Ten irregular lines crossed through the center, spreading out beyond the circle.
These fine lines extended outward in a pattern that seemed to follow some unknown law, making Gu Ningyun feel a bit dizzy just looking at it.
Calling it a sea urchin was actually quite a vivid description.
“That analogy isn't something I just made up.
On the World Forum, this is the widely accepted description among Cangzhou cultivators. Even the disciples within those four sects occasionally describe their own emblems this way.”
Mu Chenze gave a light cough. Fortunately, their Xiaoyao emblem was designed with cloud patterns as the main body, combined with the orbital trajectories of the stars.
It possessed both the ethereal nature of mist and the unpredictability of the stars, leaving no room for people to give it a ridiculous nickname.
Otherwise, if it were like the Changxuan Sect, being saddled with a nickname like ‘braised lion's head,’ it wouldn't be very elegant at all.
Wen Xuan clapped her hands. “That is quite interesting.”
She stared intently at the Hundred Flowers Sect emblem. This flaming red lotus... the more she looked at it, the more familiar it seemed.
“Could the prototype for this flaming red lotus be the Red Lotus Karmic Fire, one of the Ten Great Exotic Fires?”
Mu Chenze looked at Wen Xuan with surprise. As expected of an alchemist, she was exceptionally sensitive to flames.
The appearance of this flaming red lotus was quite different from the actual Red Lotus Karmic Fire; it only captured its form and spirit, yet Wen Xuan had been able to spot the connection at a glance.
“Exactly.
Unlike most sects in the cultivation world, the Hundred Flowers Sect is a sect that only accepts women.”
As soon as Mu Chenze finished speaking, Jiang Yao said, “I already knew that from browsing the World Forum earlier, but why is that the case?”
“That brings us to the state of the cultivation world at that time.”
As Mu Chenze spoke, he lowered his voice, and the five bald heads huddled together.
“It is said that ten thousand years ago, a Great Horror invaded the cultivation world.
This invasion lasted for over two thousand years, directly causing countless sects to be reshuffled. The Rogue Cultivator Alliance became a shell of its former self, and only the mortals, under the forced protection of the laws of the Heavenly Dao, managed to survive, preventing the cultivation world from being completely wiped out.”
Gu Ningyun realized something. “I heard before that our Xiaoyao Immortal Sect has existed for at least one hundred and ten thousand years.
Yet among the other sixteen sects that make up the Nine Sects and Eight Schools alongside Xiaoyao, the oldest one—the Star-Moon Sect—has only existed for eight thousand years.
Could this be the reason?”
“Exactly.” Mu Chenze nodded heavily, his tone becoming somber.
Gu Ningyun’s brow furrowed tightly. “Why is it that when I browsed the historical records on the first floor of the library, not a single book mentioned this period of history?”
Shouldn't a history built on such bloodshed be recorded so that everyone can remember it and prepare in advance?
“Ningyun, you haven't been practicing for long, so it's natural you wouldn't know.
There are some Great Horrors where simply knowing their name can shatter the Dao heart of a low-level cultivator.”
As soon as he said this, Gu Ningyun felt a cold, intense malice crawl up her spine to her scalp.
“Certain secrets only circulate among the powerful cultivators of the cultivation world. Low-level cultivators like us, whose Dao hearts haven't even become clear yet, can only learn the bits and pieces that our elders are willing to reveal.
At that time, major sects and clans were being exterminated one after another, and only Xiaoyao struggled to hold on.”
Mu Chenze nudged Jun Luo’s shoulder. “Jun Luo, your ancestors were from Xiaoyao’s Punishment Peak, so you should know more about this than I do.
Why don't you tell the rest?”
Jun Luo nodded, his gaze seemingly crossing the long river of time and passing through two thousand years of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Even the corners of his eyes were tinged with a faint red.
“At that time, the Peak Master of Xiaoyao’s Array Peak used the one hundred and eight floating peaks as the array foundation, the Disciple Jade Register as the array eye, and the collective will of all existing Xiaoyao elders and disciples as the array's intent.
Drawing upon the Nine Heavens Star Realm and the ley line power of the Five Continents and Four Seas, they established an immortal array that far exceeded the power level of the cultivation world.
The immortal array covered the entirety of Yunzhou, bringing all Xiaoyao disciples, along with every surviving righteous cultivator, demon cultivator, Buddhist cultivator, and demon beast cultivator, under its protection.
Even the surviving great demons of the deep sea migrated to the North Sea bordering Yunzhou to seek shelter under the immortal array.”
Jun Luo took a deep breath. “Only after the immortal array was completed did the cultivation world gain a moment to breathe.
With a rear base that could provide protection and a place to recover, the cultivation world finally began its counterattack under the leadership of my ancestor.
As for why my ancestor, the Punishment Peak Master, was the one to take the lead...”
Gu Ningyun’s heart sank, and she suddenly had a bad feeling.
“It was because earlier, in order to stall for time and ensure the successful setup of the immortal array, our Xiaoyao Sect Leader and many other powerful seniors had already sacrificed themselves.”
Jiang Yao’s eyes were already bloodshot. He felt a sense of grief spanning ten million years pressing down on his back like a mountain, causing the sharp metal power within him to churn uncontrollably.
No wonder Xiaoyao had never relaxed their focus on cultivating their crisis awareness since they joined the sect. It turned out that besides the dangers they might encounter while training, there was such a tragic history.
Jun Luo’s voice sounded close, yet it also seemed to come from ten million years away.
“Later, the ancestors finally dealt a heavy blow to that Great Horror and drove it out of our realm.”
He used such a simple sentence to state the outcome, without mentioning the hardships endured or how many ancestors were sacrificed.
But even without him saying it, Gu Ningyun and the others could imagine it.
“Once the external threat was resolved, the cultivation world finally had a chance to recuperate.”
Mu Chenze spoke in a low voice. “But it was during this recuperation that a major problem arose.”
“Could it be that this is related to the origin of the Hundred Flowers Sect?” A spark of realization flashed in Wen Xuan’s mind. Combining it with what Mu Chenze had said earlier, she couldn't help but speculate.
“Yes.” Mu Chenze nodded. “After two thousand years of bloodshed, there weren't many cultivators left in the cultivation world.
Everyone knows the reproductive capacity of demon beasts; a single litter can produce many offspring.
It wasn't obvious in the first few years, but as time passed, the number of demon beasts grew larger and larger, gradually compressing the territory of cultivators and encroaching on our living space. More and more mortals and cultivators fell prey to the demon beasts.”
Gu Ningyun had already guessed what he was going to say and couldn't help but frown.
“Relying solely on fresh blood from mortals was no longer enough.
Although it is difficult for cultivators to have offspring, if they do, the probability of the child having a spirit root is very high.
Thus, the high-level cultivators proposed encouraging cultivators to become Dao companions to produce offspring for the cultivation world.
Support in the form of resource allocation was given to cultivators who actively sought companions and bore children. This was to ensure that women whose cultivation fell due to childbirth would have sufficient resources provided by the sect to regain their strength.
Under the circumstances of that time, when cultivators were nearly extinct, this strategy was actually understandable.
At that time, many female cultivators also stepped forward to pair with male cultivators they respected.
Everything was based on being voluntary; that was the bottom line.”
Mu Chenze sighed as he reached this point. “But there are always exceptions to everything.”
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