A Millennium of Coincidence

In the Dharma Ending Era, undergoing the ascension tribulation was a very serious matter, roughly equivalent to suicide.

On the True Spirit Continent, cultivators were divided into seven tiers based on the level of their Dantian spiritual pressure.

Qi Refining.

Foundation Establishment.

Golden Dan.

Nascent Soul.

Spirit Severing.

Void Traversal.

Mahayana.

Beyond that, one had to undergo the tribulation to ascend to immortality...

Before the Dharma Ending Era, each realm had further distinctions of early, middle, late, and peak stages, and even things like Great Perfection, half-step Nascent Soul, and terrifyingly formidable plateaus.

After the Dharma Ending Era, spiritual meridians mutated and spiritual energy grew thin. There were no longer concrete subdivisions between realms; instead, cultivators sealed their Dantian, constantly maintaining early-stage spiritual pressure to lower spiritual consumption, only urgently unsealing it when encountering danger to burst forth with higher spiritual pressure.

Before the Dharma Ending Era, after reaching Mahayana Great Perfection, one could undergo the tribulation and ascend to immortality.

After the Dharma Ending Era, the gates of the Immortal Realm vanished. Most tribulation-undergoers died in the Ascension Tribulation Lightning, and only a tiny handful of failed tribulation-undergoers survived with heavy injuries, dragging out their remaining breaths.

To this day, the True Spirit Continent only had nine Mahayana cultivators left.

Known as—

The Dao Alliance Nine Luminaries!

The name sounded imposing, but the Dharma Ending Era was irreversible. Everyone understood that the Dao Alliance Nine Luminaries were already the final twilight of cultivators.

Five thousand years ago, the last nine Mahayana cultivators vowed never to attempt ascension again, instead uniting all sects of the cultivation world to form the Dao Alliance to resist the Wraith invasion, investigate the cause of the Dharma Ending Era with all their strength, and seek a path of enduring cultivation.

In the end, the Dao Alliance Headquarters possessed four Luminaries, while the five largest allied factions each had one Luminary holding down the fort. This formed a pattern of one superpower and five strong factions, firmly controlling the final power of the cultivation world.

As for Zongzhi Mountain, it was precisely one of the five hegemonic forces.

The sect master of Zongzhi Mountain, Qian Junzi, was precisely one of the Dao Alliance Nine Luminaries, and also one of the nine surviving Mahayana cultivators in the present world.

Qian Junzi was over ten thousand years old. He had sustained heavy injuries in the final Wraith Extermination War, and spent the majority of his time in seclusion recuperating over the past thousand years.

In this state, undergoing the tribulation was equivalent to suicide.

Once Qian Junzi perished in the tribulation, the strength and status of Zongzhi Mountain would inevitably plummet, and the Dao Alliance would definitely further intervene in internal sect affairs.

This was why Huangfu Qun slammed the table and stood up! In his view, more than five hundred years ago, the Dao Alliance had already planted Lingzhou Yue into the sect. Although she had never stirred up any major trouble, holding a high position while being lazy and fond of alcohol, swindling people in neighboring small countries, and even owing the sect crystal vault ninety thousand spirit stones, she brought an extremely detrimental influence to the disciples within the sect.

If the sect master departed and no one left in the sect had the ability to keep her in check, Zongzhi Mountain would sooner or later turn into a bandit mountain stronghold under her freewheeling and dissolute ruin.

The even worse ending was that several Mahayana masters of the Dao Alliance had long coveted Zongzhi Mountain like a fat piece of meat. Once the sect master perished, the Dao Alliance would likely directly dispatch a Mahayana master to airdrop into the position of sect master, and Zongzhi Mountain would never again possess the possibility of independent governance.

Thinking this, Huangfu Qun slammed the table and stood up, questioning Master Boyun.

"Undergoing the tribulation is fine, let Senior Brother say it himself!"

In reality, among those present, only Huangfu Qun dared to speak like this.

Aside from the transcendent status of the Disciplinary Elder, Huangfu Qun was once the sect master's most favored direct disciple, a descendant of the Ancient Noble Clan Huangfu, and the key figure maintaining the balance of power between the Dao Alliance and the sect.

Master Boyun offered a slight bow toward Huangfu Qun, respectful, yet carrying a faint pressure.

"Master's injuries are more severe than anticipated. Let alone recovery, even just sustaining himself has used up all his strength. Coupled with his advanced age, he has now reached the end of his tether."

Hearing the words "reached the end of his tether," Huangfu Qun's face looked as though it were carved by a knife, sternness fully revealed.

"How is that possible! Senior Brother still convened an Elder Council every three years. The last time I saw him, he was vigorous, full of high spirits and laughter, and even pointed out my cultivation!"

Master Boyun shook his head.

"Does the Uncle-Master not know that for the sake of the sect, Master has been forcibly extending his life for all these years? He has grown so weak that merely having a Wraith pierce the grand array once was enough for him to find it unbearable, rendering him unable to rise again."

Huangfu Qun's rounded eyes bulged wide.

"Then there's no need to risk the tribulation! Since he has extended his life for so many years, keep extending it!"

Master Boyun let out a sigh.

"Even without undergoing the tribulation, Master only has a few decades of lifespan left at most. Master has meditated in seclusion for a millennium, his state of mind approaching immortality through feathering. Though undergoing the tribulation means a nine-in-ten chance of death, there may yet be a sliver of life. This is the only choice."

The others also sighed with mixed emotions.

Although the news of the sect master's impending tribulation had circulated for many years, hearing the tribulation date set with their own ears still felt somewhat painful.

Watching helplessly as the cultivation world was nibbled away step by step by Wraiths, watching helplessly as Zongzhi Mountain slid downward step by step, watching helplessly as the sect master reached the end of his tether...

Xiao Ran felt rather indifferent at the moment.

Before entering the sect, he had lived in the mortal world for three years.

He had witnessed with his own eyes villages ravaged by Wraith Beasts, towns destroyed by Wraiths, and the living space of humanity squeezed to the limit step by step.

Ghost cities stood like a forest, corpses of the starved littered the fields, and in the end, all that survived were major towns sheltered by the Dao Alliance, neighboring small countries sheltered by major sects, and wilderness villages inhabited by people poor enough not to fear death... surviving.

This world was not that beautiful.

This was why Xiao Ran fought on through repeated defeats and never gave up seeking immortality and asking after the Dao.

And this was why, when he was taken in as a direct disciple by Master, he felt a wild joy that made him question Master's intelligence, to the extent that he forgot Master was asking him a question...

Cultivation was the only way out.

Or rather, only through cultivation could one find a way out.

Only through cultivation could one firmly grasp one's destiny in one's own hands, live long enough, and grow strong enough to find the answers to all problems.

Only after entering the sect did Xiao Ran discover that cultivation itself was also declining day by day.

The entire cultivation world seemed to be waiting for a hero to turn the tide.

Winds and clouds surged, treacherous and unpredictable! Xiao Ran actually had a feeling of being placed in turbulent times and stirring with restless ambition...

But that was a matter for the future.

Right now, he hadn't even reached Qi Refining. He had better focus on showing filial piety to Master, ingratiating his way to a future, and becoming a powerhouse sooner rather than later.

Huangfu Qun's figure appeared ethereal, his sideburns streaked with white, and his fierce eye sockets slightly reddened.

"I don't believe it! Someone must be scheming behind the scenes, wanting to hollow out my Zongzhi Mountain!"

He too had once been a direct disciple of the sect master, possessing mediocre talent and an eccentric personality.

It was entirely thanks to the sect master tailoring cultivation methods specifically for him and formulating a suitable cultivation plan that he was able to reach his current position step by step.

He would not watch helplessly as Master perished in the tribulation!

"Besides, a few decades is still a long way off. What if there is still a turning point in the situation?"

Master Boyun shook his head and said no more.

The rest also let out deep sighs of regret.

A long while passed.

A deep, ancient, yet fragile-as-dust voice drifted into the Hall of Affairs.

"I am... very old."

Xiao Ran was startled, realizing this was a voice transmission from the sect master.

The state of mind contained within this voice was akin to that of immortals and deities.

One could say the sect master's state of mind had already feathered and ascended to immortality, but perhaps his physical body was constrained by the concentration of spiritual energy, leaving him at the end of his tether and unable to advance any further...

Hearing Master's voice, which sounded like withered wood and fallen leaves, Huangfu Qun could finally no longer hold back his stern expression. Tears of old age streamed down instantly, and disregarding his identity as an elder entirely, he cried out with a heartrending voice—

"Master!"

"You, too, can now stand alone."

The ethereal voice lost its ancient resonance, leaving only weakness.

"Zongzhi Mountain, I leave in your hands."

Following his voice transmission, Qian Junzi rapidly plunged into dormant meditation.

Master Boyun never expected that even in such a weak state, Master would still transmit his voice all the way here. He had likely already prepared himself for the worst.

"The Elder Council begins. The first agenda is—"

"Wait!"

Huangfu Qun rudely interrupted Master Boyun's words.

He immediately sat upright, his expression regaining its sternness, a pair of eyes suppressing surging waves locked directly onto Lingzhou Yue opposite him.

Before the meeting, he had to unearth the culprit behind this Wraith incident! Clenching his face, he did not erupt immediately, but instead asked calmly:

"Elder Lingzhou, what was the deal with that Wraith just now?"

Lingzhou Yue crossed her arms over her chest, not taking it seriously at all.

After all, given her strength, she could beat everyone present flat on the ground single-handedly.

"A Wraith came, I chased it off, which counts as a meritorious deed. That's all there is to it."

Huangfu Qun said in a deep voice:

"Our sect's Mountain-Guarding Grand Array is maintained every month and remains fresh as new, impassable to ordinary Wraiths. Ever since the final Wraith Extermination War, not a single Wraith invasion has ever occurred. How do you explain this?"

Lingzhou Yue poured herself a mouthful of wine unconcernedly, curled her lips, and said:

"I am the Sword-Wielding Elder, responsible only for killing enemies, not for explaining. Who the hell knows how it got here?"

Huangfu Qun's old eyes narrowed slightly, and he slowly asked in return: "Then did you kill the enemy?"

Lingzhou Yue remained indifferent.

"The Wraith ran away."

"A millennium-rare humanoid Wraith actually ran away on its own?"

"I had to protect my disciple at the time, otherwise could it have gotten away?"

Huangfu Qun's old eyes flickered with deep calculation as he stood up, pacing back and forth while stroking his beard to analyze: "You haven't taken on a disciple in a millennium, yet suddenly you take in a direct disciple; Zongzhi Mountain hasn't been invaded by Wraiths in a millennium, yet today it is suddenly invaded; and the invader is, moreover, a millennium-rare humanoid Wraith... Don't you think all of this is a bit too coincidental?"

Ah, this... Lingzhou Yue was instantly rendered speechless.

Gaze after gaze from the entire hall focused squarely upon her.

It made her scalp tingle and pins and needles prickle across her seat. She wanted to sip a little wine, but felt too embarrassed; she intermittently put her hands on her hips and propped her chin, pondering this bizarre problem.

It really was too coincidental! Just at that moment, a resolute voice drifted from behind her.

"This Wraith has nothing to do with Master. It came for this disciple."

Hopefully, everyone won't automatically view supporting characters opposing the protagonist's group as villains, shouting out clichés about face-slapping and calling it trash literature not worth reading. Everyone is an adult here, and the concept of justice in everyone's heart differs. Especially in the Dharma Ending Era, individualistic attitudes like Lingzhou Yue's—free, lazy, and utterly inactive—are what's wrong. Of course, she also has her reasons, which is a story for later.