“Master, the Harmony Spirit Seed has indeed taken form, wandering the Great Void as a sentient being. With my current abilities, trying to track its whereabouts is beyond my reach…”

Among the hundreds of figures prostrated on the ground, a woman in the front row reported in a majestic crimson-gold dress, her hair piled high in an elegant updo, her demeanor cold and noble.

Even the most advanced divination techniques in the Great Void were ineffective against a top-tier innate divine object born from primordial chaos, not to mention the Quasi Holy Emperors. That’s why the woman found it so difficult.

In her view, only after the Master fully recovered and personally used his divine abilities to trace its origin, there might be a chance to detect some clues. Other than that, no method would work.

Moreover, if it fell into the hands of any Dao Lineage’s power in the Great Void, the situation would become even more complicated.

After a moment of silence, that ethereal voice spoke, “Let’s set this matter aside for now. Tell me about the current situation in the Great Void.”

The woman respectfully complied, using her divine sense to relay all the events of the past few years in the Great Void, with the arrival of the calamity of the Magic Clan being the most significant. Compared to that, the Dao Court’s assembly of immortals and the opening of the Misty Illusion Secret Realm of the Heavenly Human Clan seemed trivial.

The Origin Star Palace was about to be fully restored. Once the Master emerged from seclusion, the sacred Dao Court could be reopened, restoring the former glory and splendor of the once greatest immortal sanctuary in the Great Void.

“…In that case, let places like the armillary sphere Star Palace be reduced to ashes!”

The ethereal voice commanded indifferently, “With the limited power you wield now, you can’t eliminate all the Dao Lineages that participated in the desecration of the sacred land, but you can certainly make an example out of one or two. Your Junior Sisters will soon return from the Great Void, bringing with them the forces they’ve gathered. With their help, you won’t have to struggle like this.”

“Yes, I will follow Master’s orders.”

“As for the whereabouts of the Harmony Spirit Seed…”

The voice paused, and a bright glow of clouds descended, within which countless threads of light intertwined, and numerous phantoms flickered in and out of sight, alluding to the unpredictable will of heaven and the fickleness of fate.

After a while, the glow receded, revealing a palm-sized, crystal-clear jade ring that fell into the woman’s hands.

“Although divine objects conceal themselves, now that it has taken form and walks among us, it will not be mediocre. You only need to seek out the rising talents in the Great Void in recent years. With this Destiny Ring close at hand, you will be able to see through their origins!” the voice said calmly.

The woman’s expression brightened, and she carefully stored the jade ring away. After pondering, she asked, “If I find it, how should I deal with it?”

“Of course, inform it of its origins and bring it back to the Star Palace for secluded cultivation, waiting for my return.”

“But I’m afraid that after taking form, it may have forgotten its past life, or its nature has changed, and it may not be willing to follow my arrangements. What then?”

“Then capture and imprison it within the Star Palace until I return to deal with it.”

“Yes, Master…”

The woman agreed, and the bright moon in the sky dimmed and gradually vanished into nothingness.

…

At the Calamity Fate Palace Main Altar.

In the secret hall, the divine envoy Zihuang, the deputy envoy Lingxi, and the palace master gathered once again.

“…After days of relentless searching, we still haven’t found any trace of Qing Muling,”

Zihuang’s voice carried a hint of helplessness: “There’s only one possibility, that he never entered the Misty Illusion Secret Realm and remains in seclusion at the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace, including those direct disciples of the Sect Masters.”

The whereabouts and movements of the female cultivators of the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace who used jade token spots to enter the secret realm had been thoroughly investigated by the Heavenly Human Clan, pinpointing the exact location of each one. Yet, Qing Muling was nowhere to be found.

These female cultivators were either strolling in the city or collecting resources in low-to-mid risk areas, steering clear of the most dangerous zones, effectively slacking off.

The Heavenly Human Clan even dispatched high-ranking powerhouses to secretly control the divine souls of a few female cultivators in an attempt to track down Qing Muling, but to no avail. They were completely unaware of his whereabouts.

The most ingeniously designed trap is useless if the intended prey never shows up.

The palace master remained unflustered: “It’s unfortunate, but we’ve done all we can. The Sect Master of the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace is adamant, and no one can force her hand.”

Lingxi asked, “Can’t you think of something else? With your years of operation in the Great Void, you must have some special methods to try, right?”

She instinctively sensed something was amiss. The Calamity Fate Palace, seemingly a close ally, was actually not so reliable and seemed unwilling to see the Heavenly Human Clan obtain Qing Muling.

The palace master simply shook his head: “After the last operation failed, all our pawns in the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace have been exposed. We currently have no suitable personnel to use, so we truly are powerless.”

After a moment of contemplation, Zihuang spoke softly: “It seems we must increase our investment and lure them with great rewards to capture the attention of the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace’s higher-ups.”

The two hundred plus jade token spots had yet to be activated, but the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace had not returned them, clearly harboring some plans.

If at this time, new ancient cave dwellings or rare treasures emerged in the Misty Illusion Secret Realm, and a few fabricated tales of lucky individuals who stumbled upon great fortunes were spread, it would surely make the outstanding talents of various powers envious and eager to participate.

“Your plan is brilliant, divine envoy. I am thoroughly convinced,”

The palace master said with a chuckle, but inwardly he was pondering how to sabotage the plan without the Heavenly Human Clan noticing.

Lingxi glanced at the palace master without a word, a cold smile hidden in her heart as she clenched a bone talisman in her sleeve.

Even if the Calamity Fate Palace was up to no good behind the scenes, Lingxi still had an ace up her sleeve that she hadn’t used. She had met Qing Muling before, not only enjoying his company but also secretly giving him a bone talisman without her mother’s knowledge.

That item had never been activated, which meant it was still with Qing Muling. If she used a secret method to trace its origin, she could locate and capture him. No divination could hide him from her.

Of course, Lingxi had no intention of using this trump card until absolutely necessary.

The reason was simple: if the higher-ups of the Heavenly Human Clan captured Qing Muling, whatever treasures he possessed would ultimately belong to those big shots, having nothing to do with Lingxi.

But if Lingxi herself captured Qing Muling without anyone else knowing, it would be her own extraordinary opportunity, and no one else could share in it.

Hmm, if circumstances allowed, she might consider sharing some of the spoils with her sister Zihuang afterward, but that was it. Lingxi plotted in her heart.

…

Inside the Misty Illusion Secret Realm.

Nine floating battleships, each over three thousand zhang long, hovered silently in the air, shrouded in layers of luminous barriers that not only concealed the massive structures but also obscured the threads of fate and causality, ensuring that no powerful beings could detect their presence.

Below, the vast land stretched out with majestic mountains reaching the horizon. Tens of thousands of female cultivators, along with ten times as many Dao weapon puppets, were busily engaged in work. They cut through mountains and split the earth, transporting various rare minerals from deep within the thick rock layers.

Among the towering peaks, the female cultivators had opened up thousands of large-scale resource extraction areas. While about thirty percent of them mined spirit crystals, the rest, along with the Dao weapon puppets, were engaged in mining and refining other types of rare spirit ores.

On the large open spaces carved out by magical powers, numerous giant furnaces stood densely packed like forests. These were also specially crafted high-level artifacts. Batches of spirit gold ore with extremely high melting points and hardness were fed into them, melted by the fierce flames of the sun, and after several processes to remove impurities, they became blocks of high-purity spirit ore, which were then stored in large spatial artifacts.

Rare spirit ores like Heavenly Flame Cloud Copper, Mysterious Silver Crystal, and Marvelous Yuan Refined Gold were refined by these workshops, producing millions of blocks in a single day and night.

Qing Muling was also somewhat shocked when he first saw this grand scene, but he soon came to terms with it. The Great Void was vast and boundless, and after long years of development and evolution, the cultivation civilization had long since moved from the primitive stage of family workshops to an advanced stage of industrial production.

Just within the territories of the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace, there were tens of millions of registered disciples, not to mention the hundreds of times more maids, servants, and various overt and covert peripheral personnel, as well as numerous vassal forces, business organizations, dynasties, tribes, city-states, and so on.

Further down, there were countless mortals, who, although insignificant in the eyes of high-level cultivators, were the foundation that supported the cultivation system of the Great Void.

With such a vast population and the ability to change heaven and earth with divine powers, it was not surprising that they had developed products similar to a higher industrial civilization.

Inside the battleship, a vast space was created by arrays, and exquisite and luxurious palaces and gardens were constructed, with every detail beautifully arranged.

At this moment, Qing Muling was sleeping in his boudoir, his head covered by a phoenix brocade quilt, snoring away.

Yes, he was sleeping alone, with no other implications.

High-level cultivators certainly don’t need to sleep, and meditation is the norm, but occasionally experiencing it is also fine, just like enjoying fine wine, food, and beauty.

With the expansion of the internal space within the phantom of the Blue Lotus leaf, and with the assistance of Emperors Xinyu and Qinghuan, Qing Muling had brought over enough people and resources. Therefore, a special area was opened in the workshops deep in the mountains for the distribution and collection of a large number of spatial artifacts.

The spatial artifacts filled by the female cultivators and Dao weapon puppets were all sent to these areas for storage. Once the quantity accumulated enough, Qing Muling would transport them back in one go, ensuring turnover efficiency with a round trip every three to five days.

So now, Qing Muling had a lot of free time, indulging in luxury and pleasure in the palatial rooms of the battleship, with no one to oversee him, but rather encouraging him.

As long as Junior Brother wished, whatever he did was justified.

This was the attitude of the Senior Sisters.

In another chamber, Dragon Ritual Princess was changing clothes with the help of her maid Su Yuanzhen.

In the large floor-to-ceiling mirror, the slender and enchanting figure was reflected, wearing a silver-white transparent bellyband, which was stretched taut by her full curves, to the point that the embroidered phoenixes on it were severely distorted into chubby birds.

“What’s Junior Brother doing?”

Dragon Ritual Princess tilted her head slightly, admiring her own figure nonchalantly, and asked softly.

“It seems he’s still sleeping, and it’s already well past dawn.”

Maid Su Yuanzhen spoke gently, now also stripped of her gorgeous palace attire, her voluptuous body clad only in a transparent silk-embroidered bellyband, similar to the princess’s, but with a black chubby bird embroidered on it.

“Which Senior Sister is with him?”

Dragon Ritual Princess asked, then shook her head. Was there a need to ask? Those vixens always acted in groups.

If one Senior Sister was with Junior Brother… the rest would surely rush to join in the fun, and in the end, they would all end up sharing the same bed, competing with each other.

At such times, Dragon Ritual Princess and Su Yuanzhen often found themselves in an awkward situation, as their cultivation levels were too far apart from Qing Muling’s to join in the group activities, leaving them with no choice but to watch from the sidelines.

Whenever this happened, Dragon Ritual Princess would find an excuse to leave early to avoid embarrassment. Always watching without participating was too uncomfortable.

“You guessed wrong this time,”

Su Yuanzhen said with a smile: “Junior Brother is sleeping alone, and he made it clear beforehand that they are not allowed to disturb him, saying that he was exhausted from the past few days and wanted to be alone.”

Dragon Ritual Princess’s eyes brightened: “Doesn’t that mean…”

It was a rare opportunity without any interference. If she could spend some time alone with Qing Muling and deepen their bond, it would undoubtedly be a good thing.

Su Yuanzhen said helplessly: “Even if we go, what can we do? Sit together and talk about the weather and local customs? Don’t forget that we can’t… with Junior Brother.”

“…”

Dragon Ritual Princess’s expression stiffened, and she sighed awkwardly, feeling a bit depressed as she rubbed her face.

For the first time, she resented her Golden Immortal cultivation level. If she had met Qing Muling earlier, she could have kept her cultivation at the Xuan Immortal realm. Although it was still quite high, she could barely manage to…

Now, she could only continue to wait patiently until Qing Muling broke through to the Ascending to Immortality realm, preferably the Elemental Immortal realm, before she could get her wish.

Considering Junior Brother’s rate of cultivation progress, that day wouldn’t be too far off, but it was still agonizing, especially with so many vixens lurking around.

Su Yuanzhen continued to advise: “Actually, waiting a bit longer isn’t a bad thing. After all, for men, the best ones are often those who come later. What do you think, Your Highness?”

“That’s true, but waiting around isn’t a good idea for Junior Brother’s situation!”

Dragon Ritual Princess shook her head, then suddenly said: “What if we temporarily switch to a dual cultivation technique? It wouldn’t be a problem for Junior Brother to benefit more, as long as we can…”

Su Yuanzhen immediately understood her meaning, her brows furrowed with concern: “Wouldn’t that be inappropriate? The Emperor wouldn’t agree.”

There are many sects and factions of dual cultivation techniques in the Great Void, some based on mutual benefit, others on one-sided exploitation, and some accommodating the lower cultivation level of one partner. Of course, there are also some special lineages, such as those between women…

Sects like the Goddess Sect and Lu Hua Palace, as well as pure female cultivator powers like the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace, all have records of such techniques in their scripture repositories, and it’s not uncommon for female cultivators to become Dao Companions.

Dragon Ritual Princess’s idea was to temporarily switch to a suitable dual cultivation technique to solve the problem of Qing Muling’s low cultivation level. The advantage was that she could immediately deepen their relationship and significantly boost his cultivation.

The downside was that Dragon Ritual Princess’s cultivation would not increase and would even regress significantly, possibly temporarily falling to the Xuan Immortal realm. Only when Qing Muling’s cultivation level rose in the future could she recover.

“It doesn’t matter, right? As long as we can… with Junior Brother, isn’t that the best outcome for us? His current cultivation is too low, and it’s hard for him to protect himself in danger. If we can help him in this way, we should be able to increase our importance in his heart.”

Dragon Ritual Princess spoke softly, considering Qing Muling’s growth rate, reaching the Golden Immortal realm or even higher was just a matter of time. So, being generous now and giving more for him was not a big deal.

Su Yuanzhen pondered for a few moments before her attitude softened: “Alright, why don’t I try it first? If there’s no problem, then Your Highness can…”

Even in the secular dynasties, there was a tradition of trial marriage for princesses’ consorts, where close maids or attendants acted as trial brides, first consummating the marriage with the consort to test his abilities. Only after confirming there were no issues would the princess officially discuss marriage.

As the only maid allowed to be close to Qing Muling, Su Yuanzhen naturally had to fulfill the role of the trial bride.

Dragon Ritual Princess’s eyes narrowed slightly, her expression playful: “If that’s the case, wouldn’t you be getting too good of a deal? Never mind, since we’ve decided to… let’s go all the way, and I’ll do it myself!”

Su Yuanzhen was about to persuade her further but then changed her mind: “Alright, let’s go and discuss it with Senior Sister! As long as she doesn’t object, it’s settled.”

Whether they liked it or not, Xuebing Xuan was the first to arrive, not only representing the stance of the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace but also holding a different place in Qing Muling’s heart. Therefore, they had to inform her about this matter.

At that moment, in the study outside.

Xuebing Xuan was busy handling the allocation of personnel and resources, with several Senior Sisters assisting her, busy but orderly.

“In three more days, the storage areas here will be full again. We’ll need to build a few more,”

Yu Binghua, with her beautiful and graceful appearance, browsed through the jade scroll in front of her and remarked wistfully: “This place is truly a cornucopia! Just the treasures we’ve brought back these days could probably buy the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace from a hundred years ago. Ah, if only this place could become our sect’s exclusive territory, how great would that be?”

“Don’t get your hopes up, that’s impossible!”

Luo Huan chuckled beside her. The Heavenly Human Clan was not a pushover, with at least three peak Quasi Holy Emperors openly known. How much hidden strength they had was anyone’s guess.

For thousands of years, many powerful figures in the Great Void had coveted the Misty Illusion Secret Realm, but no one had ever managed to gain any advantage. This indicated how formidable their strength was.

Now, by riding on Qing Muling’s coattails, sneaking in to gather some resources was already a matter of envy for other Dao Lineages.

Qi Yalan lifted her jade cup and took a sip of spirit wine, a faint smile gracing her stunning face: “Well, don’t write it off just yet. With Junior Brother’s potential, once he becomes a Quasi Holy Emperor, it’s not impossible that he could turn this place into his own backyard, taking whatever he wants!”

“Perhaps, it’s possible…”

The Senior Sisters mused, as it seemed Qing Muling had already experienced enough miracles, and one more wouldn’t hurt.

Accompanied by the pleasant sound of jingling ornaments, Dragon Ritual Princess and Su Yuanzhen entered the room with graceful steps.

“Are you two here to help out?” Xuebing Xuan greeted them with a smile. Having spent some time together, their relationship had become quite good, so there was no need for formalities.

“We’re willing to help, but there’s something we need to discuss with Senior Sister first…” Dragon Ritual Princess said, her expression a bit shy as she shared her plan. The surrounding Senior Sisters looked at each other in silence.

“Is there a problem?” Noticing Xuebing Xuan’s serious expression, Dragon Ritual Princess asked, “I just want to serve Junior Brother.”

Xuebing Xuan sighed and said softly, “If it were just the two of you, it might be possible. But once this precedent is set, there will be too many vixens outside following suit. What then should Junior Brother do?”

“…”