Chapter 161

Standing at the window, a clear, deep blue sky came into Zheng Fa's view.

Looking down, he saw an endless expanse of white cloud sea.

The cloud sea rushed beneath his feet like storm-tossed waves, charging forward without pause.

It wasn't the clouds moving fast—it was him.

Zheng Fa had never known that the palace where Master Pang routinely summoned disciples was actually one of his magic treasures.

…

Zheng Fa left his room and headed toward the main hall.

Since Master Huang had brought news of the Heavenly Stele,

the nature of Taiyang County had changed—

aside from Zhang Shijie's disappearance.

The matter of the Heavenly Stele was even more significant.

A heavenly opportunity, for Jiushan Sect, was also a heavenly challenge.

Originally, the Sect Master and the other had planned to send Sun Daoyu ahead with some disciples to Lei Chi.

But now Master Pang had no choice but to go himself.

He brought many disciples:

some were sent as originally planned to search for Zhang Shijie.

some were sent to try to comprehend the Heavenly Stele.

The last group, based on Zheng Fa's suggestion, were prepared to find a site near Lei Chi to establish a new marketplace.

Master Pang sat in the main hall, discussing something with Sun Daoyu and others.

Seeing Zheng Fa arrive, he waved him over.

"Master."

"What do you think of my Five Dragon Heavenly Palace?"

Master Pang pointed outside the hall door.

Zheng Fa turned his head and, from this angle, clearly saw that the sprawling palace complex floated atop golden cloud sea.

At the front of the cloud sea were five golden dragons, soaring through mist and clouds, pulling the entire palace forward.

Upon closer inspection, he realized these five dragons were not physical beings, yet they looked utterly lifelike—their long whiskers fluttered in the wind, their golden scales shimmered brilliantly.

More importantly, Zheng Fa could clearly sense—these five dragons were not mere ornaments for show.

Each time they turned their heads toward him, the golden light in their eyes sent a shiver through his heart.

"Master's magic treasure has opened my eyes."

Master Pang's lips twitched, as if he wanted to smile but held back, merely waving his hand: "My Five Dragon Heavenly Palace was forged after I reached Nascent Soul—I killed five demonic snakes on the verge of becoming jiao, refined their essences, and had someone craft them into this."

"... aster's divine might."

A demonic snake nearing jiao status would not have low cultivation; according to Zheng Fa's knowledge, the weaker ones had already formed demonic cores, the stronger ones rivaled Nascent Soul.

For Master Pang, newly arrived at Nascent Soul, to achieve such a feat truly made Zheng Fa look at him anew.

"Without this ability, could my brother have recalled Master Huang and sent me to Taiyang County?"

Speaking of Master Huang, Master Pang no longer hid his pride.

Hearing this, Zheng Fa found it reasonable.

Master Pang departed, and the Sect Master immediately recalled Master Huang—according to his words, Jiushan Sect must always maintain two Nascent Soul cultivators on standby unless absolutely desperate.

Was it because Master Pang's strength surpassed the others, making his master feel more at ease?

…

"Master, how far can this Five Dragon Heavenly Palace fly in a day?" Zheng Fa asked curiously.

"About eight thousand li per day." Seeing Zheng Fa's expression, as if fearing he underestimated the treasure, Master Pang added: "It could go faster, but the Demon Cult is hiding in the shadows—we must be cautious."

Zheng Fa nodded.

He thought for a moment: "So we'll reach Taiyang County in a little over three days?"

The Xuanwei Realm was vastly larger than the modern world; though Taiyang County fell under Jiushan Sect's jurisdiction, it lay thirty thousand li away from Jiushan Sect.

Of course, this was already on the frontier of Jiushan Sect's influence.

Hence, Jiushan Sect had long entrusted this territory to Changchun Sect—because unless one was a Nascent Soul True Person like Master Pang, any other Jiushan disciple would spend over a month just making the round trip, far too inconvenient.

"Three days is impossible."

"Hm?"

"We're taking a detour."

"Detour?" Zheng Fa thought: "Then five days?"

"At least half a month."

… You're not even using a map—why take such a long route?

Seeing Zheng Fa's confused expression, Master Pang seemed slightly embarrassed: "The Demon Cult lurks in the shadows—there may be traps. If we went straight, we'd walk right into an ambush."

"... o how exactly are we detouring?"

Master Pang pulled out a rough map and drew a winding, serpentine route for Zheng Fa—had Master Pang not explained, Zheng Fa would've thought he was drawing talismans on the map.

"..."

"This route passes through many sects of the Hundred Immortal Alliance—should trouble arise, we can easily seek aid."

Master Pang explained his reasoning.

"Also, if the Demon Cult has hidden agents, they'd never expect me to choose this path!"

"Not just the Demon Cult wouldn't expect it..." Zheng Fa sighed, staring at the map: "No normal person would."

"..."

Zheng Fa now understood why his master had recalled Master Huang to Jiushan Sect and sent Master Pang to Taiyang County—

Master Pang was simply an extremely cautious man!

…

"... ough, I suspect many fellow cultivators will join us on this journey."

Master Pang, sensing he'd sounded exaggerated, added:

"Fellow cultivators?"

"The Heavenly Stele is too significant—how could any sect of the Hundred Immortal Alliance not be tempted? I chose this route precisely to connect with them first, especially regarding the marketplace."

Zheng Fa nodded.

That made perfect sense.

Indeed, along the way, many followed—yet due to the overwhelming aura of the Five Dragon Heavenly Palace, none among them were Nascent Soul; they merely paid respects to Master Pang, then trailed behind on their own magic treasures, clearly seeking safety.

They wanted security.

Until the eighth day, when they were still about halfway to Taiyang County, Zheng Fa suddenly noticed Master Pang's expression turning grave.

"Follow me."

Master Pang spoke to them, leading everyone to the hall's entrance, then gestured—five golden dragons halted.

Zheng Fa stood beside him, gazing outward.

An oval black shadow appeared beneath the cloud sea; gradually, it pierced through the clouds, and Zheng Fa realized it was a giant xuan turtle.

The turtle's body was enormous—Zheng Fa estimated that the entire palace complex he stood on would occupy only half its back.

The turtle's back had no buildings, yet it was densely packed with people.

"Which True Person of Yuling Sect is present?"

Master Pang bowed toward the opposite side.

Zheng Fa froze—Yuling Sect was also a sect of the Hundred Immortal Alliance.

It had a Nascent Soul cultivator stationed within, ranking among the top nine sects of the alliance.

Most importantly, Yuling Sect was famed for raising spiritual beasts—Li Nuo had been swindled out of many spirit stones by them before.

"I am Ling Chengfeng. Is this Master Pang?"

A middle-aged man at the front replied; he was powerfully built, his beard and hair faintly tinged yellow.

"The Great Xuan Turtle True Person Ling! I've long heard of your renown—unfortunately, we've never met until now. To encounter you today is truly a blessing of three lifetimes!" Master Pang's tone was warm, his expression utterly sincere.

The middle-aged man blinked, seemingly unaccustomed to such fervent praise.

Master Pang gave a subtle glance to the side.

Before Zheng Fa could understand, Master Pang's disciples all shouted in unison:

"We pay our respects to the Great Xuan Turtle True Person! May your cultivation advance swiftly, and your life endure as long as heaven and earth!"

Zheng Fa stood aside, feeling utterly out of place—

Wait, did you all rehearse this?

Didn't include me?

This display made the True Person's face actually soften with a hint of a smile.

He and his disciples returned the greetings to Master Pang.

They even arranged to meet later for a banquet in the hall.

As the giant turtle slowly drifted away, Zheng Fa asked Master Pang: "Is he very powerful?"

"Powerful?" Master Pang frowned, shaking his head: "He's Nascent Soul, but all his power comes from that turtle—his foundation is unstable. Not truly powerful."

"Then... why is he so famous?"

"He's not famous at all. The Spirit Controlling Sect still revolves around its Sect Master, and he has no notable achievements."

"Then, Master Uncle…"

"You don't understand… In the cultivation world, isn't it all about relationships and social graces?"

"…"

"You don't hit someone who's smiling, do you?" Master Pang urged patiently. "Today I'm flattering him; tomorrow he won't dare make trouble for my Nine Mountains Sect, right?"

"…"

Zheng Fa now understood why his own Master had sent Master Pang to oversee the Lei Chi matter.

This Master Uncle is the Nine Mountains Sect's socialite!

…

Later, the Elder Xuan Gui, True Person Ling, arrived with several disciples for the banquet.

Master Pang also hosted with his own few direct disciples.

Because Master Pang kept offering flattery, the banquet atmosphere grew increasingly warm.

True Person Ling drank a bit too much and seemed drunk.

"I heard your Nine Mountains Sect's Zhang Wuyi is trapped in Lei Chi?"

He asked with a smile.

Master Pang paused his wine cup, but his face showed no change—only a slight nod.

"I also heard she constantly opposes you within the sect?"

"That's untrue," Master Pang set down his cup and said. "Zhang Shixie merely has differing views from mine—how can you say she opposes me at every turn?"

True Person Ling raised his cup, pointed at him, and wore an expression of seeing through but pretending not to.

"I always knew Zhang Wuyi's temperament would lead to trouble," he added.

"…"

"So what if she's talented? She's offended so many peers—even dared to bully my direct disciples…" He fell silent, but True Person Ling kept talking: "Now that she's in trouble, it's fate."

"Master, you've had too much to drink."

Master Pang's smile slowly faded; his fingers gently gripped the wine cup, as if restraining himself.

"Too much?" True Person Ling shook his head, unwilling to let it go. "Zhang Wuyi's downfall is a regret for me—after a hundred years, my Spirit Controlling Sect will send disciples to avenge this."

He pointed to a boy behind him. "My disciple has cultivated only nine months since the Immortal Talent Gathering, yet he's already at Qi Refining Seventh Layer."

"…"

"Isn't that as fast as Zhang Wuyi's so-called fastest Foundation Establishment? Besides, I've heard Zhang Wuyi's Golden Core is flawed," True Person Ling chuckled. "When my disciple catches up to her, I wonder what face she'll have left as a so-called genius."

"…"

At that moment, a surge of spiritual energy came from the side hall.

"Huh? Someone's advancing to Qi Refining Eighth Layer?"

True Person Ling, being a Nascent Soul, instantly realized it.

Master Pang picked up his cup, took a sip, and said suddenly: "This disciple was also brought in through the Immortal Talent Gathering."

"…"

"It was Zhang Shixie herself who personally guided him in."

True Person Ling's smile slowly vanished.

"Your disciple may have to catch up to him first."