Chapter 267: Senior-Level Figure

"It's Gu Xing and Meng Qingyao!"

Hua Changxi quickly realized that the two newly appeared peaks had been summoned by Gu Xing and Meng Qingyao.

However, this commotion was far less impressive than the one she had created earlier.

Not only did the Divine Tree fail to flash, but its branches did not appear either; there was not even a trace of the Divine Tree bestowing characters or naming the peaks.

Of the two new peaks, one stood northeast of Danyuan Peak, and the other southeast; aside from being shorter than Danyuan Peak, their momentum was also far less grand.

With the three peaks standing together, Danyuan Peak looked like the elder brother, while the two new peaks resembled younger siblings.

This discovery made Hua Changxi chuckle; the gloom in her heart, caused by other Secret Realm Masters freely imitating her actions, cleared up considerably.

Though Hua Changxi was delighted, Meng Qingyao, Xia Zhen, and the others were in no good mood at this moment.

They had originally assumed the three high-grade Secret Realms bestowed by the Divine Tree would be of equal rank, never expecting that the realm Hua Changxi received would surpass the other two in quality.

This exceeded everyone's expectations!

Xia Zhen's expression was particularly grave; he knew some of the rules governing the grades of realms bestowed by the Divine Tree, one of which was that they were determined by a person's talent and potential.

If the realm Hua Changxi received was superior to Qingyao's, did that not mean her alchemy talent and growth potential exceeded those of Qingyao, who possessed a Fire-Wood Spiritual Body?

This was somewhat hard for Xia Zhen to believe and even harder to accept; he could no longer deny that Hua Changxi would become Meng Qingyao's most formidable rival.

As for Meng Qingyao, looking at the stark contrast between the new peak and Danyuan Peak felt like watching her own contest against Hua Changxi, in which she was clearly at a disadvantage.

She, who had never once felt she would lose, now found her defenses somewhat breached.

On the other side, Gu Xing's emotions were not as turbulent as Meng Qingyao's; he accepted everything quite naturally.

Since the new peak did not have its name carved atop the summit like Danyuan Peak, he took out a massive stone over two meters tall, carved the three characters 'Shenhe Peak' onto it, and erected it directly at the mountain's foot.

Once Gu Xing had set up the stone stele, a green light flashed upon it.

"What is this?"

Gu Xing swiftly retrieved the green pill from the top of the stele; soon, he realized it was a Saint Pill containing one hundred Saint Protection Tokens.

It was a storage-type divine artifact!

Unfortunately, Gu Xing had not yet opened his Spirit Platform, so he could not store the Saint Pill within his Sea of Consciousness and could only quickly stash it into his storage spiritual artifact.

"It's actually a Saint Pill!"

Gu Xing now understood what that green light was that Hua Changxi had received when the Alchemy Cauldron Altar appeared.

Xia Zhen witnessed Gu Xing obtaining the Saint Pill and immediately signaled Meng Qingyao to do the same.

Since Meng Qingyao still had quite a few stone steles left from crafting the Oath Steles, she immediately took one out, carved the three characters 'Qingyao Peak' onto it, and erected it at the foot of the new peak.

Soon, a green pill also appeared at the top of her stele.

Meng Qingyao held the green pill in her hand; upon learning its function, her expression trembled slightly as she looked at Xia Zhen: "This is a Saint Pill; inside are one hundred Saint Protection Tokens."

Hearing this, Xia Zhen's expression changed drastically: "They are actually Saint Protection Tokens..."

The Divine Tree connects the Nine Heavens, the Human World, and the Nine Netherworlds; the Saint Protection Token serves as the credential for passage between the Sacred Land and the Nine Netherworlds.

Holders of Saint Protection Tokens may travel freely through Genmen Pass and Zhenmen Pass, where the Dan Saint Hall guards the Sacred Land and the Nine Netherworlds.

Xia Zhen looked at Meng Qingyao: "The Saint Protection Guards are specifically tasked with safeguarding the Sacred Land; we already have our people stationed at Genmen Pass and Zhenmen Pass in the Nine Netherworlds, so you must put these one hundred Saint Protection Tokens to use as soon as possible."

He paused briefly.

"The Saint Protection Guards are the legitimate defense force of the Sacred Land; with this contingent of one hundred guards, our control over the Medical Bureau will absolutely increase significantly."

Meng Qingyao fell silent for a moment: "Danyuan Peak is the main peak; Hua Changxi surely holds more Saint Protection Tokens than we do, and during the previous appearance of the Alchemy Cauldron Altar, she likely obtained another Saint Pill as well."

Hearing this, Xia Zhen smiled: "Even if she has numerous Saint Protection Tokens, she still needs to be able to recruit people."

"The revival of spiritual energy is not limited to the Human World; the Nine Netherworlds are reviving as well. Long ago, spiritual energy had already begun a slow revival, even earlier than the founding of the Great Jin Dynasty."

"Although the Nine Passes guarding the Demon Prison were established by the human race, the Nine Netherworlds began reviving even earlier than the Human World; after so many years, they have long been infiltrated, or even forcibly occupied, by the local Yao clans, Ghost clans, and Soul Cultivators of the Nine Netherworlds, meaning the nine major passes are no longer under human control."

"The current situation regarding the nine major passes is incredibly complex."

"When the Yellow Spring Road connecting the Human World and the Nine Netherworlds first opened, members of the Dao-Protecting Families descended into the Nine Netherworlds and suffered heavy casualties; it was only at great cost that they established footholds in the nine major passes."

"Hua Changxi is merely a powerless little girl; she probably cannot even grasp the true situation of the nine major passes, let alone recruit the Demon-Suppressing Guards from the Guanbao fortresses."

Xia Zhen paused, then looked at Meng Qingyao: "Now that Saint Protection Tokens have appeared, you must find ways to acquire as many as possible in the future."

"The Saint Protection Guards maintain the safety and order of the Sacred Land; they are the enforcers and upholders of its order. The more one controls, the steadier their position and the heavier their voice in affairs."

Meng Qingyao felt somewhat dispirited: "I only obtained this Saint Pill by imitating Hua Changxi; how can I acquire more Saint Pills?"

Xia Zhen's expression also paused, but soon he said: "Hua Changxi's actions still follow a pattern; essentially, every time she causes a major commotion, she is promoting the revival of the Sacred Land."

"We only need to act according to this direction."

Hearing this, Meng Qingyao fell into thoughtful contemplation.

At the summit of Danyuan Peak, Hua Changxi observed Gu Xing and Meng Qingyao erecting their peak steles at the mountain foot and saw that they had each received a Saint Pill.

However, at this moment, her mind was not on the Saint Pills but on other matters.

When Danyuan Peak appeared, she not only received the character 'Yuan', but the branches of the Divine Tree also descended with green light, fusing the Oath Stele and the entire peak into one.

All of this indicated that the name Danyuan Peak could not be changed, and she, as the Peak Master, could not be replaced unless the Divine Tree withdrew the character 'Yuan'.

Yet Gu Xing's Shenhe Peak and Meng Qingyao's Qingyao Peak had not received this 'green certification' from the Divine Tree.

Hua Changxi wondered: if the two stone steles bearing names were removed and replaced with others bearing different names, would those two peaks then be renamed?

In other words, the names of these two peaks could be changed at will.

If the peak names could be changed, could the Peak Master also be replaced by someone else?

If so, then her Danyuan Peak and Gu Xing's Shenhe Peak and Meng Qingyao's Qingyao Peak were not on the same level.

Since the name Danyuan Peak could not be altered and she, as its Peak Master, could not be casually replaced, did this not mean that once the Sacred Land fully revived in the future, she would be considered a senior figure of the Dan Saint Hall?

Thinking thus, laughter surged in Hua Changxi's eyes, her mood becoming quite bright; no longer paying attention to the two newly appeared peaks, she flashed into the Danyuan Secret Realm.

With nearly a thousand apprentices now, she needed to hastily refine the First-Grade Yuan Spirit Pill.

"Shenhe Peak and Qingyao Peak are actually inferior to Danyuan Peak!"

The other Realm Masters, knowing that Gu Xing and Meng Qingyao intended to emulate Hua Changxi today, had arrived early at the square to watch, all waiting to see the outcome.

Upon seeing that Shenhe Peak and Qingyao Peak were not only shorter than Danyuan Peak but also less towering in form, everyone's hearts sank.

Xia Ziyang's expression turned somewhat ugly: "Hua Changxi's Danyuan Realm... is an eighth-grade realm."

Hearing this, the other Realm Masters showed fluctuating expressions.

If determined by realm grade, then Hua Changxi should be the head of all Realm Masters!

Mu Qingying sighed inwardly; indeed, as her Master had said, once one reaches a certain height, the competition no longer depends entirely on personal strength.

Among all the Realm Masters, Hua Changxi's personal strength was undoubtedly the strongest, yet she, the head of the Realm Masters, had been excluded from the Spirit Realm Pavilion.

In the silence, Yan Qianying spoke with a serious expression: "It seems the size of the mountain peaks is directly correlated with the grade of the realms."

Since Shenhe Peak and Qingyao Peak were one-fifth shorter than Danyuan Peak, the peaks they received would only be smaller.

Three high-grade Realm Masters had each received a mountain peak; the others turned their gazes to Yan Qianying one after another.

"Daoist Yan, yours is a fifth-grade realm, higher in grade than ours; will you summon your own peak today?"

Yan Qianying replied: "Of course." Even if he received a smaller peak, he was still full of anticipation in his heart.

Hua Changxi had spent no short amount of time forging the Oath Stele, composing the oath words, and establishing the conditions and benefits for recruiting apprentices.

The other Realm Masters, emulating her and with the support of the forces behind them, spent two days to prepare the Oath Stele and the apprentice recruitment process.

Yan Qianying led over a hundred direct disciples of the Dong'an Prince's Manor to the erected Oath Stele and began swearing the Heart Demon Oath.

The next moment, Yan Qianying and the hundred people behind him were simultaneously transported away, appearing on a mountain peak even lower than Shenhe Peak and Qingyao Peak.

Seeing this, the other Realm Masters sighed in unison.

"Let us hope the peaks we receive are not too small."

The other Realm Masters stopped hesitating and also began leading their own direct disciples to swear the Heart Demon Oath.

However, an unexpected change occurred.

Not a single Realm Master who possessed a fourth-grade or third-grade realm managed to summon a mountain peak.

"What is happening?"

"Why has not a single mountain peak appeared?"

The Realm Masters immediately became anxious.

"Could it be that the number of people coming to swear the Heart Demon Oath is insufficient?"

Since every Realm Master had a force behind them, they quickly gathered another batch of people to swear the oath, but alas, still no mountain peaks appeared.

At this, all the Realm Masters became utterly frantic!

"What exactly is going on?"

"Where did things go wrong?"

Just as the Realm Masters were growing extremely anxious, Mu Qingying suddenly spoke up: "Could it be that only realms of fifth grade or higher can summon mountain peaks?"

As soon as these words were uttered, all the Realm Masters were stunned.