As Lu Ping's place of secluded cultivation, his cave mansion was situated at the back mountain of the Cyan Mountain Sect, an isolated and relatively quiet location.
Not only that, back then, to avoid being disturbed during secluded cultivation, Lu Ping set up a barrier outside the cave mansion, capable of fending off an attack from a Golden Core Ancestor, keeping them at bay.
This barrier, naturally, only Lu Ping could control.
Now, although Lu Ping had become a consciousness body, unable to exert his strength, and logically should not be able to open the cave mansion's barrier.
But as a consciousness body, Lu Ping's situation was somewhat special.
The barrier posed no restriction to Lu Ping.
With just a single attempt, he smoothly passed through the barrier and arrived outside the cave mansion.
This quickly sparked some thoughts in him.
"Being able to pass through the barrier at will, the state of a consciousness body is indeed peculiar."
"Certain secret places in the cultivation realm, forbidden zones with barriers, presumably couldn't hinder my steps either, I can come and go as I please."
"By this assumption, is there no place in this world that can restrain me? Can any barrier withstand me, am I akin to a scout who can traverse freely through heaven and earth, and under water?"
"All things considered, becoming a consciousness body may not be a bad thing. As long as it's used properly, it can produce some unexpected effects."
"I can still wander around."
This was quite interesting, he thought privately, drifting out of the restricted area.
After a short while, he encountered two young cultivators walking together.
The two had ordinary appearances, in their early thirties, wearing cyan flowing robes, indicating from their attire that they were disciples of the Cyan Mountain Sect.
The Cyan Mountain Sect disciple uniforms were still the ones that Lu Ping had designed back in the day, so he wouldn't fail to recognize them.
As Lu Ping sized them up, the two remained completely unaware of his presence, continuing their own conversation, appearing as if having a casual chat.
"Senior Brother Zhao, did you gain anything from your experiences in various places in the Chu Kingdom a few months ago?"
"Gains?"
Zhao Ziliang, addressed as Senior Brother Zhao, shook his head, "Not much to gain. Rather, it was a complicated situation, almost fell into the hands of some loose cultivators."
"No way, it was that dangerous."
The disciple speaking looked wistful, "I've been part of the sect for six years and have never gone out for experience training, no clue what it feels like."
"Senior Brother Zhao, could you tell me more specifically?"
Hearing this, Zhao Ziliang smiled, "The stories of my experiences, I'll share with you in detail another time when we're free."
With those words, he glanced in the direction of the sect hall.
"The Sect Leader gathered us this time, perhaps to discuss something important. We better hurry and not miss the timing."
"Yes."
They quickened their pace, not daring to delay.
Hearing the conversation, Lu Ping, who was eavesdropping on the side, had a thought.
What is the Cyan Mountain Sect Leader gathering the disciples for?
Timing can be everything.
After hesitating for a moment, Lu Ping followed them, drifting towards the direction of the sect hall.
As the founding ancestor of the Cyan Mountain Sect, witnessing such a major event as a sect meeting was, of course, necessary for him.
Besides, it had been a long time since he saw a few of his children, time to check on the sect disciples as well.
Due to his slow moving speed, Lu Ping was still some distance away from the sect hall, allowing him to observe the scenery along the way.
Cyan Lotus Mountain, as the residence of the Cyan Mountain Sect, was vast, truly embodying the concept of green mountains and clear waters.
The entire Cyan Lotus Mountain, with its spiritual energy being relatively thin at the foot. Ascending the mountain, the spiritual energy gradually becomes pure and rich.
The sect's disciples mostly lived at the mountainside, above which were areas like the sect's medicine garden and spirit field. Further up, there were places like the artifact refining room and alchemy room. The sect hall was there as well.
The mountain peak area, then, was where the Sect Leader and the upper echelon resided.
The isolated area where Lu Ping secluded himself was actually a small peak behind the mountain top, where the spiritual energy was densest, commonly known as the back mountain.
Along the way, compared to his memories, Cyan Lotus Mountain had changed little.
The areas he passed were limited, and Lu Ping couldn't notice much change for the moment.
Upon arriving at the sect hall, Lu Ping drifted directly inside, finding more than twenty disciples gathered inside, the atmosphere heavy.
Three figures sat at the high table, seemingly very quiet, waiting for the remaining disciples to arrive.
Lu Ping glanced over the interior of the hall, his gaze finally settling on those three figures.
"Distant Mountain, Changfeng, Zhiwei…"
After three decades of secluded cultivation, seeing his children once again, Lu Ping couldn't help but drift forward, approaching the area where his children were located.
These three were Lu Ping's eldest son Lu Yuanshan, second son Lu Changfeng, and third daughter Lu Zhiwei.
Among them, Lu Yuanshan was the Sect Leader.
Lu Changfeng and Lu Zhiwei were sect elders.
Currently, the Cyan Mountain Sect had only three elders remaining, all late-stage Qi Cultivators.
The only one unable to attend was Third Elder Xuu Mengyuan, who needed to constantly guard over Guangde County.
Guangde County was the closest town to the Cyan Mountain Sect, and also the only town still under the sect's protection, home to tens of thousands, famous for its textile industry.
The townsfolk occasionally faced demon beast or demon cultivator attacks, and to protect them, the Cyan Mountain Sect would assign a cultivator to guard, not leaving unless necessary.
Considering the safety of Guangde County, Xuu Mengyuan remained there during this conference, unable to leave.
Other absentees included two disciples stationed at the sect's shop in the Qinghe Market, responsible for overseeing the sect-owned shop, and they too couldn't leave.
Aside from them, all disciples that could be summoned were gathered, highlighting the importance of this meeting.
While Lu Ping observed those present, disciples continued to enter the hall.
Sensing the solemn atmosphere, each kept their heads down, listening intently for the meeting to begin.
Once everyone was present, Lu Yuanshan finally spoke up.
"Since everyone is here, let us discuss a significant decision for our sect. All of you present today will take part in it, as it pertains to the future survival of our sect, hence the importance of this meeting."
So, everyone listened intently.
"You're all aware that the Cyan Mountain Sect has been passed down to this day, undergoing many hardships along the way, which caused a continuous decline of the sect."
"Although we hold a Sect Establishment Order, granting us a ten-year protection period under the sect system, protecting us from attacks and annexation by other sects, you all understand the current plight of the Cyan Mountain Sect, which is worsening year by year if swift actions are not taken."
"Perhaps it's better if I lay it out, describing the sect's current financial status."
Lu Yuanshan took out a small booklet, which documented the sect's financial situation in detail, to open and read aloud.
"If we were to consider the period before the Ancestor entered secluded cultivation, the sect was quite profitable, with income from the sect's Merit Hall and annual tributes from several affiliated families, along with high yields from the spirit fields and medicine fields, covering the costs of running a Golden Core Sect, with some surplus."
"But the good times didn't last. As the sect's circumstances continued to deteriorate, our influence waned considerably. Currently, the primary sources of our income have almost been cut off, relying barely on the marketplace shop, medicine garden, and spirit field to survive, which brings in some earnings, yet still isn't sufficient to maintain the sect."
The disciples present understood all too well the difficulty facing the Cyan Mountain Sect; everyone knew their limited numbers and capabilities, making it impossible to support multiple industries.
The Cyan Mountain Sect now had no Foundation Establishment Cultivators; as early as thirteen years ago, during the calamity in Lushan County, almost all cultivators of that rank were depleted.
Notably, the sect's last Crystallization Stage female cultivator had also gone missing due to a sudden accident a few years ago.
Understanding the dire situation, the disciples noticed their throats turning dry as they sensed the gravity, feeling a bit anxious.
The sect may indeed be at a critical survival juncture, necessitating a major decision.
Observing the expressions of those present, Lu Yuanshan cross-referenced the booklet, starting to recount one by one.
"Let's first talk about the medicinal garden; as the medicine field only has three mu, planted with some Tier One Spirit Medicines, the annual revenue from selling these spirit medicines is about one hundred fifty spirit stones."
"Then there's the spirit field, ten mu of spirit field, setting aside the sect's internal consumption of spirit rice, this provides some income, yet it's still not enough to sustain our needs."
"As for the sect's shop in the Qinghe Market…"
Here, a hint of helplessness showed on Lu Yuanshan's face.