: Myriad Forms Sect

2025-08-20 Author: Gu Zhenren

: Myriad Forms Sect

"This is the Myriad Forms Sect..." Ning Zhuo gazed around, taking in the surroundings.

The scenery was dreamlike and illusory, with a sea of clouds swirling around and numerous peaks standing tall, resembling a celestial paradise.

The most eye-catching were the eight main peaks, each with its own mystical phenomena, all towering into the clouds, majestic and upright like giants standing at the horizon, with clouds gently brushing their waists.

On the Array Peak, mysterious lights shimmered, forming layers of array diagrams in mid-air, flickering in and out of view. Each array disk rotated slowly, with vast numbers of talismans like stars or swimming fish穿梭ing between the diagrams. A group of cultivators, all at the Golden Core stage, some manipulated talismans to fill the arrays, while others channeled their magic power, weaving array lines out of thin air.

On the Beast Peak, tigers and leopards roamed through the forests, and蛟snakes lurked hidden. As far as the eye could see, there were honeycomb-like beast dens. From the eastern side of the mountain, a large flock of azure birds flew out leisurely. On the back of the leading azure bird sat a young herdsman. The boy played a flute, its melodious sound drifting through the clouds.

On the Alchemy Glow Peak, various alchemy furnaces operated, producing thousands of streams of alchemy smoke. Some smoke pillars were thick and rigid, rising straight into the sky, while others drifted gracefully, dancing with immortal poise. Countless alchemy gases and smokes gathered above the main Alchemy Glow Peak, occasionally illuminated by the light from opened furnaces, merging into a colorful, ever-changing, and eternal glow.

On the Purple Thunder Peak, massive chains coiled around it. The chains were pitch black, like dragons winding around pillars, encircling the mountain several times. The chains connected to the main peak and stretched across the sea of clouds, linking to several surrounding secondary peaks. Mountain breezes blew, swaying the chains and creating clanking sounds.

On the Sword Chime Peak, a stone sword was thrust upside down into the mountain. Sword pavilions stood densely on the mountain, amidst lush bamboo forests.

On the Hundred Herbs Peak, the vegetation was lush, with bewitching giant flowers blooming in the rainforest. When thorny poison vines migrated, they looked like millions of snakes slithering close to the ground.

On the Soaring Peak, fierce winds swept through, sometimes shooting straight into the sky, other times forming azure wind vortices.

On the Flowing Clouds Peak, the cloud layers were the densest. The mountain seemed to be cultivating, continuously inhaling and exhaling the surrounding clouds, creating countless cloud formations.

The eight main peaks!

Besides these, there were secondary peaks, small peaks, and broken peaks.

Ning Zhuo was currently on the mountainside of a small peak, with a massive palace behind him that housed a grand teleportation array.

There were many such small and secondary peaks; Ning Zhuo even saw a hill floating in the clouds.

Some peaks had flying pavilions and flowing elixirs, jade towers and palaces, while others had flower gardens, medicinal herb plots, beast pens, and celestial pools.

Countless cultivators穿梭ed between these peaks like flying ants. Some rode swords, others mounted demon beasts or cloud creatures, some piloted mechanical flying boats, and others simply soared on clouds.

Truly—

Cloud seals in thousands of layers lock the profound heavens, eight pillars prop up the sky to subdue nine dragons.

Array disks layer stars, talismans form a sea, myriad beasts nest in clouds, a herdsman tends azure birds.

Alchemy burns nine cycles, glow congeals blood, thunder restrictions threefold, chains bind the fierce.

Sword chimes hang inverted, tears of all living beings, vines dance among hundred herbs, devouring immortal traces.

Soaring winds rage, gathering cosmic energy, flowing clouds inhale and exhale, emptying myriad calamities.

Suddenly seeing jade towers with flying star rain, one realizes this realm is no dream!

Wen Ruan Yu stood beside Ning Zhuo and timely introduced, "The eight main peaks are not places ordinary cultivators can set foot on. Even if I wanted to ascend, I'd have to report in advance."

He gestured with his hand, drawing a circle: "But on these small peaks are distributed the sixteen halls of the Myriad Forms Sect, which will be places you'll frequent in the future. It's best to familiarize yourself with them early."

Ning Zhuo, curious, sent a mental message, asking, "Senior Wen, as a Golden Core true disciple of the Myriad Forms Sect, can't you freely enter and exit the eight main peaks?"

Wen Ruan Yu smiled wryly: "Even your mother didn't have that qualification. Our Myriad Forms Sect is vast in scale and has a huge number of people, so Golden Core true disciples are... also quite numerous. And this involves many internal matters. Your mother probably didn't tell you because it involves too much, plus the changing times. After I complete my debriefing, I'll explain it to you."

After a pause, Wen Ruan Yu added, "Of course, you'll have to give me some time to figure out the current situation within the sect. After all, I've been away from the mountain for too long."

"Are you really sure about acting alone and not staying in my cave dwelling?"

Ning Zhuo shook his head, refusing again: "Since the environment is safe, I'd rather use my own two feet to measure this spiritual land. After all, this is the sect my mother joined."

Wen Ruan Yu laughed, thought of his senior sister Meng Yao Yin, and sighed.

He patted Ning Zhuo's shoulder and, before leaving, reminded him again: if there's an emergency, Ning Zhuo shouldn't hesitate and should directly crush the jade pendant to alert him. He would do his utmost to help!

From the trip to White Paper Immortal City, if nothing else, Wen Ruan Yu had become Ning Zhuo's most reliable and supportive person within the Myriad Forms Sect.

This wasn't just due to the friendship between Meng Yao Yin and Wen Ruan Yu, or Wen Ruan Yu's admiration and respect for Meng Yao Yin, but also because Wen Ruan Yu himself had high hopes for Ning Zhuo!

After exchanging a few more words, they parted at the square.

Wen Ruan Yu summoned a green cloud, placed one hand behind his back, and departed gracefully.

Ning Zhuo, like the other cultivators, also left the place.

Being cautious by nature and newly arrived in this precious land, he naturally wouldn't use the Wanli Youlong—that was typically used by Nascent Soul stage cultivators. For a mere Foundation Building cultivator like Ning Zhuo to use it would be too flashy.

The Myriad Forms Sect was about to hold the Flying Cloud Assembly, with large numbers of cultivators flocking in, all aiming to join the sect. Therefore, the Myriad Forms Sect had specially assigned tasks, dispatching many cultivators to guide newcomers.

Ning Zhuo found one of the reception cultivators and wanted to simply ask for directions. The cultivator pulled out a bunch of jade slips: "These are jade slips I made myself, containing a rough map of the sect's terrain and many detailed introductions. If you're interested, fellow Daoist, it's only ten low-grade spirit stones."

The reception cultivator was only at the Qi Refining stage. Facing Ning Zhuo, an external Foundation Building cultivator, he rubbed his hands together, his eyes bright.

Ning Zhuo paid the spirit stones and bought a jade slip.

The content in the jade slip provided a general introduction to the Myriad Forms Sect, which was exactly what Ning Zhuo needed the most. Although Buddha Physician Meng Yao Yin had left him a message jade slip, it didn't cover these basic常识.

Following the map guidance in the jade slip, Ning Zhuo first arrived at a place above a traveling cloud.

The traveling cloud wasn't large, with only one palace, the plaque reading "Twelfth Branch Hall of the Commerce Hall."

The Myriad Forms Sect had eight main peaks and sixteen halls, among which the Commerce Hall was responsible for internal and external trade, managing numerous merchant teams.

The branch hall palace was entirely cast from red copper, with eaves tiles all cast into Pi Xiu swallowing gold shapes. Bronze abacus beads hung from the eaves corners, clinking in the wind.

Ning Zhuo stepped over the bluish-gold threshold, trod on the floor tiles with hidden auspicious light, and saw that the layout inside the hall was extremely simple.

All four walls were lined with cabinets, reaching up to the ceiling. Outside the cabinets were long tables, connected together to form a circle. Inside the long tables were cultivators handling business, while outside were people looking, bargaining, or selling.

In the center of the hall was an octagonal counter, forming an Eight Trigrams array pattern.

The octagonal counter was large, enclosing at least fifty cultivators inside.

In the center of the counter stood a white jade square stele, with writing on all four sides. The stele text scrolled, displaying real-time prices. Ning Zhuo glanced at it and saw terms like Skyfire Sand, Profound Ice Marrow, Flowing Cloud Tea, etc.

With the reception jade slip he had bought earlier, he knew this octagonal counter was called the Eight Directions Treasure Appraisal Platform in the Myriad Forms Sect.

The cultivators inside the platform were all responsible for appraisal.

Some used measuring rulers to gauge the age of medicinal herbs, some used water basins to trace the origin of magical treasures, while others utilized the Discern Truth from Falsehood Array above their heads. Where the array light swept over, the authenticity of goods would reveal itself in various colored lights.

Ning Zhuo looked around and walked to the counter at the southwest corner, stating his需求 and inquiring about prices.

What he wanted to buy was still information.

The Commerce Hall, of course, dealt in information trade.

The cultivator quoted Ning Zhuo a price, offering five price levels. After some inquiry, Ning Zhuo fell into thought.

The highest tier was extremely expensive, so Ning Zhuo ruled it out first.

The second price level, he didn't want to pay either.

Even the third price level was quite a stretch for him, given his current funds.

Back in White Paper Immortal City, to form the Qing Jiao Army, Ning Zhuo had invested全力, basically exhausting the war profits from the Two Pillars Kingdom on it.

Although he ultimately thwarted the River of Forgetfulness Prefect's century-long conspiracy and collected spoils of war.

These spoils could pile up into a small mountain, but converting them would require a lot of time and a relatively lengthy process.

Mainly because these spoils were all from the underworld; taking them out in large quantities would inevitably cause market fluctuations and significant轰动.

Too much attention!

It would also reveal many of Ning Zhuo's secrets.

Although Ning Zhuo had formed an alliance with the White Paper City Lord, he didn't use her channels to convert this batch of spoils on a large scale.

His previous explanation to the White Paper City Lord was that the Qing Jiao Army had only fought in the underworld for a while before immediately returning. How to explain taking out large amounts of spoils now?

The Qing Jiao Army still needed to cooperate closely with White Paper Immortal City; showing an untrue side right after forming an alliance would definitely be harmful rather than beneficial.

Before leaving, Ning Zhuo exchanged Yang energy with the White Paper City Lord for a batch of spirit stones. Even though he knew Yang energy was quite important to the White Paper City Lord, he didn't take the opportunity to raise the price, fully demonstrating his sincerity in cooperation.

Ning Zhuo used the Wanli Youlong for travel, consuming some spirit stones. Paying the teleportation fee consumed most of it.

The usage fee for teleportation arrays isn't based on headcount but requires prior measurement. The higher a cultivator's cultivation and the more treasures they have, the higher the fee.

The Wanli Youlong at Ning Zhuo's waist, along with Qing Chi, Sun Ling Tong, Chef Lao hidden within, and numerous mechanical platforms, etc., all had to be factored into the price.

Of course, the Wanli Youlong itself had the ability to穿梭 void, and Sun Ling Tong had absorbed the marrow of a void邪deity. With such bonuses, the fee Ning Zhuo paid was still lower than the常规 price.

Cultivators with such abilities have advantages when using teleportation arrays. If a cultivator travels around frequently, has no fixed abode, and often uses teleportation arrays, this advantage accumulated yearly can save a considerable amount of spirit stones.

Ning Zhuo hesitated between the third and fourth highest price levels.

Just as he was about to ask the sales cultivator in detail about the differences between these two price levels, two cultivators approached Ning Zhuo.

One of them smiled and initiated conversation: "Fellow Daoist, I am Shen Xi, and this is my cousin Su Ling Kou. We both come from Nine Palaces Immortal City."

Ning Zhuo's heart stirred slightly, quickly recalling that they seemed to be cultivators who had arrived here via the same teleportation array batch as him.

One of the transfer points for Ning Zhuo and Wen Ruan Yu was Nine Palaces Immortal City.

"I am Ning Zhuo, pleased to meet you both, fellow Daoists." Ning Zhuo greeted them.

Shen Xi stated their purpose: "It's not that I intended to spy, but our goal is the same as yours—we also came here to buy information about the Myriad Forms Sect."

"In my humble opinion, why don't the three of us pool our resources to buy one jade slip of the third price level? What do you think, fellow Daoist?"

Ning Zhuo carefully observed the two before him.

Shen Xi was slim, with a complexion like cold jade, his eyebrows and eyes gentle as if lightly brushed with ink. His right palm had thin calluses, and he was currently holding a round jade pendant, constantly rubbing it.

His hair was tied with an ebony hairpin, the pinhead inlaid with a Mustard Seed Stone, emitting an artifact-level aura. Over a plain green straight-collar robe, he wore a black silkworm cloud-patterned cloak, the cloak corners adorned with Two Realms琉璃buttons, generating a protective clear light naturally. The jade pendant in his hand was also an artifact array disk.

Shen Xi's cultivation was at the Foundation Building stage, much more substantial than Ning Zhuo's.

As for Su Ling Kou beside him, her colors were light, her eyes lively.

Her hair ribbon was a plain silver interlocking clasp, wearing a honey-colored diagonal-collar short jacket paired with a moon-white pleated skirt. Both her wrists were tied with strands of five-colored ropes.

She was also at the Foundation Building stage, but the artifact aura of her hair ribbon wasn't concealed.

Their appearances were only above average, but they had an air of nobility.

Artifacts are typically used by Golden Core or Nascent Soul stage cultivators, yet each of them possessed one or two, revealing considerable wealth. Their entire outfits were magical instruments, and the auras connected, clearly forming a set. Just this outward appearance was enough to make them stand out prominently among the masses.

In comparison, aside from his noticeably large head and a handsome air, Ning Zhuo's clothing and treasures seemed rather ordinary (the mechanical游龙, though coiled around his waist, was covered under his outer garment and had its aura收敛).

Ning Zhuo smiled at the two cultivators: "That's a good suggestion!"

But then, he looked为难ly at the sales cultivator, asking if cooperation between two parties complied with the trade rules?

The cultivator waved his hand, saying it was fine, but also reminded Ning Zhuo of the risks involved. For example, if one cultivator checked the jade slip first and used their spiritual sense to erase some key information, with means to do so undetected.

Hearing this, Shen Xi主动 extended his hand to Ning Zhuo: "The jade slip can go to Fellow Daoist Ning first."

Ning Zhuo didn't decline, thanking him.

With both parties cooperating, the sales cultivator handed the jade slip to Ning Zhuo. He immediately took out a blank jade slip and began copying the content.

Shen Xi then asked the sales cultivator: "Since the content of this jade slip can be copied, if multiple parties pool resources to purchase and then resell at a higher price, wouldn't that harm the Commerce Hall's information business? Isn't there a rule against this in the Myriad Forms Sect's regulations?"

The sales cultivator waved his hand: "Our Myriad Forms Sect's scale and number of members are among the top of the super sects, but our sect rules are surprisingly few."

"Precisely because there are few restrictions, such a large number of sect members can fully utilize their abilities, keeping our Myriad Forms Sect always the number one sect in Flying Cloud Country!"

"Of course, such cases of buying low and selling high have happened before. After persisting for a while, they were all cracked down on and severely punished."

"You are clearly newcomers. Allowing you to do this is my personal decision. Of course, you might cheat me. But overall, it's just one piece of such information."

The sales cultivator's response was quite magnanimous, and Ning Zhuo, while copying the jade slip, took note of it.

(End of )