"Shuyu True Lord is still as overbearing as ever. That girl will probably suffer a little."
Among the crowd outside the city gates, a middle-aged man with slightly graying hair and beard stirred his gaze and transmitted his voice through Divine Sense.
Not every Nascent Soul True Lord cared as much about pomp and face as Shuyu True Lord did, even at the cost of antagonizing a True Lord of the Mirror Moon Sect.
Li Haichuan was one such exception.
He hailed from the Three Rosy Clouds Li Family of White Creek Mountain in the Mountain Annihilation World of the Earth Evolution Realm. He was the Li Family's patriarch, honored as "True Lord White Rosy Cloud."
The Li Family had studied the Dao of Alchemy intensively for generations. They were especially skilled at refining a unique Third-Tier Treasure Pill that stabilized Golden Cores and harmonized their metallic nature. They enjoyed considerable renown within the Earth Evolution Realm and counted as a moderately sized Nascent Soul Lineage.
However, although the Three Rosy Clouds Li Family was a Nascent Soul Lineage, it still fell within the Mirror Moon Sect's sphere of influence.
At regular intervals, the Three Rosy Clouds Li Family had to offer the Mirror Moon Sect a certain number of Third-Tier Treasure Pills as tribute and accept some Alchemy commissions to survive in peace. Even Li Haichuan himself had to hold a nominal position as a guest Attendant of the Mirror Moon Sect to cultivate closer relations with its Grand Elders.
There was no other reason: cultivation and the pursuit of the Dao formed a circle. Cultivators in the Mountain Annihilation World could not bypass the Mirror Moon Sect, the most powerful force in that world, if they wished to cultivate.
If the Three Rosy Clouds Li Family wanted access