Cultivation, Inc.I Use Capitalism to Fix a Dying Sect

Chapter 144: The Return of Patriarch Qingxuan

After successfully finalizing the production line for the Heavenly Soul Liquid, Sun Yi naturally allocated a portion for personal use.

After absorbing his share, his eight divine souls had received a massive boost. If it weren’t for the fact that hundreds of disciples were bottlenecked and waiting for the liquid to break through their realms, Sun Yi definitely would have monopolized the current inventory to push his own limits.

With the Demon Refining Tower project running autonomously, Sun Yi finally had the bandwidth to focus on upgrading his own cultivation.

Unfortunately, his previous binge-consumption of spiritual herbs had triggered severe diminishing returns. Ingesting more pills would yield zero results.

Lacking other options, Sun Yi could only brute-force his cultivation using High Grade Spirit Stones. It was a slow, inefficient grind that left him somewhat dissatisfied with his progression speed.

To compensate for the slow leveling, he spent his time optimizing his attack algorithms—specifically, his Five Elements Sword Art.

Having successfully unlocked the five physiological gates within his body, the base damage of the technique had skyrocketed. With Sun Yi’s current software-hardware integration, the DPS output was astonishing.

In a secluded valley on the main peak, Sun Yi stood with his eyes closed, his hands rapidly flashing through a series of control seals. Five Rank 3 spirit swords hovered in orbit around him, each blade humming with volatile, weaponized Qi.

As Sun Yi executed the final command prompt, the five distinct streaks of sword light violently merged into one. The result was a singular, multi-colored beam of pure destruction.

Sun Yi slashed forward.

Boom!

The valley floor pulverized instantly. A smoking, 30-meter-long scar was gouged into the earth directly in front of him.

With a casual beckon of his hand, the five swords decoupled and snapped back into his sleeves, vanishing back into his internal gates.

“Congratulations, Headmaster! The power of your Five Elements Sword Art has reached a terrifying level,” a voice called out.

Elder Jin Jue and the other core management staff descended from the sky, landing respectfully before Sun Yi. Over the past few weeks, these five had been working overtime, practically living at the office.

Their hard work had paid off. A staggering percentage of the Qingyun Sect’s Qi Refining Grand Perfection disciples had successfully shattered their bottlenecks and ascended to the Foundation Establishment stage.

“What’s the occasion?” Sun Yi asked, brushing dust from his robes.

“We just received a long-distance transmission from Master,” Elder Jin Jue said, his face beaming with relief. “In three days, Master will be returning, and he is bringing guests.”

With Patriarch Qingxuan away, the Elders had been operating under immense pressure. Hearing this, Sun Yi also felt a weight lift.

Once the ultimate safety net—the Patriarch—was back online, they could finally resolve their external conflicts. The Black Wind Stockade and the Evil Spirit Valley had been griefing the Sect for too long; it was time to issue a permanent ban.

“Did the Patriarch send any specific directives?” Sun Yi asked.

“The Master stated he is bringing a considerable delegation of experts. He ordered us to prepare the highest tier of protocol and ensure we do not lose courtesy in front of our guests.”

Hearing this, Sun Yi’s smile vanished. His brows knit together. He hadn’t expected Patriarch Qingxuan to bring a strike team directly into their base.

“What is the matter, Headmaster? Is this not good news?” The Elders looked at him in confusion.

Sun Yi let out a bitter laugh and shook his head. “Look at the optics, Elders. The Patriarch will be thrilled to see our sudden boom in Foundation Establishment cultivators. But what will the other Nascent Soul experts think?”

He tapped his temple. “How do we explain a massive wave of Low Grade Spirit Root disciples suddenly bypassing the hardest bottleneck in Cultivation? It’s a blatant system anomaly. They will get suspicious. If we trigger an audit, the Demon Refining Tower could be exposed.”

“We are still too weak to defend our intellectual property,” Sun Yi concluded.

The five Elders paled. “Heavens… you are right. What do we do?”

“We quarantine the data,” Sun Yi said decisively. “Gather every single Low Grade Spirit Root disciple who just broke through. Also, issue a freeze on all ongoing breakthroughs.”

“Elder Li Tai, Elder Ye Luo. I need you to lead the new Foundation Establishment disciples off-site immediately. Take them deep into the wilderness. Go dark. Do not return until I give the all-clear.”

“Understood, Headmaster! We will deploy at once!” The Elders didn’t hesitate for a second. Sun Yi’s logic was flawless.

“Good. For those remaining, issue a strict gag order. No one speaks of the recent advancements. We maintain a low-profile posture,” Sun Yi commanded.

The Qingyun Sect moved with military efficiency. Within twenty-four hours, Elders Li Tai and Ye Luo vanished into the mountains with the anomaly disciples. Sun Yi ran a final diagnostic sweep of the Sect to ensure no trace of the Heavenly Soul Liquid remained.

Two days of silence followed.

Suddenly, while Sun Yi was meditating, a monstrous wave of spiritual pressure crashed over the Sect.

A sharp glint flashed in Sun Yi’s eyes. He shot into the sky like a rocket. Elder Jin Jue, Elder Han Yun, and Elder Qin Chu materialized in the air a second later.

Dong… Dong… Dong…

The Sect’s grand bells tolled. The remaining disciples flew up to assemble in the sky. However, with the elite batch hidden away, only about a thousand disciples remained. The Sect looked pitifully empty.

Sun Yi withdrew his Headmaster’s token and injected his True Qi. A beam of golden light shot into the sky, interfacing with the mountain-protecting formation. The massive energy dome shimmered and dissolved.

With Patriarch Qingxuan online, the firewall was no longer necessary.

A gargantuan flying boat pierced through the cloud cover. It was not Patriarch Qingxuan’s vessel. This was a Rank 4 luxury dreadnought, radiating an aura of absolute wealth and power.

More terrifyingly, everyone could sense the lifeforms aboard. Aside from Patriarch Qingxuan, there were over a dozen auras that felt as vast as the sea and as deep as the abyss. These were all Nascent Soul stage titans.

Standing on the deck, Patriarch Qingxuan smiled politely. Beside him stood several Nascent Soul giants, flanked by their own Golden Core disciples.

“Is this the mountain gate of your Qingyun Sect?” an elderly cultivator in flowing white robes asked, looking down at the peaks below.

“Indeed, fellow Daoist. This is our home,” Patriarch Qingxuan nodded.

“Heh. To think the Qingyun Sect has fallen to such a state,” a young cultivator with a gloomy aura scoffed, snapping open a folding fan. “You do not even possess a decent spiritual vein. Truly pitiful.”

“The Chaos Demon Commandery is a barren land. Rank 4 spiritual veins are exceedingly rare,” Patriarch Qingxuan replied calmly. “We only recently migrated here. It is natural we haven’t secured a prime location yet.”

“Worry not,” the white-robed elder said dismissively. “Once we exterminate the Black Wind Stockade and the Evil Spirit Valley, you can relocate to their territory.”

“I hope so,” Patriarch Qingxuan smiled faintly.

The massive ship decelerated, hovering directly above the welcoming committee of a thousand disciples.

Patriarch Qingxuan looked down, and his smile froze. He blinked in confusion.

What the… I was only gone for a short trip. Where did everyone go? “These… are your disciples?” one of the Nascent Soul guests asked, an eyebrow raised.

“So few?”

“Three. You only have three Golden Core disciples? Is this all that remains of the Qingyun Sect?”

The Nascent Soul cultivators exchanged looks of sheer amusement. In the Heavenly Saint Commandery, a sect with only a thousand members was nothing more than a backwater militia. The teasing in their eyes was palpable.

“Hmph. I had heard the Qingyun Sect was once the overlord of the Eastern Commandery. I didn’t realize they had been reduced to a handful of stragglers.”

“Heh, if they had any strength left, why would they flee all the way to the Chaos Demon Commandery? The Sect is finished.”

The Foundation Establishment juniors on the rear deck weren’t even whispering; their scorn was audible. Patriarch Qingxuan’s face darkened, a storm brewing in his eyes.

Directly ahead, Sun Yi led the remaining forces forward.

Stopping respectfully before the bow of the dreadnought, Sun Yi cupped his hands and bowed deeply. “We respectfully welcome the Patriarch and the esteemed Seniors back to the Sect.”

Patriarch Qingxuan swept his Divine Sense over the boy. His eyes widened in shock.

Foundation Establishment? He remembered clearly that Sun Yi had the absolute trash aptitude of a Low Grade Spirit Root. Breaking through that bottleneck should have taken him decades, if it was possible at all.

Pushing down his shock, Patriarch Qingxuan frowned at the empty space behind Sun Yi. “Where are Li Tai and Ye Luo?”

“The two Elders have taken the remaining disciples out on a routine resource-gathering mission,” Sun Yi answered loudly for the guests to hear.

Then, seeing the Patriarch’s dark expression, Sun Yi met his eyes directly and sent a subtle, reassuring glance. “Patriarch, please rest assured. The Sect is perfectly fine. It is just… business as usual.”