In the cave mansion, reminiscing about the various experiences of the sect recounted by Lu Yuanshan, Lu Ping spent some time summarizing the current state of the sect.
Poverty cannot continue any longer.
Although with the disciples' consent, using three years of their salaries to invest in the three major industries might bring considerable returns to alleviate the sect's economic crisis.
But this ultimately requires time and good planning.
The same goes for the Spiritual Peach Tree, which has a one-year growth period before it blooms and bears fruit, during which one must patiently wait to make a profit.
Then there is Li Chaoge, which worries Lu Ping greatly.
Information about sect members displayed by the system records their locations. For instance, the positions of Lu Yuanshan and Lu Zhiwei are both at Cyan Lotus Mountain.
Based on this, Lu Ping tried to see whether there was any information on Li Chaoge, so that he might roughly know her whereabouts.
But there was no result; Li Chaoge could not be found among the sect members.
This made Lu Ping even more worried.
He wasn't sure whether the system did not display information about Li Chaoge because she had already fallen, or because she was not considered part of Cyan Mountain Sect now.
Compared to the former, Lu Ping hoped for the latter.
His wife's matter still needs attention; there should be a resolution in the end.
Lastly, there is Lu Zhiwei, whose state is concerning.
Lu Ping searched the system mall to see if there were any items that could aid Lu Zhiwei's negative state.
He remembered there was an item called [Steadfast Dao Heart], which might be helpful.
Lu Ping found it and clicked to view.
[Steadfast Dao Heart: Two-Star]
[Effect: The path of cultivation is full of hardships, and having an unwavering heart for the Dao is extremely important. It can revive a sect member's heart for cultivation, with permanent effect.]
[Reputation: 50]
At first glance, the effect of reviving a sect member's heart for cultivation seemed quite impressive.
Lu Zhiwei's Dao heart was lost, lacking motivation to continue cultivation. If she used this, could the revitalized Lu Zhiwei overcome the shadow of her failed Foundation Establishment?
The possibility is significant; even with just a ten percent chance, it's worth a try.
Lu Ping wished to redeem it for Lu Zhiwei now.
But looking at his reputation points, only 25 points remained, not enough for the exchange.
Initially, he had only 50 points; after redeeming the Spiritual Peach Tree, he used 25 points, leaving his reputation points quite low.
As for other items, like [Earth Heart Method], an Earth Attribute cultivation technique for the Qi Cultivation Chapter, Cyan Mountain Sect didn't lack Five Elements Technique, so Lu Ping wasn't particularly interested.
His current aim was solely on redeeming [Steadfast Dao Heart].
Therefore, he needed a way to acquire more reputation points.
Ways to gain reputation points include [Experience], [Secluded Cultivation], and [Doorway Affairs].
[Experience] can trigger random events, but Lu Ping wasn't very clear on the exact operation process, and the precondition was to have a disciple leave the mountain for experience.
Currently, no disciple has been dispatched for experience.
As for secluded cultivation, it's not an option since he just awoke not long ago.
To accumulate fifty reputation points through secluded cultivation, it would take twenty-five months, over two years, which is quite long.
Who knows if Cyan Mountain Sect will still exist two years later, or what Lu Zhiwei's situation will be.
If secluded cultivation is not feasible, then the only option is to try [Doorway Affairs]. This function requires spending five reputation points to use.
"Five points it is, hopefully this function proves useful."
After contemplating a bit, Lu Ping spent 5 points to redeem one [Doorway Affairs].
[Ding! Doorway Affairs successfully redeemed]
Triggered [Doorway Affairs] exploration.
The system interface automatically appeared, switching to a map screen.
On the map, using Cyan Mountain Sect as the center, it spread out across a thirty-thousand-mile radius, showcasing the terrain and geographical names of various locations.
Large areas like Qingli Sea, Yanhuang Desert, Lingxi, and Southern Wilderness were marked on the map. Due to map size restrictions, only a corner was displayed, with a limited area.
It was a miniaturized version of the Lushan County map, covering almost half of the total area. The map's periphery was a gray, indistinct region that required later unlocking to expand the map range.
The usage is simple; one can select any region on the map to conduct Doorway Affairs exploration.
During exploration of the selected region, the difficulty level of the Doorway Affairs discovered correlates with the sect level.
Lu Ping did not make many observations about the map's content, being very familiar with it.
As a Golden Core Ancestor, he had traveled throughout Lushan County and even Lingxi State, having a thorough understanding of Lingxi State's map.
For instance, east of Cyan Lotus Mountain lies a vast Impact Plain, a fertile area with abundant water and many cities, making it a treasured land.
Beyond the Impact Plain further east is the expansive Qingli Sea.
The Qingli Sea contains many islands, inhabited by sea beasts, and conceals many ancient cultivator cave mansion relics, attracting numerous cultivators to gather on the various islands.
Among the islands, Cyan Simurgh Island is the most famous and has the highest concentration of cultivators.
Cyan Simurgh Island, closest to Lingxi State, was a place Lu Ping had traveled extensively before, leaving behind many stories there.
Going further east past Cyan Simurgh Island leads to the boundless, mysterious overseas land, with its coastal waters being more perilous and vast, where even Golden Core cultivators don't dare tread lightly.
Overseas, Lu Ping had never set foot, being largely clueless, having only heard tales of some powerful Overseas Immortal Sect forces residing in those little-known mysterious sea territories.
Among them were Nascent Soul level forces, and even genuinely supreme Immortal Sects ruling regions, making it a hidden place full of potential.
Not to mention Nascent Soul level forces; even a Golden Core level force could sweep through the major sects of Lushan County, entering the ranks of top sects in the Chu Kingdom Cultivation Realm.
The Overseas Cultivation Realm competes impressively well against the Land Cultivation Realm.
As he browsed the map, contemplating slightly, Lu Ping reached out and clicked, choosing the area approximately two hundred miles east of Cyan Mountain Sect.
The choice was made after careful consideration.
This region had distributions of small towns and villages, far behind Guangde County in development, making it rare for many sects to have interests there, thus having a high success rate for exploration.
If Doorway Affairs were indeed explored from this, dispatching disciples there for execution could greatly reduce competition with other sects.
Most importantly, it was very close to Cyan Mountain Sect, only over two hundred miles away.
Since Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators had quite shallow magical power, not sufficient for flying swords, if the exploration distance was too far, just traveling would be time-consuming and laborious, making nearby options more advantageous to shorten the journey.
Once the area was selected, the system began exploration.
Ripples emanated in circles, spreading from the center of the selected area like a radar, spinning and expanding outward.
Before long, a small red dot appeared, blinking.
The exploration result appeared.
Details displayed.
[Doorway Affairs: Outside the green forest of Little Stone Town, a group of Tree Cave Fox often harms the populace, please send disciples to clear the group of Tree Cave Fox.]
[Quantity: 36]
[Combat Power: Qi Cultivation Stage First Layer to Second Layer]
[Status: Long-term proliferating]
[Completion Reward: 121 Reputation, one free system mall refresh]
...