The Hehuan Sect Was Squeezed Dry for Ten Thousand Years, but It Became a Sacred Ground?

Chapter 28: A Century to Make Qinglian Sect the Greatest in Da Xia!

Inside the main hall of Qinglian Sect, Sect Master Liu Ruyan lounged lazily against the armrest of her throne. Her ice-blue eyes were half-closed, exuding an aura of elegance and peerless beauty, even in her repose.

The serene atmosphere of the hall was soon interrupted by the sound of hurried footsteps.

“Senior Sister, you’re certainly enjoying yourself. Meanwhile, I’m running around tirelessly! Ever since we cut down the sect’s numbers, I’ve had to personally handle all the affairs, big and small!”

The voice came from a striking woman with flowing violet hair, her face etched with frustration.

Liu Ruyan lifted her eyelids slightly and glanced at her junior sister. A faint smile appeared on her lips. “The capable should take on more responsibilities.”

Seeing her junior sister still brimming with indignation, Liu Ruyan added nonchalantly, “Next month, I’ll let you take a few extra turns in the Demon Suppression Prison. I won’t compete with you for that.”

Hearing this, Xu Qingyao’s expression brightened instantly. “You said it, not me!”

Her recent hard work had been purely to gain more leverage. Otherwise, she would’ve felt utterly taken advantage of.

Liu Ruyan ignored her change in mood and shifted the conversation to more pressing matters.

“Is the recruitment ceremony over?”

“It’s done. We recruited 327 new disciples this time,” Xu Qingyao replied, though a frown quickly appeared on her face.

Given the sect’s prestigious status as one of Da Xia’s top sects, this number was alarmingly low. But there was no helping it—recruitment was now restricted solely to women.

After dismissing the male disciples, the sect’s total membership had dropped to just over a thousand, barely enough to maintain its reputation.

Liu Ruyan nodded. It was within her expectations.

“Any promising recruits?” she inquired.

Xu Qingyao pondered briefly before replying, “There’s one. Zhou Qin, a member of a small Qi Refining family from Yunjiang City. She’s sixteen years old and currently at the seventh level of Qi Refining.”

“Only the seventh level? How is that remarkable?” Liu Ruyan interrupted, puzzled.

“Senior Sister, you don’t understand. This girl reached the peak of Qi Refining at just twelve years old—a talent so extraordinary it caught the attention of the Twelve Sects at the time. However, she was injured by a Foundation Establishment spirit beast while training in the mountains, and her dantian was severely damaged, causing her cultivation to plummet.”

“But she had a stroke of fortune and managed to heal her dantian. In just one year of resuming her cultivation, she has progressed to the seventh level of Qi Refining. What’s more impressive than her talent is her resilience during her fall from grace,” Xu Qingyao explained, her tone tinged with admiration.

“She’s indeed a promising prospect,” Liu Ruyan agreed.

To her, Zhou Qin’s achievement of reaching the peak of Qi Refining at twelve was sufficient proof of her talent.

Typical remedies could heal flesh wounds but rarely mended dantian damage. Even with rare resources or elixirs, restoring the dantian was often imperfect, leading to compromised talent.

But with her beloved disciple’s divine aid, such issues were trivial.

Liu Ruyan’s goal was ambitious: she intended to rebuild the sect’s strength in a century, aiming to surpass Yuandan Academy and claim the title of Daxia’s greatest sect.

However, she knew that even with Ning Chen as a secret weapon, the sect would need true geniuses to achieve such heights.

She herself was a case in point. With only above-average talent, her rise to the Nascent Soul stage had required a century of consuming rare resources in solitude. It wasn’t something that could be replicated.

For the sect to thrive, it desperately needed talents who could grow rapidly under the influence of Ning Chen’s special abilities. Even individuals with shattered foundations or fallen potential were worth nurturing—as long as they were still alive.

“Anyone else worth noting?” Liu Ruyan asked.

“Two more,” Xu Qingyao replied. “Yu Hua, seventeen years old, an orphan without a proper family name. Two months ago, she stumbled upon a fragment of a cultivation manual. She’s currently at the third level of Qi Refining.”

“The manual fragment is nothing special—just a common Qi Refining technique that’s widely circulated in the cultivation world. It’s incomplete, containing only one page. Even I wouldn’t be confident in achieving anything with it. Yet not only did she manage to cultivate with it, but she also avoided any deviation. It’s extraordinary.”

Liu Ruyan nodded but didn’t seem overly impressed. “Too much uncertainty there. It’s hard to evaluate her.”

Seeing Liu Ruyan’s lukewarm reaction, Xu Qingyao moved on to the final recruit. “Duanmu Yao, fifteen years old, at the second level of Foundation Establishment.”

“*Duanmu…” Liu Ruyan murmured, her expression thoughtful.

[*Duanmu is the Mandarin pinyin romanization of the Chinese compound surname written 端木 in Chinese characters

It was a rare and distinguished surname in Da Xia, one that carried immense weight.

Noticing her senior sister’s reaction, Xu Qingyao grinned. “Yes, it’s that Duanmu—the royal family. Her exact identity isn’t clear yet, though.”

Liu Ruyan nodded, a hint of concern crossing her face. “It seems the royal family has fully acknowledged Qinglian Sect’s status as one of the Twelve Sects.”

Traditionally, each generation of royal heirs trained with the Twelve Sects, their assignments reflecting their rank and importance. A royal member joining Qinglian Sect signified both recognition and surveillance.

“Let’s observe her for half a year before making any decisions,” Liu Ruyan concluded, waving dismissively.

Rising from her seat, she prepared to leave. The ornate sect master’s throne looked grand but was far from comfortable.

But before she could take a few steps, her body suddenly tensed, and a soft gasp escaped her lips.

“Ah!”

She doubled over, clutching her abdomen tightly.

Startled, Xu Qingyao stopped in her tracks. “Senior Sister, what’s wrong?”

Liu Ruyan pressed her legs together and covered her abdomen, her breathing uneven. “I’m fine… Leave!”

“But you—”

“Leave!”

The heavy doors of the hall slammed shut behind Xu Qingyao as she left.

Liu Ruyan collapsed to the ground, her face flushed as the strange sensation subsided.

Reaching down, she retrieved a damp, spherical jade plug, her icy-blue eyes filled with both embarrassment and anger.

What was her disciple doing contacting her remotely all of a sudden?