Rumors Swirl, Liuli's Secret Pact [Monthly Votes Requested]

After the celebration ended, news of Lin Chang'an's recent advancement to Mid-Stage Spirit Transformation spread even farther than he had planned.

"Congratulations, Master! Celestial Lord Lin's name is spreading far and wide. Before long, it'll be known throughout the North Cold Continent!"

Jin Feng spoke with excitement, but her eyes stayed fixed on the mountain of congratulatory gifts.

Every grand ceremony brought in a heap of gifts. She wanted a haul like that for herself.

Lin Chang'an answered with an irritated snort.

"My name? More like something for people to gossip about behind my back!"

Seeing her master's expression darken, Jin Feng drew in her neck. "Master, what does it matter what sort of reputation it is? It's still a reputation."

Jin Feng had spent years among the Demon Race and thought nothing of it.

Lin Chang'an, however, was speechless. He could not call the celebration a failure; by his original measure, it had been a great success.

The trouble was that his fame had grown too great, and some of what people were saying was untrue.

"Fellow Daoist Peacock could have sent someone with a gift. Why come in person and steal the limelight?"

The story going around now was that Lin Chang'an and Fairy Ice Butterfly could join forces with a supreme yin-yang treasure and rival a Spirit Transformation Late Stage cultivator.

But false claims had slipped into the telling. The high-level cultivators who knew what had happened understood perfectly well.

Would True Lord Qingxu, a Spirit Transformation Late Stage cultivator, really have dared to act recklessly then?

Other tales spread too. Some said the Human Race's Celestial Lord Lin had aimed beyond his station: a mere Mid-Stage Spirit Transformation cultivator, dreaming of climbing all the way to Peacock Princess's Jade Platform.

Others said the two were friends,