Li Chuping fell into contemplation. He still controlled the Sword Sect’s intelligence system, so he was quite familiar with the situation of the various Daoists on the continent, but the Heavenly Heart Pavilion in Shangyu had never been the focus of the Sword Sect’s attention.
"I haven’t heard of any major actions, but it seems they have co up with sothing called a ’Seal Infant Ranking’? It’s about speculating which cultivators on Jinxiu might be able to break the Heaven and Earth Chains during Heaven Creation? A rather superficial concept.
I’ve seen that so-called list. It’s basically just a ranking of Universe Daoists, starting from The Three Pure Ones, entirely predictable; ah, you’re also on the list, and ranked among the top ten."
Hou Niao was a bit speechless, "I’m just very curious, why would a Daoist put effort into such strange and aningless things? Don’t they have anything better to do?"
Li Chuping suggested, "You’re not close to the Heavenly Heart Pavilion? You have your own house in Sui Mo City, Horse Hoof Town anyway. The continent is quiet now; maybe go over there and renew old acquaintances? You might receive so unexpected insights."
Hou Niao nodded, "What the Capital Commandant said is true. It’s ti to go out and explore."
Li Chuping reminded him, "Do not make a big show of it. Although the continent is calm, undercurrents never cease. The Sword Sect made a big splash in the battle against Demon Beasts; many can’t stand us, with both obvious and hidden threats.
You have concealnt techniques, don’t you? Just use the excuse of a retreat and make a quiet trip."
Hou Niao nodded broadly, feeling that perhaps he now had so qualification to inquire about secrets related to the Heavenly Heart Pavilion and the mysterious blind old man?
A few days later, during the Sword Sect’s monthly eting, a series of personnel adjustnts were made. Master Yan, Brother Cheng, took the stage, splitting duties as the Palace Master of Shaking Light and the Lord of Tongtian Tower. Although Master Xu and Li Chuping had stepped down, they still held assistant positions for a while.
Hou, the Sect Hierarch, also wanted to relinquish his role as the Ice and Snow Pavilion Master, but was unanimously voted down. Everyone believed the position should remain tied to the Sect Hierarch, or else it would be unseemly.
Facing widespread disapproval, Hou Hierarch had no choice but to endure.
Several days later, a gaunt cultivator quietly left Dushan, disappearing into the endless snow peaks.
.........
Sui Mo City, Heavenly Heart Pavilion.
Since a decade ago when cultivators from the Upper Realm thronged in, it soon restored tranquility here, no longer being the continent’s focus; this is another characteristic of the Heavenly Heart Pavilion, constantly switching positions from the peak to the depths, either widely admired or utterly neglected.
But occasionally there are still distant cultivators coming to behold, reminisce. They are usually those truly indifferent to fa and fortune — the so-called pure cultivators. Yet in the cultivation world, where can one truly find purity?
Deep within the sea of flowers where the Heavenly Heart Pavilion resides, an odd construction appeared. Its shape was very peculiar; from afar it looked like a stele, but from up close, it also seed like a stele?
The stele was not small, standing over ten zhang tall, quite out of place amidst the sea of flowers, and with the huts of the Heavenly Heart Pavilion not matching at all.
A handful of visitors wandered around the stele’s vicinity, but it was hard to pinpoint whether they truly wandered for sothing — was it the flowers, or the stele?
Among them was a male and female cultivator, the man resembled a jade tree in the wind, and the woman radiant as a flower. In the backdrop of the flower sea, they seed harmonious but added to that stele, felt rather puzzling.
The woman gazed at the stele, "My dear husband, looking at this stele, I just can’t fathom why it was built here. The Heavenly Heart Pavilion truly is a strange Daoist, doing all sorts of bizarre things."
The male cultivator laughed, "Ying, dear sister, this stele was not made by human hands. I heard from the Heavenly Heart Pavilion cultivators themselves, it seed when the extraterrestrial passage opened over a decade ago, a stubborn stone fell down, then over the years, it grew into this form."
They were none other than the long unseen Luo Yewang and Ying Daoist. After the upheaval in the Northern Territory, they each left their sect, choosing to beco loose cultivators wandering the world. Even when Upper Realm heritages were bestowed in the Daoist, it didn’t change their conviction.
For such cultivators who truly don’t consciously pursue anything, there’s nothing that can sway them; having road for a century across the south and north, lingering in nature, they naturally ascended to the Golden Core, also another form of creation.
For them, such cultivation might indeed be genuine cultivation.
"A stone that grows on its own? That’s the first ti I’ve heard of such a thing, and growing into an immaculate stele?" Ying Daoist clearly didn’t agree with Luo Yewang’s explanation, yet she didn’t wish to debate.
Luo Yewang shrugged, "Just rhetoric, using a flung stone to bolster their prestige, attract the world’s attention, flaunt their uniqueness, such techniques are commonplace on the continent. I’ve even heard of peculiar stones falling from the Immortal World, rely hearsay."
Ying Daoist smiled broadly, "I heard back then when the space passage opened, thousands of Upper Realm guests breached in, disorderly. Who could notice this? Just the right mix-up, no one can say it is or isn’t.
Yet Heavenly Heart Pavilion cultivators also advertise it, a bit odd. Is it just to promote the ranking on the stele so the continent’s cultivation world accepts their sealing rank? Isn’t this kind of approach a bit too childish?"
Luo Yewang glanced at his earnest wife, "You know it’s childish, hence here is neglected, viewers are few. No one but idle folks like us would travel miles to see the rankings."
Ying Daoist scoffed, "I’m not here solely for it, rely passing by, wanted to see the famous Sui Mo Flower City."
Luo Yewang walked to the stele, "Since we’re here, let’s have a look, won’t take long — see if any old friends are familiar?"
Ying Daoist’s face bore disdain, yet still drew closer, "A hundred years have passed, who still considers you a friend?"
Both eyed the rankings, inadvertently murmuring aloud, "Taiching Zhi Xuan, Yuqing Jue Mingzi, Shangqing Tianfeng, Heavenly Heart Pavilion excelled at diplomacy, Three Pure One nas in the forefront, presumably no one would dissent, right?"
Ying Daoist laughed lightly, "The whole continent knows, yet insists on engraving it, what for? Heavenly Heart Pavilion cannot seem to overco the habit of ranking people."
Luo Yewang continued reading, "Xiao Xumi Yijie, Supre Rong Guang, Lu Su Xiang Kui, Taixuan Gu Bai, Huangting Guan Zhi..."
He read and abruptly stopped, but Ying Daoist beside him wouldn’t let go, "Quanzhen Hou Niao, dear husband, why did you stop? He’s surely one of the only figures ranked in Jinxiu Continent’s top ten, your brother too."
Luo Yewang sighed, "At the Sword Sect, those who fought side by side are true brothers, but I’m no longer."
Ying Daoist grasped his hand, "No, cultivation has countless forms, battle is rely one of them. Believe it or not, Hou Niao undoubtedly still rembers you as a brother."
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