First, Qi Xiu sat down to meditate and regulate his energy, getting himself into the best possible state. Once he was ready, he took out a jade slip, placed it against his forehead, and used his spiritual sense to immerse himself in it.
These jade slips are typically used to transmit teachings or secret messages, can only be used once, and must be read using spiritual sense. And since Qi Xiu's cultivation level was low, he proceeded with caution.
The jade slip contained a lot of information, much of which had to be memorized. It took him almost half an hour to go through it all, until his mental energy was depleted, causing his spiritual sense to withdraw. The jade slip then dissolved into tiny points of light and disappeared.
The information he gained left Qi Xiu both happy and worried. He was glad to learn that this place wasn't entirely devoid of spiritual energy, meaning that the Chu Qin Sect could continue to cultivate, thereby securing the foundation of their sect.
However, he was concerned about the harsh environment and complex power dynamics in the Black River region, making it a difficult place to establish themselves.
The Black River, as the Chu family cultivators mentioned, was indeed the Eastern Gate of the Southern Chu Sect. However, it wasn't exactly what Qi Xiu had imagined—the Southern Chu Sect hadn't intentionally placed people here to guard it.
The jade slip detailed why the Southern Chu Sect went to the trouble of relocating a lowly sect like Chu Qin, one with limited abilities, deeply indebted to the Chu family, and not officially a vassal of the Chu family, to this location.
The reason stemmed from two awkward situations the Southern Chu Sect faced in south Xinjiang.
First, the geography of the Black River was long and narrow, running north to south like an upright stick "1." The Southern Chu Sect was situated on the western side, while the Beast-Taming Sect occupied the east, with only a small section of their territories sharing a border along the Black River.
The Beast-Taming Sect, as the name suggests, specialized in controlling spiritual beasts and was a super sect, comparable to, if not slightly superior to, the Qi Yun Sect.
However, the eastern side of the Black River was just an outpost of the Beast-Taming Sect's main headquarters in South Xinjiang.
Due to the different natural environments required to raise various spiritual beasts, the Beast-Taming Sect had several such outposts scattered across the cultivation world. The outpost near the Southern Chu Sect was managed by a Golden Core cultivator.
And because of the unique nature of the Beast-Taming Sect's techniques, their cultivators often controlled spiritual beasts stronger than themselves. Thus, these outposts are typically guarded by a late-stage Golden Core cultivator paired with a spiritual beast equivalent to a Nascent Soul-early stage human cultivator.
The characteristics of the Beast-Taming Sect, combined with the arrogance typical of a super sect, made interactions between the Southern Chu Sect and them quite awkward. When a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Southern Chu Sect visited, the Beast-Taming Sect would often only send a Qi Condensation cultivator to greet them.
But if a Beast-Taming Sect Foundation Establishment cultivator came over with his Golden Core level spiritual beast, what was the proper response? Should the Southern Chu Sect send a Golden Core cultivator or a Foundation Establishment cultivator? Sending a Golden Core cultivator felt like lowering themselves unnecessarily, but sending a Foundation Establishment cultivator seemed disrespectful. It was a constant dilemma.
So, the Southern Chu Sect decided to place the Chu Qin Sect in between as a buffer. This way, the Southern Chu Sect would no longer share a border with the Beast-Taming Sect, cutting off personal interactions and avoiding these uncomfortable social niceties altogether. That was the first reason.
The second reason involves the Black River's "1"-shaped head and tail. To the north, it connects with the southern end of the Qi Yun Sect, and to the south, it borders the Death Swamp.
Because of the aggressive nature of many large flying spiritual beasts roaming freely within the Beast-Taming Sect's territory in South Xinjiang, cultivators traveling between the Qi Yun Sect and the southern edge of the Death Swamp often avoid the Beast-Taming Sect's territory by flying over the Southern Chu Sect's.
While the Qi Yun Sect's cultivators, who mostly belong to orthodox Daoist traditions, were somewhat manageable, the White Mountain area was home to numerous small sects and independent cultivators, many of whom are of questionable character.
This has led to various incidents, including robbery and murder, causing endless headaches for the Southern Chu Sect.
So, by allocating the Black River to the Chu Qin Sect, the Southern Chu Sect planned to prohibit cultivators from flying over their territory, leaving the Black River as the only route for outsiders to pass through.
This was precisely what worried Qi Xiu. His sect was weak, with hardly any means of self-defense. How could they deal with the unpredictable and potentially dangerous cultivators passing through?
He let out a long sigh—these were concerns for the future. For now, he needed to focus on handling the immediate problems at hand.
The jade slip explained that this strange building of the Chu Qin Sect had been originally a monastery where a Tantric cultivator once practiced in isolation. After this cultivator passed away, the monastery had been abandoned and, over the years, had been used by passing cultivators as a temporary resting place.
The interior of the monastery is shaped like a 'concave' character (凹), with a large Buddha statue originally standing at the opening of the concave shape. Now the statue has been destroyed, leaving only half of it.
The two protruding sections on the left and right were inner chambers. Qi Xiu plans to reserve one chamber for himself as the sect leader's quarters, while the other would serve as a storage area and library, holding the sect's items and books. Though small, it needs to be well equipped.
Qi Xiu planned to manage both the large storage room and the library himself with Zhan Yuan handling the miscellaneous tasks, and Zhang Shishi, being the most advanced in cultivation, would take on the responsibilities of passing down techniques and enforcing the rules.
Qi Xiu stepped out of the inner chamber into the main hall, where several disciples were silently working. Zhang Shishi was using a Cleaning Talisman to meticulously clean each area of the hall, while the garbage was collected and passed around by Huang and the others, who then threw it down the mountain.
Gu Ji and Qin Weiyu were on their knees, diligently scrubbing the floor, while Zhan Yuan and He Yu were cleaning the inner chamber intended for the large storage room. These tasks were typically handled by servants in the old Chu Qin Mountain, but none of the disciples complained or slacked off. Seeing this, Qi Xiu felt both sad and grateful.
Zhang Shi Shi noticed Qi Xiu entering the hall and walked over. "Sect Master," he said. "Everything else is manageable, but we're short on food and water and we have no bedding or other necessities for the night.'
Qi Xiu waved his hand to show that he understood, then instructed Zhang Shishi to gather everyone around. He then walked to the center of the main hall, crouched down, and began to feel around on the floor with his hands.
The jade slip from the Nan Chu Sect mentioned that this hall could provide the spiritual energy needed for cultivation, and the secret lay in the floor at the center of the hall. The various colored, textured stones were arranged into what appeared to be a circular Vajrayana mandala but was actually a Vajrayana formation disk, drawing a faint spiritual vein from the mountain into the hall.
Qi Xiu felt around near the center of the circle and soon found a small hole in the middle; it had been blocked by some foreign object. According to the jade slip, this hole was originally hollow and remarkably deep, connecting to a pool of water in a cave at the foot of the mountain.
The Chu family found that if they cleared this hole, it would generate spiritual energy both in the pond and on the floor of the hall where the esoteric paintings were.
The reason for this is unclear, but it's likely due to some secret technique of the esoteric sect.
The foot of the mountain was covered in stinky black fog, so people couldn't stay there for long, making the pond unusable for now. However, the esoteric formation could still be utilized.
"Leader! I found some clothes!"
Gu Ji came running over, all excited, holding a piece of pink fabric in both hands.
Qi Xiu saw that it was a woman's undergarment with some stains on it and he couldn't help but cough awkwardly. Not wanting to explain the situation, he just told Gu Ji to toss the garment aside. He simply instructed him to discard the garment.
At the same time, Zhang Shi Shi gathered everyone together, and Qi Xiu shared the secret of the hall's potential for cultivation.
"So, as long as we clear this hole, spiritual energy will appear?" Zhang Shishi asked eagerly, peering into the hole. The other disciples also looked thrilled. Even though most people in the Chu family had little hope of reaching the Great Dao, they were genuinely excited for their sect.
"Yeah. But we can't start working on it just yet. There are too many passing cultivators around. Once the hole is cleared and the spiritual energy starts to leak out, it'll be more than just a simple temporary resting spot. You mustn't mention this to anyone outside the sect!"
After warning everyone, Qi Xiu continued, "I'm going to the nearest cultivation market to visit the Chu family's Foundation Establishment cultivator who guards it. I'll also see if I can buy a set of tools to set up a formation to handle the spiritual energy leakage in advance."
The jade slip had a detailed map marking the various features around the Black River. The closest Chu family Foundation Establishment cultivator was named Chu Youmin and while the slip didn't explicitly say so, it hinted that Chu Qin men sect would eventually be under his jurisdiction and guidance. So, the first local power Qi Xiu needed to visit was Chu Youmin.
"Why not just buy a mountain protection formation?" Zhang Shishi suggested. "A mountain protection formation is fundamental for any sect. The sooner we set it up, the better!"
Qi Xiu considered the sect's resources. They had enough to buy a small mountain protection formation, but he wanted to make use of the spiritual energy pond at the foot of the mountain. For that, he would need a larger formation that could cover the entire Black River Peak from top to bottom.
Unless he used the crimson jade formation plate that Qin Si Yuan had given him to strike a deal with the original three sects—now the Spreading Blossom Sect—he wouldn't have the capital to purchase it. So, he decided against Zhang Shishi's suggestion and instructed him to guard the mountain gate.
He then took out the scattered gold and silver, along with all three of the Chu Qin Sect's flying magical items—the commonly used [Spirit Bamboo Kites]—from the supplies they had brought. He handed these over to Zhan Yuan, specifying the route and instructing him to take two others to the nearest mortal settlement to buy some drinking water, food, and daily necessities.
Qi Xiu then set up the Wind Array Spirit Boat and set off for the cultivation market where Chu Youmin was stationed.