The Director General had entered seclusion to attempt Foundation Establishment!
This news swept across Danxia Peak like a gale.
Within a short span, virtually every cultivator of the Luotian Association, young or old, man or woman, learned of the development.
Toward this female director general—who would have been a sect master in any other organization or a clan head in a cultivation clan—the cultivators of the Luotian Association harbored exceedingly complicated feelings.
She was ruthlessly strict, brooking no slacking or deceit; the slightest infraction was met with severe punishment.
She focused intensely on production and development, even dispatching the Battle Hall cultivators—who were meant for fighting—to till the fields whenever they had free time.
She was also notoriously stingy, having directly slashed a huge chunk off the generous stipends the Association President had originally established.
Word had it that this wasn't even her first time doing so!
Back during the Great River Market days, she had slashed basic stipends all the way to rock bottom in one fell swoop.
One could say that hardly anyone in the Luotian Association truly liked her.
Toward her, most felt only dislike and dread.
Yet anyone could see that under her personal administration, everything in the Luotian Association ran in an orderly and systematic fashion.
Even as it expanded rapidly, the weak were never left behind.
As for the strong who made great contributions, she was never stingy with rewards and promoted them generously.
At present, the Luotian Association's strength was considerable among the factions within a hundred-li radius.
It had long surpassed the established cultivation clan, the Geng family, and even the Divine Craft Sect, located slightly farther away, paled in comparison.
Those cultivators who disliked the Director General attributed all these achievements to their wise and brilliant Association President!
Yet in the eyes of discerning observers, Sima Huiniang's contributions could never be erased.
Consequently, amid the dislike and dread, there was always a tinge of awe and admiration.
Now, she was about to make her attempt at Foundation Establishment.
Some hoped she would fail, fearing that once she reached a higher realm, she would become even more overbearing.
Others hoped she would succeed—if she flourished, the Luotian Association would flourish as well.
They would prosper together, or fall together.
Overall, the latter group made up the majority.
With all these mixed thoughts swirling around, and with Sima Huiniang no longer presiding over daily affairs, a restless tension seemed to permeate the air over Danxia Peak.
People's minds were unsettled!
Even the cultivators tending the fields grew noticeably lax when casting spells to loosen the soil.
It was just like subordinates slacking off the moment their boss stepped away for further training.
Several higher-ups quickly noticed these signs.
Yet with their positions, it was difficult to meddle outside their own domains.
Even Duan Feng, a Foundation Establishment hall master, could only keep his own little plot in the Artifact Hall under control.
When it came to other halls, he was largely powerless.
This would not do!
Only now did some Qi Refining Ninth Layer executives, who had secretly resented Sima Huiniang in the past, realize what a vital role she normally played in the Luotian Association.
Those who had harbored thoughts of seizing this opportunity to replace her realized to their frustration that they possessed nowhere near the woman's prestige within the organization.
Suffice it to say, some people seemed important when they were around, but only once they were gone did everyone realize they were far more indispensable than imagined!
However, this restless atmosphere within the Luotian Association soon vanished.
Because Luo Chen had arrived!
***
"Sister-in-law, how is your health?"
Inside the Luotian Grand Hall, Luo Chen looked at Murong Qinglian as she set down the merit ledger. Rather than checking the ledger immediately, he asked after her with genuine concern.
Over a year had passed since her failed attempt at Foundation Establishment.
Murong Qinglian seemed to have moved past that setback.
She smiled gently. "I'm quite fine now. In fact, it was largely thanks to you treating me so promptly back then."
Luo Chen shook his head. "I wouldn't dare take credit for that. It was Big Brother Qin who took such good care of you."
"That roughneck? What does he know about caring for people!"
Murong Qinglian scolded with a laugh.
Yet the happiness in her smile was plain to see.
Over this past year, Qin Liangchen had put aside his usual machismo and poured his heart into caring for Murong Qinglian, an effort that had genuinely impressed those around them.
Even outsiders were astonished, let alone the Dao companion who felt it most deeply.
"The ledgers here are essentially summaries from before and after the merit policy revision," she said. "There's quite a lot. If you want to read through them all, it might take some time."
Luo Chen clicked his tongue, picking up a merit ledger with a touch of unfamiliarity.
Ever since handing over the position of Director General to Sima Huiniang back in Crescent Moon Valley, he had not browsed through such materials in a long time.
At first glance, the pages were packed with dense, tedious details.
Yet he suppressed his impatience and examined them carefully.
This was necessary work!
If his superb alchemy was his foundation for survival, then the Luotian Association was his pillar of standing.
Without the Luotian Association, the revenue generated by his alchemy would be drastically reduced.
In fact, now that it had developed to this scale, even if he didn't personally concoct pills, the Luotian Association was already marginally capable of self-sufficiency.
People like Mi Shuhua and Wang Haichao had possessed no special craft of their own, yet back then, hadn't they lived exceedingly comfortably off their gangs?
While the Luotian Association had fewer members than the Mountain Splitter Gang or Great River Gang once did, its ranks were filled with elite forces and capable talents!
There were talents in every field—alchemists, artifact refiners, formation masters, spirit farmers, and even merchants.
Not a few among them were elites of their respective trades!
One could say the current Luotian Association was already a fully grown beast.
What Luo Chen needed to do now, with Sima Huiniang the beast tamer absent, was personally take hold of the reins and guide this beast along the proper path, keeping it from straying course.
While Luo Chen reviewed the merit ledgers, Murong Qinglian sat quietly beside him.
Whenever he had a question, she answered immediately.
Her year of convalescence had not meant total detachment from worldly matters.
Sima Wenjie and Qin Liangchen had regularly brought copies of documents regarding the Merit Hall's developments back to her.
Having recently returned to the Merit Hall, she knew every affair like the back of her hand.
With her assistance, Luo Chen quickly gained an initial grasp of the Luotian Association's personnel situation.
He had always kept close watch on finances.
Now that he also grasped personnel, he could handle subsequent matters with targeted precision and calm composure.
"Expansion of the outer division has been ongoing," Murong Qinglian said. "Deacon Xu oversees it directly, while Director General Sima approves the selections. At present, the number of outer division cultivators has exceeded a hundred, nearly half that of the inner division. Some among the senior leadership worry this might create a tail too large to wag, and have suggested curbing the numbers."
When it came to the outer division, Murong Qinglian was very cautious.
After all, the Luotian Association did not operate on a sect system and lacked the cohesion that came with heritage and legacy.
If the outer division grew too powerful and threatened the inner division, that would be no laughing matter.
Yet Luo Chen was not overly concerned.
"As long as I am in the inner division, along with Little Duan and the other Foundation Establishment cultivators, the outer division won't be able to stir up any waves. There is no need to model ourselves on the systems of great sects; we should look toward how the Mountain Splitter Gang managed its peripheral forces. Most of these outer division cultivators come here seeking shelter under the great tree that is the Luotian Association, just like the thousands of loose cultivators who affiliated themselves with the Mountain Splitter Gang back in Great River Market. In my view, suppressing them is unnecessary. Rather, provided their backgrounds are relatively clean, we can recruit extensively!"
At the mention of the Mountain Splitter Gang, Murong Qinglian understood at once.
Back then, the core of the Mountain Splitter Gang consisted of mid-to-late-stage cultivators across its nine great halls.
As for early-to-mid-stage cultivators, they were essentially worked like beasts of burden.
Their benefits were next to nothing!
Whenever trouble arose, they were driven to the front lines.
Now in Tianlan Immortal City, that same system could still work.
After all, in the cultivation world, Qi Refining loose cultivators were the cheapest resource of all!
Once one batch was gone, another would sprout up.
Tianlan Immortal City sat at a major crossroads, gathering loose cultivators from all directions every single day.
Among the loose cultivators coming to the city to seek opportunity, not everyone was like the Luotian Association's cultivators, able to rent cave abodes on Tianlan Peak or settle down on Danxia Peak.
They needed to cultivate, and they needed a land rich in spiritual energy.
The Luotian Association gave them that opportunity, so naturally they had to pay a price.
And the more people they recruited, the easier it became to support the Luotian Association's senior echelon.
"Of course," Luo Chen added, "blind exploitation and extortion won't do. We must provide them a proper advancement path. There needs to be a bridge between the outer and inner divisions, allowing them to see hope of rising up."
Luo Chen could not produce a concrete promotion track right this moment.
He needed to sort through everything first before taking targeted action.
And speaking of cohesion!
Holding the ledger, Luo Chen stopped turning pages and sank into deep thought.
After a while, he returned to his senses.
"It's time to establish a lineage system as well!"
Murong Qinglian hesitated. "You mean...?"
"Counting me, the Luotian Association already has four Foundation Establishment True Cultivators. While we cannot compare to Gold Core great sects, we can rival those declining small sects. If they can use a master-disciple lineage system to enhance cohesion, naturally so can we!"
Luo Chen spoke with easy confidence, his mind swiftly made up.
"I have already taken Qu Lingjun as my disciple. It would be entirely natural to take another disciple to pass on my mantle. Duan Feng has been teaching apprentices all along; he could easily pick out a few with good aptitude and pass down his artifact-refining craft or cultivation mantle. Min Longyu has always harbored the thought of reviving the Min family. Now that the Min family no longer exists, his formation cultivation—which originated from his family—can be passed down in another form! As for Wang Yuan, whether merely for show or in genuine earnest, I will have a talk with him as well."
Listening to these words, Murong Qinglian felt waves of shock stir within her.
This move seemed ordinary on the surface.
Yet she knew better than anyone what it signified.
No matter how much the veterans of the Luotian Association trusted this faction, no matter how united they were, at the end of the day, they merely regarded it as a place to roost and earn spirit stones.
It was nothing more than a great sect merchant shop with better benefits and closer camaraderie.
But if a formal lineage system was truly established, everything would change.
It would mean the Luotian Association was evolving from an ordinary loose-cultivator gang into a sect system!
And a sect system was by no means inferior to, and in fact often surpassed, a clan system bound by blood ties.
Case in point: her own Qin family!
Ever since their son Xiaohu had entered the Falling Cloud Sect, more than ten years had passed!
Over those ten-plus years, though partly due to the war, he had genuinely not returned home even once!
From the letters exchanged after contact was restored, the couple noticed that he frequently mentioned senior martial sisters, senior martial brothers, and martial uncles within the sect.
It truly felt as though he had found a "new home" out there.
A mature sect system could genuinely make cultivators feel as if they were part of a family.
It could even instill in them a heartfelt conviction to live and die with the sect!
If Luo Chen's lineage system were truly put into practice, its impact would exceed the merit policy enacted under Sima Huiniang's tenure.
Swallowing hard, Murong Qinglian could not help but say, "President, you are truly wise!"
"Sister-in-law, you do know how to flatter!"
Luo Chen chuckled and continued, "Still, how to pass down the lineage, how to accept disciples, and how to maintain this system over time are not things to be treated lightly. I am only proposing the idea for now; the specifics will require further discussion. All right, I'll keep reading. If you get bored, Sister-in-law, feel free to walk about outside. I'll call you if something comes up."
Murong Qinglian shook her head and remained sitting patiently beside him.
Luo Chen continued leafing through the merit ledgers.
Time flowed by quietly.
Suddenly, Luo Chen's gaze halted on the corner of a page.
Staring at that single page, he sank into a prolonged silence.
Noticing something amiss, Murong Qinglian asked curiously, "What is it?"
With her command over the Merit Hall, she knew the details inside out and swiftly recalled the contents of that passage.
It concerned the lease of Danxia Hall on Yuelu Street.
With the lease nearing its end, Gu Caiyi had visited the Ice Billow Palace multiple times in order to maintain the preferential rate of five thousand spirit stones per year.
In the end, she had negotiated the rent down to five thousand two hundred a year.
Had it increased?
No, Gu Caiyi had done her utmost.
Rents in Tianlan Immortal City climbed every year.
For them to experience such a minor increase after three years was truly a bargain.
Gu Caiyi had contributed significantly to this process, so it naturally warranted a recorded merit.
However, Luo Chen's focus was not on that.
"Why wasn't it a three-year minimum lease this time? Why was it set as a short-term lease of just one year?"
Murong Qinglian replied as if it were self-evident, "Naturally because the Ice Fort's ten-year rotation overseeing Tianlan Immortal City is drawing to a close. With a handover to the next Gold Core great sect coming up, leases can only be renewed year by year. This has long been customary in the immortal city."
She spoke matter-of-factly, yet Luo Chen's expression showed a rare flicker of unease.
The Ice Fort's ten-year rotation was coming to an end!
This was hardly good news!
The Luotian Association's patron had always been the Ice Fort.
If the masters of the immortal city switched to another sect, the Luotian Association's various businesses would inevitably be impacted!
"I actually failed to notice this until now."
"I grew so accustomed to the Ice Fort's unspoken protection that I forgot a full six years have already passed since our arrival in Tianlan Immortal City!"
"Counting the years, the city truly is about to change hands."
Luo Chen's eyes flickered, and he snapped the merit ledger shut.
"I need to make a trip to the Ice Billow Palace. Sister-in-law, please keep an eye on things here at the Luotian Association for me."
Murong Qinglian nodded; that was well within her duties.
Yet watching Luo Chen leave in such a hurry, she too belatedly realized the gravity of the situation.
The expression on her face gradually grew somber as well.
***
Inside the Ice Billow Palace.
The one receiving Luo Chen was a familiar face—Shi Lan.
She delivered a piece of bad news.
All the Foundation Establishment True Cultivators of the Ice Fort were refusing outside visitors lately, reportedly busy conducting the handover with cultivators from the Azure Pill Valley.
"The sect rotating in to oversee the immortal city for the next decade is Azure Pill Valley?"
"That's right!" Shi Lan replied sweetly. "This is tied to how the auctions are hosted. Whichever sect takes over the next rotation will co-host the auction with the current one."
The last auction had indeed been co-hosted by the Ice Fort and the Azure Pill Valley.
The next one would fall to Azure Pill Valley and the Falling Cloud Sect.
In other words, the rotation followed an order from the Ice Fort, to Azure Pill Valley, to the Falling Cloud Sect, and so forth.
Further down the line came Mount Ailao, the Hundred Blossoms Palace, and the Yan Alliance, before cycling back to the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect.
Thus, a full cycle took seventy years.
Upon learning this, Luo Chen's expression relaxed slightly.
As for the Azure Pill Valley, he happened to know two of their Foundation Establishment True Cultivators. Would the status quo continue to hold?
Yet, cautious as always, Luo Chen would never pin his hopes on Tao Yisheng and Xuan Yunzi.
Between the two, Xuan Yunzi might hold some standing in the Azure Pill Valley thanks to his outstanding alchemy skills.
But Tao Yisheng certainly held no high position.
Moreover, if the people Azure Pill Valley dispatched to oversee the city were not individuals he knew, his meager connections would be completely useless.
"Xiao Lan, when your grandmother is free, please let her know that I'd like to have a word with her. If possible, meeting with Fellow Daoist Tantai Jin would be ideal!"
Shi Lan flashed a sweet smile. "All right!"
Leaving the Ice Billow Palace, he headed toward the nearby Tianlan Peak.
Passing Cave Abode C-6, Luo Chen paused for a moment.
"Without Huiniang around, I'm really not used to having so much busywork on my plate!"
With a faint, self-deprecating chuckle, Luo Chen returned home.
With both the Earth Mountain Technique and Surging Waves Technique having reached Great Perfection, he had a bit more free time each day.
His Nether-Passage Pill craft had also reached Great Perfection; concocting a single batch of Nether-Passage Pills a month was enough to supply his needs, freeing up even more time.
As long as he did not actively seek to learn new spells, his schedule was quite open.
Aside from concocting Jade Marrow Pills and Jade Dew Pills, he spent most of his spare hours reading through various texts:
*Shanghu's Pill Exposition*, the *Heavenly Roc Transformation*, and several Tier 1 pill recipes he had collected previously.
As the insights of a Tier 3 alchemist, *Shanghu's Pill Exposition* had provided him tremendous aid.
Having studied it regularly over the past two to three years, combined with his own profound alchemy skills, Luo Chen now found those Tier 1 recipes exceptionally straightforward.
Even without relying on the system for initial mastery, he felt he could easily pick them up.
He had even thoroughly deciphered Wang Yuan's recipe for the Blood Fiend Pill.
If Wang Yuan could gather the primary materials, Luo Chen could attempt concocting it on the spot.
Unfortunately, while Wang Yuan had gathered plenty of cultivator essence-blood and could purchase dried human placentas from the black market, he had yet to acquire Underworld Yin Fiend.
Otherwise, Luo Chen could have personally stepped in to concoct a batch of Blood Fiend Pills for him.
After a night of cultivation, Luo Chen rested briefly for two hours. Come daybreak, he tucked several books into his robes and prepared to head out.
However, just as he stepped out through the cave abode entrance, the middle-aged man waiting outside in the morning breeze caught him by surprise.
"Looking for me so early—is something the matter?"
The visitor was none other than Li Yingzhang, a cultivator of the Qinhua River Li family.
A promising candidate for Foundation Establishment, and the future pillar of the Li family.
He bowed respectfully to Luo Chen. "My ancestor's lifespan is drawing to an end. Before his passing, he wishes to meet with Senior once more."
Chapter 276