Many had always considered Yaochi a blessed land steeped in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, not only because of its own extraordinary qualities, but also because two exceptionally unusual places lay nearby.
One was Gourd Mountain, its slopes shaped like a gourd and brimming with spiritual energy. It could well be considered a blessed grotto-heaven.
An Innate Gourd Vine grew within the mountain, which had once been a forbidden area of Yaochi. To avoid unnecessary disputes, Yaochi had agreed with several major powers that each would take one gourd when they ripened.
No one had expected Crazy Old Man to appear later. Not only had he stolen the Flat Peaches growing on the innate spiritual root, he had even uprooted the entire Innate Gourd Vine and carried it away, turning all their plans into bubbles.
The other was Mirror Fate Mountain, shaped like an enormous stone mirror. Strange things happened there, and the radiance of treasure often appeared. For countless years, rumors had claimed that treasure lay beneath the mountain, though no one had ever seen it.
The affected mountain range was too vast for even Yaochi to bring entirely under its control, so it had become something anyone could contend for.
Recently, treasure radiance had appeared on Mirror Fate Mountain with increasing frequency. Without a doubt, if treasure lay there, it would emerge in the coming days.
Now that the Yaochi Holy Mother had proposed using it as the prize in the contest for alliance leader, it could not have been more fitting.
Seizing this treasure from so many innate Dao bodies would require more than strength alone. It would certainly take exceptionally shrewd scheming as well.
"That is a fine proposal!" the sect master of the Sword-Washing Pool said with a nod. The other sect masters