A first visit to Emerging Cloud Peak, and already a scheme within a scheme

The city gate alone stood a hundred feet tall, even more imposing than a mortal emperor's palace. A faint spiritual radiance shimmered over the entire gate tower, clearly protected by an exceptionally powerful defensive formation.

After paying an entry fee of three Spirit Stones, Mo Chen followed the crowd into the city.

The streets were broad, lined with shops on both sides and bustling with pedestrians, among whom were no shortage of highly accomplished cultivators.

Mo Chen dared not stare. He hurried to a shop selling Travel Maps, hoping to buy one of the area and determine where he was.

“A world Travel Map costs five Spirit Stones! A Travel Map of Emerging Cloud Peak's territory costs three Spirit Stones!”

The shopkeeper quoted the prices without even looking up.

Mo Chen inwardly clicked his tongue. Prices here were even higher than in Maozhou, but he had little choice. That Mysterious Old Man had transported him to some godforsaken place, and he could hardly blunder about like a headless fly.

After roundly cursing that old man a few times, Mo Chen reluctantly bought two Jade Slips.

He thought for a moment, then found a pawnshop, where he pawned all his remaining spirit herbs and exchanged his storage bag for one that looked ordinary but held a great deal.

With these arrangements, he would look neither too shabby nor tempting enough to draw covetous eyes.

He still knew nothing about Tongwu City and needed to gather some information.

With that in mind, Mo Chen entered an establishment called the Four Directions Teahouse.

The moment he stepped inside, a cultivator dressed in practical, short-cut clothing came forward to greet him.

Mo Chen was secretly startled. This young-looking server actually had a third-level Qi Refining cultivation base. In mortal nations like Great Qian, ordinary people would respectfully address someone of that level as "Immortal Master."

Just what sort of place was Tongwu City, where even teahouse servers were far from ordinary?

"Please come inside, honored guest. All the seats outside are taken."

Mo Chen followed the server into an inner room. It had no windows or pleasant view, which explained why nobody was sitting there.

"What would you like, honored guest? We serve both ordinary and spiritual teas."

"A pot of Longjing, please."

Mo Chen cautiously chose an ordinary tea. As a newcomer, he could not afford to attract too much attention.

"Certainly. Please wait a moment."

Once the shop assistant left, Mo Chen took out the two Travel Map Jade Slips he had just purchased and immersed his Divine Sense in them.

When the contents of the World Travel Map Slip appeared in his mind, Mo Chen froze.

An enormous Travel Map, ten feet long and ten feet wide, hovered in his sea of consciousness, detailing the Divine Land's mountains, rivers, and sect territories.

So the Divine Land was vast beyond imagination.

Boundless oceans surrounded the Divine Land. Countless sects stood upon it, their spheres of influence intricately intertwined. The seventeen strongest sects each held sway over a region, governing their own immense territories.

The nation of Qian, where Mo Chen had originally lived, was merely a mortal nation within Haiyanhui's sphere of influence at the southernmost tip of the Divine Land.

On the entire Travel Map, Qian was only an insignificant dot. He had to magnify it several times just to see it clearly.

Even more shocking was that Tongwu City, where he now stood, lay at the edge of Emerging Cloud Peak's sphere of influence.

Between Haiyanhui and Emerging Cloud Peak lay the territories of three major sects: Jiangnan Township, the Sea-Viewing Corridor, and the Floral Palace.

The Travel Map marked the distance between the two places as roughly five hundred million yojanas.

And one yojana... equaled a hundred and eight thousand li!

The number left Mo Chen utterly speechless.

One yojana was a hundred and eight thousand li, so five hundred million yojanas would be...

Holy shit, that was way too far.

Mo Chen tried to calculate it, only to find the number too enormous to estimate.

Was the Divine Land really this huge?

Without that mysterious old man's heaven-reaching abilities, he probably could never have covered such a distance in his entire lifetime.

At that thought, Mo Chen gained a deeper understanding of the old man's strength.

Good thing I hadn't angered that old fellow. Even ten thousand lives wouldn't have been enough.

Mo Chen put the world Travel Map Jade Slip back into his storage ring just as the shop assistant arrived with his tea.

"Your tea, honored guest." The server gently set a celadon tea bowl on the table.

"Sorry for the trouble."

Mo Chen took the bowl and sipped. The tea was exceptionally mellow and soothing, clearly no ordinary brew.

Then Mo Chen took out the Travel Map Jade Slip for Emerging Cloud Peak's territory and slowly immersed his Divine Sense in it.

After the shock of seeing the complete Travel Map of the Divine Land, the Travel Map of Emerging Cloud Peak's territory seemed much more normal.

The Travel Map unfolded in his mind, with several lines of small text at the top.

"Emerging Cloud Peak, one of the Divine Land's seventeen supreme sects, occupies thirty sextillion qing. Its core territory covers approximately one billion qing, while wilderness untouched by humans accounts for approximately twenty sextillion qing. It contains fifty million small and medium-sized Secret Realms. Avian and serpentine members of the Demon Race abound, and dangerous regions occur frequently. Cultivators should enter with caution."

It took Mo Chen considerable effort to find Tongwu City's marker on the western side of the Travel Map. Bordering the Only Sword Sect to the north and the Floral Palace to the south, the city lay right on the frontier of Emerging Cloud Peak's territory.

A map alone was not enough. With so little knowledge, he was like a blind man feeling an elephant.

Mo Chen decided he needed to ask someone knowledgeable, so he approached the cultivators drinking tea nearby.

"If you're looking for information, fellow Daoist, you can go straight to the second floor. They sell information listed on plaques up there, though they charge for it. I think it's one Spirit Stone for two or three questions. Of course, there are cheaper options too."

Oh?

The cultivation world had information brokers too?

Slightly surprised, Mo Chen cupped his hands in thanks to the cultivator, then summoned the server and briefly explained what he wanted.

After hearing him out, the server led Mo Chen upstairs, stepped aside, and gestured. "Please, honored guest."

Mo Chen pushed the door open and entered. Countless dark brown wooden plaques hung densely from the beams and suspended wooden racks throughout the spacious second-floor hall.

The plaques varied in size. The small ones were about a palm's width, while the large ones were roughly the size of chopping boards. All were threaded with thin cords and hung overhead.

Their contents were varied: basic inquiries about spiritual root benefits and drawbacks, locations where low-grade spiritual medicines grew, marketplace rules, and even hidden Secret Realms in various regions and Demon Beast distributions.

Judging by what the cultivator downstairs had said, even leads on rarely available cultivation methods might appear here.

A dozen or so cultivators in assorted robes stood scattered around the hall, gathered in twos and threes beneath the wooden racks. Those who found information they wanted took down the corresponding plaques and approached the solid wooden counter at the far end.

Behind the counter, an old man was studying a board game by himself, moving a few pieces this way and that.

Whenever a cultivator asked about a plaque's contents, the old man looked up and named a price. Once they agreed, he either explained on the spot or took them into a wooden room behind him for a private discussion.

Mo Chen began inspecting the plaques as well, looking first for information about joining Emerging Cloud Peak before considering anything else.

Since I was going to steal their sect's defining treasure anyway, I might as well infiltrate them first.

I couldn't very well steal from them without even stepping through their door, could I?

Mo Chen pulled down a plaque about seeking admission to Emerging Cloud Peak and approached the old man behind the counter.

The old man wore an azure Daoist robe and a cloud-patterned Daoist crown. His cultivation was respectable: seventh-level Qi Refining.

When Mo Chen sat down, the old man poured two cups of tea and gestured for him to make himself comfortable.

"What brings you here, fellow Daoist?"

Mo Chen spoke frankly. "I've come from far away and wish to join Emerging Cloud Peak. Unfortunately, I know neither the people nor the place and have no idea how to go about it. I hope you can offer me some guidance, senior."

The old man studied Mo Chen briefly before speaking slowly. "As one of the Immortal Alliance's sects, Emerging Cloud Peak has extremely stringent admission requirements. At present, there are three paths."

"I've never slackened in my cultivation. All I seek is a chance. Please point me toward a way forward, senior."

The old man sipped his tea and explained unhurriedly. "The first is the scholarly route. Every five years, the members of the Immortal Alliance hold examinations modeled after those of mortal nations. The questions concern managing the immortal cities under the alliance and devising strategies to defend against demonic unrest."

"The second is martial competition, also held every five years. You prove your worth through your skills—there's not much else to say. Of course, some people have exceptional luck. If everyone in your group is rubbish, you can still get admitted."

“As for the third, it's a little more mystical. They specifically examine your Eight Characters and special talents. For instance, someone with two or three instances of willow wood among the Na Yin of their Eight Characters will be recruited directly into the spiritual herb gardens to tend the herbs...”

Mo Chen had expected something less mystical, but what he heard seemed rather far-fetched.

It could be mystical, but did it have to be this mystical?

"What if the sect's herbs are flourishing during that period and none of the disciples tending them have died? Wouldn't that mean they won't recruit anyone?"

"Exactly. That's why the cultivators admitted through special recruitment differ every time. It depends heavily on opportunity."

Perhaps noticing Mo Chen's prolonged silence, the old man stroked his beard and smiled. "There's no need to lose heart. These three admission routes used by the Immortal Alliance's various sects don't conflict with one another. You can try them all. Besides, the major recruitment drives are divided into spring and autumn sessions. If you're outstanding enough, the sect's examiners will naturally take notice."

"They don't conflict?"

"I'm in the information business. There's no reason for me to ruin my own reputation. The next scholarly examination is in thirty days, and the spring martial recruitment is in sixty."

"Thank you for your guidance, senior!" Mo Chen said delightedly.

"It's only common information. You could learn it by asking around on the street."

The old man waved a hand. "I won't charge you for this inquiry."

Mo Chen bowed solemnly. "Then may I ask for information about treasures that can supplement my Spiritual Root?"

"Certainly. Please come into the private room so we can discuss it in detail, fellow Daoist."

After leading Mo Chen inside, the old man wasted no time. "Which Spiritual Root's Adverse Spirit do you need to remedy, fellow Daoist?"

"The Adverse Spirit of Spring Water."

After answering, Mo Chen felt somewhat uneasy. The Sixty Na Yin Compendium had stated that the shortcomings of inauspicious influences could not be remedied permanently. External objects could only suppress their effects temporarily, allowing one's cultivation to advance further.

How long that suppression lasted depended on the cultivator's constitution and the grade of the object used to supplement their Spiritual Root.

In other words, once someone embarked on the path of cultivation, they had to keep remedying the effects caused by their Eight Characters' Adverse Spirit if they wanted to continue advancing.

Put plainly, the Heavenly Dao required cultivators to keep competing for natural treasures and exploring Secret Realms.

After hearing Mo Chen's requirements, the old man immediately extended his Divine Sense and searched through a cabinet for a while before handing him a Jade Slip.

Mo Chen accepted the Jade Slip, scanned it with his Divine Sense, and sank into thought.

On Greenstone Mountain, seven hundred li outside Tongwu City, stood the ruins of a cave abode that had since been occupied by earth-element Demon Beasts called Burrowing Rats.

"What do you think, fellow Daoist? Burrowing Rats are group-dwelling Demon Beasts. After they die, their bones can be refined into Stone Marrow Pearls, which can remedy your Adverse Spirit."

Mo Chen considered it for a while, then agreed.

"Please leave an imprint of your Divine Sense on this Jade Slip. I'll have someone contact you within three days."

Mo Chen was puzzled. "Contact me? What do you mean?"

"You may not know this, fellow Daoist, but other cultivators will be accompanying you to explore and retrieve treasures. Besides providing information, our establishment also lists it on plaques to find cultivators who wish to seek treasures at the same location but need different things."

As he spoke, the old man pointed at the hanging wooden plaques behind Mo Chen.

"I see."

The old man then explained that some cultivators needed Burrowing Rats to refine other medicines, while others wanted treasures left in the cave abode. They could therefore travel together.

That would not only improve their chances of killing the beasts but also provide greater safety.

"Then thank you, fellow Daoist." Mo Chen rose, bowed, and took his leave.

Once Mo Chen went downstairs, the old man beckoned toward the outer room, and a server immediately slipped inside.

The server asked respectfully, "What are your instructions, shopkeeper?"

The old man curled a finger and activated the private room's Array Formation, blocking any probing Divine Sense.

"That young man's accent wasn't local. He's only at the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining, yet he crossed the wilderness safely and reached this place. He must be quite formidable among Qi Refining cultivators."

The server stepped forward and whispered, "Then... you mean...?"

The old man's gaze was unfathomable as he drained his tea.

"Have someone watch him. See whether he can carry out that task for me."

"Yes. I'll arrange the manpower right away."