Chapter 236

The elders began talking over each other excitedly.

“I think it’s those same celestial folk from before—probably up to some new scheme!”

“Exactly! Planting a celestial herb here so quietly, who knows what they’re plotting?”

“Maybe they’re trying to set up some kind of formation, or disrupt our sect’s fortune. It might not be complete yet, which is why we can’t detect it.”

“Very possible! But… I’ve never heard of a formation that uses a celestial plant as its core.”

“I say they dropped this plant here on purpose—to provoke greed, cause infighting, and destroy our unity!”

“Despicable! Did they think we’re still the naive old Xuanmen of the past?”

“Shameless! Couldn’t defeat us openly, so now they resort to underhanded tricks!”

“Absolutely disgraceful!”

“Completely depraved!”

“Worse than beasts!”

“Utterly—”

The elders’ curses grew more and more animated, practically ready to drown the lone celestial plant with their saliva. If you looked closely, you could almost see the words “Down with the Celestial Realm!” written across their faces.

Yun Jiao: “…”

(￣△￣；)

Wait a second—what exactly did this poor plant do wrong?

Just how deep did their trauma from the Celestial Realm run?!

“Master Yun!” Hall Master Xu turned to her solemnly. “Do you think… this celestial plant was deliberately placed here by someone from the Celestial Realm?”

Yun Jiao felt her head throb. She sighed. “It wasn’t dropped by anyone from the Celestial Realm.”

“What?” The elders all froze. “Then how did it get here?”

“It grew from the soil itself!” she said matter-of-factly. “Isn’t it obvious?”

The elders looked even more stunned. Elder Jiao blurted out, “But… it’s a celestial plant. Aren’t celestial plants supposed to grow only in the Celestial Realm?”

“In theory, yes.” Yun Jiao nodded, touching the plant’s leaf. The roots were tightly bound with the surrounding earth—it was indeed self-grown. Elder Jiao wasn’t wrong. Celestial plants only grew in the upper realm. Unless…

A thought struck her. She looked around the area carefully and asked, “What is this place? Why does it feel unfamiliar to me?”

This mountain was behind the Celestial Master Hall. When she had set up the protective formations, she had walked the entire perimeter—she should’ve known every inch of it. Yet this spot was new.

“Oh, this is Mount Celestial Burial,” Hall Master Xu explained casually. “After that whole Zhu Yan incident, remember those yin talismans you gave me? I used them to bury the… uh, unused celestial bodies in the back mountain caves. There were too many, so we kept piling them up—and eventually, it formed this mountain.”

He sighed. “The corpses caused plants to grow extremely fast here, especially with the yin talismans keeping the energy in check. In just a few months, it became a proper mountain. There are several more like it now!”

Yun Jiao: “…”

So they were literally standing on a mountain of celestial corpses.

No wonder the air felt eerie!

“If what’s buried underneath are all celestial bodies,” she said after a pause, “then that explains it.” She turned to the group, expression serious. “A celestial vein has just been born beneath this mountain.”

“Celestial vein?!”

(⊙ o ⊙)

The elders gasped in unison, their eyes wide in disbelief. They had all assumed it was another celestial trick—maybe a cursed artifact or hidden formation like before. Never did they expect that a true celestial vein had formed here!

Yun Jiao couldn’t help feeling a touch of irony. The Southern Heavenly Court had gone to such extremes—capturing spiritual veins, crafting soul pearls, even launching an invasion—all to create a celestial vein. The mighty Celestial Emperor himself had descended to wage war against Xuanmen… and in the end? They achieved nothing. Instead, their corpses ended up nurturing the very thing they’d wanted so badly.

Should she… light a candle for them?

Thinking it through, the result wasn’t so strange. Ying Lun had acted too quickly back then, ripping out the celestial souls before they could even react. Their bodies, energy, and cores had all remained intact—still brimming with celestial qi.

Each celestial’s flesh contained immense spiritual essence. One or two corpses might not have mattered—but several hundred? And all buried together under yin talismans that sealed and gathered the energy? It was practically a perfect recipe for birthing a celestial vein.

After the initial shock wore off, the elders slowly accepted that a celestial vein had appeared in the mortal world. But their expressions only grew more troubled.

“Master Yun,” Hall Master Xu said worriedly, “this celestial vein appearing here in the human realm… isn’t that dangerous?”

“You’re worried it’ll attract attention from the Celestial Realm?” Yun Jiao asked directly.

The elders all nodded. A single soul pearl had been enough to bring the Celestial Emperor down here himself—what would happen when word spread that a real celestial vein had formed? The upper realm would go insane.

Last time, the affair had involved the underworld, and the King of Hell’s personal intervention had kept the other heavens quiet. But this time, the vein was purely celestial in nature—very real, and right here. Who knew how many powerful immortals like that emperor still lingered above?

“No need to worry,” Yun Jiao reassured them. “This vein was just born—and the mortal realm isn’t suitable for celestial veins to exist. Right now, it’s only sustained by the remaining energy in those corpses. The yin talismans will lose their effect in two days. Once they do, the energy will dissipate, and without replenishment, the celestial vein will soon collapse.”

“What happens when it collapses?” Xu asked nervously.

“Most likely…” Yun Jiao thought for a moment, then said, “It’ll split into several spiritual veins.”

The elders exhaled in relief. Spiritual veins were good—spiritual veins they could use!

“By the way,” Yun Jiao added, “didn’t you say the academy is getting overcrowded and might need expansion next year? Once those spiritual veins form, you can build directly on these mountains. Every academy deserves a few haunted grounds, right?”

“That’s a great idea!” an elder exclaimed immediately. The Celestial Master Hall already had too many disciples, and the academy’s growing enrollment was straining capacity. Expansion was desperately needed. And with new spiritual veins here, the area would be perfect for cultivation.

The elders began animatedly discussing how many new classrooms they could build.

“If you’re worried about anyone discovering this,” Yun Jiao continued, “just set up a few formations around the area. Veins like this naturally conceal themselves—no one would easily notice, let alone a celestial vein. As for that plant—just pull it out.”

“Pull it out?” Xu blinked at the small green sprout, curiosity flashing in his eyes. “Master Yun, do you know what kind of celestial plant this is?”

“It’s just grass,” Yun Jiao said flatly. “A celestial weed.”

…What?

(⊙_⊙)

She looked at their stunned faces. “You didn’t think it was some precious celestial herb, did you? How could it be? True celestial herbs take decades, even centuries to mature. This thing’s only a few months old.”

The non-healer elders: “…”

A wave of collective embarrassment swept over them. They’d been guarding that weed for days, spinning conspiracy theories and fearing celestial plots—only for it to turn out to be… a weed?!

After a moment of awkward silence—

“Master Yun,” Hall Master Xu said gravely, stepping forward with a straight face, “since this matter’s resolved—and class time’s approaching—I’ll return to my lessons.”

The others instantly caught on.

“Yes, yes, I’ve got weapon-forging class soon. Must get back!”

“Our talisman-crafting class too!”

“The formation studies class as well!”

“The divination class—can’t skip that!”

Within moments, all the elders had found excuses to flee, scurrying off like startled rabbits.

Better run now—before Master Yun assigns an herbal identification exam!

Yun Jiao: “…”

Sigh.

Please… just reward me with a meal, I’m begging you…

(End of Chapter)