Cui Ranqing politely addressed the two Primordial guards. "Sorry for the trouble, but please announce us. Cui Ranqing, wife of the Night Moon Palace master, and my daughter Yu Hongyan seek an audience with the Hall Master of the Primordial Hall!"
The Primordial guards' expressions did not change. They simply said, "This way, please. The hall master has already granted you both permission to enter!"
Cui Ranqing could not help feeling delighted at their words. After all the exhaustion Hongyan and I have endured, we can finally enter the Primordial Hall.
Yet when they saw the endless flight of steps stretching before them, neither Cui Ranqing nor Yu Hongyan could smile anymore.
Normally, even tens of thousands of steps would have been nothing to them, but now they could not fly and could only walk. Who knew how long it would take?
Seeing Yu Hongyan lower her head in shame, Cui Ranqing gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"Daughter, don't worry about all that. We can take our time walking up."
Yu Hongyan nodded, inwardly sighing with relief that her mother was here. Had she come alone this time, she had no idea how flustered she would have become.
At the same time, Yu Hongyan felt a little wronged. Last time, she had clearly landed straight inside the Primordial Hall, without any of these twists and turns.
After stepping onto the stairs, Yu Hongyan and Cui Ranqing both discovered that their spiritual power had been sealed. Fortunately, neither mother nor daughter was lacking in physical techniques.
Even so, it took them a full eight hours to reach the summit of Hongmeng Mountain.
Having finally reached the summit, Yu Hongyan and Cui Ranqing could bear it no longer. They lay on the ground, panting heavily, abandoning their usual images as aloof goddesses.
Nearby, Lin Yu merely nodded as he watched the mother and daughter. Looking at their sweat-streaked faces and the curves rising and falling with their labored breathing, he felt that his design for the steps up the mountain was really quite good.
Still, those steps were only meant to gauge visitors' attitudes, not actually do anything to them. Besides, Yu Hongyan had been the very first person to visit the Primordial Hall.
Lin Yu then generously waved his hand. Two butterflies landed on Yu Hongyan's and Cui Ranqing's shoulders, turning into streaks of light that merged into their bones and blood.
In just an instant, all their exhaustion was swept away, and their spiritual power was fully restored as well.
Yu Hongyan and Cui Ranqing exchanged a glance, then immediately stepped forward and bowed.
"Cui Ranqing, elder of the Night Moon Palace, greets the Hall Master of the Primordial Hall!"
Yu Hongyan followed behind Cui Ranqing and respectfully bowed as well.
Lin Yu remained stretched out in his reclining chair, utterly at ease, but showed little reaction to Cui Ranqing's words.
"You want to know the possibility of Ancestor Wangyue attaining Sainthood," Lin Yu said with a smile. It was somewhat beside the point, yet it was not a question but a statement.
"Precisely." Cui Ranqing was utterly shocked.
In truth, after experiencing those countless thunderbolts earlier, Cui Ranqing had already confirmed that the Hall Master of the Primordial Hall's strength was unfathomable. Yet she still harbored some doubts about his actual ability to divine things.
After all, Yu Hongyan had previously described him in such miraculous terms that Cui Ranqing had instead found it somewhat unreal.
But after Lin Yu said this, she believed him completely. What was this? This was knowing all the affairs beneath heaven with a single thought!
"If you are willing to perform the divination, Hall Master, please name whatever conditions you have. Our Night Moon Palace is willing to devote the strength of our entire sect to helping you fulfill them," Cui Ranqing said sincerely, her eyes filled with resolve.
In truth, however, Cui Ranqing was rather nervous. What help could even the Night Moon Palace offer someone with such power?
"Anything at all?" Lin Yu asked with a smile, suddenly feeling playful.
"Of course. The Night Moon Palace keeps its word!" Cui Ranqing said earnestly.
"Even the two of you?" Lin Yu's words carried an implication.
Cui Ranqing was slightly startled, then her expression grew solemn. Almost instinctively, she shielded Yu Hongyan behind her.
"You jest, Hall Master. I am already a married woman. As for Hongyan, she is still young, and her strength is not particularly great, much less enough to stand beside you." Cui Ranqing did her utmost to phrase her words without leaving a trace.
Yet Yu Hongyan, shielded behind Cui Ranqing, glared angrily at Lin Yu.
And to think she had believed Lin Yu was a good person. She had never imagined that he was actually no different from those men outside!
The thought made Yu Hongyan angry. She did not know whether she was angry at herself or at Lin Yu. She glared at him indignantly, but Lin Yu found it rather amusing.
"Haha, I was only joking just now. As for the divination, since I have already let you in, isn't my meaning clear enough?" Lin Yu said with a smile.
Only upon hearing this did Cui Ranqing breathe a sigh of relief. As far as she was concerned, though she had once possessed beauty that could topple cities and kingdoms, she was now Yu Hongyan's mother, after all. No matter what, she would not find herself facing this sort of joke again.
Who knew what would happen if Yu Hongyan's father heard about this...
"Then may I ask what your conditions are, Hall Master?" Cui Ranqing asked cautiously.
She might already be advanced in years, but Yu Hongyan was still young!
As Cui Ranqing spoke, she pulled Yu Hongyan farther back, wishing she could keep Lin Yu from seeing her at all.
"My condition is simple. I want you to build the largest city in the Eastern Wasteland outside Hongmeng Mountain within half a year. The materials must be no lower than Spirit Condensation Realm grade."
"How is that possible?!" This time, Cui Ranqing failed to hold Yu Hongyan back, because she herself was stunned upon hearing it.
A city built from Spirit Condensation Realm materials, and it even had to be the largest city in the Eastern Wasteland!
How could that possibly be achieved? Leaving aside how difficult to find and rare building materials at or above the Spirit Condensation Realm were, an ordinary Lineage that possessed even a single ancestral hall made from special materials was already doing very well.
Unless they searched the entire Eastern Wasteland, Lin Yu's demand would be utterly impossible to fulfill.
"Hall Master, requiring those materials is one thing, but you're even setting a deadline. Within half a year, this..."
Yet before Yu Hongyan could finish, Lin Yu lightly waved his hand.
The next second, Yu Hongyan discovered that she, too, had been "muted." Her lips could part, but she could not make a sound.
After several unsuccessful attempts, Yu Hongyan could only glare furiously at Lin Yu.
Cui Ranqing had her own considerations as well. Lin Yu's conditions were truly too harsh. If they followed his requirements, they would likely have to sell off the current Night Moon Palace just to gather all the necessary materials.
Yet the Night Moon Palace's legacy had endured for no short time. If all this was merely to divine an opportunity to attain Sainthood, it really was rather wasteful of manpower and wealth.
Even if Sainthood was attained, what meaning would it have if the Night Moon Palace no longer existed?