Chapter 212: Greed, Anger, Ignorance

"Mu Qingying, what kind of secret realm did you obtain?"

The three grades of incense corresponded to different levels of the Divine Tree Secret Realm, but no one knew the specific grades of the Divine Tree Secret Realm—not even the Guardian Families. So, when Mu Qingying received the Divine Tree Leaf, everyone watched her eagerly, and Prince Shou directly asked about the secret realm she had obtained.

Mu Qingying naturally didn't want to disclose the grade of the Divine Tree Secret Realm she had gotten. Just as she was about to appeal to Director Gu, Gu Xing stepped in to rescue her first.

"The Divine Tree Secret Realm is a gift from the Divine Tree. No one except the Sacred Land's master may inquire about it."

Hearing this, Prince Shou's expression turned somewhat grim. He knew that Gu Xing, that old geezer, was warning him not to let him or the imperial family meddle with the Divine Tree Secret Realm.

In response, he inwardly sneered—the imperial family had never failed to get what it wanted.

Prince Shou saw that after hearing Gu Xing's words, Mu Qingying quickly returned to stand behind Gu Qiming, showing no intention of answering him. Though full of displeasure, he said nothing more.

He had noticed that members of the Guardian Families also wanted to know the grade of the Divine Tree Secret Realm. He had been too hasty just now and shouldn't have asked in such a setting.

Gu Xing ignored the varied expressions of the crowd. Everything has two sides—obtaining the Divine Tree Secret Realm was indeed a great opportunity, but without corresponding protective ability, even a good thing could turn bad.

If one couldn't even protect the secret realm, then for the sake of the Sacred Land's development, such a person would be better replaced sooner rather than later.

"Continue."

With Mu Qingying taking the lead, everyone now understood the procedure for worshipping the Divine Tree.

Second Branch Qihuang Hall was managed by Director Gu's eldest disciple, Xie An. However, the wooden token had been obtained by Director Gu himself, so Director Gu personally stepped forward to worship the Divine Tree.

Gazing at the three grades of incense on the offering table, Director Gu's expression was hesitant. He was no stranger to secret realms—as a trusted subordinate of the Heavenly Department Head, he had explored several secret realms with the Demon Suppression Army.

Secret realms also differed vastly. Some had thin spiritual energy and few first-grade spirit herbs, while others were covered with spirit herbs and spiritual fruits.

The higher the grade of the Divine Tree Secret Realm, the richer its resources—this was beyond doubt.

Director Gu certainly wanted a higher-grade secret realm. If, as he guessed, the condition for lighting the incense was related to contributions to the Sacred Land, then these years of diligently and faithfully managing the Medical Department should count as a contribution, shouldn't it?

Could he light a first-grade incense?

Director Gu's hand wavered between the first-grade and second-grade incense. Though he wanted to play it safe and choose the second-grade, in the end, he steeled himself and picked up the first-grade incense.

Seeing him pick up the first-grade incense, Xia Zhen's eyes flashed with a trace of contemptuous smile. Gu Xing's expression shifted slightly, but he silently sighed in his heart.

Greed, anger, ignorance—the three poisons of the human heart!

One cannot go far without overcoming these three obstacles.

After performing the ritual of three kneels and nine prostrations before the Divine Tree Tripod, Director Gu nervously and anxiously inserted the incense into the tripod, eagerly hoping it would ignite.

Unfortunately, there was no sign of the incense lighting.

Staring at the unresponsive incense, Director Gu was utterly disappointed and anxiously looked at Gu Xing: "Senior Gu, I was insincere just now. Let me bow again." As he spoke, he reached out to pull the incense from the Divine Tree Tripod.

At that moment, Xia Zhen stepped forward and held Gu Qiming's hand: "Director Gu, each person only has one chance to worship the Divine Tree."

Unable to break free from Xia Zhen's grip, Gu Qiming looked to Gu Xing for help.

Gu Xing looked at him and sighed: "You are too attached. Step back."

"Master."

Xie An, Mu Qingying, and Yuan Tianchou all stepped forward with concern, standing on either side of Gu Qiming.

Looking at his three disciples, Gu Qiming forced a bitter smile, using his reason to suppress the unwillingness in his heart: "Forgive me, everyone. I lost my composure just now." After speaking, he led his three disciples to stand aside.

Since Gu Qiming hadn't lit the incense, it meant one extra stick for those worshipping later. While secretly delighted, some worried they too might fail to light the incense.

Next were the Third and Fourth Halls, but since Zhang Heavenly Master and the Heavenly Department Head didn't come, it skipped directly to Yuan Tianchou of the Sixth Hall.

Having learned from his master's lesson, Yuan Tianchou, like Mu Qingying, directly chose third-grade incense. Whether because he had obtained the wooden token or not, the third-grade incense ignited as soon as it was inserted into the Divine Tree Tripod, and the rising green smoke coalesced into a green leaf, falling into his hand.

"It seems anyone who obtains a wooden token can light the incense as long as they choose third-grade," someone muttered softly.

Huo Yunxiao thought so too. Glancing at the contemplative Hua Changxi beside him, he asked in a low voice: "What do you think it actually takes to light the incense? Could it be that everyone with a wooden token can only choose third-grade?"

Hua Changxi didn't respond, only glanced at Meng Qingyao across from them.

Earlier, she had believed the Guardian Families arranged for Meng Qingyao to light the second street's spirit fire to gain prestige. But now... she felt it was to enable Meng Qingyao to light a higher grade of incense.

How is the amount of blessing granted by the Divine Tree determined?

If she were the Sacred Land's master, she would certainly base it on everyone's contributions to the Sacred Land.

Thinking this way, Hua Changxi suddenly felt she had figured out the condition for igniting the incense.

"No way, Gu Jinfan actually wants to choose first-grade incense too? Isn't she afraid of ending up like Director Gu, getting nothing?"

Huo Yunxiao's exclamation pulled Hua Changxi back to her thoughts. She focused her eyes and saw Gu Jinfan hesitating while holding a stick of first-grade incense.

No one had expected that, after Director Gu's cautionary example, someone would still choose first-grade incense.

Some cultivators from the Medicine Department, recalling Gu Jinfan's mysterious and unpredictable foresight, looked quite serious.

The cultivators from the Guardian Families, on the other hand, wore expressions of anticipation and mockery—anticipation that Gu Jinfan would quickly choose first-grade incense, thus adding another stick for them to offer to the Sacred Tree; and mockery for her overestimation of her own abilities.

Holding the first-grade incense, Gu Jinfan struggled for a moment, thinking that as someone reborn, she was already a wielder of great fortune. If she could obtain a high-grade Sacred Tree secret realm, it would undoubtedly have an immeasurable effect on the revival of the Dan Saint Hall. The Sacred Tree would surely be able to sense this.

With this thought, Gu Jinfan firmly took the first-grade incense and walked toward the Divine Tree Cauldron.

Seeing this, Xia Zhen had just begun to sneer when he noticed Gu Xing's solemn gaze. His heart tightened as he took another look at Gu Jinfan. Could it be that this female cultivator was extraordinary, to earn the attention of the Holy Land's gatekeeper?

In his expectations, only Meng Qingyao should be able to ignite first-grade incense. If someone from the Medicine Department also lit first-grade incense, it would be very unfavorable for Meng Qingyao's future takeover of the Dan Saint Hall.

Xia Zhen's expression turned serious as he watched Gu Jinfan perform three kneels and nine prostrations before anxiously inserting the first-grade incense into the Divine Tree Cauldron.

After a few breaths, seeing that the incense showed no sign of igniting on its own, Xia Zhen smiled.

He had said so—unless one had made great contributions to the Holy Land, it was impossible to ignite first-grade incense.

Staring at the unresponsive incense, Gu Jinfan was stunned, disbelief in her eyes. How could this be? Why hadn't the incense lit? She was someone who had been reborn, someone with a profound influence on the entire trajectory of the Four Spirit Realm!

Seeing that Gu Jinfan had failed to ignite the first-grade incense, Gu Xing felt somewhat disappointed.

His impression of this female cultivator was complex. She seemed to know many things, and her words were mostly for the good of the Dan Saint Hall. He had harbored some hope that she could inject vitality into the revival of the Dan Saint Hall.

Unfortunately, she had not been recognized by the Holy Land's Sacred Tree.