Deploy to the Northern Sea, the Time Is Now!

"Is he leaving?" In a quiet, secluded secret chamber, Fu Qinglan slowly opened her eyes. Fu Chaosheng, who had just entered, nodded. Fu Qinglan pursed her lips and asked softly, "Is it to find his Dao companion?" Fu Chaosheng sighed. "Indeed. Before this, I merely took him for a rogue cultivator from the Northern Sea, and the spirit pets and attendants by his side all hailed from there as well. Who would have thought he actually came from the Eastern Desolation? If he hadn't spoken up on his own initiative, I'm afraid we would still be kept in the dark." "The Eastern Desolation... the Desolate Hermit..." Fu Qinglan murmured the Daoist title Luo Chen had chosen for himself and couldn't help letting out a soft laugh. So from the very beginning, Luo Chen had made his background clear. And remembering that he had personally told her grandfather about having a Dao companion, Fu Qinglan could only sigh that her previous decision had been the right one. Setting aside whether Luo Chen was willing to marry into the Fu family, the mere fact that he already had wives and concubines meant she would never share a husband with another woman. "When does he leave?" Fu Chaosheng said, "He has already reported to Elder Qideng of the Star Gate and has currently left Heaven and Earth Peak. However, before departing the Central Plains, he needs to make a trip back to the Wangwu Mountain Range to gather his spirit pets and attendants, while also taking delivery of the large quantity of cultivation resources I prepared for him earlier." Upon hearing this, Fu Qinglan remarked with emotion, "He is still as thoughtful and thorough as ever..." Afterward, she fell into a prolonged silence. Standing to the side, Fu Chaosheng said nothing more. Yet whenever his gaze drifted toward his granddaughter, a strange feeling of distant unfamiliarity welled up within him. Ever since emerging from the Mirage Dragon Grotto-Heaven, she had changed a great deal. It was not merely a change in her cultivation realm, but also a shift in her character. She had grown far more mature. Especially after that trip to Zuowang Peak, this transformation had become even more pronounced. Naturally, Fu Chaosheng viewed this change favorably. His lifespan was nearly exhausted, and he could not protect his granddaughter for a lifetime. If Qinglan could step up early and shoulder responsibilities, it was everything he could hope for. Suddenly, a yellowed beast-skin volume appeared in the woman's hand. "Send this book to him!" Fu Chaosheng frowned. "Why present another gift? Although he sacrificed fifty years of lifespan, he has already received more than enough benefits from us. Especially last time, in accordance with your wishes, I sent him both an array manual and a sword scripture." As he spoke, his gaze fell upon the beast-skin volume, and his expression froze. "*Tongyou Ji*? Isn't this your favorite set of weiqi manuals?" Fu Qinglan caressed the yellowed pages. Tanned from the hide of an unknown demon beast, the parchment felt exceptionally soft, and a hint of reluctance lingered in her eyes. Yet when she recalled Luo Chen's clumsy, awkward demeanor when playing weiqi with her back then, the corners of her mouth curved upward. "It is merely a set of manuals on weiqi, something that can be bought anywhere in the Central Plains, and to me now, it is nothing more than a minor pursuit. Giving it to him serves as a farewell gift. Hopefully, when we meet again, his play won't be quite so dreadful." With a light flick of her sleeve, *Tongyou Ji* drifted before Fu Chaosheng. This time, Fu Chaosheng made no further objections. It was just an ordinary set of weiqi manuals; the Central Plains lacked for many things, but certainly not books of that sort. Perhaps *Tongyou Ji* was slightly special because it had been passed down from the Upper Realm, but that was all. In the end, it was still just a miscellaneous tome unrelated to the great cultivation of the Dao. "I will have someone take the teleportation array to bring the manual back to the family and deliver it to Luo Chen. As for you, have matters been arranged on the Sect Master's and the Ancestor's end?" Fu Qinglan broke into a bright smile. "Grandfather, you need not worry about me. Now that I have entered Zuowang Peak, my Great Dao is within reach. We only need to wait for the remaining few to emerge from the grotto-heaven, and the sect will determine the rankings and bestow the rewards." "Then that will be soon." Fu Chaosheng stroked his beard, eagerly anticipating that day. And indeed, that day arrived very quickly. Roughly five months later, two figures appeared simultaneously within the Great Hall of Heaven and Earth Peak. A man and a woman: the man was True Person Longyuan, and the woman was true disciple Mingyan. The outcome left many astonished. True Person Longyuan, favored by quite a few people, had failed to comprehend source power. Instead, Mingyan, who hailed from the master-disciple lineage, had reaped a tremendous harvest! At the time, the explanation—according to Mingyan—was that True Person Longyuan had taken a sword strike from Luo Chen at Three Rainbows Falls, suffering internal injuries that hindered his subsequent enlightenment. Yet in the eyes of the discerning representatives from the great clans, True Person Longyuan had clearly been reduced to a stepping stone for the master-disciple lineage. Now the master-disciple lineage possessed another prodigy who had comprehended source power, bringing renewed hope for their resurgence. Conversely, the momentum of the humble Liu family, from which True Person Longyuan originated, was effectively broken. Even if they ascended to a prominent clan in the future, they would merely be the most ordinary of clans, and whether they could keep their family gate standing after a thousand years was difficult to say. After them, Gu Yuan emerged as well. And the result was equally surprising. Gu Yuan had not comprehended source power either! One had to realize that according to the true disciples who had exited earlier, Gu Yuan had faced virtually no obstacles from start to finish, with his Dao Protector Gu Chen shielding him the entire way. To have such smooth sailing yet still fall short of Fu Qinglan, Gu Daosu, and Mingyan? Even more astonishing was that under these circumstances, the old clan head of the Gu family, renowned for his strict and demanding demeanor, did not blame Gu Yuan in the slightest. Instead, he praised him for doing well. Such a jarring contradiction left everyone bewildered. However, that confusion did not last long. The Mirage Dragon Grotto-Heaven began to close. Beneath Heaven and Earth Peak, the clouds and mist surging over the Shi River began to withdraw en masse, disappearing into that colossal maw. Everyone left the Great Hall together and stared toward the grotto-heaven's entrance. There was still one person who had yet to come out! Just as the grotto-heaven was about to shut completely, a golden sun slowly floated up from the entrance. It was Shi Ju! Ignoring the crowd's congratulations, Shi Ju's blazing eyes swept across the surroundings, but he did not see the person he wanted to find. "Hiding away, are you?" Right at that moment, an ancient, weathered voice slowly resonated. "The grotto-heaven is closed; return to Lanke!" Without hesitation, everyone mounted their escape lights and departed Heaven and Earth Peak. Heaven and Earth Peak, bustling for an entire year, instantly quieted down. The attention of countless cultivators shifted toward Qingyun Square in the Lanke Mountain Range. Radiance shone in ten thousand rays across golden thread and jade steps. One after another, disciples who had participated in the Grand Competition appeared on the jade staircase. All eyes looked upward until Sect Master Mo Shouzhuo appeared. He waved a hand, and an attendant boy behind him produced a scroll, slowly unfurling it. "Ge Ling, ranked tenth in the Golden Core Grand Competition. Bestowed ten thousand high-grade spirit stones, one mid-grade Daoist robe, five bottles of Qionghua Pills, and permitted to study in the Sutra Pavilion for fifteen days." "Li Zizhuang, ranked ninth in the Golden Core Grand Competition. Bestowed twenty thousand high-grade spirit stones, one mid-grade Daoist robe, ten bottles of Qionghua Pills, and permitted to study in the Sutra Pavilion for fifteen days." "Liu Changfeng..." Name after name was called, and each individual and the family behind them was ecstatic. Especially Liu Changfeng; for a junior from the humble Liu family to squeeze into the top ten was truly an honor that glorified his ancestors. The material rewards aside, the half month of study in the Sutra Pavilion was immensely precious! Once inside, one could not only search for suitable cultivation methods, but also learn powerful spells—and such knowledge could be passed down through the family! True Person Longyuan's failure had originally cast a shadow over the Liu family's future, but with Liu Changfeng's achievement, some of the gloom was finally dispersed. Standing outside the jade steps, True Person Longyuan's expression softened slightly. Following that, the ranking rewards for the Golden Core disciples were distributed one by one. From sixth place onward, the ranks were almost entirely dominated by disciples of the prominent great clans. Only at second place was there an exception. The second-place disciple was surnamed Wang. He hailed from the Bochuan Wang family—the very Wang family of the true disciple Luo Chen had driven out of the Mirage Dragon Grotto-Heaven with a single sword strike. This individual was quite extraordinary; wielding a single sword, he had swept across the grotto-heaven's outer reaches and hunted down a massive number of third-rank mirage beasts. His dazzling performance was not in the least inferior to that of the great clan scions! Yet True Person Longyuan paid no attention to any of this. His gaze remained fixed entirely on the top two rows of the jade steps. Three people stood in the second row. Gu Daosu was in the center, Shi Ju was on the right, and the silhouette of the woman on the left filled Longyuan's eyes with complicated emotions. Had his century of tempering in the Northern Sea served merely to pave the way for her success? Mingyan seemed to feel the burning gaze behind her, yet she remained motionless. On the right, Shi Ju was quite restless, looking repeatedly to his left and right. That person had not appeared! Even at this grand ceremony, he still had not shown his face. The representatives of other families and the Dao Protectors of the Nascent Soul true disciples were all present in full force, yet Luo Chen was nowhere to be seen. *Are you hiding?* *You can't hide forever. You injured my lightning avatar and ruined my grand plan of dual cultivation in lightning and fire.* *I will claim this debt from you!* As he muttered internally, he finally cast a voracious, venomous glare toward the slender woman in front of him. "Bitch!" Those two words were not concealed, muttered in an audible undertone. Fu Qinglan acted as if she had heard nothing, standing tall, her posture straightening slightly. She had faced Shi Ju directly before! She had seen with her own eyes how utterly wretched he had been beneath Luo Chen's hand! Her former timidity had long since dispersed like smoke. Moreover, she was no longer the Fu Qinglan of old; she was the champion of the Grand Competition, the very first of her generation to enter Zuowang Peak for cultivation! "Shi Ju, comprehended source power. Bestowed the Flame Cloud True Garment, a Taihe Pill, entry to Zuowang Peak, and instruction in the *High Mystery Lucid Bright Fire Scripture*. Conferred the divine ability Haoyi Crimson Cloud Qi in the Sutra Pavilion!" The boy's voice rang clear and far. The moment the words were spoken, the crowd was shaken. Even though it had been expected, actually hearing the rewards still stirred boundless envy in countless onlookers. Yet Shi Ju's face was completely dark. It shouldn't have been like this! According to the original plan, he should have been able to choose two divine abilities—both lightning and fire—to cultivate together. Even within the Tianyuan Dao Sect, that would have been an unprecedented privilege. Everything had been ruined by that man! Above the auspicious clouds, Mo Shouzhuo glanced down at Shi Ju, whose emotions were laid bare, and couldn't help letting out a sigh. "Attempting to comprehend supreme laws through dual cultivation of lightning and fire... even with a seed nurtured from childhood, it still falls short. Especially that disposition of his..." These words were not spoken to himself, but in conversation with others. Soon, someone responded. "Regarding his disposition, we indeed shielded Shi Ju too thoroughly. But what ultimately brought about his defeat was Fu Qinglan's Dao Protector!" Another voice chimed in. "Luo Chen? That lad is quite remarkable. He earned Chu Yan's esteem and comprehended Law true meaning. In the future, he might become a pillar of Heaven and Earth Peak." Mo Shouzhuo disagreed. "You are mistaken. Luo Chen's path has already strayed." *Has it strayed?* His fellow sect members did not refute Mo Shouzhuo. They could all see that the Law true meaning Luo Chen had comprehended did not match his own Dao. At the very least, Luo Chen could not resonate with heaven and earth origin qi! Mo Shouzhuo spoke again. "Let the experiment on Shi Ju end here, unless he can comprehend the source of lightning on his own." With that, he withdrew from the discussion with his peers. Beside him, the boy called out the rewards for the first-ranked Nascent Soul true disciple, Fu Qinglan. "Fu Qinglan, comprehended source power. Bestowed the Sala True Garment, a Taihe Pill, entry to Zuowang Peak, and instruction in the *Azure Wood Supreme Spirit Transformation Scripture*. Conferred the divine ability Great Heaven Creation Seal in the Sutra Pavilion!" "Furthermore, permitted to enter under Ancestor Chunyuan's seat to cultivate for one hundred years!" As the words fell, all assembled were struck with awe! If the previous rewards had already been lavish, with the three before her as precedent, they would not have shocked the crowd too deeply. Yet personal instruction from a Soul Formation grandmaster was an honor far too profound. Unlike the Soul Formation sacred grounds across the other four continents of the Mountain Sea Realm, the Tianyuan Dao Sect was based primarily on clan lineage rather than master-disciple heritage. Even after joining the Dao Sect, most of one's cultivation relied on oneself. The sect's instruction usually consisted of high-stage cultivators lecturing to all disciples equally. Yet now, Fu Qinglan, a mere newcomer to the Nascent Soul realm, had actually secured one hundred years of personal guidance from a Soul Formation ancestor! Given time, she might very well become a new Soul Formation ancestor herself! For a moment, everyone stared at Fu Qinglan's back with intense envy, wishing they could take her place. Under the gaze of ten thousand eyes, the woman bowed slightly and spoke in a clear voice. "My gratitude to the Sect Master, my gratitude to the sect!" In her heart, however, the image of that white-robed figure flashed—he was the one she truly owed her gratitude to! With that, the Grand Competition drew to a complete close. Mo Shouzhuo waved his hand, and the boy rolled up the scroll and stepped back. The old man looked down at the dense multitude of cultivators beneath the mountain, his expression calm. Yet the words he spoke struck like a thunderclap. "Ten thousand years have passed since our sect arrived in this realm. Our forebears braved hardships and forged through thorny wilderness to expand our territory, wresting this fertile land of the Central Plains from countless desolate beasts and demon clans for us to inhabit and cultivate." "In the three thousand years following antiquity, relying on the rich resources of the Central Plains, our sect has stood atop the Mountain Sea Realm, looking down upon the four continents." "Yet the vast Central Plains can no longer sustain our ongoing cultivation. It just so happens that demon turmoil plagues the Northern Sea and they are leaderless; someone must step forward to turn the tide. This very moment is the prime opportunity for us to inherit the unfulfilled aspirations of our predecessors and carry our sect to greater glory." "Therefore, deploy our forces to the Northern Sea—the time is now!" The matter of marching on the Northern Sea had already been discussed among the major clans of the Central Plains prior to the Grand Competition. Now that it had been proclaimed by the Sect Master himself, the matter was entirely sealed. The moment Mo Shouzhuo's words fell, a tsunami of thunderous roars erupted beneath Qingyun Mountain. "Deploy to the Northern Sea, the time is now!" "Deploy to the Northern Sea, the time is now!" "Deploy to the Northern Sea, the time is now!" ... Deep in the Wangwu Mountains. Unlike the bustling commotion of the Lanke Mountain Range, this place was remarkably quiet, save for the crisp clicking of abacus beads. Luo Chen watched silently as Tianxuan handled the handover of over a dozen storage bags filled with cultivation resources with the Fu family cultivators. The quantity of spirit stones involved was counted in the hundreds of millions. After this venture, Luo Chen's savings were largely depleted. However, it was all worthwhile. Even after leaving the Central Plains, Luo Chen would no longer need to worry about the resources required for his cultivation. Hurried footsteps sounded outside the door. It was Sang Jinghe. He rushed inside, his haggard face alight with joy as soon as he saw Luo Chen. "True Person, I've found a method to nurture the Demon-Devil Concentric Tree!"