A Sect from a Spirit Vein

Chapter 254: Chapter 215: Competition of the Hundred Arts Skills of Immortal Cultivation

The third item is Talismans and Elixirs.

The quantity of these spoils is astonishing, far exceeding what was obtained from the previous destruction of the Chaosheng Sect. The most important reason is the successful attack on the Xiangshou Mountain Marketplace. The marketplace housed numerous shops selling these materials, and the cultivators of the Shuangye Alliance, according to the previously scouted routes, looted the most valuable items. Even though they barely took any low-tier talismans and elixirs, they only loaded the mid to high-tier ones, already filling the large number of pre-prepared storage pouches.

As for talismans, there are a hundred stacks of Foundation Establishment Stage high-tier wood talismans (ten sheets per stack), two hundred and ten stacks of mid-tier wood talismans, and eighty stacks of low-tier wood talismans.

A total of nine hundred and thirty-three stacks of late-stage Qi Cultivation high-tier paper talismans, four thousand eight hundred stacks of mid-tier paper talismans, and none of the low-tier paper talismans were taken.

As for elixirs, there are eighty-seven bottles of Foundation Establishment Stage high-tier elixirs (ten pieces per bottle), three hundred and fifty-two bottles of mid-tier elixirs, and thirty bottles of low-tier elixirs.

A total of eight hundred and seventy-eight bottles of Qi Cultivation Stage high-tier elixirs, four thousand six hundred and thirty bottles of mid-tier elixirs, and none of the low-tier elixirs were taken.

Talismans and elixirs are rapidly consumable items in a cultivator’s life. During battles, dozens of talismans could be thrown at once. As for elixirs, taking just the ones aiding cultivation as an example, a cultivator uses at least one per day, which totals three hundred and sixty-five a year. With over a hundred disciples in the Yunshan Sect, that’s nearly forty thousand elixirs or four thousand bottles of consumption.

Adding those for injury recovery, divine sense restoration, barrier avoidance, detoxification, and other elixirs, consuming five to six thousand bottles in a year is not a big deal.

Though these spoils seem abundant now, if used freely, they would only last one or two years.

However, currently, the Yunshan Sect is mostly self-sufficient in Qi Cultivation level elixirs and talismans, so there is a surplus.

Lu Qian pondered for a moment: ”Senior Sister, later on, allocate a portion from the magical artifacts, elixirs, and talismans, and also record some Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation techniques, to serve as compensation to the various sects in the Shuangye Alliance for lending their cultivators. The exact amounts should be discussed with Senior Brother Yang and Lin Le, based on the merits they achieved in this task.”

Jiang Qingfeng nodded and took on this task.

The fourth item is the various raw materials and lifestyle skill scriptures.

There were many shops selling raw materials in the marketplace, and this time, most of the looted items were high-end materials, including a variety of spirit plants and medicines of different ages, ores, bones, blood, hides, etc., all raw materials for alchemy, artifact refining, and talisman making, which require further identification. They are temporarily valued at eighty thousand spirit stones.

The acquired lifestyle skill scriptures are also quite abundant. Adding to the existing collections in the Yunshan Sect, and removing duplicates, the Yunshan Sect now has three artifact refining techniques, eighteen volumes of the Magical Artifact Atlas, fourteen volumes of pill formulas (including three Foundation Establishment Stage elixirs and eleven Qi Cultivation Stage elixirs), and thirty-two types of talisman patterns (including eight Foundation Establishment Stage wood talismans and twenty-four Qi Cultivation Stage paper talismans), as well as sixty-seven methods for planting and cultivating spirit plants and medicines.

Looking at this list, and thinking about the current situation of the disciples in the sect, Lu Qian clapped his hands: ”Store the most precious alchemy materials carefully for Elder Gu’s use at any time. Then, I intend to hold the Yunshan Sect’s first Competition of the Hundred Arts Skills of Immortal Cultivation a month from now, on August 15th.”

The Hundred Arts of Immortal Cultivation refers to various skills that cultivators depend on for their livelihood or to aid their cultivation, beyond just pure cultivation. The number one hundred is merely a symbolic figure, specifically including the four main arts: alchemy, talisman making, array formation, and artifact refining, along with planting, breeding, beast taming, puppetry, medicine, poison, pulse diagnosis, treasure appraisal, astrology, divination, etc.

In the nearly three years of training, the disciples of the Yunshan Sect have made significant progress in the Hundred Arts of Immortal Cultivation. Especially at the establishment of the sect, to break free from their initial blank slate of knowledge, when they knew nothing, various manuals for planting and breeding, talisman patterns, pill formulas, artifact refining techniques, and magical artifact blueprints were open to access, and all kinds of raw materials were freely supplied, organizing disciples to learn while practicing, and practice while learning, according to their talents and interests.

Now, the Yunshan Sect has reached a basic balance of input and output in elixirs, talismans, and spirit plant and medicine cultivation, barely achieving self-sufficiency.

The current production model of the Yunshan Sect is a combination of post responsibilities and task systems.

Almost all administrative duties within the sect, both internal and external, are performed by both inner and outer sect disciples. External duties include arrest and capture, patrol and guard, attendance and escort, communication and reception, etc. Internal duties include commanding servants, planting and breeding, talisman making, alchemy, artifact refining, etc.

All production positions fall under internal duties.

The disciples occupying these positions have daily work responsibilities they must complete.

For instance, disciples at the talisman making post need to craft a certain number of talismans a day, and disciples at the alchemy peak need to refine a certain number of elixirs a day. These are mandated tasks that must be completed unconditionally.

Simply put, the sect nurtures you, giving you a monthly stipend, essentially a salary, and naturally, you need to complete the work of your designated position.

Besides that, the sect will issue numerous additional tasks, and completing these tasks can earn extra rewards, usually merit points. For example, if a disciple possesses exceptional talisman making skills, once they finish their designated tasks, they can use their remaining time to earn merit points by completing additional talisman making tasks.

For required positions, the sect provides the raw materials needed for production. Even if a disciple accidentally damages the materials, they can claim new materials with the waste, only needing to keep the failure rate within a specified range.

Whether additional tasks provide raw materials is specified by the task itself.

In addition, when disciples travel outside, if they discover precious materials, treasures, etc., they can submit them to the sect in exchange for rewards and merit points.

Ultimately, disciples can use merit points to exchange for various materials, magic techniques, secret techniques, cultivation insights, and other valuable items from the sect’s exchange list. Merit points are also an important standard for promoting to higher status after becoming an inner sect disciple.

Currently, the disciples have made significant progress in alchemy, talisman making, and planting and breeding, but they are still far behind in artifact refining and array formation.

Those studying artifact refining can be counted on one hand. And astonishingly, none have chosen to study array formation.

Array formation has high requirements on divine sense. Without a Consciousness Collection, ordinary cultivators would only begin to engage with it in late-stage Qi Cultivation, or even upon reaching Perfection. However, the Yunshan Sect has started not long ago, and those in late-stage Qi Cultivation are primarily elders and stewards, who are too busy to have enough time to delve into array formation.

We’ll have to wait for the disciples to grow in numbers to further explore this. Previously, some skilled cultivators were recruited as disciples from the Shuangye Square talent recruitment at the arena, and now, the return of many senior brothers will gradually improve the situation.

This time, Lu Qian plans to hold the first Competition of the Hundred Arts Skills of Immortal Cultivation to encourage disciples to learn more and practice more, continually enhancing the sect’s output. This competition intends to set up five tracks, specifically for talisman making, alchemy, artifact refining, planting, and breeding, with heavy rewards for the top five in each track.

Hearing Lu Qian’s idea, everyone nodded frequently. Such a competition will not only foster a positive competitive atmosphere but also allow the best talents to emerge in various fields.

After all, for the sect to thrive and develop, relying solely on martial strength is impossible; the production must keep pace.

Ultimately, this task was again entrusted to Senior Sister Qingfeng, who would lead and coordinate with the elders and stewards to organize the competition well.

”In the future, such skill competitions should be held regularly. Ultimately, based on the disciples’ skill levels, we aim to build the Yunshan Sect’s industrial cluster and create the sect’s flagship products,” Lu Qian concluded.