Chapter 3940: The Ordinary Faction?

Chapter 3940 The Ordinary Progeny?

Duan Ling Tian cultivated through the night, immersed in his cultivation. He only woke up when he heard Zhao Lu calling out to him.

“Duan Ling Tian, I’m here to bring you to complete your registration.”

Duan Ling Tian had already expected Zhao Lu so he quickly flew out.

“Elder Zhao Lu.”

“Let’s go,” Zhao Lu said with an amiable smile on his face.

Duan Ling Tian nodded and followed Zhao Lu, leaving the floating island.

“Our floating island is called Cloud Peak Island. It’s the cultivation ground for our faction, the Cloud Peak faction. The name ‘Cloud Peak’ doesn’t have any special meaning. It’s adopted from the nameof one of our ancestors, Zhen Yun Feng¹. He’s the father of Elder Zhen who brought you here from the Flying Dragon Sect. He’s also one of the few Ascension Elders in our Pure Yang Sect. You should know that Ascension Elders are intermediate Emperors of Gods.”

Duan Ling Tian nodded.

After leaving Cloud Peak Island, Zhao Lu continued to say, “There are many factions in the Pure Yang Sect. Nirvanic Elders or those with higher ranks can start their own faction. For example, Elder Zhen is qualified to start his faction if he leaves Cloud Peak faction. However, he’s not interested in doing such a thing. Even if he did so, it would be pointless since everyone he knows in the Cloud Peak faction won’t join him.”

Duan Ling Tian nodded. After all, it was not surprising that everyone respected Zhen Ping Fan’s father more than him.

“Elder Zhao Lu, if Elder Zhen starts his own faction… Won’t his faction be called the Ordinary faction¹? His floating island will also be called Ordinary Island, right?” Duan Ling Tian asked playfully.

Zhao Lu’s expression froze for a moment. Then, he shook his head and said with a smile, “Honestly, the other ancestors always criticized Ancestor Zhen for giving junior granduncle such a name. After all, his name is really unsuitable for a prodigy like him. To answer your question, unless junior granduncle has a name in mind, his faction will indeed be called the Ordinary faction.”

“I see. There are other reasons why Elder Zhen doesn’t create his own faction, right?” Duan Ling Tian asked.

“That’s right,” Zhao Lu replied with a nod, “After all, he’s powerful, but not the most powerful. Moreover, it’s meaningless to compete with his father. Perhaps, if the ancestor were his uncle or a distant relative, there would be more reason for him to establish his own faction.”

“Then, what if one day Elder Zhen surpasses his father’s strength?” Duan Ling Tian asked. The leader of a faction was usually the strongest so what would happen if Zhen Ping Fan surpassed his father.

Zhao Lu was slightly taken aback by the question. Then, he said with a smile, “If that happens, under normal circumstances, the leader will step down and let junior granduncle take over the position. The faction will also be renamed. Otherwise, junior granduncle can also leave the faction and create his own. However, it’s all unlikely since junior granduncle has no interest in becoming a leader, let alone compete with his father.” Then, he sighed heavily as though he just recalled something before he said, “Our ancestor had a tough time with his previous Heavenly Tribulation a few hundred years ago. Nobody knows how many more Heavenly Tribulations he’ll be able to survive…”

After becoming a King of Gods, no one could escape from the Heavenly Tribulation that would come once every 1,000 years. The natives of the Realms of Gods also referred to it as the Life-Threatening Tribulation. After all, the Heavenly Tribulations would progressively get more and more difficult. If one’s cultivation could not catch up, one would be killed by the Heavenly Tribulations eventually.

Even before joining the Flying Dragon Sect, Duan Ling Tian had heard of many advanced Lords of Gods who were killed by the Heavenly Tribulations because they could not break through and become Emperors of Gods. For this reason, he was not surprised when he heard Zhao Lu’s words. Moreover, Zhen Ping Fan’s father had also lived a long life.

‘I wonder how strong are the Heavenly Tribulations that intermediate Emperors of Gods have to face?’ Duan Ling Tian shuddered inwardly when he tried to imagine the force of such a Heavenly Tribulation. With his current cultivation base, he would be reduced to dust in mere seconds.

“In any case, our faction is lucky because we have junior granduncle as a successor if anything happens to our ancestor. Many of the factions are without a successor so if anything happens to their leaders, it’ll be bad…” Zhao Lu said.

Duan Ling Tian nodded.

If there was no successor or anyone strong enough to lead the faction, the faction would naturally fall into a state of decline if the leader was killed by a Heavenly Tribulation.

“What will happen to a faction if there’s no longer an Emperor of Gods?” Duan Ling Tian asked.

Zhao Lu sighed. “If that happens, the faction would have to disband and leave the faction’s floating island. Only factions can occupy the floating islands in the Pure Yang Sect. The floating island would then be kept for a new faction or it might be used to house ordinary elders and disciples. Members of the disbanded faction can join another faction if they’re outstanding enough or if they have a connection…”

Duan Ling Tian knew the world was very realistic, and it would be no different in the Pure Yang Sect. Such was the way of the world. There was no such thing as a free lunch in the world. Members of a faction enjoyed privileges due to their leader being an Emperor of Gods. How could they continue to enjoy the privileges if they no longer had an Emperor of Gods to support them? If they were not outstanding and were without connections, it was only normal for them to join the ranks of ordinary elders and disciples.

“In any case, our Cloud Peak faction doesn’t have this problem. The worst thing is that our faction’s name is changed to the Ordinary faction. Moreover, even if that happens, it’ll still be about a few thousand or even tens of thousands of years away. Apart from that, who’s to say our leader and ancestor won’t have a breakthrough? We can predict such things,” Zhao Lu said to lighten the mood.

During the journey to complete his registration, Duan Ling Tian learned a lot about the Pure Yang Sect from Zhao Lu.

There were currently 19 factions in the Pure Yang Sect, including the Cloud Peak faction. Among them, there were seven major factions led by Ascension Elders. The remaining factions were led by Nirvanic Elders. The faction that Lan Xi Lin belonged to was one of the factions led by a Nirvanic Elder.

“Elder Zhao Lu, am I officially a member of the Cloud Peak faction after completing my registration? Is there anything else I need to do?” Duan Ling Tian asked.

Zhao Lu smiled and said, “You’ll only officially become a member of the Pure Yang Sect after your registration. To formally become a member of the Cloud Peak faction, you’ll have to register at the Cloud Peak Island. At that time, we’ll leave a mark on your identity token. The mark is not permanent and can be removed if one chooses to switch factions. In the Pure Yang Sect, it’s not considered a betrayal to switch factions. Needless to say, it won’t stop others from stirring up trouble. However, switching factions rarely happens in our sect,” Zhao Lu said. A complex expression appeared briefly on his face after he finished speaking.

The change in Zhao Lu’s expression did not escape Duan Ling Tian’s notice so he asked, “Elder Zhao Lu, you seemed slightly troubled when you spoke about this. Could it be that there’s someone like that in our Cloud Peak faction?”

Zhao Lu smiled wryly as he said, “I guess there’s no need to hide it from you. I’m one of them. Originally, I wasn’t from the Cloud Peak faction. My former faction sent people to assassinate my clan so that I could focus on my cultivation without distractions. When I found out the instigator was my former master, I almost went mad. Even after he was expelled from the sect, I didn’t feel comfortable staying in the faction so I left.That’s when I joined Cloud Peak faction and met my current master who treated me like a son. Alas, he succumbed to the Heavenly Tribulation before I could fulfill my filial piety.”