Volume 1, Chapter 320 – Founding a Sect

Shi Lan led Li Canglan and the others through the starry sky, bypassing those life-bearing stars as they headed for the coordinates given by the blank jade token.

A distance of tens of millions of li was no short journey even for the current Shi Lan. Added to the fact that true qi recovered extremely slowly in the starry sky, she also had to stop from time to time to rest and recover.

Only two days later did she finally see that star in the depths of the cosmos.

The entire star was a dusky green, encircled by a ring of starlight, with dozens of dead stars hanging around it. It was dozens of times larger than Yaoyun Star. In terms of sheer area, this one star could almost rival Chengtian Domain.

A curtain of light covered the star, and at the center of that light curtain was reflected the phantom of a battle banner, black with golden characters.

That single Demon-Suppressing battle banner was already enough to ensure that this star would not be harassed by the Human Emperor clans.

“So it really is a generous gift…”

Shi Lan could not help but feel somewhat uneasy. The size of a star often determined the upper limit of its power. After all, barren soil could not nurture truly powerful life. That was an iron law.

Judging from the size of this star, there might well be beings at the Heaven-Man Realm upon it.

…

Only a day later did Shi Lan finally arrive before that star. Activating the jade token Yun Chen had given her, she led Li Canglan and the others into that enormous life-bearing star.

On the way there, Shi Lan had also run into several factions that had designs on this star, but all of them were driven back by the phantom of that Demon-Suppressing Army battle banner.

Passing through the barrier and entering the star, a wave of dense spiritual qi rushed toward her. It was more than a level richer than that of Chengtian Domain, and Shi Lan could not help but think of going into long-term seclusion here.

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Not long after setting foot on the ground, Shi Lan sensed no fewer than ten cities. Strangely, nearly half of them were dead cities, filled with broken walls and ruins and reeking of blood.

Shi Lan did not rashly bring Li Canglan and the others into a city. Though this star nominally belonged to her at present, without the strength to suppress the star, that claim was meaningless.

The people of this star most likely would not recognize the words Demon-Suppressing Army at all.

After settling Li Canglan and the others in a desolate mountain outside the city, Shi Lan used the Myriad Transformation Sacred Robe to slip into one of the cities.

The moment she entered the city, Shi Lan sensed quite a few powerful auras. There were more than twenty martial artists above the Myriad Phenomena Realm alone.

This city was also stained with blood everywhere. Some of the bloodstains even still carried lingering spiritual resonance.

Clearly, many powerful beings had bled here not long ago.

The streets were somewhat desolate. The cultivators walking the roads all looked rather grim. Many refugees knelt by the sides of the streets, their eyes empty and their expressions numb.

This oppressive atmosphere made Shi Lan’s brows draw together involuntarily.

With the situation still unclear, Shi Lan did not dare inquire carelessly, lest she expose herself. She could only circle around the crowds and listen.

“I wonder where those people went.”

“If only we could go and see the other stars.”

“Heaven and earth have been sealed, and even the transmission formations can’t get out. Those great figures all have headaches over it.”

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“The way things are now is still better than before. Much better.”

After hearing only a few scattered remarks, Shi Lan walked into a shop that sold cultivation methods. At no small price, she bought a low-grade cultivation art, then took several travel memoirs as a throw-in.

Finding a corner, she skimmed through the memoirs. Combining them with the few scraps of conversation she had just heard, Shi Lan gradually formed a rough picture in her mind.

This place was called Yunyan Star. Until not long ago, eight great races had coexisted on this star.

The top four races called themselves the upper races. Each controlled a transmission passage leading to the outer stars and dominated the four directions.

The remaining four races were called the lower races, and the human race ranked second from the bottom among them. They had suffered no shortage of oppression and exclusion in ordinary times.

Not long ago, heaven and earth changed drastically. Beings from beyond the domain descended and carried out a blood purge against the seven races other than the human race.

In a single day, those seven races were exterminated. Shi Lan felt no surprise whatsoever at such iron-blooded methods.

The Demon-Suppressing Army had never shown mercy to foreign races.

Among the information concerning the human race, Shi Lan somewhat unexpectedly discovered that the humans of Yunyan Star had no concept of sects. They had only clans.

These clans hoarded their knowledge jealously and attached enormous importance to bloodline. Even when a bloodline was cut off and no descendants remained, they would still rather let their inheritance die than pass it on to outsiders.

That had led to the present situation: although top experts occasionally emerged among the humans of this star and barely maintained the race’s status, they were never able to grow truly strong.

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At most, the open market circulated only incomplete mid-grade cultivation arts. Ordinary people had no way to seek the Dao and could only muddle through life, the weak remaining forever weak.

Even when some of the upper races occasionally hunted humans in secret to satisfy their appetites, no one would stand up for them. Most could only swallow their anger in silence.

Shi Lan frowned as she finished reading through it all, then slowly let out the stifled breath in her chest.

“Stubborn fools.”

It was not that Yunyan Star’s human race had never produced powerful experts. But under the shackles of clan thinking, even when an occasional star rose, it was only a moment of brilliance before it quickly withered away.

Looking again at the refugees around her, Shi Lan could not help but feel a trace of pity. These people should never have ended up like this.

…

With somewhat heavy thoughts, Shi Lan returned to the desolate mountain outside the city.

Li Canglan had been on guard the whole time. Only when he saw Shi Lan return did he finally let out a long breath.

Looking at those young, immature faces before her, Shi Lan’s mood improved a little.

At the very least, among the information she had gathered this time, there was one piece of good news: the human race of Yunyan Star still could not yet digest such a vast territory, which left her with enough room to develop.

Shi Lan had no intention of teaching Li Canglan and the others the martial path, because they were not, in the end, natives of Lingyang Realm. Their physiques and blood and qi were not as strong as those of the people of Lingyang, and the road of martial cultivation might not necessarily suit them.

What she wanted to teach Li Canglan and the others was immortal arts.

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This was an idea Shi Lan had only arrived at after much consideration. It was not a momentary whim. The nameless immortal scripture she had obtained from the Tianhuo Immortal Dynasty was of no low rank, and it contained a path to immortality.

After returning, she had studied it as well. Although the immortal path placed greater emphasis on the soul, it was still, in the end, a great path to longevity.

…

This time, Shi Lan truly intended to found a sect. This was no game.

After passing the introductory portion of the nameless immortal scripture on to Li Canglan, Shi Lan entered seclusion. She did not circulate her cultivation method, did not temper her soul, and did not cultivate martial techniques.

She was only pondering the sect’s name.

Some faint instinct in her heart told her that the sect’s title was of the utmost importance.

Looking back on the past—her repeated brushes with death, her survival to this day, and then Li Canglan and the others surviving disaster at the brink of absolute despair—she seemed to come to some understanding.

The Great Dao is fifty, Heaven derives forty-nine, and man escapes through the one.

Shi Lan was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke:

“Today, I establish the Tianyan Sect, seeking that one thread of life to safeguard my own Great Dao.”

The moment the words fell, traces of that nameless immortal scripture appeared on her body. Her mind suddenly entered a state of utter clarity, and her soul began to resonate with heaven and earth, growing rapidly.