Chapter 656: Green Emperor

"This Ao from Dongshan isn't bad..."

"That white fox has already cultivated a Nascent Soul; crucially, she seems to have awakened a trace of Qiu bloodline... in time, she may develop toward seduction arts..."

Lingbao Palace.

Inside the main hall.

The celestial immortals and celestial demons sat upon jade seats, sipping tea and wine, occasionally commenting on the disciples who came to seek initiation.

Ao Xin casually praised the white fox, but inwardly thought: 'Silt and sand mixed together, dragons and fish jumbled... this grand opening of the gates is merely a temporary measure... far inferior to the sect’s own miniature world, where loyal disciples are selected and raised from childhood...'

'Though, my Wujie Mountain isn’t much different...'

Yet the Seven Kill Daoist, gazing at a scene reflected in a mysterious light mirror, felt a stir within: 'This Yiling Hermit is truly a killer... pity, his lifespan is nearly spent.'

Of the celestial immortals and demons in the hall, seven or eight out of ten were watching Yiling Hermit.

After all, those who become Nascent Soul overlords are even rarer than celestial immortals and demons.

And unless deliberately obstructed, any trial targeting the Nascent Soul realm should be effortlessly passed by a Nascent Soul overlord!

Yiling Hermit was a Confucian scholar, clad in a white robe, elegant in appearance, holding a branch of plum blossoms, though his temples were slightly streaked with frost-white hair.

He transformed into a streak of light, the fastest among all challengers, and had already reached the final platform.

On the platform stood only a green-scaled snake woman, holding a whip.

"A celestial demon puppet?"

Yiling Hermit was startled: 'The master of Lingbao Palace must indeed be immensely wealthy—even such a puppet exists...'

He came to join the Black Dragon Demon Emperor with a subtle motive.

For his lifespan was nearly exhausted, and Nascent Soul overlords were notoriously difficult to transcend.

Now that Lingbao Palace was newly established, perhaps he could vie for the title of founding senior disciple.

Even for the sake of the thousand-gold horse’s bones, the Black Dragon Demon Emperor couldn’t just watch him die of old age, could he?

And he would serve Lingbao Palace wholeheartedly—even after achieving breakthrough.

After all, finding a backer as powerful as Lingbao Palace was no easy feat.

For a lone cultivator, such loyalty was more than sufficient.

But seeing this celestial demon puppet, Yiling Hermit’s heart sank halfway—he realized he might have overestimated himself.

His value wasn’t nearly as great as he’d imagined!

'Does the Black Dragon Demon Emperor despise me? Is he preparing to eliminate me outright?'

Yiling Hermit’s heart turned bitter.

He was merely an ordinary Nascent Soul overlord, at most matching the strength of a celestial immortal of the first or second tier.

He would be defeated by any expert above the third tier of celestial immortal.

"Block my ten strikes, and you may pass this platform and enter the mountain gate."

Fortunately, Green Slave’s next words eased Yiling Hermit’s tension: "Thank you... but are the final trials for ordinary mortals also like this?"

"Naturally not. I will be only one minor realm above your own strength."

Green Slave smiled lightly.

"One minor realm?"

Yiling Hermit’s expression froze, then he felt a surge of celestial demon fourth-tier power erupt—his face twisted into a grimace of bitterness and resolve: "Seven-Star Secret Art, ignite!"

The plum branch in his hand emitted a qi that carried within it the rhythm of life's law...

Whips of shadow filled the sky, scattering the plum blossoms.

A few breaths later.

"Ten strikes completed. Congratulations."

Green Slave’s figure vanished.

Only Yiling Hermit remained, staring at the object in his hand—now bare branches, stripped of blossoms—and a wry smile appeared on his face:

'It’s a peak celestial demon puppet...'

'I’ve come to the right place after all.'

Outside Lingbao Palace, Yiling Hermit straightened his robes, then entered the great hall.

Instantly, dozens of gazes from celestial immortals and demons pierced him.

Yiling Hermit acted as if he noticed nothing—until his eyes met Fang Xing’s, when he trembled and prostrated himself in full reverence: "Disciple Yiling humbly begs to join Lingbao Palace. Master, please accept me..."

"Yiling?"

Fang Xing smiled: "Your talent is sufficient to become my recorded disciple..."

A recorded disciple was like a modern teacher-student relationship: you could call them master and disciple, but the karmic bond was too tenuous to be called real.

Thus, powerful cultivators often took dozens of recorded disciples, but true disciples and lineage heirs were chosen with extreme caution.

"Hiss..."

A chorus of sharp intakes of breath echoed around.

"A Nascent Soul overlord holds status nearly equal to ours—and he’s only a recorded disciple?"

"Does the Black Dragon Demon Emperor take disciples so harshly?"

"This will be good entertainment. They say Yiling Hermit has always been arrogant, having rejected many factions’ overtures—how will he respond now? Will he storm out?"

"Heh, brother, you’re overthinking it. If this were five thousand years ago, perhaps—but now, Yiling Hermit is over nine thousand years old."

An elder celestial immortal chuckled.

He had endless lifespan; he’d seen countless such short-lived beings think this way.

Even Nascent Soul overlords had only ten thousand years of yang life!

Once dead, everything vanished.

Thus, except for a few heroic souls, elderly Nascent Soul overlords all sought ways to break through their bottlenecks. Yiling Hermit had always been carefree—now he came voluntarily to seek a master; clearly, he was one of the latter.

Thud! Thud!

He immediately kowtowed: "Disciple bows to Master!"

"Good."

Fang Xing nodded. Regardless, Yiling Hermit was still a thousand-gold horse’s bones, and more importantly, a Nascent Soul overlord with celestial immortal combat power. Once admitted, he needed little teaching—just toss him a few secret manuals to practice. Aside from being old and unfit to serve as a beast of burden for many years, he was acceptable enough.

And there were ways to address this.

"Since you were the first to come seeking initiation, your sincerity is evident. I shall grant you a piece of 'Green Emperor’s Wood Heart.' After refining it, you may extend your lifespan by three to five thousand years..."

Fang Xing smiled faintly, flipping his palm to reveal a green wood heart.

An immediate surge of life energy radiated forth.

"Is this... the core of the Green Emperor’s true body? Even for Chaos Realm cultivators, it’s a rare treasure."

!

"To extend the life of a mere Nascent Soul? Waste! Such a waste!"

Instantly, the gazes of countless celestial immortals and demons converged—some seemed ready to snatch Yiling Hermit away on the spot.

In truth, that’s exactly what they’d do—if not within Lingbao Palace.

"Thank you, Master! Thank you, Master!"

Yiling Hermit was stunned, dazed by this sudden windfall.

He had come openly to seek breakthrough and extended life.

He’d assumed Fang Xing would test him thoroughly, at least make him serve as a beast of burden for a while before granting him anything.

Some unscrupulous sects would exploit their disciples to death and pretend nothing happened.

But he had no other path—and Lingbao Palace was recruiting for the first time—so he’d mustered the courage to try.

He never expected... the surprise would come so suddenly!

Fang Xing didn’t care—he wasn’t worried this beast of burden would run.

'Nascent Soul overlords are perfect... in this Qingyuan Great Realm, many secret realms can only be entered by Nascent Soul cultivators—perfect for sending them as beasts of burden...'

From Fang Xing’s perspective, he knew even if he gave Yiling Hermit five thousand more years, breakthrough was unlikely.

Nascent Soul overlords were all tragic figures—if they could break through to celestial immortal or demon, they rarely lingered in this realm.

'Unless... I pour resources into him without restraint.'

'But that... depends on his fortune. If he can obtain something that moves me, elevating him to celestial immortal status isn’t out of the question.'

'I’ve already paid first...'

Fang Xing thought coolly.

Not long after, Dongshan Ao, Bai Shan Hu, and others—human and demon alike—entered the palace one by one, solemnly performing the initiation rites.

Fang Xing accepted them all without refusal, yet granted not a single true disciple—all were recorded disciples, leaving the celestial immortals and demons in awe.

"Your discernment, Elder, is truly exceptional..."

Ao Xin, who had some prior connection with Fang Xing, spoke more freely: "Even Yiling Hermit and the 'Celestial Moon Body' cultivator aren’t worthy of your attention?"

"Heh, I take disciples solely by affinity."

Fang Xing gazed at the sea of recorded disciples below and cleared his throat: "Lingbao Palace cultivates myriad methods and possesses countless treasures... there are twelve slots for celestial immortals and demons. Strive hard to claim them."

Upon hearing these words, the disciples of Wahuang Palace grew grim.

Those who knew the inside story, however, secretly clenched their fists—they knew they’d stumbled upon a rare opportunity.

Once the twelve celestial immortals were seated, breaking through without Lingbao Palace’s vast resources would become nearly impossible.

"Then, Elder, which disciple do you favor?"

Ao Xin glanced a few times, curious.

“Cast a wide net… these days, that disciple with the Herb-Body is quite promising.”

Fang Xing casually pointed at someone.

Ao Xin looked over and saw a young human in a green robe, ordinary in appearance.

Though the Herb-Body is a kind of spiritual body talent, it’s usable in the Nascent Soul stage—but far inferior to talents like the Heavenly Moon Body, which still functions at the Thirteen Realms’ Immortal or Heavenly Beast level.

She grew suspicious for a moment.

“In my Lingbao Palace, there is a scroll called the ‘Green Emperor’s Eternal Life Scripture’—I think it would suit this person well…”

Fang Xing smiled faintly and explained.

After obtaining the Age Tree, the true body of the Green Emperor, he naturally conducted research.

He has now begun experimenting with how to coax seeds from the Age Tree.

Once the seeds mature, they can be given to cultivators; combined with the Druid’s [Treekeeper] talent, they may be cultivated into a Life-Linked Spiritual Plant, potentially breaking the laws of this realm and allowing Nascent Soul cultivators to live beyond ten thousand years.

Of course, this technique is still only a rough outline in his mind—the key lies with the true body’s intervention.

“And observing myriad paths is to prepare for one day forging a new Dao…”

Fang Xing looked down at the vast crowd of disciples and felt a pang of pity.

Most of these disciples will likely become cannon fodder on his path to forging a new Dao.

Of course, many would still beg for such a fate.

“Now all is ready on my end—waiting only for the true self’s move…”

“No—I am the true self… but this Black Dragon body’s talent is clearly inferior to the true body, especially regarding ‘Great Divinity’…”

(End of Chapter)