The First Member of the Investiture of the Gods

The person who arrived was naturally Mo Xie. He stood on the clouds looking down without jumping down. His stylish appearance and the clouds beneath his feet attracted the attention of everyone in the square.

"My God! He can actually fly! Is he a powerhouse above the Spirit Venerable?" A freshman below, who was only at the Spirit Practitioner Fifth Stage Realm, said with envy.

"Even Spirit Venerable can only fly at low altitudes with the help of external forces. This lord has arrived riding on clouds, so his strength must have reached the Spirit Emperor realm or even higher." Another knowledgeable freshman added, though he didn't show surprise on the surface, his tone was full of shock.

"Hiss~~!"

"Wouldn't that make him someone on the same level as the sect leader?!"

The surrounding freshmen gasped in shock upon hearing this, looking up at Mo Xie above the clouds in disbelief.

In their eyes, powerful figures like the Spirit Emperor and Spirit Saint were simply unattainable figures, and most people could not even reach that level in their entire lives.

Sometimes, even a glimpse is a luxury.

Why was the Shangqing Sect able to rise to prominence in the Qi State and become one of the top sects in Qi State? The fundamental reason is that the Supreme Elder of the Shangqing Sect reached the Spirit Saint realm!

In fact, since the time of the Supreme Elder Qiu Yunzi, no one from the Shangqing Sect has reached the Spirit Saint realm in the past thousand years. Even the current Shangqing Sect leader Ren Hongyuan, is only at the Spirit Emperor Eighth Stage realm, which is still far from the Spirit Saint realm.

"Sigh! I wonder if we'll ever reach the Spirit Saint realm in our lifetime," a freshman lamented.

"I won't even dream of becoming Spirit Saint; reaching the Spirit Emperor realm will be enough."

"Indeed! How difficult it is to reach the Spirit Saint realm."

The new students sighed with emotion, realizing that most of them were merely beginner cultivators at the Spirit Practitioner or Spirit Master realm, and that the Spirit Emperor or Spirit Saint levels were indeed quite distant for them.

In a corner of the crowd, a young man in black silently gazed at the sky, muttering to himself, "One day, I, Xiao Yan, will become someone like him!"

"May I ask which senior has graced our Shangqing Sect with their presence? We apologize for not greeting you properly." Faced with the sudden appearance of Mo Xie, Ren Hongyuan, as the head of the Shangqing Sect, naturally could not back down. With a slight wave of his hand, he soared into the clouds and confronted Mo Xie.

"The sect leader is so strong!" Ren Hongyuan's silent move earned him a lot of admiration. However, Ren Hongyuan had no intention of being proud at this moment, because when he came to face Mo Xie, he felt a powerful pressure and he could not see through the opponent's cultivation level!

Keep in mind that he is currently a powerful figure at the Spirit Emperor Eighth Stage, capable of Detect cultivators five minor realms above him. Yet, he cannot Detect Mo Xie's cultivation, which means that Mo Xie's cultivation is definitely not just at the Spirit Saint Third Stage, but possibly at the fourth, fifth, or even higher level...

Such a figure is probably only comparable to the Supreme Elder Qiu Yunzi within the entire Shangqing Sect.

"Where's Qiu Yunzi? Tell him to come out quickly. Tell him an old friend is looking for him and wants to give him a great opportunity." Mo Xie glanced at Ren Hongyuan and knew he wasn't the person she was looking for. Moreover, he looked to be over a thousand years old and only had the cultivation of Spirit Emperor Eighth Stage, so she had even less intention of talking to him.

Ren Hongyuan was extremely uncomfortable to see Mo Xie looking down on him like this. He had been the sect leader for hundreds of years, enjoying the flattery of everyone for hundreds of years. Even King Heng of Qi treated him with respect. When had he ever suffered such humiliation?

However, the opponent's strength was indeed far too great, so Ren Hongyuan could only suppress his dissatisfaction, force a smile, and reply, "May I ask your esteemed name, senior?"

He planned to first ask the person's name to see what kind of backing they had. If the backing was strong, then fine; but if they were just an unknown rogue cultivator, Ren Hongyuan would have to protect his own reputation.

"Why are you talking so much nonsense? I told you to go and call Qiu Yunzi out, don't you understand?" Mo Xie's eyebrows immediately shot up. If he didn't have a mission, he would have slapped someone who talked nonsense to him like this.

Who is he? The Demon Cult Leader! A fearsome villain, his unpredictable temper is his norm, and killing your entire family on a whim is commonplace. Who dares to utter a word to him?

"You've gone a bit too far!" Mo Xie's voice was loud enough for all the freshmen in the plaza below to hear, which made Ren Hongyuan a little embarrassed. He couldn't help but speak in a deep voice.

"Is a fight about to break out?" The freshmen below looked excited. It was rare to see important figures fighting. If they could witness it, it might give them a deeper understanding of cultivation.

Whether the sect leader would lose was not on their minds. Perhaps subconsciously they all felt that the Shangqing Sect leader was the most powerful being in the Shangqing Sect besides the Supreme Elder, so how could he possibly lose?

Whether he would actually lose was something only Ren Hongyuan himself knew. He regretted it a little the moment he said it, but there was nothing he could do. So he could only remain calm, prepare to defend himself, and run away at any moment.

As for fighting... don't be ridiculous. The difference in skill level is enormous, even a small rank difference is a world of difference, let alone a difference of more than five ranks. It's simply impossible to fight.

"Whew!"

Suddenly, a breeze blew by, and a powerful pressure pressed down on Ren Hongyuan. Ren Hongyuan's expression changed drastically. Although he did not move, his legs bent slightly, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Mo Xie stared coldly at Ren Hongyuan, remaining motionless.

"Click!"

The sound of bones breaking rang out. Ren Hongyuan's face was covered in sweat, his lips were pale, and his legs were almost kneeling. However, Ren Hongyuan was a tough guy and didn't make Growl.

The atmosphere instantly became heavy. The freshmen below also felt the oppressive aura, and they all shrank their shoulders and trembled, not daring to even whisper.

The elders of the Shangqing Sect kept their eyes straight ahead, not daring to step forward to support their sect leader.

"Click-clack~~"

The crisp sound of bones shattering echoed in everyone's hearts, and panic appeared on everyone's faces.

Ren Hongyuan was already at his breaking point. He opened his mouth wide, wanting to speak, but found that he couldn't utter a single word.

"Stop!"

Suddenly, an aged voice came from the back mountain of the Shangqing Sect. A gentle force diluted the oppressive aura, and Ren Hongyuan felt a sudden release as he fell directly from the sky.

"Sect Leader!" an elder exclaimed from the crowd below, quickly catching him to prevent Ren Hongyuan from falling to the ground and being in an embarrassing situation.

Even so, Ren Hongyuan's legs were completely immobile. Fortunately, Mo Xie did not cripple his legs; they could be healed with just a little treatment.

However, no one's attention was on Ren Hongyuan at the moment. Everyone's eyes were on the distance, where an old man in white robes with gray hair was walking through the air.

"Hey! My old friend, you look great!" Mo Xie said with a slight smile as he looked at the white-robed, gray-haired old man strolling towards him.

"Weren't you dead?" The white-robed, gray-haired old man looked at Mo Xie, his brows furrowed slightly, and said in a deep voice.

Mo Xie chuckled, rubbed his hands together, and said with a smile, "You're lucky to still be alive. How have you been these past few years? Have you found your childhood sweetheart yet? Judging from your young age and graying temples, you probably haven't. If you ask me, just forget about it. He was a figure from over a thousand years ago. Do you think everyone is as gifted as you? That they could cultivate to such a level and live for a thousand years? Your childhood sweetheart is probably long gone, dust to dust."

"Mo Xie, you old thief, shut up!" These words suddenly seemed to provoke the white-robed, gray-haired old man. His originally calm face turned ferocious, and a cyan longsword appeared in his hand. The next moment, he appeared in front of Mo Xie and thrust the longsword forward.

No one expected the white-robed, gray-haired old man to launch a sudden attack. Unfortunately, the attack had no effect. Mo Xie grabbed the cyan longsword, jumped lightly, and shattered the sword, which was no less than an eighth-rank weapon.

"You, Qiu Yunzi, how dare you treat your benefactor like this! Back then, if Laozi hadn't seen your exceptional talent and wanted to give you a hand, bringing you to the Shangqing Sect to study under the old man Yunding, would you have achieved what you have today? You, on the contrary, not only do you not know how to repay kindness, but you also repay kindness with enmity!" Mo Xie became angrier as he spoke, and slapped him across the face.

"Smack~"

Qiu Yunzi was sent flying by the slap, but he didn't fall. Instead, he stopped in time and retreated back to his previous position to avoid further physical contact with Mo Xie.

"Mo Xie, you son of a bitch! If you really wanted to recruit me, why didn't you bring Qingqing into the Shangqing Sect as well? Her talent is much better than mine! You pervert, you just can't stand seeing lovers get married!" Qiu Yunzi cursed, completely abandoning the superior demeanor he had displayed earlier, leaving the group of freshmen and Shangqing Sect disciples and elders dumbfounded.

"You're talking nonsense! Do you think I'm that kind of person? Why didn't I bring your little lover with me back then? Wasn't it so that you wouldn't be burdened by love and could focus on cultivation and become a superior person? I've put so much effort into this, why can't you understand my intentions?" Mo Xie retorted, rolling up his sleeves.

"Pfft!" Qiu Yunzi couldn't help but Spit Up a mouthful of blood, pointing at Mo Xie and saying unwillingly, "Shameless old thief! Shameless old thief!"

Mo Xie shrugged helplessly and said, "It's alright if you don't understand. As the saying goes, 'Everyone is drunk but I am sober.' So what if I have to bear the infamy of breaking up lovers so that you can be where you are today? It's fine, go ahead and slander me."

"Pfft!" Qiu Yunzi Spit Up another mouthful of blood.

Seeing this, Mo Xie realized things weren't going well; if Qiu Yunzi continued spitting out a few more mouthfuls of blood, he might die. So he quickly waved his hand and said, "Alright, stop vomiting. Since you insist I tricked you back then, I'll give you some compensation now—a great fortune... Hey, hey, hey... don't run away... this time it really is a great fortune... I'm not kidding you..."