In the cultivation world of the Nine Regions, each sect had its own territory.
Depending on the rank of the sect, the size of the territory it occupied varied.
When the Jade Blood Sect was at its peak, it was a first-grade sect, so it could occupy a huge territory like Ao Mountain. In recent decades, although it had gradually declined and its rank had decreased, the ownership of this territory had never changed.
It wasn't that no one had set their sights on Ao Mountain. Every now and then, a new sect would be born in the Nine Prefectures, and these sects would need to choose a piece of land as their foundation. Therefore, a famous mountain like Ao Mountain had undoubtedly attracted the attention of many people.
However, Tang Yifeng was a Spirit Sea Realm cultivator, so those new sects did not dare to be presumptuous in front of him. In addition, the Jade Blood Sect had a close relationship with the Vitality Sect, so even when the Jade Blood Sect was at its most desolate, no new sect dared to live in the huge Ao Mountain.
Until now, the Jade Blood Sect showed signs of rising again, so it was impossible for such a thing to happen again.
In the territory of a sect, under normal circumstances, non-sect cultivators could not casually step into it without permission. Otherwise, it would be a provocation to the dignity of a sect. This kind of thing could be big or small, and if it was not handled well, it would lead to extremely bad consequences.
Every sect would send cultivators to patrol their territory to prevent any troublemakers from causing trouble.
However, the Jade Blood Sect did not have this ability. Before Lu Ye joined the sect, there were only Tang Yifeng and Shui Yuan in the sect. Even now, although there were many low-level disciples, they were all in the Spirit Stream Realm, and all of them stayed in the Spirit Stream Battlefield to cultivate and improve their cultivation.
Therefore, in the past few decades, Ao Mountain was basically in a state of no one's jurisdiction. Although it belonged to the Jade Blood Sect in name, anyone could set foot in it at will.
In particular, it attracted many loose cultivators to stay here, and there were even loose cultivators who chose the spirit peaks to open up caves …
As for the spirit flowers and herbs that grew in Ao Mountain, they were also popular among the loose cultivators because they could pick these things and exchange them for the cultivation resources they needed.
The Sect Master knew about this, but he had never driven away these loose cultivators.
It was not easy for loose cultivators to survive. No matter how many disciples there were in the various sects, at least they could receive a monthly salary and have the protection of their elders. However, loose cultivators had to obtain all their cultivation resources by themselves. Sometimes, for a little merit, they would have to fight until their heads bled. When they encountered danger, there were no elders who could protect them, and they had to fight on their own.
The two people in front of him were undoubtedly rogue cultivators.
Therefore, when he heard Lu Ye introduce himself, the elderly man tugged at the middle-aged man's clothes and urged him to leave quickly.
Firstly, Lu Ye's fame had spread far and wide, causing the elderly man to remember Lu Ye's identity.
Secondly … everything in Ao Mountain belonged to Jade Blood Sect. Strictly speaking, their actions could be considered theft. Now that they had been caught red-handed by Lu Ye, they felt embarrassed and didn't have the face to stay.
Just as the two were about to leave, Lu Ye suddenly called out, "Wait!"
The two of them stopped in their tracks and looked at Lu Ye vigilantly. The elderly man said, "What other advice does Fellow Daoist have?"
Coming to someone else's territory to steal Spirit Grasses, and being discovered, it was reasonable to say that even Lu Ye would have no problem killing them.
Thinking of the various stories he had heard about Lu Ye in the past, the elderly man's heart sank. Could it be that this person wanted to kill him?
If that was the case, things would be far from good.
"Are you two loose cultivators?" Lu Ye asked.
There was nothing wrong with admitting it.
Both of them nodded.
Pang Huanyin looked curious. It was the first time she had heard of the term 'loose cultivator'. There was no such term on the Wushuang Continent.
However, she roughly understood what this term meant.
She was puzzled. The Nine Provinces was so vast and the cultivation world was so prosperous. How could there be loose cultivators?
"How long have you two lived here?" Lu Ye asked again.
Seeing that Lu Ye didn't seem to have the intention to make things difficult for them and seemed to be just asking questions, the elderly man's expression eased a little. He said, "This old man has lived here for almost ten years."
He had reached his limit, so even if he went to the Cloudy River Battlefield, he wouldn't be able to get much benefits. Instead, he would encounter more danger. It was better for him to stay on Ao Mountain and retire.
"Three years." The middle-aged man replied. His situation was somewhat different from the elderly man's. Three years ago, he was seriously injured in the Cloudy River Battlefield and had nowhere to go. He could only return to the Nine Provinces to recuperate, so he stayed on Ao Mountain.
"In that case, the two of you should know the situation here very well."
"What do you want to ask, Fellow Daoist?" The elderly man looked cautious.
"How many loose cultivators are on Ao Mountain?"
The elderly man didn't say anything. The middle-aged man couldn't help but frown. It was obvious that they had misunderstood something.
"The two of you don't have to hide it. I can just ask someone else and I'll get the answer. Even if no one tells me, I have ways to find out."
"Sigh!" The elderly man sighed. "Fellow Daoist, you don't have to be like this. I'll send a message to tell them to leave Ao Mountain within a day and never set foot on Ao Mountain again."
He thought that Lu Ye wanted to find out the number of loose cultivators first before chasing them away.
They had been on Ao Mountain all these years, and no one cared about them. However, if the Jade Blood Sect really wanted to chase them away, they wouldn't be able to stay.
"You've misunderstood." Lu Ye saw through his thoughts and explained, "I don't want to chase you away. Ao Mountain is vast and has countless spiritual peaks. If you want to stay here, it's up to you."
How could he interfere with something that even the Sect Master didn't care about? Although he was lucky enough to join the Jade Blood Sect, he knew the hardships of loose cultivators.
Hua Ci used to be a loose cultivator. In order to get some cultivation resources, she would leave early and return late every day to treat people in the nearby market.
"Fellow Daoist, are you serious?" The elderly man looked at Lu Ye in astonishment. The middle-aged man also looked grateful.
"Of course I'm serious. Not only that, I'll also give you some benefits."
"Benefits?" The elderly man didn't understand.
Lu Ye said, "Soon, a sect called Ziwei Daoist Palace will be established on Ao Mountain. This sect has a large number of disciples, so they don't accept outsiders. However, if any of you are interested, you can visit the sect and have a chance to join Ziwei Daoist Palace!"
"Ziwei Daoist Palace?"
The two people in front of him both looked puzzled. They had never heard of this sect before. It should be one of those new sects. However, Lu Ye said that there were a large number of disciples, so they couldn't figure out Ziwei Daoist Palace's background. Generally, new sects didn't have many disciples.
Although most loose cultivators yearned to join a certain sect, they weren't so desperate that they couldn't be choosy. Sects of the three lower grades were only seventh-grade, eighth-grade, and ninth-grade.
Because being bound by such a sect was better than living a carefree life on their own.
Therefore, even though Lu Ye said it was an opportunity, the two were not tempted. Instead, they became more vigilant.
"Fellow Daoist, what grade is Ziwei Daoist Palace? How strong are the experts in the sect? "
"At least sixth-grade. Moreover, Ziwei Daoist Palace is a subordinate sect of my Jade Blood Sect!"
"Subordinate sect!"
The elderly man and the middle-aged man were both tempted. As for sixth-grade or not, they didn't care.
The previous subordinate sect of Jade Blood Sect was Pill Heart Sect, which was now a second-grade behemoth. Although Jade Blood Sect had declined, a starving camel was still bigger than a horse. There were still two Divine Sea Realm cultivators in the sect and it was inextricably linked to many large sects in the War Province.
Jade Blood Sect was showing signs of rising again.
As a subordinate sect of Jade Blood Sect, its future wouldn't be bad.
Not to mention that it was a sixth-grade sect with at least a few True Lake Realm cultivators.
If they could join such a sect, it would be the dream of many rogue cultivators.
Happiness came so suddenly that the two were at a loss. They wondered if Lu Ye was teasing them.
"Fellow Daoist, are you joking?" The elderly man couldn't understand why Ziwei Daoist Palace would accept rogue cultivators like them.
"Whether I'm joking or not, we'll see in the future." Lu Ye didn't say anything else. He took a step forward and soared into the sky.
Pang Huanyin followed closely behind.
Looking at the direction the two left, the elderly man and the middle-aged man no longer had any thoughts of fighting for the three-petal red sandalwood flower. After some discussion, they decided to spread the news as soon as possible.
The rogue cultivators in Ao Mountain were all in contact with each other. After spending a long time together, they had formed a tacit understanding to help each other. Now that such a good thing had happened, they naturally wouldn't hide it from others. Moreover, this kind of thing couldn't be hidden. Once Ziwei Daoist Palace was established, the news would definitely spread.
Flying at a low altitude, Pang Huanyin said thoughtfully, "Senior Brother wants me to recruit those rogue cultivators?"
Lu Ye said, "After all, you weren't born and raised in the Nine Regions, so you don't know much about the Nine Regions. Now that Jade Blood Sect has a small population, we can't help much. Recruiting a group of local cultivators won't do you any harm. These rogue cultivators have different origins. Some are not qualified enough to join a sect, some are homeless people whose original sect was destroyed, and some are lucky enough to get on the path of cultivation. But in any case, their lives are extremely difficult. Most of them won't miss the opportunity to join a sect. How to select the character of these rogue cultivators shouldn't be a problem for you. "
Pang Huanyin nodded. "Although the Wushuang Continent isn't as rich and prosperous as the Nine Regions, we've seen a lot of the complexity of human nature. Senior Brother, you don't have to worry about this. I won't let those with ulterior motives enter the Daoist Palace."
"Well, you only need to remember one thing. These rogue cultivators can be used, but you can't put them in important positions."
"Senior Brother is right. I'll remember it."
Suddenly, she remembered something. "Senior Brother, you said that the Daoist Palace is a sixth-rank sect. What do you mean?"
"I'll have to tell you about the ranking of sects in the Nine Regions …" Lu Ye told her everything he knew.
Pang Huanyin was puzzled. "According to Senior Brother, our Daoist Palace is at most a seventh-rank sect. It can't reach the sixth-rank."
A sixth-rank sect must have a True Lake Realm cultivator. This was the most basic requirement.
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