The Bluegrace Sect was one of the many sects within the enormous territory ruled over by the Brightshore Kingdom. It had been established by Daolord Bluegrace and was an ancient organization with deep roots.

The Eastsmoke branch of the Bluegrace Sect. The residential area for high-level sect members.

There was an estate located at the peak of one of these mountains, and outside this estate sat eighteen World-level cultivators in the lotus position.

“Hmph.” A white-robed woman at the entrance to the estate glanced at those eighteen, then let out a cold snort.

“Junior apprentice-sister Qingfan, you should urge the Flamefairy Su Youji to stop resisting.” A black-robed elder, one of the eighteen seated World-level cultivators, spoke out. “Have her obediently hand over her golems, her bugbeast, and that statue of Feixian the Exalted. If she does that, we naturally won’t cause any further trouble for her. Otherwise… once the order comes from the headquarters, she shall perish and her Dao shall vanish!”

“Little sister Youji rescued some of our fellow disciples. Not only have you shown no gratitude, you’ve plotted against her and tried to take her treasures away from her. Little sister Youji risked her life in order to acquire that statue of Feixian the Exalted.” The white-robed woman said angrily, “An order from the headquarters? You might be able to cause trouble here in this local branch, but the main base isn’t a place where you fools can do as you please!”

The eighteen World-level cultivators no longer spoke. They just continued their silent vigil.

“Hmph.” The white-robed woman angrily returned to the estate.

Within the estate.

Su Youji was seated in the lotus position within one of the rooms in the estate, engaging in silent meditation. Dressed in fiery robes, Su Youji emanated an aura of incredible allure and magnetism . It was as though she was the most beautiful, most seductive woman who had ever been born, so beautiful that even World-level cultivators would be affected by her presence. Suddenly, she opened her eyes. When she did so, she withdrew her aura of magnetism. She glanced outside, then smiled. “Elder sister Qingfan.”

“Little sister Youji.” The white-robed woman walked into the room.

“I’m sorry to have caused you trouble, elder sister Qingfan,” Su Youji said. “I put you in a precarious situation here in your sect.”

“Don’t worry. This is my estate. World-level cultivators are barred from barging into the residences of their fellow disciples. They’ll only be able to enter if they receive a command from the sectlord to do so,” the white-robed woman said. “So long as you are in my estate, they will be completely unable to get their hands on you. As for the sectlord, he’s a figure of incredible power. If they think they can convince him to issue an order… hmph. Hmph!”

Su Youji couldn’t help but sigh silently to herself.

This entire affair…

After she left the Astral Islands, she had quickly realized how chaotic and unruly the Brightshore Kingdom was. She had acted with great caution, first purchasing a star map and getting an understanding of the Brightshore Kingdom’s rough geography. Her goal was to go to the Palace of Fire and test her luck, but midway on her journey she accidentally entered a strange, dangerous location.

There were many such locations within the Brightshore Kingdom. Some had been personally crafted by the almighty Hegemon, but some were left behind by deceased Daolords. There were many dangerous locations which were undiscovered and unknown to most cultivators.

Su Youji ended up entering a dangerous region which had been set up by Feixian the Exalted. She encountered many dangers in that place, and eventually she found herself in a dangerous situation but was rescued by Fairy Qingfan’s group. To be specific, it was Fairy Qingfan herself who had rescued her. Su Youji felt very grateful towards her, and so she had joined Fairy Qingfan’s group of three.

They had braved the dangers of that place together, and Su Youji had put her golems and bugbeasts into full effect. In the end… she actually passed the trial which Feixian the Exalted had laid down, becoming her personal disciple.

Feixian the Exalted had left behind many treasures, all of which now belonged to Su Youji. The rest of his treasures had been located within an estate-world which Su Youji had easily taken away without notice, but his statue had been located at the very highest position within the palace. Su Youji had to personally climb up to grab it, and this was witnessed by Fairy Qingfan and the others.

Fairy Qingfan’s group had experienced many life-and-death battles alongside Su Youji. They all trusted each other very much, and Fairy Qingfan had even saved Su Youji’s life. Thus, Su Youji didn’t harbor any suspicions regarding them.

Back then, Fairy Qingfan had said to her, “Little sister Youji, you are heading to the Twelve Palaces? That’s in the same direction as we are headed. We are going back to our Eastsmoke branch. Let’s travel together!”

Su Youji and Fairy Qingfan had quickly become fast friends and had grown close to each other, and so they continued to travel together after exiting the trials.. Fairy Qingfan had grown up here in the Brightshore Kingdom and so was quite familiar with the local region. They arrived at the Eastsmoke branch without any trouble… but right after they had sat down and drank two cups of wine within Fairy Qingfan’s residence, these World-level cultivators had immediately shown up and surrounded them.

As it turned out, one of the other companions on their journey, World God Whiteswan, had reported on the outcome of their adventures to the branch leader of the Eastsmoke branch. The Eastsmoke branch leader was merely a World-level cultivator, and he grew greedy for Su Youji’s bugbeasts and golems. Since Su Youji wasn’t a member of this sect, he immediately issued an order to kill her and take her treasures.

“Don’t worry, little sister. He’s just a branch leader. As far as status goes, he isn’t significantly superior to me. He just has a few connections in the main base, which was why he was given the position of branch leader. Without the sectlord’s orders, there’s not a damn thing he can do. You can stay here for as long as you wish, little sister.”

Su Youji nodded.

…….

A flying vessel had just appeared in the clouds high above the Bluegrace Sect. A white-robed youth was seated in the lotus position on the decks of the vessel, a sword across his lap. The youth glanced downwards.

“My message-talisman is directly below. Based on the star map which Daolord Grayvast gave me, this place should be one of the nine branches of the Bluegrace Sect.” Ning was rather puzzled. “Why did Youji come to the Bluegrace Sect?”

The Bluegrace Sect had been established by Daolord Bluegrace. The entire sect had a total of four Daolords! Daolord Bluegrace was an extremely powerful figure, but the other three Daolords were a bit weaker; they were merely black-armored Daolords.

The Daolords of the Twelve Palaces were divided up into several different levels of power. There were black-armored, azure-armored, silver-armored, and gold-armored Daolords. The black-armored Daolords were the lowest level Daolords.

“No ripples?” Ning stared downwards at the Eastsmoke branch. “There are no Daolords protecting this place.”

It made sense. There were only four Daolords, while the Bluegrace Sect had a total of nine branches. According to what Ning’s star map claimed, the four Daolords usually resided in the main base.

“Youji is in the Eastsmoke branch…” Although Ning was puzzled, he still put away his flying vessel then began to fly downwards in person.

“Quite impressive.” Ning stared downwards at the Eastsmoke branch. The Eastsmoke branch covered an extremely vast territory of over ten million kilometers. “According to this star map, this branch holds a total of more than three hundred World-level cultivators. The Brightshore Kingdom really is quite unlike the Dao Alliance. The sects of the Dao Alliance are all extremely cautious when they recruit new World-level cultivators, keeping their numbers low. Here, it seems their motto is ‘the more the merrier’.”

The Dao Alliance governed through inaction. The Badlands Court was a good example. Daolord Badlands was the leader of the Court and the entire territory, but he only had roughly a hundred World-level cultivators under his command. The vast Badlands Territory had more than ten thousand World-level cultivators, but they were all scattered across many smaller organizations.

The Brightshore Kingdom was different. The Daolords of the Brightshore Kingdom and the organizations they established, such as the Bluegrace Sect, centralized things far more. The main base and nine branches of the Bluegrace Sect alone held more than five thousand World-level cultivators! They really did believe in the concept of strength in numbers. This was because the Daolords of the Brightshore Kingdom were all prevented from fighting amongst each other, due to all of them being members of the Twelve Palaces.

Since Daolords were unable to directly do battle, battles amongst sects in the Brightshore Kingdom had to be carried out by World-level cultivators. Thus, the more the merrier! The battles amongst World-level cultivators were quite brutal and savage.

“Halt, fellow Daoist! This place is the Eastsmoke branch of the Bluegrace Sect.” A tall, skinny World-level cultivator flew out and shouted at Ning.

“I am Darknorth.” Ning smiled. “I’ve come to join the Bluegrace Sect.”

“Fellow Daoist, you wish to join our Bluegrace Sect?” The tall, skinny cultivator gave Ning a weighing glance. World-level cultivators were generally mid-level figures within the Brightshore Kingdom. If Ning was an Elder God, he wouldn’t be treated in such a friendly manner. “Haha, the doors of our Bluegrace Sect are always open and welcome. Fellow Daoist, please follow me.”

Ning smiled as he followed the man inside, moving past the protective formations and entering the sect itself.

This was one of the branches of the Bluegrace Sect. The formations protecting it had naturally been laid down by Daolord Bluegrace himself. Although the formations weren’t that strong when being controlled by a group of World-level cultivators, Ning wasn’t certain that he would be able to overcome it.

“Please follow me, fellow Daoist.” The tall, skinny World-level cultivator flew alongside Ning. The branch was more than ten million kilometers in size, quite large.

“What’s going on over there?” Ning pointed off into the distance, towards the direction where he could sense Su Youji was located.

“The sect has disciples of varying levels of strength. The stronger World-level cultivators reside in that area.” The tall, skinny World-level cultivator pointed while speaking.

“Oh.” Ning now understood. Suddenly, he stretched out his palm, making it expand in size to become dozens of meters long. He immediately grabbed onto that World God as easily as he would grab onto a mouse. This person was responsible for welcoming and greeting guests, but he merely had the power of an elite World God. In the face of Ning’s power, he wasn’t even able to struggle.

“Fellow Daoist!” The man was utterly terrified.

“If I wanted your life, I could take it in an instant. If you want to stay alive, don’t fight me,” Ning sent mentally. Then, with a whoosh, he transferred the man into his own estate-world.

Ning transformed into a streak of light, flying towards Su Youji’s residence at high speed.