My Portable Spirit Farm: Rise of the Humble Servant

Chapter 183: A Scene of the Immortals

The Spirit Ship sliced through the sea of clouds, witnessing the rise of the sun and the setting of the moon as it flew continuously for three days and three nights.

Inside the cabin, the atmosphere was heavy with silence.

Bai Yue sat cross-legged with her eyes closed, Qi circulating unceasingly around her body as she seized every last moment to cultivate.

Zhao Long cradled his massive ruler-sword, polishing it in silence. His gaze was focused and tender, as if he were communing with an old friend.

Chen Ping sat by the window, appearing to rest with his eyes closed, but his mind was churning.

The Eight Sects Grand Competition was hosted by the Tianling Sect, a third-rate sect that offered ‘protection’ to eight fourth-rate sects, including the Qingyun Sect.

Every year, the Qingyun Sect was required to pay a substantial tribute—Spirit Stones, mineral ores, spiritual herbs, and the like—to the Tianling Sect. In exchange, they received the Tianling Sect’s aegis, shielding them from invasions by other powerful factions or rampaging evil cultivators.

In the cultivation world of the Anli Kingdom, this hierarchical relationship was the accepted norm.

However, Chen Ping harbored a cynical view of this arrangement. In his eyes, the surface benevolence was a farce.

The Grand Competition served three true purposes.

First, the tribute ratio. The rankings in the competition directly determined the percentage of tribute the eight sects would have to submit for the next 60 years. Higher rankings meant a lower share, and vice versa. This was the most direct economic driver, creating a situation where the subordinates fought amongst themselves for scraps—a scenario the Tianling Sect was happy to orchestrate to maintain checks and balances.

Second, surveillance and control. Rather than an opportunity for exchange and growth, the competition was a periodic ‘audit’ by the Tianling Sect. Through these battles, they could clearly assess the strength, Potential, and cultivation techniques of the new generation of Foundation Establishment cultivators. This ensured that the subordinate sects remained within a controllable range, preventing any variables that could threaten the Tianling Sect’s dominance.

Third, the solidification of the system. This tiered protection—Tianling protecting the eight sects, and the eight sects protecting dozens of fifth-rate minor sects or clans—formed a rigid pyramid structure.

The upper-tier sects controlled resource distribution and held the monopoly on violence, naturally suppressing the upward mobility of those below.

For a fourth-rate sect to advance to third-rate and challenge the Tianling Sect?

The difficulty was insurmountable.

The entire cultivation world of the Anli Kingdom appeared orderly, but it was strictly stratified, with an agonizingly narrow path for ascension.

Chen Ping saw through the game clearly, but he had no intention of trying to change it.

He knew his own weight. A cultivator at the sixth layer of Foundation Establishment might be a big shot in the Qingyun Sect, but placed within the Tianling Sect or the broader world, he was merely a drop in the ocean.

Overturn the table?

That was courting death.

His only desire was to survive within the cracks of this rigorous system, keeping a low profile and seizing every opportunity to silently increase his strength.

To live long was the only hard truth.

…

On the morning of the fourth day, the Spirit Ship arrived above a seemingly ordinary mountain range.

The peaks were not particularly high, the forests were lush but common, and the concentration of Qi was unremarkable—far inferior to the spiritual lands occupied by the Qingyun Sect.

‘We have arrived,’ Li Lingfeng’s calm voice drifted from the bow.

Chen Ping felt a flicker of surprise. Was this great third-rate sect truly situated in such a mundane place?

But the scene that followed completely overturned his perception.

The Headmaster flipped his hand, revealing a warm, white jade token. He waved it gently toward the empty air ahead, shooting out a beam of soft white light.

A strange phenomenon occurred.

The seemingly empty void suddenly rippled with visible, transparent undulations, like stones cast into a calm lake.

The ripples expanded rapidly, peeling back the veil to reveal the majestic reality hidden behind.

A massive, transparent formation barrier, covering the entire mountain range, shimmered into existence.

‘What a brilliant protective mountain formation!’ Chen Ping inwardly exclaimed, feeling a chill.

This illusion formation not only perfectly concealed the sect’s gate, but its scale and Qi fluctuations far surpassed the Qingyun Sect’s defenses. It was at least a Tier 4 Formation!

The foundation of the Tianling Sect was indeed profound.

From the center of the ripples, two sword lights shot out like meteors, stopping instantly before the Spirit Ship.

They were two cultivators wearing the standard azure robes of the Tianling Sect—one at the fourth layer of Foundation Establishment, the other at the sixth.

They clearly recognized Li Lingfeng. The middle-aged cultivator at the sixth layer cupped his hands. ‘Headmaster Li, you’ve had a hard journey. Please, follow me.’

His attitude was polite, neither humble nor arrogant.

The two disciples each produced a peculiarly shaped jade talisman and infused it with Qi. The talismans flared with light, shooting beams into the massive barrier ahead.

The illusionary surface of the dome seemed to lift gently at one corner, revealing a ‘gateway’ just large enough for the Spirit Ship to pass.

Inside the gateway, spiritual mist swirled, obscuring the view.

Li Lingfeng steered the Spirit Ship through the opening, following closely behind the Tianling guides.

The moment they passed through the barrier, it felt like traversing a curtain of cool water.

Then, the view exploded open.

Even with Chen Ping’s steady mental state, his pupils contracted, and waves of shock stirred in his heart.

Beneath the vault of the sky, a sea of clouds churned.

A colossal peak stood towering, its height surely exceeding a thousand zhang. The mountain body was majestic, composed of rugged, ancient rock, its summit lost in the higher flows of the atmosphere like a divine pillar supporting the heavens.

But what was truly earth-shattering was that this main peak was not rooted in the earth.

It was suspended within the boundless sea of clouds.

It was a city in the sky.

Orbiting the main peak like stars surrounding the moon were 15 smaller floating mountains. The smallest were a hundred zhang high, while the larger ones reached several hundred.

These peaks varied in form—some thrust into the sky like sharp swords, others crouched in the clouds like tigers, while some were draped in verdant vegetation.

Waterfalls and streams cascaded from the cliffs, falling like silver ribbons into the bottomless white ocean below. The mist kicked up by the falling water refracted the sunlight, creating brilliant, arching rainbows.

The space between the peaks was not empty.

Broad, solid ‘Cloud Bridges’ connected them. These were not made of condensed mist but were paved with a white, jade-like stone, inscribed with profound runes that emitted a steady spiritual light. Walking upon them would be as stable as walking on flat ground.

On these bridges, Qi Condensation disciples of the Tianling Sect in various colored robes moved with unhurried grace. Flocks of white-feathered immortal cranes soared elegantly between the peaks, their clear cries echoing through the air.

Mist flowed like light gauze, teasingly concealing and revealing the lush scenery. The Qi was so dense it felt almost tangible; a single deep breath was enough to refresh the mind and spirit completely.

The roar of waterfalls, the cry of cranes, and the silhouettes of cultivators Sword Riding through the clouds composed a grand, ethereal, and vibrant picture of the immortal realm.

What a Tianling Sect. What a true land of immortals.

‘This…’

Zhao Long’s eyes were wide, his mouth agape. He was speechless for a long time, his hand unconsciously tightening its grip on the hilt of his ruler-sword.

Even the usually aloof Bai Yue could not hide her shock, her gaze lingering on the floating giant and the cascading silver waters.

Even Li Lingfeng, who had visited the Tianling Sect several times, let a trace of complex envy flash through his eyes.

If the Qingyun Sect could possess such a scene…

How magnificent, how prestigious that would be!

A strange ambition suddenly took root in Li Lingfeng’s heart.

Abruptly, he found himself yearning to mold his own Sect into such a beautiful, immortal landscape.