Infinite Awakening: My Exp Doubles Everyday

In the courtyard, an enormous sea of disciples gathered. There were at least ten thousand of them. This would have been impossible in the past, the previous Azure Cloud Sect simply lacked the facilities to accommodate such massive numbers. But everything had changed after the battle with the cult leader.

The sect's reputation had soared to incredible heights. Word of their victory had spread like wildfire across the eastern continent, drawing hundreds of eager disciples to their gates daily. Most people even recognized the Azure Cloud Sect as a rank five sect and saw it as one of the now six major sects of the eastern region.

Many cultivators even believed that the Azure Cloud Sect had even surpassed the other major sects, becoming the true dominant force of the eastern continent.

This unexpected surge in popularity had forced rapid expansion. The sect's boundaries had stretched far beyond their original limits to house the constant stream of new arrivals. Even the Lotus Jade Palace and the Iron Spirit Mountain had relocated their sects here after the battle, becoming pavilions under the Azure Cloud Sect's banner, though they maintained most of their autonomy.

Yan Xuelian approached the front of the assembly where Li Yao stood. With a respectful bow, she reported, "Sect Master, everyone has gathered except for a few disciples. I'm assuming they didn't make it back in time or…"

Li Yao acknowledged her words with a simple nod, understanding the situation. She stepped forward to address the massive crowd, channeling her qi to amplify her voice so even those in the furthest rows could hear her clearly.

"Everyone," she began, "I know many of you are concerned about the recent events happening outside. The dark miasma that has appeared in the surrounding regions poses a serious threat. This is why I have ordered a complete lockdown of our sect."

Murmurs rippled through the crowd as disciples exchanged worried glances. Li Yao raised her hand, and silence returned immediately.

"I want to make one thing absolutely clear, there is no need for fear or panic. The Azure Cloud Sect has weathered countless storms before, nothing has changed, we will also emerge from this current crisis stronger than ever before."

"Don't worry too much about the lockdown restrictions. With our Grand Elder here, we have everything necessary to sustain ourselves completely, even if this lockdown were to continue for a hundred years."

Li Yao thought to herself that that claim was quite the stretch, but the Empress had instructed her to say those exact words to calm the disciples' fears. She wondered skeptically if anyone would actually believe such an outrageous statement.

Just as that thought crossed her mind, something remarkable happened. The tense, worried expressions that had been etched on thousands of faces suddenly melted away completely. The disciples began murmuring to each other casually.

"That's right! How could we forget? With the Grand Elder here, even if the sky fell, we would definitely survive!"

"Of course! The Grand Elder must have already predicted this!"

"As expected of the Grand Elder!"

"He's so me fr"

"Hey, wake up, stop dreaming!"

Li Yao's expression brightened. It seemed she hadn't been paying enough attention to the sect's affairs as she was supposed to. She was always worrying about her senior brother, and she had every reason to, back then, everyone had constantly mocked him and called him worthless trash. To think that now he commanded even more respect and prestige than she did as Sect Master! It seemed she didn't even need to say anything more to reassure them.

"Continue your cultivation diligently, and support one another as we always have," she announced. "This is what your Grand Elder instructed me to convey to all of you."

The moment those words left her lips, the disciples instantly began chanting the Grand Elder's name with fervent enthusiasm.

"I need to cultivate even harder from now on! I can't let the Grand Elder down!"

…

Yao Yao was running around energetically, waving Xiang Yu's soul partition around.

[Quiet!] the Empress's voice suddenly rang out sharply, her tone filled with irritation.

Yao Yao froze mid-step, her bright eyes turning toward the Empress's imposing figure. After a moment of consideration, Yao Yao looked down at the soul partition she was holding and spoke innocently, "Senior Brother, let's go play somewhere else instead. That old auntie looks really mad right now."

"Old? Auntie?" The Empress's eye twitched, she was about to crash out but she held it in. She took several deep breaths, forcing herself to calm down. There was no point in arguing with a child, she reminded herself. Such behavior was beneath someone of her stature.

As Yao Yao skipped away cheerfully toward the other side of the spiritual sea, still carrying the soul partition, the Empress let out an exasperated scoff. She settled back into her throne with visible annoyance.

"Tsk, kids these days," she muttered under her breath, shaking her head disapprovingly. "No respect for their elders whatsoever."

"Why are they all so impressed by Senior Brother when he doesn't even show up publicly very often?" Li Yao asked.

[Who knows,] the Empress replied with disinterest, since she couldn't get angry at a kid, she was taking it out on the source. She settled more comfortably into her position and reached beside her throne, retrieving a book.

The cover clearly displayed the title "Cultivation 101"

"Now, where was I?" she spoke aloud to herself, casually flipping through the pages…

…

The head of the Demon God Association floated above a small clearing, his gaze sweeping across the barren landscape in confusion. His brow furrowed deeply as he slowly rotated in place, scanning every inch of the seemingly empty terrain below him.

Something was terribly wrong here. He couldn't find even the faintest trace of the Azure Cloud Sect anywhere. It was as if the sect never existed.

He had been searching for almost a full day now, his divine sense probing every possible hiding spot and even looking for any spatial distortions, yet his efforts had yielded absolutely no results.

"Am I losing my mind?" he muttered under his breath.

"Are my eyes playing tricks on me?"

Even more disturbing was how the distinctive scent of the Demon Tower had become so incredibly faint that he could barely detect its presence anymore.

"Could this be some sort of extraordinarily high-level concealment formation?" he wondered aloud. "Did the Tower provide them with access to more advanced treasures?"

But that didn't make sense, why would the tower actively help them?.

"Didn't it give them that divine weapon specifically to lure me out?" he wondered. Was he overthinking this whole thing?

Just as these doubts began to creep in, a sudden, earth-shaking explosion erupted somewhere in the distance, instantly snapping his attention toward the source.

"It's beginning," he thought as he watched an enormous lotus blossom unfold in the far distance.

Almost immediately, he spotted several dark figures flying rapidly toward his position with obvious hostile intent. Red lycoris flower petals began materializing from the air around him, shooting forward like guided missiles toward the approaching enemies.

The moment the petals made contact with the dark figures, they exploded violently into pools of thick, dark blood. The blood slowly flowed toward his position.

He casually dipped his finger into the blood and brought it to his lips for a taste. His expression immediately twisted into one of absolute disgust, and he spat violently.

"Tch, such pathetic low-lifes," he spoke in irritation.

"My disappointment is immeasurable, and now my day is ruined."

As he continued grumbling about the poor quality of his opponents, a strange sound reached his ears. Splat. Then again, Splat. The wet, meaty sounds repeated in a steady rhythm that piqued his curiosity.

"What's that noise?" he wondered aloud, turning around to locate the source of the disturbance.

He immediately expanded his divine sense, scanning for the source of the sound. It was then that he finally discovered where the sounds were coming from, and his expression transformed completely.

"On second thought," he said slowly, an evil smile spreading across his features, "maybe you guys aren't so useless after all."

Several miles away from his current position, he saw dark creatures flying at high speed and colliding repeatedly with what appeared to be an invisible barrier. Each impact resulted in the satisfying splat sound as the creatures were reduced to paste against the barrier.

"So that's where you've been hiding this entire time," he said with amusement, his smile widening into something truly sinister before vanishing completely from his position.