With the help of the Wind Riding Technique, over a hundred disciples quickly followed Liu Yunan to the floating island teleportation platform beside the small secret realm garden.
They looked at Elder Liu, who had stopped in front of them, confused as to why he had brought them here again.
Weren't they supposed to continue touring the sect? But... hadn't they already toured this place yesterday?
Could it be that Elder Liu had forgotten? That didn't seem possible…
While the group was lost in thought, Liu Yunan turned around and addressed them:
"Everyone, we are now going to visit the places we missed yesterday."
"But before that, there's something I need to make clear."
"Our Lingxian Sect is a sect of cultivators! From the moment you passed the Path of Heart and vowed to join Lingxian Sect to cultivate, you embarked on a journey completely different from your previous life!"
"So! You need to adjust your mortal perspectives and quickly adapt to everything extraordinary!"
In truth, Liu Yunan wanted to directly tell them, "Stay calm! Be brave! No matter what you see, don't get too excited!" But he still had to maintain some level of decorum.
Having been an elder for over three years and handled many sect matters, he was well-versed in the appropriate ways of handling things.
The newcomers didn't quite understand what he meant but nodded in agreement nonetheless.
Seeing how serious Elder Liu was, they kept reminding themselves internally: Adjust your mortal perspectives and quickly get accustomed to the life of a cultivator… Adjust your mortal perspectives and quickly get accustomed…
Then, they watched as Liu Yunan turned and walked toward the semi-transparent stone platform in front of him.
As he moved, his voice rang out:
"This is the entrance to our sect's floating island. In a moment, you will step up in groups of ten."
As soon as he finished speaking, he shot straight into the sky, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
The newcomers were wide-eyed!
They had no idea why Elder Liu had taken off so suddenly and vanished just as quickly.
But some remembered his words and realized that the semi-transparent platform must be the entrance to their next destination.
They quickly came to their senses and, following Liu Yunan's instructions, divided into groups of ten, preparing to step onto the platform.
It's worth noting that the platform initially had a limit of five people at a time.
However, due to the abundance of spiritual energy produced by Lingyun Mountain on the floating island, and the fact that Lin Xiao and the others had never exceeded their consumption, the density of spiritual energy on Yaoguang Island had steadily increased.
The floating island had also been upgraded to level two.
When the island leveled up, its overall size expanded by a tenth, and the teleportation platform's capacity increased from five to ten people.
The 132 newcomers formed 14 groups. The first 12 groups consisted of 10 people each.
With 12 people remaining, they didn't split into a group of 10 and a group of 2 but instead naturally formed two groups of six.
No one had suggested this; the last dozen people just did it naturally.
Suppressing their excitement, everyone prepared themselves for the thrilling experience of rapidly soaring into the sky, only to find that as soon as they stood on the platform, a white light flashed, and the surroundings changed.
The new disciples: … Where was the promised rapid ascent?
What they didn't know was that the sight of Liu Yunan shooting upward was just a visual effect of the teleportation platform.
This was something Lin Xiao had found amusing when he was tinkering with the floating island's control panel, so he enabled the effect, and it had been left on ever since.
But this small detail became irrelevant the moment the new disciples saw their surroundings.
Their jaws dropped in awe.
At a glance, it was clear they were standing on a small island. However, there was no water around—only wisps of flowing clouds coiled around the island. Beyond the clouds, there was nothing but the sky and the rising sun.
Even cultivators like Yuan Jinsheng and Liang Zhonghuai, who had seen much in their time, couldn't hide their shock.
Where… where were they?!
Yuan Jinsheng and Liang Zhonghuai were the first to react, walking toward the edge of the island.
When they looked down and saw the tiny sect buildings and houses of Xiushui Village below, they had to accept the fact that they were indeed standing on a floating island!
Yuan Jinsheng had lived over 200 years in the mortal world, and not only had he never seen such a place, he had never even heard of a sect possessing such a domain!
And the spiritual energy here was far richer than any sect he had ever visited!
He could confidently say that no sect in the mortal world could match this! No sect had a place with such an abundant gathering of spiritual energy!
Even Liang Zhonghuai, a low-level informant from Wanwantong, a well-known intelligence organization in the cultivation world, had never seen such a sight!
At best, he had only heard rumors.
It was said that some great sects possessed floating islands, such as the Fuzong Sect.
Supposedly, the entire northern and southern domains had only one floating island, and it belonged to Fuzong.
This information had come from a colleague who bragged about seeing Fuzong's floating island while working in the Southern Spiritual Domain.
But even that colleague had only glimpsed the floating island from afar while standing at Fuzong's gates.
What was the origin of Lingxian Sect, that a sect in the mortal world could possess what only a great sect like Fuzong had—a floating island?
Liang Zhonghuai, who was always cautious in avoiding danger, began to suspect that he might have entered a place backed by an immensely powerful figure.
Whether this sect was a treasure waiting to be seized or had a powerful backer, either option seemed dangerous to him.
The former would invite powerful figures to seize it, while the latter could easily make them cannon fodder.
However.
He glanced at Aunt Yang, who stood nearby.
Now that she had confirmed her daughter's safety with her own eyes, the worry that had clouded Aunt Yang's face for years had finally disappeared.
Liang Zhonghuai thought to himself: Actually, there might be a third possibility.
Perhaps this place was a peaceful haven, a sanctuary capable of calming the turmoil of the world.
Lowering his gaze slightly, his long fingers brushed the identity token hanging at his waist.
His fingertips caressed the engraved words: "Lingxian Sect Disciple."
When his spiritual sense touched the token, it displayed his name inside.
Recalling the dream from the Path of Heart and the force that had calmed his inner panic at the final moment, a faint smile crept across his face.
So be it. With such a rigorous Path of Heart to select its disciples, even if the road ahead was long, Liang Zhonghuai thought, why not walk it together?