Deep in the valley, inside the stone chamber.
Jian Qing exited the 【Sect Management】 interface and continued browsing other sections of the Heavenly Network.
【Dao Discussion Community】 was a public forum, where she could not only communicate with any stranger across the entire cultivation world, but also read interesting anecdotes, travelogues, and miscellaneous records written by other cultivators.
After searching and browsing for a while, she gained a preliminary understanding of this world.
First, the cultivation realm divisions for cultivators were as follows: Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Transformation, Void Refinement, and Harmonization.
The higher your cultivation, the longer your lifespan. According to legend, the great masters at the Harmonization stage could even live as long as the heavens themselves—as long as they were not killed, they would never die.
Secondly, the more abundant the spiritual energy in a region, the more likely it was to attract demonic calamities. But for cultivators, spiritual energy was as indispensable as air.
If you remained in a place with thin spiritual energy for a long time, your spiritual power would go unreplenished after being consumed, and your cultivation realm would gradually decline.
Once your realm declined, just like the original owner, your lifespan would correspondingly decrease as well.
So the problem of demonic calamities was essentially unsolvable.
If you wanted to continue progressing in cultivation, you had to embrace risks and challenges, always ready for the next demonic calamity to descend.
Fortunately, the vast majority of demons and monsters couldn’t stay in the human world for long. After rampaging for a period of time, they would be expelled, just like that Giant Force Demon earlier.
So here was the question.
Guiyuan Sect was only a lowest-tier Yellow-grade sect. The spiritual energy concentration at its sect grounds wouldn’t be particularly high. So why exactly did it keep suffering from demonic calamities? Was it just bad luck, or was there some other hidden reason?
Jian Qing was full of question marks.
Just then, someone suddenly burst into the stone chamber through the broken wall: “Sect Master!”
Jian Qing closed the Heavenly Network and looked closely.
The newcomer was a green-robed girl. She had a delicate and refined appearance, with a slender and slim figure.
Wow, another great beauty whose looks rivaled those of celebrities in their heavily photoshopped photos.
The green-robed girl was naturally Lin Yueming. She laid the injured disciple she had brought down on the ground: “This disciple heard from Senior Brother Song that those with severe, untreatable injuries could be brought to you for healing. Sect Master, please take a look at him—he has suffered severe internal injuries, and his organs and meridians are nearly shattered. Is there still hope for him?”
The injured disciple was on the verge of death, barely conscious. Upon hearing this, he couldn’t help but force his eyes open, a flicker of hope passing through his dazed gaze.
Jian Qing nodded. Without a second word, she immediately seized the moment and began casting.
In just two or three seconds, she completed the spell, and cyan spiritual rain fell upon the injured disciple.
Almost instantly, the injured disciple’s condition began to improve rapidly. His deathly pale face regained a healthy flush, and his vitality and spirit were fully restored.
The injured disciple stared wide-eyed in disbelief.
Lin Yueming was also visibly shaken. She had considered the possibility that the Sect Master might have a way to save him, but she never imagined the recovery would happen this fast.
Faster than she could have ever anticipated!
While it was true that some pills possessed such miraculous healing effects, those pills were all exceedingly rare and precious. Yet now, the Sect Master had easily accomplished this with nothing but a spell?
How utterly incredible!
At this moment, not only had the injured disciple’s wounds completely healed, but he could even stand steadily on his own two feet.
The injured disciple touched his healed wound and knelt down, tears streaming down his face: “Thank you, Sect Master, for saving my life. This disciple will forever remember your grace and will never forget it for as long as I live.”
Jian Qing remained expressionless on the surface while sneaking a glance at her skill bar.
Luck Value: 10.
She was ecstatic inside. Now she was completely certain—healing the sick and wounded was indeed a way to gain Luck Value.
While rejoicing inwardly, she maintained an inscrutable, calm and composed demeanor on the outside, and quietly cast an Appraisal spell on the injured disciple.
She saw that this disciple was not very tall, with delicate features, large eyes that were clear, bright, and pure—the kind that easily made people feel favorably toward him.
Name: Li Wushuang
Profession: Outer Disciple of Guiyuan Sect
Talent: Lower-Upper Grade
Age: 16
Cultivation: Qi Refining Level Five
Status: Good
Jian Qing was about to Appraise the green-robed girl next when two more people burst in—one of them was Song Junfeng, whom she had met earlier.
Song Junfeng had brought along a round-faced girl. Her eyes were red and swollen, and tear streaks still marked her face—a cute little beauty.
Song Junfeng stepped forward and bowed respectfully: “This disciple pays his respects to the Sect Master. Junior Sister Lü has been poisoned by the two-headed serpent demon—may I ask if you have a way to detoxify her?”
The green-robed girl Lin Yueming was startled upon hearing this, and couldn’t help but cast a deep look at Lü Rongrong.
So there was someone else who shared her same affliction?
But it wasn’t really surprising—since the two-headed serpent demon had appeared, how could she be the only one poisoned? Unfortunately, healing wounds and expelling poison were fundamentally different in nature.
The Sect Master might be able to heal injuries, but that didn’t necessarily mean she could expel poison.
As everyone knew, the only way to remove this demonic poison was to obtain the two-headed serpent demon’s companion herb. So why bring it up and put the Sect Master in a difficult position?
“What’s so difficult about that?” Jian Qing began casting the “Dispel” skill.
Although she didn’t know anything about the two-headed serpent demon’s poison, the ‘Dispel’ skill could remove any negative status effects, which naturally included eliminating any kind of poison.
Lin Yueming: “!!!”
Had she misheard? Or had she misseen?
Could the Sect Master truly be able to remove this poison?
How was that possible?
She couldn’t help but fix her gaze firmly on the Sect Master, her eyes not daring to blink even for a moment.
She saw the Sect Master complete the spell in no time. A beam of cyan light landed on Lü Rongrong, swirled around her like a gentle breeze, and then quietly dissipated.
Lü Rongrong let out a long sigh of relief, looking as if she could barely hold back tears of joy.
Lin Yueming was stunned. Could the poison truly have been removed just like that?
A poison that had left so many people helpless—was it really removed so easily?
How was that possible? No, she didn’t believe it.
It had to be fake, right?
After Jian Qing finished detoxifying Lü Rongrong, she immediately glanced at her skill bar again.
Luck Value: 20.
Jian Qing grew even more delighted and cast an Appraisal skill on Lü Rongrong as well.
Name: Lü Rongrong
Profession: Outer Disciple of Guiyuan Sect
Talent: Mid-Lower Grade
Age: 14
Cultivation: Qi Refining Level Five
Status: Good
Now then, there was still one last person present who hadn’t been Appraised yet—the elegant green-robed girl.
Name: Lin Yueming
Profession: Inner Disciple of Guiyuan Sect
Talent: Mid-Lower Grade
Age: 27
Cultivation: Early Foundation Establishment
Status: Poisoned by the two-headed serpent demon; cultivation is slowly declining
Jian Qing was overjoyed. Look what she’d found! Another one here to deliver Luck Value. This girl sure could keep her composure—she hadn’t said a word about being poisoned.
Jian Qing immediately began casting the “Dispel” skill again: “Lin Yueming, since you’re also poisoned, why didn’t you say a word about it?”
Lin Yueming had been repeatedly questioning her own existence. Upon hearing this, she couldn’t help but clench her fists nervously: “Sect Master, can this poison truly be removed?”
Jian Qing nodded: “Of course.”
But Lin Yueming still didn’t dare to fully believe it.
Only after Jian Qing completed the spell and the cyan light fell upon her did she subconsciously hold her breath, carefully sensing the changes within her body.
To her surprise, she found that her cultivation had indeed stopped declining—the two-headed serpent demon’s poison had truly been dispelled.
Lin Yueming was completely frozen in shock.
Never before had she heard of anyone being able to directly remove the two-headed serpent demon’s poison without obtaining its companion herb.
She had thought she had fallen into an abyss with no bottom. Who would have imagined that in the blink of an eye, she would be pulled back out?
How utterly incredible!
To possess such an inconceivable ability—had the Sect Master already advanced to the Nascent Soul stage and grasped some incredibly profound law?
Of course, whatever the truth was, it no longer mattered.
All she needed to know was that she had survived—she no longer had to wait for death.
Lin Yueming’s nose tingled, and she nearly burst into tears: “Thank you, Sect Master, for saving my life.” Earlier, when she had been poisoned, she had managed to stay calm, but now she suddenly broke down emotionally.
Jian Qing merely gave a slight nod and glanced at her skill bar.
Luck Value: 30.
Suppressing the elation in her heart, Jian Qing clasped her hands behind her back and assumed the dignified bearing of a sect master: “Alright, your problems have all been resolved. Is there anything else?”
Song Junfeng bowed respectfully: “Nothing else. Sect Master, the tasks you assigned have not yet been completed. This disciple takes his leave.” Although all the survivors had been found, the bodies of the fallen still needed to be collected.
“Wait!” Jian Qing suddenly remembered something. “Song Junfeng, I’ve decided to promote you to the position of Sect Steward of our sect, granting you the authority to issue sect missions. As for the task of clearing the battlefield today, you may decide on it yourself. Make sure the appropriate rewards are given—and that includes yourself as well. Understood?”
To be fair, being a Steward wasn’t much of an official position. Those who served as Stewards were still inner disciples—they just received a slightly higher monthly allowance.
As for the authority to issue sect missions she had mentioned, it referred to the 【Mission Management】 function in the Heavenly Network’s sect interface. Disciples could earn rewards by completing these missions.
She could certainly write up some missions herself, but there were so many big and small matters in a sect—if she had to oversee every single detail personally, would she have any time left for her own affairs?
So it was better to delegate this kind of authority. After all, as the Sect Master, she still retained the final approval rights.
Song Junfeng bowed respectfully: “Yes. I am honored by the Sect Master’s trust, so I will humbly accept the position of Steward. Please rest assured, Sect Master—I will do my utmost to handle the sect’s various affairs, so that you may focus on holding the fort from behind.”
Jian Qing nodded with satisfaction and sent the four disciples on their way.
Afterward, she opened the Heavenly Network, gritted her teeth, and transferred 20,000 spirit stones from her personal account to the sect account, then adjusted Song Junfeng’s permissions.
If you wanted the horse to run, you had to let it eat grass—there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
To her surprise, after completing the transfer, she glanced at her skill bar and saw that her Luck Value had increased by 2 points.
Luck Value: 32.
She was stunned for a moment.
Who would have thought that transferring money to the sect could also increase Luck Value?
There was actually such a good deal in this world? So this was the joy of being a pay-to-win—er, I mean, spirit-stone-paying player?
On impulse, she almost transferred the remaining 20,000 spirit stones into the sect account as well. But considering her own needs, she barely managed to hold back the urge.
However, if transferring money to the sect could earn Luck Value, then if she misappropriated sect funds, would Luck Value be deducted in return? It seemed like something she’d need to keep in mind going forward.
She was still pondering this when Song Junfeng acted quickly. In just a short while, he had already issued several sect missions, mainly for collecting the bodies and clearing away the ruins, with each mission offering a reward of 10 spirit stones.
Jian Qing promptly approved them all.
A reward of 10 spirit stones was hardly generous, but the disciples eagerly accepted the missions one after another, showing surprisingly high enthusiasm for the work.
Jian Qing couldn’t help but feel quite satisfied with this.