Lin Xiao understood the necessity of war, but the thought of it leading to countless deaths left a heavy feeling in his heart. He sighed deeply, stood up, and said to Liu Yunan:
"Keep an eye on the timing and location. Let me know when the war is about to start. During my time in the cultivation world, I learned some important things. Gather everyone when you can, and have Fuzi share the details with them. I'll be busy with some tasks over the next few days, likely in the main hall."
After Liu Yunan nodded in agreement, Lin Xiao left for the sect's main hall.
Upon entering, Lin Xiao simply lay down on the floor, staring blankly at the ceiling for a while. After some time, he sat up and ruffled his hair in frustration.
"This won't do. There's still so much left to do. I need to pull myself together."
As if trying to help, the system suddenly chimed in:
[Ding—Congratulations, host! You have unlocked Sect Construction Task 8: An excellent sect must have a deep foundation of knowledge. The Library Pavilion is essential for such a legacy. Please build a library pavilion with at least 1,000 books to provide a good learning environment for sect members.]
[Ding—The system has detected that the host possesses three Yaoguang Floating Island fragments. Would you like to combine them?]
The first task didn't seem too pressing, but the second message immediately caught Lin Xiao's attention.
"A floating island!"
His excitement soared. Their sect was about to have its very own floating island!
Lin Xiao opened his personal storage and looked at the three neatly arranged floating island fragments. He rubbed his hands together in excitement.
As for the library pavilion, he wasn't in a rush to build it. He figured it might be better to place it on the floating island once it was ready. After all, the space within the sect was already limited. He hadn't even been able to expand much due to the lack of available land. Elder Liao's medicine garden had already been moved to the back of the mountain, and many other buildings had not been expanded.
It wasn't that he didn't want to expand; there just wasn't enough space.
Fortunately, the sect didn't have too many people at the moment, so it was still manageable. But once they began recruiting more disciples, they'd definitely need more room.
The floating island would solve this immediate problem—assuming it was large enough.
"Well, system-created items can't be too disappointing, right?" Lin Xiao thought, recalling how the first-grade spiritual vein he had previously gathered had greatly enhanced the sect's spiritual energy density and even nurtured their spiritual stone mine.
Just as Lin Xiao was about to proceed with the combination, he looked up at the ceiling of the main hall.
"I wonder… if I combine the island here, would it break through the ceiling?"
To be safe, Lin Xiao left the main hall and moved to the central area of the sect, near the secret realm's garden, before initiating the combination.
[Combining Yaoguang Floating Island. Please wait.]
The next moment, a glowing orb appeared before him. It shot into the sky like a meteor and hovered high above. As the light expanded, it grew rapidly, and when it reached a diameter of about 1,000 meters, it stopped. The glowing halo surrounding the island dissipated, revealing its true form.
[Yaoguang Floating Island has been successfully combined. The initial floating height is 3,000 meters. The host can control the island through the Yaoguang Floating Island Console. Note: Some functions of the console can be duplicated if the host wishes to delegate control.]
"It's done!"
Looking up at the floating island suspended in the sky, Lin Xiao's heart filled with excitement. It was a floating island!
From below, it reminded him of Miyazaki's floating castle from old films, a perfect image of a mystical, floating paradise.
As verses like "I wonder what year it is in the heavenly palace" and "In the white jade city of the heavens, with twelve towers and five gates" flashed through his mind, Lin Xiao couldn't help but feel like a myth had come to life before his eyes.
Remembering the mention of the Floating Island Console, Lin Xiao quickly opened the system and found a new option labeled [Floating Island Console].
Upon opening it, he was surprised to find several sections within the console—seven, to be exact.
However, only one section, labeled Yaoguang Floating Island, was active, while the other six were grayed out and inactive.
"It seems there's more than just the Yaoguang Floating Island," Lin Xiao mused, but for now, that wasn't important.
He opened the Yaoguang Floating Island Console and found several options:
Name: Yaoguang Floating Island
Initial Level: 1
Average Spiritual Energy Density: 30
Population: 0
Island Prosperity: 0
Set Island Entry and Exit Points
Set Island Defense and Attack Mechanisms
After glancing through the options, Lin Xiao decided to first open the Set Entry and Exit Points section.
Immediately, a translucent stone platform about two meters in diameter appeared before him. It could be controlled and placed wherever he wanted, just like the other system-generated buildings.
After some thought, Lin Xiao placed the platform near the secret garden.
He left some extra space nearby, planning to eventually arrange the entrances to form a Big Dipper shape, should all seven islands eventually emerge. After all, with the name Yaoguang and seven islands in total, how could he not think of the constellation?
With the entrance set, Lin Xiao then opened the Set Entry Permissions section.
The current setting allowed only island residents and the island's owner to enter. Since no one lived on the island yet, Lin Xiao was currently the only person who could go up.
Not in a rush to change the permissions, Lin Xiao stepped onto the stone platform.
Though he could have flown up, why waste energy when there was a perfectly good "elevator"?
As he stood on the platform, a flash of white light enveloped him, and in an instant, he was teleported to the island.
When Lin Xiao set foot on the freshly minted Yaoguang Floating Island, he was left speechless.
It wasn't because the island was beautiful or grand.
It was because… it was utterly barren!
The island was flat, with nothing on it—no trees, no grass, nothing. Not a single blade of vegetation could be seen.
There weren't even any pavilions, waterfalls, or scenic vistas.
Lin Xiao couldn't help but wonder if the system had blown the entire budget just on making the island float.
The only consolation was that the island did have soil, rather than being entirely rocky.
"It seems I have my work cut out for me," Lin Xiao muttered to himself, already planning how to transform this barren island into something worthy of the sect.