Chapter 40: Ten Thousand Swords as One

Lin Yun was astonished when he saw the towering structure in the distance. In the previously uninhabited mountainside, a massive building had suddenly appeared out of nowhere!

Yes, a massive structure.

For the village of Xiushui, a building the size of Lingxian Hall was already considered grand.

Drawn by Lin Yun's exclamation, the others followed his gaze and looked over.

Everyone let out a unified gasp of amazement: "Wow!"

Then, just as uniformly, they all turned their gaze toward Lin Xiao.

It wasn't hard to guess that this sudden appearance of a grand structure was most likely his doing!

Lin Xiao rubbed his nose, cleared his throat, and said, "This is our sect's grand hall. Do you want to go take a look?"

Everyone eagerly nodded, "Yes, let's go!"

So Lin Xiao led the group toward the grand hall. As they arrived at the entrance, everyone instinctively tilted their heads to look up at the high-hanging signboard.

"Ah! I know the first three characters!" Hu Liang exclaimed.

But Qin Jianghe beat him to it, saying, "The first two characters are 'Lingxian!' Just like on the stone tablet! The last character is 'Da,' right, Brother Sun?"

Turning to Sun Yigao, he asked for confirmation.

Sun Yigao smiled and nodded, adding a bit of impromptu teaching for everyone, "The last character is pronounced 'Dian.' You can understand it as a tall building, and in our case, this Lingxian Hall is likely where we'll hold discussions."

The group, now accustomed to Sun Yigao's teachings, nodded repeatedly and took another good look at the character "殿" as if trying to imprint it into their minds.

Lin Xiao raised his hand and pressed it against the grand doors. The wooden doors felt heavy under his touch. With a bit of force, he pushed the doors open.

As the heavy doors swung open, the gust of wind stirred by the movement fluttered everyone's clothes and hair, then settled.

It was late afternoon, and the sunlight was starting to dim. Yet inside the hall, the room was bright!

Upon closer inspection, they noticed that the walls and pillars were inlaid with many glowing fragments, arranged somewhat haphazardly, though there seemed to be some hidden pattern.

Inside the grand hall, the front of the room featured a raised platform with steps leading up to it. The rest of the space was empty.

The platform appeared to be where the speaker or leader would stand, while the open space seemed reserved for others who might attend or participate.

Lin Xiao stepped forward, the first to cross the high threshold into the hall.

The others from Lingxian Sect followed closely behind.

As they entered the hall, they were overwhelmed by a sense of solemnity and grandeur, a feeling of reverence that seemed to settle over them like a heavy, calming presence.

Lin Xiao felt it too.

He stood at the base of the platform, gazing up at the three large, black characters on the wall. His emotions were complicated.

Lingxian Sect.

He had truly established a cultivation sect in this remote village of an unfamiliar ancient world.

Even though the sect members were still weak, and the sect itself was far from complete, lacking resources and wealth, it was something they had built through their hard work.

Behind Lin Xiao, the others gazed around the grand hall, their hearts swelling with pride.

This was their sect!

[Ding—Congratulations to the host. Sect morale is at an all-time high, reaching 200%. Reward: Heaven-tier formation 'Ten Thousand Swords as One.' Please check your inventory.

Friendly reminder: Since this is a Heaven-tier formation, the cultivator must be at least in the Golden Core stage to practice and set up the formation. Otherwise, failure to form the array may result in death. Please exercise caution when training.]

Heaven-tier!

Lin Xiao, jolted by the system notification, saw the words "Heaven-tier" and was thrilled—until he noticed the Golden Core stage requirement.

Well, that was great. Combined, their current levels didn't even add up to one Golden Core stage.

This was an incredible item, but the timing wasn't right.

With a sigh, Lin Xiao tossed the newly acquired yet currently useless "Ten Thousand Swords as One" formation into his inventory, where it would likely gather dust for the time being.

After showing everyone the grand hall and receiving both a morale boost and a Heaven-tier formation, Lin Xiao happily waved everyone off, telling them to go home early for dinner.

Lin Xiao and Lin Yun returned to the Lin family's ancestral home together.

In the courtyard bathed in the setting sun, two dining tables had been pushed together, and stacks of clean bowls and chopsticks were set out.

Lin Ying, who had been playing and braiding grass ropes at the gate, saw Lin Yun and Lin Xiao approaching and immediately ran inside, shouting to the adults in the main hall:

"Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, Mom, Uncle! Big Cousin and Second Cousin are back!"

The first to react was Grandma Lin, who had been listening to Lin Dashan bragging. She nimbly hopped off the kang bed, quickly put on her shoes, and hurried into the kitchen.

"Oh my, Erlang and Sanlang are back! Let's hurry and bring the dishes out. Dashan's wife, come help!"

Lin Da's wife followed quickly into the kitchen.

The men in the main hall stopped talking and began heading out to the courtyard.

Lin Yan, who had been sewing clothes indoors, carefully folded the worn garment and set it aside to continue mending the next day before stepping outside.

Lin Yan and Lin Ying were the daughters of the Lin family's eldest branch, Lin Dashan and his wife. Lin Yan was thirteen years old, and Lin Ying was six.

By the time everyone had gathered, Lin Yun and Lin Xiao had just reached the courtyard gate.

Meanwhile, Grandma Lin and Lin Da's wife had already brought out several large bowls of food and placed them on the table.

The bowls, each bigger than anyone's face, were filled to the brim with food. Although there was only one meat dish, every dish shimmered with a healthy layer of oil, showing that they had been cooked with plenty of it. The steamed buns were made of real wheat flour, not mixed with chaff, and they looked plump and inviting.

Seeing everyone gathered in the courtyard, Grandpa Lin looked around the table, satisfied with the sight of his family, before being the first to sit down.

The rest of the family followed suit.

With a ruddy complexion, Grandpa Lin picked up his bowl and, with a strong voice, announced:

"Let's eat!"

The others immediately began digging into their food, eating heartily.

Once their initial hunger was sated, they started to eat more leisurely.

After picking his teeth, Grandpa Lin grabbed another small bite and chewed thoughtfully. Then he turned to Lin Xiao and said:

"Sanlang, I hear you made a big profit today! Your father and uncle were telling me... about your cultivation... is it really true?"

Lin Xiao, mimicking his grandfather's manner, took another bite before leaning back in satisfaction and responding,

"Yes, Grandpa, it's true. If you want, you could join me in cultivation too. You're getting on in years; maybe cultivating could help you live even longer!"