Dual Cultivation God Returns Chapter 6: The Yin Yang Unity Palace

Inside the Armoury Hall, Wu Long collected the standard equipment set handed to disciples venturing out for missions. Several items were included:

Fasting pills that supplied nourishment and eased hunger pangs. By flashing a captivating smile at the woman distributing the supplies and noting he could be away longer than planned, he obtained a dozen—exceeding the normal allotment. These pills proved simple to craft, incredibly affordable, and storable for vast durations, letting the sect distribute hundreds without impacting profits from disciple missions.

A leather pouch filled with pure drinking water, enough for roughly three days instead of a full week. It was anticipated that disciples would locate a fresh water source to refill it once depleted.

A basic steel sword. Most disciples carried personal equipment, often at minimum a low-grade spiritual treasure. Yet with outings carrying risks, the sect loaned these ordinary blades to those lacking their own.

A compact dagger, typically employed for hacking through foliage, extracting monster cores or neidans from vanquished demonic beasts, or tackling miscellaneous chores needing a keen edge.

A petite jade knife featuring a blade the length of an index finger for harvesting rare medicines, a small jade spade with a palm-sized head suited for root-based herbs, plus a dedicated pouch for holding medicinal plants or refinement materials.

A light cloak emblazoned with the sect's emblem alongside a bamboo hat for protection against wind, rain, and snow, complemented by a larger cloth shoulder bag to haul them and additional belongings.

A compact pouch containing 5 stink pills sealed in minuscule glass vials—crucial aids if a disciple faced a demonic beast surpassing 2nd tier, rendering escape impossible without them, or got besieged by a horde of beasts.

All gear aside from fasting pills and stink pills was merely loaned and demanded return upon the sect's gates post-mission, with points deducted for any loss, harm, or destruction.

Wu Long packed away everything except the bamboo hat, sword, and dagger into the travel bag, securing it with rope over his shoulder beside the hat. He attached the sword to one side of his robe sash and the dagger to the opposite, then made his way to the sect gates—the sole secure path down the mountain by foot.

Along the path, the nearer he drew to the gates, more patrols in gray robes crossed his view, grouped in sevens: six at 1st through 6th level Qi Condensation Realm—a stage beyond Qi Gathering—and one at 7th through 9th level Qi Condensation Realm. Now and then, he spotted individuals in Qi Manifestation Realm, the stage above Qi Condensation, clad in gray robes edged with blue.

Those gray robes denoted Sect Protectors. Much like Sect Retainers, disciples who stalled in progress for almost a decade after surpassing Sect Retainer realms—signaling they'd likely hit their peak without elder caliber—had to step down from discipleship, opting to depart the sect or remain as Sect Protectors.

Sect Protectors served as the sect's core fighting strength, overseeing all guard posts and law enforcement while doubling as the sect's forces during clashes.

From the cultivation realms of disciples, elders, Sect Retainers, and protectors, Wu Long assessed the sect's general power ranking.

By his calculations, Yin Yang Unity Palace recruited disciples at 7th level Body Transformation Realm or above once every decade. A portion of newcomers entered the Inner Court outright, though the bulk started in the Outer Court.

Nearly 10% faced expulsion for rule violations, insufficient talent, or fatal mishaps. Those breaking through to Qi Gathering Realm within a year of entry, or revealing exceptional gifts, could ascend to Inner Court as high-potential talents. Conversely, underwhelming Inner Court members occasionally dropped to Outer Court.

Talent alone separated Inner Court from Outer Court disciples, with Inner Court gaining superior monthly resource allocations to propel them toward advanced realms and bolster the sect's might. Consequently, some Outer Court disciples outpaced Inner Court in cultivation yet ranked lower, their aptitudes offering slim chances of elder breakthroughs.

Annually, the sect expels disciples who fail to make sufficient contributions via missions, barring them from both the Inner Court and the Outer Court.

Consequently, the sect always boasts disciples spanning from advanced Body Transformation Realm up to Qi Manifestation Realm.

Roughly two decades after joining, the bulk (55-65%) of disciples from a batch in the Inner Court and Outer Court halt their progress at Qi Gathering Realm for a full decade, even as their fellow batchmates climb to superior realms—some prodigies even attaining Revolving Qi Realm and elder positions. Most of this bunch then depart, with just a scant few remaining as Sect Retainers.

Another decade later, the vast majority (70%-80%) of the surviving disciples from that batch stagnate at Qi Condensation Realm or Qi Manifestation Realm for ten years, prompting them to either exit the sect or become Sect Protectors; a minor fraction gets expelled or perishes for assorted reasons, while the rest advance sluggishly, ultimately hitting Revolving Qi Realm in time to claim elder status.

Hence, any fresh batch of disciples encounters at most three senior generations, where each prior generation shrinks exponentially compared to the next, though the one right above mirrors their own in scale somewhat. Those beyond the third generation who persist in slow growth get lumped together as Hidden Court disciples, largely tucked away in secluded cultivation until they either break through to elder rank or stall out and shift to protectors—rarely spotted in everyday sect life.

When that slim fraction of disciples ascends to elders in Revolving Qi Realm, the sect's core expands, enabling it to onboard more recruits thanks to extra mentors for the juniors, thus swelling its overall size.

Drawing from Wu Long's vast experience, he deduced that with sect elders at Revolving Qi Realm, Grand Elders a stage higher in Foundation Building Realm must exist, alongside a Sect Master typically a realm above them—here, likely a Core Formation Realm powerhouse.

Yet, noting the sect's modest 7,000 members—including about 2,000 protectors and retainers plus roughly 500 at elder level—he judged it fairly young, no older than 200 years, or perhaps reeling from a recent sharp decline, though no signs of that appeared. Thus, it seemed plausible this fledgling sect dubbed peak Revolving Qi experts as Grand Elders, while the Sect Master and maybe a Vice-Sect Master held Foundation Building Realm. Such a setup wouldn't even qualify as a proper sect against the 'backwater' of his origins, starkly highlighting the dismal cultivation standards here.

Wu Long could readily gauge Yin Yang Unity Palace's upper echelons because every sect adhered to a near-identical framework, varying only in realm counts, disciple intake levels, and timelines.

Take, for instance, a typical sect from his early days: it recruited solely at Qi Gathering Realm every two decades, stationed Sect Retainers at Qi Manifestation Realm, Sect Protectors at Revolving Qi and Foundation Building Realms, Elders at Core Formation Realm, Grand Elders at Core Condensation Realm, and a Sect Master in Mortal Transcendence Realm. Most sects also housed one or more Sect Ancestors—former Sect Masters in late Mortal Transcendence stages.

Such a sect thus featured practitioners from disciples to Sect Master across every major realm of the Nine Mortal Realms save the initial Body Transformation Realm, yet its promotion and staffing logic stayed universally consistent. This held true across all sects, from lowly ones to sky-high immortal sects alike.

While pondering his location via the ambient power levels—which only deepened his bafflement, as he couldn't fathom where a sect of this caliber and scale could thrive amid the cutthroat cultivation world—he arrived at the gates and breezed through using his mission permit, no hitches.

He trekked down the mountain path for several hours, occasionally crossing outer patrols and protector checkpoints, until reaching the base where a stunning, verdant forest brimming with Spiritual Qi stretched endlessly, climbing hills and peaks across this immense domain.

Wu Long journeyed through the woods, bypassing the path that stretched from the mountain trail's start to what seemed the closest human outpost, and instead headed in a direction from a previous mission, moving at a speed barely exceeding that of an ordinary mortal. Cultivators in the first three levels of Body Transformation Realm possessed only marginally enhanced strength and stamina over a mortal at their physical peak from lifelong training, which mortals found remarkable, yet utterly feeble when viewed by even Qi Gathering Realm cultivators who commanded superhuman power, swiftness, and vitality thanks to gathering Spiritual Qi and storing it within their Dantian.

He pressed on for several hours nonstop until arriving at a modest spring for a brief rest, as his current physical state imposed limits and his vigor started waning from its maximum. Venturing through untamed wilds always demanded preserving peak condition to handle any sudden threats.

Along his path, he occasionally spotted distant Outer Court disciples collecting medicinal herbs, and he effortlessly dispatched a few aggressive wild beasts with a single sword stroke per clash, killing them instantly.

Beasts typically fell into three main groups: wild beasts, demonic beasts, and spiritual beasts. These represented the most frequently encountered varieties, though others existed as well.

Wild beasts resembled ordinary mortal creatures without any extraordinary abilities, ranging from aggressive to peaceful types.

Demonic beasts proved savage and belligerent, endowed with unique powers. Their organs often served as valuable resources, and some harbored monster cores or neidans formed from their cultivation essence. They were classified by grades, tiers, and levels matching human cultivation stages. For instance, demonic beasts equivalent to those in the Nine Mortal Realms belonged to Mortal grade, with 1st tier covering Body Transformation Realm equivalents, and low-level indicating comparability to the 1st through 3rd levels of Body Transformation Realm. In theory, Wu Long could only challenge low-level 1st tier Mortal grade demonic beasts.

However, from his recollections, no one in the sect ever referenced demonic beast grades, merely tiers and levels, suggesting ignorance of any surpassing Mortal grade.

The third prevalent beast type, spiritual beasts, resembled distinct races more than mere animals, boasting intelligence rivaling or far exceeding humans, the ability to cultivate, and transformation into human shape beyond the Nine Mortal Realms.

Wu Long ignored numerous medicinal plants he passed, as they held no appeal for him—not even his sect deemed them especially rare or priceless, though disciples still harvested them for contribution points.

He had not yet clashed with a demonic beast, yet he detected plenty lurking far off.

This wealth of spiritual flora and demonic beasts solidified his suspicions. This place truly qualified as a Spiritual Land.