Floating Immortal Order

“The fact that disciples like us could also listen in on official Peak business is all thanks to your prestige, Junior Martial Brother Xu,” Lu Zimo said with a smile as the three of them left Morning Night Hall.

Xu Disheng shook his head lightly and said, “Could there be some deeper meaning behind the Peak Master deliberately letting us listen in on the matter of setting up a marketplace?”

“But setting up a marketplace requires years of preparation, and we will need to report our intention to a Spirit Master in authority and receive approval. There are many extremely complicated details and procedures that we would need to go through first,” Bai Zhehua said, somewhat knowledgeable on the topic. His expression was relaxed as he fiddled around with a jade bottle in his hands and said, “Senior Martial Brother Lu is right. All of this was thanks to Senior Martial Brother Xu’s prestige. These two drops of Purple Qi Morning Dew were an unexpected windfall.”

Xu Disheng also had a jade bottle, which he put away into his Yin Yang Diagram. Lu Changge had given the three of them two drops of Purple Qi Morning Dew each. It really was a pleasant surprise.

The Purple Qi Morning Dew of Morning Dew Peak was extremely rare, and there was practically no market for it due to the lack of supply. Most of it was being stored away by Lu Changge.

Even a single small drop could increase one’s lifespan by several years. One drop could be sold for well over 100 spirit stones.

“Come to think of it, how come I haven’t seen Senior Martial Brother Chu in the past several days? He was originally the number 1 Sea of Qi stage disciple on Morning Dew Peak, so by all rights he should have been allowed to listen to the business proceedings,” Bai Zhehua said with a puzzled expression.

Lu Zimo said, “Senior Martial Brother Chu has been in Heart Refining Mountain’s Cultivation Hall for the last two days. His ranking in the tournament was only okay, but he’s close to breaking through to the Dao Foundation stage.” He turned to address Xu Disheng and said, “Junior Martial Brother Xu, in the tournament tonight, you must weigh your abilities and act within your limits. Although the Spirit Masters in authority will be spectating, you should quickly admit defeat against the geniuses you can’t beat. Although there shouldn’t be any danger to your life in this round, a simple graze from a Psychic Magic Treasure can injure you. Taking a direct hit would be even more devastating. When you run into those few geniuses with Psychic Magic Treasures, you need to exercise utmost caution.”

“Thank you for your concern, Senior Martial Brother Lu,” Xu Disheng said.

“Fortunately, the advantage in power a Psychic Magic Treasure gives decreases more and more in the Dao Foundation and Divine Core stage,” Bai Zhehua said, a hint of dissatisfaction and even jealousy in his tone. “A Sea of Qi stage cultivation is too inadequate. All of the combat power at this stage relies on Magic Treasures. It’s way too unbalanced.”

“There’s no helping it. The might of any cultivation method is very limited at the Sea of Qi stage,” Lu Zimo said. “But there’s something you’re a bit mistaken about, Junior Martial Brother Bai. Someone at the Dao Foundation stage can exert the full might of a Magic Treasure, but it’s only at the Divine Core stage that Spirit Masters can exert the might of a Psychic Magic Treasure to its peak. So technically, this kind of disparity in resources would only even out upon reaching the Three Approaching Divinity stages at the very least.”

The Three Approaching Divinity stages? Bai Zhehua shook his head, deciding not to think about it any further.

This was the truth of the Shangqing Sacred Sect. As long as you had a noble bloodline, some background that provided you with a deep pool of cultivation resources, or the support of some powerful force in the sect, it would always be possible to suppress disciples of the same rank, and they wouldn’t even be able to resist.

There were only two ways for an ordinary disciple to stand out in the Shangqing Sacred Sect.

The first way was to have a tremendous level of luck and fortune and accumulate opportunities and inheritances, which would allow one to rise above the rest and suppress those of the same generation. Just like Sacred Son Feng Shao had back in the day, obtaining the inheritance of Celestial Tide Saint Lord and experiencing a meteoric rise to greatness. Due to his Psychic Magic Treasure, the Star Beheading Sword, he earned a flawless set of victories against all of the Dao Foundation stage geniuses in the Eight Mountains, earning the title of Sacred Son, and all of the spectacular honor and glory that came along with it.

(TL: Saint Lord Xingyuan → Celestial Tide Saint Lord. Previously mentioned in Chapter 80. There are apparently two people with the moniker ‘Celestial Tide, as mentioned below.’)

Interestingly enough, there was also the Celestial Tide Spirit Master in Mingxin Mountain Range, who had the same moniker as the Saint Lord. It was rumored that he was actually the descendent of Celestial Tide Saint Lord.

However, it was Feng Shao who obtained the inheritance of Celestial Tide Saint Lord in the end.

The second way was to have an outstanding, exceptional level of talent and aptitude. Even if you had an ordinary, humble background, as long as you were a phenomenal talent, there would be no shortage of influential powers wanting to support you.

Those that had access to neither of these means could pretty much only squander away their lives in mediocrity in the world of cultivation. There wasn’t much they could do to avoid scrimping over those few spirit stones that they could earn in cultivation resources every month and fretting over the quota of sect missions they had to do every year.

However, there was a way out for these disciples destined for mediocrity.

If they wanted to give up on advancing any further, they could declare their intent to the sect and be assigned to the provincial seat of a mortal province in the Mortal Secret Realms. They would be tasked with watching over mortals, but at least they would be able to enjoy a lavish lifestyle of riches and power.

Xu Disheng said farewell to Lu Zimo and Bai Zhehua and returned to his courtyard alone.

He would only receive his new courtyard after the tournament ended. But considering the fact that it was a courtyard that was standard issue for Dao Foundation stage disciples, it was probably a big upgrade over his current courtyard.

The official business proceedings that had gone on in Morning Night Hall were more or less unrelated to Xu Disheng.

Xu Disheng didn’t really prepare much for the final round of the Sea of Qi division of the tournament that was tonight. Instead, he was looking pensively at a jade slip in front of him.

This jade slip had flown over to his location from the faraway Wenyuan Mountain. The sender of the jade slip was the Secret Realms Envoy that Xu Disheng was set to be working under, whose name was Wei Yuanwei.

Wei Yuanwei didn’t say that much since he was well aware that Xu Disheng had been directly assigned to the post of intermediary disciple by Celestial Tide Spirit Master.

He simply told Xu Disheng to come to Wenyuan Mountain to report in and officially assume his duties as an intermediary disciple after the Mingxin Mountain Range’s Internal Disciple Tournament ended.

Also, Wei Yuanwei informed Xu Disheng that in five days, he was to come with him and one other intermediary disciple to Cangyun Peak, where they would depart for two Mortal Secret Realms, the Chu Territory and the An Territory, to carry out some matters.

Unwittingly, several years had already flown by since Xu Disheng came to the Human Realm.

However… it wasn’t even time for the next recruitment period in the Mortal Secret Realms yet. Wei Yuanwei’s trip to the Chu Territory at this time was an arrangement ordered by Celestial Tide Spirit Master.

The other Mortal Secret Realm they were going to, the An Territory, was also related to another matter altogether.

This kind of situation was extremely common.

Although the people of the 27 Mortal Secret Realms had humble beginnings, their numbers were incalculable. In the passing of countless years, many geniuses had originated from within.

It was even rumored that in the First Mountain, the Shangqing Mountain Range, where Primordial Lords submerged themselves in cultivation, there were several who originated from the Mortal Secret Realms.

Hence, there were descendents and relatives of these disciples with powerful cultivations scattered throughout the 27 Mortal Secret Realms, possessing their bloodlines and meridians.

Although a portion of them may have already made it out of the Secret Realms, the various bloodlines continued to propagate and flow on. As a result, there were still many relatives and descendents of disciples of the Shangqing Sacred Sect existing within the Mortal Secret Realms.

Aside from being responsible for matters related to recruiting disciples from the Mortal Secret Realm, one hidden role of the Secret Realms office of Affairs Hall was to go into the Secret Realms on behalf of those who requested it and pass on information to those within.

It was quite clear that the reason Wei Yuanwei was bringing Xu Disheng and another intermediary disciple into the Chu Territory and An Territory wasn’t to recruit disciples, but to carry out matters for the people in the background who requested it.

At night, the Green Lotus Domain looked almost the same as it did during the day. Floating above the waters of Lotus Lake were a myriad of brilliant lights suspended in the air, which made for a beautiful scene that illuminated the entire domain.

The number of disciples standing around watching the tournament had already decreased drastically. The several hundred brilliant white circles of light had also been removed. The disciples of the various Mountain Peaks had already returned to their respective Peaks, leaving only a little over ten thousand disciples still in the domain spectating.

If you appreciate the translation or want to sponsor a chapter, please consider supporting me on Ko-Fi!