Mist Moon Immortal Palace, Heavenly Prodigies Emerge

The Mist Moon Mountain Range lies to the west of the Feathering Sect, stretching for tens of thousands of miles. Within the range, countless steep and perilous peaks rise up like a school of fish crossing a river or the stars in the night sky, too numerous to count.

The tallest of these peaks pierces the clouds, reaching tens of thousands of feet into the sky. Even at its midsection, it is shrouded in drifting white clouds and piled high with pristine, eternal snow.

This should have been a place rarely visited by human footprints, yet atop the summit lies a vast expanse of open ground. Countless pavilions and towers, resembling a celestial palace of jade and marble, are nestled together in clusters.

The Mist Moon Immortal Palace is one of the great immortal sects of this world.

Furthermore, it is far beyond what the Feathering Sect could ever hope to compare to.

Although the Feathering Sect claims to inherit the lineage of the Three Pure Ones, it has long since fallen into decline. Not to mention True Immortals, they do not even possess a single ancestor of the Great Vehicle Realm. While they still command respect within their own region, their influence barely extends beyond ten thousand miles.

The Mist Moon Immortal Palace, however, is different. Its heritage may not be as ancient as that of the Feathering Sect, but today, the sect boasts two old monsters of the Great Vehicle level.

One is the Mist Moon Palace Master, and the other is the sect's Great Elder.

They also possess a vast number of experts in the Mystic Profound Realm.

Their power shakes the surrounding hundred thousand miles.

The scope and territory they influence are far beyond the reach of the Feathering Sect.

At this very moment.

Inside the most magnificent chamber of the Mist Moon Immortal Palace, two people sit and stand.

One is a woman of about forty, dressed in gorgeous palace robes, her features as exquisite as a painting.

She is none other than the Mist Moon Palace Master!

She is also a renowned ancestor of the Great Vehicle Realm.

The other is a young man with a tall, upright posture, dressed in brocade robes and a jade belt, his face set in a cold, stern expression.

He is a cultivator of the Spirit Severing Realm, yet he shows no sign of restraint when facing a Great Vehicle ancestor.

This is because he is the only disciple of the woman in palace robes.

He is also the Young Master of the Mist Moon Immortal Palace.

His name is Xu Chen!

To be taken in as a disciple by a Great Vehicle ancestor, Xu Chen is naturally no ordinary person.

His talent is peerless.

From the moment he stepped onto the path of immortality, he reached the Golden Core stage in twenty years and the Nascent Soul stage in fifty. Now, at only a little over one hundred and fifty years old, he has already cultivated to the Spirit Severing Realm.

He is truly a heaven-gifted prodigy, a pride of the heavens praised by all.

"Master, why have you summoned me today?"

Xu Chen cupped his hands in a salute.

"It is said that a female disciple of the Feathering Sect formed her Golden Core in only ten years, and her strength far exceeds that of other cultivators at the same level."

"What? A Golden Core in ten years? That's impossible!"

Xu Chen was shocked, his face filled with disbelief.

This was followed by a flicker of anger. Always holding himself in high regard, how could he allow someone with greater talent than his own to appear in this world?

"The news was brought back by disciples traveling abroad, and it has now been largely confirmed. I want you to make a trip to the Feathering Sect." The woman's voice remained calm, yet it carried a faint, sinister undertone.

"Why does Master want me to go there?"

Xu Chen was confused and felt a sense of resentment.

Since he was a child, he had always been the greatest genius. No cultivator could ever compare to him, not even his Master in her younger years.

Hearing this terrible news so suddenly made it hard for him to accept, and he could not help but feel a sense of hatred toward the woman from the Feathering Sect whom he had never even met.

He was, by nature, a narrow-minded person.

The Mist Moon Palace Master naturally understood her disciple, and hearing this, she chuckled. "To propose marriage!"

"What? Propose marriage?"

Xu Chen was instantly enraged.

Having heard that someone had formed a Golden Core in only ten years—faster than himself—he already hated the woman he had never met. How could he possibly let her become his dao companion?

If they were to live together, given his petty and jealous nature, he would surely be driven to his grave by anger.

Seeing her disciple's brows locked in a scowl and his heart full of resentment, the Mist Moon Palace Master giggled. "Silly disciple, if you cannot tolerate that woman, how could I? You must know that there has always been friction between our Mist Moon Immortal Palace and the Feathering Sect. While it doesn't amount to a deep blood feud, we are at odds behind a facade of harmony."

"It is only because the Feathering Sect has declined that I haven't bothered to cause them trouble. But since a seed of immortality has appeared in their sect..."

At this point, a sinister look crossed the woman's face. "Hmph, such a danger must be nipped in the bud."

"Then why does Master want me to propose?" Xu Chen breathed a sigh of relief, but remained puzzled.

"It is very simple. They will not agree, and that will give us a pretext."

"A pretext?"

Although she had only touched upon it briefly, Xu Chen was not stupid; he understood. He then added, "And what if they yield and agree?"

"Hmph, the Feathering Sect shouldn't be so spineless." A smile remained on the face of the Mist Moon Palace Master, though under the candlelight, it looked somewhat sinister.

She then chuckled again, "If they truly agree, that is even better. Once that girl is married over, whether she lives or dies will be entirely up to us. As for the Feathering Sect..."

"This move will inevitably incite their resentment and vigilance anyway. When the time comes, we can just find an excuse to wipe them out. If you want to condemn someone, you can always find a pretext, can't you?"

This was the reality of the cultivation world: the strong rule, and possessing a treasure is a crime in itself, making it all the easier to provide others with a handle against you.

"Yes, Master, this disciple will obey."

Upon learning his master's true intentions, a flash of joy appeared on Xu Chen's face.

Though his aptitude was high, he was narrow-minded and would never allow someone with a spiritual root superior to his own to exist in this world.

A cold, smug smile spread across his face, for he knew that regardless of the answer the Feathering Sect gave, his trip there would be a success.

That woman was destined to die.

No, not just that woman.

His master had once taught him that if you are going to do something, you must do it thoroughly. Since they were going there to stir up trouble, the entire Feathering Sect would be uprooted.

"Right, bring enough men to prevent them from jumping over the wall like a cornered dog."

"Yes, Master."

Time flowed by.

In the blink of an eye, over half a month had passed.

Lin Xiaoyao remained as he always was, signing in daily, cleaning the Founder's Shrine, and when bored, connecting to the Wi-Fi... ah, no, that was wrong; he meant connecting to the divine statues to listen to the prayers of the pilgrims and commoners.

He considered this "lurking" a way to pass the time, and if he was in a good mood, he would occasionally manifest a miracle to help some lucky soul fulfill their wish.

Although in this world, there was no shortage of believers for everything from rogue mountain spirits and water monsters to the Earth Gods and City Gods ordained by the Heavenly Court.

Occasionally, they would also manifest miracles.

But firstly, on the path of cultivation, incense and merit could only serve as supplements; to achieve anything, one primarily had to rely on diligent practice.

Therefore, those mountain gods and earth deities did not have much time to listen to the prayers of their believers.

Secondly, even if they had the time, the wishes of the believers were often bizarre, and even if they were reasonable, the deities might not have the ability to fulfill them.

For example, when commoners prayed for rain.

Because there was no Dragon King in this region, and although there were some water monsters occupying large lakes and small rivers, one had to ask: did these rogue river lords and water gods really have the ability to make it rain?

Perhaps they did.

But even if they could, it would be extremely troublesome and require meeting all sorts of prerequisites.

However, Lin Xiaoyao was different. With his Word of Law, even the will of Heaven had to revolve around him; what wish could he not fulfill?

Of course, under normal circumstances, he would not manifest a miracle.

After all, being a divine master also required maintaining dignity and mystery.

If you appear too approachable and grant every request, it will only have the opposite effect.

Wasn't there a saying in his past life that if things come too easily, people won't know how to cherish them?

The same logic applied here.

Therefore, the reality was that Lin Xiaoyao spent most of his time lurking, only manifesting a miracle when he was occasionally in a good mood.