After another deep discussion on their thoughts, Ming Qing and his brother took Lin Xin by the hand and led him to a secluded spot in the bamboo forest behind the manor. The three n moved with extraordinary qinggong, arriving unnoticed at a quiet location.
Lin Xin didn’t know what they were up to and was confused, but he didn’t resist and let the two lead the way.
They soon arrived at a place devoid of any human presence or aura.
The brothers then stopped, took out a green bamboo flute from their chests, and gently inserted it into the ground.
Imdiately, green mist flowed out of the flute’s holes like water, spreading around their feet and soon enveloping the surrounding bamboo, forming a circular area with a diater of more than ten ters.
The entire area was shrouded in a green fog.
"To be honest with you, Brother Lin, we have carefully observed your actions these past few days. Your talent in the Formation Path is astonishing, and your profound thoughts and ideas have amazed us. After discussing, we secretly sent a ssage back to inquire and only after receiving affirmation did we decide to lay our cards on the table," said Ming Qing solemnly.
"Um... What’s the big issue that you are so serious about?" Lin Xin asked, sowhat stunned. Although both were Foundation Establishnt Stage experts, they never showed the typical traits of Foundation Establishnt Cultivators. They did not have the lofty and superior air about them; rather, they seed more like ordinary people with emotions and appeared to be frustrated idealists hindered from achieving their ambitions.
Ming Qing exchanged a glance with his brother, pondered for a mont, and then spoke to Lin Xin.
"To be honest, we brothers did not expect to encounter a talent like Brother Lin on this trip. That’s why we couldn’t help but send a ssage to our organization after just a few days, collected many details and intelligence about Brother Lin. If we have offended you in any way, we hope Brother Lin can forgive us."
As soon as Lin Xin heard the word ’organization,’ his heart skipped a beat. He had previously suspected that the brothers may have been backed by so advanced organization based on their progressive thoughts and deep grievances. Now it turns out there really was one!
"There’s no need to be afraid, Brother Lin. Our organization is called the Radiance Society, nad with the hope that it will shine like the sun over the Underworld, dispelling the gloom and aspiring towards the light," Ming Yi stated emphatically. "Nowadays, the commoners suffer, and the upper echelons of the major Sects and Immortal Sects indulge in pleasure without seeking progress, depleting their resources. We, the passionate and ambitious, are suppressed by the inept and incapable, a truly pitiful situation!" He showed a hint of sorrow in his eyes. "Likely Brother Lin feels the sa, right? With your fervor unrequited, such is the sorrow!"
Lin Xin: "....." In fact, he wasn’t at all...
"With your great talent, Brother Lin, whether in strategy, thought, or mastery of the Formation Path, it’s truly a pity that you are confined to such a trivial corner, trapped in the strife of the Sect and unable to extricate yourself."
"Indeed, if you were to join our Radiance Society, you would surely be able to achieve great things. With your ability in the Formation Path, even if your cultivation is insufficient, you could fulfill your ambitions in your lifeti, making your life worthwhile!"
"The Radiance Society has nurous mbers scattered across the Mortal Realm, even within your own Sect. Many are passionate and driven. All our mbers are treated as brothers and sisters without hierarchies."
"mbers of the society help each other covertly, gradually gaining control of the world’s major trends and dispelling the gloom. What a fervent and grand cause it is!"
The brothers took turns persuading Lin Xin, who listened in silence, his mind speechless. It seed so easy for them to recruit people; the Radiance Society couldn’t possibly be a brainwashing organization akin to a pyramid sche... Could it?
However, on second thought, considering that both brothers were Foundation Establishnt Cultivators, perhaps they really did recognize his talent in the Formation Path. Moreover, he guessed that the Radiance Society likely had asures in place to prevent mbers from easily leaving without consequence.
Upon further inquiry, the brothers began to stamr sowhat.
"To be frank, Brother Lin, indeed there are precautions for joining the society, but these are to guard against gentlen, not villains."
Ming Qing’s sentence was cut off by Ming Yi continuing.
"You only need to offer a small pledge of your spirit as a vow. For those who join us, if they betray the society due to differing ideals, we can understand. However, if soone leaks the identity of other mbers or harms our brothers and sisters, the pledged spirit will backfire: the light cases result in insanity, while severe cases lead to death with no hope for salvation," Ming Yi explained.
"That’s understandable," Lin Xin nodded. He urgently needed other channels to communicate with the outside world. Otherwise, being trapped by the Sword Sect and closely monitored every day, he would lead a precarious life, and anyone else would have been eliminated long ago.
"So, Brother Lin, are you considering joining our society?" The Ming Family brothers were both pleased. They had seen Lin Xin’s unreserved display of his Formation Path skills; while many masters could miniaturize formations, few could do it as effortlessly as Lin Xin. Thus, despite his insufficient cultivation, his skills and insights were highly valued by the two.
At this point, Ming Yi’s gaze towards Lin Xin beca slightly intense, and he put the Earthbinding Rope treasure back into his sleeve. The original plan was if Lin Xin agreed, all would be well; but if not, to avoid revealing the secrets of the Radiance Society, they were ready to take drastic action right there. They could just bla it on Demonic Cultivators afterward.
Lin Xin also felt a sense of unease, sensing sothing amiss with the brothers’ depth of conversation and their audacious confidence. After a deeper thought, cold sweat began to seep out from his back.
In this world, cultivators often regarded human life as insignificant, differing only in whom they chose to kill. He realized he had to join whether he wanted to or not.
"Given these circumstances, Brother Lin, please light the incense and offer it with all sincerity," Ming Qing imdiately produced a prepared purple-red incense stick and handed it to Lin Xin.
As Lin Xin took it, he faintly slled an elegant musk scent. Looking closely, he noticed that the stick was intricately carved with dense patterns that moved slowly like insects.
"You may light it with Mortal Fire," Ming Yi added.
Seeing the brothers’ expectant stares, Lin Xin’s heart grew tense, realizing the importance of the incense stick.
Without hesitation, he sincerely swiped his hand over the incense stick.
Hiss.
Spiritual energy stirred, and a purple spark instantly ignited on the incense, followed by wisps of blue smoke drifting away.
Lin Xin gazed wholeheartedly at the scent, captivated by its bizarre magic that made it hard for him to look away.
The fragrance rose higher and higher, yet, strangely, it didn’t disperse and dissolve into the air but kept rising upward. When it reached a certain height, it suddenly entered into the space and vanished.
Lin Xin only felt a slight dizziness in his brain, and then he couldn’t help but close his eyes.
In his mind, he uncontrollably saw that wisp of incense that held his spirit, carrying him further and further away, as if flying through a vast and boundless dark void, towards a colossal figure at the center of the void.
It was an imnse white dragon, coiled in a serpentine shape, with its head resting slowly and its eyes half-closed.
But as he got closer, Lin Xin could see that the dragon was actually a huge stone sculpture.
That wisp of fragrance drifted into the dragon’s open mouth, went through a long dark passage, and soon arrived at a majestic hall adorned with white gold decorations amid the darkness.
In the depths of that grand hall sat an indescribably majestic suit of dark armor, with its skull-like hollow eyes lowered. From behind the helt extended a pair of massive silver-gray tal feathers, layer upon layer stretching into the limitless darkness, the feathered wings seeming to grow larger and larger towards the back.
Countless feathers on those wings were innurable like fish scales or ripples on a shimring lake, fanning out in a radial pattern into the dark.
Lin Xin felt that his sliver of scent slowly transford into a piece of silver-gray feather in midair, slotting into the left wing at the back of the armor, stationing itself alongside the nurous other feathers.
Click.
In the crisp sound of rging, he was suddenly jolted awake.
"Hahaha, congratulations Brother Lin! Welco to the Radiance!" Ming Qing’s voice further startled Lin Xin into full awareness.
He opened his eyes to find himself unknowingly standing and having fallen asleep.
"That armor in the dark..." he took a deep breath and asked softly.
"That is the Universal Heavenly Venerable. It serves to oversee any potential acts of betrayal among our mbers," explained Ming Yi. "Initially, those were just ineffective ordinary oaths, uttered by the founders of the Radiance Society thousands of years ago. But after so many years of continuous self-strengthening, what were once re words have transford into an order that exists between heaven and Earth. That is ’Righteousness’!"
"Righteousness!" Lin Xin was shaken.
"Yes. Thus, all of us brothers and sisters are envoys of justice!" bood Ming Yi.
Lin Xin wasn’t sure how to describe the sowhat cheesy title, but he still put on a look of righteous indignation and nodded vigorously.
"I understand. Justice is my way. To stand upright for the greater good is righteousness."
"Brother Lin is indeed quick-witted," laughed Ming Qing, patting Lin Xin’s shoulder vigorously.
Lin Xin silently endured the blows, looking at the two enthusiastic and courageous faces before him. Instead of excitent, he felt speechless...
*******************
After entertaining the Ming brothers for over ten days, they eventually had to bid farewell and return to report to their duties. Before leaving, they gave Lin Xin a jade slip, which recorded how to contact the local branch of the Radiance Society, as well as the responsibilities, obligations, and rights he was entitled to enjoy. Everything was listed very clearly.
Lin Xin pocketed the jade slip and read through it carefully, then understood the general organizational structure of the Radiance Society.
Though the contents of the jade slip were not extensive, one could surmise the branches in other locations from it. Moreover, the description of the entire world’s geography in it also gave Lin Xin a great shock.
The land of the Underworld was divided into the East, West, South, and North; the area occupied by the Four Sects was the Southern Underworld.
The Southern Underworld spanned a vast territory, and what belonged to the Four Sects in the Mortal Realm was only a small portion of it.
The jade slip contained a small map. Lin Xin took a quick look and saw that the map was a large, dark, circular area the size of a faceplate, with a palm-sized portion painted white and so scattered white dots in other dark areas, so as big as eggs and others as small as sesa seeds.
This was the complete map of the Southern Underworld; the white areas were sanctuaries opened by Sun Spring, protected by a sun mbrane. The dark areas were the so-called Outer Regions, unexplored territories filled with various dangers.
Regarding his involvent in the killing of cultivating masters from the Sect, after the two understood the situation, they suggested he et with the local Branch Chief as soon as possible.
Without delay, Lin Xin entrusted the affairs of the Manor to Huang Shan (in yellow clothes) and set off for the location of the branch.
The branch was not within the Mortal Realm but at the edge where the Outer Regions and the Mortal Realm t. (To be continued. If you like this work, your votes and monthly tickets at Qidian are welco, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian to read.)
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