"No, Ye Fa. You're still the sect leader, I'm inexperienced about it. Besides, they know you better than I do," Li Shen explained, touching Ye Fa's shoulder while reassuring her.
"Master Ye is indeed talented in sect organization, but you're strong, Senior Li Shen," Hao Ziyue chimed in.
"Ziyue is right. A strong sect leader is the first asset to attracting potential disciples. If they see their sect leader is weak, it will only weaken their faith," Ye Fa explained.
"You're a better sect leader than me," Ye Fa retorted.
Li Shen was pressed. He turned to the side, looking at Hao Ziyue and Xiao Bai. The two kept staring at Li Shen with confidence, they admitted that Li Shen was much stronger than Ye Fa.
Ye Fa also stared at Li Shen, she felt confident that Li Shen could definitely lead the Azure Pillar sect to its former glory.
Having three people vote in favor of him becoming the sect leader, Li Shen had no choice. Sighing, Li Shen passively nodded. He would take the sect leader position.
Ye Fa and his two disciples were happy. To celebrate the appointment of the new sect leader, Ye Fa proposed to go to the city together.
Li Shen smiled and laughed. He agreed with their idea because after all they had been busy all this time in the sect yard, going out once in a while wasn't a bad thing.
For the safety of the sect? Li Shen believed in his four primordial beasts' protection. They would protect the sect well when everyone left.
After preparing, Li Shen and the others left Pillar Azure Hill. The only city close to their sect was Wei City, Ye Fa didn't mind at all.
Li Shen looked back, seeing Hao Ziyue and Xiao Bai holding hands on their magic swords.
Their realm of Qi Condensation made them unable to manifest magic swords, so flying with magic swords was something new to them.
"Calm your mind, control your body's balance, let your body follow where the magic sword goes," Ye Fa said, the magic sword was brought up by her.
"O-Okay, Master."
Li Shen smiled faintly. They continued to speed through the sky until they could see traces of their qi energy. Up ahead, Li Shen saw the city, sparkling with bright lantern lights.
It was different from the daytime, when the most people worked and cultivators visited the auction. The night was a culinary moment, many foods and snacks were for sale there.
They were still hungry, especially Hao Ziyue and Xiao Bai. Normally, not many cultivators cared about food, as their energy intake was met through meditation and cultivation.
However, unlike cultivators under the Foundation Establishment stage, they were just like mortal humans, needing to eat and rest.
That was because their soul core had not yet formed, it was the energy flowing into the soul core that caused cultivators to stop eating.
The four arrived at the front gate of the city, paid the entrance fee and stepped into it.
Hao Ziyue and Xiao Bai saw the city's beauty at night which they rarely did, because previously they had to take turns staying awake to keep an eye on their master's condition.
But now it was different, Master Ye had recovered and was getting young again. During the time Hao Ziyue and Xiao Bai joined the sect, they had never seen Master Ye that beautiful.
They paid a visit to a restaurant on the second floor, serving oriental food typical of the Qing Kingdom.
Ziyue and Xiao Bai entered, seeing many customers taking seats on the first floor, only remaining on the second one.
"Welcome. Would you like something to eat?" asked the man, the owner of the restaurant.
"Yes. Give us your best food, just make it two," explained Li Shen, the man nodded.
One of the waiters walked up to them, leading to the second floor. There, they saw that not many people were eating, just drinking tea and talking.
Through Li Shen's eyes, most of the diners on the second floor were cultivators. The highest cultivation among them was Early Nascent Soul.
Hao Ziyue and Xiao Bai were enjoying their time, eating the menu of spicy dishes served by the restaurant. Li Shen and Ye Fa chose to drink tea instead of eating.
Due to the location of their table close to the window, Li Shen occasionally saw a trace of qi energy in the sky, the cultivators were arriving tonight to do their thing.
"Why are there so many cultivators coming?" asked Ye Fa.
"I don't know, maybe there's an auction at night," Li Shen replied, taking a sip of his tea.
Up ahead, Li Shen saw that Hao Ziyue and Xiao Bai had finished their dishes. They felt full and enjoyed it very much, even though the food was very spicy on their tongues.
"Hey, did you hear? There's an impromptu auction today."
"Impromptu auction? I just found out about it. What are they auctioning off?" another man asked.
"Maps to the ruins of Emperor Ming's Palace!"
Li Shen squinted when he heard their words. The ruins of Emperor Ming's Palace, Li Shen had heard the rumor before, but none of them had managed to find it.
Because of its mysteriousness, the Palace held a competition to find it. For those who can find it and retrieve the treasures there, then the Palace will reward the cultivators with a great prize.
Ye Fa turned his head, Li Shen had lived his life for thousands of years. It was possible that he knew exactly what was in those ruins.
"Do you know about it?" asked Ye Fa.
"No one knows. Even in the golden age of cultivators, no one could find it for sure," Li Shen explained.
"I once had a friend. He was very ambitious to uncover the mystery of the Ming Emperor's Palace Ruins. I didn't forbid him from going because of his high cultivation," chimed Li Shen, raising his ceramic glass and taking a sip of the tea inside.
"And then?"
"I didn't hear anything more from him until now."
Ye Fa gasped. She didn't know that it was really a big risk to go to the ruins, even those with high cultivation couldn't do it.
Li Shen reaffirmed that that place was not the objective for the Azure Pillar Sect. The sect's closest objective was to gather disciples and develop the sect further until it was able to advance to the second level.
Ye Fa understood. She knew what she had to do after hearing Li Shen's words. She had to go to the villages and look for 7-year-old children to join, the same when Ye Fa took Hao Ziyue and Xiao Bai.
"I'll go to the villages, find them and invite them to join," Ye Fa explained.
Li Shen nodded. As long as Ye Fa went to find those children, he would train and take care of her two disciples.
He even promised that he would take Hao Ziyue and Xiao Bai through the Foundation Establishment realm.
"I will help you by training Ziyue and Xiao Bai," Li Shen replied, Ye Fa nodded slowly.
Just when the four were still relaxing at the table, a man came in a green cultivator suit. He didn't come alone, but with two of his friends.
"Are you guys from the Azure Pillar Sect?" the man asked, glaring sarcastically.
Ye Fa recognized the color and pattern of their uniforms. They were from the Forest Leaf Sect, the same second-tier sect as the Mountain Goose.
They were always looking for trouble with the Pillar Azure sect because they wanted the mansion on the hill. Yet, they were always stopped because of Ye Fa's resistance.
Ye Fa smiled, she agreed to their question while asking their intentions.
"Our Sect Leader wants to see you. It's related to our negotiations," explained the man.
"Negotiations?" asked Li Shen, squinting.
"Don't you know? In 10 years' time, the Azure Pillar Sect will be handed over to the Forest Leaf Sect if you don't have any Foundation Establishment-level disciples," said the man.
"Now, there are two years left in the agreement. However, the sect leader intends to grant you a favor," replied the man.
"What's that?" asked Li Shen.
"You must appoint one of our sect disciples to be an elder in your sect. Also, you must let our sect disciples train at Azure Hill," he explained.
Li Shen heard the scorn, then smiled while bringing up his qi energy fluctuations once. The three men in green were shocked, asking if Li Shen dared to challenge them.
"You know, we have 6 Nascent Soul realm cultivators in our sect!" he threatened.
"Is that so?"
"Let's put it this way," Li Shen explained, rising from his seat, "I've put up a sect protection at that place. If you all can destroy it, I'll hand over the sect for free along with all its resources."
"Your time is only tonight. You'll have to destroy it immediately before we return if you want to get the place," Li Shen explained, surprising the three men from the Forest Leaf sect.
"Who the hell are you? Dare to speak so arrogantly!"
"I'm the Azure Pillar Sect Leader, Li Shen."