Chapter 158 - 109: The Shifeng Conference Begins

Chapter 158: Chapter 109: The Shifeng Conference Begins

Outside the Hundred Thousand Mountains, a towering peak over ten thousand feet high pierced the clouds.

At the summit, shrouded in mist, stood a continuous stretch of Five-Colored Glazed Palaces.

Shangguan Ling’Er’s Escape Light shuttled through the palace complex, plunging directly into the largest and most translucent one in the center.

Many maids clad in colorful garments within the palace bowed respectfully upon seeing the Escape Light pass by.

The Escape Light penetrated deep into the core of the palace before revealing Shangguan Ling’Er’s figure.

"Master!" She looked up at the person before her and threw herself forward with open arms. "I missed you so much!"

Seated on a chair before her was a beautiful woman in palace attire. Seeing Shangguan Ling’Er lunging at her, she flicked her finger, tapping the girl’s forehead.

"AH!" Shangguan Ling’Er squatted down, clutching her forehead.

"Hmph, you wild girl, you finally know to come back." The beautiful woman picked up the teacup beside her and glanced at Shangguan Ling’Er. "If you still hadn’t returned, I would have thought you were planning to join another sect."

"I was only out for a few months, Master. What are you talking about?" Shangguan Ling’Er stood up. "I’m a Grand Daoist, after all. Even going out for three to five years to handle a matter is completely normal, right?"

"If you were doing proper business, I wouldn’t care even if you didn’t return for ten years," the beautiful woman suddenly sneered. "But you leaked your family’s Cultivation Technique after being out for just a few months. Your father has already complained to me. Can I not summon you back?"

"AH!" Shangguan Ling’Er exclaimed in shock. "Father knows?!"

"Your father is already exhausted from managing clan affairs while preparing to become an Immortal. Yet you, this wretched girl, had to cause trouble! Why can’t you save him some worry?" The beautiful woman poked Shangguan Ling’Er’s forehead.

"I originally planned to tell him as soon as I came back. I didn’t expect Father to find out early... But how did he know?"

She thought, "Could it be that there was some Restriction left in the Spiritual Sense Jade Scroll holding the Six Interpretations of Life and Death?"

"You are the Clan Leader’s daughter. Who would dare leave a Restriction in your Jade Scroll?" the beautiful woman shook her head.

Shangguan Ling’Er nodded, dismissing the thought.

She thought, "Besides, I gave the Six Interpretations of Life and Death to Li Yinsheng several months ago. If there were a Restriction in the Jade Scroll, it would have triggered long ago. I wouldn’t have been summoned back only now. But this makes it even more baffling. How on earth did Father find out? No, how he knew isn’t the most important part. The crucial issue is that my plan to act first and report later has turned into being caught red-handed. The nature of the situation has completely changed. How am I going to explain this to Father?!"

Panicking, Shangguan Ling’Er quickly squatted down, wrapping her arms around the beautiful woman’s arm and shaking it affectionately. "Auntie~"

"Stop right there!" The beautiful woman raised a hand to pinch Shangguan Ling’Er’s lips. "In the Zhengyang Dharma Vein, we are Master and disciple!"

"Master~" Shangguan Ling’Er continued to whine playfully.

"Calling me Master won’t help either." The beautiful woman shook her head. "This concerns your own family’s legacy. I am ultimately half an outsider, so it’s not appropriate for me to intervene."

Shangguan Ling’Er’s face immediately scrunched up in distress.

"But you don’t need to worry too much," the beautiful woman suddenly shifted her tone to comfort her. "When your father came to me, he didn’t seem very angry."

"Not very angry?" Shangguan Ling’Er was stunned.

She thought, "The Six Interpretations of Life and Death have been leaked. Given my old man’s temper, the moment he heard the news, the Celestial Phenomena within a radius of dozens of miles should have raged in fury with violent thunderstorms. I was scared to tears by such a scene when I was a child, leaving a significant shadow on me. Yet now, Master says Father isn’t that angry? That can’t be right!"

"I don’t know why either. Logically speaking, the leakage of one of the Clan’s Secret Techniques would enrage even the most mild-tempered person, let alone your father, whose temper is far from good." The beautiful woman shook her head. "But he really wasn’t that angry. In fact, he even looked somewhat... confused?"

Shangguan Ling’Er’s face mirrored that confusion. "Huh?"

"I don’t know what’s going on. Since it involves your family’s core legacy, it wasn’t my place to pry too much," the beautiful woman advised. "You should go see him yourself. Once you return, tell me whatever you’re allowed to share."

Shangguan Ling’Er put away her doubts, nodded, and transformed into an Escape Light to leave.

Deep within the palace, inside a room heavily secured by Array Restrictions, Shangguan Ling’Er stood before a Glazed Mirror that was about ten feet high and twenty to thirty feet long. She raised her hands and formed several Techniques.

The Glazed Mirror glowed faintly. The original reflection of the room and Shangguan Ling’Er rippled and dissipated like water. A moment later, a completely different scene emerged.

In the mirror was another room. Although it was quite empty, the occasional lamps and the surrounding walls all bore distinct marks of time.

A few breaths later, a deep purple lightning bolt abruptly flared in the center of the empty room in the mirror.

In the blink of an eye after the lightning flashed, it transformed into a Divine General twenty to thirty feet tall. His entire body crackled with dazzling lightning, clad in Purple Gold Armor. He held a Long Halberd in his left hand, while a long, ferocious Thunder Flood Dragon coiled around his right arm.

Though standing on the ground, his combat boots rested on a dark cloud surging with blinding, bright purple lightning.

Shangguan Ling’Er instinctively shrank her neck.

She thought, "Oh no, he even brought out his Dharma Aspect. It seems Father is truly furious."

But then, the Divine General in Purple Gold Armor took a few steps forward. His Dharma Aspect retracted, turning into a middle-aged Confucian Scholar holding a feather fan and wearing a silk headband.

"Ling’Er," the middle-aged Confucian Scholar stood before the mirror and got straight to the point. "Did you teach the Six Interpretations of Life and Death to an outsider?"

Shangguan Ling’Er knew her father’s temper all too well and didn’t dare to argue. She nodded decisively. "Yes, Father. I gave it to a genius junior of my best friend."

"A genius junior?" The middle-aged Confucian Scholar paused in surprise before nodding slowly. "I see. It seems the omen indeed lies with you."

"Huh? Father, what are you talking about?" Shangguan Ling’Er asked in confusion.

"A month ago, the Third Ancestor suddenly emerged from seclusion and summoned me. He told me that during his seclusion, he felt a sudden impulse and cast a divination. The hexagram indicated that his Six Interpretations of Life and Death had been leaked and was being used by an outsider, but he didn’t know where it had been leaked to.

"What’s even stranger is that despite the leakage of the Six Interpretations of Life and Death, the hexagram pointed to supreme good fortune."

The middle-aged Confucian Scholar paused. "But when he tried to divine further, he couldn’t obtain any more information.

"Therefore, the Third Ancestor activated the Spirit Treasure Celestial Gnomon to divine the rise and fall of our family. Unexpectedly, he detected an omen of imminent resurgence.

"The Third Ancestor guessed that this omen of resurgence must be connected to the supreme good fortune of the Six Interpretations of Life and Death.

"Over the past month, I investigated everyone in the family who could have possibly leaked the Six Interpretations of Life and Death. I even questioned myself using the Heart Lamp. Finding nothing, I eventually thought of you."

Shangguan Ling’Er was startled. "The Third Ancestor came out of seclusion and cast a divination himself?"

The family had seven Immortal ancestors, ranked by age and seniority. It was said that the Third Ancestor practiced the Wood Element in his early years, but after becoming an Immortal, he switched to cultivating the Celestial Secret Dao. Although he wasn’t the highest in seniority or Cultivation among the seven ancestors, he was the most mysterious.

"Now it seems that this hexagram corresponds to you, or rather, to the genius junior you passed the Cultivation Technique to." The middle-aged Confucian Scholar frowned deeply and said sternly, "Tell me exactly what happened in detail. Do not leave out a single thing."

After Shangguan Ling’Er recounted her recent experiences in detail, the middle-aged Confucian Scholar’s tightly knit brows quietly relaxed.

"A Grand Daoist in his early twenties... I have only ever heard of such a thing, but I have never seen one with my own eyes." A flash of amazement crossed his face. "Ling’Er, you did well in this matter. Teaching the Six Interpretations of Life and Death to such a genius does not bury the Third Ancestor’s legacy."

"Father, you don’t blame me?" Shangguan Ling’Er breathed a sigh of relief.

"Just don’t do it again," the middle-aged Confucian Scholar said. "Furthermore, since Li has learned the legacy of our Third Ancestor, he should at least come visit so the other Elders and I can meet him."

"This..." Shangguan Ling’Er hesitated. "Now? Isn’t it too far?"

"Hmm... there’s no need to bring him over immediately," the middle-aged Confucian Scholar said. "The hexagram the Third Ancestor divined pertains to the future.

"Li is currently a Grand Daoist. Even if this omen of resurgence truly lies with him, it will probably take another twenty or thirty years to see it take shape.

"Within ten years, you can bring him to our clan as a guest. Your uncles and I will meet him in person."

"Ten years? Then... alright." Shangguan Ling’Er nodded.

She had originally planned to bring Li Yinsheng back to the family sooner or later to properly account for teaching him the Cultivation Technique. However, she never expected she would have to bring him within ten years. At the time, she had estimated it would take at least thirty to forty years, perhaps even after both of them had condensed their Dharma Aspects.

"By the way, since you are already a Grand Daoist, the Divine Vein within your body can undergo its preliminary awakening," the middle-aged Confucian Scholar said. "Let your Aunt take care of this matter on your behalf.

"After all, this Divine Vein was inherited from your mother, and she is your mother’s younger sister. It’s more appropriate for her to help you awaken it."

Shangguan Ling’Er nodded, her eyes shifting thoughtfully. "Father, do you think if I had awakened the Divine Vein right at birth, I could have become a Grand Daoist in my early twenties?"

The middle-aged Confucian Scholar pondered for a moment and shook his head. "I can’t say for sure. After all, there are differences in grade even among Divine Veins.

"The Divine Vein you inherited from your mother shouldn’t be of a low grade, but to become a Grand Daoist in your early twenties... perhaps there would be a tiny sliver of hope.

"If paired with an exceptionally compatible Immortal Dao Lineage, along with some fortuitous encounters, perhaps it would be possible."

Shangguan Ling’Er couldn’t help but stick out her tongue.

She thought, "What kind of freak is Li Yinsheng? I’m really curious about his Root Device. It’s a pity that every time I ask him, he just says his Root Device is average and brushes me off."

In front of the main hall of the Xuanzhen Temple, Li Yinsheng held Mu Xiaoyu’s hand and smiled at her. "Xiaoyu, let’s go. I’ll take you to the Cangfeng Temple."

"Senior Brother, can I go using the Cold Bright Sword?" Mu Xiaoyu rubbed her hands together in anticipation. "You’ve always taken me flying before. I haven’t tried Sword Flight myself yet!"

After this recent period of cultivation, she had completely refined the energy of the Mother Insect. Her current Cultivation was just enough to barely activate the Cold Bright Sword and the Brass Incense Burner.

"Xiaoyu, the Shifeng Conference is this afternoon. If you fly on your own, I’m afraid we won’t make it in time. Let’s save it for next time," Li Yinsheng shook his head with a smile.

"Oh, then you take me there, Senior Brother," Mu Xiaoyu nodded, not insisting further.

"Perfect. This time, I can try out my newly mastered Escape Skill." Li Yinsheng spoke with equal anticipation.