Chapter 1214: Nascent Soul Formation Ceremony; Second-Tier Talisman Maker (I)

"Dad, Gale Valley is right below us!"

Aboard the flying boat, Xu Xiaoliu leaned over the side and looked down at the land below. Black smoke rolled through the valleys while fierce winds howled endlessly between the mountains. The sight made the corners of his mouth twitch.

They're a major sect. How did they end up in a place like this?

On second thought, though, he could understand why. The force overseeing the Windflower Domain was Windflower Palace, and in Windflower Palace, women held the higher status. Naturally, that imbalance extended throughout the domain as well. A force like Gale Valley, made up primarily of male cultivators, could hardly expect to be granted a desirable spirit vein. Thinking about it this way, they had truly been quite generous to allow the Luo Tian Sect to settle at Hundred-Li Green River.

The girl beside him was already itching to go. "Dad, should we head down and tell them?"

Xu Xiaoliu stroked his beard and smiled. "There's no need for you to go. I'll go myself!"

After all, showing off in front of others was exactly the sort of thing he enjoyed most. Otherwise, why else would Luo Chen have entrusted this errand to him? More importantly, it had been over a century since he last had an opportunity like this!

As the flying boat descended, two cultivators quickly approached from a distance. "Who goes there?"

Xu Xiaoliu clasped his hands behind his back and answered cheerfully, "I am an envoy from the Luo Tian Sect, the upper sect at Hundred-Li Green River. Take me to your master."

The two cultivators exchanged puzzled looks. They had certainly heard of the Luo Tian Sect, and they knew perfectly well what an upper sect was, but they had never heard the two terms in the same sentence.

A short while later, Xu Xiaoliu stood inside Gale Valley's magnificent grand hall before a burly man whose aura raged like a volcano. Although the pressure made Xu Xiaoliu tremble slightly, he showed not a trace of fear on his face.

"You really haven't heard? Our Supreme Elder has returned, and he's reached the Nascent Soul Realm. Most of the people we have invited to the ceremony are Sages. The only reason the major sects in the Windflower Domain are included is because we're neighbors for the time being." Then, with a flick of his hand, he tossed over an invitation. "Valley Master, do not forget! It will be on the third day of next month!"

The burly man had been skeptical at first, but the moment he caught the invitation, his expression changed. The characters written across its surface flowed like dragons and snakes; each stroke was vigorous and forceful. Moreover, restriction patterns had been woven into the invitation itself. The moment he opened it, a strand of mana swept across him then sank back inside. He realized his energy signature had been recorded; with such a measure in place, even if someone else somehow obtained the invitation, they would never be able to impersonate its intended recipient.

The valley master stared at it in astonishment. To weave restrictions into a mere invitation card, making mana flow through it as if it were a talisman, was no ordinary feat! Could the Luo Tian Sect, once little more than a band of displaced cultivators, truly have welcomed back a Sage?

He swallowed hard, immediately restrained his aura, and forced a friendly smile onto his face. "F-Fellow Daoist Xu, you've traveled a long way. Why not stay and rest in Gale Valley for a while?"

Xu Xiaoliu smiled inwardly at the sudden change in attitude, but outwardly he remained perfectly polite. "That will not be necessary. I still need to notify the other sects throughout the Windflower Domain, so I can't stay long. Just remember, the third day of next mon—"

"Yes! Yes! I'll remember! I'll remember!"

This time, the valley master personally escorted Xu Xiaoliu all the way out. Only after the flying boat disappeared into the distance did he finally let out a bitter sigh.

Once, Windflower Palace had been the only upper sect in the entire Windflower Domain. But after a century of devastation at the hands of the demonic beasts, more and more displaced forces had been forced to retreat into the region. The Five Elements Divine Sect and Skyscraper Cliff had already taken temporary refuge there, and neither seemed happy with merely surviving. Both had begun cautiously expanding their influence and drawing smaller sects under their banners. And now there was another upper sect?

"I wonder what Windflower Palace makes of all this. Small sects like ours are completely in the dark these days."

***

"Senior Sister, did Luo Chen really return to the Luo Tian Sect as a Sage?"

"Yes." Fairy Windflower's eyes narrowed slightly as she thought back to the two times she had met Luo Chen. "His cultivation is deeper than it looks. I wouldn't underestimate him. If we fought, I can't say I'd have the upper hand."

The expression of the Second Palace Master changed slightly. Her senior sister was a middle-stage Sage and one of the stronger figures in the Eastern Wilderness. It was surprising enough that Luo Tian Sect's Supreme Elder had managed to reach the Nascent Soul Realm in little more than a century, but if even Fairy Windflower was wary of him, then Luo Chen was clearly far more dangerous than his cultivation alone suggested. And judging by her senior sister's expression, she was not exaggerating.

As the Second Palace Master struggled to digest the news, another thought suddenly occurred to her. "Wait. That Spirit Passage Pill formula we got from Qu Lingjun... wasn't that originally Dan Chenzi's? He's not going to come after us over that, is he?"

Fairy Windflower shook her head. "It's only a second-tier pill formula. From what I know of him, he won't make an issue out of something that small. What I'm more worried about is what he plans to do now that he's back."

What he plans to do? The Second Palace Master frowned, but she quickly grasped the meaning behind those words.

Hundred-Li Green River was a fine place for an ordinary sect, but for an upper sect, it was far too small. In the past, a sect with a Sage often ruled over an entire domain, commanding territory that stretched for tens of thousands of li. Even a force like the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect, which had been more of a nominal ruler than an overwhelming hegemon of the Jade Cauldron Domain, had openly controlled more than ten thousand li of land.

Times had changed, of course, and no one could still insist that every Sage deserved an entire domain. Even so, a Sage needed at least a fourth-tier spirit vein to support their cultivation. And Luo Chen's cultivation had advanced so quickly that his requirements would only be greater. So what if he set his sights on Windflower Palace?

"If it were just him, we could handle it. With the two of us together, Senior Sister, there's no reason to be afraid of him. The problem is that the Five Elements Divine Sect and Skyscraper Cliff have had the same ideas. And no matter how you look at it, there simply aren't any other fourth-tier spirit veins in the domain. Also, we can't ignore the possibility that he'll start winning over the sects under us and slowly push his influence here."

Such concerns were not unfounded. The cultivation world had never lacked examples of outsiders who arrived as guests, settled down, and eventually turned on their hosts to seize the land for themselves. That was also why the Second Palace Master had sounded so resentful.

Truthfully, her frustration was not truly directed at Luo Chen but at the Holy Land overseeing them. It was the Nether Origin Sect that had allowed all these displaced forces to take refuge within the five domains in the first place. Years had passed since then, and after settling in for so long, those outsiders had inevitably begun putting down roots and entertaining ambitions they should never have had.

At this point, she could only hope the war would start soon. If only the demonic beasts would attack already. Then all these outsiders could be sent to the battlefield instead of continuing to crowd into our place.

Just then, a voice sounded from outside the hall. "Palace Masters, someone has delivered an invitation!"

"Who?"

"The Luo Tian Sect!"

Fairy Windflower frowned and beckoned with one hand. A moment later, the invitation flew into her grasp. She swept it once with her divine consciousness, and her expression became thoughtful.

A belated Nascent Soul Formation Ceremony, inviting fellow cultivators from across the five domains to gather at Hundred-Li Green River... What exactly is Luo Chen trying to do?