Chapter 55

Chapter 53: Initiation Ceremony

Tuo Ba Ye was still quite shocked. He never expected that a small sect like the Dan Ding Sect would have so many disciples. The Dan Ding Sect had certain criteria for selecting disciples, which made the number of disciples relatively small, similar to those of smaller sects. If it were other medium-sized sects, the number of disciples would be even greater.

In his previous life, Tuo Ba Ye did not join any sect, so he was not familiar with the situation in the cultivation world.

Hearing Mu Lin Sen say this, Tuo Ba Ye was not only shocked but also became more cautious.

Although he had divine roots and a divine punishment jade talisman in his body, these treasures could not be used by him for the time being.

There were so many powerful cultivators in the cultivation world, and some of them might have had extraordinary encounters, making them incredibly strong. He had to take them seriously.

After two more days of travel, Mu Lin Sen said, "Junior Brother Tuo Ba Ye, we are about to enter Immortal Cloud Mountain. However, only inner sect disciples can enter the true Immortal Cloud Peak for cultivation. As a new disciple, you will be sent to Immortal Cloud Valley to cultivate with the outer sect disciples and manage the medicinal fields."

He paused and continued, "Competition in the cultivation sects is very intense, and people often die. After you enter Immortal Cloud Valley, you must be careful and avoid provoking powerful individuals."

"Senior Brother Mu Lin Sen, thank you for your warning!" Tuo Ba Ye said gratefully.

In fact, even if Mu Lin Sen had not said this, Tuo Ba Ye could have guessed. With a million outer sect disciples and limited resources, competition was bound to be fierce. Among so many outer sect disciples, there might be many factions, and the conflicts between these factions could be as intense as those between the major families during the Warring States period.

To establish himself in Immortal Cloud Valley, he needed to have strong power.

Tuo Ba Ye's physical strength was incredibly powerful, and he was not afraid of the outer sect disciples. However, some of the outer sect disciples had backgrounds and were not easy to provoke.

Of course, Tuo Ba Ye joined the Dan Ding Sect not to fight with other outer sect disciples all day, but to receive systematic training. If anyone obstructed him, he would not hesitate to kick them out.

"Junior Brother Tuo Ba Ye, if you need any help, I will do my best to assist you. However, I am currently at a bottleneck and spend most of my time adventuring outside, seeking opportunities to break through," Mu Lin Sen said.

Mu Lin Sen was a late-stage Qi Condensation Realm cultivator, also known as the Silk Qi Stage. If he reached the Great Perfection, he would need to break through the bottleneck. Success would make him a Golden Core Realm cultivator, while failure would be disastrous, and it would be difficult to advance to the Golden Core Realm in the future.

"Senior Brother Mu Lin Sen, thank you!" Tuo Ba Ye thanked him again.

If it were not for Mu Lin Sen, he would not have been able to join the Dan Ding Sect, so he naturally had to thank him. As for seeking help from Mu Lin Sen, Tuo Ba Ye did not have such thoughts.

In terms of combat power, if Tuo Ba Ye unleashed his full strength, his physical strength alone was enough to sweep through Qi Condensation Realm cultivators.

Problems he could not solve himself would likely not be solved by seeking help from Mu Lin Sen.

He naturally would not tell Mu Lin Sen these things.

Upon entering Immortal Cloud Mountain, they could see Dan Ding Sect disciples along the way.

The disciples greeted Mu Lin Sen, indicating that he was quite well-known among the inner sect disciples.

Tuo Ba Ye did not pay attention to this. After entering Immortal Cloud Mountain, he felt refreshed.

Before him was a continuous range of mountains, stretching endlessly, with many peaks piercing the clouds, majestic and spectacular.

This was truly a fairyland, with the elemental energy far more concentrated than outside.

"Truly a fairyland!" Tuo Ba Ye exclaimed.

"Of course, our Dan Ding Sect's base is not much worse than those of the nine major sects. Only such a fairyland can support the large-scale cultivation of medicinal herbs. Many sects covet our Dan Ding Sect's base, but the nine major sects rely on us for elixirs, so no sect dares to openly attack us," Mu Lin Sen said proudly.

Tuo Ba Ye, however, could not be happy after hearing Mu Lin Sen's words.

No sect would openly attack the Dan Ding Sect, but there were definitely sects that had designs on the Dan Ding Sect in secret. He also learned that the cultivation techniques of the Dan Ding Sect were not adept at combat and could not compare to those of other medium-sized sects.

If a major change occurred in the cultivation world, it was not impossible that a sect would attack the Dan Ding Sect.

Tuo Ba Ye was now a member of the Dan Ding Sect, and he had to consider both the safety of the sect and his own safety.

A moment later, Mu Lin Sen led Tuo Ba Ye into Immortal Cloud Valley.

Immortal Cloud Valley was surrounded by high mountains and was essentially a basin, but it was very large, measuring tens of thousands of miles in length and width.

Upon entering, the scent of medicinal herbs filled the air, and the elemental energy was even more concentrated than outside.

Rabbit Boy had been sleeping, but he woke up at this point. Seeing the vast medicinal fields, his eyes lit up.

"Junior Brother Tuo Ba Ye, I will take you to meet the outer sect elder. You will register first, and the outer sect elder will assign you to cultivate medicinal herbs. If you can complete the tasks, you will receive rewards. As a new member of the Dan Ding Sect, you can cultivate your own techniques or choose to cultivate the techniques taught by the Dan Ding Sect," Mu Lin Sen said.

"Thank you, Senior Brother!" Tuo Ba Ye nodded in agreement.

Mu Lin Sen still used his flying sword to carry Tuo Ba Ye into the depths of Immortal Cloud Valley.

"There are new disciples joining!"

"Newcomers are here, so there will be some fun to watch."

...

In the medicinal fields, many outer sect disciples were busy cultivating medicinal herbs.

When they saw Tuo Ba Ye and Mu Lin Sen, they understood what was happening and looked up, starting to discuss it.

New disciples would inevitably face some harassment. If they had enough strength to protect themselves, it would be better. However, most new disciples could not compare to outer sect disciples who had been in the Dan Ding Sect for years, so they were often bullied.

The older disciples had all gone through this, so they were happy to see other new disciples suffer.

"Senior Brother Mu Lin Sen, you have brought a new disciple back!" An elder saw Mu Lin Sen and hurriedly came forward.

Tuo Ba Ye noticed that the elder was a low-stage Qi Condensation Realm cultivator, already quite old, and seemed to have no potential left.

"Junior Brother Lu Yun Feng, this is my newly recruited junior brother Tuo Ba Ye. I will leave him in your care," Mu Lin Sen said.

Although Lu Yun Feng was an outer sect elder, his status could not compare to that of an inner sect disciple like Mu Lin Sen.

Only Qi Condensation Realm cultivators with no potential were assigned other tasks, such as managing the countries under the Dan Ding Sect's territory.

"Senior Brother Mu Lin Sen, I will take good care of him," Lu Yun Feng said with a smile.

"Junior Brother Tuo Ba Ye, you should follow Lu Yun Feng from now on. He is the outer sect elder," Mu Lin Sen said.

Tuo Ba Ye quickly said, "Tuo Ba Ye greets Elder Lu Yun Feng!"

Although Lu Yun Feng's strength was not impressive, he held an important position, managing a million outer sect disciples, so it was best not to offend him.

With Lu Yun Feng's strength, if he had no backing, he would not be in such an important position.

"I'm leaving!" Mu Lin Sen quickly disappeared, riding his flying sword.

"Is your name Tuo Ba Ye? From now on, you will be responsible for this medicinal field. The medicinal herbs are already planted, so you just need to take care of them," Lu Yun Feng pointed to the map, his tone somewhat cold. "Here are two books. One contains knowledge about cultivating medicinal herbs, and the other is our sect's introductory cultivation techniques, the Wood Spirit Technique and the Fire Spirit Technique. You can choose to cultivate them, but you must not spread them outside."

Tuo Ba Ye took the two books and said, "Thank you, Elder!"

He also looked at the map. The medicinal field he was responsible for was numbered 102, located at the outermost part of Immortal Cloud Valley.

New disciples who had just joined the Dan Ding Sect could only be responsible for the outer medicinal fields.

Each disciple was responsible for a medicinal field of about 100 square meters, with a small wooden house nearby, which was where the outer sect disciples lived. Living close to the medicinal fields made it convenient to take care of the medicinal herbs.

With a million outer sect disciples, there were a million wooden houses, which was no small feat.

However, Tuo Ba Ye was not very familiar with the Dan Ding Sect and did not know if all the outer sect disciples were in Immortal Cloud Valley.

He did not dare to ask and simply took his things to medicinal field 102.

Seeing Tuo Ba Ye leave, Lu Yun Feng said coldly, "This new disciple is really clueless. Let him suffer a bit. Hehe..."

If a new disciple gave the outer sect elder some benefits, the elder would likely speak up to prevent other outer sect disciples from causing trouble.

If, like Tuo Ba Ye, the new disciple did not give the outer sect elder any benefits, the elder would not bother to speak up.

Most new disciples who did not receive a word from the outer sect elder would suffer.

Seeing Tuo Ba Ye leave, many outer sect disciples had already set their sights on him.

Tuo Ba Ye noticed some disciples following him but did not pay attention.

Lu Yun Feng's residence was in the center of Immortal Cloud Valley, and Tuo Ba Ye needed some time to walk out. He had no time to deal with others.

He quickened his pace, wanting to return to his place as soon as possible to study the knowledge about medicinal herbs. If he did not take good care of the medicinal herbs, he would likely face significant trouble.

"This kid is really stupid. Not giving the outer sect elder any benefits, he deserves to be taught a lesson!"

"Things have been great lately. I just taught two new disciples a lesson yesterday, and now there's another one to teach today."

The whispers of the people behind him reached Tuo Ba Ye's ears.

He immediately understood what was happening. It seemed that Lu Yun Feng intentionally let these outer sect disciples teach the new disciples a lesson to increase his own income.

Knowing the situation, Tuo Ba Ye did not turn back to give Lu Yun Feng any benefits.

"Since they want to cause trouble, let them come!" Tuo Ba Ye thought with a smile.

Tuo Ba Ye also noticed that more and more people were following him, indicating that many wanted to teach him a lesson, and even more were there to watch the show.

The outer sect disciples did not make a move, and Tuo Ba Ye would not initiate any action.

He pretended not to see and continued walking.

After a long walk, the outer sect disciples finally could not hold back.

Several particularly muscular disciples quickly overtook Tuo Ba Ye and blocked his path.

"Kid, you're new, right?" a tall young man said coldly.

"I am new," Tuo Ba Ye replied calmly.

"If you're new, do you know the rules?"

"Since I'm new, I naturally don't know the rules," Tuo Ba Ye said calmly.

He was curious to see what tricks these people had in mind.

"Kid, new disciples must pay 10,000 gold coins, or you'll have a hard time," the tall young man said.

"10,000 gold coins! I don't have them. Why should I give you gold coins?" Tuo Ba Ye asked, puzzled.