Eternal Life from the Golden Needle Technique

Chapter 530: Chapter 53: Immortal Sect Groups

’Are they treating me like a pushover?!’

But he knew deep down that anger was useless.

He took a few deep breaths, trying hard to suppress the rage in his heart.

Anger couldn’t solve any problems.

Making a decision while emotional...

The end result was bound to be a total loss.

After taking a moment to compose himself,

Shen Changchuan focused his thoughts on the specific details he had learned from Cen Essencetong.

The Daoist’s followers.

It sounded like they were the Daoist’s subordinates, but that wasn’t actually the case.

According to Cen Essencetong, the Daoist—the most talented and powerful individual of his generation in the Yuqing Immortal Sect—was not someone obsessed with power. Instead, he was a resolute person with a firm Dao Heart, single-mindedly pursuing the Dao.

He was in secluded cultivation year-round, pursuing higher Realms of the Immortal Dao, and as a result, his relationship with them wasn’t actually very close.

In fact, many of those who considered themselves the Daoist’s followers had never even met him.

The only reason their group formed...

...was because one of the Daoist’s cousins, who was in the Immortal Sect’s Inner Sect, had relied on the Daoist’s name to rally people and establish it.

Thanks to their blood relationship,

the Daoist’s cousin was able to enter the Immortal Sect and even became an Inner Sect Disciple by riding on his cousin’s coattails.

Compared to the Daoist, however,

his cousin’s talent and strength were ultimately more than a step below.

Thus,

he acted under the banner of doing things for the Daoist, establishing the group of followers.

By leveraging the Daoist’s name,

the group attracted a considerable number of the Immortal Sect’s Inner Sect Disciples.

This allowed them to reap considerable benefits within the Immortal Sect.

However,

among the Immortal Sect’s Inner Sect Disciples,

theirs was not the only group.

Many other groups existed as well.

For example,

there was Lin Wushuang, a blood descendant of a Profound Pill Realm Zhenren from the Sect.

Given his incredibly powerful background,

it was only natural that many people rallied behind him.

Beyond that,

there were other groups formed through master-disciple lineages or similar backgrounds.

Thus, a multitude of factions vied for supremacy among the Inner Sect Disciples of the Yuqing Immortal Sect, leading to fierce competition.

The Daoist’s followers...

...were just one such group.

These groups cooperated to acquire benefits, such as accepting missions with greater rewards, securing better rankings in the grand competitions, and completing more difficult group tasks.

The distribution of the benefits involved was quite complex, too much so to be explained in just a few words.

But a group’s reputation was inevitably tied to the distribution of those benefits.

This was precisely why...

...Cen Essencetong had chased Shen Changchuan all the way to the Tian Nan Domain to stand up for Lu Haoxuan, even after learning that Shen Changchuan had left the Yuqing Immortal Sect.

It concerned the reputation of their group...

...and it also concerned the competition and division of interests among the Inner Sect Disciples within the Immortal Sect.

If a member was bullied and no one from the group stood up for them, it would be a huge blow to the entire group’s reputation and interests.

However,

after carefully piecing together the background, a point of confusion arose for Shen Changchuan.

’Strange.’

’If that’s the case, wouldn’t it cause internal strife and division within the Sect?’

The thought couldn’t help but flash through Shen Changchuan’s mind.

But soon enough,

he vaguely began to understand the reasoning behind it.

’Internal strife and competition are essentially the same thing.’

’It’s only called internal strife when it leads to a bad outcome.’

’But when it leads to a good outcome, it’s called competition.’

In this world where the strong reign supreme, the most powerful are the ones who make all the rules.

Unlike in his previous world, where internal struggles could cause the powers at the very top to lose control,

in this world,

no matter how vicious the infighting at the bottom became,

as long as the ancestors at the top were still alive, everything remained under control.

With the Sect’s Supreme Ancestors setting a bottom line and keeping things in check, the conflicts at the middle and lower levels would ultimately become a form of healthy competition.

’Perhaps this is also one of the reasons for the conflict between my Master and Wu Zhen, another of the Seven Immortal Sect Sons...’

The thought flashed through Shen Changchuan’s mind.

But he quickly shook his head,

dismissing the thought.

’Since these Sect policies exist, the higher-ups must have their reasons.’

’Right now, in the grand scheme of the Yuqing Immortal Sect, I’m just small fry. There’s no point in me pondering the principles behind these phenomena.’

’What’s truly worth focusing on...’

’...is how this situation affects me.’

’Does this mean I’m now officially up against their group, the followers of the Daoist?’

Recalling his conflict with the group of the Daoist’s followers, Shen Changchuan’s expression darkened.

However,

for him to bow his head and apologize to them,

just to resolve the conflict—that was absolutely impossible.

’Hmph! If worst comes to worst, we’ll fight again! Who’s afraid of who!’

Shen Changchuan snorted coldly.

’Come to think of it,’

’I was the one who got dragged into this mess in the first place!’

’Their Daoist lost something, and instead of investigating properly, they decided to pin the blame on me?’

He was well aware of what had happened to his grandfather. Back when his grandfather roamed the Martial World in his youth, he had suffered a major blow over a certain incident and had retired ever since.

That was an old grudge from decades ago.

His grandfather had returned immediately after taking the life of his foe, and those who accompanied him could all bear witness to this.

’What did the later annihilation of that family have to do with my grandfather?’

’They came charging to my door without bothering to learn the truth.’

’If I just bow my head now, forgetting about my pride, can I, Shen Changchuan, even continue on the path of Immortal Cultivation?’

Either way, there was no way he, Shen Changchuan, was going to swallow this insult!

...

Although he had decided to confront the Daoist’s followers,

Shen Changchuan had no intention of charging into the Yuqing Immortal Sect right away.

The journey from the Tian Nan Domain to the Yuqing Immortal Sect,

even on the fastest Flying Ship, would take at least two or three months to arrive.

If he were to fly there on his own, it might take him a whole year, if not longer.

Shen Changchuan didn’t have that much time to waste.

And so,

after sealing Cen Essencetong’s Magical Power, temporarily imprisoning him in a dungeon, and handling the subsequent affairs in Dawan Village,

Shen Changchuan quietly departed. He set off for the entrance to the Xiangshan Sect Gate Ruins, whose location Shen Chong had shared when he gave him the token.

No matter what,

the most important thing right now was to increase his own strength.

Only with sufficient strength,

would he have a powerful enough voice.

The legendary Blessed Secret Realm within the Xiangshan Sect Gate Ruins—a place said to increase one’s Comprehension—was Shen Changchuan’s goal for this journey.

’My main goal is to see if I can use that legendary Enlightenment Secret Realm to integrate the Power of Space into my Magic.’

’If I can’t, then I’ll at least learn several more Tier Two Top Level Skills and try to solve the problem of being unable to instantaneously cast a Perfection-level Tier Two Top Level Skill while in the Overclocking State of the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu...’

Two goals.

If he could accomplish just one of them,

he was confident enough,

to secure a spot in the top fifty of the next Immortal Sect grand competition!