CH 139
Chapter 139 – Things Have Remained the Same
In the Heavenly Heart Palace in Grand Chu Imperial City…
Emperor Chu was seated in his throne as always, his expression just as grave and stern as it was in the past. Although several years had flowed by, there were no changes to his appearance.
“It’s only been several years since Liu Xiangji last came to this Secret Realm to recruit disciples. It really hasn’t been very long since the last recruitment. We’ve inconvenienced you and the Chu Territory,” Wei Yuanwei said from his seat to the left of the throne.
“It’s nothing to worry about. These people are all the Chu Territory has,” Emperor Chu said, looking down at the lower hall of the palace at the several Daoist Lords who had arrived early. “Plus, Celestial Tide Spirit Master issued a jade slip. No matter how big of an inconvenience it is, it can’t be called an inconvenience.”
Wei Yuanwei nodded, picked up his teacup, and took a light sip of the high-quality spirit tea.
Rumbling booms resounded outside of Heavenly Heart Palace, accompanied by a black and white radiance filtering into the hall.
Moments later, Xu Disheng entered the hall with Daoist Lord Qingxin and Zhang Yun. He took several steps forward and cupped his hands in salute. “Martial Uncle Chu, Envoy Wei.”
“At ease,” Emperor Chu said, his grave and stern expression thawing into a gentle smile. “How goes the matters that the Spirit Master entrusted you with?”
“Martial Uncle, the mission was completed smoothly. I’ve brought… Qingxin here,” Xu Disheng said, hesitating for a moment before finally deciding not to refer to him ‘master’ anymore.
Emperor Chu nodded and looked at Qingxin, whom he had recollection of, as he had already spent over 200 years in the Chu Territory. “Qingxin, Celestial Tide Spirit Master issued an order to have you freed of punishment, but the internal sect proceedings are still not fully complete. You will have to act accordingly.”
“Yes, Martial Uncle,” Qingxin said, also politely cupping his hands in salute.
Emperor Chu no longer looked at him, closing his eyes and continuing to cultivate.
Below, Xu Disheng silently perceived Emperor Chu’s aura, which felt vast and profound. It was already stronger than Wei Yuanwei’s aura by quite a bit. It seemed like he had already reached the bottleneck at the peak of the Dao Foundation stage. But would this damaged realm really be able to support his breakthrough to the Divine Core stage?
After several hours, the people from each Province arrived in Heavenly Heart Palace. Since this time wasn’t a unified sect recruitment, Wei Yuanwei had directly entered the Chu Territory with his two intermediary disciples without informing Emperor Chu beforehand.
Thus, the Daoist Lords of each of the Dao Palaces hadn’t come here in advance to wait for their arrival. Only after they descended upon the Imperial Court did Emperor Chu send out an order to each Province, instructing each Daoist Lord to bring their disciples.
“Realm Master Chu, shall we start then?” Wei Yuanwei asked. He and Emperor Chu weren’t acquainted previously, unlike Secret Realms Envoy Liu Xiangji, who directly called him Brother Chu at the time.
“During the exam period, everything will be up to you, Envoy Wei,” Emperor Chu said while nodding, but he didn’t stop cultivating.
This wasn’t all that surprising, given that there were only 6 or 7 people participating in the exam. It wasn’t sufficient to draw much interest from him.
It had only been several years since the last unified disciple recruitment period, so the Chu Territory was already quite outstanding to be able to produce another 6-7 people capable of becoming profound cultivators.
Wei Yuanwei lightly waved his hand and a misty orb appeared in the center of the hall. In the light reflecting off the water vapor, the hundred vicissitudes of life could be seen—people being born, growing old, and dying.
“A minimum of Grade 3 Profound Meridians is necessary to cultivate the profound laws. All of you meet the requirements, so we will only test your temperament. If you can make it out of the illusion realm in a quarter of an hour, you will be accepted into the sect.”
Wei Yuanwei was clearly skipping over the steps, but no one dared to say anything. Zhang Yun, who had been standing beside Daoist Lord Qingxin, silently moved over to stand with the other 6 people taking the exam.
“Are you going in or not? What are you all waiting for?” Xing Xing, the other intermediary disciple, shouted reprovingly, clearly impatient.
The complexions of the young men and women turned a bit unsightly, but they didn’t dare to retort.
After all, even the Daoist Lords were being extremely careful not to make any missteps. Plus, with Emperor Chu dismissively closing his eyes and cultivating, Wei Yuanwei was being extremely perfunctory about the sect entry examination, clearly not caring that much about it.
They glanced at each other, then very carefully walked into the orb of mist, where illusions were continually fluctuating and flashing past.
“Ahhhh!” One of the girls screamed as she approached the orb of mist and was sucked in, disappearing without a trace. All that was left behind was her ear-piercing screech.
Emperor Chu opened his eyes slightly, his brows furrowing in displeasure.
There was a white-robed youth beside him. Seeing Emperor Chu’s expression, he turned to the Daoist Lords and said coldly, “Which Dao Palace does that disciple belong to?”
Below, the dozen or so Daoist Lords lowered their heads and didn’t reply.
After a while, a voice said, “Young Lord, that girl is my disciple.”
This ‘Young Lord’, Chu Luo, walked down the stairs and stopped in front of the old man. “Not only is one of the sect’s Secret Realms Envoys here, but my forefather was also quietly cultivating just now. You have been in the Chu Territory for over 300 years, yet you bring a disciple like this who likes to scream and make a fuss? Do you only know how to bring disciples like these who lose face for our Chu Territory?”
The old man was at the early Sea of Qi stage. Although Chu Luo was only at the Cleansed Meridians stage, his manner was overbearing, completely suppressing the old man into silence.
As they were speaking, the 7 disciples who were taking the sect entry examination had all entered the orb of mist. Light radiated out from within, showing the scenes taking place inside the illusion realm.
Xu Disheng roughly glimpsed the scenes and saw that the illusion realm was extremely simple. It was much like the small island he was on in the Mirage Sea Realm during the Internal Disciple Tournament. However, in this illusion, there were all kinds of temptations. If a regular mortal succumbed to these temptations, they would never be able to break out again.
Xing Xing also didn’t feel much interest in this. He turned and asked Xu Disheng, “You were previously from the Chu Territory?”
Xing Xing wasn’t from the Mingxin Mountain Range. He was from the Third Mountain, Wenyuan Mountain Range. Thus, he didn’t know Xu Disheng and just took him to be some ordinary disciple with a bit of backing.
“Yes,” Xu Disheng replied with a nod. “Senior Martial Brother Xing, we’re about to leave for the An Territory, but will we be stopping back at Cangming Peak first?”
When he heard the An Territory being brought up, Xing Xing’s face turned stiff. He was clearly remembering the matter of Wei Yuanwei demanding 30 spirit stones from him.
“There’s no need. Envoy Wei has the realm-crossing token. These tokens were refined by the supreme powers of Affairs Hall, and have links to each of the Mortal Secret Realms. With the realm-crossing token and the realm-crossing wooden boat, it’s possible to go directly to any of the 27 Mortal Secret Realms,” Xing Xing explained unhurriedly as he continued to look at the happenings taking place in the misty orb. He had a good amount of patience for a colleague like Xu Disheng.
A quarter of an hour quickly flew by. 6 people out of the 7 managed to escape from the mist within the time limit. Even the girl who had screamed earlier managed to tumble out at the last moment right before the time limit.
In the Heavenly Heart Palace in Grand Chu Imperial City…
Emperor Chu was seated in his throne as always, his expression just as grave and stern as it was in the past. Although several years had flowed by, there were no changes to his appearance.
“It’s only been several years since Liu Xiangji last came to this Secret Realm to recruit disciples. It really hasn’t been very long since the last recruitment. We’ve inconvenienced you and the Chu Territory,” Wei Yuanwei said from his seat to the left of the throne.
“It’s nothing to worry about. These people are all the Chu Territory has,” Emperor Chu said, looking down at the lower hall of the palace at the several Daoist Lords who had arrived early. “Plus, Celestial Tide Spirit Master issued a jade slip. No matter how big of an inconvenience it is, it can’t be called an inconvenience.”
Wei Yuanwei nodded, picked up his teacup, and took a light sip of the high-quality spirit tea.
Rumbling booms resounded outside of Heavenly Heart Palace, accompanied by a black and white radiance filtering into the hall.
Moments later, Xu Disheng entered the hall with Daoist Lord Qingxin and Zhang Yun. He took several steps forward and cupped his hands in salute. “Martial Uncle Chu, Envoy Wei.”
“At ease,” Emperor Chu said, his grave and stern expression thawing into a gentle smile. “How goes the matters that the Spirit Master entrusted you with?”
“Martial Uncle, the mission was completed smoothly. I’ve brought… Qingxin here,” Xu Disheng said, hesitating for a moment before finally deciding not to refer to him ‘master’ anymore.
Emperor Chu nodded and looked at Qingxin, whom he had recollection of, as he had already spent over 200 years in the Chu Territory. “Qingxin, Celestial Tide Spirit Master issued an order to have you freed of punishment, but the internal sect proceedings are still not fully complete. You will have to act accordingly.”
“Yes, Martial Uncle,” Qingxin said, also politely cupping his hands in salute.
Emperor Chu no longer looked at him, closing his eyes and continuing to cultivate.
Below, Xu Disheng silently perceived Emperor Chu’s aura, which felt vast and profound. It was already stronger than Wei Yuanwei’s aura by quite a bit. It seemed like he had already reached the bottleneck at the peak of the Dao Foundation stage. But would this damaged realm really be able to support his breakthrough to the Divine Core stage?
After several hours, the people from each Province arrived in Heavenly Heart Palace. Since this time wasn’t a unified sect recruitment, Wei Yuanwei had directly entered the Chu Territory with his two intermediary disciples without informing Emperor Chu beforehand.
Thus, the Daoist Lords of each of the Dao Palaces hadn’t come here in advance to wait for their arrival. Only after they descended upon the Imperial Court did Emperor Chu send out an order to each Province, instructing each Daoist Lord to bring their disciples.
“Realm Master Chu, shall we start then?” Wei Yuanwei asked. He and Emperor Chu weren’t acquainted previously, unlike Secret Realms Envoy Liu Xiangji, who directly called him Brother Chu at the time.
“During the exam period, everything will be up to you, Envoy Wei,” Emperor Chu said while nodding, but he didn’t stop cultivating.
This wasn’t all that surprising, given that there were only 6 or 7 people participating in the exam. It wasn’t sufficient to draw much interest from him.
It had only been several years since the last unified disciple recruitment period, so the Chu Territory was already quite outstanding to be able to produce another 6-7 people capable of becoming profound cultivators.
Wei Yuanwei lightly waved his hand and a misty orb appeared in the center of the hall. In the light reflecting off the water vapor, the hundred vicissitudes of life could be seen—people being born, growing old, and dying.
“A minimum of Grade 3 Profound Meridians is necessary to cultivate the profound laws. All of you meet the requirements, so we will only test your temperament. If you can make it out of the illusion realm in a quarter of an hour, you will be accepted into the sect.”
Wei Yuanwei was clearly skipping over the steps, but no one dared to say anything. Zhang Yun, who had been standing beside Daoist Lord Qingxin, silently moved over to stand with the other 6 people taking the exam.
“Are you going in or not? What are you all waiting for?” Xing Xing, the other intermediary disciple, shouted reprovingly, clearly impatient.
The complexions of the young men and women turned a bit unsightly, but they didn’t dare to retort.
After all, even the Daoist Lords were being extremely careful not to make any missteps. Plus, with Emperor Chu dismissively closing his eyes and cultivating, Wei Yuanwei was being extremely perfunctory about the sect entry examination, clearly not caring that much about it.
They glanced at each other, then very carefully walked into the orb of mist, where illusions were continually fluctuating and flashing past.
“Ahhhh!” One of the girls screamed as she approached the orb of mist and was sucked in, disappearing without a trace. All that was left behind was her ear-piercing screech.
Emperor Chu opened his eyes slightly, his brows furrowing in displeasure.
There was a white-robed youth beside him. Seeing Emperor Chu’s expression, he turned to the Daoist Lords and said coldly, “Which Dao Palace does that disciple belong to?”
Below, the dozen or so Daoist Lords lowered their heads and didn’t reply.
After a while, a voice said, “Young Lord, that girl is my disciple.”
This ‘Young Lord’, Chu Luo, walked down the stairs and stopped in front of the old man. “Not only is one of the sect’s Secret Realms Envoys here, but my forefather was also quietly cultivating just now. You have been in the Chu Territory for over 300 years, yet you bring a disciple like this who likes to scream and make a fuss? Do you only know how to bring disciples like these who lose face for our Chu Territory?”
The old man was at the early Sea of Qi stage. Although Chu Luo was only at the Cleansed Meridians stage, his manner was overbearing, completely suppressing the old man into silence.
As they were speaking, the 7 disciples who were taking the sect entry examination had all entered the orb of mist. Light radiated out from within, showing the scenes taking place inside the illusion realm.
Xu Disheng roughly glimpsed the scenes and saw that the illusion realm was extremely simple. It was much like the small island he was on in the Mirage Sea Realm during the Internal Disciple Tournament. However, in this illusion, there were all kinds of temptations. If a regular mortal succumbed to these temptations, they would never be able to break out again.
Xing Xing also didn’t feel much interest in this. He turned and asked Xu Disheng, “You were previously from the Chu Territory?”
Xing Xing wasn’t from the Mingxin Mountain Range. He was from the Third Mountain, Wenyuan Mountain Range. Thus, he didn’t know Xu Disheng and just took him to be some ordinary disciple with a bit of backing.
“Yes,” Xu Disheng replied with a nod. “Senior Martial Brother Xing, we’re about to leave for the An Territory, but will we be stopping back at Cangming Peak first?”
When he heard the An Territory being brought up, Xing Xing’s face turned stiff. He was clearly remembering the matter of Wei Yuanwei demanding 30 spirit stones from him.
“There’s no need. Envoy Wei has the realm-crossing token. These tokens were refined by the supreme powers of Affairs Hall, and have links to each of the Mortal Secret Realms. With the realm-crossing token and the realm-crossing wooden boat, it’s possible to go directly to any of the 27 Mortal Secret Realms,” Xing Xing explained unhurriedly as he continued to look at the happenings taking place in the misty orb. He had a good amount of patience for a colleague like Xu Disheng.
A quarter of an hour quickly flew by. 6 people out of the 7 managed to escape from the mist within the time limit. Even the girl who had screamed earlier managed to tumble out at the last moment right before the time limit.
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