Chapter 38: Sensation

This news came too suddenly; no one had expected it.

Although there is a distinction between the immortal and the mortal, and cultivators do not concern themselves with worldly affairs, the various immortal sects, large and small, are after all within the borders of the Song Kingdom and inevitably have to deal with the Great Song imperial family. Thus, they all know a thing or two about the affairs of the royal clan. However, the fact that Zhao Rui is about to tear off the mask and go to war with the Eighth Prince Zhao Wuji, and that the shadow of the Ming Kingdom's immortal sects is mixed in behind it, makes this matter quite stimulating.

Therefore, someone immediately asked, "Offering Yu, the Immortal World has its own rules; cultivators must not participate in civilian conflicts. If the Ziyang Sect takes action, why does the Yuqing Hall not take action itself, but instead recruit cultivators from other immortal sects and the civilian population to help?"

Offering Yu smiled slightly and said, "The Yuqing Hall naturally will not stand by, but their main energy is focused on deterring the high-level members of the Ziyang Sect. Furthermore, they do not wish to break the rules of the Immortal World, so they have issued a decree for the Emperor to recruit cultivators himself to intercept the Ziyang Sect. If anyone above the Zhenyuan Realm appears on the opposing side, the Yuqing Hall will certainly take action; the remaining low-level cultivators are naturally nothing to fear."

"So that's how it is. It seems the Ziyang Sect is very bold, actually daring to meddle in the struggle for the Great Song throne. By breaking the rules like this, are they not afraid that we, the Great Song immortal sects, will run over to the Ming Kingdom to stir up trouble?"

"Exactly, is the Ziyang Sect not afraid of the Yuqing Hall?"

"By the way, Offering Yu, since the Emperor is recruiting us to help, what is the reward?" a cultivator asked loudly.

Offering Yu nodded and said, "Naturally. This is what I, this humble Daoist, am about to say. The Yuqing Hall has provided quite a few Spirit Pills, Magic Treasures, and various Spirit Medicines and Spirit Materials this time. Everyone who signs up to participate will receive a bottle of Great Origin Pill as a reward. If one kills a Ziyang Sect cultivator, there will be additional rewards such as Spirit Stones, pills, and Magic Treasures. The Yuqing Hall has even brought out three Guiyuan Pills this time..."

"Guiyuan Pills!" The great hall was instantly filled with another wave of exclamations and commotion.

There are only eight immortal sects in the Great Song that can be considered reputable, but there are over a hundred large and small ones that are not, including loose cultivator families. Although these cultivators do not have high cultivation levels, their numbers are not small. In reality, most of those who have come to Jingshi to offer birthday congratulations are these families and loose cultivators; the truly famous immortal sects are only showing their faces for the sake of the Yuqing Hall.

At this moment, of the twenty-plus cultivators in the great hall, only seven or eight are truly from the eight great immortal sects, and the Taiyuan Sect alone accounts for three of them. Even Liu Chenfeng, who greeted Jiu Shixiong at the beginning, belongs to a Yunmeng Mountain dojo that doesn't even have a proper sect; there are only five people in total, and the one with the highest cultivation is only at the True Essence Late Stage.

These small sects are even poorer than the Taiyuan Sect.

"The Yuqing Hall doesn't take action itself, but lets cultivators from other sects risk their lives—this abacus is calculated quite loudly!"

The young man in fine clothing from the Longmen Dojo snorted coldly, his expression one of great disdain.

The hall fell into a stunned silence. The old man's face showed some embarrassment and even anger, but he did not dare to lash out at the people from Longmen Mountain, instead laughing dryly:

"Daoist Friend Guo, you speak too harshly. The Yuqing Hall is the leader of the Song Kingdom's immortal sects and shares the same breath and branches with all Daoist cultivators under heaven. It has always strived to maintain the unity of the Song Kingdom's immortal sects; how could it be so base? Moreover, the Ziyang Sect supports the rebellion of the Pingxi King, which is also a slap in the face to our Great Song Immortal World. It is not just the Yuqing Hall alone. The fact that the Yuqing Hall can now bring out so many pills and Magic Treasures to support the imperial family in resisting the Ziyang Sect is, in truth, a significant expense."

The crowd nodded one after another, indicating that what the old man said was indeed correct.

However, Guo Ming snorted coldly: "It is merely a few bottles of first-grade pills and first-stage Magic Treasures; how much could that cost? I cannot make the decision on this matter; I need to return to the mountain to report to my sect elders before I can decide."

Offering Yu's expression turned a bit uglier, but he still said in a calm and steady voice, "It is only natural for Daoist Friend Guo to make such arrangements. But with war imminent, both the Yuqing Hall and the imperial family hope for the strong support of our fellow Daoists in the Immortal World. Otherwise, if Zhao Wuji truly succeeds in taking the throne, the Ziyang Sect will certainly establish a sect in the Great Song. At that time, everyone's days will likely not be so easy. Even if Longmen Mountain is powerful, it is not much stronger than the Ziyang Sect. According to what I, this humble Daoist, have heard, a Spirit Transformation Great Cultivator appeared in the Ziyang Sect a few years ago."

There was another commotion in the great hall. Guo Ming's expression was also very ugly, but this time he did not refute, instead asking again: "Even so, I, Guo, still have doubts. Just now, Offering Yu said that the Ziyang Sect colluded with Zhao Wuji to plot to seize our Great Song Immortal Treasure. May I ask where this news came from, and why we have never heard of it?"

"That's right, what exactly did the Ziyang Sect steal from our Great Song that would cause the Yuqing Hall to make such arrangements?"

"Indeed, if the Ziyang Sect invades, we, as cultivators of the Song Kingdom, have an inescapable duty to resist, but we do not want to go to our deaths in a muddled state."

"Exactly, I fear there is a very deep story behind this!"

Those who can possess a Spirit Root and step onto the path of immortality are all people with pure essence and superior wisdom. Those who can represent their sects to come to Jingshi to offer birthday congratulations to the Emperor are certainly not fools, let alone those from civilian families and loose cultivators—they are all shrewd people tempered by struggling in both the immortal and mortal worlds. How could they be moved by a simple set of words from the Emperor?

Although first-grade pills and Magic Treasures are indeed a huge temptation for these loose cultivator families and even for sects as poor as the Taiyuan Sect, the Yuqing Hall's actions have left everyone unable to make up their minds, and they certainly do not want to be cannon fodder.

For a time, the twenty-plus cultivators in the great hall were discussing heatedly; their interest was, of course, more focused on the benefits behind the Ziyang Sect's meddling in the Great Song's struggle for imperial power.

Offering Yu coughed a few times, and a thick Divine Sense swept across the entire hall. Everyone instantly fell silent as if they had been doused with a ladle of cold water.

"I, this humble Daoist, will explain Daoist Friend Guo's question just now to avoid unnecessary suspicion. The matter is as follows..."

Next, Offering Yu spent nearly a quarter of an hour roughly recounting the story of how Xilu Marquis Zhao Chengyi and Ming Kingdom's Zhen-dong Marquis Zhu Youhong had jointly explored the Xianren Gumu. However, he omitted the part about the Princess of Xiyun Prefecture escaping with the Spirit Medicine. The Emperor had not told him this either, because the immortal medicine was now in the hands of the Taiyuan Sect. The more he said, the more chaotic the Great Song would become. If he truly revealed this, I fear the group of cultivators in this hall would immediately unite to force Xu Chen and the others to hand over the Spirit Medicine, which would inevitably lead to a life-and-death battle.

With dozens of Immortals fighting fiercely in Jingshi, not to mention that this birthday banquet would be ruined, I fear half of Jingshi would be reduced to ruins.

By then, not to mention sending troops to deal with the Pingxi King and the Ziyang Sect, they would likely fall into chaos before even setting out.

Zhao Rui has been able to be Emperor for decades; he is naturally not stupid enough to cause his own chaos.

Moreover, through this matter, he can also do the Taiyuan Sect a favor. Coupled with the rumor that the Taiyuan Sect is about to give birth to a Spirit Realm Great Cultivator, this can be considered a bit of an emotional investment in advance.

After hearing Offering Yu's words, the great hall was already in a state of chaos.

Even Guo Ming, who had been disdainful just a moment ago, had his blood boiling and was panting like an ox.

With the Xianren Gumu and over a dozen unknown Immortal Treasures, how could Longmen Mountain stand by and watch such a great temptation?

He had even concluded that while the Yuqing Hall seemed not to be directly involved in this matter on the surface, only commissioning the royal family to recruit immortal cultivators to resist the Ziyang Sect, in reality, it had already secretly begun to collude with the high-level members of the Ziyang Sect.

As the leader of the Great Song immortal sects, and with three Spirit Realm Great Cultivators sitting in command, a large immortal sect whose status ranks in the top ten of Shenzhou, it is absolutely impossible for the Yuqing Hall not to get its hands on the benefits in such a matter.

In other words, the Yuqing Hall is preparing to eat the feast itself while keeping other immortal sects in the dark, or perhaps just tossing them some scraps to send them away.

These so-called rewarded pills and Magic Treasures are about the same as trash in the eyes of Longmen Mountain.

Only a down-and-out immortal sect like the Taiyuan Sect, which doesn't even have a Medicine Garden, would barely find them acceptable.

In reality, Xu Chen and the others no longer find them acceptable either.

Because they had just made a windfall, and were preparing to make another one.

However, Offering Yu's words gave the three of them quite a scare. Even the usually carefree Jiu Shixiong and the cautious Zhao Xuan had pale faces, with cold sweat streaming down their foreheads. They dared not raise their heads, desperately holding their breath and struggling to keep their hearts from jumping out of their chests.

Fortunately, from beginning to end, Offering Yu did not mention a single word about the Princess of Xiyun Prefecture or the Spirit Medicine.

And while the three were too nervous to show their faces, Lin Qiu Ya, who was sitting next to them, was also so nervous that her face turned pale, and she almost smothered the Xiao Huli in her arms against her chest.

She never expected that the Great Song would actually spill this matter entirely, and even recruit cultivators with great fanfare to deal with the Ziyang Sect.

The Ziyang Sect surely does not know about this yet.

In this way, in the matter of supporting Zhao Wuji's rebellion, the Ziyang Sect is bound to suffer a great loss. The middle and high-level members might be spared, but those low-level cultivators at the Kaiyuan Realm will likely suffer heavy casualties.

And low-level cultivators are the foundation of a sect; planting medicine, raising animals, refining pills, purchasing, treasure hunting, and trading are all done by these low-level Disciples. Once they reach the True Essence Late Stage and the Danyuan Realm, cultivators basically stop caring about these worldly matters of eating, drinking, and excreting, and focus entirely on cultivation to pursue longevity.

Once too many low-level Disciples are killed or injured, even the most powerful sect will quickly decline.

Therefore, Lin Qiu Ya was even more nervous and terrified than Xu Chen and the others.

However, what gave her slight peace of mind was that Xu Chen and the others did not know her identity, and even less did they know that she had a senior brother currently in Jingshi.

Of course, her so-called "not knowing" was just her own ignorance. Xu Chen and the others were also shrewd characters; they had long since become suspicious of her identity, and their purpose in interacting with her was merely to lure out the senior brother behind her, so they could devour both the person and the treasure.

Therefore, if an Immortal wants to achieve longevity, they must not only have good aptitude, but also be shrewd enough.

Those who are too stupid usually die early.

Just like Guo Ming; although he comes from a famous sect, aside from being overbearing and arrogant, he is not stupid at all, and he never has any ambiguity in major matters.

And those loose cultivators in the civilian population are even less stupid. Every loose cultivator can be said to be a "tough nut" who has struggled out of a den of thieves. Without realistic benefits, they can hold their breath longer than turtles.

At this moment, Offering Yu recruited hired hands in the name of the imperial family and the Yuqing Hall, while also raising the banner of resisting the Ziyang Sect to safeguard the overall interests of the Great Song Immortal World. Even Longmen Mountain could not help but want to get involved, let alone the remaining small sects, families, and loose cultivators.

Thus, after a moment of commotion, almost everyone was excited and shouting loudly that they wanted to participate in this mission to intercept the Ziyang Sect.

Offering Yu could not stop grinning, and on the spot, he took out a pile of Jade Bottles of pills and Jade Slips, beginning to sign contracts with the group of cultivators in the great hall.

The immortal family naturally has immortal family methods; although the cultivation of the Emperor of Great Song is indeed trash, he stands behind the behemoth that is Yuqing Hall, so he certainly will not go back on his word, and thus the reward will not be small, but if one wants to take a bottle of Great Origin Pill after signing up and run away, then sorry, one will die a miserable death in the future.

Because to obtain this bottle of Great Origin Pill, one must leave their own Soul imprint inside the Jade Slip; this imprint can be tracked using a secret method exclusive to Yuqing Hall, and if one does not participate in this sniping activity but hides privately or escapes, no matter if one flees to the ends of the earth in the future, one will still be attacked remotely by Yuqing Hall using a Magic Spell, with the light consequence being death, and the heavy consequence being damage to the Soul and the severing of one's Dao path.