Chapter 250: Era's Catalyst (19)

It wasn't just Xia Zhen who had mixed feelings of love and hate for Hua Changxi; other factions felt the same.

After the Guardian Clan Xia appeared in the Medicine Department, their ambition to seize the top position of the Dan Saint Hall was already an open secret.

Given the disparity in strength, the various factions that had been maneuvering in the Medicine Department for years had no choice but to compromise, but that didn't mean they would willingly give up their interests—especially since the Xia family wanted to take the biggest piece of the pie right from the start.

The Xia family's intention in pushing Meng Qingyao forward was obvious: they wanted to mold her into the leader driving the revival of the Dan Saint Hall.

Given Meng Qingyao's displayed alchemy talent and the deployable resources at her disposal, she was indeed capable of attracting a large number of followers.

In this regard, the various factions truly couldn't find a suitable person to compete with her.

Fortunately, there was Hua Changxi!

Although Hua Changxi was inferior to Meng Qingyao in every aspect, she seemed to have a natural advantage over her; every time the Xia family prepared to build momentum for Meng Qingyao, Hua Changxi would steal the spotlight.

It was the same when the Divine Wood bestowed the secret realm, and also when the Qihuang Hall masters took turns teaching.

The factions were happy to see Hua Changxi get the better of Meng Qingyao, but they weren't particularly optimistic about Hua Changxi herself.

For no other reason, this person was too independent, seemingly ignorant of what 'cooperation' meant; she didn't even bother to rely on her own clan, which was truly baffling.

To them, these aristocratic families, someone who fought alone couldn't go far.

However, it was Hua Changxi who caused the Cauldron Altar to appear, and now they had seen Prince Shou kneeling under the Cauldron Altar—this increased Hua Changxi's weight in their eyes.

Let's wait and see; now was just the initial stage of the spiritual energy resurgence—everything was just beginning...

It wasn't until the sun was high in the sky that the force suppressing Prince Shou was lifted.

The various factions watching nearby, upon seeing Prince Fu leading Prince Shou toward Ninth Street, quickly retreated.

In the current Medicine Department, the two largest factions were the Noble Faction led by the royal family and the Guardian Faction led by the Xia family.

Although the Noble Faction was not as united as the Guardian Faction, with many sub-factions within, they could still act uniformly and present a united front when it came to vying for interests.

The emergence of the Cauldron Altar gave the Medicine Department a hint of holy land aura, and also stirred the Noble Faction's determination to seize control of the holy land.

Currently, the most important resource of the Medicine Department was the Divine Wood Secret Realm.

Having heard that Hua Changxi was about to open the secret realm, the members of the Noble Faction gathered at the No. 3 Qihuang Hall, which was controlled by the Heaven Division.

All factions had their eyes on the only three high-grade secret realms.

The high-grade secret realm in Meng Qingyao's hands was controlled by the Xia and Meng families, making it hard for others to get any benefits.

The same went for Gu Xing's—that old man only allowed alchemists to enter, but alchemists weren't a dime a dozen, and the factions didn't have many, so they simply couldn't obtain large amounts of resources from the secret realm.

Now, only Hua Changxi's secret realm remained.

As the head of the capital's aristocratic families, Tang Yufeng saw that everyone was silent and was the first to break the silence with a smile: "Hall Master Hua's high-grade secret realm is finally going to open. We should all give it our full support."

Wen Lanzhou, the senior disciple of the Sanqing Palace sect leader, was the first to respond: "Of course."

Because of the appearance of the Guardian Clan, the Tang family and Sanqing Palace had failed to retain the position of Qihuang Hall Master, which was a considerable loss for them.

The other secret realm masters all had family backgrounds and connections; it was difficult for outsiders to get a hand in their secret realms.

Only Hua Changxi—low-born, limited in vision and perspective, not even knowing how to make use of the resources she held—was the most suitable target for them to exploit.

Gu Jinfan glanced at Huo Yunxiao and said: "I heard that Hall Master Huo previously approached Hall Master Hua for cooperation, and was turned down by her?"

Huo Yunxiao remained silent, which was taken as tacit agreement.

After hearing this, Mu Qingying thought that she herself only learned what it meant to be a secret realm master of the Divine Wood Secret Realm after her master explained it, and couldn't help saying: "She probably still doesn't know what her secret realm represents, right?"

After the spiritual energy resurgence, what was most important?

Status? Family background?

No, these were things of the past. The most important thing was to possess sufficient cultivation resources.

And the Divine Wood Secret Realm was undoubtedly a rich trove of high-quality resources—and one that was inexhaustible and regenerative.

Even a low-grade Divine Wood Secret Realm contained enough cultivation resources to manipulate countless people for one's own use.

It was very clear that Hua Changxi seemed completely unaware of this.

Gu Jinfan shook his head: "Does she think that by rejecting Hall Master Huo's proposal for cooperation, she can stop the factions from inserting their people into the secret realm? That's nothing but wishful thinking."

Towards Hua Changxi, Gu Jinfan's feelings were very complex.

Hua Changxi was a variable. Because of her existence, many major events in the Four Spirit Realm had taken a different course from the previous life. However, sometimes this person's way of dealing with others truly left her at a loss for words.

In the previous life, there had also been several cultivation geniuses who, like her, acted recklessly and followed their whims, but without exception, they all fell early.

Hua Changxi... how far could she go?

Mu Qingying listened to Gu Jinfan's words, then looked at the scheming flickering in the eyes of those present, and silently sighed.

She could easily imagine that the apprentices Hua Changxi would recruit later would, nine times out of ten, be people planted by various factions.

Hua Changxi had no idea how great the power of the imperial family and noble clans was. If they didn't want her to recruit, she was afraid she wouldn't be able to recruit a single person.

Over at the Dao Protection Sect, Meng Qingyao and the others also gathered together to discuss Hua Changxi opening her secret realm to recruit apprentices.

Dongfang Xu: "From what Hua Changxi means, it seems anyone can sign up and participate?"

Meng Yuchuan sneered: "Hua Changxi might want to impose restrictions, but does she have the ability?"

Jiang Nian smiled and said: "Since anyone can go, then our side can also send people into Hua Changxi's secret realm."

Meng Qingyao frowned and said nothing. She didn't think Hua Changxi would be foolish enough to let just anyone into her secret realm.

Dongfang Hao, seeing that many people were already raring to go, couldn't help but say: "Hua Changxi hasn't announced the conditions for recruiting apprentices yet; everything is still unknown."

He paused.

"I think things may not turn out as you all expect."

Meng Yuchuan showed disagreement: "Brother Hao, you think too highly of Hua Changxi. She has no background and no one to rely on behind her; she absolutely cannot stop the various factions from planting people into the secret realm."

"If others can plant people, of course we can too."

"There are so many spirit medicines and spirit fruits in the secret realm. Rather than letting those from the imperial family benefit, it's better for us to take them."

Dongfang Xu also thought Hua Changxi couldn't stop those with intentions from entering the secret realm, and said with a smile: "I've already been inside Qingyao and Senior Gu's seventh-grade secret realm. I want to go in and take a look at Hua Changxi's high-grade secret realm too."

"When the Danyuan Secret Realm starts recruiting apprentices, I'll sign up too."

Jiang Nian and the others also revealed similar smiles.

Just as the various factions were sharpening their knives, eager to take a bite out of Hua Changxi, she was at the Artifact Saint Palace observing the Oath Stele that Tong Yao was helping her forge.

Jingliao also came, holding the Divine Artifact Two Symbols Talisman Brush from the Talisman Saint Pavilion, and with difficulty sketched out a 'True' character rune.

As soon as the 'True' character rune took shape, it sank into the Oath Stele.

Seeing that the rune had completely merged with the Oath Stele, Jingliao wiped the fine sweat from his forehead and smiled at Hua Changxi.

"Limited by my cultivation, the power of the rune I carved is not yet strong. However, for anyone at the Nascent Soul stage or below, if their heart is not true, the Oath Stele will summon heavenly thunder."

Hua Changxi solemnly thanked him, then smiled: "Being able to affect Nascent Soul cultivators is enough for now. When Master Jingliao's cultivation improves in the future, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you again for help."

Jingliao smiled: "Easy to say, easy to say."