It was a tad embarrassing, but a True Lord’s promise was worth one thousand jun[1]. It was one thing if he hadn’t nodded his head, but now, changing his mind was no longer an option. He was curious about one thing, however. “Since when did the Bright King Hall become so wealthy?”

The Bright King Hallmaster had been waiting for this question from the beginning. He let out a laugh and declared, “This is just the beginning! Give me a bit more time, and the Bright King Hall would be standing on equal footing as the Heavenly Mysteries Hall and the Mother Nature Monastery. Do you know what’s the most valuable thing in this day and age? Talent!”

True Lord Xuan Yue did not really understand what he was saying, but the Bright King Hallmaster was now his chief creditor. It would be unwise of him to question his words.

The Bright King Hallmaster did not linger. He took his leave after slapping another two jade pendants on the table.

True Lord Xuan Yue pondered for a long time after the Hallmaster was gone. He just couldn’t understand why the man had invested so much. The immortal realm stone Qingming was precious, but it wasn’t that precious, was it?

Suddenly, he recalled something. A few days ago, during the quarterly meeting between the True Lords of the Halls, someone had pointed out that the centralized curriculum had produced remarkable results in the past two terms, and that more and more disciples were participating in it. Less than thirty percent of the disciples had attended during the first term, but that number had grown to over fifty percent by the second term. Assuming that the trend continued, the number was likely to exceed sixty percent during the third term.

Seeing that the centralized curriculum was working, the Reform Party decided to make their second move: The master chooses their disciple, but the disciple also gets to choose their master.

To be specific, the recruitment of disciples was now wholly managed by the Palace. When a disciple was recruited, they were no longer directly assigned to a specific monastery or hall. Instead, there was now a mutual selection process between the two. During this process, each temple and hall was given the opportunity to choose the disciples they wished to recruit. Just the same, the disciples were given the opportunity to choose the temple or hall they wished to join.

Not only did the motion receive the approval of many True Lords, the strongest support came from the highest-ranked halls. It was basically a done deal at this point. Initially, True Lord Xuan Yue was indifferent toward this motion. The Skyblue Hall had produced an unusually large number of prodigies over the past few decades. Resources had already been stretched thin after Zhang Sheng appeared. Their financial situation had only grown much worse after the emergence of Wei Yuan. If a couple more prodigies like this showed up, he truly did not know where he was going to find the resources to nurture them. He had already exhausted his reserves as it was.

Now that he thought about it, the reason the Bright King Hallmaster suddenly pulled off this stunt was probably because he was plotting to take the new batch of disciples to the Myriad Manifestation Hall. He wanted to show them that the disciples of his hall were strong enough to lift an entire continent. This would undoubtedly cause their impression of the Bright King Hall to skyrocket. There was no doubt that a couple of heaven foundation cultivators would emerge from the Bright King Hall’s ranks in a few years’ time.

True Lord Xuan Yue cursed the Bright King Hallmaster’s craftiness as soon as he figured out the truth—he hadn’t realized that this was what the bastard was laying the groundwork for until it was too late! Who said that body cultivators[2] were simply and honest?

That said, True Lord Xuan Yue was no pushover. He planned to send a disciple into the Myriad Manifestations Hall in disguise. Once the Bright King Hallmaster had finished showing off his strongmen and strongwomen, his disciple would tell the new recruits exactly what it was they were carrying.

Next, True Lord Xuan Yue’s thought turned to Wei Yuan. It had only been a couple days since Wei Yuan had set off on his first solo journey, yet he had already caused quite a stir and became the master of an immortal-level realm stone somehow. To say that he felt overwhelmed would be an understatement.

Qingming was renowned as far back as the Distant Antiquity Era. Without exaggeration, heaven and earth had trembled when it was forged. Throughout history, less than ten realm stones had exhibited such an extraordinary phenomenon upon their creation. Unfortunately, Qingming had vanished shortly after its forging and left no traces for tens of thousands of years. Everyone assumed that it had fallen into the hands of a foreign race and was destroyed. No one knew that it still existed, no one expected Wei Yuan to activate it and become its master at all.

The second True Lord Xuan Yue had received Wei Yuan’s letter, he had immediately ordered Zhang Sheng to journey westward. At the same time, he sent two Truemen—Fen Hai and Lanhua—to guard Hanyang Pass and keep the Xu Clan in check. True Lord Xuan Yue was no ordinary man. He could tell from the bits and pieces of information in Wei Yuan’s letter that something was terribly wrong with the Xu Clan. For instance, why had Wei Yuan sent so many letters to the Palace of Absolute Beginning asking for help, when the Xu Clan was right next to him?

Right now, the storerooms of the Skyblue Hall and the Water Moon Hall were more or less empty. Apart from a few heirloom treasures belonging to True Lords and Immortal Lords, they had sold off nearly everything else. Even so, True Lord Xuan Yue just barely scraped together enough supplies worth one hundred thousand taels of immortal silver for Zhang Sheng to take with him. Of course, the heirloom treasures could not be sold; to do so would be tantamount to selling off one’s ancestral property.

However, one hundred thousand immortal silver was not even close to being enough to expand the borders. Fortunately, the Bright King Hallmaster had come to the rescue at just the right moment, alleviating their immediate crisis. In fact, True Lord Xuan Yue had nearly caved in when the Bright King Hallmaster made him an offer of two million. Thankfully, he was a veteran True Lord who had mastered the art of composure and always took his time to say anything. Not only did he manage to increase the loan amount to five million, he was able to secure an immortal foundation-level helper for Wei Yuan as well.

That said, even the timely assistance of the Bright King Hall was not enough. It was going to be a difficult task for the Skyblue Hall and the Water Moon Hall alone to secure Qingming alone.

True Lord Xuan Yue was contending against a headache when suddenly, Immortal Lord Tinghai’s voice resounded in his ears: “Come to the Idyllic Dwelling Peak. I would like to discuss Wei Yuan’s matter.”

Multiple figures kept appearing on the mountain peak where Immortal Lord Tinghai was living. In the end, a total of fifteen True Lords had shown up. It wasn’t everyone; some True Lords were in the middle of secluded cultivation and could not participate as a result.

Immortal Lord Tinghai was sitting on the edge of the cliff and fishing as usual. The fishing pole was bent sharply; a clear sign that a big fish had taken the bait. Steam was rising from his head from how hard he was struggling. Suddenly, the Immortal exhaled deeply and let out a fierce cry. One mighty heave later, he finally lifted the fishing pole into the air!

However, there was nothing on the other end of the long, long fishing pole.

Humming thoughtfully, the Immortal Lord put away the fishing pole before stepping into the main hall. After taking his seat at the head of the table, he declared, “The reason I gathered you all today is to discuss Wei Yuan’s matter.”

“Did something happen?” Someone asked.

Pei Tinghai answered, “I just exchanged blows with Xu Wangu again and suffered a minor loss. Specifically, I had lost a certain item that I had been plotting to obtain. But it’s no big deal.”

A youthful-looking Daoist—True Lord Yan Shi—spoke up. “I can see that the situation in the West is growing increasingly perilous. That old man is playing with fire! We must be on guard against him taking desperate measures.”

The Bright King Hallmaster grunted. “You don’t say? That old man’s on his last legs. He has already gone to every length to progress further. No clan is willing to provoke his ire at this juncture, and their reluctance only fuels his brazenness.”

Everyone here was aware that Xu Wangu was the Xu Clan’s Ancestor. He had already attained the Ultimate Unity for over two thousand years. An Immortal Lord existed on a higher plane of existence than them, which was why World Ruler True Lords such as them could not address him directly by name. Otherwise, there was a good chance the old man would experience a sudden intuition. It was fine for those of weaker cultivation to address him by name, however.

True Lord Xuan Yue rose to his feet and declared, “It is Wei Yuan’s fault for becoming Qingming’s master by accident. I will take responsibility for his mistake.”

Someone sneered immediately. “Can you?”

Another person said, “Is it possible for an immortal object to acknowledge a master by accident? Heh. I would have believed you if I’m not somewhat versed in the Dao of artifact-forging!”

Xuan Yue’s brow furrowed deeper and deeper. He was about to rise from his chair when Pei Tinghai raised his hand in a gesture of silence. The assembly of True Lords immediately fell quiet.

“I’m the one who sent Wei Yuan to the west. It is true that his decision to bond with Qingming was intentional, but he was contending with an extraordinary situation. For the sake of the hundreds of thousands of lives living in that region, one cannot say that he has made a mistake,” Pei Tinghai said.

A True Lord with long eyebrows and stooped shoulders disagreed. He did not look up, but he said, “It is only the lives of a few hundred thousand mortals. They aren’t worth an immortal object such as Qingming at all. Had the realm stone been used in the right place, it could have saved tens, no, hundreds of millions of lives. Instead, we have our current situation. The kindest way to put this would be to sacrifice the greater good for the lesser. Bluntly speaking, it is a short-sighted, insubordinate, and even rebellious act!”

“Don’t you think you’re going too far?” True Lord Xuan Yue’s voice was laced with iciness at this point.

Unperturbed, the long-browed True Lord replied calmly, “I’m just stating facts. Be honest, Xuan Yue: If Qingming was moved to the north, it would surely break the current deadlock in one fell swoop, no? Given a few hundred years of careful development, it could even carve out a territory of three thousand and support a population of fifty million. This is a conservative estimate, by the way. But now, we only have a chance at holding onto the western territory. On the other hand, we would have had a guaranteed win if the realm stone was used in the north. There is simply no comparison.”

True Lord Xuan Yue could not come up with a rebuttal. In the end, he could only argue, “You say that, but it was a question whether Qingming could have been brought back in the first place.”

Once more, Immortal Lord Tinghai raised his hand and stopped their argument. He then said, “For now, Qingming still belongs to us, whereas Xu Wangu has gotten nothing and even lost a useful pawn, Xu Guanwen. Thus, this is a major victory for us, and Wei Yuan deserves the greatest share of the credit. At the very least, his contribution far outweighs his mistakes.

“As for what is to come in the future, it depends on whether we can hold onto this territory. That is why I’ve decided to increase the merit reward for all activities in Ningxi by thirty percent. If any of you have the capacity, I would encourage you to get involved.”

The long-browed True Lord raised his eyes slightly. “This is going to affect the Palace’s foundation.”

“Only a little.”

The long-browed True Lord nodded and fell silent.

Immortal Lord Tinghai continued, “One more thing. I will be journeying west in a short while. I would like to witness Immortal Lord Wangu’s Dao arts with my own eyes, you see. If it’s a quick trip, I will be back in several days. If it’s a long trip, then I may be back in a year or so. During this period, feel free to decide minor matters of the Palace among yourselves, and major matters through discussion.”

The Bright King Hallmaster immediately spoke up in disagreement, “You cannot, Palace Lord! That old bastard’s been cultivating for over a thousand years, and he’s on the brink of total insanity right now. On the other hand, you boast a promising path to immortality and stand a chance of progressing further! It just doesn’t make sense for you to clash head on with him!”

Pei Tinghai smiled at that. “Everyone thinks the same as you, including Xu Wangu. Sure, I would be lying if I claim that I am not afraid that my path will meet a sudden end. However, this fear applies to Xu Wangu as well, whose hopes of longevity may very well end prematurely. If I were to perish, he won’t live beyond a decade either. Even assuming the worst, the Palace Lord is still around. All of you are still around. So long as every generation continues to produce genius disciples, the Palace of Absolute Beginning will never fall.

“So long there are successors who will follow in my footsteps, what do I have to fear about?”

While the True Lords exchanged glances with each other, Pei Tinghai continued, “There is no need to say more. I have already made up my mind. Qingming acknowledging a different master is a major setback that he won’t be forgetting anytime soon. He will not stop at this. If I don’t meet him, he will think that nothing and no one can stop him!

“But there’s no need to worry too much. You see, old folks nearing the end of their lifespans like him are really the ones who are most afraid of death.”

There was nothing the True Lords could have said that would have changed his mind. They could only watch as Immortal Lord Tinghai walked step by step toward the edge of the cliff and into the sea of clouds. He was gone.

1. It basically just means worth a lot. ☜

2. Not to be mistaken with Body-tempering stage cultivators. ☜