Spirit Tide

Ever since the Great Yin Human Emperor enacted the Heaven-Earth Severance ten thousand years ago, the spiritual energy of the Profound Yellow Realm had gradually dwindled over the following millennia. Some great powers predicted that one day, the spirituality of the Profound Yellow Realm would be completely exhausted.

To prevent that future from coming to pass, the True Immortals and deities who remained in the mortal world acted to seal this world's Spirit Veins, establishing a Spirit Tide once every three thousand years to ensure the sustainable development of spiritual energy resources.

During the previous three-thousand-year period of spiritual energy depletion, cultivators fell from their lofty altars, and the changing of power brought all manner of turmoil that lasted for hundreds of years.

The First Emperor of Great Xia founded the Xia Dynasty amid that chaos and pacified the four directions, giving rise to the Great Xia of today.

And now, the three-thousand-year period of spiritual energy depletion had ended. With the arrival of one Spirit Tide after another, countless mythical creatures and transcendent cultivators returned to heaven and earth.

The many hidden sects within Great Xia would inevitably rise with the tide. Cultivators would once again occupy the pinnacle of power, and Great Xia's existing order would surely face a severe challenge.

Without an overwhelming force of cultivators, the current imperial power structure would inevitably be difficult to maintain.

The Great Xia Imperial House had never risen through cultivation to begin with. Its own cultivation foundation was lacking, making it difficult to compare with those hidden sects. Fortunately, this was only the early stage of the Spirit Tide, and Great Xia's imperial authority and armed forces still possessed an overwhelming advantage.

As long as they relied on that advantage during the early stages of the Spirit Tide to seize the important cultivation resources, the Great Xia Imperial House could still maintain the transcendent status of Great Xia's imperial authority. This was the consensus of everyone in the Great Xia court.

The Grotto-Heaven Paradises opening amid the Spirit Tide were even more crucial!

Places worthy of being called Grotto-Heaven Paradises were either sect grounds opened by ancient sects in the past, or blessed Spirit Vein lands born from heaven-and-earth treasures. Either way, they represented undeniably immense value.

Especially in an era of depleted spiritual energy, Grotto-Heaven Paradises could produce enough spiritual energy to sustain cultivators' needs, preventing them from perishing due to spiritual energy exhaustion.

No one knew how many old monsters slumbered within Grotto-Heaven Paradises throughout Great Xia, waiting for the spiritual energy density to recover to a level sufficient to support their return to the world.

It could be said that Grotto-Heaven Paradises were strategic treasures of the cultivation world.

Since the Heaven-Earth Severance, no new Grotto-Heaven Paradises had appeared beneath the heavens. Every single one would draw the scramble of countless factions.

The Cloudmist Mountains covered a vast territory. The Great Xia Imperial House might not be able to swallow all the Grotto-Heaven Paradises within it whole, and voluntarily yielding a portion of the benefits could also bring considerable gains from the hidden sects.

And as the Marquis of Zhen'nan, the one leading this Grotto-Heaven Paradise operation, he would surely be able to reap enormous benefits from it. In the future, it might not be impossible for him to go a step further and contend for the highest position.

At that thought, the Marquis of Zhen'nan's heart burned hot.

He gave a slight nod toward the Star-Seizing Daoist beside him, whose bearing was as immortal as a Daoist sage, then said, "I'll have to trouble Master Star-Seizing with locating the Grotto-Heaven Paradise."

The Star-Seizing Daoist wore a reserved smile and did not immediately agree.

"My lord should know that if a Grotto-Heaven is concealed, even the Director of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau would find it difficult to pinpoint its location accurately. This old Daoist is far inferior to the Director and dares not make rash claims."

The Marquis of Zhen'nan remained composed. "Rest assured, Master Star-Seizing. You only need to determine the Grotto-Heaven Paradise's general location. The Geomancer Lineage's successors are already on their way. They will use the momentum of feng shui to determine its exact location."

The smile on the Star-Seizing Daoist's face deepened.

With a flick of his horsetail whisk, an enormous ritual altar descended here, causing the entire command center to tremble faintly.

The Marquis of Zhen'nan's eyes lit up. He asked the Star-Seizing Daoist, "You carry a ritual altar with you? Could it be that Master Star-Seizing possesses a storage artifact?"

The Star-Seizing Daoist repeatedly shook his head and sighed. "Spiritual energy has been depleted for three thousand years. Even magical artifacts can no longer maintain their spirituality over such a long time. There are only a handful of storage artifacts remaining in the cultivation world. How could I possibly possess one?

"This is merely a Mustard-Seed Talisman of our Daoist Tradition. It is expensive to produce and can only be used once, far inferior to a storage artifact."

As he spoke, the Star-Seizing Daoist stepped onto the altar's stairs.

In an instant, wind and clouds gathered, while the spiritual energy within a hundred-meter radius of the altar began converging at high speed.

The Star-Seizing Daoist walked the steps of the Dipper and formed the Big Dipper Hand Seal. Array flags and ritual commands rose one after another from the altar into the air. Under the clear daytime sky, brilliant starlight began gathering above the altar, and faint clusters of stars flickered there.

With a sweep of his sleeve, dozens of spirit stones exploded in midair, raising the spiritual energy density in this place to its limit.

"Celestial Star Gods, please guide the way!"

The Star-Seizing Daoist wore a solemn expression as he bowed to the Big Dipper Star Chart.

As his words fell, the Big Dipper at the gathering point of starlight transformed into a massive compass pointing deep into the Cloudmist Mountains, like an immortal descended into the world to guide mortals along their path.

The spatial power Shen Yuan had casually set down shattered in an instant under the guidance of the starlight, and the Falling Cloud Grotto-Heaven reappeared in the world.

Delight appeared on the Star-Seizing Daoist's face. He had never expected divining the Grotto-Heaven's location to go so smoothly, and he was just about to speak to the Marquis of Zhen'nan.

But the Falling Cloud Grotto-Heaven hundreds of miles away, at the very moment it was disturbed by the power of starlight, finally saw the balance it had maintained for ten thousand years completely collapse.

Accompanied by a tremendous roar that echoed through the unseen void, the already dilapidated Falling Cloud Grotto-Heaven began collapsing at a visible speed, while the entrance connecting it to the present world rapidly sealed shut.

In the blink of an eye, the entire Falling Cloud Grotto-Heaven had completely vanished into the Cloudmist Mountains.

The sudden change left the Star-Seizing Daoist unable to maintain his immortal poise any longer. He violently spat out a mouthful of blood.

The Big Dipper Star Chart above the altar shattered with a bang. Amid violent tremors, a clearly visible crack spread out from beneath the Star-Seizing Daoist's feet, nearly splitting the altar in two.

When the Earth Immortal of the Falling Cloud Sect attempted ascension, a great calamity descended unexpectedly, wiping out the entire Falling Cloud Sect. How could such a secret possibly be glimpsed by the Star-Seizing Daoist's stellar divination technique?

The Marquis of Zhen'nan, who had witnessed everything, was greatly shaken by this shocking turn of events.

Though the Star-Seizing Daoist was not from a hidden sect, his Qi-Refining Realm cultivation was absolutely formidable at this point, when the Spirit Tide had only just revived. Otherwise, he would not have been qualified to serve as a retainer of the marquis's estate.

Yet a cultivator of such considerable strength had suffered such backlash merely from divining the Grotto-Heaven's direction. Such a thing was completely unprecedented.

"Has something gone wrong with the Grotto-Heaven?" the Marquis of Zhen'nan asked uneasily.

The Star-Seizing Daoist, having suffered the backlash from his spell, had fallen completely into shock. He did not even have time to mourn the damaged altar and ritual artifacts.

At the instant of the spell's backlash, the Star-Seizing Daoist had sensed a power deep within the Cloudmist Mountains that resembled heavenly might—impartial and merciless, as though it intended to erase him completely from the world.

Fortunately, that power had not been directed at him. It vanished entirely after breaking the spell. Otherwise, even a trace of its lingering might would have been enough to destroy both his body and soul.

Closing his eyes as he recalled that invincible power, the Star-Seizing Daoist's face filled with deep terror. He hurriedly said to the Marquis of Zhen'nan,

"The marquis's estate must never interfere in the matter of the Cloudmist Mountains' Grotto-Heaven. Do not harbor any designs on it!"

"That Grotto-Heaven already has an owner!"