"No..."
Mu Qing had intended to refuse, but True Lord Ningfeng hurriedly spoke up.
"Don't be so quick to refuse. I think you'll need this faction."
True Lord Ningfeng wore a faint, knowing smile. Rather than speaking aloud, he transmitted his voice directly to Mu Qing.
"I know you must have some secrets, secrets that have allowed your cultivation to rise so quickly."
"My guess is... your rapid progress may have something to do with the faction under your command? Or perhaps with the power of fortune?"
True Lord Ningfeng was mostly guessing, but no one here was foolish. More or less, they could all infer it.
In fact, with even a little investigation, one could uncover some clues about Mu Qing.
After all, when the Demon Domain had first been established, Mu Qing had devoted nearly all his efforts to its development, giving up vast amounts of cultivation time.
To others, this had been utterly incomprehensible.
The further one progressed and the higher one's cultivation realm became, the longer one naturally needed to spend in seclusion. Where would there be time to develop a faction?
Xuan Mu and the others, Heavenly Prides of the younger generation just like Mu Qing, were all cultivating in seclusion. They rarely ventured outside; even if they had reputations, those reputations existed only within their own supreme factions.
Only upon reaching the peak of the Extreme Realm would they take up the positions of leaders of the Ancient Immortal Realm's three great factions.
Mu Qing's expression shifted slightly. Even if True Lord Ningfeng was merely guessing, he had come very close to the truth.
Seeing Mu Qing's expression, True Lord Ningfeng smiled faintly, immediately realizing that his guess had been correct.
"You still have some distance to go before reaching the peak of the