Chapter 142
Sect's Humble Beginnings
Leo walked in the front, flanked by Blackie and Milky, who finally deemed it to be too busy back home and decided to follow him, as well as Hoot and Red, who were perched on his shoulders, while Lu Yang and Elder Ag followed at the rear, a few feet back.
He led them to the open plain where he cut down innumerable rotten trees in order to build the longhouse, hoping that it would be large enough to structure the entire Sect; there was no blueprint, after all, that the system offered, so he would have to build it from the ground up. Considering he initially failed to build a mud hut on his own, and even taking into account that he'd improved in time, there was just about a negative chance of him knowing how to build something as large as a Sect.
After all, it wasn't just one building—it was an entire compound of potentially dozens of buildings, each with their own functions while still maintaining the notion of the whole. Thus, he needed help. A lot of it, at that.
About half an hour or so of the trek later, they emerged upon the west-bound clearing; it was indeed massive, about the size of a football field, but Leo held a deep suspicion that it wasn't enough and that they'd probably have to cull a decent chunk of the nearby trees. Perhaps, though, if he introduced the notion of verticality and pursued it aggressively, they might capitulate, but the question was, would the world's technology allow for building that far up to use up space optimally?
"Hm," Elder Ag hummed as he passed by Leo and started, rather humorously at that, slowly inspecting each individual blade of grass, it felt, making his way across the entire field.
"Maybe big enough for a mid-sized Sect, at best," Lu Yang commented. "Holy Blade Sect... yes, it was about ten times the size of this? Maybe even more?" Leo winced at the number but didn't get bogged down.
He didn't want to create a massive Sect--that was not the point. At least... not yet. After all, he doubted Holy Blade Sect was that large from the onset—they likely had decades, if not centuries, of development, slowly increasing their size through it all.
"I'll give you so many chores you'll find yourself begging for more Elders," Leo said. "But I won't allow for it."
"... for a great man," Lu Yang said. "You are oft rather petty."
"Oh, the pettiest. How was the visit? Did you see anything interesting?" Leo inquired.
"A few things," Lu Yang said. "Holy Blade... managed to kill a Nascent Realm Cultivator."
"Oh?" Leo exclaimed softly; it was his first time hearing of someone being in that realm. He'd heard it before—as a requirement for arts he wasn't ready to handle—but he finally had a context for it.
"It will become the news that shatters the world," the old man continued. "And likely throws the entire Lower Ashlands into the throes of war." Is this the war Chilly mentioned? Leo mused for a moment as Lu Yang continued. "Elder Xiaoling broke through to Soul Ascendance Realm as well, but that feels almost minor in comparison. They also handed me this." The old man tossed him a ring that Leo caught nimbly, taking a peek inside.
He whistled briefly at the sight; it wasn't a mountain, but it was fast-approaching. Mostly building materials, a few massive jugs of pills (which, upon closer inspection, turned out to be food-sort), and even quite a few pieces of furniture, decorations, and a marvel of a few other intangibles.
"Did you at least pretend to reject it?" Leo quizzed, putting the ring away into his robes.
"I always do, Master Leo."
"It pays to have old snakes like you by my side, I suppose." Lu Yang chuckled slightly while Leo smiled.
"Who is the boy?"
"Your guess is as good as mine."
"You have a rather uncanny ability to merely chance upon strays, Master Leo," Lu Yang said.
"You were a stray once, too."
"Indeed I was, meriting a deeper thought," he said. "I don't recall how I ended up here, truly. And more and more, it feels, strays keep showing up to your doorsteps, all with mysterious origins."
"... I don't think it's particularly mysterious," Leo said, glancing back. "Consider the circumstances."
"The circumstances?"
"Ancient Clans, you senile oak."
"... ah. Yes. That would... explain it. An accidental survivor, and a child at that. Can't imagine it is easy."
"People who end up here, it seems, never have it easy," Leo said. "Just treat him as you would Shui'er. Anything else?"
"No," Lu Yang shook his head. "Just that I will profusely refuse your request to do anything with that girl. I'd sooner you just kill me."
"... noted." Just about then, the old Elder finally returned after having done a full circle. There were beads of sweat gently rolling down his face, a rather thick parchment in front of him completely filled up with... everything, really: words, letters, numbers, pictures, nary an inch of room left across the entire parchment.
"How about it, Elder Ag? Is it enough, at least for the time being?"
"Hmm, ever so slightly lacking," the old man replied. "Approximating this point as the main entryway, I'd reserve at least half of the field for the welcoming garden with a few houses by the edges where you would receive unimportant guests. It would be to instigate fervor and awe into the visitors--"
"--pass," Leo interrupted; though he felt bad for being rude, he also needed to establish a few ground rules. "This would not be the kind of sect that needs to inspire any such thing, Elder Ag. Forgo frivolity and decorations, and cut it all down to bare functionality. Central hall, training grounds, utility buildings, disciple dwellings, special cultivation rooms... I can welcome guests in the trees if need be, and few would dare protest."
"Indeed," Elder Ag nodded, smiling faintly. "Very well. Culling the adornments, the size of the field is still lacking, unfortunately; even if your goal is a small Sect, even the small ones still house a few thousand Disciples, not to mention the support staff of mortals and lesser employees charged with maintaining the Sect--cutting the weeds, cleaning the structures, fixing them, and so on. Ultimately, shorn of being a tiny Tier I Sect, you are still looking at a compound that can house at least seven to eight thousand people. Naturally, we don't have to build it out immediately—we are merely just beginning, and so long as we plan a proper outline, we can build the Sect in chunks."
"What do you recommend?"
"Start with the outer perimeter," Elder Ag said. "We will wall off this entire field with the understanding that the back wall will be temporary; for now, we shall forgo most of the utility and auxiliary buildings and focus entirely on the basic principalities: build diverse disciple dwellings, at least fourteen training grounds suitable for various cultivation realms, and construct meditation halls, studies, and teaching quarters where Disciples would listen to lectures; we can reserve a small plot for a temporary library to store Arts and Methods, or even just books in general.
"We shall focus on functionality—simple dwellings, minimal furniture, minimal gardens, spaced for functionality. Hmm, yes, orienting this way—in that case we can put this here, hmm—and maybe a slight incline? Yes, we can do that..."
The Elder rattled on, mostly toward himself later on, as Leo looked past him and toward the clearing; an image began to form from simpler shapes into more complex ones, walls arising and blocking off parts of the whole.
As far back as understanding that he'd have to form a Sect of his own, Leo had... dreams; yet, as it went, plans and dreams were as temporary as conditions that allowed for them. And those conditions were gone. He hadn't even managed to construct the Sect and he was already tasked with participating in a war; rather than creating a haven for those unwilling to bathe themselves within the colors of conflict, he was structuring the place within the same framework as all the rest.
The excuses were innumerable, chief of which was his abject terror of Chilly... or whatever that thing was... but, ultimately, still just excuses. If he were strong enough, or smart enough, or knowledgeable enough, or at the very least trustworthy enough, he would not have needed to undergo or undertake any of this.
Alas, he wasn't.
He was lacking, and for his lacking, those below him suffered. He loathed even the thought of sending Yue or Liang to war, let alone any of the Disciples that would come to join him, desperate and without any other hope. So, how was he to win the war? After all, he himself could not leave this place; he didn't want to send the kids out to fight in his name... Did that leave Lu Yang? Was he comfortable sending an old man by his lonesome?
Of course not.
He could only sigh and wonder whether the System would take pity on him and offer him a magic item from a shop to solve all his problems. However, seeing as how the world stayed silent even after the fading thought, he knew that he was on his own.
"Here," Leo tossed the ring to Elder Ag. "Lu Yang, you will become envoy from now on; go out and find anyone desperate enough to come here to work. Promise them lodging and food and some pay; coordinate with Elder Ag and pass on to me the material requirements as we go on further, and I'll see what can be done. For the time being, prioritize the walls, disciple dwellings, and at least one sturdy training ground. All else can wait."
"Yes, Master Leo," both men responded at the same time as Leo spun around.
It had begun, his next venture into the world that he was ever so slightly less blind to.