Big Data Cultivation

The Great Elder was just about to refute Xia Nichang forcefully when he was stunned by the words, "Han Ji is missing? Since when?"

Master Hanji is one of the "Nine Masters" registered with Yinsha. Although the Great Elder does not have good relations in Crimson Phoenix, his stance is undoubtedly clear, and he is relatively aware of the general whereabouts of the Nine Masters of Yinsha.

As far as he remembered, Master Hanji had attended an auction last year.

The Head did not answer his question but pondered for a long while before speaking, "Half a month ago."

"What a joke," the Great Elder's temper was not just ordinarily bad, he made no reservations in arguing with the same sect, let alone with outsiders like Yinsha, which was a sworn enemy, "It's only been half a month that a Golden Core Master is missing? Is his mother waiting for him to come home for dinner?"

The words were unpleasant, but the reasoning made sense. He is a Golden Core Master, after all. Not to mention that they can easily go into seclusion for decades; even if they leave temporarily, they have no obligation to inform anyone. Disappearing for a year or two is quite normal.

Generally speaking, a Golden Core doesn't disappear without a trace for over three years before the sect or clan considers whether he has gone missing. To confirm a disappearance, he must be gone for at least five years.

The Head turned to look slightly, finding the person's speech crude. —No matter how much you hate the people of Yinsha, this is still an Elders Council meeting—but she did not dwell on it and instead stated, "Han Ji took a sect task and did not show up when he was supposed to."

Everyone understood that in such a situation, he could indeed be considered missing.

Golden Core Masters in the Four Great Sects certainly have sect tasks, with mandatory tasks like teaching disciples at least once or twice a year. However, even for mandatory tasks, unless previously confirmed, they can delay or accumulate in advance.

As for flexible tasks, they can also be arranged. It is not a problem for Masters to help each other complete tasks—after all, who hasn't experienced urgent and unavoidable matters?

However, if it's already been confirmed in advance that a certain Master is supposed to perform a particular task, even if something comes up unexpectedly, he should ask someone to cover for him—at the very least, he should give a heads-up, right?

Therefore, for the Yinsha Sect to deduce that Master Hanji is missing is not completely unreasonable.

An Elder spoke up and asked, "None of his disciples or friends know where he went?"

The Head replied in a deep voice, "He had an outer residence in Fang Market. Over half a month ago, he said he would return to the sect...forget it, you all take a look."

Master Hanji has actually been missing for over twenty days. The Yinsha Sect contacted him for a task three days ago but couldn't reach him no matter what, as another Master was supposed to cooperate on this task. That Master angrily contacted Yinsha Fang City—my time is also valuable.

Only then did they learn that Master Hanji had stated half a month ago he would return to the sect...but he still hasn't returned.

Yinsha and Crimson Phoenix are enemies, but not to the extent of an unbearable enmity. Their relationship is somewhat akin to countries in the Earth Realm that have signed a ceasefire agreement, or rather an unofficial ceasefire, wherein the wartime state is not fully lifted.

They are undoubtedly antagonistic towards each other, but with their own Master missing, they still sent a notification to Crimson Phoenix.

The content of the notification wasn't exactly courteous. In short, they hoped Crimson Phoenix could provide Master Hanji's whereabouts or prove that his disappearance had nothing to do with them.

The notification had a bit of a provocative tone, but this kind of behavior is also part of a protocol—if you dare to claim it has nothing to do with you, and it turns out it does, then if we gather multiple Masters to retaliate against isolated Golden Cores from Crimson Phoenix, you can only accept this reprisal.

Crimson Phoenix didn't have to know much. All the Golden Cores that were out knew what they were doing, and those in seclusion, even less so. The ones not out and not in seclusion were all attending the meeting. As soon as everyone expressed their stance, it became clear—this honestly has nothing to do with us.

Receiving a notification despite being uninvolved is also customary between Crimson Phoenix and Yinsha—after all, a Master has gone missing. The Great Elder dismissively suggested, "When responding to the notification, curse them out!"

"The Head can handle this matter well," Xia Nichang suddenly spoke up. "There's no need for you to overstep, let's continue with the previous topic. If one Master from Yinsha disappears for a mere half month, and they warn Crimson Phoenix... under these circumstances, you want Feng Jun to assist all the Rongxun in deductions?"

The Great Elder, provoked by the term "overstep," impulsively replied, "In such a situation, it is precisely when he should help the Rongxun with deductions. If we can produce three to five more Golden Cores, would Yinsha dare act so ostentatiously?"

Xia Nichang helplessly glanced at her, "I already mentioned that Feng Jun would die. Can White Pebble Beach with merely three or four Golden Cores withstand the full force of Yinsha's attack?"

"Isn't his sect quite powerful?" the Great Elder responded indifferently. Her dislike was apparent; she played a significant role in Cai Luan failing to obtain Chi Luan's position. "His sect would avenge him, right?"

"I don't understand how with your mind, you managed to cultivate to the Golden Core!" Xia Nichang pointed at her with great exasperation. "If his sect doesn't avenge him, fine. But once they do, you think our Crimson Phoenix, as the instigator, could escape the consequences?"

"Let them come if they dare," the Great Elder, true to form, spoke without thinking, "Are we, Crimson Phoenix, afraid of them?"

She truly did not cultivate to the Golden Core out of intellect. She was exceptionally gifted, and her great-grandfather was a high-ranking Outworldly Immortal of Crimson Phoenix, barely qualifying her as part of the Immortal Second Generation. Had she been as wily as Cai Luan, if such was the case, she might already be impacting the Nascent Soul stage without suffering many setbacks.

Xia Nichang rolled her eyes at her and shook her head, too lazy to say anything further.

The Sect Master became thoroughly calm, and after some thought, she expressed her stance, "Rongxun shouldn't be sent out, there's no need for them to escort the Rongxun Drum... The significance of the Fire Marrow Pill is immense. Feng Jun must not die."

As the leader of the sect, what she values most is the overall situation. Is it important to have more Golden Cores in the Crimson Phoenix Sect? Of course, it is. Increasing top-tier combat strength will significantly enhance deterrence.

But at the same time, the pressure you exert on others will also greatly increase. There's no need for much; if the Crimson Phoenix had five more Golden Cores, the attitudes of Qinggang and Taiqing towards the Crimson Phoenix Sect would likely become more delicate.

Therefore, strengthening the foundation is the right path. If the Fire Marrow Pill is appropriately matched, the number of Feather Transformation Disciples will greatly increase, which is the true backbone strength. With a solid foundation, why worry about not having more Golden Cores in the future?

Not to mention that the probability of Feather Transformation cultivators increases, which can significantly boost the reputation of the Crimson Phoenix Sect—in this realm, there's no word for it, but that's what it means. With an improved reputation, won't it attract more cultivation seedlings?

Bai Luan's master nodded, "That's right, the same old point, the Rongxun Hall cannot be disrupted."

The Great Elder's face darkened, "So we'll just watch as the people of Rongxun Hall go unaided?"

Some people just can't speak properly, which is particularly annoying, especially when they're opposing just for the sake of opposing without any affection.

The Sect Master gave her a cold glance, "I have my own way. You seem too concerned about Rongxun Hall... that's not good."

The Great Elder has the qualification to care for Rongxun, but the power to maintain the orthodoxy can only be held in the Sect Master's hands. Anyone else thinking about it is overstepping the bounds, even Xia Nichang, the Supreme Elder, needs to maintain her distance. The Great Elder indeed crossed the line a bit.

She also knew that the Sect Master was right, but she couldn't help being embarrassed. So, she snorted coldly and stood up, "No problem, let's leave it at that then."

That afternoon, the large flying boat of the Crimson Phoenix Sect was launched. A warship led the way, followed by two flying boats carrying two hundred Qi Refining Peak disciples, slicing through the sky straight toward White Pebble Beach.

The large flying boat was extremely fast, with a significant consumption of Spirit Stones, but anyway, it was cheaper than using a transmission array to transport so many disciples.

Moreover, this time, the Crimson Phoenix had brought out the Rongxun Drum. Considering the significance of the Rongxun Drum, it was impossible to utilize a transmission array. The protective forces of the Crimson Phoenix had to make an open appearance. How could they tolerate the inspections of other transmission arrays?

However, despite the deployment of the large flying boat, not many people noticed. This was because the large flying boat flew very high, almost reaching the Fierce Wind Layer outside the skies—the air resistance was lower, allowing for greater speed.

The distance from the Crimson Phoenix Sect to White Pebble Beach was nearly two million miles, and it took the large flying boat of the Crimson Phoenix two days to arrive. Feng Jun later heard about it and calculated—this was close to the first cosmic velocity.

Traveling at the first cosmic speed, one could cover only a little over a million miles in a day.

Feng Jun didn't ask how many Spirit Stones the Crimson Phoenix spent, but he reckoned that even if they spent one hundred thousand spirits, on average, it would only cost each disciple five hundred spirits, which was much more economical than using a transmission array.

Later on, he learned that this speed required the use of mid-grade Spirit Stones. The expenditure for this trip by the Crimson Phoenix was only two hundred mid-grade spirits.

The deployment of the large flying boat by the Crimson Phoenix was intended to conceal their whereabouts, and it finally descended that night. Fortunately, the Crimson Phoenix Sect's annex at White Pebble Beach had already been built, covering over a hundred acres, capable of accommodating even the largest flying boats.

Not only were the houses completed, but the roads were paved, the lighting was set up, and even the landscaping was done quite appropriately. Some of the trees, with crowns reaching ten zhang in diameter, had been uprooted and brought back—what challenge is that for a Feather Transformation stage cultivator?

This time, the Crimson Phoenix was graced with the presence of both the Sect Master and Xia Nichang, along with Qu Jianlei and Xiao Meng, bringing four Golden Cores from the sect. Such a level of attention was simply unimaginable.

However, with Qu Jianlei and Xiao Meng... they could be considered as one Golden Core. Anyway, aside from their relationship, Master Qu was merely a Patron, and a Patron with a mission at that.

The main reason for the presence of the Sect Master and Xia Nichang was because—the Rongxun Drum was on the flying boat. The value of the Rongxun Drum was indeterminate, but it was not something that would casually appear outside the sect. If the Sect Master didn't come, at least four or five Golden Cores would have been dispatched from the Crimson Phoenix.

As soon as the Sect Master disembarked the flying boat, she was dazzled by the bright lights, "Wow, it's so beautiful, Senior Sister Xia, you do know how to enjoy yourself."

At the Crimson Phoenix residence, she naturally never lacked for lighting at night, besides the electric power provided by the Boiler Camel Motorcycle, she also set up illumination arrays. However, following the principle of natural Dao, night was night. Illumination arrays were rarely activated. A bit of twilight was sufficient for her.

Other Masters and Adepts had similar methods, and even among Qi-Refining disciples, there was no shortage of Luminous Pearls and the like.

Nevertheless, generally speaking, the nights in the Crimson Phoenix Sect were still quite serene—after all, it was a place for cultivation, seeking peace and tranquility, not to be made into a worldly place of revelry.

But for the Sect Master of the Crimson Phoenix, the myriad lights of White Pebble Beach offered her a truly novel experience.

(Updated to, summoning monthly votes.)