Chapter 571: Doesn't Look Like a Legitimate Cultivator No Matter How You Look At It

Mingsheng Dao.

As one of the most powerful forces in this world, its scale far surpassed that of Qianyang Sect.

And because it had been established by the Divine Dao Heavenly Sovereign, all of its specifications were identical to the Heavenly Sovereign's Divine Court during the flourishing era of the Divine Dao.

One could only see jade pavilions and gemmed halls standing in great numbers, pearl palaces and shell chambers spread across the land.

A staircase paved with a special spirit jade of deep purple laced with threads of gold ran straight through it, ascending without a bend!

On either side, blood-red flowers of the other shore swayed in the wind, stretching on for nearly a hundred li.

At the top of the staircase, deep and mysterious lights intertwined, evolving above the vaulted heavens into a great river rushing with withered-yellow waters.

And beneath the rolling, surging torrent of withered-yellow waters sat a grim ancient city, heavy with yin energy, as if countless black shadows lingered within; in the dim flickerings between them, one could hear the shrill wails and weeping of demons and ghosts.

Outside the city stood a pitch-black iron stele, upon which were inscribed three great golden characters—

Mingsheng Dao!

"Judging from its appearance alone, it seems a touch more spectacular than the sect headquarters of your Qidaxian Sect."

On the staircase, Xu Xing and Huo walked slowly upward.

Around the two of them were also some people—some in tattered clothes, some in splendid brocade robes, and some burly, powerfully built men.

Their eyes shone with sharp, piercing light, and the qi and blood within their bodies burned hot—clearly, they had martial arts to rely on.

There were even demons and ghosts among them.

However…

Compared to the ease and casualness of Xu Xing and Huo, the other climbers found the going very difficult; each one was panting and drenched in sweat.

Every step they took seemed to drain the strength from their entire bodies, their forms swaying unsteadily, as if at any moment they might tumble back down the staircase.

But even so, not a single one of them gave up.

"The Divine Dao has always been like this; it's nothing to marvel at."

Xu Xing looked toward the grim ancient city at the top of the staircase.

After all, this was merely a world at the Nascent Soul level. Although the divine spirits had done their best to adorn themselves, compared to the Divine Dao Heavenly Court he had seen back in the Great Peace Realm, the difference was still more than a hair's breadth.

Huo gave a slight nod.

Although none of the fellow Daoists really said much in the group chat.

He had also heard that the world where Daoist Brother and the others had previously stayed seemed to be a Divine Dao world…

Huo's gaze swept over the climbers beside him, while in his right hand he toyed with a pitch-black, gleaming round bead.

"But speaking of which, these remnant gods of the Divine Dao certainly know how to scheme."

What these climbers were currently undergoing was the 'Grand Mingsheng Immortal Selection,' which Mingsheng Dao held before each new round of cleansing.

Unlike an ordinary 'Immortal Selection.'

The Grand Mingsheng Immortal Selection was open to all living beings under Mingsheng Dao's rule.

It asked not about origin, not about innate constitution, and not even about background!

So long as one could make it here and ascend into Mingsheng City, one could become a member of Mingsheng Dao and be granted a cultivation method.

Upon this staircase, according to each climber's own karmic obstacles and merit, corresponding Illusory Realms would arise to test them.

The heavier the karmic obstacles, the harder the test.

Conversely, the greater the merit, the simpler the test.

That's right!

Although the very order of this world itself had been twisted in part, it still possessed a complete mechanism for evaluating 'merit' and 'karmic obstacles.'

This was also the reason why divine spirits above the rank of Divine Dao Sovereign had to go to such great lengths and rarely took matters into their own hands.

Once this batch of successful climbers had achieved something in their cultivation.

They could be sent to various places throughout Mingsheng Dao to cleanse the surplus demons and ghosts, as well as those gods who had lost their incense offerings and whose authority had atrophied, turning them into wandering, homeless spirits.

Those with outstanding battle merits would then be rewarded with divine ranks, until the next cleansing began.

This set of rules was used to cycle endlessly.

After so many years, the ordinary divine spirits had already been replaced batch after batch.

Yet the two ranks of gods—the Heavenly Sovereign and the Sovereign Lords of Mingsheng Dao—still sat loftily on high, enjoying the incense of ten thousand peoples, maintaining their own authority without decline.

"Although the level isn't high, there are indeed no lack of outstanding individuals among them." Huo gave a slight nod.

Setting aside other factors, the way these Divine Dao gods responded was indeed quite ingenious.

"A pity, it's not the orthodox Dao." Huo sighed.

Hm?

Xu Xing looked at him with a strange expression.

Whether it's the orthodox Dao or not…

You, the ancestor of the demonic Dao, making such an evaluation—is that really appropriate?!

Huo paid no heed to Xu Xing's strange gaze, and instead said:

"Daoist Brother, who do you think it would be more fitting to give this share of 'Creation' to?"

In an instant, a million lives and deaths, spanning ten years.

The demons, ghosts, and gods in the ghost city earlier could absolutely never have endured it.

Not even the City Lord, who held the highest realm, was an exception.

Of course, with his protection, it was a different story.

All the demons, ghosts, and gods could endure every punishment in a state of fully lucid self-awareness.

As a result, these minor demons, minor ghosts, and strange gods could now be considered of some use, marginally better than that 'Hidden Dragon Lord' from before.

"Fellow Daoist may decide on your own, however…"

"I know, I know, I'll keep things in proper measure." Huo said with a smile, "Just don't dock my good disciple's reward, Dao Brother."

That ghost city from before had already been erased by him at its very root.

Moreover, he had slightly altered this world, making its disappearance entirely "reasonable."

So there was no need to worry that the chain reaction triggered by the ghost city's removal would affect Xiao Fan's mission.

"As for that… it depends on how you act afterward, Dao Friend."

"Rest assured, Dao Brother. I'm the most measured person there is."

"Heh."

While they were speaking—

The two had already overtaken every other stair-climber and arrived before the gates of Mingsheng City.

The Mingsheng Dao Foundation Establishment cultivators guarding the endpoint were somewhat astonished.

Someone had actually reached the endpoint this quickly?

……

……

Compared to Xiao Fan being thrown into a world where deities dwelled and order was warped—

The second batch of Ascension Emissaries each had their own circumstances as well.

Take Zhang Yunlu, for instance—she was sent to a world where the source of the supernatural was gradually fading, the cultivation system was entirely absent, yet the world as a whole had already developed into the steam age.

The great powers were locked in fierce struggles for their say in the world.

Even the most powerful transcendent beings could only awaken the power passed down through the bloodlines of cultivators; they had completely lost the ability for individual might to surpass numbers.

Zhang Yunlu's mission was to stop the disputes among the great powers, guide the resurgence of the spiritual tide once more, and establish a reasonable supernatural order.

As for Lin Changsheng, he was sent to a rather special world.

In that world, humanity was not the favored child of the world.

As if bound by some restriction, they could not strengthen themselves through any means.

All manner of strange beasts were the favored existences instead, possessing all sorts of powerful abilities and wielding the various authorities of nature.

Wind, fire, lightning…

Even space, time, and fate!

Yet strangely, the vast majority of strange beasts bore no ill will toward humans; on the contrary, they would deliberately seek them out.

Thus, under such circumstances, humanity, relying on its own wisdom, created a kind of "contract"-like vessel to tame the various strange beasts for their own use.

A world like a fairy tale, yet one tinged with a touch of the absurd—peaceful.

Lin Changsheng's mission was to seek out and investigate the reason behind it all, devise a set of applicable cultivation methods, and establish a reasonable supernatural order.

……

……

Tai Xuan Realm, Xiang Jianzong.

Outer Gate Ascension Hall. Within the hall, Du Ruoheng, through the central hub of the Ascension Platform, verified the status of each second-batch Ascension Emissary one by one.

"Hoo~"

He let out a light breath, finally at ease.

After all, compared to the first deployment, this second deployment was on a far larger scale.

The matter of "Ascension" was something even the Hehuan Laozu paid attention to; he dared not slacken in the slightest.

Much more relaxed in his heart, Du Ruoheng casually glanced at the mission world where his own disciple was.

Only…

When he saw clearly everything that was happening within, the corners of his eyes couldn't help but twitch slightly.

In the current Mission World 1, after the "reborn" Zhou Xian had gone through his great ups and downs, he passed on the divine ability he had "magically modified" from his memories—

The "Yin-Yang Spirit-Snatching Origin-Seizing Divine Art."

This had caused the world's entire style to completely collapse.

The newly awakened Star-People who had learned the "Yin-Yang Spirit-Snatching Origin-Seizing Divine Art," upon reaching a certain stage of cultivation, would seek out special gifted individuals to "harvest and supplement," thereby seizing their talents to refine into divine-ability seeds for Foundation Establishment.

Most were all manner of extraordinarily gifted yao-beasts and spirits.

A small number also wished to learn from Zhou Xian, seizing the special talents of beings from the Changyuan civilization.

Unfortunately, they did not have Zhou Xian's golden finger; those who tried either died or were injured, and not a single one succeeded.

Of course, some had also figured out the true use of "harvesting and supplementing," harmed several people, and seen their cultivation soar!

But they were eventually discovered, and in the end blasted to death by a single shot from an orbital cannon.

Hehuan arts, harvesting and supplementing, seizing talents to refine divine abilities for Foundation Establishment…

No matter how you looked at it, they didn't seem like proper cultivators!

Just as Du Ruoheng was at a loss for words, a playful voice suddenly rang out beside his ear.

"Tsk tsk! If anyone else saw this, they'd think the Sect Master's disciple came from the Hehuan Sect."

He looked up and saw that the speaker had Tongxuan cultivation, wore a black tracksuit, and cradled an ancient-looking longsword of unremarkable appearance.

Delicate features with a touch of baby fat, hair tied in twin ponytails.

Standing roughly a hundred and sixty centimeters tall, with a figure that showed little in the way of curves.

Du Ruoheng tugged at the corner of his mouth, then said seriously:

"Ye Shijie Yue is joking. A thousand people have a thousand faces, let alone an entire world?"

"Kongming merely offered guidance; how they choose is still up to them."

"Besides, the Hehuan Sect is now one of the Xian Sect's branches, and the 'Yin-Yang Qi-Gathering Hehuan Divine Art' is not an evil method either."

"Kongming passed down the orthodox method, and I don't see anything wrong with that."

Yue Yue — back in the early years when the Sect Master was being chosen, Ye Shijie Yue was one of his rivals.

After losing to him in the election, she had been at odds with him ever since.

Yet upon hearing this, the twin-tailed Tongxuan sword cultivator's expression suddenly changed, and she said in a barbed tone:

"Then the Sect Master's attainments in the *Yin-Yang Qi-Harvesting Union of Bliss Art* must be quite high, I suppose. May I ask which member of the Bliss Union Sect you cultivated it with?"

Du Ruoheng: "???"

What?!

How did you reach that conclusion?!

This old man has been a Pure Yang body for all these years — cultivating that method would be utterly useless!

"Ye Shijie, don't speak carelessly. We can laugh about such things among ourselves, but if fellow cultivators of the Bliss Union Sect were to overhear, it might cause unnecessary trouble."

"You still care about her?!" Yue Yue roared in fury.

Du Ruoheng grew even more baffled.

"Ye Shijie, what makes you say that? I'm worried someone might use it to target you."

So it was concern for herself, then…

"Oh, I see." Yue Yue calmed down in an instant, but still added, "I'm not afraid of her!"

"Of course not."

Though somewhat baffled inside, Du Ruoheng still replied with a smile.

In the few years of being Sect Master, the worries have been endless — Ye Shijie Yue's little fit of pettiness really didn't amount to much.

The other Tongxuan Supreme Elders sat solemnly above it all.

Each of them appeared to be watching the mission worlds, but in truth was quietly paying attention to the two.

Tsk tsk!

Speaking of which, it really was rather strange — the Sect Master managed every aspect of the Xiang Jianzong with great thoroughness.

Yet when it came to himself, he was utterly clueless.

Junior Sister Yue had liked him for far more than a day or two — how had he not noticed after all these years?

emm…

That said, the proportion of sword cultivators who found Dao companions was indeed far lower than that of other types of cultivators.

……

……

Within the Xiang Jianzong's inner gate, outside the Sword Venerable Hall.

The night was deep; a bright, clear moon hung silently in the night sky, with scattered stars adorning its side.

Three figures stood outside the hall, facing one another.

"Since the second batch of Ascension Emissaries has already been deployed, I'll be off then." Xiang Xiang Yuanjun said with a light smile.

Moonlight fell like gauze, quietly drifting before the hall, lending the already graceful and gentle Xiang Xiang Yuanjun an added touch of ethereal haziness.

As if a single breath of clear wind would carry her away…

"Staying longer might end up affecting the Xiang Jianzong, and I can't keep troubling you, Dao Brother, to seal it off."

The calamity upon her had yet to be dispelled; lingering in one place for long would cause that place to be influenced by the 'calamity' as well.

Xu Xing could indeed seal it off, but in the end it was only a temporary measure.

It did nothing whatsoever to help 'dissolve' the calamity.

"That's no trouble at all." Xu Xing said this first, paused, then continued, "Give me a little more time, and I should be able to resolve it completely."

Many things now hinged on this critical step.

Hearing this, Xiang Xiang Yuanjun's smile faded, and she nodded seriously:

"I'll look forward to that day."

Of course she trusted Xu Xing — just as Xu Xing had trusted her back when she made her decision after merging with the Dao.

Then Xiang Xiang Yuanjun turned to look at Bie Xuening, who stood to the side with an indifferent expression, and spoke the very same words she had said when leaving the bamboo grove all those years ago.

"I'm off, but I'll come again in the future."

"…" Bie Xuening paused for two seconds before saying flatly, "Travel safe."

Seeing that she hadn't coldly shot back at her like she had back then, Xiang Xiang Yuanjun laughed freely.

After taking out the small banner inscribed with 'Fortune and Calamity Rest With Me,' her entire form became like a wisp of light smoke, vanishing beneath the moonlight.

The evening breeze drifted in, carrying not the slightest chill.

Xu Xing turned his head to look at Bie Xuening, meeting her autumn-water-like eyes:

"Ye Shijie, let's head back."

After seeing Xiang Xiang Yuanjun off, the status of the second batch of Ascension Emissaries still needed to be observed.

Watching their performance would help in adjusting the mission parameters for the third batch.

"Mm."

The two then left the front of the hall and turned to walk inside.

They had not taken more than a few steps.

Beep beep~!

A crisp notification chime echoed within the hall.

"Who?"

"It's that ungrateful disciple."

Bie Xuening handed the phone to Xu Xing for him to look at.

Unworthy Disciple: "Jiuyu's Cultivation Diary"

Unworthy Disciple: "/Video"

Since Chi Jiuyu's progress in talisman dao cultivation was quite good, she decided to report to her master once every day.

Soon another message arrived.

Unworthy Disciple: "Master, I think you could mention it to Uncle-Master too — that way it can also prove your disciple hasn't let down his expectations" (End of Chapter)