If there was still some uncertainty before the meeting, now that the two have met, Qing Muling has already guessed the true intentions of the 17th Prince.
Constrained by the laws of the world and the Great Dao of this side of time and space, any attempt to alter fate and interfere with destiny will come at a cost, and the cost is quite exaggerated. Even death is a small price to pay.
People like Ji Yunfeng, who plunder the fate and potential of others to enhance themselves, bear unimaginable karmic retribution from the beginning. It’s uncertain when the retribution of the heavenly path will come, and even immortals can’t save them.
The Calamity Fate Palace does have some means to weaken this heavy cost as much as possible and delay the arrival of retribution, but it still cannot completely avoid all negative effects.
Over the past millions of years, those who dared to attempt this forbidden secret technique did enjoy temporary glory, and some even became famous and powerful figures in the Great Void, holding the supreme lineage of a certain family, controlling the winds and rain as they pleased. However, their ultimate fate was not optimistic.
There are countless examples of death and destruction, and the best outcome is to have all cultivation destroyed and become an ordinary mortal, living a miserable life.
Is it really so easy to defy fate?
It is precisely because of these flaws and heavy costs, as well as the pressure of reputation and morality, that this secret technique has always circulated within a very small range and has not been widely popularized.
The high-level members of the Calamity Fate Palace have invested a huge amount of resources into researching a way to completely exempt all costs of defying fate, but after so many thousands of years, there has still been no news of success.
Of course, it’s not to say that there have been no results at all.
For example, by forming a Daoist couple or brothers with a Tianjiao seed who is in a great atmosphere, and using the secret technique to connect their fates and share their luck, the damage of the retribution of the heavenly path can be significantly reduced, and the time of karmic retribution can be further delayed.
Therefore, the main purpose of the 17th Prince’s visit this time, in addition to representing the Tianwu Divine Dynasty and forming a new cooperation alliance with the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace, is to hope to find a female cultivator with great atmosphere and excellent potential in the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace to become his Daoist partner. If the other party also has a strong background and power, it would be even better, as it could become an important help in the future to compete for the position of the crown prince.
Meeting Qing Muling is another goal for him. As long as he can become sworn brothers with this personal disciple valued by the Sect Master, and gain his favor and support, he can also obtain some blessings of luck.
This kind of brotherhood is not just a casual friendship, but a strict set of ceremonial procedures, requiring formal written contracts, offering sacrifices to the heavens, and the presence of both sides’ elders as witnesses, and a large amount of exchange of benefits is also essential.
But since Qing Muling understands the other party’s intentions, how could he give him the opportunity to succeed?
“Alright, let’s end it here today. We have to go to evening class. We’ll meet again another day.”
Seeing that it was getting late, Qing Muling’s interest was not high, and Luo Wanqing finally spoke.
Ji Yunfeng had to stop his long speech and said somewhat awkwardly, “Well, I won’t disturb Junior Brother Qing’s cultivation. In any case, my proposal was sincere, and I hope Junior Brother will consider it seriously.”
Qing Muling politely exchanged a few words with him, and then sent him and his entourage out of the Imperial Road Peak.
“Junior Brother, it seems like you really don’t like this 17th Prince?”
After the group had gone far away, Cheng Yulan, who was accustomed to observing people’s words and expressions, asked. She had barely paid any attention to the other party just now, and her attention was mostly on Qing Muling.
Qing Muling remained silent for a moment and said, “The Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace needs the Tianwu Divine Dynasty as an ally right now, and I don’t want to say much about that. But personally, I don’t want to see this person again in the future, and you’d better not get close to him either. Otherwise, it’s possible that one day your luck and fate will be devoured and plundered by him.”
The expressions of the women changed instantly. Junior Brother never exaggerates, so if he dares to say this, the nature of the problem is quite serious.
Luo Wanqing whispered, “When I was six years old, I once visited the capital of the Tianwu Divine Dynasty with my mother, and I happened to see this cousin. I felt that he was mediocre and unlikable, and my mother privately said that his fate was flawed, and his talent was dull and unlikely to achieve greatness.”
“I didn’t expect that when I saw him again two years later, he was completely different. At that time, there were some secret rumors that his father had spent a lot of favors and asked a powerful figure from the Calamity Fate Palace to alter his fate. It seems that it’s true.”
Cheng Yulan’s expression was cold. “No wonder he sent me a generous gift a few days ago and invited me to visit his palace. He’s really making a good plan. Fortunately, I didn’t pay any attention to him at all!”
Qi Yalan sneered, “Not only you, but Luo Huan and I also received a gift. If it weren’t for the fact that he is an envoy of the Tianwu Divine Dynasty this time, I would have thrown it all away!”Xuebing Xuan said leisurely, “There’s no need to worry about that. The Celestial Witch Dynasty is not under his control at the moment. Since he dares to covet Junior Brother, not to mention us, even the Sect Master wouldn’t tolerate him.”
After a brief discussion, the ladies unanimously decided to first report to the Sect Master and then join Qing Muling for secluded cultivation.
Inside the cave dwelling.
Mu Yinghua, seated on the cloud bed, listened to Xuebing Xuan’s account and her tone turned cold: “I was giving him face because of the good relations between our families, but I didn’t expect him to overstep his bounds. If that’s the case, what else is there to say? One of these days, I’ll send a message to the Celestial Witch Dynasty, telling them to send someone more reliable for cooperation next time, and not to let that guy show up again!”
She had considered that Ji Yunfeng had a high chance of becoming the next emperor of the Celestial Witch Dynasty, and Qing Muling and Xuebing Xuan were bound to be the future helms of Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace. She intended to let them get acquainted in advance to facilitate future cooperation between the two powers. But now, it seemed her idea was somewhat inappropriate.
Since the other party harbored ill intentions, there was no need to waste any more effort, especially since the Celestial Witch Dynasty was not under his rule at the moment.
Seeing that the matter had been discussed, Xuebing Xuan was about to take her leave when Mu Yinghua added, “The council of elders has decided that at the beginning of next month, we will hold a new round of core disciple selection. Since we need to recruit a larger number of disciples this time, you all can’t be idle and must help share the workload.”
Qing Muling was slightly startled, “What do you need the disciples to do?”
Mu Yinghua smiled and said, “Your talent for sensing fate is quite remarkable. This time, join your senior sisters and help oversee the selection. See if you can pick out a few disciples with destiny on their side, the more the merrier.”
“I understand.”
Qing Muling agreed, and it seemed that with Bai Qingyu’s precedent, Mu Yinghua also had high expectations for his ability. For any power, disciples with great destiny were always in demand, and the more there were, the better.
Elsewhere, Ji Yunfeng returned to his palace and immediately summoned his trusted officials to discuss the matter.
After hearing their master’s request, the confidants all looked troubled.
It would be one thing to seek ordinary female cultivators, but to demand the personal disciples of a Sect Master, all of whom were exceptional geniuses, who did he think he was? Did he really have such influence?
“…Your Highness, this matter is difficult to handle.”
A man dressed as a scholar pondered, “All of those ladies are proud and ambitious, aspiring to the position of the Supreme Sect Master. How could they willingly marry outside? Sect Master Mu Yinghua is unlikely to agree.”
Ji Yunfeng said irritably, “It’s precisely because it’s difficult that I’ve called you all to come up with a suitable plan. Otherwise, what use do I have for you?”
The confidants exchanged glances. They had seen Xuebing Xuan and the other ladies before. As exceptional geniuses, any Supreme Dao Lineage would treasure them as their lifeblood, preparing them to inherit the lineage. How could they simply hand them over to outsiders, even to the closest of allies?
Unless Ji Yunfeng, the prince, was willing to give up his right to the dynasty’s throne and marry into the other family, but this was clearly not an option he could accept, and his emperor father would never agree.
There was something the confidants did not say: if Ji Yunfeng were already the emperor of the Celestial Witch Dynasty, perhaps there would be room for negotiation. But at present, the mere status of a prince with real power was clearly not enough.
Thus, the problem was unsolvable.
After all the discussion, the only feasible request seemed to be to become sworn brothers with Qing Muling. After all, Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace now needed the Celestial Witch Dynasty as an ally more than ever. Considering the long-term cooperation between the two families, Mu Yinghua would have to show some gesture.
“Your Highness, perhaps you should first report this matter to your emperor father. As long as His Majesty is willing to give you sufficient support, there may be a chance for a turnaround.”
Ranwen