Watching the immortal couple being sent to Furnace No. 3, everyone present turned ashen.
Even experts like them, who had reached the Ascension Realm, were no more than lambs awaiting slaughter, unable to resist the One-eyed Old Man.
A single One-eyed Old Man could easily keep them all in check. Among the hundreds of ascenders present, no one could stand against him.
The difference in strength between them was plain to see.
Which of these ascenders hadn't been an outstanding figure in the lower realm?
Who among them hadn't been a peerless talent, a favored child of heaven?
Cultivators who had once lorded over their corner of the lower realm became livestock after ascending.
That violent reversal was something no one could accept.
Through the Dao Patterns, Li Yan secretly observed everything. He would have been lying if he said he wasn't afraid.
What were those inhuman monsters living above White Jade Capital?
Should he keep cultivating?
The Feather Ascension Realm corresponded to the Spirit Transformation Stage, while the Ascension Realm corresponded to the Void Refining Stage.
He had already reached the Spirit Transformation Stage. If he continued cultivating, would he end up ascending like these Blood Cultivators?
Would the One-eyed Old Man beneath South Heaven Gate take him to White Jade Capital?
The intense unease and distracting thoughts left Li Yan unsettled.
Fate's encounters in this world were, by and large, touched with a measure of cold indifference. The frost of destiny seemed to favor piling on the chill when one was already down, making an unstable lot all the more burdensome.
The One-eyed Old Man flipped through the White Jade Bamboo Slip, picked up his brush, and marked Li Yan's name.
"Yan Po Shan, do you know this Li Yan?"
Yan Po Shan raised an eyebrow and turned his head. "I don't know him!"
Though Yan Po Shan wore a dark expression, inside he was panicking.
He didn't want anything to happen to Li Yan, or for Li Yan to get dragged into trouble because of him.
After all, he had entrusted both the Blood Serving Sect and Yan Qing Qing to Li Yan, their Saint Son.
If Li Yan got targeted because of him, how could Yan Po Shan face his daughter?
But the One-eyed Old Man smiled maliciously. "We know everything that happened in your lower realm."
"Li Yan suddenly appeared in Cloud City, made contact with you, and became your Saint Son. We had it all under control."
"As for sending that corpse cultivator to block his way, that was simply a test."
When he heard this, Yan Po Shan's eyes widened. "So you set the whole thing up!"
Li Yan, listening in from the lower realm, felt a chill run down his spine. So everything he did had been under the control of the monsters in White Jade Capital.
They had been watching his every move, monitoring most of what he did...
Yan Po Shan gritted his teeth as he glared at the One-eyed Old Man.
"What are you planning? What are you going to do to the Saint Son?"
The One-eyed Old Man let out a series of low chuckles. "A seedling this fine naturally deserves proper cultivation."
"Li Yan is a top-grade immortal pill. A certain immortal has already claimed him."
"And my job is to make sure that immortal pill ascends to White Jade Capital as quickly as possible."
With that, the One-eyed Old Man raised his brush and drew a string of complicated Dao Patterns in the air.
As he swept his brush and splashed ink, a meteor fell from the sky, plunging straight into the mortal realm.
Li Yan witnessed the entire thing through his Spiritual Sense, seeing firsthand the methods of the immortals of White Jade Capital.
The old man had merely flicked his brush, yet the sky in the lower realm had changed!
At that moment, countless experts of the Feather Ascension Realm were gathered at the Blood Serving Sect. Suddenly, everyone looked up.
"What was that sound?"
"That's...!"
"Seven-colored auspicious clouds, and purple qi coming from the east?"
Seven layers of colored light appeared in the sky, surrounding auspicious clouds that held a pearl like a tray. Golden patterns faintly shimmered within the clouds.
Purple clouds billowed outward from within them.
The two auspicious signs left everyone staring in astonishment.
Almost no one had ever seen such a strange celestial phenomenon. Many cultivators began counting on their fingers.
"How strange. An auspicious sign—an exceptionally auspicious one!"
"What treasure could be appearing to give rise to such an omen?"
The cultivators discussed it excitedly, but only Li Yan understood.
The sudden change in the sky was just the One-eyed Old Man flicking his brush. He could sway the mortal realm with a single stroke.
In the eyes of the divine beings in White Jade Capital, moving mountains and filling seas took no more than a casual wave.
Immortals stood high above like gods, while cultivators like them were nothing but ants crawling through the mortal world.
The immortals had tossed down a "piece of candy," and the ants treasured it like a priceless gift, mistaking it for a meteor sent by heaven.
As the seven-colored auspicious clouds and purple qi surged, a beam of starlight came plunging down from the sky.
"A fiery star falls into the jade abyss—treasure revealed!"
Amid the crowd's cries, a meteor streaked across the sky, hurtling straight toward Li Yan.
With a deafening boom, a Golden Patterned Lotus Platform appeared before Li Yan.
The Golden Patterned Lotus Platform radiated rich spiritual energy. In an instant, the Blood Serving Sect, which had been short on spiritual energy, was filled to the brim!
The Blood Law Cultivators around them cried out in amazement.
"A Magic Treasure sent down from heaven?"
"The Emperor has shown his divine presence!"
"The Golden Patterned Lotus Platform—a Divine Artifact bestowed by heaven!"
"Saint Son, this must be heaven's arrangement, a congratulatory gift for your breakthrough!"
"Could it have been Sect Master Yan? Sect Master Yan ascended to White Jade Capital and became an immortal. He must have deliberately tossed down such a treasure to honor you, Saint Son!"
"Exactly! It must be a treasure from Sect Master Yan. He's always been a man of honor!"
As the cultivators chatted merrily, Yan Qing Qing standing nearby was all smiles too.
She gently tugged at Li Yan's sleeve. "Saint Son, perhaps my father sent it down as a gift of thanks for you."
Everyone thought it had to be Yan Po Shan repaying Li Yan's kindness by tossing down an immortal artifact after ascending to the upper realm.
But Li Yan, who knew the truth, was filled with bitterness.
This was a handout from White Jade Capital, meant to help him reach Feather Ascension faster so he could ascend to the upper realm and lie in the furnace as he was turned into a Golden Core.
But White Jade Capital was watching everything. If he showed any sign that something was wrong, they would certainly grow suspicious.
All living beings walked like mustard seeds, while the players looked down on the board and laughed.
The immortals of White Jade Capital looked down upon the masses. Whenever they found a cultivator like Li Yan, gifted beyond measure, they promptly added him to the menu.
Now Li Yan had no choice but to take things one step at a time and find a way to break out of this predicament.
But... could he break out?
Even Li Yan, who had always been optimistic, felt utterly powerless.
Among the immortals of White Jade Capital, even a mere gatekeeper like the One-eyed Old Man could decide the fates of hundreds of ascenders with nothing but a brush.
And what strength did Li Yan have to stand against him?
Before the old man, all his cultivation amounted to no more than an ant.
Still, he had to pretend he knew nothing. With a delighted expression, he said,
"Such a treasure must have been given to me by Sect Master Yan."
"Someone, carry it inside! This Saint Son is going to meditate and cultivate!"
A few elders carried the Golden Patterned Lotus Platform into Forget Dust Hall, a hall within the Blood Serving Sect that had been Yan Po Shan's cultivation chamber. It now belonged to Li Yan.
"You may all leave."
Li Yan waved his sleeve, signaling the elders to go.
Only after everyone had left Forget Dust Hall did Li Yan, who had been holding himself together for so long, collapse to the floor.
"What am I supposed to do?"
As he sat there in a daze, the jade talisman at his waist suddenly lit up!
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