The heavens stretched eternal, the moon cast its faint glow. Verdant flora offered wonders, and amidst the waters, a vision of azure peaks arose.

As Wei She and a diminutive, weathered Daoist of striking presence appeared, four chairs stood empty, with two “hosts” yet unseen.

It seemed further company was expected.

Earlier, tales had been spun of the Snowy Isle, where two new cultivators had reached the Fourteenth Realm, with whispers suggesting Wei She himself was among them. Now, the revelation that he was a founder of this hallowed Ancestral Hall brought solace to many present. In these turbulent times, cultivation flourished, and nearly a score of mortals had ascended to the heavens. Should their Ancestral Hall lack a Fourteenth Realm guardian, it would fall short of its purpose.

Du Shanyin, a sword cultivator attending his first conclave, felt his journey well repaid.

One among them boldly inquired, “Has Senior achieved the Dao?”

Wei She replied, “The former Ascended, the current Fourteenth, the difference is slight.”

Such boastful words few dared utter.

Given the lord’s pronouncement, none dared offer empty congratulations.

The incense stick burned slowly.

Of the twenty-two seats, several remained vacant.

Wei She, still standing, chuckled. “You may yet share a few words.”

None seated here were craven, and curiosity drove one to ask, “Might we know this Daoist?”

The old Daoist, cross-legged upon a seat of honor, ignored the question, his hand repeatedly brushing his sleeve, leaving golden dust in its wake.

Wei She offered no direct reply, instead uttering a vague compliment. “I, too, must call him Senior.”

The old Daoist opened his eyes, revealing a glimmer in their depths. “We walk the same path, toward a shared horizon. Fellow Daoists is enough.”

Wei She smiled. “Senior’s years are long, his ascension early. To call him Senior is no excess.”

The Daoist blinked, glancing at Wei She, who remained standing.

Xianren Yunmiao felt a tremor in his heart. Another Fourteenth Realm?

And judging by Wei She’s words, one of considerable age?

Wei She’s statement confirmed the unspoken fears, eliciting a variety of expressions. Speculation was one thing, acceptance of reality quite another.

Their curiosity now turned to those yet to fill the remaining chairs.

Wei She, of the Snowy Isle, his Daoist abode nestled upon Mount Lu, whose thirty-six peaks embraced the heavens like a verdant circlet, thus earning him the title “Master of the Thirty-Seventh Peak.”

In his youth, Wei She’s cultivation was effortless, leading him to wander the world, making friends far and wide. He was ever sharp and keen, unconcerned with those he crossed.

Yet this prodigy, who seemed destined for the Fourteenth Realm, had instead become a faded hope among the Ascended.

Many who had once fallen before him, or trailed in his wake, were now figures of great renown.

His era had dimmed the brilliance of all others.

Such a man, indeed, was one in an age.

A boast, both renowned and audacious, followed a victory against several fellow cultivators.

“You are a genius, one in a hundred years. He is remarkable, one in a hundred years. As am I. We test the limits of this ‘hundred years’!”

Widely hailed as “the greatest talent since antiquity,” his name surpassed even Su Liu Huai Zhou – Su Zi, Liu Qi, Huai Yin, and Zhou Shenzhi, the Sword Immortal. Even Huo Long, the True Dragon of the Northern Continent, had fallen before him.

Upon the mountain, in debate and battle, Wei She won ninety-six victories.

Peer duels and cross-realm challenges alike, none who fell before him were weak.

Yet in the struggle for dominion of the North, facing the sword cultivators from Ju Lu Continent, Wei She never appeared.

Some said he had aimed too high, foolishly seeking the Fourteenth Realm too soon after ascending, only to fail and become disillusioned.

His absence left Liu Caishen, who led the defense, with no support. The cultivators of the Snowy Isle harbored resentment toward Wei She and Mount Lu.

If White Emperor City was a haven for wandering cultivators, Iron Tree Mountain in the Central Lands and Mount Lu on the Snowy Isle were the preferred abodes of demonkin cultivators.

Yu Fushan, now an offering protector of Taiping Mountain, yearned for Wei She’s abode, casting longing eyes upon Refining Sun Peak and Moon Worship Mountain.

Huo Long, who had since surpassed him, mocked Wei She with the adage, “A bright candle burns quickly.”

Yet Yuan Lingdian, his disciple, held Wei She in high regard, suggesting that Liu Qi and Zhou Mi’s Tendon Tempering, Lu Yan’s Golden Core, and Wei She and Yao Qing’s Nascent Soul were all unique.

The Old True Man chided his disciple for his pedantry, urging him to grasp the meaning, not the letter.

Who had claimed Wei She’s ninety-seventh defeat remained a mystery.

Chen Ping’an was among the few who knew the truth. Wu Shuangjiang had confessed it to him upon their reunion at the Sword Qi Great Wall, claiming to have fought Wei She before leaving to the Blue Vast Heavens.

Wu Shuangjiang admitted to some regret at adding insult to injury.

Wei She asked in his heart, “Senior, might you discern the fate of Han Yushu?”

The old Daoist nodded. “Tell me all you know of this Daoist’s birth and history.”

After a time, the old Daoist withdrew his hand from his sleeve and shook it. “He has returned to the Daoist mountain.”

In simpler terms, he was dead.

Wei She showed no surprise, simply uttering, “Pity.”

The old Daoist spoke softly. “Too much of heaven’s secrets cannot be revealed, but I can say he angered an elder who should not have been crossed. Han Yushu inherited a blessed land of three mountains, mistaking it for his destiny. He did not cherish his fortune, and when he left it, he met his fate. He was a frog in a well, ignorant of the vastness of the world.”

Wei She made no comment.

The old Daoist continued, “While we await the others, Wei Daoist, tell me of the century’s events here. Choose ten of age, and ten of youth.”

As Wei She began his mental selections, he signaled for all present to cast off their veils.

Apart from Lou Miao and Du Shanyin, the remaining cultivators dispelled their illusions, revealing their true forms.

Yunmiao was a flurry of complex feelings. The last secrets of the hour.

A woman with a sword on her back with painted eyebrows wore a round-necked robe embroidered with the image of a vulture. She wore a flower in her hair, and her white neck held a golden dragon-shaped pendant on a yellow cord.

Many eyes fell upon her.

She was Luo Shan, a sword immortal of the old Summer Palace lineage and a right hand of Xiao Xun.

When she left the Sword Qi Great Wall, Luo Shan was in the Jade Purity Realm, but now she was a Great Sword Immortal.

It was she who warned the others to be careful when talking about Chen Ping’an.

Yunmiao shifted his gaze a little to a few “acquaintances” who were local snakes in each continent.

There were four recognized strongholds in the Continental Plains: the Green Palace Mountain of Jinghao, the Heavenly Corners Paradise of Shunan Yuan, the Square Inch Sect of Cao Gun, and the Liao River, which had produced two immortals.

The current head of Liao Shui was the immortal Qin Zao, whose Taoist name was “New Chan.” He looked like a handsome young man dressed in white, carrying a cage for birds.

His junior sister, Qiong Qian, was also an immortal. A sect with two immortals was not weak.

However, it was not the sect leader who attended the Middle Earth Temple of Literature, but Qiong Qian, who was in charge of law enforcement. This in itself was an expression of the Temple of Literature’s attitude.

At the moment, the young man in white was sitting with his legs crossed, looking relaxed.

Qinzhao’s neighbor was Shunan Yuan, Taoist name “Jiao Ming,” master of Tianyu Grotto.

Shunan Yuan had many elegant signatures and nicknames, such as Zhuang Si, Han Ren, and Cui Yan.

The new Immortal Ascension was an extremely rich but narrow-eyed man. If he walked with his Taoist partner in the city, he would probably be the typical rich man and beautiful woman.

It was said that a man from another village once plucked up the courage to say a “heartfelt” statement that he thought was fair.

The truth was that Shunan Yuan was extremely well-hidden.

However, the old Taoist saw through this person’s true body with one glance.

Legend has it that an East China Sea fisherman once saw a small worm building a nest on a mosquito’s eyelashes, and the book said, “When the Buddha observes a bowl of water, there are forty-eight thousand worms.”

There was also an old Confucian scholar, Duan Qingchen, who called himself “Li Jing.”

While still young, he became the deputy head of an academy in Southern Persimmon Continent. It seemed that later on, he had many conflicts with Chen Chun’an, and the impatient Duan Qingchen had left the academy on his own initiative.

It was this man who, during a meeting, had once made a cold remark, saying that he wanted to see how Chen Chun’an would monopolize Confucianism.

Among them was a tall, thin old man who seemed to be deliberately targeting Yunmiao and asked knowingly, “Where is Fellow Taoist Lvxia’s white jade Ganoderma lucidum?”

This man was wearing a yellow dharma robe. He came from the Lu Clan of Central Earth, named Lu Xu, Taoist name “Huang Yu.” He was old and had a high seniority.

He had the same seniority and close relationship as Lu Wei, who came from the Zongfang lineage. In addition, Lu Xu was also the leader of the Celestial Platform Masters of the Lu clan.

Yunmiao sneered, “My own belongings can be given to whomever I want. Why should Fellow Taoist care so much?”

Lu Xu snorted coldly.

Obviously, Yunmiao’s words had touched a soft spot. “Zou Zi talks about the heavens, and Lu’s talks about the earth.” In this way, the Lu Clan of Central Earth could not control the “heavens.”

During the Temple of Literature meeting, due to a prodigal disciple who liked to skip stones, the immortal Yunmiao clashed with the young hermit, and in the Battle of Yuan Yang Pool, Yunmiao handed over the white jade Ganoderma lucidum as an apology gift.

The master of the Nine True Immortal Pavilions was also a very famous handsome man.

Yunmiao was born with a jade-like face, and wore white robes and white shoes. Yunmiao’s Taoist companion, Wei Zi, was also in the Immortal Realm, and had even better fortune than Yunmiao. She possessed most of the shattered Misty Mountains blessed land. She was currently in seclusion, and if it weren’t for the fact that she had burned nine sticks of incense as a protection, Yunmiao, who was in charge of guarding the gate, would definitely not have been distracted to attend this meeting.

Nowadays, which sect-level immortal mansion doesn’t have a few ancestors or young geniuses in seclusion?

There was also a burly man who wore a golden crown and a mask. His face was not visible, and only a pair of dark eyes like dark wells were revealed on his face. His two arms were covered with bracelets from wrist to shoulder. Each bracelet depicted the faces of men and women. The men and women between the beads of the bracelets either had resentful or affectionate eyes, or had hideous or tender faces. Each pair of infatuated men and women “looked at each other across the sea” and were connected by a dark red light, causing two streams of towering resentment and lingering affection to surround the masked man’s entire body. The starlight converged into the golden crown above his head.

This man said in a yin and yang tone: “Fellow Taoist Lvxia is indeed righteous. Nan Guangzhao died violently and left behind a sect without a leader. He immediately rushed over to help deal with the funeral. The spiritual banners sent by the Nine True Immortal Pavilion are really conspicuous. Nan Guangzhao was really accurate in choosing someone to entrust his legacy to.

Lu Xu laughed and said, “Righteous? You just have a good appetite. You are even better than your own disciples, and you are better than your own son. Pavilion Master Yunmiao first inherited the huge inheritance of a sect and then helped take care of his descendants. I just don’t know when the two sects will merge into one. When the time comes, we will have to prepare a congratulatory gift and celebrate it properly.”

Yunmiao waved his hand and ignored the facts, directly changing the topic and taunting him, “I heard that the Department of Celestial Affairs was smashed? The cold temple built in the wilderness was also targeted by Gao Xuandu?”

Lu Xu was speechless. It didn’t seem like something to brag about.

The burly man from the cold temple didn’t want to talk about this family matter.

Yunmiao certainly knew why these two were targeting him. It was because the actions of the Nine True Immortal Pavilion in the Rising Phoenix Continent had blocked their path to wealth.

Nowadays, among the Lu clan, the only ones of the same generation or higher than him were the family head Lu Shen, Lu Zai, and Lu Wei.

Previously, Chen Ping’an and two sword cultivators had cut through layers of restrictions and appeared at the Department of Celestial Affairs, causing a great commotion.

At that time, a group of Lu clan members in power walked out of the Zhilan Department, including the family head Lu Shen, who had the appearance of a young man.

Beside him was a female cultivator, Lu Zai, with average looks. She was in charge of another lineage of the Lu clan, which was more hidden.

These Lu clan disciples were able to travel between the yang and yin worlds, walk in Fengdu Underworld with dharma decrees, connect the underworld and the light, and had a good relationship with the city god temples of the Vast World.

In the war-torn Rising Phoenix Continent and Golden Armor Continent, Lu Xu, although he was not from this lineage, took the initiative to ask for help in order to accumulate external merit. At the same time, he handed over a sum of immortal money that could be described as astronomical. He led those Lu clan soil officials who respected her as their ancestor to the broken mountains and rivers of the two continents, guiding tens of millions of ghosts and heroic spirits, passing through the Gates of Hell, walking the Road to the Underworld, climbing the Three-Foot Slope, ascending the Gou Xiao Mountain, and then seeing the Naihe Bridge, which was composed of hundreds of millions of coffins, to meet the “Meng Po,” who possessed millions of incarnations. After drinking a bowl of Meng Po soup, they bid farewell to this life.

There were more than a dozen lineages within the Lu clan, which was famous for its mountain forests, but the three main lineages were:

Apart from the Lu Shen from the Zongfang lineage, the other two lineage spokesmen were Lu Zai and Lu Xu. Especially Lu Zai, who was most at odds with Lu Shen.

Lu Xu asked, “Has the identity of the mink-hat girl who is following Master Chen been confirmed? Fellow Taoists, who knows?”

According to the rules here, buying “news” costs money. However, the specific price can be discussed privately in whispers.

He also said, “The sword cultivators of the world are the best at this.”

He hated this girl.

Lu Shen had issued a family decree filled with killing intent, saying that no one was allowed to deduce anything related to Chen Ping’an for the next hundred years. Once discovered, they would be expelled from the family.

According to family law, the cultivator’s memory would be erased, all of the Lu clan’s dharma veins would be “cut off,” and they would be randomly thrown into the mountains and fields of a continent, becoming walking corpses with a little true spirit remaining.

Actually, this sentence was addressed to Lu Zai and Lu Xu. Lu Shen was staring at the two of them. Only after they nodded did Lu Shen move on to other topics.

Luo Shan smiled and said, “I know.”

Buying one get one free, Luo Shan gave Lu Xu the identity of the mink-hat girl, and then reminded Lu Xu.

“You should be careful when you go out in the future. It’s best not to show yourself alone outside. Bai Jing likes and is best at ambushes. She is a sword cultivator, but she is proficient in many techniques.”

Bai Jing wasn’t just trying to steal her Taoist name.

Luo Shan looked at the chair that had been replaced.

It used to be the seat of the criminal official Hao Su. And Nan Guangzhao, who had been targeted by this Ascended Realm sword cultivator, was dead.

Lu Xu actually knew the realm of the mink-hat girl a long time ago. It was impossible for an Immortal Realm sword cultivator to kill Lu Shen’s Yin God on the Lu clan’s territory.

But after learning her identity, an Ascended Realm Perfect sword cultivator, an old monster who had lived for more than 10,000 years, plus the Taoist name “Bai Jing,” made Lu Xu very apprehensive.

Luo Shan suddenly asked, “The last time the young hermit was a guest of the Lu family, did you do your best to help him deduce the fortune of the Rising Phoenix Continent?”

Lu Xu frowned. Was there such a thing? Could it be that Lu Shen had secretly reached some kind of tacit agreement with Chen Ping’an and was playing him and Lu Zai? For example, Chen Ping’an secretly promised Lu Shen to allow the latter to observe the Dao?

Luo Shan knew what was going on and said helplessly, “The hermit’s mouth can even deceive water ghosts to come ashore.”

Yunmiao looked calm. Why care about a few light words of disgust?

In the past, it was Tian Wan who liked to be at odds with him.

One was the junior sister of Tan Tian Zou, who monopolized half of the Yin Yang family’s heritage, and the other was the ancestor of the Lu clan, who talked about the earth. It would be strange if they didn’t argue.

It’s okay. When his Taoist partner, Wei Zi, leaves seclusion, the Nine True Immortal Pavilion will shock the world. With an Ascended Realm cultivator in charge, the Nine True Immortal Pavilion can truly become one of the top sects.

Although Yunmiao was not a mountain god, his Taoist partner, Wei Zi, was qualified to light a stick of mountain incense to pay homage to the Tongye Continent.

They once made a small contribution to secretly helping Mr. Zheng… Master Chen to make up for the lack of a continent.

Wei Zi, as the “landlord,” held that misty blessed land. The territory, which was thousands of miles in radius, seemed to be filled with ghosts and miasma, and ghosts lived there. However, if one observed it with qi-watching techniques, it was a beautiful landscape with clear energy and abundant Taoist energy.

In the center of the blessed land was a high platform with mountain and water restrictions, towering into the clouds. Wei Zi could inspect the dynamics of the entire misty blessed land, stripping away the turbid air and removing the evil energy.

After years of hard work and countless immortal coins spent, the couple had built several well-organized majestic cities, where Yin spirits and ghosts lived. If a Yang realm cultivator with a low realm accidentally entered it, it would be difficult to distinguish between life and death. It was clearly a means of recreating the Yang realm.

After the war ended, Yunmiao and his Taoist partner had secretly gone to the Golden Armor Continent and the Rising Phoenix Continent several times to clean up the battlefield and clean up the mess. They had gathered the ghosts who had lost the sacrifices of living people in the Yang realm and collected the fierce Yin spirits who were about to be obliterated and turned into vengeful ghosts, bringing tens of thousands of lonely souls back to the sect time and time again. During this period, he and his Taoist partner exhausted countless spiritual energy, and more than a hundred treasures were shattered along the way.

It was certainly a great merit to give the thousands of ghosts a “place to go.”

At that time, Qing Tong, who was older and had more knowledge, had guessed that in the blessed land, a master had built a bridge connecting the Yang and Yin realms, and that Wei Zi, the female immortal who was the master of the blessed land, was the legendary “porter” on the mountain.

Yunmiao was very confident.

Wei Zi was accumulating with the help of the Misty Mountains blessed land, and the bottleneck of the Immortal Realm was loosening. Just before she was about to break through, Wei Zi had begun her seclusion.

As long as she successfully left seclusion, she would definitely be able to successfully overcome the tribulation and hoped to ascend to immortality!

But what really made Yunmiao feel confident that his Taoist partner would definitely succeed in this seclusion was a “reciprocal” external assistance, which helped Wei Zi truly achieve the right time, the right place, and the right people.

Otherwise, who would dare to say “definitely” about the Immortal Ascension of any immortal? Is it definitely not possible?

At that time, Mr. Zheng and his Ascended Realm follower came and left secretly. Wei Zi believed most of the information about Master Chen and Mr. Zheng, but she still didn’t dare to believe it all.

However, Liu Chicheng of the White Emperor City’s Glazed Pavilion had recently hidden his whereabouts and personally visited the Nine True Immortal Pavilion, quietly bringing a message to the couple.

Lord Liu of the Glazed Pavilion didn’t even look Yunmiao in the eye. He only looked at the ghost immortal Wei Zi and said that Zheng Dan, the sword cultivator who was about to take office as the gatekeeper of their White Emperor City, would help deliver a sword at a critical moment to help Wei Zi take a step at the last moment and successfully overcome the tribulation.

Helping the ghost immortal Wei Zi attain enlightenment and ascend to immortality would also benefit the sword immortal Zheng Dan.

Generally speaking, who would dare to let an outsider give instructions? The selection of the gatekeeper was of utmost importance, and the secluded cultivator had to be very careful about this matter.

Literary masters under the mountain entrusted their culture.

Cultivators even entrusted their entire lives.

The gatekeeper had to be of high realm, ethical, willing to take responsibility, and able to shoulder responsibility.

It was just that the old ghost had given away a White Jade Ganoderma Lucidum and his Taoist partner Wei Zi had burned a stick of incense.

Mr. Zheng was going to “return” the favor with an Ascended Realm cultivator!

This kind of deal was as much the better!

Since Mr. Zheng had helped his Taoist partner Wei Zi, why not help himself?

Point out the way, break through the clouds to see the sun, and give a path that leads directly to the bottleneck of the Immortal Realm.

At that time, the immortal pavilion master looked pitifully at Lord Liu of the Glazed Pavilion.

Liu Chicheng looked blankly at the immortal who was looking strange.

The Old Ghost’s master had a will that sounded like a prophecy, which roughly meant that the lineage of the Nine True Immortal Pavilion would be carried forward by Yunmiao’s generation.

It didn’t directly refer to Yunmiao himself, but it added the three words “this generation,” which made Yunmiao feel both relieved and worried.

He was relieved because the sect’s incense was destined to be more prosperous than in the past. What made him worried was naturally the person who “lit the incense” was not Yunmiao himself.

When his Taoist partner Wei Zi lit a stick of heart incense in the blessed land, Yunmiao knew that his master had already calculated this step.

Someone asked curiously, “Lu Wei of the Zongfang lineage is said to be the most proficient in governance and divination among the Lu clan. It’s fine that he failed to attain enlightenment and ascend to immortality, but why did he almost die?”

If it weren’t for a strange person with unique skills, Lu Wei wouldn’t have been able to enter the Liuzhu Cave Heaven on behalf of the Lu clan of Central Earth.

After surviving the tribulation of turning the cave heaven into a blessed land, which was called a “meeting of heaven and earth” on the mountain, Lu Wei, who should have been a little famous in Central Earth, let alone being able to attain enlightenment and ascend to immortality, shouldn’t have fallen to the point of running to the family shrine to “light a lamp.”

The saying that one was “dead” on the mountain had only been circulating for less than 200 years. It was said that it was first created by some bastard, meaning that one had died and disappeared and become a hanging painting on the wall.

Lu Xu said angrily, “Someone interfered and cut off his path to the Great Dao with a sword.”

Tian Wan asked knowingly and smiled, “I wonder who that someone is?”

Lu Xu didn’t get used to this woman and sneered, “Is it your father? Are you satisfied?”

Tian Wan curled his lips. She couldn’t have a shrewish argument with this old thing.

A middle-aged man in a cotton robe was wearing a sword.

It was the sword-selling man, Mr. Zeng.

Next to him, a heroic woman turned to look at him.

Qin Buyi said with a wry smile, “It’s you?”

Mr. Zeng smiled and said, “It’s me.”

Qin Buyi was in a complicated mood. Who would have imagined that the person who sat next to him, whose identity he had been speculating for many years without any clues, had been traveling with him for a long time not long ago, traveling across continents from Baoping Continent to Tongye Continent?

Mr. Zeng mocked himself and said, “Maybe this is what you call a haunting ghost?”

Qin Buyi didn’t know what to say for a moment.

In the past, Qin Buyi had marked the twenty chairs with numbers.

Some people didn’t need to guess their identities or factions. After participating in the meeting many times, their words and actions were actually equivalent to self-reporting their identities.

For example, Han Yushu, the sect leader of Wanyao Sect from the Three Mountains Blessed Land, focused his discussion on Tongye Continent and never mentioned matters of other continents.

As for Lou Miao of the Northern Luzhou Continent, he was a special case. He was afraid that others wouldn’t know that he was the sect leader of the Qionglin Sect every time a new person appeared.

Some meeting members had to follow one or two clues to figure out their identities. At most, they couldn’t be completely sure.

For example, Qin Buyi had previously guessed that “Luo Shan” was either from Inverted Mountain or the Sword Qi Great Wall.

The rest were very secretive and slippery. Their current identities and backgrounds were all watertight. “Mr. Zeng” was one of them.

Qin Buyi hesitated for a moment and asked in his heart, “The assassination in Chongyang Temple in Yuxuan Kingdom, could it be Mr. Zeng’s work?”

If that was the case, it would be very troublesome, turning an already clear situation into a mess.

The washerwoman had just invited Chen Ping’an to take an important position, and she was sitting next to the assassin? What was going on?

Qin Buyi didn’t dare to say that he was an upright person, but he couldn’t do something two-faced.

Mr. Zeng lightly patted his sword hilt and smiled, “Although I am a ghost who walks in the shadows of others all year round, I still pay attention to fair trade and am unwilling to tarnish the word ‘swordsman’. Fellow Taoist Qin, rest assured, that conspiracy has nothing to do with me.”

Qin Buyi breathed a sigh of relief.

Qin Buyi had a flash of inspiration and continued to ask, “Previously, Mr. Zeng mentioned two martial arts masters, saying that he didn’t dare to do business with Cui Cheng, one of them, because he was afraid of being settled by the embroidered tiger. What about Zhang Tiaoxia, the other one?”

Zhang Tiaoxia, the number one martial artist in Haoran before Pei Bei, suddenly switched to cultivating the Tao and took the Taoist name Long Bo. It seemed that he had become a cultivator from then on and given up his pure martial arts identity.

There were many opinions on the mountain as to why this was the case. Although no one dared to say directly that Zhang Tiaoxia was afraid of death, this was indeed the most reasonable explanation that most cultivators could think of.

As for how Zhang Tiaoxia was able to switch to cultivating the Tao halfway and still retain his martial arts realm, that was another big mystery.

If it weren’t for Zhang Tiaoxia’s strength, which even Ascended Realm cultivators didn’t dare to provoke easily, many great cultivators would have been willing to investigate the truth of the matter.

Mr. Zeng smiled but didn’t say anything, not answering this question. He neither admitted nor denied it.

Qin Buyi asked a more taboo question, “May I ask Mr. Zeng’s Taoist age?”

Unexpectedly, Mr. Zeng answered truthfully, “I have been wasting my time for 4,000 years without any hope of the Great Dao.”

There was a lot of sighing in his words.

Ascension and Daoism seemed to be only one realm apart, but how difficult it was to overcome this chasm could only be felt by those who had reached the Perfect Ascended Realm.

Qin Buyi was a little surprised.

Like her, a ghost immortal, had to be very careful as long as she left her dojo, especially when she didn’t dare to get too involved in the mortal world.

The reason why she had never been able to ascend was largely because she had been too involved in the world.

Qin Buyi asked, “Mr. Zeng is in the Ascended Realm?”

Mr. Zeng smiled and said, “Fellow Taoist Qin has a lot of questions today.”

Qin Buyi and the most successful person in the world were from the same era and the same country. Bai Ye had even written poems for him.

She was also a distinguished guest of the Zhuhai Cave Heaven and was one of the few who could enter and exit freely. It was just that Qin Buyi didn’t participate in the Green God Mountain banquet. She had once taught Chunqing’s skills.

Qin Buyi smiled self-deprecatingly and apologized, “Mr. Zeng, I’m sorry, I’m just too curious.”

Mr. Zeng lived up to his name as a sword seller and liked to reciprocate. He asked Qin Buyi, “Do you know who was behind the assassination in Chongyang Temple? What were their methods?”

Qin Buyi said helplessly, “The person who was attacked was Master Chen. It was a sudden incident and we were caught off guard. It was an enlightened ghost who used a junior sister’s body as a ferry to kill. Fortunately, Master Chen was… cautious and was not seriously injured.”

Mr. Zeng nodded and said, “Most likely, he is going to use external merit to achieve Daoism.”

Although this was not a top-notch way to achieve Daoism, it was still a path.

This was the limitation of ghosts. Cultivators cultivating immortality was, in a sense, an act of going against the heavens. Ghosts were even more so. Therefore, the higher their realm, the narrower the path they could take.

In the past, he had taken in an unregistered disciple, a young cultivator from the Baoping Continent named Jian Ming, whose Taoist name was “Yuerenge.”

It was at Mr. Zeng’s suggestion that Jian Ming returned the national treasure sword “Mingquan,” which he had stolen, to the Daquan Yao family.

The young man felt that this was pointless and couldn’t understand the purpose.

Mr. Zeng said that the “interest” between stealing and returning was a great knowledge.

The people that sword sellers liked to do business with the most were pure martial artists.

After all, people who practiced martial arts had a limited lifespan. Martial artists with long lifespans, like the Da Duan Dynasty’s female martial god Pei Bei, were difficult to compare with a middle-fifth-realm cultivator.

However, as long as their martial arts achievements were high enough, sword sellers could make a huge profit without having to make a long-term investment.

For example, Han Guanghu, the number one martial artist in the Golden Armor Continent, had served as the national preceptor of the Daquan Dynasty for a period of thirty years.

This was also Mr. Zeng’s doing.

It was clear that he had placed his bet on the Yao family’s female emperor, betting that she would not be willing to return the national surname to the Liu clan.

If it weren’t for the “Lin Shi” in Ruzhou in the Blue Underworld, Pei Bei would have been the well-deserved number one martial artist in several worlds.

After all, Cao Ci was still a little young.

It was generally agreed that it was much more difficult for a 20-year-old pure martial artist to beat a 200-year-old “monster” than it was for a 20-year-old cultivator to defeat someone who was 2,000 years old.

In the past, the Haoran and Qingming worlds rarely interacted. Even if some great cultivators “visited,” they didn’t like to talk about other people’s affairs after returning to their respective worlds.

There was only one exception.

He not only ran around frequently, but he also talked a lot.

Of course, it was our Headmaster Lu.

This third headmaster of the White Jade Capital praised Pei Bei whenever he had the chance, saying that the number one martial artist in the world was finally a female hero, how delightful!

Then, he ran to Crow Mountain and took the initiative to apologize to that Teacher Lin. Lin Jiangxian certainly wouldn’t care about this kind of false name, but he wouldn’t give Headmaster Lu a chance to go up the mountain, sit down, and punish himself with three cups.

Lu Xu asked in his heart, “Lou Miao, do you have a piece of someone’s natal porcelain?”

Lou Miao, the sect leader who was being asked, didn’t have to answer.

The rule here was that every piece of information had to be the complete truth that one “knew.” No one was allowed to lie or even mislead any meeting member with partial truths.

Lou Miao would habitually stand up when answering and say respectfully, “Yes. But it was in the past, because I have already asked someone to take it to the Five Colors World and give it to a Taoist.”

Lu Xu asked, “When did you give it away?”

Lou Miao said, “When I learned that he had become the last hermit.”

Lu Xu sneered, “It’s indeed a hot potato.”

Lu Xu asked with a smile, “Didn’t that embroidered tiger ask you for this thing?”

The Qionglin Sect was the biggest buyer of natal porcelain in the Liuzhu Cave Heaven, but the Dali Dynasty, which was the seller, was still headed by the national preceptor Cui Chan.

It was reasonable to say that Cui Chan, who had left the Wensheng lineage, was still half of Chen Ping’an’s senior brother. There was no reason for him to deliberately make things difficult for Chen Ping’an in this matter.

Lou Miao shook his head and said, “The embroidered tiger has never asked our Qionglin Sect for this piece of broken porcelain.”

Lu Xu continued to ask, “Based on the porcelain piece you have, what kind of object is the complete natal porcelain?”

Lou Miao hesitated for a moment but still answered, “Probably a paperweight.”

Lu Xu asked, “A paperweight to press books? What is the specific shape?”

Lou Miao said with a wry smile, “It’s difficult to deduce.”

Seeing that he couldn’t get any more useful information, Lu Xu didn’t mention the price of the information at all.

Just chatting with you, the sect leader Lou, who is known as the invincible Jade Purity Realm, is already giving you a lot of face.

My face, Lu Xu, is worth more than a few coins.

Lou Miao, who was like a soft persimmon in autumn, didn’t ask if Lu Xu didn’t take the initiative to mention it.

In the past meetings, Lou Miao, who seemed to be at the bottom, and Han Yushu of the Wanyao Sect, who was from the Three Mountains Blessed Land and was second to last, were like a pair of door gods guarding the door.

However, unlike Lou Miao, Han Yushu was at least a deep-seated immortal. The reason why he was in the back was not because his realm was not high enough, but because he had come here late and had little seniority.

In addition, because he had been closed off for too long, there were very few disciples of the sect who traveled outside the Haoran. Tongye Continent had little news, so Han Yushu had very little useful information and it was difficult for him to cooperate with others and exchange benefits.

Now, the most strange thing that Lu Xu felt was that Wei She was always standing and unwilling to sit down, and the chair was very