Chapter 1034

Chapter 1034: Outer Sect Branch

Xu Fan left the underground space with satisfaction and returned to his courtyard.

Suddenly, an idea struck him. Since Xuanhuang aura could elevate the cultivation level of artifact great masters, could he also use Xuanhuang aura to temporarily boost himself to the Golden Immortal Realm?

Although controlling Golden Immortal puppets could achieve fighting strength far beyond an ordinary Golden Immortal, that strength couldn’t compare to him reaching the Golden Immortal Realm himself.

"Grape, can I use Xuanhuang aura to temporarily elevate my cultivation to the Golden Immortal Realm?" Xu Fan asked.

"Master, while researching Xuanhuang aura, I considered this possibility. However, the consumption is too great, and it is not recommended for use in actual combat unless necessary," Grape replied.

"How much consumption are we talking about?"

"Ten crystals of Xuanhuang aura can maintain your Golden Immortal Realm for a quarter of an hour," Grape said, sending Xu Fan a secret technique designed specifically for absorbing Xuanhuang aura to elevate to the Golden Immortal Realm.

The secret technique was marked as a unique technique for Xu Fan.

"Ten crystals of Xuanhuang aura! Forget it, letting the puppets handle it seems more convenient."

"A single Golden Immortal puppet, excluding the labor crafting cost, requires three to five hundred billion."

"Even when facing a Great Luo Saint, five Golden Immortal puppets should be enough."

Xu Fan dismissed the idea.

"Master, we have a visitor from the Harmony Sect below," Grape reported.

Xu Fan was taken aback. How did the Harmony Sect from the lower realm find their way here?

In the guest hall of the main peak, Xu Fan met the guests from the lower realm’s Harmony Sect.

A woman, nearly ten feet tall and resembling a giant bear, sat nervously with a group of young ladies in the guest hall.

"How did you find this place?" Xu Fan asked curiously.

"The border Immortal Realm has fallen, and we wandered here, hearing that the Hidden Spirit Sect is located nearby, so we came to pay a visit," Zhuang Ling replied with a bow.

The group of young ladies then shared stories about their challenging journey.

Finally, Zhuang Ling expressed their desire to join the Outer Sect of the Hidden Spirit Sect, seeking an end to their wandering life.

At first, Xu Fan thought of giving them some Immortal Jade to help them settle down, or even directly aid them in rebuilding the Harmony Sect.

The leader, Zhuang Ling, was at the peak of true immortal cultivation and had fighting strength that Xu Fan assessed to be second only to Xiong Li.

"Don’t you want to rebuild the Harmony Sect?" Xu Fan asked, puzzled.

"We do not wish to. We are merely from the General’s Tomb branch of the Harmony Sect, which is not entirely aligned with the orthodox sect, and we have no desire to establish a sect again," Zhuang Ling’s sister explained.

"We only want to seek support in this Immortal Realm to avoid drifting aimlessly."

"Very well. I had planned to help you rebuild your sect, but if you prefer, joining my Outer Sect is also fine," Xu Fan said, looking at the group of young ladies.

A virtual image of the Wheel of Fate flashed in his eyes as Xu Fan scanned all the women.

With clear backgrounds and straightforward karma, there weren’t any troublesome matters.

Moreover, considering the good nature of this group of women, bringing them into the Outer Sect seemed agreeable.

"This journey has been tough. You all should rest in the Outer Sect for a while. Grape will assign tasks to you later," Xu Fan said.

"Thank you, Grand Elder, for taking us in," Zhuang Ling and her sisters expressed their gratitude.

"As fellow cultivators who ascended from the middle thousand world and old friends, it’s only natural to help each other," Xu Fan said with a smile.

After Xu Fan decided to accept them into the Outer Sect, Grape allocated a special area within the Outer Sect for them to live.

Zhuang Ling led her sisters to their designated area in the Outer Sect.

"It’s fortunate we found the Hidden Spirit Sect here; otherwise, who knows how long we would have been wandering," Zhuang Ling’s sister said joyfully, feeling blessed to have found a group in their time of need.

"Sisters, from now on, we are outer disciples of the Hidden Spirit Sect. We’ve left the Harmony Sect and become respectable beings."

"I hope everyone values this new identity and dedicates themselves to the sect," Zhuang Ling said.

At that moment, Zhuang Ling wasn’t listening to her sister but was instead focusing on sensing the spiritual energy within the Hidden Spirit Sect.

"The spiritual energy here is so rich, mixed with a lot of celestial energy. If I can keep practicing here, my fighting strength will surely reach new heights," Zhuang Ling said, gazing into the distance where the celestial spirit liquid waterfall in the inner sect could faintly be seen.

At a pavilion by the Immortal Liquid Lake, Xu Fan was feeding Fierce White pieces of petrified Dragon Scale.

Fierce White, once pure white, now had a hint of red at the center of its turtle shell.

Fierce White nibbled on the petrified Dragon Scale pieces like they were chips, occasionally looking up at Xu Fan, puzzled as to why his master wasn’t eating.

Xu Fan, holding the jade-like turtle shell, laughed, "This is too hard for me to eat."

Taking Xu Fan’s words seriously, Fierce White then spat out a softened piece of petrified Dragon Scale and gestured for Xu Fan to eat it.

"Haha, you can have it. It’s not to my taste."

"Master, the gender ratio in the sect is slightly unbalanced, at a 3:7 ratio. Should we recruit more female disciples?" Grape’s voice chimed in.

A light curtain displaying a final report appeared before Xu Fan, showing the status of disciples who had formed cultivation partners and those who were single.

"Why didn’t you mention this earlier?" Xu Fan asked.

"It wasn’t time yet; the single rate of female disciples in the sect hadn’t reached the warning line."

"The number of single female disciples in the sect is decreasing, triggering the alert."

"If this continues, it will harm the mental well-being of the long-term single male disciples," Grape explained.

Xu Fan realized that the issue was due to many couples flaunting their relationships, affecting the mental health of single male disciples.

"Being the Grand Elder of the sect is not easy; I have to manage everything, even the singles’ issues."

"Leave this matter to Ziyuan to handle; I won’t get involved," Xu Fan decided after a moment’s thought.

"As you wish, master."

Three days later, Qiu Ziyuan went to the Outer Sect area and found the group of women who had just joined.

Not long after, a small island was constructed on the giant lake near the Hidden Spirit Sect.

The Hidden Spirit Sect’s Outer Sect branch, the Hidden Moon Sect, was established specifically to recruit female disciples.

They then recruited many excellent female disciples through various academies scattered across the Immortal Realm.

"Master, the Hidden Moon Sect has currently recruited twenty million female disciples, all of whom passed the inner sect tests," Grape reported.

"Very good, very good. Ziyuan has done well with this matter," Xu Fan nodded in satisfaction.

Previously, these twenty million female disciples might have been a burden to the sect, but now their consumption seemed negligible to Xu Fan.

In the Undercurrent Immortal Domain, at Number One Body Refinement Academy, Xiong Li looked at the robust woman before him in disbelief.

"I didn’t expect that after ascending to the Immortal Realm, your strength is still not much weaker than mine."