Waters diverted north, fire flowing south

"Yes, yes, I'll arrange for someone to keep an eye on him right away."

The waiter nodded repeatedly, then hurried out.

The old man sighed softly. "Alas, it's all fate."

With that, the old man poured away the two untouched cups of tea on the table.

Meanwhile, Mo Chen had already descended from the upper room and returned to the teahouse's ground floor.

Since most of the information could be gathered for free, there was no need to spend Spirit Stones specifically to obtain it.

The teleportation had just cost him a thousand Spirit Stones, leaving him with only three hundred. Every little bit he could save counted.

So Mo Chen deliberately found a crowded corner and sat down.

The busy, noisy parts of a teahouse were the best places to pick up information.

Mo Chen spread his Divine Sense through his surroundings without directly scanning the other cultivators, quietly gathering snippets of their nearby conversations.

Beside him, four cultivators sat around a square table, drinking tea and chatting. Their clothing and appearance marked them all as rogue cultivators.

A weathered-looking middle-aged man took a sip of tea. "Have you all heard? Next year, we rogue cultivators will finally have some good fortune!"

Across from him, a woman in blue robes smiled. "Good fortune indeed. I heard that all the major sects under heaven will throw open the Half-Limit Secret Realm, tentatively on the Start of Summer next year!"

The other two cultivators looked interested when they heard this.

A tall, thin cultivator chimed in, "Exactly! We rogue cultivators have always lacked resources, and after the major sects have scoured everything, hardly any natural spiritual materials remain. Who knows why, but this year the Immortal Alliance suddenly found its charitable side and announced to the world that we rogue cultivators would also be allowed into the Half-Limit Secret Realm to seek opportunities."

"Do you think there might be a trap?"

After listening, a square-faced cultivator frowned and said anxiously, "I don't really dare go."

The blue-robed woman looked astonished. "Huh? The Half-Limit Secret Realm has always been open only to Immortal Alliance disciples. Next year they're making an exception for rogue cultivators. Why would you pass up an opportunity like this?"

The square-faced cultivator sighed. "I'm worried this expedition into the secret realm will be too dangerous. First, the Immortal Alliance is charging each person three hundred Spirit Stones for teleportation. That's no small sum. Second, I heard that a larger area of the secret realm will be opened this time, including more dangerous places. Third, and most importantly, those sect disciples practice superior cultivation techniques, so they're already stronger than us rogue cultivators. And the human heart is hard to fathom. If someone ambushes us, we might lose our wealth to avert disaster at best, or lose our lives at worst."

"So, as I see it, we'd be better off waiting for the next opportunity."

"The next one? That means waiting five years!" The blue-robed woman clearly disagreed.

But after the square-faced cultivator's remarks, even the formerly enthusiastic tall, thin cultivator began to hesitate.

"Fellow Daoist Huang has a point. When has the Immortal Alliance ever been this generous? Cultivation circles everywhere are talking about it now. Ever since the Southward Fire Movement two hundred and forty years ago, the area opened within the secret realm has kept growing. And after the Northward Water Shift sixteen years ago, not only did they start allowing rogue cultivators inside, they doubled the accessible area outright. I suspect the Immortal Alliance wants us rogue cultivators to scout the way."

"Forget it. If you're not going, I'll go myself. Just don't turn green with envy if I find some opportunity in there!" the middle-aged man insisted.

"I'd rather be cautious. If the secret realm opens without incident this time, it won't be too late to go next time."

At this point, Mo Chen quietly withdrew his Divine Sense. Pretending not to care, he blew aside the tea leaves floating on the surface and took a sip.

The Half-Limit Secret Realm opens on the Start of Summer next year...

Mo Chen pondered inwardly. That won't conflict with Emerging Cloud Peak's Recruitment Tournament in thirty days. Once I successfully join the sect, there'll still be time to make plans. But what earth-shaking events were the Southward Fire Movement and the Northward Water Shift, to become such eagerly discussed topics in every street and alley?

Though he did not know the details, there was one thing Mo Chen could not ignore.

The Southward Fire Movement?

Two hundred and forty years ago?

Wasn't two hundred and forty years ago when I was born?

Could the two be connected? Or could my inexplicable longevity be related to the Southward Fire Movement?

Having made up his mind, Mo Chen rose, straightened his robes, and approached the cultivators' table, cupping his hands in greeting.

"Sorry to interrupt, fellow Daoists. Might I join you for tea?"

All four were taken aback, surprise appearing on their faces.

The blue-robed woman even knitted her brows and said with considerable displeasure, "Fellow Daoist, were you eavesdropping on our conversation just now?"

"My name is Shi Tian. I've traveled here from the territory of a distant sect and have only recently embarked on cultivation. I happened to overhear you discussing the Northward Water Shift and the Southward Fire Movement, and I couldn't contain my curiosity. Might I ask you to enlighten me?"

Mo Chen's tone was sincere and his manners impeccable, leaving the four momentarily hard-pressed to refuse.

The woman still looked annoyed, but the middle-aged man beside her smiled and smoothed things over.

"Come now, Junior Sister Liu, there's no need for that. Since Fellow Daoist Shi has only just embarked on his Dao Path, it's understandable that he wouldn't know about these things."

A touch of wistfulness entered the middle-aged man's expression as he recalled the past, and he invited Mo Chen to sit down and talk.

"Fellow Daoist Shi, since you've asked, I'll tell you about them. The Northward Water Shift and the Southward Fire Movement were both celestial phenomena that shook the entire cultivation world..."

The middle-aged man lowered his voice. "Sixteen years ago, half the water and ice spiritual energy in the Divine Land transformed into a deep-blue torrent visible to the naked eye and surged north toward the Extreme Cold Way. Rumor has it that a dragon's cry also rang out from the Extreme Cold Way's headquarters, resounding throughout the world. Everyone who heard it felt their soul tremble."

"The Divine Land is so vast, yet more than half its water spiritual energy could be drawn north to the Extreme Cold Way?"

Mo Chen had just looked at a map of the Divine Land. The distances between those seventeen supreme sects were often tens of millions of yojanas...

Just how vast an area did that cover?

The middle-aged man took a sip of tea and continued his unhurried account.

"What followed was a snow disaster unlike anything seen in a century across more than half the Divine Land. Snowflakes as large as goose feathers fell for three straight months. You know Haiyanhui, right? The southernmost sect in the Immortal Alliance. It doesn't snow there even once in several centuries, yet that year, snow fell across its entire territory! Even Qi Refining cultivators felt terribly cold that year, and quite a few mortals froze to death!"

Haiyanhui?

Of course Mo Chen knew it. That was where the strange old man had teleported him from.

And sixteen years ago...

He seemed to have been in secluded cultivation in Maozhou then. There had indeed been a year of heavy snowfall, with snow piled knee-deep.

Was the Northward Water Shift really that incredible?

The middle-aged man paused, his eyes still holding traces of the awe he had felt upon witnessing that phenomenon. "Afterward, rumors said an expert within the Extreme Cold Way had been preparing to undergo the heavenly tribulation of ascension, stirring the forces of heaven and earth. Strangely, though, everyone in the Extreme Cold Way flatly denied it."

"As for the Southward Fire Movement two hundred and forty years ago..."

The middle-aged man coughed twice. "Ahem. Although I hadn't been born yet, its sheer magnitude was recorded throughout the cultivation world! That disturbance was even greater than the one sixteen years ago!"

"Oh? Really?" Mo Chen's eyes lit up.

A celestial phenomenon had actually occurred in the year he was born, and there was his inexplicable longevity as well.

The two might truly be connected.

Seeing that he had thoroughly whetted Mo Chen's appetite, and that his friends were also listening eagerly, the middle-aged man drained his tea.

"More than half the fire spiritual energy under heaven surged and gathered within Haiyanhui's southern territory, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea. You could say it drained the fire spiritual energy from everywhere else and diverted it all to the south. Then came a clear, ringing phoenix cry, instantly shattering countless sects' low-tier formations. It even prompted myriad avian members of the Demon Race deep in the Southern Wastes to cry out together and migrate south."

The man spoke so vividly that it was as though he had witnessed that miraculous sight himself.

Mo Chen, too, listened with his heart and mind trembling, as though he had been there.

"With a celestial phenomenon on that scale, surely the Immortal Alliance wouldn't have stood idly by?" Mo Chen pressed.

Another cultivator picked up the thread. "Of course not! The Immortal Alliance sent several Nascent Soul True Persons to investigate one after another. Even quite a few patriarch-level figures among the Demon Race were stirred into action. But the strange thing was that, for both phenomena, no matter how those mighty figures divined or investigated, they couldn't uncover the slightest clue! That made the Immortal Alliance thoroughly lose face twice. We rogue cultivators can laugh about it for years!"

Hearing this, Mo Chen obligingly joined in with a few laughs.

"Thank you for enlightening me, fellow Daoists. I've learned a great deal." Mo Chen bowed solemnly once more.

"It's a trifling matter, hardly worth mentioning. These are major events everyone in the cultivation world knows about. You've only just embarked on your Dao Path, Fellow Daoist Shi, so it's natural that you wouldn't know."

Having obtained the information he wanted, Mo Chen bade the four farewell, paid for his tea, and found a quiet inn in the city to stay in.

There was still a little over a month until the sect's selection, so settling here temporarily would do.

Since his purse was thin, Mo Chen found an inn for mortals, but unexpectedly, spirit stones could be used in place of gold, silver, and jewels. A single spirit stone was enough to stay at a mortal inn for half a year!

Astonished though he was, Mo Chen still hurried back to his room to rest.

Lying on the bed in his guest room, Mo Chen's mind was a tangle of thoughts.

Could there be a causal connection between the Northward Water Shift sixteen years ago and the Southward Fire Movement two hundred and forty years ago?

Forget it. I should focus on reading. I grew up in the Wenyuan Pavilion and spent so long reading in the Scripture Pavilion. There's a good chance I can gain admission through literary learning.