Lord Shenxiu-Chapter 960: Reputation (5000 Bonus)

Thirty years passed swiftly.

The Dan Ding Sect also recruited batch after batch of disciples.

Some elderly cultivators exhausted their life span and passed away in meditation, while newly-established Foundation Establishment cultivators greatly increased their mana and began to shine in the sect.

This day marked the opening of the Dan Ding Sect's mountain gate to welcome children from the outside world with cultivation potential.

Cultivation families and loose cultivators from within a radius of ten thousand miles eagerly sent their kith and kin, hoping the Dan Ding Sect would take them in and add them to the sect's walls.

Therefore, this conference was also called the Immortal Ascension Conference!

Lu Wen Yuan wore a cold face, assigned to preside over the assessment tasks.

"Three Spirit Roots, eight years old, no cultivation, next!"

"Dual Spirit Roots, twelve years old, third layer of basic cultivation technique, good, next."

"Four Spirit Roots, eliminated!"

...

Lu Wen Yuan's face was expressionless, like a stern judge.

In reality, his thoughts were far away, secretly recalling the previous furnace of Second-Order High-Grade Elixir he refined.

At this time, he had already reached the late-stage Foundation Establishment realm, but due to the concealment of elixir pills, he only broke through a minor realm, appearing to outsiders as merely mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation.

Even so, he was already excellent enough to catch up with Dongfang Qing, the ultimate genius of the same term.

As for Brother Wang Qiao, it was rather unfortunate; previously he was severely injured, barely maintaining his Foundation Establishment cultivation. After his wounds healed, he was resentful and went out for revenge, only to end up with news of his demise...

Feiyun Sect's blatant setup also incited a counterattack from the Dan Ding Sect.

Inside the secret hall, it was said that several special missions were issued with extremely generous rewards, but participants must meet the cultivation requirements, and before accepting the mission, they must swear a blood oath.

Reportedly, for a time, many Foundation Establishment disciples were tempted, and then news spread of Feiyun Sect's Foundation Establishment cultivators encountering devil cultivators...

Lu Wen Yuan completely looked down on this.

He would be foolish to join the secret hall, abandoning his bright cultivation path to become an assassin.

Furthermore, once one enters the secret hall, it implements military laws for cultivators, orders must be followed, and if one disobeys a superior's command, one could directly be considered a traitor.

Therefore, Lu Wen Yuan politely declined, but it was heard that Yan Nanfei with many fine magic artifacts and artifact self-destruct techniques was tempted, joining the secret hall and making quite a few significant deeds.

It made even those like Lu Wen Yuan, focused solely on cultivating within the sect, hear rumors of a new 'Explosive Demon King' in the cultivation world of Liangguo, renowned for proficient explosive spells, extremely brutal.

"Uncle?"

A girl timidly walked in front of Lu Wen Yuan and called out.

"Hmm, second layer of basic cultivation technique, three spirit roots, pass!"

Lu Wen Yuan nodded, giving the assisting Qi Cultivation disciples beside him a glance.

The disciple immediately nodded and bowed forward, properly arranging the girl: "Junior Sister Lu, please follow me!"

Once the disciple left, afar, several Qi Cultivation Stage disciples couldn't help but whisper: "Ah, the ethos within the sect has deteriorated again, and he's a bit unfamiliar as a Foundation Establishment Master!"

"Haha, this fellow disciple must have recently joined the Dan Ding Sect, right? This Junior Master Lu is quite renowned within the sect, his alchemy reaching the second stage, but the most famous aspect is his innate fear of death. After Foundation Establishment for forty years never leaving the sect... It's said even when his family's only Foundation Establishment elder passed away, he didn't leave!"

"This..." Several disciples gasped, "Impressive!"

"Shh, slandering a Foundation Establishment Master, do you want to go to the Law Enforcement Hall?"

"Hehe, don't worry, mid-stage Foundation Establishment's Divine Sense doesn't reach that far..."

"This Master actually advanced to mid-stage? It's truly... unfair from the Heavenly Dao. I admire Junior Master Yan Nanfei the most, and after forty years at Foundation Establishment, he's still at the initial stage..."

"Don't mention Junior Master Yan, I was on night patrol last night and saw him hastily return, vomiting blood all the way... It seems his injuries are quite severe."

...

"Hehe! Unfortunately, I already reached late-stage Foundation Establishment, enough to hear your little report..."

Lu Wen Yuan glanced at those Qi Cultivation disciples, memorizing their appearances, secretly smiling coldly, then his mood turned a bit heavy: "Has something also happened to Yan Nanfei? Hopefully it doesn't escalate..."

Meanwhile, he felt somewhat wronged.

'I only painstakingly cultivate, not fearing death to the point I don't dare to leave the sect... Besides... I've secretly gone out, haven't I? Back then, when the clan leader exhausted his life span and passed away, I quietly returned to the family once, even ambushing and severely wounding Foundation Establishment cultivators of two rival families; otherwise, the family wouldn't have held on until now...'

Back then, when the Lu Family Patriarch passed away, Lu Wen Yuan still went out once, but didn't tell anyone, considering it the safest approach.

And just as he forecasted, after resolving the family's major crisis, he relocated a branch of family members, arranging them to reside in a small town at Green Tripod Peak.

This new entrance, Lu Mingxin, was the emerging successor from that branch.

'Moreover, I signed a contract with the sect, exchanging five years of alchemy labor for a Foundation Establishment Pill, helping the family through its toughest time, and subsequently nurtured another Foundation Establishment cultivator, who wasn't Lu Xiaotian though...'

'Henceforth, the family need not worry…'

What truly perplexed and troubled Lu Wen Yuan, however, was the sect's affairs concerning the Tang Family.

Despite wholeheartedly cultivating, Lu Wen Yuan refused the Tang family's proposal for a Dao companion, offering only verbal support in subsequent matters, giving favors only when there was no need for dangerous confrontations.

This disgruntled Tang Buhuan greatly, even ceasing to prevent the sect from assigning some trivial tasks his way.

Being roped into trivial affairs this time had some elements linked to it.

'Over the decades, I've focused solely on cultivation, and while I've associated with some fellow Daoists, it's merely ordinary; if anything were to happen, perhaps no one would speak for me…'

Lu Wen Yuan let out a sigh.

The thoughts of the Tang Family were clear, they wanted him to be a brick for the Tang Family, nourishing their rise.

But he only desired to cultivate diligently, to glimpse the wonder of the Golden Core.

Despite sect or Tang Family's alchemy missions, he merely fulfilled the minimal requirements, then stopped.

Moreover, Tang Buhuan wasn't as diplomatic as Xu Chang, making what was once a fairly harmonious relationship become a bit stiff.

If not for successfully breaking through to mid-stage Foundation Establishment this time, the Tang Family would likely respond even more sternly.

"This setup is tough to break! The sect already recognizes me as part of the Tang Family, and the Tang Family scolding me is natural..."

After concluding trivial affairs, Lu Wen Yuan returned to the Task Hall, settled the tasks, and received a jade slip from the deacon, his brows furrowed: "Why has the amount of elixir pills required next month increased by twenty percent?"

"Junior Brother is already mid-stage Foundation Establishment and has practiced alchemy for over forty years, surely there's some progress, right?"

The deacon smiled insincerely: "If you don't wish to accept this task, it's fine, there's a mine outside that needs guarding..."

As a sect alchemist, he enjoyed favorable conditions without needing to go out for duels, because other cultivators were struggling outside.

This was the other party making things difficult for him within the rules, Lu Wen Yuan did not react angrily, having already guessed, and directly said: "I'll accept the alchemy task!"

He took the jade slip and left promptly...