24: The foolish actions of the Yellow Heaven Sect?

To the east of the Yellow Heaven Celestial Kingdom, following the Canglan River downstream, lies the Hong Country.

Hong Country is the hegemon among the Ten Countries in the Southwest region of the continent. It possesses great national power, is significantly larger than Yu Kingdom, and is generally square-shaped, spanning thousands of miles across, with the Canglan River flowing through its entire territory from west to east.

In the central area of Hong Country, there stands the Hunyuan Immortal Mountain, towering over two thousand zhang high, magnificent and majestic in its Aura.

The Cultivation Sect of Hong Country, the Hunyuan Sect, is located here.

"What did you just say? How many people?"

Inside the Main Hall of the Hunyuan Sect, Venerable Yuan Hao looked at the Disciple reporting below him with a face full of suspicion, hardly believing his own ears.

"Reporting to the Sect Master, although the exact number is still uncertain, it is confirmed that at least two to three hundred people have been recruited by the Yellow Heaven Cult onto Purple Gold Mountain!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the Main Hall immediately erupted in an uproar.

Several Elders of the Hunyuan Sect began to speak up, mocking the news:

"Did I hear that right? Two or three hundred people??!"

"Hahaha, has the Cult Master of Huang Tian Cult gone mad?"

"Hundreds of people! This is nothing like his previous habit of casually taking in a few Disciples. Can the Spiritual Vein on his Purple Gold Mountain support them? Is he relying on his Opportunity again?"

"I refuse to believe his Opportunity is truly so Heaven-Defying that it can conjure massive amounts of spiritual essence and Resources out of thin air??"

"Exactly. He's just a Loose Cultivator from the mountains. He doesn't even consider why the State Preceptors Mansion had so few Cultivators before. Utterly foolish!"

Besides these Elders, even Venerable Yuan Hao almost couldn't hold back and nearly burst out laughing.

Hong Country has tens of millions of Mortals, so why does the number of Cultivators in their Hunyuan Sect generally remain around fifty or sixty?

Could it be that the number of people with Spiritual Roots is so low?

Of course not.

Even if it were one in ten thousand, the number would still be far greater than this.

The root cause is... they cannot afford to support them!!

Even the Hunyuan Spiritual Mountain beneath their feet, which possesses a First-Tier High Grade Spiritual Vein, struggles to support fifty or sixty Qi Refining Cultivators.

Despite this, the Spiritual Vein of Hunyuan Mountain is continuously declining!

Two hundred years ago, it was still a Second-Tier Spiritual Vein... The Purple Gold Mountain that the Yellow Heaven Cult just occupied is merely a First-Tier Medium Grade Spiritual Vein, yet they dare to directly recruit three hundred Disciples with Spiritual Roots.

It's likely that in just a few years, they will completely drain the Spiritual Vein dry.

"It seems we overestimated that True Man Huang Tian. He is just a lucky fool from the mountains!"

"Hahaha, the Sect Master is right!"

"This person is not worth worrying about. We just need to wait and watch him become a joke."

It wasn't just the Hunyuan Sect of Hong Country; the Cultivation Forces in other surrounding countries of the Yellow Heaven Celestial Kingdom were all preparing to watch them make a fool of themselves.

Originally, the Yellow Heaven Cult snatching the Purple Gold Mountain Spiritual Vein from the jaws of the Hunyuan Sect had greatly shocked them, and they had all become wary.

Who would have thought they would now commit such a foolish act of self-destruction.

Without Resources, what good is a large number of people?

...The fifth day of the fourth month.

Inside Qichuan County City, it was bustling and noisy.

The spring breeze of the Yellow Heaven Cult testing Spiritual Root Aptitude and recruiting new Disciples finally blew here, traveling from north to south.

In the center of the County City, the streets outside the government office were already crowded with common folk watching the excitement.

Children around ten years old walked into the government office full of anticipation, only to walk out dejectedly afterward.

Whenever someone was kept inside, a sustained gasp of surprise would erupt from the crowd.

Testing Spiritual Root Aptitude and selecting Immortal Seedlings—this was a privilege previously only available to the common folk near the Northern Royal Capital.

Because the State Preceptors Mansion only needed to test the million Mortals near the Royal Capital to recruit a sufficient number of Disciples, with some left over.

There was no need to test any more Mortals than that.

As for why they weren't worried about missing out on a Prodigy with great innate talent?

That was impossible.

In the age of decadence, the overall Spiritual Root Aptitude of Human Race Cultivators was declining year by year, and the trend was obvious.

Everyone was in this dreadful state, the Cultivation World was lifeless, who would dare call themselves a Prodigy?

No matter how much of a Prodigy they were, could they really Breakthrough to the Dao Foundation Realm?

Without Spiritual Veins and Resources, it was all nonsense.

Individuals like the previous State Preceptor of Yu Kingdom, Venerable Zhi Jin, who dared to delusionally attempt a Breakthrough to the Dao Foundation Realm while guarding a mere First-Tier Medium Grade Spiritual Vein, were ultimately very few.

The vast majority of Cultivators had already resigned themselves to fate.

Everyone just guarded their own territory.

Furthermore, even if you were incredibly lucky and encountered a Genius, would you cultivate them or not?

If you didn't cultivate them, what difference was there between them and a mediocre talent??

If you did cultivate them, that person would monopolize a large amount of Resources, wouldn't that squeeze the Resources of the existing Disciples?

Ordinary Disciples would certainly harbor resentment.

And there was a high probability that the outcome wouldn't be good.

For example, the neighboring Celestial Immortal Sect produced a Prodigy over a hundred years ago, hailed as a once-in-a-millennium Genius, boasted to have the Aptitude of a Xuantai True Person!

This person consumed a massive amount of foundation and Resources accumulated by the Celestial Immortal Sect, reaching Peak Qi Refining in just ten years, instantly becoming famous throughout the entire Cultivation World.

They were capable of rivaling the Prodigies of the few Major Sects in the Cultivation World of Kang Country, located in the Central Continent.

What was the result?

The Breakthrough to Dao Foundation failed!

He suddenly perished at only twenty-something years old, like a shooting star streaking across the sky of this desperate Cultivation World.

The Celestial Immortal Sect naturally suffered a huge loss, and having sold off much of their assets, they still haven't recovered.

Not only were all the Resources focused on this person wasted, but because he absorbed too much spiritual essence during his Dao Foundation Breakthrough, the Celestial Immortal Sect's Spiritual Vein directly dropped from First-Tier High Grade to First-Tier Medium Grade... The word 'miserable' doesn't even begin to cover it.

"So, is this Yellow Heaven Cult truly foolish? Or do they have some other backing?"

Amidst the crowd, Yu Xuzi silently speculated.

He was more inclined toward the latter possibility.

Because judging by what he knew of True Man Huang Tian's past and his actions in snatching Purple Gold Mountain from the jaws of the Hunyuan Sect, this person was no fool.

However, the great trend of the world in the age of decadence is absolutely not something human power can change. What kind of monstrous Opportunity could give him the confidence to cultivate so many Cultivators?

Even wanting to contend for supremacy in the Cultivation World?

Yu Xuzi truly could not imagine it.

It was no wonder others thought True Man Huang Tian was foolish.

Walking out of Qichuan County City and returning to Cangqing Mountain, Yu Xuzi suddenly remembered that he still didn't know his own Spiritual Root Aptitude.

He needed to find a time to test it.

Although it wouldn't be of much benefit to his cultivation, it would at least solve one of his perplexities.

Unfortunately, he couldn't refine the Magical Artifact for testing Spiritual Roots right now, nor did he have the Materials.

As for borrowing the Yellow Heaven Cult's Magical Artifact for testing Spiritual Roots?

Better forget about it.

The Yellow Heaven Cult has so many secrets; he doesn't want to expose himself to them right now.

If something were to happen one day, it would be bad if he got involved.