Different Paths

Prefect Zixuan had been recommended by Daoist Yuan Zheng because of Yuan Zheng's connection with the Shangdan Sect.

As the foremost sect beneath the Yuqing Sect in the Hushan Kingdom—and the only sect in the entire cultivation world that specialized in alchemy—the Shangdan Sect naturally had an extraordinary relationship with the Yuqing Sect.

This calling card had been presented jointly by Daoist Yu Heng, the Shangdan Sect's sect master, and Prefect Zixuan. Wang Ping met Yuan Zheng in the pavilion. After reading the calling card, he asked curiously, "Wasn't Prefect Zixuan supposed to be asleep?"

Yuan Zheng answered with a smile, "Ten years ago, the Yuqing Sect's compound was attacked by the Taiyin Sect, and Prefect Zixuan awoke from his slumber ahead of time. Not only him—Prefect Yangde also awoke, though he only showed himself recently. I only learned of this yesterday through the Shangdan Sect."

"So the Yuqing Sect's internal strife has already been quelled?"

As Wang Ping spoke, he summoned the Cave Heaven Mirror before Yuan Zheng and connected it to the puppet in the Hushan Kingdom, probing the Yuqing Sect's current situation.

Yuan Zheng shook his head. "The reason the three Prefects of the Yuqing Sect must take turns sleeping is because their conflicts cannot be reconciled. Now that all three Prefects are present at once, the internal turmoil has become even harder to settle."

Messages from Wang Ping's puppet surged in like a tide. Just as Yuan Zheng had said, the Hushan Kingdom was in chaos. The various tribes of the mortal world attacked one another over their beliefs, Immortal Realm cultivators frequently fought within the cultivation world, and the Taiyin Sect took the opportunity to conduct all manner of sacrifices.

After his summary, Yuan Zheng continued, "Prefect Yangde is a traditional cultivator and places particular