Joining

After finishing all that, Lin Xiao brought a large pile of identity tokens from his private treasury back to the mountainside.

The first thing he did was head to the hall not far from the Peach Blossom Grove and change its name from Affairs Hall to Chores Hall.

Previously, this had been the place that managed all major and minor affairs of the sect, but now its scope of duties had been revised, so of course the name had to be changed accordingly.

That's right, Lin Xiao planned to hand the position of Chores Hall Master to Liu Yunan.

After all, when it came to the various affairs of the sect and its members, no one knew them better than him, making him the most suitable candidate.

After changing the name, he went inside and handed the tokens to Liu Yunan, explaining how to bind them and what functions they served. Then Lin Xiao left the task of distributing the tokens to Liu Yunan.

From the pile of tokens in his arms, he pulled out the Chores Hall Master token and said to him:

"Baldy, this is the Chores Hall Master token. From now on, you are the Chores Hall Master."

With that, he also told Liu Yunan about his plans for the sect's various positions and the arrangements for each hall master and elder.

After listening, Liu Yunan tucked the pile of identity tokens away and nodded repeatedly:

"Brother Xiao, don't worry. I'll draft up the rules in a bit and distribute these tokens to everyone tomorrow. It's just..."

He hesitated slightly before continuing:

"It's just—Brother Xiao, are you sure something this important doesn't need a general meeting where you formally confer the positions in front of everyone?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiao, who had originally planned to wash his hands of the matter because he still had so much to do, hesitated for a moment, then let out a sigh:

"You're right, this really should be done with a formal meeting. Ah, well... can you see if you can get Jianghe to come back for a visit, and then you estimate a suitable time?"

Seeing that he had agreed to hold a meeting, Liu Yunan smiled:

"Alright, I'll go contact Jianghe first to see when he can return, and then I'll notify everyone."

With that, he pulled out a sound transmission talisman to send a message to Qin Jianghe.

Meanwhile, Lin Xiao left the Chores Hall. He needed to start setting up the Finance Hall and the Discipline Hall, which had yet to be established.

He planned to place both of these halls on the floating island.

After all, these were places for handling affairs, and they didn't require much spiritual energy concentration.

Therefore, constructing the buildings was very simple.

He directly placed the two newly constructed buildings near the library on the floating island, with the Finance Hall and the Discipline Hall about a hundred meters apart.

As for the Chores Hall, after some thought, he decided not to move it.

This was because the Chores Hall handled affairs for all disciples on a daily basis, and in the future, it would also be responsible for assigning tasks and distributing supplies to the sect's disciples. The Initiation Path wasn't far away either, so keeping it in its original location was more convenient.

With the Finance Hall and Discipline Hall completed, a contribution statistics platform automatically appeared beside each hall's entrance.

Not just there—Lin Xiao had checked, and every affairs-related location now had these added.

Early the next morning, Little Luan came running to find Lin Xiao, pointing in the direction of the Initiation Path and shouting:

"That person is out!"

Having been busy for days ever since he returned, Lin Xiao was caught off guard for a moment before realizing she was talking about Yuan Qing.

So he patted Little Luan on the head, took out a fruit from his private treasury—one of those treats the demon beasts liked, which he had picked earlier—and handed it to her, nodding:

"Good, thank you, Little Luan. I'll head over now."

Little Luan stretched her neck out to sniff the red fruit in his hand. It smelled fragrant and was rich in spiritual energy, so she happily grabbed it with her beak and scampered off to the side to eat.

Seeing that even after a year, she still acted like a child, Lin Xiao shook his head with a smile. Well, that made sense—after all, she had only gained intelligence a little over a year ago, and since then she had lived in the sect, where everyone doted on her and treated her like a kid. It was only natural.

Lost in thought, he made his way down the floating island and headed toward the Initiation Path.

Yuan Qing, who had just woken up, spent a long time savoring the dream experience he had gone through before following the instructions Lin Xiao had given him earlier, walking up along the mountain path.

Then he encountered a barrier blocking his way, with nothing but white mist ahead, completely obscuring whatever lay beyond.

He was just beginning to worry about how he would continue on to find Fellow Daoist Lin when he suddenly saw a demonic chicken, half a person tall, step out from the white mist.

Its cultivation seemed to be even higher than his own.

He hadn't expected to encounter a demon beast in the mortal world, in an area inhabited by humans.

Yuan Qing immediately became wary and reached for the storage pouch at his waist.

However, he didn't sense any hostility from this demonic chicken, so he didn't draw his weapon right away.

To his surprise, when the chicken saw him, it seemed to be confirming something, quickly scanning him up and down, then let out a few "cluck cluck clucks" before darting back into the white mist behind it.

Yuan Qing was momentarily stunned by this.

Then he remembered—the white mist was exactly in the direction he needed to go.

Since that demonic chicken had come out from there, could it be...?

Could this chicken belong to Fellow Daoist Lin's sect?

That wasn't entirely impossible. After all, in the immortal cultivation world, there were cultivators who specialized in beast taming, though they were few in number.

He didn't see the chicken come back, and he had no other options, so he stood there, scanning his surroundings and waiting.

Before long, however, he saw Lin Xiao walking out from the white mist.

"Fellow Daoist Yuan, sorry for the wait."

Yuan Qing quickly waved his hand:

"Not at all, not at all."

With so much on his plate lately, Lin Xiao didn't waste any words and went straight to the point:

"So? Now that you've passed the Initiation Path, I imagine your heart and mind are clearer than ever. Do you still wish to join my Lingxian Sect?"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Qing nodded with firm resolve:

"Yes. Please, Sect Master, allow me to join the Lingxian Sect and become your disciple."

And so, at the end of the Initiation Path, they went through the formalities, and the number of Lingxian Sect members went up by one.

Once the procedure was concluded, Lin Xiao pulled a regular disciple token from the spare identity tokens he kept on him, handed it to Yuan Qing, and said:

"From now on, you are a formal disciple of the Lingxian Sect. This is your identity token. Simply press it to your forehead and connect with it through your spiritual sense. Unless you leave the sect, your connection to this token will never be broken."

Yuan Qing took his identity token, curiously examined the words "Lingxian Sect Disciple" on its face, and then, as Lin Xiao had instructed, established a connection with it.

Then Lin Xiao turned to the side, extended his right arm, and said:

"Welcome to the Lingxian Sect."

The next moment, Yuan Qing watched as the white mist before him slowly dissipated, gradually revealing the scene beyond.