Cultivation Begins From The Desert

Zhouyang and Huang Yi waited for seven days outside the Ministry Hall of the Yellow Sand Sect.

During these seven days, Zhouyang sent communication flying swords to everyone in the Yellow Sand Sect he had connections with to inquire about the situation, but all he received in response were the words "I don't know."

Not only him, but all the Foundation Establishment Cultivators waiting with him outside the Ministry Hall, no matter how well informed they were before, could not obtain a single piece of information about this summons.

According to the time requirements on the summoning order given by the Yellow Sand Sect, the eighth day was the final deadline.

And not long after the eighth day began, all the previously unseen Purple Mansion Cultivators finally began to arrive, one after another.

According to the information Zhouyang knew, there were currently six families outside the Yellow Sand Sect that had ascended to the Purple Mansion level, five of which were old and established, having been Purple Mansion clans for over a hundred years, with only one being newly risen about forty years ago.

Yet, eventually, only five Purple Mansion Cultivators, including the Chen Family Ancestor, arrived outside the Ministry Hall.

Zhouyang believed that the missing Purple Mansion Cultivator surely didn't have the audacity to ignore the Yellow Sand Sect's summoning order.

The reason for his absence was likely simple: either the Yellow Sand Sect didn't summon him, or he somehow exempted himself from this summon.

Unlike Zhouyang and the others, the Purple Mansion Cultivators like the Chen Family Ancestor were invited inside the Ministry Hall to rest and wait. Before entering, the Chen Family Ancestor gave him a cold, menacing look.

Zhouyang felt the killing intent from the Chen Family Ancestor's eyes.

Though he maintained an unchanged expression on the surface, his heart sank, and he grew even more concerned about his safety.

Given the Chen Family Ancestor's cultivation at the Ninth-Layer of the Purple Mansion, if he really wanted to kill him, he might not even have a chance to use the "Blood Escape Technique" to flee.

"Could it be that this old fellow, having reached the Ninth-Layer of the Purple Mansion, thinks he has the strength to disregard the rules? If he really attacks me, what should I do?"

A single glance from the Chen Family Ancestor had plunged him into uncertainty.

No matter how brilliant his past achievements were or how clever he was, all these were illusions in the face of overwhelming strength.

The fact that just a look from the Chen Family Ancestor made him uneasy indicated the gravity of a real confrontation!

Time slowly drifted by, and after the sunset on the eighth day, another "sun" suddenly rose above the Yellow Sand Sect's mountain gate.

A golden radiance, more dazzling than sunlight, emerged from above the Yellow Sand Sect's mountain gate, instantly capturing the attention of everyone inside and outside the sect gate.

Zhouyang was no exception.

He and the other Foundation Establishment Cultivators waiting outside the Ministry Hall looked up to see Cao Wenjin suspended in the sky like a great sun, radiating an impossibly brilliant golden light from his entire body, overlooking the land and people below like a deity.

"Oh, Elder Cao's aura has strengthened quite a bit; it seems he has also broken through to the late stage of the Golden Core,"

Zhouyang noticed a flicker of surprise in his eyes as he looked at Cao Wenjin in the sky.

Having spent several months in close company with Cao Wenjin in the past, Zhouyang was naturally familiar with his aura. Now, Cao Wenjin's aura was noticeably stronger than when he had accompanied him to the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm, indicating another breakthrough in his cultivation.

While these thoughts ran through Zhouyang's mind, Cao Wenjin in the sky began to speak with a booming voice that resonated like a bell.

"I, Cao, commenced cultivation at the age of five and have been cultivating for 907 years now!"

"From the first day of my cultivation, I have taken it upon myself to protect the Yellow Sand Sect, a mission I have never strayed from over the centuries!"

"The Yellow Sand Sect has been founded and passed down by our Ancestor Master for 2,774 years. Despite experiencing many wars during this time, our inheritance has never been severed, nor has there ever been a lack of Golden Core Level Sect Guardians."

"But now, I, Cao, lacking capability, cannot, before my life's end, cultivate a new Golden Core Cultivator for the sect, nor ensure the continued inheritance of the sect!"

"I, Cao Wenjin, have failed, and I am ashamed of not being able to live up to the expectations of the sect's ancestor masters and the hopes of the sect's disciples!"

In the sky, after saying this, Cao Wenjin suddenly bowed deeply to the many disciples of the Yellow Sand Sect inside the mountain gate.

Such a scene, where an esteemed Golden Core Cultivator bows and apologizes to many Foundation Establishment and even Qi Cultivation Cultivators, is rarely seen in the entire Cultivation Realm.

Seeing this, Zhouyang felt a sudden surge of solemn respect in his heart.

Regardless of what Cao Wenjin summoned them for this time, his actions at this moment alone were worthy of admiration.

Moreover, although Cao Wenjin claimed he was incapable of cultivating a new Golden Core Cultivator for the sect, everyone present knew that he had long since cultivated a new Golden Core successor for the Yellow Sand Sect.

However, due to a demon chaos, the newly risen Golden Core Cultivator Jiang Ming, whom the Yellow Sand Sect had painstakingly nurtured, met an untimely end at the hands of the demonic cultivators.

This was the way of fate and not Cao Wenjin's fault.

After bowing deeply, Cao Wenjin in the sky slowly straightened up, his voice thunderous as he shouted:

"Though I, Cao Wenjin, am lacking ability, I refuse to let the efforts of the ancestor masters go in vain, refuse to sit idly by while the sect's heritage ends, and refuse to become an eternal sinner of my Yellow Sand Sect!"

"Dear disciples, today I, Cao Wenjin, ask you one question: Are you willing to fight to continue the legacy of our Yellow Sand Sect, are you willing to fight for the sect? Even if it means death, would you have no regrets?"

The thunderous roar made Zhouyang's ears buzz, forcing him to use his magical power to dispel it.

This filled him with great shock.

One must know that after decades of tempering with the "Qianyang Immortal Light," his body was already capable of withstanding the slashes of a Tier Two Top Grade Flying Sword without breaking the skin.

The strength of his physical body had reached such a point that, without practicing any body refining techniques, the "Qianyang Immortal Light" could no longer enhance his physical strength in any way.

Now, even he was shaken by Cao Wenjin's roar, showing how others must have felt!

He glanced around and saw that outside the Ministry Hall, those Foundation Establishment Cultivators, aside from the Late-Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators, were all in a daze, not yet recovered from Cao Wenjin's deafening roar.

A single roar made the Foundation Establishment Cultivators lose their focus, was this the true power of a Golden Core Stage Cultivator?

Zhouyang looked at Cao Wenjin in the sky, bathed in golden divine light like a deity from the books, and was momentarily lost in thought.

Golden Core!

Golden Core!

At this moment, Zhouyang's ambition grew wildly like grass; never had his determination to become a Golden Core Stage Cultivator been as strong as it was now.

The Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, Master Cyan Yang, with his cultivation restrained, if he did not deliberately display his divine techniques, Zhouyang could hardly distinguish whether he was a cultivator or an ordinary old mortal.

Moreover, even when displaying divine techniques, such as making all the peach blossoms in the garden bloom, it was as gentle as breathing without a hint of ostentation.

When he witnessed that, he felt as if he were seeing flowers in a fog, filled with awe at the Nascent Soul Stage cultivator's extraordinary divine techniques but with no other thoughts.

But now, having personally witnessed Cao Wenjin shaking mountains and rivers with a roar, he deeply understood why the vast majority of cultivators set their cultivation goals at the Golden Core Stage.

With Nascent Soul Stage cultivators reclusive and rarely seen, the Golden Core Stage cultivators, wielding power that could flatten mountains and sever rivers, provided the clearest understanding of what "power" truly meant to low-tier cultivators.

And just as Zhouyang witnessed the real power of a Golden Core Stage cultivator up close and felt enthralled and aspirational.

The Yellow Sand Sect cultivators, who finally snapped out of Cao Wenjin's thunderous roar, also responded to the sect guardian's question with voices like a tidal wave.

"Face fire and water, never retreat even in death!"

"Face fire and water, never retreat even in death!"

"Face fire and water, never retreat even in death!"

...

Though this chorus was not as overwhelming as Cao Wenjin's roar that moved mountains and rivers, it was equally inspiring, leaving the sect-dependent family cultivators like Zhouyang spellbound, unable to control their emotions.

Yellow Sand Sect, after all, is Yellow Sand Sect; the over two thousand seven hundred years of heritage, the long sect history, and powerful sect strength instilled a strong sense of belonging and recognition among most disciples for their sect.

Just like the cultivators of the Zhou Family don't wish for their clan to decline, the Yellow Sand Sect cultivators also don't want to see their sect fall.

They profoundly enjoyed the superior treatment of being sect disciples, with no one willing to leave the sect and become a solitary loose cultivator.

Seeing this, Cao Wenjin in the sky displayed a genuinely gratified smile.

The response from the sect disciples had expressed their recognition of him; as the sect guardian, he was, at least, not entirely failing.

Then, his gaze shifted to the family cultivators outside the Ministry Hall, a barely noticeable cold smile flitted across his eyes.

By creating such a big scene this time, he intended to intimidate these affiliate force cultivators, to let them know that even if the Yellow Sand Sect no longer had Golden Core Stage cultivators overseeing it in the future, it would not be something these petty folks could fathom to encroach upon!

He laughed loudly, "Good, very good! Thank you all disciples for trusting the sect, thank you all disciples for trusting Cao Wenjin. Cao Wenjin will surely not fail your trust, will never let your blood be spilled in vain!"

After saying that, he glanced across the mountain full of sect cultivators, as well as the affiliate force cultivators in front of the Ministry Hall, and said solemnly: "Next, I will speak to all the disciples and all the summoned fellow Daoists about a major event I have decided upon to continue our sect's legacy!"

Hearing these words from Cao Wenjin, Zhouyang, who had been waiting long, was invigorated. He immediately held his breath, widened his eyes, and stared at the sky, waiting for Cao Wenjin to utter the words that might rewrite the history of the Boundless Sea of Sand Cultivation Realm.

"At a distance of two hundred and ninety thousand miles from here, twenty-three thousand miles from the southern slopes of the Broken Cloud Mountain Range, there is a super large oasis with a Tier Five Lower Grade Spirit Vein called Rhino Horn Continent. There, the waters are lush, and the scenery pleasant; it is the habitat of a pair of Tier Five Demon Beasts, the Golden-Horned Rhinoceros. Besides these two Golden-Horned Rhinoceroses, there are Iron Armor Rhinoceroses, Six-legged Demon Rhinoceroses, Thunder Rhinoceros Beasts among several large demon beast groups, along with over ten Tier Four demon beasts and hundreds of Tier Three demon beasts!"

"Our target this time is to hunt the two Golden-Horned Rhinoceroses, seize their demon pills to refine Outer Dao Golden Cores, enabling our Yellow Sand Sect's Purple Mansion cultivators to exert Golden Core Level combat power!"

"At the same time, I, Cao Wenjin, swear by the honor of the ancestral masters of the sect that all Tier Four demon pills obtained during this Rhino Horn Continent expedition will be refined into Foundation Establishment Pills and distributed to meritorious individuals of the sect. All spiritual objects obtained from the oasis can be taken by everyone!"

In the sky, Cao Wenjin, with eyes emitting divine light, gazed slowly upon all the cultivators below, revealing his decision.

It was a decision, not a proposal, or a suggestion!