The moment the Immortal Fairy spoke these words, everyone present was astonished.
As expected of Daoist Buyu's youngest disciple—barely in the Golden Core stage and already plotting to usurp power!
Even Eldest Senior Sister glanced sideways slightly.
Lu Yang buried his face in his hands. He had known coming to the imperial capital for a meeting would bring nothing good.
*Fairy, stop trying to imitate Eldest Senior Sister all day. Even if you can mimic the way she talks, you can't mimic her abilities.*
*You want to stay Sect Master permanently? Even if Master agreed, Eldest Senior Sister never would!*
*Eldest Senior Sister, am I right?*
Lu Yang turned his head to look at Eldest Senior Sister, only to find her wearing a pensive expression, seemingly contemplating the feasibility of the Fairy's proposal.
Emperor Xia gave a light cough and changed the subject. "Ahem, let us set Daoist Buyu aside for now. We have already learned the Imperial Preceptor's location from the Great Yu Tribulation Transcendence cultivator. Mr. Chen Tao rushed there immediately, but unfortunately, he was still one step too late. The Imperial Preceptor and his subordinates had already fled. Nothing remained inside the grotto-heaven—they even scraped away the topsoil with storage rings."
Emperor Xia spoke helplessly. The imperial court had acted quickly enough; they had even skipped torturing Venerable Poxiao and gone straight to a soul search to learn the Imperial Preceptor's whereabouts as fast as possible.
Yet Great Yu's people were no pushovers either. They abandoned a perfectly good grotto-heaven without a second thought, fleeing at a speed that rivaled the many-burrowed Immortal Cult.
With the Nine Nether Cult crippled by the Heavenly Court Cult's deception, Great Yu's two Imperial Preceptors were undoubtedly the greatest hidden threat at present. Capturing them one step earlier would relieve a measure of pressure on the court.
"The main reason I gathered everyone today is to discuss the matter of ancient cultivators dispersing their cultivation to start anew. In the past, we always fixed our attention on those in the Body Integration and Tribulation Transcendence stages.
"Coincidentally, Sect Master Lu, who was personally involved, is here today. Only after the incident with Huang Ming of the Corpse Driving Sect did we realize there was a blind spot in our previous understanding. To seize the opportunities of the Golden Age, these ancient cultivators are quite ruthless—they are even willing to undertake something as uncertain as dispersing their cultivation to start anew.
"Right now, they are still weak and pose no threat. But once given time to grow, they will become major trouble. They might stab us in the back at the most critical moment, or leak core intelligence."
Luo Hongxia frowned slightly, finding the matter thorny. "We are aware of the problem, but is there any way to solve it?"
Emperor Xia had summoned everyone precisely because he had some ideas.
"I thought of an approach. I shall issue an imperial edict summoning all young cultivators in the realm to participate in a grand tournament. The selection will progress from city level to province level, and from province level to the national level. All young cultivators must take part; no excuse will be accepted.
"Taking Qingzhou as an example, Qingzhou will hold internal selections to pick thirty people per cultivation stage, representing the highest caliber of young cultivators in Qingzhou. Then, the young cultivators from all seventeen provinces will gather for a grand competition. From among them, we can screen for those who might be ancient cultivators who dispersed their cultivation to start anew.
"What traits do cultivators who dispersed their cultivation to start anew possess? They have vast cultivation experience, so they certainly will not commit the mistakes ordinary cultivators make during training. Their combat styles also differ from today's cultivators. Relying on these two factors, there is a high probability we can distinguish them."
It was a feasible method, but Luo Hongxia was somewhat puzzled. "Couldn't an ancient cultivator simply concede midway? Deliberately throwing a match at the provincial stage, never even reaching us?"
Emperor Xia shook his head. "Concede? An esteemed ancient Body Integration cultivator intentionally conceding to someone of the same stage after starting over? Their pride would never permit it. If they conceded, even if they achieved success in cultivation later on, there would be a flaw in their mental state, and they would never achieve true greatness."
Lu Yang could attest to this. Back when he fought Huang Ming, Huang Ming had even used a move like Spiritual Arrow Feathers just to win. He would rather expose his identity than lose to Lu Yang.
"Why young cultivators? Would older ones not work?" The Fairy was slightly puzzled, though she did not ask aloud, instead whispering to Lu Yang.
*Fairy, think about it. What is the goal of those who disperse their cultivation to start anew? It's to cultivate each stage to perfection before advancing to the next. Why would they choose to stay in one stage until old age? There's no benefit to that.*
"Makes sense. Pretty much what this Immortal thought."
Yang Ding thought of a loophole in the plan. "What if your imperial edict has no effect, and the cultivators who dispersed their cultivation to start anew simply don't show up? How do you resolve that?"
"Those who joined sects are easy enough. With an imperial edict in place, even if someone doesn't want to go, their sect elders will force them to go.
"But what if we encounter those who, after restarting, hide inside a grotto-heaven and refuse to leave until they reach the Body Integration stage?"
"Then there is nothing we can do. If someone hides in a grotto-heaven, no one can discover them, and no edict will work. However, such cases should be rare. To them, Great Xia is a new world. Could they really resist the temptation to explore this new world, ignoring modern cultivation theories and the distribution of factions, solely devoting themselves to secluded meditation?
"Besides, even if they stay hidden in a grotto-heaven and emerge only upon reaching the Body Integration stage, it would merely mean one more rogue Body Integration cultivator. Unable to access core intelligence, they wouldn't pose much of a threat."
With Emperor Xia's explanation, everyone agreed the method was sound. Although it might not uncover all ancient cultivators who had dispersed their cultivation to start anew, finding a portion of them was already good.
"Do the immortal sects need to send participants?"
"Yes. Cultivators who dispersed their cultivation to start anew have pushed every stage to the extreme. Ordinary cultivators might not be able to defeat them. Surely we cannot let these ancient cultivators take first place?
"The disciples of the immortal sects must serve as the safeguard."
"Agreed."
"Coincidentally, the Dao Seeking Sect will soon hold its celebration. We could set the location for the final tournament—the national-level competition—at the Dao Seeking Sect. What does Sect Master Lu think?" Emperor Xia turned to ask Lu Yang.
"Of course! No problem!" the Immortal Fairy agreed readily. She had just received Yun Zhi's nodding approval that it was fine to do so.
The more people there were, the livelier the celebration would be, and the better it would show off her competence as Acting Sect Master!
Luo Hongxia looked at the grinning Immortal Fairy and suggested, "By the way, Sect Master Lu defeated Huang Ming, who had dispersed his cultivation to start anew, at an equal cultivation stage, and Sect Master Qiu spoke of you with lavish praise. Would Sect Master Lu be willing to demonstrate some of your peerless techniques?"
Though framed as a spar, she actually wanted to teach Lu Yang a small lesson—nothing too severe, so Yun Zhi wouldn't object.
The Immortal Fairy put on a conflicted look. "Bullying someone smaller... wouldn't that be improper?"
As a dignified celestial fighting a Body Integration cultivator, she was jumping two entire realms above her opponent.
Luo Hongxia misunderstood the Immortal Fairy's meaning, assuming she meant a Body Integration cultivator fighting a Golden Core cultivator was unfair.
She took out a small, round box from her storage ring. "This is a supreme treasure of our Immortal Palace. It can adjust both of us to the same cultivation stage, ensuring absolute fairness!"
As the dignified Palace Master of Moon Laurel Immortal Palace and a top-tier Body Integration grand cultivator, even if she adjusted herself to the same stage as Lu Yang, she could still thrash him effortlessly!
So what if Lu Yang could defeat a cultivator who had dispersed cultivation to start anew? Only those with shaky foundations did such a thing; she was far stronger than those restarted cultivators!
Chapter 469