Chen Che left the ’Divine Dao’ office, thoroughly satisfied.

His teacher, Zuo Yishan, was an absolute authority in the cultivation system of the ’Incense Fire Daoist God.’ His influence even far surpassed that of the two Divinity Transformation Ancestors of the Immortal Sect. This was because he was the only Divine Dao Cultivator on Earth Element Star to have cultivated to Nascent Soul Great Perfection.

At the peak of his power, Zuo Yishan had been equivalent to a half-step Divinity Transformation expert.

However, he told Chen Che that due to universal cultivation and the eradication of feudal superstitions, Earth Element Star no longer had the right environment to nurture the ’Divine Dao’.

Even if it did, one should not walk the path of the Divine Dao unless it was an absolute last resort.

Furthermore, because of the Divine Dao’s various drawbacks, it was only offered as an elective course.

Outside the Four Great Daoist Schools, the subject didn’t even exist.

According to Zuo Yishan, the ’Divine Dao’ tended to develop most fiercely in times of chaos. Because such eras were turbulent and unstable, mortals desperately needed to find external support and were easily tempted by this path, thus becoming its followers.

Of course, the power of the Divine Dao came from its believers, from their incense and worship.

One didn’t even need to cultivate; simply by basking in the offerings of incense and worship, a being could gain immense power. Their various Divine Abilities were things even Cultivators couldn’t possess, and this path of practice was far more convenient than the Immortal Dao.

Therefore, even some illicit cults and evil spirits would use this method to gather worship.

However, it was very difficult to tell if one of them was a ’Good God’.

This was because many Divine Dao Cultivators, in order to spread their faith, would disguise their true nature, making them difficult to judge at a glance. Even their temples and halls would be nothing short of majestic and solemn.

But ’Evil Gods’, on the other hand, were very easy to distinguish.

’That Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva must be an Evil God!’

Chen Che grumbled inwardly.

Just one look at that Divine Statue was enough to give a person a sense of heart-pounding dread. Mortals who saw it would surely become anxious and fearful. Then, with the propagation of its doctrine, they would have no choice but to seek its protection and submit to it.

Perhaps because young people these days weren’t very interested in the Divine Dao, Zuo Yishan greatly cherished this student who had come specifically to ask him questions about it.

As Chen Che was leaving, Zuo Yishan not only gave him a book list but even wrote him an authorization slip, allowing him to borrow any and all books related to the Divine Dao.

One of the books had a very impressive title:

Gods: Eight Million!

After leaving the office, he immediately ran to the library to borrow it, but after flipping through a few pages, he was sorely disappointed.

It described a Divine Dao originating from a nameless little island, which held that all things possessed a spirit and that gods were everywhere.

Of course, this was simply due to the authors’ limited perspective.

There was another, more elegant-sounding one:

God is a Girl

This one pertained to a Divine Dao of some "barbarian" tribe. Chen Che frowned after just a few glances. The ’True God’ described by these barbarians was practically omnipotent; they even claimed that the entire world was created by their god.

’It seems most Divine Daos are like this, primarily using the ignorance of mortals to spread their faith.’

Chen Che pondered.

He then skimmed a few other books, but they were all largely the same.

In the end, however, he still picked out a few to take with him. It was always good to learn more about the Divine Dao.

Just as he was walking out of the library, Chen Che saw Qiu Beixuan struggling to walk around the training grounds with a large cauldron on his back. Seeing the sweat pouring off him like rain and the deep imprint of his every step, it was obvious a restriction had been placed on the cauldron; its weight was absolutely no laughing matter.

Clearly, he was being punished by Li Tingyu for failing to meet the cultivation standard and for lying about it.

’Sister Li’s personality is so much like Old Li’s!’

Chen Che thought to himself.

As long as you followed her rules and met the cultivation standards, she wouldn’t bother you.

But if you didn’t...

She wouldn’t show the slightest mercy in her punishments.

Before returning to his dorm, Chen Che found Ye Youwei and borrowed her recent class notes.

’Even if it’s just for the Celestial Derivation Five Elements Skill, I have to get into graduate school. I must strive for Core Formation within my four years at the Daoist School. In Yunzhou terms, being a graduate student isn’t comparable to the likes of a Scholar; it’s at least on the level of a Direct Disciple of a Divinity Transformation Ancestor...’

...

For Chen Che, the following days were relatively peaceful.

First, regarding his life on Earth Element Star, he attended classes on time every day and listened attentively. After school, he would discuss the lessons with his classmates to deepen his understanding of Magic. Whenever he had a question he didn’t understand, he would head straight to the offices of his various teachers. Through this, he even learned several Tier Two High Grade Techniques.

After returning to his dorm at night, he would cross over to Yunzhou to practice Cultivation.

He used Divine Court Incense to temper his Divine Sense and Peiyuan Pills to open his meridians.

His Realm, Qi and Blood, and Divine Sense were all improving steadily.

Meanwhile, everything in Yunzhou was also stable.

First, after stabilizing his family, Yu Sihai had immediately sent the clan’s school-aged children to Jinyun Valley. At the same time, the Yu Family began to absorb unaffiliated Loose Cultivators from the surrounding area to supplement the clan with fresh blood.

The sixty thousand Spirit Stones Chen Che had left behind played a significant role, and many wandering Loose Cultivators flocked to join them.

Of course, it would take at least several generations for these Cultivators to fully integrate into the family.

Second was the matter concerning the Haizhou Hu Family.

Because news of Jinyun Valley’s Dragon Fish Pill auction had spread, all the attention was stolen from the Hu Family’s auction, which ended up having very few participants.

Their Foundation Establishment Pill sold for only seventy percent of the market price.

’The Hu Family!’

When Chen Che learned of this, he scoffed, but his wariness toward them only increased.

Their family Elder had been killed, yet they didn’t rush to retaliate. On top of that, their business had been poached, and still, they gave no response. Such forbearance was far more unnerving.

’But if they can tolerate this for a few more years, I’ll have reached Golden Core. By the time they decide to take revenge, it will naturally be too late.’

The third matter was Jinyun Valley itself.

As the Dragon Fish Pill auction drew near, more and more Cultivators rushed to the Market. Among them were over five hundred Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Of course, not all these Major Cultivators were here for the Dragon Fish Pill. Many came to sell surplus Magical Artifacts or purchase Cultivation Resources, and some came to request pills from Chen Che. Given his current status, Chen Che would no longer easily perform Alchemy for just anyone.

Most of these requests were handled by Xing Lin.

However, there were some requests from Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators or those backed by powerful families that were difficult to refuse.

But they all followed the rules and provided three sets of Materials:

one for the Alchemy itself, one as a backup, and the third as payment. How much profit was made depended entirely on the Pill Master’s skill.

However, there was also a piece of bad news:

’The Divine Court Incense is completely used up...’

Chen Che turned his head and looked at the Incense Burner. Only a pile of ash remained inside.

The Liu Family still hadn’t found a single clue about the Divine Court Wood, and the search seemed to have no end in sight. It wasn’t that the Liu Family was incompetent; after Chen Che had last summoned Liu Yuanqing, the man had mobilized all of his family’s resources to search for leads.

But the Liu Family was, after all, only a Qi Refining Clan, and their reach was truly limited.

A search like this could take years, or even decades.

Therefore, he didn’t blame the Liu Family for their lack of progress.

’I got this piece of Divine Court Wood from the Primordial Sect. Do I have to go back to the source to find more?’

However, he quickly dismissed the thought. He had no intention of provoking the Primordial Sect at the moment.

After all, with Xiao Chan’s fate as a cautionary tale, he didn’t want the Jinyun Valley he had worked so hard to build to be put to the torch.

And in this world, it was difficult for a single person to acquire vast Cultivation Resources.

The Major Cultivator from the Ghost Market had left after their last transaction, presumably for the Mortal World. Even if he ran out of Divine Court Wood in the future, he could use the Power of Faith as a substitute, so there was no need to be hasty.

In fact, by comparison, the Power of Faith was actually easier to find.

Leaving his Quiet Chamber, he went to the council hall and found Meng Qingxuan sorting through account books and rosters. The rosters for the valley’s major factions had been submitted, but they still needed to be checked one by one—a tedious process.

’Looks like I need to recruit some Cultivators who are skilled with numbers...’

Chen Che thought, rubbing his chin.

Jinyun Valley was developing so quickly that even though he was constantly expanding its staff, they were still short-handed.

Without disturbing her, Chen Che went straight to the auction house.

Hearing of his arrival, Ding Fei immediately dropped everything he was doing and hurried over to greet him.

"I just came to take a look at the items for the auction."

Chen Che reassured him.

"They’re all in the back. We’ve currently received over four hundred Tier Two items. Besides those, there are more than ten Fire-Attribute Items. Except for the ones the owners refused to sell privately, wanting to gamble on a better price at the auction, I’ve already acquired all the others."

Ding Fei naturally knew what Chen Che was looking for and immediately added:

"However, aside from one Tier Three Low Grade item, the rest are all Tier Two."

"Not bad. Draft a new announcement. Say that Jinyun Valley is acquiring Fire-Attribute Items, limited to Tier Two and above. Based on quality, we’ll pay a premium of up to twenty percent for each item!"

Chen Che nodded slightly.

In truth, most of the people willing to sell such items were Loose Cultivators.

After all, the large clans and major powers had already established complete internal contribution systems. When their members obtained items, their first instinct was to turn them over to their family in exchange for contribution points. Besides raising the price, there was no other way to get them.

Jinyun Valley had about four hundred thousand Spirit Stones in its coffers.

Using half of that to slowly acquire items was a sound plan.

Ding Fei nodded slightly. Just as he was about to speak, a sudden clamor erupted outside. From the sound of it, someone was trying to force their way into the auction house but was being blocked.

Chen Che frowned as well.

Before he could give any orders, a shout infused with True Essence suddenly boomed, echoing through the sky:

"Cao Xiong of the Primordial Sect has come to call on Valley Master Chen! Please show yourself!"

The voice crashed down like a clap of thunder, making the entire Jinyun Valley tremble. A fierce gust of wind blasted open the doors one after another, sweeping up dust from the ground and surging toward Chen Che like a tidal wave.

"The Primordial Sect? Cao Xiong?"

Ding Fei’s pupils contracted. "Why are they here?"

Ever since Ye Jingzhou’s death and Xiao Chan’s subsequent seclusion in Primordial City, Jinyun Valley’s relationship with the Primordial Sect had been all but severed. Why would they show up now for no reason?

Could it be because of the auction?

At this thought, he quickly turned to look at Chen Che, only to see that the latter had already raised his head and was looking toward the source of the voice. The auction house doors were wide open, offering a clear view outside. Besides Cao Xiong, there was another Cultivator in a cloak, standing casually at his side.

However, when Chen Che’s gaze swept over this person, his eyes couldn’t help but narrow:

’A Golden Core Cultivator?’