Preparing for a Trip to the Breeze Sect

"Master, listen to me, we absolutely must go this way!"

Deep in the mountain wilderness, Li Yingling tugged firmly at Chu Xingchen's sleeve, her expression resolute. "Trust my intuition."

The sect was small in number, but duties still had to be assigned.

Li Xingtian was responsible for Chen Baiqing's education.

Naturally, Li Yingling, eager to contribute to the sect, volunteered once again to search for a suitable location to establish their sect.

Reasoning that an extra person would at least be somewhat helpful, Chu Xingchen nodded in agreement.

This time, they were exploring an uncharted direction.

After reaching the Nascent Soul stage, Chu Xingchen's speed had doubled, and his spiritual sense had expanded dramatically.

When he swept his divine consciousness over the direction Li Yingling pointed toward, he could only sense that the spiritual energy there seemed even more barren…

By all appearances, it hardly seemed like a place with auspicious feng shui.

With a sigh, Chu Xingchen decided to humor Li Yingling’s intuition. He lifted her into the air and flew swiftly in the direction she had indicated.

He’d trust in his eldest disciple’s extraordinary luck.

Li Yingling’s gaze darted across the landscape below, her intuition guiding her as she made slight adjustments to their course.

After about a quarter of an hour…

At Li Yingling’s insistence, Chu Xingchen descended in an open expanse of land.

The area was flanked by wide terrain, featuring a modest waterfall that cascaded into a small, crystal-clear lake.

Chu Xingchen quickly surveyed the surroundings. The scenery was indeed pleasant… but the spiritual energy concentration was pitifully low.

Li Yingling, with her exceptional talent, was highly sensitive to spiritual energy. She scrutinized the area with a puzzled expression before declaring with certainty:

"Master, there’s no mistake—it’s definitely here!"

Without hesitation, Chu Xingchen unleashed his full spiritual sense, sweeping it powerfully across every inch of the land before them.

Soon, he detected a faint anomaly in the spiritual energy—right at the center of the lake. The energy there was significantly weaker than in the surrounding areas.

Without delay, Chu Xingchen summoned a protective barrier and plunged into the water, swiftly reaching the lake’s center.

There, he found a dark-red boulder, firmly anchored in place by heavy chains.

This stone… seemed to be blocking spiritual energy?

With a subtle manipulation of his power, Chu Xingchen lifted the massive rock.

Immediately, a surge of pure spiritual energy began seeping up from where the boulder had been.

This was… an underground spirit vein?!

Chu Xingchen promptly shoved the boulder back into place.

Someone must have discovered this location long ago but lacked the means to establish a sect here at the time.

So, they had sealed off the spirit vein, hiding this place away for their future use.

How sneaky!

As punishment, Chu Xingchen decided he would claim this land for himself.

For now, he needed to hurry and gather materials to construct something—anything—to stake his claim before anyone else could.

After ensuring the boulder was properly repositioned, Chu Xingchen shot out of the water.

Li Yingling rushed forward eagerly. "Master! What did you find?!"

"You get the credit for this one!" Chu Xingchen grabbed her and immediately took off at full speed toward Yuzhou City.

As they soared through the air, Li Yingling’s proud voice rang out:

"See, Master? I told you my luck was good!"

Half a day later…

Chu Xingchen returned with his three disciples and a heap of building materials in tow.

Before arriving, he had visited the Demon Suppression Bureau to officially claim the land for his sect, filing a brief report to secure legal rights.

With Zhao Wanqing owing him a favor, the process was expedited—Chu Xingchen obtained the official documentation in no time.

Being somewhat of a "connected figure" in Yuzhou City had its perks.

As for the land’s layout, Chu Xingchen already had a plan.

First—set up a spirit-gathering formation!

From high above, Chu Xingchen buried formation stones one by one, meticulously following the formation blueprint.

Meanwhile, Li Xingtian and Li Yingling worked on lumber, preparing to build a couple of basic structures—just enough to mark their territory.

The spirit-gathering formation was intricate, and Chu Xingchen focused intently on its completion. When he finally turned around to check on his disciples’ progress…

He found their "construction" resembled a child’s haphazard block tower.

Untreated logs were jammed randomly into the ground, stacked together with no semblance of craftsmanship.

It was hideous.

Sure, they were just throwing something together to secure the land, but couldn’t they at least pretend to respect their status as Foundation Establishment cultivators?

This little incident made one thing clear: Professional work should be left to professionals. Trying to build everything with just his disciples—and himself—was a lost cause.

As for who could handle this properly… Chu Xingchen quickly thought of the perfect candidate.

Chen Baiqing, his youngest disciple, was still just a child with no cultivation to speak of. Chu Xingchen had instructed her to either play nearby or read quietly.

And so, there she was—perched on a rock by the lake, absorbed in a book.

She was so well-behaved it was almost heartbreaking.

A small pouch of candied fruit rested beside her. She nibbled on them slowly as she read, yet even after all this time, most of the treats remained.

Chu Xingchen called out with a smile, "Baiqing, it’s getting late. Time to head back!"

"Okay, Master." Chen Baiqing carefully closed her book, rewrapped the candied fruit, and tucked it into her robes before picking up her reading material again.

She trotted over to him with a gentle smile, looking much like a kitten begging for affection.

Unable to resist, Chu Xingchen reached out and ruffled her hair.

---

The next morning…

At the courtyard house.

Chen Baiqing was already up at dawn, studying diligently at the stone table.

Creak—

The door swung open. When she turned, she was surprised to see her master—usually the latest riser—awake before anyone else.

She quickly stood and bowed slightly. "Good morning, Master."

This greeting was something she’d picked up from her senior siblings, who often exchanged such pleasantries.

Though, her master used it most frequently.

Back in her old life, adults usually said "Morning’s peace" instead.

But since everyone here said it this way, she adapted without question.

Chu Xingchen strode over and ruffled her hair again. "Good morning. No need to be so formal. You’re up early to study?"

Chen Baiqing lifted her chin slightly. "Not that early. I’m slow, so I need more time."

Chu Xingchen nearly choked. Slow? She was anything but—in fact, she was sharper than most.

Though, compared to a prodigy like Li Yingling… well, the gap was noticeable.

After a brief hesitation, Chen Baiqing asked timidly, as if afraid of angering him:

"Master, are you going out?"

Chu Xingchen gave her head another fond tousle and replied softly,

"Yes. I’m heading to the Qingfeng Sect."