The Subordinate Sects
Edrick had already interacted with the Sect Of The Old Decay, and as a show of good faith, he had allowed the disciples who had helped with the turning of the Chen elder into a corpse puppet to keep it once he was done with it. Unfortunately, though, Anoteros had not gotten to meet any member of the sect that was to his tastes.
Thus, establishing a connection through a good old politically-motivated marriage was not quite on the table with this particular sect for now… He would need to gather more information and see if they had any talent who could suit his collection.
It would be nice if he could get himself one and have whoever that would be assist Jingyi in learning the craft of necromancy and such.
Then, there was the Sect Of The Horned One. It was a cultivation cult that derived strength from a mysterious figure whose origin was not exactly clear. Some said it was a devil, some said it was a being from a ‘Great Realm’... No one seemed to know for sure.
All that was certain was that this being had a relationship with horns, and it was through them that its powers manifested. This meant that it was with horns that the cultivators of this sect fought.
Getting a close relationship with them could be achieved in tandem with taking care of the ‘He Who Does Not Wish To Follow The Tradition’ script. Or so Edrick believed, since Zhenluo–Who Zhicheng was enamoured with–Was actually closely associated with them, despite her cultivation not being based on the cult at all.
As such, if Anoteros was able to befriend her, then he should be able to get a ticket to befriending the Sect Of The Horned One as well.
Then, there was also the Cult Of The Heart Of Darkness, with which Zhenluo was even more closely bonded, since her cultivation was totally based on their ways. Thus, getting close to her would be akin to killing three birds with one stone–Probably even more than that, in fact.
Of course, there were also the subordinate sects that were simply a very good match for Edrick.
There was Red Mansion, which he had already interacted with plenty of times. He had contact with several disciples there, all of whom had proven themselves to be useful and obedient to him. Naturally, a sect based on dual cultivation fitted him like a glove, too.
He would just need to visit their sect's grounds and meet with some of the higher-ranked people there eventually.
The Cult Of Asmodeus was a bona fide sect practising devil worship–Namely, the well-known devil associated with the deadly sin of lust, and considered a prince of hell…
It was a name that existed in the scion’s former world, but here, his existence wasn’t in question at all.
The devil was very real–And to worship him, the members of this sect practised a far more brutal form of dual cultivation compared to Red Mansion. They engaged in mass acts of violent Lagneiefest with unwilling participants who were often sacrificed by the end of it. If they survived until that point, at least.
It was no wonder that this particular sect could only continue to exist under the wing of the Elt clan. On their own, they would have quickly been eradicated for perfectly fitting the description of devil cultivators.
Though even with the support of a great clan, they only existed in secrecy, performing their worship away from the public eye… Nonetheless, they were the producers of certain ‘products’ that were very much coveted by many people.
Regardless, though, they were an organisation wanted in several other countries for mass abductions–Amongst many other heinous crimes... The gravity of which could make even some of the more perverted and twisted nobles repel in disgust.
…Edrick believed that he would be able to get along with them just fine.
Often cited alongside them was the Order Of Salacious Hedonism... The comparison was a bit slanderous, however. They weren’t brutal at all, and rarely involved anyone outside of the sect to begin with.
Rather than Lagneiefest crossed with sacrifice, they engaged in enormous orgies as a way of dual cultivation. Though calling it ‘dual’ cultivation when so many people were involved was a bit of a misnomer…
They practised a rather special form of cultivation, as it required many people, but the effects were impressive, as it allowed them to produce large amounts of disciples simultaneously, without requiring them to spend much money or resources at all.
The Order Of Salacious Hedonism was the main contributor of ‘soldiers’ for the Elt clan by a long shot, and in turn, the Elt clan helped with disciple hunting and granted this sect very good benefits.
Once again, as a dual cultivation sect, Anoteros believed that making friends with them would be rather simple.
Then, there was the Patriarch Guild. A lesser-known sect under the Elt clan’s control.
They were also very focused on dual cultivation, but had a very peculiar approach to it.
As the name implies, the sect favoured masculinity and virility above all. The women who were genuine disciples were all Duookois.
They have one cultivation technique that all disciples have to practice: The ‘Virility Plundering Technique’. It allows one to absorb and permanently add to their own masculinity. If Anoteros were to put it in simple terms, he would say that it was akin to enhancing one’s testosterone and such.
The thing is that the plundered virility was not permanently taken away–It would regenerate for the one who had been robbed… And who was robbed exactly? That was the funny part: The Patriarch Guild was a massive user of advanced pills that could temporarily turn men into women.
Thus, disciples would challenge one another, with the loser having to consume the pills and be used by the winner, making it so their cultivation halted for a while, as their virility would be siphoned away to promote the growth of someone else.
It was somewhat humorous to imagine that all the tough fellows in that sect had most certainly been pounded as a woman at one point in time. Probably several times, at that.
Edrick was very interested in this technique, though. It would nicely complement what he already had.
Regardless, there was also Labyrinth Palace, where Haoyu was to be found. The plan with that sect was already thought out, and Eltysia was possible purely thanks to them. Therefore, they already had a connection established.
Lastly, there was a sect that Edrick was uncertain about why it was specifically associated with the Elt clan. He had an idea, but he wasn’t sure it was correct…
In any case, Xiaode Mountain Sect was very interesting.
It was a sect that focused on attaining a certain standard of beauty through refined techniques and resources. Apparently, they had access to something that meant that once they had that particular beauty, they would be able to attain unnatural cultivation talent in other areas.
The beauty Xiaode Mountain Sect sought was the appearance of either a Rococoli or the very rare Rococoa–The latter being the male variant of a Rococoli... Only that a Rococoa was actually also a Foppoof, meaning that it required two uncommon, unpredictable traits to be possible.
Regardless, for natural Rococolis, Xiaode Mountain Sect is an obvious place to join, as they would instantly be granted impressive talent. But even if not natural, it was said that basically anyone could become a Rococoli or Rococoa indistinguishable from the real thing.
‘Oh… Another catch’
Just as he reeled in a fish and finished thinking about the subservient sects, someone approached him.