Yin Ya felt that Li Yu knew how to play along. His slightly tense expression immediately relaxed, and he said, "You're right, senior brother. I wouldn't want to damage your foundation for the sake of my own future, either."
After failing at Foundation Establishment, one ordinarily needed at least three or four years of recuperation to recover. But any cultivation foundation cut away to preserve one's life was lost forever. Regaining it would take even longer, and many never managed to cultivate back to the ninth level of Qi Refinement in their entire lives.
"If Elder Ge asks, we'll still need an explanation." Yin Ya remained somewhat uneasy.
Li Yu agreed and suggested, "Let's see what the mission is first."
Without hesitation, Yin Ya took out the scroll, and the two stood together and opened it.
The wording was brief, but its contents were explosive: [Immortal Zhou forsook the Dao, raising a vassal's sword against his sovereign. As the birthplace of the Great Xuan Dynasty, the Eastern Lands and the Ten Great Sects of the Mystic Dao ought to answer the emperor's call, overthrow Immortal Zhou, and restore Great Xuan. The holy son of the Heavenly Change Sect is convening an alliance of the ten sects at Kunlun and holding a grand sacrifice to Heaven. Heroes of the ten sects are invited to attend and deliberate on this great undertaking.]
After reading it, Li Yu silently closed the scroll and swiftly stuffed it back into Yin Ya's hands.
Yin Ya's expression also began to shift wildly.
There was alarm, worry, and fear, but Li Yu also caught a trace of yearning, along with the ambition to seize this opportunity and soar into the heavens.
The realm of mountains and seas comprised four lands, each with its own ancient heritage.
Mountain Sea was divided into four lands, each with its own ancient traditions. The Eastern Lands were known for the "Mystic Sects," the Southern Lands for the "Immortal Clans," the Western Lands inherited the "Orthodox School," and the Northern Lands had the "Divine Cult." In the most ancient times, however, all four lands had bowed to the "Central Lands."
At the center, where the four lands met, lay the "Central Lands." There, humanity's first dynasty had arisen, named "Celestial Xia" and founded by Emperor Tianqi.
Through the immense merit of this achievement, Emperor Tianqi reached the Immortal Dao Pinnacle and subdued the four lands. He then appointed the "Four Directional Dao Shepherds" to govern Mountain Sea.
Celestial Xia lasted four thousand seven hundred years.
In its final years, Emperor Shiri was brutal, depraved, and extravagant, slaughtering living beings to practice demonic arts. Xuan Lü, the highly respected Dao Shepherd of the Eastern Lands, issued a single command, and the Ten Great Sects of the Mystic Dao answered. They stormed the imperial capital in the Central Lands and destroyed Celestial Xia. The Central Lands ceased to exist, absorbed into the Eastern Lands.
After Celestial Xia fell, Xuan Lü established the Great Xuan Dynasty with the support of the lords of the four lands, taking the title "Emperor Tianyi."
Great Xuan lasted five thousand five hundred forty years. Its final ruler, Emperor Zhoude, exhausted his people through relentless warfare, imposing harsh punishments and severe laws at home while extorting and plundering abroad. He squeezed the great sects of the four lands until popular resentment boiled over, retracing Emperor Shiri's doomed path.
This time, however, the one who stepped forward was Zhou Yi, the Dao Shepherd of the Western Lands. The Orthodox School he represented joined forces with the eight great ancient sage immortal clans of the Southern Lands. At Fragrant Incense, seventy li outside Great Xuan's imperial capital, they routed seven hundred thousand elite Xuan troops and overturned the old order.
Zhou Yi was also the founder of the current Immortal Zhou Dynasty. Revered as "Emperor Tianwu," he still occupied the throne and was in the prime of his life. He was also universally acknowledged as the strongest expert in the Great Wilderness of Mountains and Seas, standing at the Immortal Dao Pinnacle!
For the high-ranking Primordial Spirit cultivators, the overthrow of Great Xuan and the change of dynasties had happened only recently. For minor Qi Refinement cultivators like Li Yu and Yin Ya, however, it was history from over a hundred years ago.
Jiang Taiyi, the prodigy of the Five Lotus Sect, had personally witnessed Emperor Tianwu's magnificent bearing on the battlefield at Fragrant Incense. After returning to the sect following the war, he persuaded its patriarch to abandon darkness for the light and ally with the Western Lands Orthodox School.
As the former dynasty's heartland, the Eastern Lands had harbored many remnants among the ten great sects who wished to restore Great Xuan. But over a hundred years had passed, and Emperor Tianwu had held the age firmly beneath his hand, killing wave after wave of them. By the time Li Yu was born, they had all accepted Immortal Zhou's rule.
And now the Five Lotus Sect was going to rebel again?
Had Li Yu not obtained his fortuitous opportunity with the tablet, he might have taken a gamble after failing at Foundation Establishment.
Now, however, he had no desire whatsoever to get involved.
"Senior brother, there aren't any sect markings on this mission document?" After inspecting it repeatedly, Yin Ya discovered a problem and handed the scroll toward Li Yu with a frown.
Li Yu waved his hands repeatedly. He glanced at it from a distance and found that this was indeed the case.
The absence of sect markings meant that even if the Immortal Zhou Dynasty obtained the scroll, it could not trace it back to the Five Lotus Sect. Even if Yin Ya testified against them, the sect could righteously disavow him and wash its hands of the whole affair.
Once Ge Jin handed out this mission, it ceased to have anything to do with the Five Lotus Sect. Li Yu immediately realized this and breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, as a disciple of the Five Lotus Sect, he would have no way to escape if the sect rebelled. Emperor Tianwu was currently at the height of his power, and the chances of a successful rebellion were vanishingly slim.
Unless the Ten Great Sects of the Mystic Dao truly joined forces and brought out every last reserve they possessed. But in that case, a minor Qi Refinement cultivator like him would be cannon fodder among cannon fodder.
No wonder they had entrusted such an important mission to the two of them, mere Qi Refinement disciples.
The sect's higher-ups probably did not think much of the Heavenly Change Sect's prospects, but were casting a wide net by sending disciples to take a look. If it succeeded, they would be honoring an ancient covenant; if it failed, the disciples had acted without authorization, and it had nothing to do with them.
Li Yu glanced at Yin Ya. His junior brother's expression shifted between light and shadow; he had clearly grasped the implications as well.
Their eyes met. Yin Ya was just about to speak when Li Yu offered a suggestion. "Junior brother, you could go to the External Affairs Hall and pick any herb-gathering mission that takes you to Kunlun, then head over there to have a look. If anyone from the Immortal Zhou Dynasty catches you, you'll have that explanation ready. As for this scroll, don't destroy it just yet."
At these words, admiration appeared on Yin Ya's face. He had been at a loss moments ago, yet Li Yu had instantly thought of the most suitable course of action.
No wonder he used to be the outer sect's eldest senior brother! Yin Ya thought.
Besides, if he destroyed the scroll, how would he make contact with the rebels when the time came?
Deep down, Yin Ya still wanted to take the gamble. Li Yu's failure at Foundation Establishment had shaken his confidence in himself, after all. He wanted to use this chance to overturn the dynasty to change his own standing.
"Senior brother, this is a serious matter. Let me go back and discuss it with my two close brothers first." Yin Ya came up with an excuse and put the scroll into his storage pouch.
Seeing this, Li Yu did not try to persuade him further.
"Junior brother, from today onward, neither of us owes the other anything. I hope it won't be long before I hear the good news of your successful Foundation Establishment." After these pleasantries, Li Yu left without looking back.
Watching his departing figure, Yin Ya felt that Li Yu knew when to take things up and when to let them go. Yet he also thought the man was far too timid. Without a Dao heart that pressed forward without hesitation, he would surely never amount to anything.
White Dragon Pavilion.
Ge Jin soon learned of the different choices Li Yu and Yin Ya had made. She could not help shaking her head as she remarked, "Senior Uncle Fulai has no worthy successor. If I had failed at Foundation Establishment, I certainly wouldn't let a chance to change my fate like this slip past."
Beside her, Song Lingxi also sighed inwardly, feeling that
Li Yu's Dao heart had grown cowardly. Compared with his childhood self, he had become an entirely different person.
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