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

Chapter 145: Returning Home to Find the Heavens Have Changed

Hearing Sun Yi’s calm reassurance, Patriarch Qingxuan relaxed slightly. He shifted his gaze to the Nascent Soul cultivators hovering beside him.

“Fellow Daoists, allow me to introduce Sun Yi. He is the Headmaster of my Qingyun Sect.”

The Nascent Soul cultivators stared down at Sun Yi, their eyes practically rolling in disdain.

“A mere early Foundation Establishment junior holds the highest seat of your Sect?” one of the experts sneered, discarding all pretense of courtesy. “Truly, the Qingyun Sect has completely decayed.”

“Heh. It seems the Chaos Demon Commandery is indeed a barren wasteland, unsuitable for any proper development,” another added coldly.

“Fellow Daoist Qingxuan,” a third Nascent Soul expert barked, his face contorted with arrogance. “Let us dispense with the pleasantries and set off. Our time is precious.”

“Fellow Daoists, it is a rare honor for you to grace the Qingyun Sect with your presence. Why not rest here for a short while?” Patriarch Qingxuan offered, trying to salvage the Sect’s face.

“No need. Let us attend to business,” the first elder scoffed, his face a mask of revulsion. “Quickly issue your orders so we can depart.”

Before their arrival, the guests had held a sliver of curiosity about the Qingyun Sect, the former overlord of the Eastern Commandery. But seeing the dilapidated peaks, the thin Spiritual Qi, and the pathetic handful of remaining cultivators, their interest had evaporated. The former titan was dead. Now, it was just a backwater sect.

They had absolutely zero desire to stay a second longer than necessary.

Patriarch Qingxuan opened his mouth to argue, but Sun Yi smoothly interjected, “The Seniors speak the truth. Efficiency is key. We cannot allow evil cultivators to continue their reign of terror while we waste time on hospitality.”

Patriarch Qingxuan glanced sharply at Sun Yi, only to see the young man shoot him a subtle, exaggerated wink.

Though his heart swirled with confusion, the Patriarch caught the hint and nodded.

“Very well. I will debrief my subordinates. Fellow Daoists, please wait a moment.”

“Come. You are all returning with me,” Patriarch Qingxuan declared. With a grand wave of his hand, a wave of True Qi scooped up Sun Yi and the Elders, whisking them away toward the central hall.

Left behind, the Nascent Soul experts from the Heavenly Saint Commandery immediately retreated into the luxurious interior of their flying boat, thoroughly disgusted by the Qingyun Sect.

Inside the central hall, Patriarch Qingxuan dropped into the Headmaster’s throne.

His sharp gaze swept over Sun Yi and the Elders. “Report. What is going on? Did I not order a strict lockdown until my return? Why are Ye Luo and the core disciples missing?”

“Patriarch, activate the privacy formation first,” Sun Yi suggested smoothly.

Patriarch Qingxuan frowned, but with a wave of his hand, a heavy isolation barrier instantly locked down the entire central hall.

Only then did Sun Yi smile bitterly and explain. “We had no choice but to evacuate them, Patriarch. The current situation is too suspicious. Way too many of our Low Grade Spirit Root disciples just broke through to the Foundation Establishment stage. If the Heavenly Saint Commandery delegates saw it, it would trigger a hostile investigation.”

“What?” Patriarch Qingxuan blinked, his ancient mind failing to process the information. “Many Low Grade Spirit Roots broke through? What do you mean?”

Elder Jin Jue couldn’t hold it in any longer. Practically vibrating with excitement, he stepped forward to claim credit. “Patriarch, are you not curious about how the Headmaster himself broke through? While you were away, the Headmaster led us in revolutionizing the entire Sect!”

“Yes, Sun Yi…” Patriarch Qingxuan turned to the young man, his eyes wide. “How did you manage this?”

He knew Sun Yi’s aptitude intimately. With a Low Grade Spirit Root, breaking the Foundation Establishment bottleneck was near impossible. During his trip to the Heavenly Saint Commandery, Qingxuan had specifically hunted for rare, heaven-defying treasures to brute-force Sun Yi’s breakthrough, but he had found nothing. He had spent the entire trip back agonizing over the boy’s future.

To see Sun Yi radiating Foundation Establishment Qi upon arrival was nothing short of a miracle.

“Heh heh, Patriarch, the Headmaster is a peerless genius!” Elder Jin Jue bragged, eagerly adopting Sun Yi’s terminology. “He decrypted the secret of bottlenecks! He defined the Heavenly Punishment Force, optimized our paths with the ‘Trinity Cultivation’ framework, and engineered the device to synthesize Heavenly Soul Liquid!”

“What?!” Patriarch Qingxuan bolted upright, his voice a shocked rasp. “You said synthesize Heavenly Soul Liquid? Say that again!”

He had no idea what ‘Heavenly Punishment Force’ or ‘Trinity Cultivation’ meant, but the words ‘Heavenly Soul Liquid’ struck him like a physical blow. That was a supreme treasure, a resource so rare it was coveted even by Nascent Soul cultivators.

“Yes!” Elder Jin Jue nodded furiously. “The Headmaster built a device to mass-produce it. The Qingyun Sect now manufactures its own Heavenly Soul Liquid.”

“With this Heavenly Soul Liquid,” Elder Jin Jue continued rapidly, “our Low Grade Spirit Root disciples can seamlessly bypass their bottlenecks. No Foundation Establishment Pills needed! The mortality rate is zero.”

CRACK.

Patriarch Qingxuan felt as if a thunderbolt had just detonated inside his skull. His jaw literally went slack.

“What did you say?” he whispered, his eyes bulging as he stared at Elder Jin Jue. “Low Grade Spirit Roots can reach Foundation Establishment without pills? With no danger?”

Sun Yi stood off to the side, his hands clasped behind his back, wearing a smug smile.

“Indeed, Patriarch,” Jin Jue gloated, loving the look of sheer disbelief on a Nascent Soul expert’s face. “The majority of our disciples has already upgraded. Ever since the Headmaster synthesized the liquid, not a single Qi Refining disciple has failed their breakthrough.”

“This… how is this possible?” Patriarch Qingxuan stammered. His centuries-old understanding of the Dao, his entire worldview, was being shattered into pieces.

“Heh heh, that’s just the beginning,” Elder Jin Jue said, dropping another explosive truth. “The Headmaster also researched a method to open new Dantians.”

“You… you said he found a way to open new Dantians?”

Before Qingxuan could recover from the first shock, the second bombshell landed, leaving his ears ringing with the sheer absurdity of the claim.

“Yes, Patriarch. You can check our bodies yourself,” Jin Jue offered proudly. “Several of us have opened five auxiliary Dantians. We now have six Dantians in total.”

Before Elder Jin Jue even finished his sentence, Patriarch Qingxuan vanished from the throne and reappeared directly in front of him.

Vast, oceanic Divine Sense and True Qi surged violently into Elder Jin Jue’s body. At this moment, Qingxuan didn’t care about politeness; he needed hard data.

Elder Jin Jue didn’t resist. The Patriarch was his Master, and he fully trusted the old man’s inspection.

For the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Patriarch Qingxuan’s Divine Sense mapped every inch of Jin Jue’s meridians. Finally, the energy slowly receded.

Patriarch Qingxuan did not return to his seat. He stood rooted to the spot, staring blankly at his disciple’s chest.

“To actually forge five Dantians within the body…” he muttered, his voice trembling. “It is inconceivable. And the True Qi within these five reserves is terrifyingly pure. They are single-attribute energy pools. This is… a miracle.”

The inspection had verified everything. The impossible was real.

Before he left, when Sun Yi had first pitched the idea of creating artificial Dantians, Qingxuan had warned the boy not to experiment with lethal anatomy. He never imagined that, during his short trip, Sun Yi would actually pull it off.

He had only been gone for a year. But looking around the room, Patriarch Qingxuan felt as if the very Heavens had flipped upside down.