Chapter 30: What Defines a Hegemon-Level Power?

Inside the special space of the Library Pavilion!

After finishing all the materials related to Fortune Cultivation, Ye Qingxuan frowned and muttered to himself

"As expected, the restrictions on Fortune Cultivation are even greater than I imagined!"

Subsequently, Ye Qingxuan concentrated his consciousness into the divine sense space within his mind.

Within the divine sense space, Ye Qingxuan's fully solidified, chaos-colored soul origin body opened its eyes, emitting a soft glow.

He looked toward his clone, the Eternal Turtle, located at the center of his divine sense space. After observing it for a moment, he asked in confusion

"Does this Eternal Turtle clone of mine count as an external avatar?"

Feeling the seamless, integrated connection between himself and the Eternal Turtle clone—a sensation of profound destiny reaching his heart—Ye Qingxuan subconsciously said slowly

"Perhaps, this Eternal Turtle clone of mine should be called a Natal Clone instead?"

Ye Qingxuan attempted to control the Eternal Turtle clone, wanting to move it out of the divine sense space, but he once again felt an inexplicable suppression from the outside world!

Realizing that this unknown suppression still existed, Ye Qingxuan smiled bitterly

"Could it be that my clone plan is going to be aborted before it even begins?"

Based on the information he currently possessed, once he became a Fortune Cultivator, it would be impossible for him to condense a clone in a short period of time.

And now, his clone, the Eternal Turtle, still could not be released externally. Was there truly no way to break this deadlock?

Taking a deep breath, Ye Qingxuan regained his confidence and said

"Forget it! Forget it! If I cannot condense a clone, then I cannot condense a clone! It is nothing more than enduring that boundless desolation!"

Ye Qingxuan's heart remained steadfast and was not shaken by this.

When he had made his choice originally, he had already prepared for the worst-case scenario.

A mere temporary setback was not enough to crush Ye Qingxuan's confidence; to his Dao heart, these were merely insignificant trials on his path of cultivation.

Besides, if the Eternal Turtle clone truly could bear the restrictions of Fortune Cultivation for him—er, he probably wouldn't choose to leave the Xuantian Sect even then.

After all, where else could be safer than the Xuantian Sect?

As his consciousness withdrew from the divine sense space, Ye Qingxuan took a glance at the bead that had traveled through time with him before leaving.

He firmly believed that this bead, which was able to travel with him, was no ordinary object.

However, aside from a slight tremor of excitement the first time he heard the words "Blessed Land" while in the Ye family, during his years at the Xuantian Sect, Ye Qingxuan had tried various methods, yet the bead had never shown the slightest movement.

Part of the reason he had chosen to become a Fortune Cultivator was the influence of this bead.

"I took such a huge risk to become a Fortune Cultivator; don't you dare disappoint me!"

After leaving this sentence in the divine sense space, Ye Qingxuan's consciousness withdrew.

The xanthic-colored bead continued to float in the space of Ye Qingxuan's sea of consciousness, without any fluctuation.

In the outside world, as soon as Ye Qingxuan's consciousness returned, he subconsciously placed the last book back in its original position, and his figure suddenly vanished once again.

Not far from the Library Pavilion management office, Ye Qingxuan's figure reappeared.

Looking at the familiar environment before him, Ye Qingxuan regained his composure, bowed to the elderly man dozing in a lounge chair within the management office, and then withdrew!

This time, Ye Qingxuan was tactful enough not to disturb the old man.

After moving away from the management office, Ye Qingxuan did not leave the Library Pavilion immediately.

Having finally made it to the Library Pavilion, he naturally would not leave so easily.

Following the prompts in the library, Ye Qingxuan arrived at the section containing books related to the Xuantian Sect and began to browse.

Although he had joined the Xuantian Sect for over six years, his understanding of it was not detailed; he only had a rough idea of its structure through the sect manual distributed to him previously!

Under the command of the Xuantian Sect, a total of twenty-one great provinces were governed, including Xuan Province!

Aside from Xuan Province, in the other twenty great provinces, all provincial cities, commandery cities, and prefecture cities were held by city lords appointed by the Xuantian Sect, either elders or disciples.

The provincial city lords were held by Void-Piercing Realm Deacon Elders, the commandery city lords by True Inheritance Disciples of the Soul Transformation Realm, and the prefecture city lords by Core Disciples of the Nascent Soul Realm.

In addition, there were many various industries and resource points of the Xuantian Sect within its territory. Managing and guarding these industries and resource points was the primary source of tasks for ordinary disciples of the Xuantian Sect.

Although the Xuantian Mountain Range was vast, the interior of the Xuantian Sect was not divided into numerous mountain peaks as Ye Qingxuan had imagined.

The Xuantian Sect was mainly operated by various halls, each performing its specific function to run the massive sect.

Among them were the Hall of Dharma Transmission, Hall of All Things, Hall of Formations, Hall of Alchemy, Hall of Artifacts, Hall of Talismans, Hall of Spirit Plants, Hall of Spirit Beasts, Hall of Tasks, Hall of Law Enforcement, Hall of War, Hall of External Affairs, Hall of Internal Affairs, and so on!

The Xuantian Sect possessed everything related to cultivation; it was entirely self-sufficient and had no need to rely on the outside world.

This was one of the foundations possessed by a hegemon-level power that had endured for millions of years!

Basically, every major hall had its own field of responsibility. All disciples could voluntarily apply for the entrance examinations of various halls; if they passed, they could become special disciples of the sect and enjoy additional benefits!

The Xuantian Sect implemented unified management for its disciples, but the management was not overly strict, instead utilizing certain assessment mechanisms.

Within a certain period, those whose cultivation assessments failed to meet the standards would be sent out of the sect to manage the sect's external industries.

Inside the sect, disciples were mobilized by the Hall of Tasks; inner disciples accepted sect tasks to obtain cultivation resources, while the sect relied on disciples to handle various affairs within its territory.

Disciples of different cultivation levels had a required number of tasks to complete within different timeframes; those who failed to complete the required number of tasks by the deadline would be assigned mandatory tasks.

In certain special circumstances, all disciples would be taken over and uniformly arranged by the Hall of War!

In addition, disciple competitions were held at different intervals for disciples of various levels to encourage cultivation through generous rewards.

Basically, aside from these, the freedom of disciples within the Xuantian Sect was quite high.

However, Ye Qingxuan was a disciple of the Fortune Cultivation Academy, so these things had nothing to do with him.

But understanding this allowed him to have a clear perception of the Xuantian Sect.

Among the materials related to the Xuantian Sect, Ye Qingxuan also made a rubbing of a map of the entire Xuantian Mountain Range.

Through this map, Ye Qingxuan realized that the area he currently operated in was merely a tiny drop in the ocean of the entire Xuantian Mountain Range.

Within this vast Xuantian Mountain Range, the Xuantian Sect raised countless demon beasts as sustainable resources for the sect, which could also be used for the voluntary training of disciples.

However, to enter these areas, one needed at least a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation; otherwise, one had no permission to enter these regions at all.

These captive demon beasts were also one of the sources of income for the disciples of the Xuantian Sect.

Outside the Xuantian Sect!

In the entire Eastern Region of ninety-nine great provinces, there were three hegemon-level powers: one clan and two sects!

Aside from the Xuantian Sect, the other two hegemon-level powers were the Huangfu Immortal Clan and the Tianyuan Sect.

The Huangfu Immortal Clan occupied seventeen provinces of the Eastern Region, and the Tianyuan Sect occupied nineteen provinces. The remaining provinces were scattered at the borders of the three hegemon-level powers and were occupied by other sub-level powers, serving as buffer zones.

Ye Qingxuan previously only knew that the Xuantian Sect was a hegemon-level power, but he did not clearly understand what a hegemon-level power represented!

From the Library Pavilion this time, he finally understood what a hegemon-level power truly meant.

A hegemon-level power meant that someone from that power had successfully ascended in the past and left behind Immortal Artifacts that had ascended along with the cultivator.

Only a power that simultaneously possessed a Sect-Protecting Immortal Artifact and was presided over by a Mahayana Realm cultivator could deserve the title of a hegemon-level power.

Other powers that were only presided over by a Mahayana cultivator or only possessed a Sect-Protecting Immortal Artifact could, at most, be considered pseudo-hegemon-level powers.

The Xuantian Sect had a heritage of millions of years, and the number of immortals born during that time was countless. The foundation preserved within the sect was staggering; even among the hegemon-level powers in the entire Earth-Heaven Realm, the Xuantian Sect could be considered one of the top-tier existences.

After learning all this, Ye Qingxuan was immensely surprised!

He knew the Xuantian Sect was strong, but he did not expect it to be strong to this extent.

This was a sure thing; with such a powerful sect, what opponent could there be in the Earth-Heaven Realm? They simply didn't exist!

With the Xuantian Sect at his back, it would be impossible for him not to soar!

After reading through these materials, Ye Qingxuan left the Library Pavilion in high spirits.

Next was to work hard at cultivation and break through to the Great Circle of Qi Refinement as soon as possible.

However, for some reason, Ye Qingxuan always had a faint sense of unease. This unease was elusive, as if it originated from this very world!

(End of Chapter)