Xu Bai glanced at the silent Liu San beside him and suddenly turned to ask, "Elder Liu, will you be coming along as well? You have seen much of the world, so you could help keep an eye out for me and see whether this submission to the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals is truly reliable—and whether there is any possibility that the Taiyan Sect has colluded with the Alliance to deceive us."
Xu Bai spoke with utmost sincerity.
Yet Liu San remained quiet for a moment before shaking his head in refusal. "Young Master, it will suffice for you to go with Old Fang. In terms of experience and insight, he is by no means inferior to me. In these troubled times, the many disciples in the Valley of Longevity still require someone to look after them. Although the entrance is concealed by the End Disc, we cannot rule out the possibility of a cultivator stumbling in by chance."
"Old Liu, you've finally spoken an honest word!" Fang Zaiji seemed rather pleased by Liu San's endorsement.
Yet soon, he eyed Liu San with suspicion. "You wouldn't be trying to take advantage of this rare chance to be alone with Yushan, would you?"
"Nonsense!" Liu San snapped in irritation.
After some playful bickering, Xu Bai and Fang Zaiji left the Valley of Longevity and headed straight for the Taiyan Sect.
The entrance to the pocket world was situated in Taihua Province. Along the way, quite a few cultivators could be seen stirring into action, also traveling to witness the spectacle.
Remarkably, cultivators from within the Alliance's administrative establishment were stationed along the entire route to direct travelers.
Evidently, they intended to treat the Taiyan Sect's submission as a model case and publicize it thoroughly.
Taihua Province lay in the eastern region of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, not far from the Congyun Sea.
A mountain range spanned the entire territory, bristling with thousands of peaks.
Nine of these mountains were the most towering and steep, known among cultivators as the Nine Ranges of Taihua.
In truth, there had once been ten ranges of Taihua.
However, one of them, Mount Taixu, had suddenly collapsed and vanished from human memory, leaving only nine ranges thereafter.
In an earlier lifetime, He Zhenghao had even considered furthering his studies in Taihua Province, but through Li Fan's intervention, he had gone to Tianyun Province instead.
Following the guidance, the two arrived at Mount Taixuan.
"This entrance is concealed quite thoroughly—to think it sits right within the mountain's core! It's so naturally formed! If the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals hadn't forged this passage, getting inside would have taken some real effort," Fang Zaiji remarked in surprise.
Following the winding corridor deep into the mountain, they reached the end.
The spatial passage had already been stabilized and opened.
A few Taiyan Sect cultivators stood at the entrance, ostensibly lined up to welcome visitors. Yet as their eyes darted repeatedly across the arriving cultivators, they seemed to be searching for something.
'Don't tell me those young bastards from back then are still alive?' Fang Zaiji muttered secretly to himself.
Seeing Fang Zaiji's suddenly hesitant expression, Xu Bai knew what he was worried about.
Clearing his throat in a quiet prompt, Xu Bai led the way forward.
Seeing this, Fang Zaiji had no choice but to follow closely behind.
The moment the Taiyan Sect cultivators saw Xu Bai walking toward them, their eyes lit up and they swarmed forward.
"Fellow Daoist, please wait!"
"Might you be interested in joining our Taiyan Sect?"
"Upon entering our sect, not only will you never lack cultivation methods again, you will even receive a mid-grade Dao Transformation Stone for free!"
They chimed in all at once, brimming with enthusiasm.
Their fervor immediately drew the attention of the surrounding cultivators.
"Taiyan Sect fellow Daoists, what about me?!"
"I want to join the Taiyan Sect!"
"Why are you only crowding around him? Just because he's good-looking?"
The cultivators grumbled in discontent, but the Taiyan Sect disciples paid them no heed at all.
Their eyes remained fixed solely on Xu Bai.
Xu Bai neither agreed nor flatly refused.
Instead, he probed about the current relationship between the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals and the Taiyan Sect.
The Taiyan Sect disciples answered freely, hiding nothing: "It's merely bearing the Alliance's name, and then dispatching a Dao Integration Elder to hold fort at Alliance headquarters each year. All in all, it's hardly any different from before."
"Within this Taixuan Realm, our Taiyan Sect still has the final say. The Alliance will not interfere."
"Think about it: how many grotto-heavens and pocket worlds are under the Alliance's rule? One more or one less makes no difference to them."
"On the contrary, having access to things like the Alliance's Heavenly Profound Treasure Mirror and Heavenly Profound Mirror has made our daily cultivation vastly more convenient."
Seeing that Xu Bai seemed somewhat swayed, they redoubled their efforts to persuade him.
They even took the initiative to guide him around, showing him the sights of the Taixuan pocket world.
Spanning thousands of li of fertile soil, countless mortals lived upon the land.
Far off amid the clouds, a floating city drifted above the mist.
Vaguely, many cultivators could be seen moving back and forth within the city.
"The density of spiritual energy in this pocket world is already no less than in ordinary regions of the Xuanhuang Realm."
"To think you managed to find such a marvelous refuge back then..." Fang Zaiji remarked, a twinge of envy in his voice.
The Taiyan Sect disciples stared blankly for a collective second.
Only then did they realize that the "back then" Fang Zaiji spoke of referred to the time when the catastrophe of "dharmas cannot be cultivated concurrently" descended.
"Naturally. We excel at the art of deduction and divination, so we were able to find a sliver of survival amid destructive crisis."
In truth, judging from the ages of these young disciples, they likely knew little about what had transpired back then.
They were merely boasting to convince Xu Bai to join the sect.
"Reasonably speaking, with conditions as generous as yours for recruiting disciples, the Taiyan Sect shouldn't be lacking applicants. Why is it that the moment you saw me, you..."
Xu Bai asked deliberately, "Could it really be because I'm good-looking?"
The Taiyan Sect disciples exchanged glances before a slightly older cultivator addressed Xu Bai's question.
"Our Taiyan Sect does not take just anyone. Most importantly, one must match one of the facial physiognomies provided by the Dao Transformation Mother Stone."
After briefly explaining what the Dao Transformation Mother Stone was, he continued, "In the Mother Stone's deductions, cultivators matching these physiognomies are destined to become either the future backbone of our sect, pillars capable of reviving the Taiyan Sect, or peerless leaders who can guide the Taiyan Sect out of crisis..."
"In short, there is everything to gain and nothing to lose. It can never be mistaken!"
They spoke with supreme confidence, evidently placing absolute faith in the deduction results of the Dao Transformation Mother Stone.
"Oh? Such a stone mother is so miraculous? I wonder if I might see it with my own eyes?" Xu Bai asked, playing along.
"As long as you join our Taiyan Sect, you will be able to see the Mother Stone in person. What's more, it is very likely you will even receive an opportunity for a simulation!" the middle-aged cultivator promised, patting his chest.
"A simulation?" Xu Bai's eyes narrowed slightly.
Even Fang Zaiji was instantly captivated.
"As we told you before, within the Dao Transformation Mother Stone lies another deduced world that is nearly identical to reality. And if you gain its permission, you can employ its power to create a simulated world tailored specifically for you."
"In this virtual world, you will experience everything you are about to go through."
"Although it cannot be guaranteed to be a hundred percent accurate, having such foreknowledge is more than enough to help whoever undergoes the simulation avoid countless detours."
The middle-aged cultivator's tone was brimming with envy.
"It is just a pity that I failed the trial last time and missed out on an opportunity of a century."
"Are you saying that this Dao Transformation Mother Stone has actually birthed its own sentience?" Fang Zaiji asked in surprise.
Chapter 781