Chapter 141: Clubs

‘Clubs? What’s that?’ That was another term Mu Yanxi had never heard of.

She checked the Dao web, which described them as Sect organizations formed by like-minded people who gathered to exchange ideas and work together to study a specific field. It sounded rather pleasant.

“Everyone, take note. Your choice of club will essentially determine the direction of your cultivation for the next three years. Furthermore, once a cultivation path is chosen, it cannot be easily changed.”

“Therefore, you must be cautious in your selection. Additionally, greed leads to poor results; do not join too many clubs,” Zhao Shuanghua added.

Once she was certain all the disciples had taken her words to heart, she continued, “The club recruitment event is being held at Yuehua Palace. There, the senior sisters will showcase the interests and directions of each club. You can speak with them to learn about the specifics.”

After she finished speaking, she waved her hand and vanished into a mist of wine. She actually just left like that. The remaining disciples looked at one another in a daze until Shangguan Yun stepped forward once more.

“Fellow Junior Sisters, I know where Yuehua Palace is. Follow me; I’ll take you to the club recruitment fair.”

In truth, one only needed to check their Spirit Moon Ring to find the location of Yuehua Palace. They could even fly there using the auto-navigation of their divine artifacts.

There was absolutely no need for a guide, but that did not stop Shangguan Yun from stepping up to earn some favor.

The other girls chimed in with their agreement and followed Shangguan Yun as she flew away from the square.

Mu Yanxi shook her head with a wry smile, took out her gliding board, and flew after them. She was also quite interested in these so-called club activities.

Yuehua Palace was a beautiful palace with exquisite exterior decorations and an intricate structure. Several pavilions stood tall within its grounds.

“Yuehua Palace is the club building for the Spiritual Moon Sect. Most clubs have their clubrooms inside, though their activity sites are usually elsewhere. If you’re looking for a specific club, you can’t go wrong by coming here to ask,” Shangguan Yun explained.

When they landed, many senior sisters who were as beautiful as a Heavenly Immortal greeted them with sweet smiles.

“Junior Sister, welcome to the Spiritual Moon Sect. Would you like to consider joining our model play club?”

“The dance dao club welcomes all Junior Sisters. Join us as we pursue the limits of the Dance Dao.”

“Want to know your destiny and fortune? Come to our astronomy club!”

These senior sisters were all incredibly friendly. Their smiles were like a spring breeze, instinctively making people feel well-disposed toward them and making them want to agree to their requests.

However, Shangguan Yun clapped her hands at that moment and said, “Senior sisters, using charm arts is forbidden during club recruitment. Besides, recruiting members whose Dao does not align with yours is useless anyway.”

Her clap carried a trace of the rhythm from the Lingyue Art, instantly pulling most of the new disciples’ spirits back to reality.

Of course, this was also because the senior sisters had not been using charm arts intentionally; it was simply that the Lingyue Art was ingrained in their very souls, naturally carrying some charming effects.

“Hehe, we didn’t do it on purpose. It’s just really hard to control.”

“We welcome all Junior Sisters. It’s even fine if you just want to be a ghost member in name only. The astronomy club doesn’t make club activities mandatory.”

“Junior Sisters can come inside for a tour first. Watch our dance dao club’s performance before deciding whether to join,” the senior sisters chirped one after another.

And so, the group of new disciples was invited into Yuehua Palace. Beyond the main gates lay an incredibly vast hall filled with distinct booths of various styles. Those were the clubs.

At each club’s booth, several or even a dozen beautiful senior sisters were waiting. Seeing the new disciples enter, they called out to the freshmen to visit and experience their club activities.

When comparing these senior sisters to the new disciples, the difference was obvious.

The senior sisters were generally more beautiful than the newcomers, and their beauty was very distinct—be it pure, intellectual, or charming. Their temperaments were very vivid, making them easy to remember.

By contrast, most of the freshmen appeared slightly green. Although they were also pretty, they were far inferior in terms of temperament and figure.

Some senior sisters even followed a pure or youthful style, making them look even younger than the Junior Sisters—their very aura felt more youthful.

“Want to come take a look with me?” Shangguan Yun walked over to Mu Yanxi’s side and asked with a smile.

Mu Yanxi shook her head. “I want to walk around and see for myself.”

“That’s fine. But before you make a final choice, it’s best to ask for my advice.” Shangguan Yun nodded and did not press Mu Yanxi, walking off on her own.

Mu Yanxi walked into the main hall of Yuehua Palace and began looking around. First, she looked at the clubs that had been promoted outside. She turned her gaze toward the one she was most curious about: the model play club.

‘Marionettes?’ Mu Yanxi looked in confusion at the several marionettes displayed in the booth. Unlike the doll-like marionettes she had used in her past life, these looked more like drones, full of sharp lines and steel armor.

These marionettes were all humanoid. Generally, they held weapons similar to the gun used by Ruo Xuan in one hand and a shield in the other, with wings and cannons mounted on their backs.

The most eye-catching one was a massive marionette, about 20 meters tall. Eight steel wings were spread behind its back in an extremely flamboyant pose.

It stood behind the booth, looking down at the area in front, clearly the signature marionette of the model play club.

With such a cool display piece, the model play club near the entrance naturally attracted a large crowd of young girls. A senior sister from the club stepped onto the stage and began her pitch.

“For cultivators, the best auxiliary item for fighting above one’s level is, of course, the marionette! If you want quality, you can upgrade the quality; if you want quantity, you can stack the numbers.”

“When adventuring, you can even hide inside a mecha-type puppet to protect yourself against most emergencies. It can be said to be an integration of offense and defense!”

“Furthermore, the types and functions of marionettes are ever-changing. The ones most suitable for us are, of course, those we assemble and modify ourselves.”

“Join our model play club now, and you’ll receive a white model basic set marionette, which you can modify and upgrade according to your preferences and needs.”

“We have top-tier marionette masters serving as advisors, and we have a collection of over 5,000 types of marionette design blueprints. The senior sisters can also guide you and discuss how to create the marionette that suits you best.”

“Most importantly, common marionette equipment and divine artifacts on the market can be purchased at a discount in our club!”

The senior sister of the model play club spoke with such eloquence that Mu Yanxi felt a bit tempted to join.

In her past life, although the art of marionettes was considered a side path, it was not an evil path—unless an evil cultivator used living people to create forbidden living marionettes.

Even living marionettes weren’t entirely considered an evil path, because many cultivators who practiced the Dao of marionettes would eventually transform their own bodies into marionettes, or accept commissions from other cultivators to transform them.

As long as it didn’t involve forced enslavement or transformation of others, they weren’t considered evil cultivators.

Therefore, Mu Yanxi was not repelled by the Dao of marionettes. She had previously worried that the clubs might not be very respectable, but now it seemed they were quite legitimate.