62-68

Chapter 62: Indiscernible Changes

Xi Mengfei watched patiently as Zhang Cuiying finished her painting. The drawing was of a mountain filled with spirituality. Mengfei's eyes could easily see the slight growth of the plants on the painted mountain. Rather than a painting, it was more like a window to another world where the mountain existed.

"Elder Xi, thank you for waiting."

Zhang Cuiying's voice was neither loud nor soft with her words. It was as if she was going through the motions.

"It was a pleasure seeing Elder Zhang forging a minor realm. There is no need for Elder Zhang to be so courteous after all you have done for me."

Mengfei said as she pushed a box forward towards Zhang Cuiying.

Zhang Cuiying looks at the box before shaking her head. "I cannot take this. I agreed to protect your son as payment, but I didn't fulfill my end of the bargain, and he was drifting outside for months without my aid. If not for Elder Meng, I would not have been able to deter Monarch Soulfish."

"No matter what, you still fought back Monarch Soulfish from reaping Tianyi's soul, this is a fact I cannot ignore. If not for you, Elder Meng would not have been able to stop Monarch Soulfish without your appearance."

Zhang Cuiying saw the resolute will within Mengfei's eyes and accepted the box in the bell. She opened it to see several lotus seeds. Taking half, she returned the box to Mengfei.

"I only half fulfilled the bargain, so this will be enough."

Mengfei did not attempt to continue to persuade Zhang Cuiying and stored away the rest of the lotus seeds within the box. The two began to discuss various things while drinking fragrant tea.

Zhang Cuiying looked at Mengfei holding the teacup with her left hand and then looked at her right sleeve. There was no hand poking out of it.

"How are your injuries?"

Zhang Cuiying said, again, there was no fluctuation within her voice to reveal her inner thoughts.

Mengfei placed the teacup down and pulled her right sleeve back to reveal a fleshly stump. The stump was raw red with pulsating muscles and shattered bone fragments.

"It won't decay anymore, but this injury is the result of a dead divinity. I need about ten years at least to heal from it." Mengfei said, her voice was calm as if she had not lost her dominant hand.

"Was it worth it?" Zhang Cuiying asked.

"Yes," Mengfei said as she looked at the spatial ring on her left hand. Behind her was a levitating sword casket about two meters long and half a meter wide.

The white sword casket had been floating behind Xi Mengfei ever since she had returned to the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Though it was sealed tight with nothing leaking from the seams, Zhang Cuiying could detect the heaven-slaughtering aura within. Even she, who attained the Extremity Immortal Realm, felt fear of the sword within.

"I am not talking about physical gains. When you explored the shattered primordial world, if the devils captured you, your fate would be worse than death. All this for a problem that solved itself?" Zhang Cuiying said as she stared at her half-empty teacup.

"It is good that Tianyi was able to solve the issue himself. In the future, perhaps he would become even more powerful than me." There was a tinge of pride that Mengfei could not detect in her voice.

"Are you that sure of it?" Zhang Cuiying asked, not looking up from her cup. "Had you had the same resources and guidance at your age, your cultivation would have likely surpassed his."

Mengfei shook her head in refusal of Zhang Cuiying's words. "I disagree, Tianyi has shown a great affinity towards the Ten Heavenly Scriptures, even managing to create a new martial cultivation method using the Spatial and Timeless Heavenly Scriptures. My son has even successfully cultivated the Lotus Ascension Soul Art that you reconstructed from the Soulheart Heavenly Scripture."

There was a slight twitch of the lips from Mengfei's words. Zhang Cuiying took another sip from the tea. "Speaking of the Lotus Ascension Soul Art, I heard from Sect Master Xia that your son learned it at the seventh level of Immortal Scripture Repository. That technique should have been sealed at the ninth level, yet it was left with a disposable jade slip on the seventh level. Sect Master Xia had already investigated; no one touched the copy left on the ninth level."

"Elder Zhang, you found the fragmented Soulheart Scripture, do you have any suspects?" Mengfei asked.

"What, aren't you going to suspect me? The Lotus Ascension Art is a forbidden technique I created to allow a fragmented soul to reconstitute itself and be reborn. Alas, it was a failure in the end, not even fit to be cultivated." Zhang Cuiying said, with a hint of self-mockery at the end.

"I know Elder Zhang's personality very well; such an underhand trick is above you," Mengfei said, not even suspecting Zhang Cuiying of having any harmful actions towards Tianyi. She had the perfect chance to allow Tianyi to perish. Rescuing him and then using her methods to get rid of Tianyi was beyond foolish.

What Mengfei didn't mention was that using a method Zhang Cuiying created to revive him to murder someone else was below her bottom line.

"You shouldn't be so decisive of your assessment of others. People change, even immortals like us." Zhang Cuiying looked at Mengfei's features.

Compared to the twenty years ago, the sudden maturity of Mengfei's features may seem negligible. Still, it was a sudden development if you realized that ever since Mengfei started cultivating, her appearance stayed the same, never exceeding twenty. As for when Mengfei began to mature, the answer was obvious.

Idly, Zhang Cuiying wondered if she too would age had she had a child with him.

"The scariest part is that people don't even realize they've changed." Saying those words, Zhang Cuiying looked at Mengfei, who seemed not to understand.

After a few more words, Mengfei left. But she did not directly return to Jade Peak and instead went to find the Sect Master. She had just returned, but she didn't expect to hear the news of someone deliberately leaving the Lotus Ascension Soul Art for Tianyi. Mengfei had thought Tianyi had chosen it himself knowing the flaws but successfully cultivated anyways. Her conversation with Zhang Cuiying revealed otherwise.

When Mengfei showed up with her inquiries, there was a sense of helplessness from Sect Master Xia. Although he had investigated as much as he could, there were no clues of anyone copying the Lotus Ascension Soul Art onto a jade slip and leaving it in the seventh level of the Immortal Scripture Repository.

If the manual hadn't copied from the Immortal Scripture Repository's top level, then the suspicion would fall on Grand Elder Zhang Cuiying and the members of Forlorn Void Peak, who had access to the manual before. Even if it hadn't been copied from Forlorn Void Peak, there was still the matter of how someone was able to slip into the Immortal Scripture Repository without a word. The biggest suspect was naturally Grand Elder Zhang, but Sect Master Xia was clear about Grand Elder Zhang's personality.

On the surface, this was just a matter of a promising disciple and child of a Grand Elder learning the wrong technique that could have led to his death. But if the culprit was capable of leaving a technique soundlessly on the seventh level, what prevented the culprit from doing the same on the lower levels and harming the disciples' future? The culprit could have easily stolen all the techniques within. It would be even worse if the technique really were copied from the ninth level.

Mengfei left after the Sect Master promised to keep her updated on the situation.

When she did return to Jade Peak Palace, her nephew Xi Ri was nowhere to be found, Daoyi was cultivating on the Jade Lotus Clear Pond, and Tianyi was waiting near the front."

"Yi'er," Mengfei said, more to test the words on her lips than to call out to Tianyi.

Looking at this child of hers, perhaps Tianyi himself didn't realize it, but his features were slowly changing as he grew up. There were some of hers, but there was also that man's mixed within. At the very least, the Dragon Emperor's features were no longer as prominent.

Mengfei's eyes flashed with a hint of coldness too quick for anyone to notice. As she looked at Tianyi, another image began to overlap with Tianyi's.

Both of them wore the clothing, although one was far more ostentatious. Unlike Tianyi, the second figure didn't inherit her eyes, and his personality was a tyrant. During her cultivation of extremity, she had seen another version of herself also not aborting the accidental child in her womb. But that child wasn't a child.

She had seen that child bully the other people in the Buzhou Immortal Sect and even build himself a harem of beautiful servant girls and disciples. A despot who did as he liked. Many times the thought of just kicking him out and exterminating him crossed her mind, but she never went through with it and instead cleaned up the mess he created.

It wasn't until he was undergoing his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation that she made up her mind and killed that child.

No, not child.

Xi Longyi, the Dragon Emperor.

"Mother, did you say something?" Mengfei broke out of her musings as she looked at this familiar face. She had also seen this face after slaying the Dragon Emperor looking in shock when she discovered him.

"Nothing," Mengfei said.

Reaching her realm, during cultivation, she would often enter a dream and experience the lives of her alternate versions of herself. Perhaps she had not entered the Buzhou Immortal Sect and lived the remainder of her life as a princess of the Xi Dynasty, or maybe she had discovered her talent and rose to fame as a loose cultivator.

The only significant difference in that one dream was the sudden appearance of Tianyi. It was that one instant that made her hesitate and give birth to the current Tianyi.

After checking over Tianyi's progress, Mengfei took out the box and handed it to Tianyi. "Yi'er, this is a Primordial Chaos Fruit I found in the Vast Void. If you ingest it, your understanding of the Dao of Chaos will increase."

Tianyi received the box, not noticing that Mengfei's right hand had been constructed out of qi.

"Thank you mother, did you go to the Vast Void just for this?" Tianyi asked as he connected the dots on why Mengfei had left.

Mengfei shook her head and looked towards the sword casket behind her. "I had gotten clues of a divine artifact from the Primordial Era; the Primordial Chaos Fruit was something that I picked along the way."

That was a lie. Mengfei had entered the shattered primordial world to search for the Primordial Chaos Fruit. The divine artifact within the sword casket was a fortuitous encounter as a by-product of her adventure.

Tianyi looked at the sword casket with great interest. "What kind of divine artifact is it?"

"The divine artifact used to be four divine artifacts. Right now, only their shards remain. I am nurturing it and reforging it into an artifact." Xi Mengfei said without too much importance. "Yi'er go absorb the Primordial Chaos Fruit, the sooner you do so, the better."

The Primordial Chaos Fruit was one of the top ten treasures to understand the Dao, but if it were to forge a treasure or concoct a pill, it would have been a better use. If an immortal used it to reforge their body, an average immortal would attain the power of a Seamless Immortal, an Immortal Monarch. It was even useful for Mengfei. If she used it for herself, not only would her hand recover, but her physical strength would increase by a level. For her constitution to increase at her current realm was beyond hard, it would take hundreds of years normally. And that was even considered fast!

Tianyi, who was unaware of all this, retreated to his room under Mengfei's urging to ingest the fruit. Mengfei's eyes lingered on the wax gold pendant on Tianyi's waist for a moment, causing it to shiver under her gaze, but she averted it soon after. It didn't seem to harm Tianyi, so she would not interfere for now.

Afterward, Mengfei traveled to the Jade Lotus Clear Pond. Her only disciple, Jiang Daoyi, was quietly cultivating there. Tianyi was her son, and she was worried about having him under anyone else as his master, so she taught him personally.

Mengfei had thought Jiang Daoyi would have been an ordinary disciple who would not shine against all the other geniuses within the Buzhou Immortal Sect. But against her expectations, Daoyi had proven herself to be a diamond in the rough, causing Mengfei to put more effort into raising her. As she watched Daoyi cultivate, she had found that Tianyi and Daoyi were slightly similar in a way she couldn't adequately describe, as if they had some unknown connection.

Chapter 63: Pill Debate

Yun Wanfeng, or as most knew nowadays, Sect Master of the Fleeting Mist Sect, had his brows furrowed. Recently the Fleeting Mist Sect's operation had been continuously hindered and disrupted.

The most prominent suspects were the Unseen Whale Region's overlords, the Sky Whale Sect, and the Green Scorpion Region, the Five Poison Sect. Neither of these two powers was any weaker than the Fleeting Mist Sect. In contrast to Sect Master Yun's expectations, his ascension to the Nascent Soul realm did not make these two powers afraid and instead agitated them.

As if on unspoken agreements, the two sects began to hinder the Fleeting Mist Sect's operations near their borders. At first, it was nothing consequential, but after a few years, there was a noticeable decline in the Fleeting Mist Sect's advancement. If you did not advance, then you would be left behind and buried by history.

Sect Master Yun even suspected that the two sects had a secret alliance to deal with the Fleeting Mist Sect. If such a thing did occur, then it would be troublesome, although, on the surface, Sect Master Yun was the only Nascent Soul Grandmaster within the three regions. Perhaps the two sects had some old monsters that were in seclusion. And even if he was the only Nascent Soul Grandmaster in the three regions, that did not give him ultimate power.

Both the Five Poison Sect and the Sky Whale Sect had history comparable to the Fleeting Mist Sect. The Sky Whale Sect had a mobile fortress artifact at the Nascent Soul realm, and the Five Poison Sect had a formation that could exhibit the power of a Unity Realm Venerable. Although, rumor has it that the Five Poison Sect could no longer bring out the formation's full strength. A crucial material that was needed had started to disappear from nature, and what little they did had was not enough.

Even if Sect Master Yun was the strongest cultivator in the region, the massive size of the territories would make it so that he could not guard everywhere at once. The Fleeting Mist Sect was only a single power. The manpower they could summon at any one time was limited. The power of a Nascent Soul Grandmaster was better as a deterrent.

"Master," A delicate and proper voice broke him out of his musings.

Sect Master Yun looked towards his most beloved disciple. The years were generous to Pan Lanyue; the once young lass had developed into a splendid woman worthy of being the Fleeting Mist Sect's future sect master.

"What is it, Yue'er?" Sect Master Yun's voice was gentle and doting, hiding away all of his worries from her. At the very least, before he had passed on the title of Sect Master, he had to solve the problems plaguing the Fleeting Mist Sect first.

"Master, are you alright? You seem troubled the last few days." Pan Lanyue said, her voice full of concern for her master.

"It's nothing much. You are still ten years too early to worry about your master." Sect Master Yun flicked Pan Lanyue's forehead causing her neck to snap back slightly. Although Pan Lanyue had already reached the Spiritual Altar Foundation Establishment realm, Sect Master Yun was still two realms above her.

Pan Lanyue hissed as she clutched her forehead. "Master! Be more gentle! If you're not careful, my head might just fly off from your flick!"

"Nonsense! I, your master, am a venerated Nascent Soul Grandmaster, controlling the strength of my flick is a simple affair. It is always at the perfect strength!" Sect Master Yun gave a teasing grin.

Pan Lanyue pouted. Although she had grown slightly older, but due to her cultivation, she still looked like a young lady in her twenties. Due to the affection that has developed over the years, Pan Lanyue became even more mischievous around her master, like a pampered granddaughter.

"The way I see it, you should be more worried about yourself. Isn't your match with your ex-fiance coming up?" Sect Master Yun said, directing the conversation elsewhere.

"Have you heard anything about Yan Nie?" Pan Lanyue asked, her face no longer pouting.

"There have been sightings of the youngster recently, but none of the accounts are reliable." Sect Master Yun said; he had found out the Yan Nie had regained his ability to cultivate soon after his disciple returned. But he did not place it in his eyes. His disciple was a genius worthy of even being accepted into the first-rate sects, what realm could a former genius cultivate in a mere ten years?

Speaking of geniuses, Sect Master Yun's thoughts turned towards the most extraordinary talent he had even laid eyes on, Xi Tianyi.

The shock that had assaulted him when he had discovered that the true cultivation level of the youth was almost heart-stopping. He wondered what realm the child reached in ten years. Perhaps he had already entered the Core Formation realm?

Or maybe even the Nascent Soul realm? Sect Master Yun shook his head at the absurd thought, a Nascent Soul Grandmaster at the age of twenty was preposterous.

"Master what realm do you think he has reached?" Pan Lanyue asked her master.

"Perhaps the peak of the qi circulation realm," Sect Master Yun deliberated after being brought out of his thoughts by his disciple's words. "There is a slim chance that he has reached the Foundation Establishment realm, according to eyewitnesses."

"Do...you think it was a mistake to break off the engagement?" Pan Lanyue asked after a moment of silence.

"No," It was a straightforward answer from Sect Master Yun. "Frankly speaking, pre-arrange marriage for us cultivators is a needless complication and one that even may cause us to wander off the immortal path. Even if you do not break the engagement, the result would have been the same." Sect Master Yun thought a bit and then added. "Minus the duel, of course."

Pan Lanyue pouted when she heard Sect Master Yun chuckle.

But the jovial atmosphere disappeared when someone barged into the hall.

"Sect Master, there's been a report that someone assaulted one of our spiritual stone mines!"

The sect master's face immediately darkened. "Explain." He only said one word.

An unknown enemy had assaulted one of the Fleeting Mist Sect's spiritual mines. The mine was under joint ownership by the Fleeting Mist Sect and a vassal sect that had pledged allegiance to the Fleeting Mist Sect. The Plum Wing Sect Sect Master's son was even a disciple of the Fleeting Mist Sect.

On the surface, the attack seemed simple, but once Sect Master Yun heard the details, his brows furrowed at the report. It was to the point that he had personally traveled to the site of the mine.

Once he arrived, his facial expression darkened even more. The mine was a lost cause. It could no longer produce any more spiritual stones without at least a 1,000 years at the very least.

All the people stationed at the mine seemed to disappear into thin air, and the very environment surrounding the mine changed as if eons had passed. The scariest part was that a Nascent Soul Grandmaster like him could not detect any hints or qi usage at all.

For him to not discover any qi usage, the perpetrator must be in the Unity Realm at the least. Sect Master Yun suspected that the perpetrator's cultivation level would be even higher.

In comparison, the aftereffect of this attack would almost be cute. Someone had just attacked and ruined one of the Fleeting Mist Sect's resource points. If they did not handle this correctly, their prestige and influence would take a dive.

In the end, Sect Master Yun had a hunch that the matter wasn't so simple and sent a letter to his friend for his opinion.

Elder Shan's aged visage twitched when he saw the object at the table. It was a round pill that shone with a golden luster; the limbs poking out of the sphericle body only increased the pill's abnormality.

"You again, can't you go pilfer someone else's materials?"

Elder Shan said as he talked to the pill.

The pill tilted upward and looked up, but no words came out.

"I'm the only one you can take from!? That's doesn't mean you should take it from me!"

There was a bit of helplessness in Elder Shan's voice as he talked to the pill.

"How are you going to compensate me? Unlike you, I have to earn these materials myself. My cultivation is already harder than others because of my condition. You embezzling materials from me is not helping."

"..."

"If I have the ability to stop you, I should stop you!? I don't have the ability, otherwise, why would we be talking like this?"

"..."

"I don't want to be called a loser by a pill who can't even cultivate even after gaining spirituality after millions of years!"

"..."

"Heh, you'll be able to do it soon? Aren't you just relying on Tianyi's blood? You have already formed an irrevocable connection with him."

"..."

"He's not bad? That must be true if you say so. After all, you've existed since the primordial era, unlike me."

"..."

"How did I do it? Heh, not telling."

The pill suddenly shot up and smashed Elder Shan's nose, causing a noseblood.

"Hey, just because I refuse to tell, you directly moved to violence!? Why can't you take after Tianyi more and talk it out."

"..."

"Tianyi is a lot more violent than I think? At the very least, he doesn't go punching people at the first signs of disagreements. Especially after eating their stuff."

"..."

"You're my senior? Technically I made more improvements than you. Based on schematics, I'm technically in a higher realm, shouldn't I be the senior then?'

"..."

"Might is right? What a tyrant."

"..."

"Is Tianyi really that special? Sure, his abilities are far above his realm, but it is not like there have not been cases of people of equal talent."

"..."

"There's a lot of bigwigs invested? Why would they be so invested in a mortal who has not even attained immortality?"

"..."

"Not just Tianyi?"

"..."

"There's actually such a group of people? The chances of them reaching immortality and their predisposition towards the Dao is that high?"

"..."

"They are children of that god? Impossible, that can guy actually had children!?"

"..."

"Not in the true sense? just a term you used to address those that came from a place called Earth?"

"..."

"How small, is it really so special? How come I never heard of it?"

"... ... ..."

"The more I hear, the more I think you are pulling my leg."

"..."

"Strange, very strange. Is it possible to visit this Earth?"

"..."

"What? It's impossible to travel to Earth?"

"..."

"So that's why there are so many of his children running about it. Do they know?"

"..."

"Hm, so not even Grand Elder Xi knows."

"..."

"They've already marked them? Still, I'm surprised that so many could escape Old Lady Meng's soup of forgetfulness."

"..-!"

"What's wrong!?" Elder Shan stood up when he saw the golden pill suddenly became agitated. Without wasting a second, the pill shot out off of the table and away.

Elder Shan followed, and he soon reached the destination. It was the Jade Lotus Clear Pond and a familiar scene was reoccurring. After all, nearly ten years ago, he had watched Tianyi reach the Core Formation Realm.

"Grand Elder Xi," Elder Shan bowed and saluted. Grand Elder Xi ignored Elder Shan as her hands snatched the golden pill that wanted to fly towards Tianyi and grasped it in her palm. The golden pill wanted to struggle, but it could not escape Xi Mengfei's grasp.

Elder Shan just glanced at it before turning his attention towards the youth who was transcending his Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation. After learning some truths, he had some complications towards Tianyi, but years of feeling couldn't be erased just because of some information.

Tianyi was seated in a lotus position, much like all those years ago. His clothes did not seem to be touched this time and not a hair out of place.

The tribulation lightning thundered ominously and flashed with destructive might. Elder Shan noted that he would be crippled should he take any single strike of tribulation lightning.

At this moment, a five-petal lotus materialized above Tianyi's head. It seemed fleeting and unreal, ethereal to the point that it might disappear any moment.

Chapter 64: Lotus Soul

Daoyi's eyelashes trembled. She was sitting in a lotus potion with her guqin laying across her lap; her fingers rested upon the zither strings. Despite her lack of movements, the tune of music could be heard rustling with the wind.

Inside Daoyi's dantian, eight Spiritual Pillars had already formed. Within her dantian was silvery-blue like a mist, and the mercury-like spiritual sea reflected the Spiritual Pillars like a mirror. Daoyi's octagonal Spiritual Altar had grooves and elevation reminiscent of a spider's web, rather than sitting atop the Spiritual Pillars, they were situated in between the Eight Pillars.

At the center of the web, an ethereal crucible was being formed, but it was not round. Instead, eight spider legs encased and seem to hold the crucible in place. The shape occasionally became blurry and developed into a crucible shaped mist, but it would change back once in a while. As more and more spiritual qi was absorbed, this happened less and less.

When the mercury-like spiritual sea almost dried up, Daoyi opened her eyes. With each breath, she exhaled a silvery mist.

"I've reached the Spiritual Altar stage but stepping into the Spiritual Crucible Stage is still a problem. Forget it, I shouldn't be greedy. I should reinforce my Spiritual Pillars and Altar." Daoyi's soft voice was almost like a whisper, like a feather tickling the heart. "Master has said that once I reach the transcended the Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation, I can change my cultivation technique to a soul cultivation technique."

Since first laying eyes on Daoyi, Mengfei could already detect Daoyi's strong soul. Compared to Tianyi, it was only slightly inferior in size, but the quality was the same. In fact, it was not just Daoyi who had a strong soul. Whether by fate or luck, Xi Ri's soul was also near the same quality.

After giving herself a brief respite, Daoyi began to pluck the strings of her guqin. Perhaps Tianyi didn't realize it when he bought it, but many of the instruments he had purchased at the Xi Dynasty were artifacts capable of unleashing attacks.

Abnormally, Daoyi's movements did not cause her guqin to produce any sound. In fact, no sound could be heard at all, no matter how much Daoyi plucked the strings. Daoyi showed no surprise at this strange occurrence.

Two humanoids crawled out of the ground, and their skin was the color of stone. They resembled human puppets with no facial features. One had arms thrice the average size, while another had sickle-like arms. The two puppets moved in a mechanical and lifeless motion, and if one looked closely, one could see silver strands attached to them. The two puppets did battle with the other.

The larger puppet's punches were power incarnate. Each strike would shatter the ground and send rocks flying. The other, slimmer, puppet danced around the larger puppet, although a few stones would pellet its stone body. With each strike, its sickle-like hands would leave white marks.

One represented brute strength, while the other represented finesse.

By the end, the larger puppet was covered in white gashes, while the smaller puppet had numerous deformations from the flying stones. Daoyi removed her fingers from the guqin, and like puppets whose strings had been cut, the two stone figures crumpled onto the ground. Even their basic shape could no longer be maintained, becoming a pile of worthless stone.

The next day, Daoyi met her master once more. She had seen various beautiful women in her life. As a duke's daughter, she had attended multiple banquets and frequently saw the empress and higher ranked consorts, even the officials and nobles' madames. She had thought they were, outwardly, the most beautiful people she had ever seen.

But that all changed when her master, Xi Mengfei, revealed her face to Daoyi. Her master wasn't just beautiful. She had a unique air to her, like a single forlorn flowering magnolia high above on a snowy peak. Untouchable by mortal hands.

There was a sense of distance that could not be closed, and Daoyi thought it would be hard to live with her master. But surprisingly, except for not speaking much, her master was actually pretty easy to live with.

"Daoyi, what progress have you made?" The voice was dignified with no fluctuation at all, but it was pleasant to the ears.

"Answering master, I have completed the Spiritual Altar Stage but I can't enter the Spiritual Crucible Stage," Daoyi answered back.

"Come here," Mengfei said. Daoyi came forward and placed her wrist for Mengfei to inspect. Mengfei held Daoyi's wrist in her hand and sent a strand of her immortal sense into Daoyi's body.

"Your Spiritual Altar resembles a spider web?" There was a slight pause in Mengfei's voice. She had already noticed that the number of Daoyi's Spiritual Pillars was different, but seeing as they were sturdy and no problems came up, she let it be. If Daoyi failed, she could always start over. Mengfei could afford to heal the damage caused by the Spiritual Pillars' collapse and allow Daoyi to re-cultivate it again.

Still, why did Tianyi and Daoyi like to change and alter the number and structure of Spiritual Pillars so much?

"Yes, I feel that this shape will be helpful in forming my Spiritual Core," Daoyi said.

Mengfei said nothing as she released Daoyi's wrist. "As long as you are sure of your path. Even if you fall, I will help you stand up once more."

"Thank you very much, master!" Daoyi gave a sweet smile in response. "Oh right, master, do you know if there are any spider-type magical beasts available in the Taming Hall?"

Mengfei paused before giving Daoyi a closer look, "Why do you want to have a spider magical beast? Among all the magical beasts, spiders are considered rather hard to form bonds with. Unlike the other types, why not a rabbit or a fox?"

"Rabbits and foxes aren't as cute as spiders," Daoyi said.

Mengfei stopped talking as if not knowing what to say. This disciple of hers was raised as a woman of the boudoir. No matter how neglected she was, spiders and insects should not be creatures that Daoyi saw daily. How in the world did her disciple find spiders so cute?

"Master, so are there any spiders available to be tamed?" Daoyi asked.

Mengfei didn't open her mouth as she looked at Daoyi's shining eyes. "Why the sudden interest?"

"Doesn't senior brother have a strange magical beast that always followed him? Seeing senior brother play with it made me want my very own pet." Daoyi said as she recalled how Tianyi would string the sphere-like animal with his fingers.

"Daoyi, that thing isn't Yi'er's tamed beast. It's a pill that opened up its spirituality and started to follow him." Mengfei explained.

"Really? A pill could act like that? Will it hatch open like an egg?" Daoyi asked, her interest piqued.

"The pill won't crack, its base form is that of a sphere, or whatever it was initially shaped. But once it begins to cultivate, it can choose a new form. Like how, after a magical beast becomes a demon, it can assume a human form." Mengfei said.

"I've never heard of a pill attaining spirituality before," Daoyi said.

"It wasn't unheard of when the Immortal Court still existed. Unlike magical beasts who can open their spirituality at the Qi Gathering or Foundation Establishment stages, only an immortal rank pill has the chance of opening their spirituality. So even during the era of the Immortal Court, such pills were rare. And those who can cultivate, even rarer." Mengfei explained.

"Hm, so senior brother is going to become like a parent." Daoyi instantly thought of her senior brother's personality. He appeared to be a calm, collected person on the surface, but once you interacted with him more, you would find out that he was rather mischievous.

Daoyi recalled the numerous times Xi Ri suffered under Tianyi's hands. He made one of the prototype Xiyi Talisman act like a mousetrap and clamp onto Xi Ri's hand, or another time he set a predetermined image that made it seemed like Xi Ri had completed the Xiyi Talisman. Xi Ri was so happy, but that happiness was fleeting when he found out the truth.

Daoyi became worried for the pill.

Well, if senior brother goes too far, I'll just have to tell him, Daoyi thought. "Wait master, you still haven't told me whether there are any spider eggs available."

Mengfei's expression suddenly changed and stood up from her couch. She furrowed her brows as she walked out of her room. Daoyi followed, not uttering another word. The very air around her master had changed. The only reason such a thing were to occur would only be if it involved her senior brother.

Daoyi soon discovered the reason. Up in the air, tribulation clouds were gathering. Judging from the size, it would be no doubt heaven shaking.

"Did senior brother suddenly decided to undergo his Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation?" Daoyi asked.

Mengfei didn't say anything. Tianyi had been in seclusion for the past few weeks because she had given him the Primordial Chaos Fruit to consume. Why did he suddenly invoke the Heavenly Tribulation?

Tianyi also felt very wronged. He devoured the Primordial Chaos Fruit and had been comprehending the Dao of Chaos. At the same time, he had continuously been adjusting his spiritual and martial cultivation techniques. Who knew that he had unknowingly reached the peak of the Core Formation realm and invoked the Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation.

The first tribulation was already deep gold in color. When Tianyi had seen Sect Master Yun undergoing his Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation, not even his final and forty-ninth lightning bolt had been this color. Although Tianyi was only at the Foundation Establishment realm back then, he could still estimate that the first strike of his Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation was already more powerful than Sect Master Yun's final bolt.

But Tianyi faced the tribulation lightning head-on. His strength was already passed the Nascent Soul realm threshold, and this bolt was something he could endure easily.

Tianyi continued to endure the tribulation lightning. Without using any defensive technique, his body alone was enough to withstand the Heavenly Tribulation's opening strikes. Even if they penetrated his skin, they would enter his body and be disintegrated by the true qi of chaos within his body.

Off by the side, a small crowd had already gathered to witness his Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation, but Tianyi didn't have any spare thoughts to pay attention to them. Although he seemed to be having an easy time, any careless mistake could still spell disaster for him.

As the number of lightning bolts near eighty-one, their color began to deepen until it was almost pitch black in color. Once the eighty-first lightning bolt struck Tianyi, inside his dantian small slivers of transparent energy began to leak from his all nine of Tianyi's Spiritual Cores. They started to condensed above Tianyi's Dragon Yin Pearl Core, and slowly the form of a white five-petaled lotus formed.

Tianyi suddenly felt an ominous premonition. If he allowed his Nascent Soul to form into a lotus, his future would be at risk. It wasn't to the point that he would die, but he felt a sense of wrongness as the white lotus continued to condense.

He recalled a potential soul cultivation method that he had theorized to go with his Sole Yin, Eight Trigram Yang Core Revolution Formation. Tianyi looked at the five petals, and then he gritted his teeth and made a gamble.

A five-petal lotus began to materialize above his head. This was his half-formed Nascent Soul!

Chapter 65: Nine Spiritual Cores, Five Nascent Souls

Once the five-petaled appeared Tianyi's head, the thinning of the tribulation clouds stopped. The crackling clouds began to grow denser and denser, and the blackness reached the point that it no longer resembled a cloud but a hole in the sky. It was as if the previous tribulations clouds had just been a glimpse of what was to come. The rumbling thunder became silent as it was replaced by vibrations that seemed to shake the very earth.

It wasn't just the physical aspect of the Heavenly Tribulation that changed but the spiritual aspect as well. The majestic pressure crushed down on all those within the immediate vicinity, even those outside of the Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation. Mengfei and the Unity Realm Elders were fine under the crushing pressure, but sweat dotted Daoyi's forehead. Her skin paled, and her breathing became impaired as if there was a stone crushing her chest. Mengfei glanced at her disciple, and a barrier was erected in front of Daoyi that shielded her from the abnormal pressure.

Elder Shan was only slightly better. But his true qi became slightly erratic under the pressure of the Heavenly Tribulation. His Nascent Soul felt as if it was beginning to destabilize; Elder Shan frowned. His body began releasing a medicinal scent and vital qi. At the same time, the stifling pressure was alleviated.

"Strange, the Heavenly Tribulation should have already been over. Why does it seem that junior nephew Tianyi is undergoing another Heavenly Tribulation."

"The abnormal occurrences started to happen as soon as the white lotus appeared. It seems to be junior nephew Tianyi's Nascent Soul?"

"Strange, very strange. The orthodox Nascent Soul of a cultivator should be human in form unless junior nephew Tianyi is practicing soul cultivation as well? Only a soul cultivators are able to form Nascent Soul that is different from their appearance."

"Spiritual, martial, and soul. Grand Elder Xi's son sure is ambitious. But this doesn't explain why the tribulation clouds have not dispersed."

"When junior nephew Tianyi formed his Spiritual Core, it was nine, and he had to undergo nine Core Formation Heavenly Tribulation. This time, it seems that junior nephew Tianyi is going to do something similar."

"Nascent Soul isn't the same as a Spiritual Core. Even if junior nephew Tianyi has nine Spiritual Cores, that should not give him the ability to form multiple Nascent Souls."

"Perhaps not, but soul cultivation is esoteric. Do you have any insight, Elder Jiao?"

Elder Jiao glanced at her fellow Unity Realm Elder and contemplated before speaking. "There are cases of soul cultivators splitting their soul when their Nascent Soul formed to form soul clones. But that isn't a normal method. I don't think junior nephew Tianyi will do such a thing."

"Perhaps, it is another similar circumstance. Grand Elder Xi must have given some pointers. As expected of the peak immortal of the Huang Realm."

"It is a pity that we were not able to witness junior nephew Tianyi's abilities. He doesn't need to compete for resources in the sect, and rather than compete in a tournament, junior nephew Tianyi would rather spectate."

"Has junior nephew Tianyi even sparred with anyone in the sect?"

"..."

"I heard that a disciple of an elder requested to have a sword spar with junior nephew Tianyi, the result was that he lost in a few rounds."

"I'm surprised junior nephew Tianyi was able to reach this stage without any battles."

"Back then, I heard Grand Elder Xi had constantly been adventuring."

"Look! Junior nephew Tianyi's white lotus Nascent Soul is showing change!"

On the white lotus above Tianyi's head, tiny light balls had formed on each of the five petals. Each light was a different color: red, black, yellow, green, and white.

Slowly the lights began to shape into a form with a head, two arms, and two legs. Each one took the form of an adolescent, not even five years old yet. All five had the exact same face as each other. They all resembled Tianyi when he was at their age.

The only difference was the color the robes each wore, all of them corresponding to the light they had once been. Even the coronet atop their heads was the same. It was like a little child trying to dress and act like an adult, Tianyi's spitting image when he was that age. Adorable, really.

As the five robed children formed and their figure's translucency turned more solid, the lotus petal below them began to grow faint in reverse. The five-petaled white lotus began to wither. The white lotus formed by Tianyi in preparation to form his Nascent Soul was now used to nurture his five Nascent Souls.

Each one of Tianyi's Nascent Soul emitted a different sort of aura: the red-robed Nascent Soul emitted a fiery aura, the black-robed Nascent Soul emitted a watery aura, the green-robed Nascent Soul emitted a forest-like aura, the white-robed Nascent Soul emitted a metallic aura, and the yellow-robed Nascent Soul emitted an earthen aura.

Each Nascent Soul was a One-Colored Nascent Soul. Ordinarily, a One-Colored would spell the end of a cultivator's immortal pat. But Tianyi had five One-Colored Nascent Soul, each one corresponding to one of the five elements.

When a cultivator formed a Nascent Soul, the number of colors it contained represented their potential, like the Core Formation grading using the colors, a Nascent Soul Grandmaster's Nascent Soul was also graded by color. One-Colored was the worst and meant that their path had ended, while Five-Colored was supreme, and as long they do not perish, attaining Unity was all but assured.

Although Tianyi had five Nascent Souls, he had encompassed all five elements that a Five-Colored Nascent Soul would. Although each one seemed to only be a One-Colored Nascent Soul, with but a thought, Tianyi could easily convert the element they represented. Each of his Nascent Soul was a One-Colored Nascent Soul, but at the same time, due to all of them being linked, they were also Five-Colored Nascent Souls.

Not all Five-Colored Nascent Souls were supreme. Some were even inferior to Three-Colored Nascent Souls. The most crucial aspect of multicolored Nascent Souls is the balance between each element. The more balanced they were, the more perfect the Nascent Soul.

Xia Yushan, due to his proficiency in the Five Element Sword Arts, had attained a Supreme Five-Colored Nascent Soul. The Five Element series cultivation manuals were perfect in forming the perfect Nascent Soul even if the cultivator formed a Yellow-Grade Spiritual Core. A Violet Gold Core Formation Master who formed a Five-Colored Nascent Soul might not be superior to a gold Core Formation Master who used the Five Element series manual to form their Five-Colored Nascent Soul.

As the white lotus entirely withered and disintegrated into tiny motes of light, the five Nascent Souls all opened their eyes. Their eyes held countless flashes of lightning. A single glance would cause those of weaker will and cultivation to suffer an attack upon their soul.

The five Nascent Soul sunk into Tianyi and appeared above his Dragon Yin Pearl Core. Once they appeared there, the stability of the true qi of chaos became even sturdier. Before, there was still a slight leakage of true qi from Tianyi's body. But now, if Tianyi so wished to, those of the same realm would not be able to discern his cultivation base. He could even completely hide his cultivation and appear mortal to those weaker than him with enough effort.

The inside of Tianyi's body, the cosmos became more real with the addition of the five Nascent Souls, and Tianyi could feel that his true qi's potency became even more powerful. But the thing that made Tianyi happy the most was the feeling of weightlessness. Until this point, his body still had pressure, slight as it was, from his inability to control his true qi of chaos perfectly.

Even when he created his martial cultivation method, the force of the true qi and spacetime clashed and negated each other. Because of this, although Tianyi's body was no longer in danger of exploding, he felt as if there was a discrepancy between his thoughts and movements.

Tianyi rested his cheek on his palm as he gazed upwards at the Heavenly Tribulation clouds. There was a damnable smirk on his face that was just asking for a beating.

"I guess forming five Nascent Souls after fracturing a Nascent Soul in the process was a bit too much of a loophole even for the Heavenly Dao." Tianyi light said. As if in response, the tribulation clouds rumbled and caused the earth to shake even more.

Tianyi stood up and dusted his robes and gazed furiously at the Heavenly Tribulation; his face was saying "bring it."

The pure black tribulation clouds thundered with golden light as a strike of black lightning struck the ground a few hundred meters in front of Tianyi.

It wasn't a meaningless move.

Where the lightning struck, a giant composed of tribulation lightning stood. It's golden body crackled as the lightning streaked across its skin. The tribulation clouds no longer looked as dark after sending summoning the lightning giant.

The second strike of lightning struck down. The giant of lightning was now covered in an armor composed of black lightning. The third strike, a crown adorned the giant's head. The fourth strike, the tribulation giant grasped a sword of lightning in its hand. And the fifth strike, a divine dragon with two horns and a flowing white beard wrapped around the tribulation giant. The lightning dragon roared at Tianyi in a provocating manner.

The tribulation cloud became almost ash in color, having lost a significant amount of its power from forming the tribulation giant. But it still hovered in the sky as if to pass judgment.

"This...is new. I never heard of the Heavenly Tribulation having this form. Although the inner demon Tribulation is supposed to be the most fearsome of tribulation. I don't think I have any inner demons. I wonder what my inner demon tribulation will be?" The tribulation giant roared at Tianyi and broke him out of his thoughts as if saying, "you dare look away while this one is before you!"

"Whoops, better focus on the matter at hand," Tianyi said, but there was no hint of worry in his eyes or voice.

Vapor the color of void began to be released from Tianyi's pores. The black mist soon entirely encased Tianyi, hiding his form from prying eyes. The mist began to grow larger and larger until it was over a hundred meters tall.

The mist then gradually changed shape and formed a giant version of Tianyi down to his features. Two holes emitted crackling light where his pupils would be. Compared to the grey cloud giant Tianyi formed before, this giant had greater detail down to the fold of Tianyi's robes, and its skin was like the void with countless stars emitting.

As if on agreement, both the tribulation giant and cosmos giant began walking towards the other. The air crackled with sparks as the two giants neared each other, neither willing to show weakness.

The tribulation giant raised its sword overheard once the cosmos giant neared within its striking range.

SSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH

The sound of the sky bifurcating was heard as the tribulation sword descended, seemingly like a sea of lightning descending.

In response, the cosmos giant held out his right hand and locked the tribulation sword's blade in its hand. Lightning crackled and thundered rumbled from the sealed sword. But no matter how the tribulation lightning battered the cosmos giant's hand, it remained stalwart. The cosmos giant was even absorbing trace amounts of lightning through contact.

At the same time as the sword descended, the dragon formed of tribulation lightning soared forward. It wrapped around the cosmos giant's body and even started to strange its neck.

The cosmos giant's left hand pulled against the dragon's body as it tried to unwrap the dragon. The tribulation giant delivered a mighty kick that launched the cosmos giant onto its back and caused the cosmos giant to released the tribulation sword.

The cosmos giant began to distort as the tribulation dragon constricted even more. At this time, the cosmos giant formed its two hands into claws and slashed the tribulation dragon.

The tribulation dragon roared in pain as the claws penetrated deep into its body. Lightning bled from its body, and with its integrity ruptured, the tribulation dragon began to deform into pure tribulation lightning. The tribulation lightning covered the cosmos giant in an aura of lightning.

The cosmos giant lumbered into a standing position, the ground quaking with each of its movements. When it stood up, the tribulation giant was upon on it as it slashed downward with the tribulation sword once again.

Claws met sword as the two giant duked it out. The cataclysmic battle raged on as the two behemoths clashed again and again.

Should a normal Nascent Soul Grandmaster intercede within the battle, just the wind generated from each swing of either giant's arm would result in lethal damage.

Crack!

The tribulation sword fractured under the repeated strikes from the cosmos giant. Upon shattering in two, the tribulation sword morphed into lightning and enveloped the cosmos giant, much like the tribulation dragon was destroyed.

But the tribulation giant was undeterred as it began to rain fist after fist upon the cosmos giant that was still shrouded in tribulation lightning. When each fist landed on the cosmos giant, the lightning rippled outward from the contact point. As the battle continued, the number of the stars within the cosmos giant began to diminish, and even it's size started to decrease.

The cosmos giant abandoned all thoughts of defense as it allowed the fist to land on its body and returned the assault threefold onto the tribulation giant. At first, the tribulation armor blocked the cosmos giant's assault. Soon, cracks appeared on the tribulation armor before it too shattered and turned into tribulation that reignited the shroud of lightning assaulting the cosmos giant. Before this, the veil of tribulation lightning had been thinning.

The cosmos giant ignored this as it continued to engage in a primitive slugfest with the tribulation giant. This battle was an endurance match to see which of these two titans would fall first.

The answer was the cosmos giant as glass-like crack began to appear on its body. With each passing second, the web-like cracks grew until the form of the cosmos shattered. The void-like mist dispersed to reveal Tianyi's figure in the air. His stature like an ant before the elephant that was the tribulation giant.

But the tribulation giant had already lost all its armament, its base body formed of tribulation lightning had begun to distort. It appeared as if another strike would destabilize it.

Tianyi pointed his finger at the giant, and a black sphere condensed upon his fingertips. Without seemingly any outside force, the black sphere short towards the tribulation giant. With each second, the boundary of space was devoured and fueled its growth.

The tribulation giant roared in indignant fury as it brought both arms crashing down upon the blackhole coming towards it in great defiance. Upon contact, the giant's arms distorted into a mist of lightning and were sucked into the black hole. Before its body could even lose its integrity, the black hole greedily started to devour the tribulation lightning giant. The giant roared once more as it consciously dissolved its form into a net of lightning that soared towards Tianyi. But right as it neared Tianyi, it was pulled back and devoured by the black hole.

Tianyi watched the black hole shrank under his commands until it disappeared into the world. Blood started to leak from the edge of his lips to which he wiped it away with his sleeve.

"Sssssssssssssss," Tianyi hissed in pain as his clothes rubbed his skin, slightly pink as if it had been scalded by boiling water.

Inside Tianyi's body, his cosmos body, the tribulation lightning, and the space devoured by the black hole reappeared within. Before it could rampage, black clouds sparkling with starlight encased it. No matter how the tribulation lightning raged, the true qi of chaos ground and dissolved it into pure energy absorbed by Tianyi.

Chapter 66: Celebration

"Congratulations junior brother Xi. No, it should be senior brother Xi now."

Tianyi smiled as he thanked Wei Daying for the praise. Contrary to the peacefulness and solitude familiar to Jade Peak Palace, numerous guests filled the halls and conjured a festive atmosphere.

Members of the Buzhou Immortal Sect ranging from Foundation Establishment Disciples to Unity Venerables inhabited the halls. But these were not the usual members of Jade Peak, but acquaintances that Tianyi had met before. None of them shared too deep of a relationship with him.

His mother was absent, as were the numerous other Immortal Elders of the Sect. In their eyes, Tianyi transcending the Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation, although impressive at his young age, was not significant. Should he ascend to the Immortal Realm, only then Tianyi would be qualified to have their congratulations. But it was not so for those under the Immortal Realm. To them, Tianyi achieving the Nascent Soul realm was a near miracle.

Tianyi recognized a few of them. They were the children of the Elders of the Buzhou Immortal Sect that he had met before. He had derisively called them silkpants back then. Those near his age were few and far between.

He still remembered when he refused to associate with them because of their immaturity. Those that were present were, in fact, the cream of the crop. Half of the silkpants Tianyi's age were still in the Qi Gathering Realm, having yet to break through into the Foundation Establishment Realm.

As for those older...

Tianyi smiled as a Core Formation Master raised a toast to him, and both sipped the wine from their cups. He was not close with those older than him before they had ostracized him due to the difference in age and seeing him as a little brat. They disdained his low cultivation base, but now most of them could only gaze at him from below.

A Nascent Soul Grandmaster also toasted Tianyi. It was a far cry from the lofty attitude from before when Tianyi first met him. Tianyi's smiled widened.

"Senior brother Lin, your words back then impacted me very deeply. I have to thank the motivation you imparted into me all those years ago. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have reached this height so quickly." Tianyi said, a courteous smile on his face. The smile inside Tianyi's heart, however, widened even more as Lin Mu's smiled stiffened.

It was a lie. To be honest, Tianyi could have cared less about this senior brother of his. But the stifled smile on senior brother Lin's face was just too satisfying for Tianyi.

"I am overjoyed that my words back then gave junior brother Xi proper motivation." Lin Mu said. His grip tightened around his cup. Although he could be considered a core member of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, his father, Elder Lin, was just an Outer Elder that failed to enter the Unity Realm.

"But you mustn't let your success go to your head. Realm isn't everything. The Dao is most important in the end." Lin Mu said, bringing out a senior's disposition as if lecturing an overeager junior.

A dark flame smoldered in Lin Mu's heart as he looked at Tianyi's peerless face. Had he been born Xi Mengfei's son, then he, Lin Mu, would have even more remarkable progress than the little twerp in front of him. It took him over fifty years to reach the Nascent Soul Realm without any aid from his useless father. Lin Mu had been quite proud of that.

But as if to mock him, Tianyi reached the Nascent Soul Realm before he had even reached twenty! Thinking of the snotnosed brat that had approached him all those years ago, Lin Mu clenched the fist hidden within his sleeves. If back then...

"Naturally," Tianyi said. "I don't see what the big deal is. I was quite surprised when so many people came to congratulate me. Once I reached the Immortal Realm, I'll definitely invite senior brother Lin to the celebration then."

For a moment, Lin Mu's face turned white, then raging red, before it returned to normal, only slightly paler. "Naturally, then I'll have to congratulate junior brother on your future success." Lin Mu said, his lip taut.

"Congratulations junior brother Xi," Before Lin Mu could speak anymore, a new voice cut in and joined the conversation.

"Many thanks, senior sister Ji," Tianyi said as he smiled sincerely at the gentle-looking woman.

"Still, I'm quite surprised." Ji Shuye said. "To think that in a blink of an eye, you would have already reached the same realm as me. It took you five years to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm from the Qi Gathering Realm, and then another five years from Foundation Establishment to Core Formation. Going by this pattern, don't tell me you're going to reach Unity Realm in five years?" Although her voice was light, the envy in her voice wasn't hidden at all.

"Don't joke with me, senior sister," Tianyi said. "It wasn't exactly five years in between."

"Same difference." Ji Shuye said.

"Senior sister Ji, did eldest senior brother also come?" Lin Mu asked. Ji Shuye could be said to be descended from a cultivation clan in the Huang Realm. But to the Buzhou Immortal Sect, there was no difference between her and a disciple from a mortal family. Lin Mu rathered admired how Ji Shuye rose through the realms. It was a pity in his eyes that she started to focus on spiritual cultivation instead of concentrating solely on martial cultivation.

"Yushan said that he was busy," Ji Shuye said. "He also told me to apologize for him for not attending junior brother Xi's banquet."

Tianyi waved his hand. "No worries, I didn't really expect a banquet to occur. It just sort of happened. Besides, senior brother Xia is the eldest disciple. He has many duties to attend, so it is natural that his time is precious."

"Thank you for understanding," Ji Shuye said, relief hidden within her eyes.

"Strange, I don't recall eldest senior brother having any prior appointments," Lin Mu said, his eyes trying to read Tianyi's facial expression.

"Who knows, perhaps something urgent came up. Senior brother Xia is the eldest senior brother for a reason. Us normal disciples will probably never understand." Tianyi said as he looked at Lin Mu.

Lin Mu nodded. "Eldest senior brother is indeed the eldest senior brother for a reason. We normal disciples will probably never be able to accomplish the same things as eldest senior brother." There was not a hint of grievance or unwillingness in Lin Mu's voice, surprising Tianyi.

"Indeed," Ji Shuye said. "Yushan often visits Jade Peak. Truthfully I'm quite surprised at how often he visits."

Tianyi shrugged, "Perhaps it's the project, junior sister Jiang and my older cousin are working on. He seemed quite interested in the Xiyi Formation Cards."

"I've heard about them. Quite a number of the junior brothers and sisters are buying them. Now that you've reached Nascent Soul Realm, perhaps it's time to create Nascent Soul ranked Formation Cards?" Ji Shuye joked.

"Eh, maybe sometime in the future. I just entered the Nascent Soul Realm after all." Tianyi said, voice not very interested. Tianyi's eyes drifted away and widened slightly as he saw Daoyi drinking cup after cup with a few unknown males.

Ji Shuye followed Tianyi's line of sight. "Is that junior sister Daoyi? I've only seen her from afar. She is drinking quite a bit."

"Indeed," Tianyi said, and he began to walk towards Daoyi.

"Senior brother, congratulations again," Daoyi said, her cheeks slightly flushed, as she raised her cup to Tianyi before drinking it without waiting for Tianyi.

Tianyi sighed helplessly. He didn't drink from his cup. He rather disliked the wine brought out for the celebration. It wasn't just the wine in his cup, he disliked a great majority of the wine for their bitter taste.

"Junior sister, I know you like wine, but you shouldn't drink too much," Tianyi said. Then he looked towards the three junior brothers talking to Daoyi. All of them could be considered to have a good appearance. "Who are these people?"

The facial expressions of the three slightly paled before they respectfully greeted Tianyi. Although their appearance was older than Tianyi, and probably their age as well, their cultivation was lower than Tianyi's cultivation.

"Mao Guanglie greets senior brother Xi."

"Jia Weimin greets senior brother Xi."

"Yan Yun greets senior brother Xi."

"I have some things I have to discuss with junior sister Jiang, if you would..." Taking the incredibly obvious hint, the three disciples quickly left.

"Junior sister," Tianyi looked at Daoyi. "just because they kept toasting you, you shouldn't continue to drink without reserve. What if you get drunk?"

"You're wrong senior brother," Daoyi revealed a mischievous smile. "I was the one that kept toasting them."

Tianyi blinked as he observed the area. He only now noticed the ten plus empty wing jugs. A distance away, several disciples ranging from Foundation Establishment to Core Formation were sitting on chairs, unable to get up or flat out knocked out. There were even a few who were still conscious, walking around with unsteady footsteps. And judging by the wide berth the other people gave them, the aroma of wine must have clung to them heavily.

Tianyi felt his lips twitched as he directed his sight back to Daoyi. She gave him an innocent smile.

"That's...you know what? Nevermind." Tianyi ultimately decided not to say anything. He looked back to see a stunned Ji Shuye staring at him, or rather Daoyi behind him.

"Senior sister?" Tianyi called out.

"Huh?" Ji Shuye said, she blinked before covering her lower face with her blue sleeve. "I was struck by a sudden thought, don't mind me."

"Daoyi, you've never met her before. But this is senior sister Ji Shuye." Tianyi introduced the two.

"Jiang Daoyi greets senior sister Ji," Daoyi said. Then she looked at the man who was slightly behind Daoyi. "This senior brother is?"

"Ah right, I almost forgot," Tianyi said as he glanced at Lin Mu. "This is senior brother Lin Mu. He's ascended the Nascent Soul Realm for quite a while now, despite his appearances."

Daoyi ignored the strange way Tianyi introduced Lin Mu and greeted Lin Mu as well.

Tianyi blinked as he looked between Daoyi and Ji Shuye. Now that both of them were standing close to one another, he discovered that both of them actually had quite a similar air to them.

After having chased away the rogues that wanted to integrate themselves with Daoyi, Tianyi left Daoyi with Ji Shuye, who seemed to want to talk.

It didn't take much thought as to why they wanted to integrate themselves with Daoyi. Being the disciple of a Grand Elder of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, her status was nobler than many elders, much less the descendants of those elders. Some were even the direct descendants of an Immortal Elder, just that the clan had just grown too numerous for them to stand out. Making friends with Daoyi for resources wasn't exactly a bad idea. Tianyi just didn't expect these proud sons of heaven to use a honey trap to lure Daoyi.

"Junior brother Xi," Tianyi smiled and toasted with the newcomer who came forward. Tianyi would probably forget ninety-nine point nine nine nine percent of the people who came to toast with him today.

"Don't you remember who I am?" The youth, who appeared to be nearing there mid-twenties in appearance, said in shock seeing as Tianyi didn't recognize him.

"My apologies, we met before?" Tianyi said.

"I guess you wouldn't have remembered. We met when you were five. I'm Su Bojing." The man said.

Tianyi frowned as he tried to put the man's face to anyone in his memories. "Sorry, but I can't remember."

"No worries." Su Bojing waved it off. "Junior brother Xi, have you heard about the Heavenly Connection Gathering?"

Chapter 67: Once Again Fleeting Mist Sect

After the celebration, life returned to normal for Tianyi. Well, aside from a few people trying to worm their way into Tianyi's circle of friends. Which only consisted of Daoyi, Xi Ri, and Xia Yushan. Looking at it from this point of view, it was really quite sad.

But that did not mean Tianyi didn't have a few thoughts in his head. Especially as he recalled Su Bojing's words a few days ago.

Heavenly Connection Gathering, just from its name, one could gather its connection to the Three Heavens Connection Meeting. The two events were related in a certain sense. In fact, Heavenly Connection Gathering wasn't anything the Buzhou Immortal Sect Elders officially acknowledged.

It was initially a small gathering created from a meeting of the Sect Elders' children from the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the various other first-rate sects. With the passage of time, it slowly morphed into its modern form.

The Heavenly Connection Gathering was the most well-known name for the event. The second name of the event was known as the Young Master Gathering because only those who were under the age of a hundred and had father or grandfathers that were Elders were invited.

As the hegemonic sect, Buzhou Immortal Sect was invited to every gathering. Aside from the young masters of the Buzhou Immortal Sect, only young masters from four other first-rate sects would be invited.

On the Heaven Continent, there existed nine first-rate sects. Six of them offered their loyalty to the Buzhou Immortal Sect and became Vassal Sects. But the invitees were chosen from the six Vassal Sects. As only four were chosen, two would have to be left out. As for which sect's young masters would be selected?

Only the four most outstanding groups of young masters of the six Vassal Sects would be chosen. The Heavenly Connection Gathering did not consider the six sects' ranks. Only the most exceptional young masters were invited.

But the current Heavenly Connection Gathering would be a little different. In addition to the young masters, each young master could bring forth a young loose cultivator with great potential in their eyes. The loose cultivator nominees would battle among each other, and the winners would have a chance to join the sect. The way Tianyi saw it, it was like humans playing with fighting dogs. If the dogs were outstanding, they could be kept. If not, then they would be discarded.

Tianyi felt that the goal of the gathering to cultivate camaraderie was straying farther away from its initial purpose. But it couldn't be helped. There was no official Heavenly Connection Gathering sponsored by the sects.

In the end, it was something the founder of the Heavenly Connection Gathering created and passed onto the next strongest young master of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. If Tianyi recalled correctly, the current acknowledge strongest descendant of an Elder was Su Wanyu.

As for why Su Bojing invited Tianyi?

As the current youngest Nascent Soul Grandmaster, to not invite Tianyi would make the gathering awkward in Tianyi's opinion. Outsiders might even speculate if Tianyi's relationship with the other members of the young masters were strained or not.

Tianyi agreed, but only because it seemed interesting. But as of this current moment, another matter caught his interest.

"Mother, where are you going?" Tianyi asked his mother.

"There was a piece of concerning information gathered concerning the Northern Regions. I recalled that Yi'er said something concerning a naturally formed treasure of the yin attribute. The sect has decided to dispatch several Elders, but I decided to go myself." Mengfei said.

Tianyi nodded. So it's something concerning, it shouldn't be too bad. If it really was something that needed mother to personally intervene, then the whole Huang Realm should be under alert.

Thinking back on the northern region and the lightning seas that contained the yin-type treasure, Tianyi recalled a particular event that left him completely speechless.

Ah, that memory. The shock of witnessing the legendary "broken engagement" plot still hasn't left me to this day. Speaking of which, the ten-year agreement should be fulfilled soon. Since mother will visit the northern regions, maybe I can drop by and watch the duel?

With my mother nearby, Monarch Soulfish shouldn't be able to sneak attack me. Although it is ridiculous to think that a mighty Immortal Monarch would specifically target me. Although... since I am the Sword Empress' son, it is not out of the question for some to scheme against me.

Tsk, but I can't waste this chance to watch a good show!

Judging by plot, if Pan Lanyue and Yan Nie were to fight. Then Pan Lanyue would definitely lose after a grueling fight. Then Sect Master Yun would definitely try to reclaim face and make Yan Nie submit in some way. I wonder if I Pan Lanyue won, what would happen?

As Tianyi began to formulate a plan, he did not know that his machination would definitely be discovered according to the familiar plotline. And Yan Nie would definitely come seeking revenge in some way. In other words, Tianyi was raising flags and seeking death for himself.

"Mother, since you are going to the Northern Regions, can I come with you?" Tianyi asked.

Mengfei paused, seemingly pondering the question. Soon she nodded her head. "You can."

"Thank you, mother," Tianyi said, the excitement in his eyes not hidden at all.

In the next few days before leaving, Tianyi contacted Xi Ri and Xia Yushan to inform them that he would be out of the sect for a time. Last time Xi Mengfei left the sect, Daoyi had to rely on the Eighteen Flower Fairies and Xia Yushan for guidance. Both Xi Mengfei and Tianyi were not even there to guard her Foundation Establishment Heavenly Tribulation!

To this end, Tianyi decided to invite Daoyi to come with them to the northern regions. Daoyi readily agreed, and when Tianyi asked why, she said.

"Senior brother, although the Buzhou Immortal Sect is large, seeing the same scenery time after time gets boring after a while. My cultivation is still low, so I cannot go to too many places. If it were not for senior brother, I would not have been able to visit the city at the base of the mountain at all."

"Besides, aside from the Xi Dynasty Capital and the Buzhou Immortal Sect, I have not visited many places. Don't you recall that I wanted to travel the world?" Daoyi said.

Tianyi did recall this, and he also recalled that Daoyi wanted to find a certain place.

"Junior sister, I also recalled that you wanted to find a certain place, what place is it?" After all, as Daoyi said, she had only known these two places. Then what place would she be searching for?

"I don't know, you can say it is a place from a dream." There was a melancholic tone in Daoyi's voice as she gained a faraway look. But she soon hid it. "I heard that senior brother has visited the Northern Regions before. What was it like? How is it different from the Xi Dynasty?"

Tianyi slightly puffed out his chest and acted the part of a knowledgeable senior. "I've visited the Fleeting Mist Sect, I traveled to the Capital of the Pan Kingdom and Jingyang City. I'll show you around once we get there!"

"Okay, I'll be relying on you senior brother!" Daoyi said with a smile.

On the day of departure, Tianyi was surprised to see someone else accompanying them.

"Elder Shan!" Tianyi said. "I didn't realize you were also going."

Elder Shan chuckled as he reached out to pet Tianyi's head like old times, but Tianyi tilted his head away.

"How can I not? Even though Grand Elder Xi has decided to go personally, I can still use this chance to check up on Old Codger Yun."

Tianyi nodded. The friendship of Sect Master Yun and Elder Shan, people from two different worlds, greatly surprised him.

"Let's go," Mengfei said once everyone was ready.

Tianyi titled his head and looked at his mother in confusion. They were still on Jade Peak, were they not to board the immortal boat to leave?

His question was soon answered as a pillar of light descended down and encapsulated the four of them. Tianyi and Daoyi both showed shocked and panic but soon calmed down upon seeing the unperturbed Xi Mengfei and the amused look Elder Shan gave them.

The ground beneath the four had given way to a board of light that started to rise. The closest experience Tianyi could relate was that of an elevator. A very fast rising elevator made of glass.

Tianyi did not consider himself to have acrophobia, the irrational fear of heights, he can walk on air and fly using a sword after all. But watching the ground shrink at an unbelievable rate, he felt as if his legs began to quiver. He wanted to not think about it, but like a bruise that he kept poking, Tianyi could not remove his eyes from the distancing ground.

When they broke through the dimensional walls, Tianyi released a sigh of relief. The Huang Realm looked like a world within a giant marble from his view now. But he wondered why they would need to leave the Huang Realm to go to the northern regions.

When the elevator of light stopped, Tianyi and Daoyi found themselves within a magnificent palace. The signboard leading towards the palace read "Heaven, Earth, Man Trinity Palace."

"Mother, this is?" Tianyi asked.

"My residence and the place that I spend the most time on when meditating on the Dao," Mengfei said. "But I haven't been here in twenty years."

Twenty years, that was Tianyi's current age now. It need not be said why Mengfei had not stepped into the Heaven, Earth, Man Trinity Palace in these years.

Mengfei's lips curled upwards slightly when she saw Tianyi's guilt-ridden eyes. Her hands reached up and pinched Tianyi's cheeks. Both Tianyi and Mengfei stood in silent shock at Mengfei's sudden action.

When Tianyi was at his cutest all those years ago, Mengfei had never done such a thing. But now Mengfei suddenly did such an unexpected thing.

Tianyi quickly stepped back and rubbed his flushed face. "Mother, I'm no longer a child. You shouldn't do this to me."

Mengfei looked away. But if one looked closely, one could see the tip of her ears slightly tinged with red. However, no one could tell as the group of four soon began to descend downward once more.

Mengfei, however, felt that Elder Shan had seen through her as he stroked his beard with an amused expression on his face. Even Tianyi dared not look at Daoyi, who he knew was giving an amused smile at him. Like this, the duo of mother and son descended down into the Huang Realm in silence.

As the quartet descended closer onto the ground, Tianyi noticed that the destination wasn't where they began. He blinked as he realized that the destination was also extremely familiar.

As they neared closer to the ground, the four saw large groups of people gathering and surrounding the pillar of light. When the four finally touched the ground, a Nascent Soul Grandmaster and several Core Formation Masters already surrounded them. Tianyi also noticed a familiar-looking young lady dressed in pink.

He quirked his lips upward, amazed at how the travel time was reduced from several weeks to less than an hour. Tianyi briefly wondered why Mengfei didn't use this to go to the Xi Dynasty but wrote it off as not wanting to cause a ruckus as she had done here.

Tianyi was the first to speak as he looked at the familiar person who hadn't seem to change at all.

"Long time no see, Sect Master Yun, big sister Pan." Tianyi said with a sheepish smile.

Sect Master Yun looked at Tianyi with disbelieving eyes as he shakily pointed his forefinger at Tianyi. "Little friend Tianyi?"

Chapter 68: Daoyi and Lei Jingye

Xiao Lingxin, an inner disciple of the Fleeting Mist Sect, could still recall the horror he and his fellow disciples felt when the pillar of light appeared. The air in the sect had been tense from the undercurrents plaguing the northern regions.

Every day, more and more of the Elders were being sent out to maintain the status quo. Even the disciples had been mobilized to maintain the situation. Xiao Lingxin was already twenty, but his cultivation was at the tenth stage of the Qi Gathering Realm, a talented seed by the Fleeting Mist Sect's standards. In fact, he was one of the disciples with the highest cultivation base within the sect at the moment.

This wasn't because he was exceptional, but rather because most of the disciples at the higher stages had already left the sect to guard the Fleeting Mist Sect's interest. News had already returned of a few disciples dying.

Xiao Lingxin feared that he would be among the corpses, should he be dispatched.

When the pillar of light descended, he had thought that the Five Poison Sect and Sky Whale Sect had started to assault the Fleeting Mist Sect. But after listening to the explanation, the horror turned into joy.

An Immortal had descended to aid them. No news was as worthy of celebration as this.

Xiao Lingxin and several of his fellow disciples, and even some Elders, crowded outside the Sect Master's immortal abode. All of them wishing to be inside to hear the immortal speak, but feared angering the immortal.

Inside, Yun Wangfeng wasn't as joyful as the Fleeting Mist Sect members imagined him to be. The seat of power at the center felt like a hot stovetop under his rear.

Sect Master Yun had offered the seat to Xi Mengfei when they entered, but she had declined and casually sat down on a random chair. The normally, lofty Core Formation Master delegated themselves as servants and served tea. When not spoken to, they melded into the background and left everything to Sect Master Yun.

Damn traitors. Sect Master grumbled internally. He cast a glance at his beloved disciple, who was standing stiffly next to him. Each movement of hers lacked any of her usual grace, and her limbs seemed to have been made of stone instead. He didn't even dare to glare at Elder Shan, who pretended to elegantly sip the tea that was served to him.

Sect Master Yun was clear that Elder Shan was immensely enjoying his apprehensiveness. Don't think that he couldn't see the slight curl at the corner of his lips!

"Empress Xi, I did not imagine that my call for aid would have great Immortal coming to my humble sect." Sect Master Yun said, diplomatically.

"Your sect isn't bad. Although your cultivation talent is subpar, your leadership allowed your sect to rise in a short time. Among the Buzhou Immortal Sect, the number of Outer Elders comparable to you are few in number." Mengfei said.

Sect Master Yun's face switched between joy and distress. What did she mean? Was she praising him or mocking him? To a cultivator, their talent should be held high above all else. "Many thanks?"

Mengfei nodded, feeling quite proud for being able to praise a useless cultivator that had to rely on a pill to ascend to the Nascent Soul Realm.

"Snrk!"

Sect Master Yun whipped his head towards Elder Shan, who was still sipping his tea elegantly. "Stubborn Shan, don't you think bringing the great Immortal to his place is a bit too much?"

Elder Shan elegantly placed his teacup down before gently smiling at Sect Master Yun, his usual attitude gone. "Grand Elder Xi had some business for your sect. It concerns the lightning seas."

Sect Master Yun straightened his back. "What could the lightning seas contain to acquire the attention of the great Immortal?"

Tianyi sat by the side and waved at Pan Lanyue, who stiffly waved back. Elder Shan is blowing this out of proportions. Although I wonder why mother came to this place, a treasure of extreme yin shouldn't be enough to entice her to come here. The situation of the northern region is probably more complicated than I thought.

"Senior brother, who is that?" Daoyi asked, using voice transmission.

"She's Sect Master Yun's disciple. She's a princess of the Pan Kingdom, who was talented and caught Sect Master Yun's eyes." Tianyi replied, his impression of Pan Lanyue was already faint. She was ultimately just a passerby in his life.

"I heard that the Fleeting Mist Sect was the first place you traveled to outside of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. For you to remember this big sister, is she your first crush?"

Tianyi nearly choked on the tea he was drinking when he heard Daoyi's words. Thankfully he was a Nascent Soul Grandmaster and forcibly controlled his body's actions and prevented anything unsightly. "Rather than the person, a particular event significantly impacted me during my time here."

"Event? What happened." Daoyi asked.

"Ah," Tianyi slightly cringed as he recalled the events of that day. He summarized the happenings of that day to Daoyi.

"Pft! Haha!" Sect Master Yun and the other people of the room turned their heads towards Daoyi at her outburst. "My apologies, I just heard something funny. Please excuse my rudeness."

The Core Formation Elders were discontent towards Daoyi at shifting the attention away during the vital discussion. But they could only hide it as she was Mengfei's personal disciple.

"Senior brother, that's...that's... I didn't think such things happened in real life. And you got blamed while just standing there!" Daoyi giggled. "Talking about getting shot while lying down."

"It gets even worse. After we left the Yan Residence, we participated in the auction hosted by the Yi Auction House. The auction itself wasn't anything special, although I learned the existence of pills that help you transcend your realm. The second most memorable event of that day was an assassin. He tried to kill me." Tianyi said, his voice low.

"Oh. Assassins kill people, that's their job after all." Daoyi lightly said.

"Oh? That's it. Someone tried to kill me when I was ten!" Tianyi felt his lips twitch at Daoyi's noncommital response.

"I couldn't tell. People who undergo assassination usually undergo trauma. But senior brother doesn't seem to have any trauma at all. Also, you're alive now, aren't you? The assassination obviously failed." Tianyi was struck speechless by Daoyi's words.

Tianyi fiddled with the jade ring on his left middle finger. It was an artifact his mother had gifted him to protect against soul techniques. He glanced at his junior sister. Speaking of which, he had yet to mention anything concerning Lei Jingye at all to Daoyi.

"Hey, junior sister, have you heard of Lei Jingye before?" Tianyi asked. His voice was light as if it was not an important matter, but the strength gripping his ring increased.

"Lei Jingye?" Daoyi said, "Lei Jingye..." She said once more as if accustoming the name to her tongue.

"I remember!" Tianyi's grip strengthened even further. "I couldn't recall because soon after because master visited the capital. Soon after, I was accepted as master's disciple, so I forgot about the matter."

"How did he meet you?" Tianyi asked after a moment of silence.

Daoyi showed an irritated expression. "He broke into my room!" There was a slight grievance in her voice. "An unknown man broke into my room! He said his name was Lei Jingye and that soon he would rescue me from the Duke's estate."

Daoyi huffed as she recalled those memories. "If the Duke discovered it, I would have been married off to prevent a scandal from forming and prevent me from being a laughing stock! He has no consideration for my circumstances at all!"

Tianyi paused. His impression of the event should be different. "Weren't you moved? He told you he was going to rescue you from the Duke's estate." In his experience, shouldn't Daoyi be happy that someone came to rescue her? Although Tianyi never asked, her days in the Duke's estate shouldn't have been good.

"Senior brother, I'd appreciate it if you don't question my intelligence." Daoyi sighed. "Why would I trust a total stranger's words. I'd have to be braindead to suspect that nothing is going."

...that makes way too much sense. Tianyi recalled all those romance returner novels he read where the male lead barged into the female's room, proclaiming their love and to rescue them. As for the fact that he read such novels, he would never admit it to anyone.

"I can see the other concubine born noble ladies being overjoyed and falling in love in such a circumstance, though," Daoyi added as an afterthought.

"So, how did you plan to escape the Duke's control?" Tianyi asked.

"I was going to acquire a body cultivation manual at the very least before I find a chance to leave. I haven't shown any overt signs of any rebellious thoughts, so the Duke and the Madame shouldn't be prepared for my eventual escape. Of course, I didn't suddenly expect for master to want me to become your woman." Daoyi said with a teasing smile.

Tianyi felt his lips twitch. He really wanted to Daoyi to forget that particular meeting. "If I accepted, what would you have done?"

"I guess I would try to make you rely on me. Since senior brother was so young at the time, I could probably carve a place in senior brother's heart. Even if you found another woman and grown tired of me, I would have already reaped plenty of benefits by then. At the very least, I should be a Foundation Establishment Disciple, even if I returned to the Xi Dynasty, my position would be unshakeable."

Tianyi found himself speechless at Daoyi's thought process. For women of the boudoir to treat the matter with such a logical mindsight was abnormal. "Even when I was young, I don't think I'd be so easily deceived or seduced."

Daoyi nodded. "You're right. Senior brother is surprisingly mature back then."

"Wait...what do you mean back then?" Tianyi asked.

"Well, you put up a lofty front, but you are surprisingly petty and childish. Didn't you come here just to witness the duel?" Daoyi asked.

"That's..." Okay, Tianyi had no words of rebuttal. "Speaking of other matters..."

Daoyi quirked an eyebrow at Tianyi's attempt to alter the matter of discussion, but she complied nonetheless. "Then how did senior brother know that I met this Lei Jingye before?"

"Earlier, I told you someone tried to assassinate me..." Tianyi started.

Daoyi nodded, but after a moment, she blinked. "Don't tell me the assassin was... Lei Jingye?"

Tianyi nodded.

Daoyi held her hands in her lap. "Don't tell me he approached me to get at you? No, that wouldn't make sense. I hadn't even met you back then, and he should not have known I would become your junior sister. If so, why did he approach me?"

Tianyi rested his cheek in his palm and looked at Daoyi. "Maybe, love at first sight?"

Daoyi just gave Tianyi a looked that said, "Are you stupid?"

Tianyi felt his lips twitch.

"Senior brother, you shouldn't be so naive. There is no such thing as love at first sight. If there was, then it would be lust for my appearance. Although, I wasn't even of age back then. What kind of pedophile would lust after me? He must have something wrong with his head."

Tianyi lit a candle for Lei Jingye in his heart. He knew why Lei Jingye's heart was set on Daoyi, but no one else did. He diverted some attention to listen to the conversation between Sect Master Yun and Elder Shan.

It seemed that the northern region wasn't the only place where the various sects had conflicts. All the outer regions of the Heaven Continent were experiencing some turmoil. Nothing had spilled into the interior regions yet. But the Buzhou Immortal Sect was concerned and sent some Elders to investigate.

"It has only been ten years, yet little friend Tianyi has improved...a lot?" Sect Master Yun had directed his attention back to Tianyi. It was only today that he had found out the Tianyi's parent Elder Shan had spoken up was an Immortal and the famed Sword Empress Xi at that! Never in his wildest imagination had he thought that Tianyi would have been that her son. He didn't even know she had a child!

There was no one that didn't know of the famed Sword Empress on Heaven Continent. But because of Tianyi's existence, Sect Master Yun, along with many other people, asked, "Who was Tianyi's father?"

Earlier, Sect Master Yun had been too shocked by Mengfei to properly assess Tianyi. But now upon closer inspection, he discovered that Tianyi was in the same realm as him! Not only that, the density of Tianyi's aura and qi surpassed his own.

"Little friend...Tianyi, you've reached the Nascent Soul Realm?" Sect Master Yun's voice was shaking, still half in disbelief. Something he spent over three hundred years to achieve, Tianyi accomplished in twenty.

Even Pan Lanyue standing by the side, upon hearing this, fell into a stupor. She recalled that her master said that Tianyi could likely enter the Core Formation Realm in ten years, and that would still make him stand out among prodigies.

"Haha, I was lucky. With some fortuitous encounters and treasures, I was able to ascend into the Nascent Soul Realm recently." Tianyi said, his voice humble, but Daoyi could discern the pride in his voice.

She smiled helplessly at her vain senior brother.