177: Chapter 177 Hundred Flowers School

Northeast of the Wutong Divine Dynasty, Songhua County, Hundred Flowers Valley.

Surrounded by mountains, a newly established valley appeared exceptionally simple.

This was the Foundation for the reconstruction of the survivors of the Linglong Blessed Land—the Hundred Flowers Sect.

There were no grand palaces or dazzling treasures; only a dozen wooden and stone pavilions built against the mountains, simple and practical in style, exuding a hint of coldness. Faint Spiritual Qi of vegetation lingered in the valley, signaling the newly sprouted vitality of this place.

A moon-white stream of light streaked across the sky, landing gracefully in front of the largest wooden building in the valley.

"It's Elder Linglong!"

"Elder Linglong is back!"

Several female Disciples tending to the medicine fields looked up and saw the familiar figure, immediately cheering in pleasant surprise.

Yu Linglong's bare feet touched the dust, the golden bells on her ankles jingling softly. She nodded to them, and with a flash, she vanished from the spot.

The Meeting Pavilion.

The interior of the pavilion was equally simple. On the main wooden couch sat a woman dressed in a plain, snow-white cloud-patterned robe with wide sleeves. Her long silver hair cascaded down to her waist like a waterfall, loosely held at the end by a simple ice-jade hairpin.

Her face was cold and stunningly beautiful, as if untouched by the mortal world. Her ice-blue eyes were as deep as a cold pool, devoid of ripples. The voluminous robe could not hide her curvaceous and mature figure, yet she was surrounded by a faint atmosphere of near-extinction indifference.

Below her, on the left and right sides, sat two women.

On the left was a woman with a provocative figure. She wore a daringly cut ochre-red cinched gauze dress, her full curves rising and falling slightly with her breath, drawing much attention. Her face was gorgeous, with a hint of laziness and charm in the corners of her eyes from having experienced the world.

The woman on the right had her brows slightly furrowed, seemingly preoccupied. She was dressed in a purple palace robe embroidered with intertwining branch patterns, sitting upright with a relatively reserved temperament. On the wooden stool, her exceptionally full and perky curves pushed up the back of her palace robe into an alluring line.

In the center sat the current Sect Master of the Hundred Flowers Sect, Yu Lingling. She wore an aqua-green flowing cloud dress, her long hair tied into a neat ponytail. In her once innocent eyes, there was now a calmness and a hint of fatigue that far exceeded her age.

"...What Elder Zi Su said is exactly right."

Inside the pavilion, Yu Lingling's voice rang out, "The laws of the Wutong Divine Dynasty are strict. Since our Hundred Flowers Sect has settled in its territory, we must register and become a subordinate Sect."

"Based on our current combat power assessment, we will be classified as at least a Rank Seven Sect. But the annual tribute required for a Rank Seven Sect... is truly an astronomical figure!"

From the time they settled here until now, they had not yet registered. However, as time passed, they had to make a decision.

"Elder Hong Shao, your injuries have not yet healed, and Elder Zi Su's Origin also has old wounds. The Spirit Medicine needed for daily healing costs a fortune. Coupled with the Disciples' daily Cultivation needs... we fled Fusang in haste, and the resources we brought are already limited; we are now stretched thin. What's even more troublesome is..."

A flash of helplessness appeared in Yu Lingling's eyes, "As outsiders, we have no Foundation here. Any slightly valuable spirit mines, medicine mountains, or even Spiritual Vein nodes nearby have already been carved up by local Sects. We have no way to obtain a stable supply of resources."

"And once we take action, it will inevitably alert the Inspectors of the Inspectorate of Heaven."

Elder Zi Su sighed, "Without our own resource lands, relying solely on sporadic gathering makes it difficult to maintain the Disciples' daily Cultivation, let alone support Sister Hong Shao and me in our recovery! In the long run, how can the Sect establish itself?"

Elder Hong Shao lazily adjusted her sitting posture, her full chest trembling slightly:

"Ling Ling, what about the proposal to relocate? Find an unclaimed land; it doesn't matter if the resources are sparse, as long as it's stable."

Yu Lingling smiled bitterly and shook her head: "Elder Hong Shao, relocating now is not like before. Revered Master's grotto-heaven has developed cracks and can no longer even temporarily hold living people. If we want to relocate, we must first decide where to go. Besides..."

She looked at the woman on the wooden couch,

"If there are powerful enemies lurking during the migration, the consequences would be unimaginable."

"Therefore, the biggest problem with choosing to stay is that our rank is too high. The status of a Rank Seven Sect means we need a precious land with abundant Spiritual Qi that matches its requirements as the Sect's Foundation. Within the Wutong Divine Dynasty, such precious lands already have owners, and the powers behind them are deeply entrenched."

"As outsiders with no Foundation, suddenly demanding a piece of Rank Seven resource land... is no different from snatching food from a tiger's mouth. Even if the Empress of the Wutong Divine Dynasty agrees, those long-established Sect forces probably won't let it go. I fear trouble will arrive before the tribute is even fully paid."

With the pros and cons analyzed to this point, the pavilion fell into an even more oppressive silence. The dilemma of resource shortage and being caught between a rock and a hard place was like an invisible shackle, tightly bound to the small boat that was the Hundred Flowers Sect.

Yu Lingling, Hong Shao, and Zi Su's gazes eventually all turned toward the woman on the main seat who had remained silent throughout.

Her ice-blue eyes were lowered, her long white hair contrasting with her cold face. Beneath her indifferent expression, her willow-like brows were slightly furrowed, clearly weighing this difficult situation.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, the woman's indifferent gaze lifted and looked toward the pavilion door.

"Linglong is back."