The area where the disciples of Calamity Fate Palace resided.
Mei Qingfeng furrowed her brows as she scrutinized the newly released Heavenly Talents List rankings, remaining silent for a long time. The surrounding elders also wore solemn expressions, each deep in thought.
"…Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace has truly been restored."
After a while, Mei Qingfeng's somewhat melancholic voice echoed softly.
Everyone was slightly taken aback, then quickly displayed expressions of relief. The Holy Maiden's words were indeed accurate. In the past, the discussions among various factions revolved around whether and when Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace would revive. But now, this topic no longer needed discussion.
Because the revival of Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace had become an established fact, unchangeable.
Xinyu Emperor represented the ultimate strategic power of the sect. The Li Feng Star Cloud Tower and the Tai Yuan Wu Ji Rou Shui Flag were the sect's treasured artifacts. The restoration of the Main Altar, the reclamation of the nine lost star regions, and the recovery of many Supreme Elders all signified the restoration of the sect's core strength. As for the five women including Xuebing Xuan, they indicated that the sect had successors, and the new generation of genius seeds was fully qualified to shoulder the future and expand the sect's foundation.
Therefore, when dealing with Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace now, various factions could no longer treat it as a declining Supreme Dao Lineage but had to regard it as an ancient Supreme Dao Lineage at its peak, whether they liked it or not.
Elder Luoyu Jue asked softly, "Do we need to report this immediately to the Palace Master?"
Mei Qingfeng nodded. Due to her low cultivation level and lack of powerful combat divine abilities, she, like Qing Muling, wisely decided not to participate in this year's Sword Competition.
Of course, Calamity Fate Palace had brought seven monstrous genius seeds this time, with the two strongest already having reached the Elemental Immortal realm. Coupled with a large group of first and second-rate talents, their chances of competing for rankings were not affected.
After some thought, Mei Qingfeng slowly said, "Can anyone tell me why Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace, which has been impoverished and weak for so long, suddenly produced such formidable individuals? And not just five… but six?"
The surrounding elders looked at each other in confusion. Perhaps not only Calamity Fate Palace but also other factions were now urgently trying to understand the reason behind the significant progress in cultivation of the five women, including Xuebing Xuan. As for Qing Muling, his lack of participation might reduce the attention he received.
Elder Luoyu Jue said, "According to the intelligence gathered by the sect, Xuebing Xuan has a Dao Companion, though we don't know who it is. I dare to speculate that it might be Qing Muling. So… is this his biggest secret? After all, Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace's secret vaults are not lacking in such cultivation techniques."
His implication was simple: anyone who became Dao Companions with Qing Muling could gain the benefits of increased cultivation, along with improvements in their root bones, aptitude, fortune, and destiny.
Mei Qingfeng was slightly surprised but shook her head after careful consideration. "It seems reasonable, but apart from Xuebing Xuan, the other four are still pure. Why has their cultivation also increased?"
"Perhaps it's some kind of concealment technique? In reality, they have long been Qing Muling's people?" An elder pondered. In the Great Void, such concealment techniques were not uncommon, especially for a sect like Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace, which was a pure female sect. It would be too easy to manipulate in this regard. Unless there was a personal inspection, the truth would be impossible to uncover.
"Perhaps, but it's still hard to believe." Mei Qingfeng remained somewhat indecisive. After all, such things were unheard of in the past, except for the demonic path's evil techniques that sacrificed one party's cultivation, fortune, and even life to rapidly enhance the other party's cultivation. But the situation with Xuebing Xuan and the others was clearly not like that.
Orthodox dual cultivation techniques were indeed effective, but they couldn't be so heaven-defying as to allow Xuebing Xuan and the others to break through from the peak of the Destiny Realm to the Feather Transformation Realm, Ascending to Immortality Realm, and even the Elemental Immortal realm within a few short years, even with the aid of time-accelerating formation arrays.
"So, we still need to capture Qing Muling to uncover the truth?" Mei Qingfeng muttered to herself. However, considering how much importance Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace placed on him, even the Emperor viewed him differently. It would not be easy for Calamity Fate Palace to make a move now.
From the perspective of Calamity Fate Palace, the Dao Court was also being manipulated. They wouldn't be happy to see the foremost immortal sanctuary swallow all the Dao Lineages' power and unify the entire Great Void.
"Forget it, let's discuss this later!" Mei Qingfeng sighed, her divine senses returning to the spatial arena.
***
At this moment, Cheng Yulan, facing another match result, chose to forfeit in frustration because her opponent was Qi Yalan.
Forfeiting did not affect continued participation but would deduct some points, impacting the final rankings.
Now, with fewer participants, the chances of meeting someone from the same sect increased significantly. Therefore, the forfeiting opportunity was prepared for such situations to prevent excessive internal competition within the sect. However, each cultivator only had two opportunities, and once used up, no more would be available.
The new match results quickly came out, with Qi Yalan facing Luo Huan.
Luo Huan looked helpless. "I forfeit."
The reason was simple: Qi Yalan had already used up her two forfeiting opportunities, so her sisters had to give way for her.
Now, there were ten genius seeds left in the arena, with Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace occupying five spots. As for Chiye Ling of the ancient Kylin clan, she had already been eliminated after encountering Qi Yalan.
In the arena, besides hard strength and strategic skills, luck was also an indispensable factor, often determining the outcome of a match. The senior and junior sisters of Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace had been quite lucky in this Sword Competition.
The remaining five genius seeds included three humans and two non-humans, all exceptionally strong but not holding an advantage against Xuebing Xuan and the others.
"…It seems the top three spots will be decided within Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace? This is a bit tricky. What do you think should be done?"
Dragon Ritual Princess's gaze fell on Qing Muling across from her.
Qing Muling remained expressionless. "This is a matter for the senior sisters to decide. How could a junior brother like me have a say?"
"Hehe, if you just say a word, would they dare not listen to you? Unless they no longer want to dual cultivate with you and improve their cultivation!" Dragon Ritual Princess continued to probe.
Qing Muling looked at her innocently. "Senior Sister, what are you talking about? I don't understand."
Hehe, keep pretending!
Dragon Ritual Princess smiled, feeling about 40-50% sure that the cultivation progress of Xuebing Xuan and the others was related to Qing Muling.
Evidence? There was no evidence, just a woman's instinct.
Soon, the results of the next few matches were announced, and the final match was between Xuebing Xuan and Luo Wanqing for the first place.
Although the rewards for first and second place seemed similar, there were still differences, especially in the immense gains in reputation and status.
"Let's make a deal,"
Taking advantage of the brief moment before the teleportation, Luo Wanqing spoke to Xuebing Xuan through divine senses. "I can forfeit and let you have the first place. In exchange, let me have Junior Brother for thirty days."
"Is that possible?"
Xuebing Xuan looked at her with a half-smile. "Even if you don't forfeit, I might not lose to you in a direct match."
He's already mine. Why should I share?
Luo Wanqing huffed. "Senior Sister, you're too domineering. Is my request too much? Do you have no sense of camaraderie? How about ten days?"
"Dream on!"
"Three days?"
"Impossible!"
"One day?"
"I'll consider it…"
Just as the teleportation was about to begin, the two women finally reached an agreement. Luo Wanqing voluntarily forfeited, and according to the rules, Xuebing Xuan naturally became the first place winner of this Sword Competition.
When Xuan Yin Emperor's voice echoed in the hall, millions of cultivators couldn't believe their ears. Only after repeatedly confirming with their companions did they accept this unbelievable result.
"…How is this possible? I remember that in previous Sword Competitions, the top spots were mostly occupied by geniuses from ancient clans. Now, Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace's women have taken the lead! It's simply… unbelievable!"
"Yes, even if not those ancient non-humans, it was the top geniuses from ancient great sects, immortal sanctuaries, and Supreme Dao Lineages who took the top spots."
"Wasn't Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace already in decline? How did such formidable individuals suddenly emerge? And five of them, no less. It's incredible."
"Who knows? Maybe they obtained some unprecedented, heaven-defying opportunity?"
"What a pity, all those benefits went to a bunch of women."
"Forget it, even without them, those benefits wouldn't have fallen into our hands."
***
Qing Muling retracted his divine senses and looked at the radiant Dragon Ritual Princess before him. "I won. How much of the wager is mine? Hand it over."
"Yes, you did win." Dragon Ritual Princess smiled freely, signaling to Aunt Su beside her. The beautiful woman with Golden Immortal cultivation stood up, bowed slightly, and left. Moments later, she returned with an exquisite jade tray.
On the jade tray lay a heavy, golden seal exuding immense pressure. Qing Muling easily sensed the aura of heavenly merits.
"The resources you won were quite substantial, and it would be troublesome to count them all. So, I took the liberty of converting them into five billion heavenly merits. How do you feel about that?" Dragon Ritual Princess said leisurely.
"Thank you, Senior Sister!" Qing Muling said contentedly. This was indeed the most beneficial thing he needed right now, whether for his own use or as a gift to Xinyu Emperor.
Dragon Ritual Princess nodded slightly and said, "Aunt Su, take some people to escort Junior Brother Qing and the disciples of Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace back. If anyone dares to cause trouble on the way, you know what to do."
"Yes, Your Highness." Aunt Su responded, smiling gently as she invited Qing Muling to move.
***
Moments later, the starship carrying the disciples of Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace ascended again, returning safely to the temporary base on the floating lands.
On the way, Aunt Su found a moment alone to talk to Qing Muling for a while, her hints becoming quite obvious.
However, Qing Muling had decided to play dumb to the end, giving no response, leaving Aunt Su somewhat frustrated.
Not long after arriving at the base, a delegation from the Dao Court arrived, bringing the rewards for the Sword Competition.
The first-place reward list included two custom-made Postnatal Spirit Treasures, a bottle of twelve Heaven-grade spirit pills, the opportunity to choose three suitable cultivation techniques from the Dao Court's secret library, and a chance to bathe in the blood of an ancient true dragon to forge a perfect body.
Originally, the top thirty winners also had the opportunity to join the Dao Court and choose an Emperor as their master, receiving the Dao Court's resources and being appointed to important positions, gaining high status and power.
Of course, the senior sisters would never choose to join the Dao Court, so this opportunity was automatically ignored.
Thus, Xuebing Xuan ultimately received a long-necked jade bottle containing twelve Taiyi Tianyuan Pills, genuine Heaven-grade pills. Consuming one could increase ten thousand years of cultivation, and they could be taken multiple times without the risk of unstable foundations. The two jade tokens were passes to the Dao Palace's secret treasury and the Dragon Blood Wash Pool.
As for the Postnatal Spirit Treasures, they were a celestial dress and a pill cauldron, but they would take a few days to receive as the spirit treasure embryos needed time to fully form, even with time-accelerating formation arrays.
Through this, Qing Muling gained a deeper understanding of the Dao Court's formidable foundation. Who knew how many Postnatal Spirit Treasure embryos were stored in the Dao Court's treasury, ready to be refined into usable treasures when needed?
Luo Wanqing took second place, Qi Yalan third, each receiving one Postnatal Spirit Treasure, with other rewards similar to the first place.
Luo Huan and Cheng Yulan did not receive Postnatal Spirit Treasures, only nine Taiyi Tianyuan Pills each. They could choose two cultivation techniques and had the opportunity to bathe in ancient true dragon blood to forge perfect bodies.
"Can these rewards be transferred?"
Xuebing Xuan asked, as it was her first time receiving such rewards and she was unaware of the rules.
"It was possible a long time ago, but later it was forbidden,"
Aunt Su explained, "Mainly because some sects' higher-ups used righteous excuses to force grassroots geniuses to give up their rewards to benefit their favored successors. Realizing this, the Dao Court's higher-ups issued a ban and took measures to prevent those old fellows from acting selfishly."
"Understood."
Qing Muling nodded in agreement. No wonder so many grassroots geniuses were willing to join the Dao Court. If he were treated unfairly, he would also choose to switch allegiances without hesitation. Fortunately, Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace had never mistreated him.
"Without further delay, you should consume those spirit pills immediately,"
Aunt Su continued, "Just remember to temporarily suppress your cultivation and avoid breaking through to True Immortal. After the ten-day rest period, the next phase of the grand event will begin."
The next phase would test various abilities in alchemy, artifact refining, spiritual herb cultivation, and Heavenly Secret Art, with the same restriction: participants must not exceed the True Immortal level.
Proofreader & Editor:Peter Pan