Zhang Dong set himself before the engine unit of the Argonaut 1. He sat down in the lotus position and started gathering all of his spiritual energy. Golden lightning bolts started appearing all around this closed-off space in a matter of moments.
These beams of energy started pelting the floating device in the middle of the room with their might. The decahedron item that was the main battery started spinning around and the tubes connected to it began absorbing the newfound power.
The captain of the ship sat down in his seat while one of his crew members spoke out.
“Captain, the ship's power is quickly rising, it's going to go over 100% soon!”
“The Patriarch is aiding us, activate all the engines. We will be heading straight towards New Spirit Spring City at full throttle!”
The people on the bridge nodded, the person responsible for activating the ship's bonus thrusters moved a large handle forward. The whole ship shook violently as it jolted forward.
On the outside, the massive Argonaut 1 was surrounded by a blue shield. It started flickering with some lightning and even turned gold due to the new power source. The whole giant ship then shot forward like an arrow.
Zhang Dong wasn’t willing to wait here as the word of him slaying Zhan Jie had probably reached everywhere. There were other people watching over this battle which would spread the news faster.
This was a good turn of events as it would give other sects something to think about. The Limitless Sword Society Patriarch was a famed swordsman. This same swordmaster was bested in battle by a relatively unknown master. This validated Zhang Dong’s strength even more than the battle he had during the banquet.
The person in question wasn’t bothered by the rumors that would be spreading. He just wanted to get his people back to his sect grounds. He couldn’t leave this ship unprotected in enemy territory and they did need to go through the lands of other sects. The same three sects that had destroyed the old Dark Palm Sect.
Even with this power up the ship would need some time to return to the borders. Zhang Dong could teleport back home, but unless it was really necessary he needed to power the ship for it to go faster.
………..
While the giant behemoth was causing widespread panic the life of the new recruits back at the sect continued.
Cheng Yun and Yang Rong were done with getting their basic body refining technique. To their surprise, there wasn’t just one technique for everyone. There were multiple ones and supposedly they were picked out by the sect to fit their bodies.
Yang Rong was now sitting in his dorm room with his brother. He thought back to the time that he first entered the brand new library. He still could remember the goosebumps that he got after seeing it.
Firstly, the building was truly humongous. It had several levels but the first floor was the largest area of them all. This floor that the junior Qi condensation disciples were allowed in had a staggering amount of manuals in it.
Yang Rong was slightly scared that he would be unable to pick a good manual for himself. He also didn’t know how to spend his merit points, there were just too many options to choose from and he had no one to point him in the right direction. His old brother from the tribe was in a similar situation.
Luckily for the two, the United Element Sect elders had thought about the confusion that the new disciples would have. There was also a limited number of techniques a person should learn. There wasn’t time to master it all, it was better to specialize in something than be average at everything.
But how would they know what they should specialize in?
Normal disciples needed an experienced teacher to figure such things out. Unless they were born with a specific obvious talent they would need to go through years of training to just figure something like this out.
In this sect, things were a bit different. At the new library building, the juniors were greeted by another hologram. This one explained to them how they would be able to procure the correct cultivation books.
There were multiple screens spread out at the library’s entrance. These screens were the newest addition to the sect's resources and worked akin to computers. They had a limited usage as they were only for picking out books from the database.
The person needed to have their merit emblem scanned by this machine and it would first show them their statics. After they activated this machine they could pick out books for themselves. Some as the free ones they received just needed to be chosen. If there wasn’t enough stock the books would be printed out by a printing device.
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There was also an option of direct knowledge insertion into the disciples' minds. This type of knowledge transfer required the use of points but could aid people in understanding difficult techniques.
This wasn’t the interesting part of this machine. The thing the disciples found astonishing was how it proposed manuals to them based on who they were.
This was all possible thanks to the extensive scanning that was done in the beginning. The sect had a whole database on the disciples. The library software could see what the people were good at and could propose techniques that fit their disposition.
With this, they didn’t need to pick out skills at random or ask the teachers to point them in the right direction.
This also saved them from spending their hard-earned merit points on expensive techniques. They could end up getting something that they had no talent for and wasting their time and merits.
Cheng Yun ended up with a Qi condensation manual for people good in the earth element. The library system pointed out that he had 87% proficiency in that element and his second-best one was fire at 67%.
Yang Rong on the other hand was the exact reverse of this tribe member. He had 89% fire element capacity while only having 57% in earth and all the other ones were below 50%. He was now focusing on techniques that mostly belonged to the old Huo Clan.
This had saved the two youths a big headache down the line as the two wanted to follow in the Patriarch’s footsteps. They were both going to go with lightning element techniques. To their dismay, they both had bad compatibility with it. After long consideration, they decided to go with the things they would be good at.
They could now see that it was the good choice. After acquiring their Qi condensation manuals they were already making progress. After the first day, they were coughing up black blood and sweating dark green liquid from their pores.
The new line of techniques was already removing the impurities from their bodies and making them stronger. They felt like they could mercilessly beat up their old selves from a week ago if they tried now.
“So regrettable… the Patriarch’s lightning techniques look so overpowering and stylish…”
“I agree… but Grand Elder Qiang’s are also fine, he is supposedly the second strongest member from our sect! You at least have Elder Qiang… I don’t think there is anyone proficient with the earth element at the grand elder level in the sect...”
Cheng Yun grumbled while hovering a small rock above his index finger.
“That’s true… maybe you can be the first one to make it there junior brother.”
The two laughed while moving down from their beds. It was time to head out towards the sect, there was much for them to do besides cultivating in their dorm rooms.
They could visit free lectures where teachers would help them understand their Dao paths. They could also go to the training areas like the gym. These two quite liked to perform muscle training and due to the Patriarch’s more muscular form, they wanted to achieve a similar physique.
There were a lot more people with the same idea than others might expect. At the gym, there were many people pumping iron.
This was also quite a novel experience for everyone here. Mostly at other sects, the disciples were left lifting heavy uneven stones. Maybe just holding them above their head at uncomfortable positions.
There weren’t many factions that studied the art of muscle training. Most of the students performed stamina raising tasks without getting a full-body workout every day.
In this sect, a strong body was the basis of your cultivation path. With the help of specialized pills the juniors could replenish themselves each day and continue working on the other. There was no need to wait for recovery and they could push their bodies to the limit.
This was another day like that. Cheng Yun and Yang Rong were doing this together as they were advised. Everyone was supposed to get something as a spotter. This person would aid the person that was lifting heavy weights if it became too much.
Yang Rong was laying back with a metal bar in his hands. On the sides were circular weights of the exact same size. He was doing some bench presses while Cheng Yun hovered his hands away from the bar slightly. When Yang Rong’s arms began to tremble it was the time to push on and cheer.
“One more senior brother, you can do it!”
Yang Rong’s face started getting red as he pushed and pushed. His hands began shaking furiously as he gave his all. Cheng Yun was focused on the bar ready to grasp it if something went wrong.
If his brother wasn’t able to lock out his joints he would need to aid him. If he dropped this heavy bar with the weights down he could injure himself. Luckily he managed to push through and rack the heavy bar back onto the bench press rack.
The two then exchanged places and Yang Rong started spotting Cheng Yun instead. The cling of metal against metal was heard in the whole area. The gym was filled to the brim and some people were even forced to wait.
Most of this building was filled with sweaty men. The women mostly came here to use the squatting racks. The body refining techniques that they possessed used a lot of kicking movements and less punching techniques.
The sect had to separate the males and females in this building. The men couldn’t help to stare at the junior and senior sisters. They were wearing form-fitting leggings while performing the heavy lifts. A lot of men had discovered a new found love for those work out clothes after seeing them in action. They tended to promote the rear end of the female form quite a bit.
“Did you know, our Patriarch had gone to the other sects on some kind of official business…”
“Oh, do you know what it was about?”
While working out some of the junior members that were resting started talking. Words of Zhang Dong’s expedition was already reaching the ears of this sect. The news was spreading at a rapid pace through the entire empire.
“Think there was some trouble? But our Sect leader easily bested someone in an arena battle… Think it was someone wielding a spear? I’m not really familiar with the other nascent soul masters...”
The youths had sparkles in their eyes while mentioning their sect leader. In their minds, it would be a great honor for them to get noticed by him. Still, the news of him fighting other sect leaders was a bit scary. The youths weren’t feeling confident in their own abilities quite yet. It was too soon for them to go into war with other sects.
Soon the aforementioned leader would return and more news would be spreading. Not of a war or a tragedy but the arrival of a new life instead...