Hua Jian managed to get her hands on the map of the Northern Mountains, but it wasn’t from Huan Rui.
In Tianbei City, Huan Rui was just an outsider as well; Wanhuagu didn’t have much of a presence here, otherwise she and Huaxinyuan wouldn’t have been sent on a temporary mission.
So, the map Hua Jian obtained actually came from Qian Feixue, and the price was that she had to wear a nun attire from the church and let Qian Feixue take a few pictures.
“Hua Jian, you’re so pretty. You’d make the perfect mascot for our church.” That’s how Qian Feixue put it.
She wasn’t joking at all. After hesitating for a moment about whether to ‘sell her charm’ or not, Hua Jian eventually agreed to Qian Feixue’s request.
The clothes Qian Feixue wore were rather conservative—a large black robe with aqua blue lines as decoration.
Hidden beneath it, Hua Jian couldn’t tell whether Qian Feixue had a good figure or not.
Very conservative, very abstinent. Hua Jian thought there’d be no problem if she just tried it on for a bit.
As it turned out, she was right. The nun attire Qian Feixue produced was almost identical to her own.
After changing, Hua Jian put on a slightly cold expression, and her whole aura became one of high and remote indifference, without desire or want.
Especially when she followed Qian Feixue’s instructions and posed in various attitudes of bowing her head in prayer as if reading a scripture, she looked just like a pious believer.
Even Linglong couldn’t help but pull out a Liu Ying Stone and secretly took a few photos of Hua Jian for herself.
After snapping a bunch of pictures of Hua Jian, Qian Feixue was satisfied.
She brought Hua Jian and Linglong into the inner room of the church and let them see the detailed map of the Northern Mountains she possessed.
After Linglong used a Yupai to record the map’s contents, Qian Feixue rolled it back up and tucked it away on the bookshelf.
This bookshelf was actually a type of spatial treasure, a cousin to the storage pouch.
Don’t be fooled by the few shelves in the inner room; the books contained within were far more numerous than those in most clans’ libraries.
“No need to return this outfit. From today onward, you’re one of our congregation!”
Having put the map away, Qian Feixue turned and said to Hua Jian.
“Ah?” Hua Jian was a bit stunned. So that’s how you join? Was it really this simple?
Wouldn’t this affect her joining other sects?
“Don’t worry. There are all kinds of weird faiths in this world. Whether you join Jade Pool or Wanhuagu, as long as you worship our Ancestor, no one will dare say anything.”
Qian Feixue saw through Hua Jian’s doubts and reassured her.
“Besides, our church doesn’t force anyone. If you want to quit, just take off the clothes. No one’s going to hunt you down for leaving.”
Qian Feixue explained that their faith was all about freedom.
If you want to believe, come and worship; if not, just walk away. No one would care.
Such freedom was beyond Hua Jian’s expectations. Join if you want, leave if you wish.
Wouldn’t that make the Ancestor feel disrespected?
“Oh, right, take this as well. You might find it useful in the future.”
After finishing her explanation, Qian Feixue pulled out a Badge of Snow from her pocket and tossed it to Hua Jian.
Hua Jian caught the badge, feeling a slight chill in her palm and some weight.
Upon closer inspection, she saw its craftsmanship was exquisite, absolutely a work of art.
Linglong leaned in for a look, and upon seeing the badge, her face immediately fell a little.
She didn’t know exactly what the badge signified, but intuition told her it wasn’t something beneficial for her.
It felt just like someone snatching away a treasure she had her eye on…
“If you ever head to the Beijing in the future, wear this badge and you’ll avoid a lot of trouble,” Qian Feixue explained with a smile. “Consider it… an identification.”
“Oh, I see.” Hua Jian roughly understood. She carefully put the badge away in her storage pouch. Best to be cautious with things like this.
Their business was about done. The three left the church’s inner room. Qian Feixue escorted them to the church entrance, watched as Hua Jian and Linglong left, then turned to look at a nearby alley.
She said nothing, yet it felt as though she’d said everything.
A beautiful woman, her face radiating displeasure, emerged from the alley—it was none other than the Spirit Lord of Wanhuagu, Huaxinyuan.
“She’s one of Wanhuagu’s people!” Huaxinyuan marched up to Qian Feixue and growled.
Just a few days ago, she’d already declared her claim over Hua Jian, so why was Qian Feixue still reaching for Hua Jian? This was a slap in the face to Wanhuagu!
Huan Rui, lips pressed together in anger, stood shivering nearby. She felt her senior sister was just a little angry right now.
But Qian Feixue showed not a hint of fear. “There are plenty in your Wanhuagu who believe in our Xuanming Sect. Are you really going to control what she believes? Does she want you to control her?”
“You…”
“Xinhu Shijie also believes in our Xuanming Sect. If she can, why can’t Hua Jian?” Qian Feixue invoked the name of Huaxinyuan’s senior, and Huaxinyuan had no comeback—after all, even the Crownless Saintess believed, so she really had no reason to object.
In Beijing, Xuanming Sect followers were as numerous as fish crossing the river. Wanhuagu was based there, so naturally, the sect had plenty of Xuanming Sect believers inside.
Plus, the deity Xuanming Sect worshipped was closely tied to Wanhuagu. Even their Saints and Venerables couldn’t easily ban the faith.
If they angered the Ancestor, who knew if a lightning tribulation would come crashing down?
That Ancestor was real—still alive, even!
“Besides, I asked our forebear in a dream, and she agreed with me completely.” Qian Feixue flashed a sly smile.
“You’re lying!” Huaxinyuan couldn’t help herself and punched Qian Feixue in the chest.
Qian Feixue didn’t dodge; she knew Huaxinyuan hadn’t used any force.
The girl’s soft fist thumped against her chest, making her chest heave.
Underneath that conservative church robe, Qian Feixue’s figure was nothing to scoff at.
“That’s a Xuanming Sect robe, right? What were you doing?”
Back at the Hudaosi, Hua Jian had just stepped into her temporary courtyard when Fenghua Venerable appeared out of nowhere and started circling her.
Fenghua Venerable didn’t watch over Hua Jian and Linglong all the time. She’d been quite busy the past few days. When she finally checked in, she saw Hua Jian wearing the Xuanming Sect’s attire and was more than a little surprised.
After hearing Hua Jian’s explanation, Fenghua Venerable didn’t quite know what to say.
If she’d belonged to another sect, she could have gotten angry and cursed the Xuanming Sect. But as a Venerable of Jade Pool, she couldn’t do that.
She might be a powerful Venerable now, but in front of the Ancestor, she and Hua Jian and Linglong weren’t so different.
What’s the real difference between the thirty-something generation disciple and a thirty-plus-one generation disciple?
Letting her own disciple believe in the Ancestor… how could she forbid it? Besides, Xuanming Sect wasn’t some fraudulent group. They were honorable in their actions, and in Beijing, their churches were everywhere. They even sent talented, impoverished Beijing youths to Zhongzhou to join the Ascension Conference.
With such a group, Jade Pool really couldn’t do much, even knowing Xuanming Sect was flirting with Wanhuagu.
“Well, do as you please, I won’t interfere,” Fenghua Venerable shook her head. She felt it was fine, but she wondered what the Lingcaifeng Master would think.
Speak of the devil—right as she thought this, Lingcaifeng Master entered the courtyard.
Upon seeing Hua Jian’s new outfit, Lingcaifeng Master was momentarily stunned, then, as if nothing had happened, started talking about other things.
She wasn’t talking about trivialities. In a couple of days, she’d be returning to the Wanling Sect, so she had little time left to instruct Hua Jian. Thus, she recorded what suited Hua Jian’s current stage into a Yupai.
It was mostly basic Spiritual Flower cultivation techniques—how to make fertilizer, how to choose the right planting spot according to a flower’s traits.
The most precious of all was a compendium documenting nearly all the Spiritual Flowers and Lingcao in the world. Compared to the other guides, this compendium was in a league of its own.
This was Lingcaifeng Master’s own magnum opus—the most renowned Spiritual Flower scholar of this age (at least on the surface)!
It included so many entries that just a glance left Hua Jian dizzy.
“Don’t force yourself to memorize it. There’s too much information here—even I haven’t read it all.” Lingcaifeng Master gently tapped Hua Jian on the forehead, reminding her.
There are countless Spiritual Flowers and Lingcao in the world. This compendium only covered the common ones, but even so, there was too much for someone at Hua Jian’s stage to memorize.
She wasn’t giving it to Hua Jian to memorize, but to use as a reference when encountering unfamiliar plants.
“Let me see… Hey, isn’t this the Lingzhi Jilu you edited? I remember my senior spent a fortune to get a set back in the day.” Fenghua Venerable also used her divine sense to sneak a peek at the contents of the Yupai.
After reading it, she shot a subtle look at Lingcaifeng Master.
This gift was truly precious. It not only had detailed descriptions of Spiritual Flowers and Lingcao but also commentary from various Venerables and even Saints.
This made the compendium extremely valuable. Even Spirit Lords might not be able to afford it.
Even a Spirit Lord would have to pay a price for it, and Lingcaifeng Master was just handing it to Hua Jian.
“Your senior got the original manuscript from me. I always planned to make it public. I’ve been simplifying the content for years. What Hua Jian has is the first finalized version.”
Lingcaifeng Master shook her head, explaining things weren’t quite as Fenghua Venerable imagined.
She wanted to benefit the masses, not hoard knowledge among high-level cultivators.
Just like the Hundred Flowers List she edited in her youth—she also planned to publish it eventually, though because it was so comprehensive, it’d probably fetch a high price.
The Yupai in Hua Jian’s hand wasn’t just any jade token; it was a top-grade Hunling Baoyu, currently the most efficient material for storing information in the cultivation world.
A small piece of Hunling Baoyu was of unimaginable value.
Honestly, the contents inside were probably worth less than the Yupai itself.
“I see… But why not divide the book into several volumes?” Hua Jian quickly caught on and had an idea.
If a single Yupai can’t hold it all, just use several! Group the plants by type or level, store each in a separate Yupai—much easier to reference, and cheap enough for everyone.
A regular information-recording Yupai isn’t too expensive—just a few hundred spirit stones, and if filled to capacity, can hold plenty.
Leaving out the rare species, all common and low-grade Spiritual Flowers and Lingcao should fit in one token.
“And the commentary from the Saints and Venerables isn’t really necessary—most cultivators just want to know what the plant does.” Hua Jian continued.
This line of thinking enlightened Lingcaifeng Master.
She realized she’d been overcomplicating things, always trying to condense the book as a whole, never thinking to simply break it up.