528: Chapter 529 Southern Wilderness Territory, civil strife!

After finishing the specific instructions, Lu Ming dismissed Great Elder Lu Chenyuan and returned alone to the mountain gate of the Qingwei Dao Sect.

To him, the Qingwei Dao Sect still had many places worth exploring.

Whether it was the scriptures and secret manuals collected over the generations, or the rare treasures of heaven and earth hidden within the Inner Domain Grotto-Heavens, they were all excellent resources.

He needed to calm down, fully digest this Foundation, and convert it into his own strength.

As for other matters, it would not be too late to deal with them after his seclusion.

...

On the other side. Qingwei Dao Sect, Discussion Hall.

Great Elder Lu Chenyuan sat before the desk, with a group of Elders seated below.

At this moment, they each held a Jade Slip in their hands, but all of them had their brows slightly furrowed.

They had read the instructions given by the Grand Elder just a moment ago several times, but the more they read, the more suspicious they felt.

The instructions issued by the Grand Elder this time were neither to reorganize the Sect nor to continue the task of rebuilding the Inner Domain Grotto-Heavens, but to send people everywhere to scour for Golden Core Cultivators who possessed the Law.

Regardless of background or origin, as long as they had mastered the Law, they were to be "invited" back to Qingwei Heaven.

Although it was said to be an "invitation," anyone with a discerning eye knew that the methods would certainly not be too gentle.

Actually, this matter was neither big nor small.

Given the current scale of Qingwei Heaven, it would be fine if they were only secretly collecting a few.

But if they were to recruit on a large scale, it would sooner or later attract the attention of other Inner Domain Grotto-Heavens.

Moreover, they really couldn't understand why the Grand Elder wanted to do this.

Although Great True Person of Golden Core Perfection were considered scarce in the Dao Sect, they fundamentally could not play a decisive factor.

Even if they recruited many more, it wouldn't be enough for a Nascent Soul True Monarch to slap away.

Therefore, it was quite baffling.

"Grand Elder, may I ask if this is a requirement from the True Monarch, or..."

Finally, an Elder couldn't help but ask.

If it were a requirement from the True Monarch, it was normal for them not to understand.

This was perhaps the so-called perspective of the lower Cultivators, not understanding the deep foresight of the True Monarchs.

But if it were the Grand Elder acting on his own accord... Uh, it seemed they couldn't do anything either.

Indeed, facing this question, Great Elder Lu Chenyuan naturally wouldn't tell them, only indifferently glancing at the person who asked.

"Do not ask what you should not ask."

Hearing the displeasure in the Grand Elder's tone, the person instantly shivered and dared not say anything more.

Seeing this, the others, although still confused in their hearts, did not ask any further.

Great Elder Lu Chenyuan saw that no one had any objections and nodded with satisfaction.

Then, after giving a few more instructions, he dismissed everyone.

He stood up and went alone to the Formation Academy of the Qingwei Dao Sect.

The Formation Academy was located in the southeast corner of the mountain gate, covering an area of thousands of acres. Inside the academy, spiritual mist swirled, and Formation patterns flowed.

The Formation Masters of the Dao Sect all studied the Dao of Formations here. Among them, the highest-ranked were three quasi-fourth-rank Formation Masters, who were considered top-tier in the entire Inner Domain.

When Great Elder Lu Chenyuan stepped into the courtyard, he happened to see these Formation Masters discussing the arrangement of Formation patterns.

Seeing the Grand Elder arrive in person, they hurriedly stood up to salute.

Great Elder Lu Chenyuan waved his hand, walked straight to the open space in the center of the courtyard, and then took a Jade Slip from his sleeve and handed it over.

"Build a teleportation Formation according to these coordinates."

The leading Formation Master took the Jade Slip, probed it with his Divine Sense, and immediately frowned.

"What kind of backwater is this? This is too remote!"

Hearing this, Great Elder Lu Chenyuan immediately frowned, a look of displeasure flashing across his face.

Presumptuous, this is the place of origin of the Buddha Lord, how can you blaspheme it like this!

However, he did not flare up on the spot.

Since the Buddha Lord did not want to make a big fuss, he had to keep the secret well.

Moreover, according to his understanding, this person's personality was just like that.

He was probably just speaking casually and did not want to delve into anything other than Formations.

However, being disrespectful to the Buddha Lord was still unforgivable; he would make a note of it first and settle the account later.

"Where it is doesn't matter; can you build the teleportation Formation?"

"It is possible, the teleportation Formation is not complicated, but this distance almost spans the entire Profound Spirit Domain, belonging to a super-large teleportation Formation. It will probably require quite a lot of Void Gazer stones, so you see..."

The leading Formation Master rubbed his hands like a fly, looking at Great Elder Lu Chenyuan with a face full of anticipation.

Great Elder Lu Chenyuan knew this clearly, knowing that these guys wanted to squeeze some resources out of him again.

The Void Gazer stones he mentioned were one of the necessary main spiritual materials for building a teleportation Formation.

They were extremely rare; to collect them, one had to enter the Void Realm and search within the spatial turbulence.

Therefore, this job was not something an ordinary person could do; only a Great True Person of Golden Core Perfection could accomplish it.

However, since this was for the Buddha Lord, one naturally could not be stingy with resources.

Thus, he waved his hand and directly approved a large batch of Void Gazer stones for them.

Having received the benefits, the Formation Masters were quite efficient.

After a brief discussion, the seven Formation Masters stood in seven positions in the open space of the Formation Academy.

To ensure nothing went wrong this time, they directly mobilized the few three quasi-fourth-rank Formation Masters and three third-rank High Grade Formation Masters.

They each held a Formation Flag, chanting words in their mouths.

Spiritual light lit up from the Formation Flags, and streaks of Formation patterns appeared, intertwined, and spread on the ground.

Great Elder Lu Chenyuan stood by with his hands behind his back, watching the teleportation Formation gradually take shape.

The Formation patterns spread from the center to the surroundings, one ring within another, nested layer by layer.

Every Formation pattern flickered with a deep blue light, illuminating the entire teleportation Formation like a galaxy in the night sky.

Building a teleportation Formation was not complicated; the difficulty lay in accurately locking onto the coordinates of the target node.

And now that there were detailed coordinates, the speed of building the Formation was very fast.

"Grand Elder, the Formation is complete."

About a quarter of an hour later, the leading Formation Master finished the final finishing work. Then he withdrew the Formation, took a step back, and bowed.

Great Elder Lu Chenyuan's gaze swept over the complete Formation pattern on the ground.

Runes flowed on it, spiritual light was faint, and the nodes were also extremely clear.

After confirming there were no errors, Great Elder Lu Chenyuan nodded slightly.

"Very good, you may withdraw first."

Casually dismissing the Formation Master, Great Elder Lu Chenyuan waited until the figure had walked far away before stepping towards the teleportation Formation.

Standing still in front of the Formation Plate, he began to form hand seals.

A mysterious incantation was born from his fingertips and merged into the Formation patterns.

As the Formation patterns lit up one by one, spreading from the edge to the center, one ring within another, progressing layer by layer.

The spiritual light became brighter and brighter, illuminating the entire teleportation Formation like the most brilliant galaxy in the night sky.

When the last Formation pattern lit up, an invisible force surged out from the Formation, enveloping his entire body.

A sense of being "wrapped" came from all directions, wrapping him tightly.

Then the spiritual light flared up suddenly, and Great Elder Lu Chenyuan's figure disappeared into the Formation.

The process of teleportation was different from traversing the Void Realm; its essence was "delivery."

Great Elder Lu Chenyuan only felt the scenery around him begin to twist, stretch, and deform.

It was as if he had been kneaded into a ball by an invisible hand, and then his whole person was stuffed into a bizarre tunnel.

Points of light flew past him, space collapsed behind him, and time flowed backward under his feet.

Countless images swept past both sides of the tunnel, strange mountains, rivers.

Those images flashed by, too fast to see clearly, but enough to make one dizzy.

I don't know how long it had been, the feeling of being wrapped suddenly disappeared.

Great Elder Lu Chenyuan felt his feet land on solid ground.

The scene before his eyes was no longer a bizarre tunnel, but a desolate forest.

He turned back and saw a small Formation Plate left behind him. The runes on the Formation Plate had dimmed, leaving only faint spiritual light slowly flowing through the Formation patterns.

The teleportation node was bidirectional, not a return ticket.

As long as he pinched out the corresponding incantation when needed and replenished enough Spirit Stones, this Formation Plate could be reactivated to send him back to Qingwei Heaven.

Great Elder Lu Chenyuan memorized this node, put away the Formation Plate, and only then began to look around.

Then he frowned.

At this moment, he only felt that the surrounding air was extremely pungent.

Apparently, the Spiritual Qi here was too thin, and the quality of the Spiritual Qi was extremely impure.

The Spiritual Qi in the Outer Domain was already not as good as the Inner Domain Grotto-Heavens, and this wasteland could not even be considered good compared to the Outer Domain.

The Spiritual Qi seemed to have been polluted by something, turbid, heavy, and viscous.

Taking a breath was like drinking a mouthful of muddy water.

He had lived in a blessed land like Qingwei Heaven for too long and had long been accustomed to the feeling of Spiritual Qi being like silk and threads, gentle as jade.

At this moment, suddenly falling into such a filthy place, he felt uncomfortable all over, and even breathing was a bit sluggish.

"I didn't expect that the Buddha Lord's place of origin would be such a swampy world."

Hey, don't misunderstand; he was not mocking, nor was he disgusted.

On the contrary, a sense of heartfelt admiration welled up in his heart.

To be able to cultivate in such filthy Spiritual Qi and still achieve the position of Buddha Lord.

Indeed, only those who have experienced true great suffering can understand the deepest Buddhist principles.

"However... where is this?"

Great Elder Lu Chenyuan, who had come back to his senses, looked around. The appearance of this land was far from the Buddha Land described by the Buddha Lord in his memory.

But come to think of it, the Buddha Lord had been gone for a long time; with the passage of time, some changes were normal.

"I should find a local Cultivator to ask."

Great Elder Lu Chenyuan decided to "visit" the natives here; presumably, it should not be difficult to inquire.

He spread out his Divine Sense, and in an instant, it extended thousands of miles.

Soon, he sensed a place with abundant spiritual energy in the northeast direction.

There, spiritual light swirled; it was clearly a third-rank High Grade Spiritual Vein.

Above it, the outlines of pavilions and halls could be faintly seen, like a gathering place for a Sect or aristocratic family.

Although the concentration of Spiritual Qi could not compare to those blessed lands in the Outer Domain, it was considered top-tier here.

At least within a radius of a thousand miles, that place had the most abundant spiritual energy.

"You will do."

A flash of brilliance shone in Great Elder Lu Chenyuan's eyes. He raised his hand to tear open the Void Realm, then stepped into it and disappeared.

...

Cloud Thunder Pavilion, main discussion hall.

The hall was bright with candlelight, but it could not hide the heavy atmosphere.

On the main seat, a white-haired old man sat upright, his face ancient, his eyes slightly closed, and the aura around him was deep as an abyss.

He was the Old Ancestor of the Cloud Thunder Pavilion who had been in charge of the Cloud Thunder Pavilion for hundreds of years — Ancestor Yun Chen, with Mid-stage Golden Core cultivation.

And below the hall, a middle-aged Cultivator stood bowing, his expression solemn.

He was the current Pavilion Master of the Cloud Thunder Pavilion, Pavilion Master Xu Qing.

"Old Ancestor, news has come from the Heavenly Star Immortal Sect that after True Person Tianxing passed away, the power struggle within the Sect has intensified.

According to reports from the spies we planted inside, there may be a push from the Demonic Path behind this matter."

Pavilion Master Xu Qing's voice was not loud, but every word was clear.

Ancestor Yun Chen lifted his eyelids slightly, his tone revealing no joy or anger.

"Have you found out exactly who is making trouble behind the scenes?"

"It is probably that Tianli Cult that has recently emerged."

Pavilion Master Xu Qing replied respectfully.

"Tianli Cult..."

Ancestor Yun Chen's fingers tapped the armrest unconsciously, muttering the name.

This force had an unknown origin, no one knew where they emerged from, they did not form organized gatherings, and their members were scattered everywhere.

They acted strangely, did not seize territory, did not steal resources, and specialized in sowing discord for fun.

Things like fathers and sons killing each other, brothers fighting within the family, and masters and disciples turning against each other were all under their manipulation.

And the civil strife of the Heavenly Star Immortal Sect very likely had their shadow behind it.

Thinking of this, Ancestor Yun Chen was silent for a moment and sighed slowly.

"It is a pity for Old Ghost Tianxing. If it weren't for the Dao injury he suffered in the battle with that demon ape back then, he wouldn't have passed away so early, without even arranging his affairs clearly.

Now, such a large Heavenly Star Immortal Sect has become like this."

There was a bit of sighing in his tone.

Thinking back, when the Heavenly Star Immortal Sect was still called Heavenly Star Immortal City, it wiped out the Qingxuan Sect in one fell swoop and swallowed the legacy of the Ji Clan Immortal Dynasty.

From one of the four Golden Core powers, it leaped to become the premier behemoth of the Southern Wilderness Region, which was at the height of its power.

But who could have imagined that in just a few decades, the Heavenly Star Immortal Sect would have reached the edge of disintegration.

"Should I say the Foundation is unstable, or that fate plays tricks on people?"

Ancestor Yun Chen shook his head. True Person Tianxing was originally a Loose Cultivator, and at most, he only managed to become the master of a Loose Cultivator city-state.

It could only be said that although he had great talent and strategy, he lacked the experience of managing a large Sect.

He belonged to those who were good at conquering the world but not good at guarding it.

He suddenly received the massive resources of the Qingxuan Sect and the Ji Clan Immortal Dynasty, but he did not have enough time to digest and integrate them.

This led to many factions within the Sect, with the old guard occupying power and refusing to let go, and new talents unable to get opportunities for promotion.

Corruption was rampant, and internal friction intensified day by day.

True Person Tianxing had worried his hair white over these matters and had visited Ancestor Yun Chen more than once to ask for advice on how to govern the Sect.

Ancestor Yun Chen even felt that True Person Tianxing passed away early.

Perhaps it was not because his lifespan had run out, but because his heart was tired.

"It would have been good if that person was still here."

A young figure suddenly appeared in Ancestor Yun Chen's mind.

If it weren't for that person killing several Golden Core Cultivators single-handedly, including even a Late Stage Golden Core Cultivator.

The Southern Wilderness Region would still be divided into four, and True Person Tianxing might not have been able to sit firmly as the hegemon of the Southern Wilderness Region.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that True Person Tianxing won by lying down.

So if that person were here, how would it be the Tianli Cult's turn to be rampant now!

Actually, Ancestor Yun Chen thinking this way was not out of sympathy for the plight of the Heavenly Star Immortal Sect.

Don't look at the Cloud Thunder Pavilion as a separate entity, but to be honest, with the scale of the Heavenly Star Immortal Sect, who wouldn't be jealous? They also wanted to replace it.

It was just that, on one hand, they didn't have the ability to do it.

Secondly, it was also out of fear of that Cultivator.

Although that person had left for many years and it was unknown whether he was dead or alive, that deterrence still remained to this day.

Unless it was a last resort, they really didn't want to fall out with the Heavenly Star Immortal Sect.

And now that the Heavenly Star Immortal Sect was in civil strife, it was an opportunity to take advantage of the situation, but Ancestor Yun Chen was also afraid that his own home would be stolen by that Tianli Cult.

What the Heavenly Star Immortal Sect was experiencing today might not necessarily not fall upon the Cloud Thunder Pavilion tomorrow.

Therefore, Ancestor Yun Chen only wanted to figure out the true situation of the Heavenly Star Immortal Sect now, and then make plans.