In the blink of an eye, five months had passed since Guo Feilong's failed attempt at Foundation Establishment.
The two women, Sun Yufeng and Shangguan Mingyue, who had been in seclusion trying to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage at the same time as him, emerged two days apart.
Both of them succeeded in their Foundation Establishment, achieving it on a high-quality Foundation Establishment platform.
On the night they came out of seclusion, Guo Feilong, who favored them, spent an entire night with each of them, just like a wedding night.
For any cultivator who succeeds in Foundation Establishment, it is customary to hold a grand banquet within a month, similar to a child's full moon celebration, inviting friends and family to celebrate.
Since Sun Yufeng and Wang Yuyan succeeded in their Foundation Establishment two days apart, Guo Feilong arranged their celebration banquet on the same day.
A month passed in the blink of an eye.
And soon, the day arrived.
Wang Yuyan didn't have many friends or family in the cultivation world; her maternal family and relatives were ordinary people from Yellow Rock Town.
Apart from her parents, who were arranged to dine in the inner hall, the rest of her relatives were placed in other courtyards.
As for all the common folk in Yellow Rock Town, they were able to enjoy a three-day feast, with two meals a day, ensuring everyone was well-fed and happy.
Sun Yufeng, being an elite inner disciple of the Spirit Creek Sect and having served as a steward at the Xiaoye Village market pharmacy for over twenty years, knew countless cultivators.
In addition, many of her Senior Sisters, Junior Sisters, Senior Brothers, and Junior Brothers under her Master's tutelage came to congratulate her on becoming a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, totaling over three hundred people.
In the Spirit Creek Sect, a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator is sure to become an Elder, a person of high status and power in the future.
They can obtain a county seat and a fiefdom extending five hundred miles around it.
Since Yellow Rock Town is in Green Sun County, the Spirit Creek Sect granted Sun Yufeng the county seat of Green Sun County as her fiefdom.
The five hundred miles around Green Sun County, including Yellow Rock Town, comprise nine towns in total, with a population of over three hundred thousand people.
The Spirit Creek Sect also sent a Foundation Establishment stage Elder to congratulate Sun Yufeng on becoming a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator and to deliver the fiefdom token.
Although Yellow Rock Town is within Sun Yufeng's fiefdom, it remains Guo Feilong's fiefdom.
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The county seat of Green Sun County and the five hundred miles around it belong solely to Sun Yufeng.
In the future, only the children born to Guo Feilong and Sun Yufeng can inherit Sun Yufeng's fiefdom.
As for the children born to Guo Feilong and his other wives and concubines, they can only inherit the rights to Yellow Rock Town.
At the Foundation Establishment celebration banquet, people looked at the white-haired, elderly-looking Guo Feilong, and then at the two beautiful Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, Sun Yufeng and Wang Yuyan, and were filled with envy.
During his more than ten years in Yellow Rock Town, Guo Feilong had made many connections with cultivators, all from cultivation families in Green Sun County and nearby counties.
Although their cultivation levels were low, there were many of them, and they came with their families, totaling at least two thousand cultivators, each offering congratulations and gifts.
With so many cultivators present, not everyone had the privilege to dine in the same hall as Guo Feilong; many had to eat outside in the garden and courtyard.
The large Guo residence was almost unable to accommodate all the cultivators who came to offer their congratulations.
On the day of the banquet, all the cultivators who came to congratulate left, except for the pretty Senior Sisters and Junior Sisters close to Sun Yufeng, who stayed at the Guo residence for a few more days.
They stayed with a purpose, hoping to ask Sun Yufeng and Guo Feilong for a low-priced Foundation Pill. Despite being inner disciples of the Spirit Creek Sect, they were only slightly better off than small families and wandering cultivators.
Facing the expensive price of Foundation Pills, even if they saved for decades, they might not accumulate enough Spirit Stones to buy one.
Due to the Ten Thousand Demons Sect replacing the Primordial Sect, the major cultivation forces on the Arctic Continent felt a looming threat, leading to stricter control over Foundation Pills, with very few available for sale.
Before the Ten Thousand Demons Sect replaced the Primordial Sect, the Spirit Creek Sect would release 200 Foundation Pills annually in the Contribution Hall for inner disciples to purchase with sect contribution points and Spirit Stones.
Now, the Spirit Creek Sect only releases 80 Foundation Pills annually in the Contribution Hall for inner disciples to buy with sect points and Spirit Stones.
Moreover, the sect points and Spirit Stones required to purchase Foundation Pills in the Spirit Creek Sect have significantly increased, making it even harder for them to afford.
Not only is the Spirit Creek Sect doing this, but all major cultivation forces on the Arctic Continent are controlling Foundation Pills in this way.
This situation is also related to the internal structure of the major sects in the cultivation world.
The upper echelons of each major sect are composed of various large and small cultivation families.
For example, the current upper echelons of the Spirit Creek Sect are made up of the families of the ten or so Golden Elixir stage Ancestors, with their family members holding important positions in the sect, easily obtaining various benefits.
Besides these families of the Golden Elixir stage Ancestors, the Spirit Creek Sect also has dozens of large Foundation Establishment stage families that have existed for thousands or even tens of thousands of years.
These Foundation Establishment stage families are deeply rooted in the Spirit Creek Sect and have close marital ties with the Golden Elixir Ancestor families, receiving sect benefits first.
Then there are the ordinary Foundation Establishment stage families, which have existed for less than a thousand years. Although their status is much higher than ordinary cultivators, they pale in comparison to the deeply rooted Foundation Establishment stage families in the sect.
Finally, there are Foundation Establishment stage cultivators like Sun Yufeng, who have no large family backing and rely solely on their efforts to become sect Elders at the Foundation Establishment stage.
As for Sun Yufeng's Senior Sisters and Junior Sisters, who have no background, although nominally disciples of a Foundation Establishment stage Elder, they serve more like obedient servants to their Master, receiving little cultivation resources.
With so many cultivation resources, their Master's sect still has to care for their descendants and family members.
Ultimately, it boils down to one thing: those without a large family background are outsiders.
In essence, the internal structure of sects in the cultivation world is composed of various families, and disciples without background or identity.
Unless a disciple's Spiritual Root reaches the Earth level and is accepted as a disciple by a Golden Elixir stage grand cultivator, they can enjoy abundant cultivation resources.
Other disciples without background, even if their Spiritual Root is of high quality, can only climb step by step to reach the top.
This situation is similar to the early Tang Dynasty and previous dynasties on Earth.
People without background could at most become lower-level officials in the court.
Mid-level officials were people from local aristocratic families.
High-level officials were held by noble families in the court.
In ancient times, emperors who tried to challenge the power of aristocratic families were often overthrown by them or replaced by a more compliant emperor.
Every change of dynasty couldn't alter the control of the court by noble families.
For example, even if a marshal's son couldn't become a marshal, he could at least be a general. It's not because the marshal's son is smarter or wiser than others.
It's simply because his background is stronger.
A large sect like the Spirit Creek Sect doesn't lack ninth-level Qi Refining inner disciples; there are at least four to five thousand, if not more.
Foundation Pills aren't like Chinese cabbages, and even the disciples from large families in the sect don't have enough to share.
How could they possibly release too many in the sect's Contribution Hall for ordinary ninth-level Qi Refining inner disciples without background to purchase?