PCJ – Chapter 703 The Foundation of the Meishan Sect

With Luo Sihai’s four lieutenants completely eliminated, the underworld forces in Bijiang City were finally wiped out. Together with the recent series of anti-crime campaigns, the city’s unhealthy trends were finally swept clean.

However, Zhang Jiaohua’s intervention once again brought down another batch of officials. Adding this to the previous incident, where a mayor, a district chief, and their entire clique had already fallen, Bijiang’s political arena had gone through two major “earthquakes” because of him.

But Zhang Jiaohua did not stop there. Instead, he seized this opportunity to thoroughly review all the counties and towns under Bijiang’s jurisdiction, launching a severe crackdown on their local criminal gangs as well. A large number of underworld elements were destroyed, completely purging the city’s social climate.

This campaign won the praise of the entire city. In some places, when the gangs were destroyed, people even set off firecrackers in celebration—showing just how eagerly the citizens had been waiting for such an effort.

After this cleanup, Bijiang City truly began to move forward in full alignment with its development strategy. The anti-crime campaign also removed future obstacles. For example, demolition and relocation projects: the city and county governments had plans for comprehensive redevelopment and road construction, which inevitably required large-scale demolitions. If those gangs had not been eliminated, they would surely have caused major trouble. But in reality, Bijiang’s demolition work proceeded extremely smoothly. The city government had set fair relocation policies, and no resistance occurred during the process. This was something very rare across the country.

With Bijiang’s development back on track, Zhang Jiaohua’s work suddenly became much easier. Once policies and strategies were established, everyone followed the plan, and naturally, the leader’s job was greatly simplified.

Thus, Zhang Jiaohua finally had the opportunity to visit the Giant Sword Tower at Yingpan Mountain.

When he arrived at the outer area of the tower, the entire place was already shrouded in thick mist. The peak of the Giant Sword could not be seen at all. If someone brought a locator here, they would find it useless—completely unable to function. Even the compass in Zhang Jiaohua’s watch spun erratically, without pointing in any proper direction. Ordinary people entering the fog would not be able to go far. No matter how much they thought they were walking straight, they would always end up circling back.

But when Zhang Jiaohua approached carrying a formation talisman, the fog seemed to part on its own, revealing a clear and wide path. At normal walking speed, it would take about an hour to reach the entrance of the Meishan Sect. Yet even if ordinary people managed to arrive here, without the talisman they would only see a stone mountain blocking the way. With the talisman, however, the obstruction transformed into a stone staircase.

This staircase itself was a magical artifact. For ordinary people, it was truly just a giant boulder—crashing into it would cause real injury. But with the talisman, the artifact shifted and revealed a proper passageway.

Following the stone steps, Zhang Jiaohua slowly ascended. After another hour of climbing, he reached a vast square. All around, classical-style buildings had already been constructed, giving the place the feeling of stepping into an ancient cultivation world.

“Master!” Kong Fangzhou spotted him and immediately ran over.

“The construction here is basically complete, isn’t it? You’ve done great work,” Zhang Jiaohua said with a smile.

Kong Fangzhou smiled modestly. “This is only what I should do.”

“Merit must be rewarded, and faults must be punished. Since you’ve made such contributions, you should naturally be rewarded. You can’t put all your energy into research—you must also focus on your own cultivation. Your realm is still too low.”

From his Daoist diagram, Zhang Jiaohua took out a pile of items and handed them to Kong Fangzhou. “Consider these your reward.”

“Ah!” Kong Fangzhou gasped in shock when he saw what they were. All of them were spiritual fruits. Though they looked like ordinary fruits, each one was infused with dense spiritual energy that the human body could easily absorb. They were the perfect items for replenishing spiritual qi. With these fruits, Kong Fangzhou felt confident he could achieve a major breakthrough in a short time.

“What’s wrong? Not satisfied? If you’re not, I can exchange them for other rewards. For example, you could go to the Alchemy Hall and get some pills from Zhu Wanze. Those could also accelerate your cultivation,” Zhang Jiaohua offered.

Kong Fangzhou quickly shook his head. Pills could never compare to spiritual fruits. Fruits could be eaten endlessly without side effects, while pills, taken too often, would lead to resistance and diminishing effects—eventually becoming useless.

Zhang Jiaohua laughed. “From now on, those who make contributions to the sect will be given a monthly quota like this, so you can quickly raise your cultivation. In time, every cultivator in the sect will receive such benefits. But of course, along with privileges come obligations.”

Kong Fangzhou didn’t care about obligations. To him, what mattered was gaining access to resources.

He hadn’t expected Zhang Jiaohua to hand out such treasures. At first, Kong Fangzhou had been uneasy about someone so young serving as sect master of the Meishan Sect. But after everything Zhang Jiaohua had done, Kong Fangzhou now had absolute confidence in him.

Ji Jiaxin and Mei Qing had also already arrived at the sect. When they heard Zhang Jiaohua was there, they came out to greet him.

“Zhang Jiaohua! Long time no see—oh wait, I should call you Sect Master now,” Ji Jiaxin giggled.

“You sound so insincere; better not call me that at all. Just stick to the old way. How are you finding this place?” Zhang asked.

“It’s wonderful, better than I ever imagined. This place is truly beautiful,” Ji Jiaxin said cheerfully.

Mei Qing didn’t speak, just stood there. Her aura had completely transformed—no longer just an air of intellectual elegance, but now an ethereal, transcendent grace. Her entire presence was completely different from before.

“Teacher Mei, how do you find it here?” Zhang Jiaohua asked with a smile.

Mei Qing nodded. “It’s excellent. I’m planning to continue some experiments here. I believe we should speed up research into all aspects of cultivation. Daoist arts can absolutely be integrated with rigorous science.”

“Teacher Mei, now that you’re here, you can’t spend all your time buried in research like you did in the lab. Research is important, but so is your personal cultivation,” Zhang reminded her.

Mei Qing nodded. “Alright. I heard cultivators can maintain eternal youth—I certainly don’t want to grow old.”

“Then you’d better hurry. If you raise your cultivation now, you can preserve the most beautiful stage of your life forever,” Zhang said.

Ji Jiaxin quickly added, “Isn’t there any faster method?”

“You’re already progressing fast enough. Any faster, and your foundation won’t be stable—you could easily suffer qi deviation,” Zhang warned.