In the past two days, the wandering Bixuan Court disciples came back one after another.
What was gratifying was that most of the Foundation Building cultivators were still alive.
But there were more troublesome matters ahead.
First of all, many Foundation Building cultivators objected to Bixuan Court's decision to no longer accept only female disciples.
This tradition had been going on for several thousand years, so they were already used to it. Although Wei Haolan was quite famous, she was still a Foundation Building cultivator.
There weren't many Foundation Building male cultivators in the group, and after the disaster, there were even fewer, so they didn't have much confidence in their words.
Nevertheless, after this disaster, Wei Haolan's temperament was much stronger than it was twenty years ago. She forcefully suppressed all the opposing voices and expressed that this was the two elders' idea.
In addition, there were also some people who were angry because the six of them hid in the Dao-Achieving Pagoda and abandoned everyone else. However, the two elders were the ones who made this decision, so they didn't dare to disrespect them, so they made things difficult for Wei Haolan.
Mo Tiange made two moves, which made these people realize that although the Core Formation elders were gone, the new elders weren't to be trifled with.
In the end, these people were finally convinced.
Two days later, Bixuan Court's reconstruction ceremony was held as scheduled.
Early in the morning, Bixuan Court's gate was opened, and non-sect disciples poured in.
After these individual cultivators were tested on their spiritual roots and cultivation levels, those who were allowed to join the group went to the square and lined up.
Bixuan Court didn't have strict requirements for disciples. Even those with five spiritual roots could join as long as they weren't too weak and could only stay in the first or second layer of the Aura Refining realm their whole lives.
Soon, the total number of Bixuan Court disciples exceeded a thousand, including the original disciples who returned.
In the past twenty years, Ren Yufeng established the Divine Dragon Sect. If there was anyone who didn't obey him, he would kill them to cultivate his dead aura. The cultivators in Linhai either died or fled, so there weren't many of them left. Being able to accept so many disciples was already very good.
This was also the two elders' intention.
First, Bixuan Court suffered heavy casualties, and there were only a few cultivators in Linhai. If they weren't willing to open their gate, Bixuan Court would weaken little by little until it couldn't be saved.
Secondly, although Shangguan Yunhao's matter was caused by his own bad intentions, Bixuan Court's rules weren't without its drawbacks. If male cultivators could also obtain the same status as female cultivators, there would be a lot fewer inducements for male cultivators.
After taking everything into consideration, it was inevitable that Bixuan Court would change the way they managed their group. If they remained stagnant, they'd only walk step by step towards death.
From now on, Bixuan Court's Transporting Formation would be open to the public. As long as one could afford the transportation fee, everyone could use the Transporting Formation.
In addition, the disciples of the sect had to go out and travel before they advanced to the next stage to increase their knowledge.
These were all things the two elders explained to them one by one before they left the pagoda. These past few years, Wei Haolan and Mo Tiange had a lot of exchanges, so she learned a lot about Kunwu Cultivation Groups' management methods. She already had a feeling about them, so she agreed to them one by one.
As for the problem of brain drain, it was unnecessary to worry about it.
Linhai lacked resources, and Kunwu also didn't lack impoverished areas. However, although there weren't any big cultivation groups in those impoverished areas, there were still small and medium-sized cultivation groups, so they could still survive.
Besides, the terrain of the Eastern Sea was special, so it was very difficult to obtain some beast cores and materials from the sea in Kunwu. If things went well, it might be a new source of income.
In short, after experiencing the crisis of extermination, the two elders had already gotten over it. Wei Haolan also got over it. Bixuan Court would only be finished if they didn't communicate with the outside world.
Mo Tiange sighed inwardly. In fact, Mo Yaoqing's original intention in establishing a cultivation group for female cultivators was good. However, as time went by, things often changed, so the people in power had to constantly adjust.
Brilliant people in power had to understand the principle that things changed with the passage of time. Bixuan Court's set of rules had been in place for several thousand years, so it was time to change them.
At noon, all the cultivators finished their tests. A new batch of disciples lined up in the square, waiting for the sect head's instructions. The eliminated cultivators, however, were reluctant to leave because they wanted to witness Bixuan Court's rarely-seen event.
Wei Haolan and the other Foundation Building cultivators were all very cautious today. Their clothes were luxurious and their make-up was exquisite. Even Mo Tiange changed out of her Daoist robe and put on Bixuan Court's uniform to match the occasion.
In any case, her identity today was Bixuan Court's guest elder, so she had to show her sincerity.
They first paid their respects to the group's founder then cremated the two elders' corpses and enshrined them in the ancestral temple. Moreover, their memorial tablets were placed on the same level as the only elder who advanced to the Nascent Soul realm aside from the founder, indicating that the two elders' contributions to Bixuan Court were no less than those of Nascent Soul cultivators.
After the mourning was over, Wei Haolan announced a series of decisions.
"Disciples, Bixuan Court will be rebuilt today. From now on, male and female cultivators will be treated equally; there will no longer be any difference.
New disciples will be divided into official disciples and part-time disciples.
Part-Time disciples who pass the test can become official disciples.
Every ten years, a group competition will be held. The winners will receive Foundation-Building Pills, which will no longer be decided by the elders of the group … "
Then there was the issue of treatment.
"… During this great calamity, Bixuan Court suffered disastrous losses. None of our Core Formation elders survived. Before Elder Qingyi and Elder Qingmiao passed away, they invited Fellow Daoist Ye Xiaotian to become Bixuan Court's guest elder. From now on, every disciple of our group must respect her as if she were a Core Formation elder." At this point, Wei Haolan looked towards Mo Tiange.
Mo Tiange took a few steps forward then cupped her hands slightly, performing a half-salute.
Seeing as Mo Tiange didn't want to speak, Wei Haolan spoke again: "Elder Ye's cultivation level is outstanding and she's very capable. She can be considered the number one cultivator below the Core Formation realm. With her here, presumably, Bixuan Court can develop with peace of mind!"
As she said that, Wei Haolan's gaze swept over several restless Foundation Building cultivators as a warning.
Although Mo Tiange felt Wei Haolan's words were a bit exaggerated, she still calmly accepted it.
In Bixuan Court, she indeed didn't fear any cultivators. Wei Haolan only said that to warn the restless disciples.
"Because all the Core Formation elders in our group have passed away, we've decided to choose two temporary elders among the Foundation Building cultivators to take on the responsibilities of elders until a new Core Formation elder appears."
Upon hearing what she said, more than ten Foundation Building cultivators all raised their heads and stared at her.
They'd long heard about this matter. As elders, they had a lot more offerings compared to ordinary cultivators, so every single one of them wanted to be an elder, but they didn't know how to choose one.
Wei Haolan's gaze was calm. She didn't immediately say, "Junior Martial Brothers and Sisters, we'll discuss this matter in detail later."
Soon after, she said some words of encouragement to the disciples before announcing the end of the ceremony.
But the end of the ceremony was only the beginning of the bustling process.
With so many new disciples, Immortal's Caves had to be arranged. Most of Bixuan Court's original disciples were female cultivators, so they also had to be rearranged and separated from the male cultivators.
Wei Haolan's feet didn't touch the ground during such a bustling process.
Mo Tiange couldn't help with these matters, and she also didn't like it, so she returned to the residence arranged for her to rest.
She couldn't go to the Dao-Achieving Pagoda for the time being.
Although she even went to the most secretive seventh floor, that was, after all, an expedient move. She was only a guest elder and wasn't a real member of Bixuan Court, so there were still some matters she needed to avoid.
Now that there were no Core Formation elders in the group, Wei Haolan also discussed with her about how to handle the Dao-Achieving Pagoda.
Bixuan Court had suffered disastrous losses. Aside from recruiting new disciples, the most important thing right now was to cultivate Core Formation cultivators again. Only with Core Formation cultivators would the group have some confidence.
Wei Haolan's idea was to take advantage of the opportunity of selecting temporary elders to choose five Foundation Building cultivators to live in the Dao-Achieving Pagoda. She would then assign the second to sixth floors to them and help them form their Gold Cores with all their might.
The Dao-Achieving Pagoda was full of spiritual aura. Not all of them could form their Gold Cores, but it was very possible for one or two of them to form their Gold Cores.
Mo Tiange approved of this idea.
However, this didn't have much to do with her. As long as Bixuan Court was on the right track, she could leave Linhai and return to Kunwu.
She never expected that an ordinary experiential learning would take more than twenty years. She also didn't know how her acquaintances at Xuanqing School were doing. Did they miss her and worry about her?
Oh, right! Before she left, master asked for a drop of her blood essence, so he should know she was fine. However, she hadn't returned yet. Did he come out to look for her?
She was about to leave, but she couldn't calm down.
She'd waited for twenty years, but at the last moment, she couldn't sit still anymore. She wished she could give up everything and fly back to Xuanqing School.
Just as she was lost in her thoughts, a voice came from the door. "Senior Ye, Senior Ye, are you there?"
Mo Tiange frowned slightly. This voice … Right, it was Yi Liu's voice!
She opened the formation and the door. Sure enough, she saw the two sisters standing outside.
"Senior Ye, it's really you!" the two sisters called out in surprise.
Mo Tiange was also quite surprised and happy. She didn't expect they'd come back safe and sound. "It's you!
Quickly come in and sit. "
Yi Liu and Yi Qiu beamed with joy and nodded hurriedly.
Upon entering the room, the two of them looked around then said, "Senior, why is the room so messy? Should we tidy it up?"
Mo Tiange couldn't help but laugh. "We haven't seen each other for twenty years, yet you want to tidy up the room as soon as you see me? You're really fated to be maids.
Your cultivation levels aren't bad, so you should be official disciples now, right?
You don't have to help me with these things. "
Yi Qiu was a bit embarrassed. "We're used to it …"
Yi Liu smiled. "Senior, you're an elder of Bixuan Court now. Even if we're official disciples, we should still do some things for you."
"Right, right, right." Yi Qiu promptly stood up. "Senior, please take a seat. We'll talk to you while we tidy up."
"Alright." Since they were so enthusiastic, she couldn't keep refusing them.
"Right, back then … did you escape?
Were you injured? "
The two sisters were silent for a while before Yi Liu sighed and said, "Back then … we were guarding the concocting room, so we were watching it from the beginning.
Fortunately, Yi Qiu and I didn't die; we were just seriously injured.
Later, when the school was in chaos, us seriously injured disciples took advantage of our familiarity with the terrain to escape … "
"En."
Yi Qiu continued, "Elder sister and I didn't dare to return to the school, so we hid on a small island in the sea. That island didn't have any spirit veins, so no cultivators came to it. It was very safe.
Fortunately, we exchanged a lot of medicinal pills with Senior, so we hid on that island all these years to heal our injuries … "
"You hid like that for twenty years?"
Yi Liu smiled bitterly. "We also came back once. At that time, the whole of Linhai was in chaos. Whether it was our group's disciples or individual cultivators, if they ran into that devil, they would most likely be tortured … During that time, all the cultivators in Linhai went into hiding. It was very difficult to see a single cultivator in Linhai Town …"
"Yes! Aside from some shameless cultivators who relied on that devil, we cultivators living in exile were unprecedentedly united. We kept each other informed, so we could survive.
This could also be considered a blessing in misfortune. "
"Really?"
Mo Tiange was a bit surprised. She originally thought those individual cultivators would dislike Bixuan Court cultivators because they attracted such a disaster.
"That's right."
Yi Qiu smiled and said, "In fact, our Bixuan Court's reputation among individual cultivators wasn't very good before. However, in the past twenty years, because we had a common enemy and were in the same situation, we became a lot closer.
This time, the sect head announced that he would abolish the school rules and treat male cultivators equally, so they were very happy!
Now, our Bixuan Court's reputation has risen greatly; presumably, we'll rise again very soon. "