other Cultivators, who are very likely from outside this region."

Song Jiulai was shocked. "Does the Ten Thousand Immortals Sect know about this?"

A sect being destroyed by Demon Cultivators was one thing, but a sect being destroyed by people from another sect was a completely different matter.

This was the Ten Thousand Immortals Sect’s territory. To destroy a sect under its jurisdiction was tantamount to offending the Ten Thousand Immortals Sect itself.

"They definitely don’t know," the system said. "If they did, the Spirit Fox Sect might have been saved. This is just Yu Lishan’s speculation, and there were traces of Demon Cultivators at the scene, but I think her deduction is correct. It’s highly unlikely that a single Golden Core Stage Demon Cultivator could wipe out an entire sect without a sound. Especially with so many ’stowaways’ from the Tianyang Sect recently, plus that Ma Feng fellow collaborating with Demon Cultivators... something is really fishy about this."

Song Jiulai pondered this for a moment.

"It seems I need to take a trip to the Spirit Fox Sect’s former territory."