Born with immortal seed

Chapter 494 The Immortal City of the Great Swan
"I see. Thank you for telling me, True Lord. Otherwise, I really wouldn't know the origins of the Naihe Sect."

Bai Zichen's expression was indifferent, as if he were merely discussing a sect that had little to do with him on a whim.

"When I was in the Northern Region, I read an ancient book. The author said that he had encountered a member of the Naihe Sect and was amazed by his swordsmanship."

"Many travelogues and novels contain inaccuracies and exaggerations, either because the authors boasted about their experiences or because their perspectives were limited, and they cannot be taken as gospel."

Meng Dongye had studied all the famous sword techniques in the world, but he had never seen a Naihe Sect cultivator known for his sword techniques. He only knew that they cultivated both body and mind and were learned and versatile.

There once was a True Lord of the Naihe Sect who was famous throughout the world for possessing six skills: a fourth-level alchemist, a fourth-level weapon refiner, a fourth-level talisman master, a fourth-level array master, a fourth-level puppeteer, and a fourth-level beast tamer.

It should be noted that Nascent Soul True Monarchs, with their superior cultivation level, find it much easier to cultivate all arts, but they can only reach the third level.

Even with exceptional talent, one cannot acquire any fourth-tier skill without a century of dedicated practice.

He is proficient in six fourth-tier skills by himself, and his talent in the various arts of cultivation is astonishing.

"By the way, there's a secret organization in the Central Region in recent years whose members all use ancient star officials and gods as masks to recruit Nascent Soul sword cultivators... Although they don't have any obvious evil deeds, their whereabouts are suspicious. Senior Brother Ma suspects that there is an ancient demon clan behind them. With your sword talent, Fellow Daoist Bai, you will definitely be targeted. Don't be bewitched by them and get on their pirate ship."

After exchanging a few more casual words, Meng Dongye remembered something and straightened his expression, saying...

"The members of this organization are all Nascent Soul True Monarchs, and their methods are quite remarkable. I'm afraid they are secretly plotting something big, which is quite worrying."

"A secret organization, all of them Nascent Soul sword cultivators?"

Bai Zichen timely showed surprise, as if he was hearing this for the first time, while his gaze was intense.

"Although the Central Region is the premier place in the cultivation world, with numerous high-level cultivators, there are still enough True Monarchs to not be too many to count... Plus, with the restrictions imposed by sword cultivators, the range is further narrowed, so wouldn't it be easy to lock onto the target?"

There are only three sword sects in the Central Region that can be called super sects: the Five Phoenix Sword Sect, the Azure Lotus Sword Sect, and the Killing Sword Sect. There are also three or four Nascent Soul level sword sects below them.

All of them together, there are only about twenty Nascent Soul sword cultivators.

Including independent cultivators and those from other sects skilled in sword control, the number is not that many.

If what Po Jun Xing Jun said is true, then there are five Nascent Soul sword cultivators in the Single Star Palace. No one would believe that no one from these sword sects has joined them.

Even Meng Dongye in front of him, Bai Zichen felt that there was a high possibility that he was a member of the Star Palace.

On the surface, Xinggong has clashed with the major sects over their profits, but there is still a chance to enter the trial realm of Taibai Sword Sect.

If the Sword Cleansing Secret Realm controlled by the Five Phoenix Sword Sect and the Trial Secret Realm of the Starry Sky are the same secret realm, then for Meng Dongye, the chance of entering the secret realm as a member of the Star Palace is even greater than that of a True Monarch of the Five Phoenix Sword Sect.

The single sword's ability to differentiate itself was enough to cripple Meng Dongye.

In contrast, the Star Palace has a key to a secret realm, making entry much easier.

If Po Jun Xing Jun were to offer the secret realm of the Tai Bai Sword Sect as a tempting offer to a cultivator like Meng Dongye, who is so devoted to the sword and willing to sacrifice everything for the sword path, Bai Zichen doesn't think he could resist.

“Indeed, I can’t guarantee whether any fellow disciples in the sect have joined the Star Palace. After all, it hasn’t caused any real impact yet. Senior Brother Ma doesn’t agree with me investigating this matter in a big way, lest it cause internal unrest and discord among fellow disciples.”

Meng Dongye's eyes darkened, and his voice became much lower.

"This tea seems quite extraordinary; is it the Enlightenment Spirit Tea?"

Bai Zichen changed the subject. After drinking the spiritual tea in front of him, his mind became clear and he felt refreshed.

"It's just a third-tier Enlightenment Spirit Tea. I planted a few on my mountain peak, but it's only slightly better than nothing for us and won't do much good... If Fellow Daoist Bai likes the taste, I'll pack a few pounds for you to brew slowly."

Meng Dongye waved his hand and said casually.

"In that case, thank you for the spiritual tea, True Lord."

Bai Zi clasped his hands in a salute. Super sects are indeed different. They casually planted third-tier Enlightenment Tea Trees and used Enlightenment Spirit Tea as their staple tea.

In a typical Nascent Soul sect, even a third-tier Enlightenment Spirit Tea would be a spiritual plant of great concern to the entire sect.

"There is another matter I would like to ask for your help, True Lord. I came here from the Northern Region and admire the products of the Central Region. I would like to purchase some. Could you please give me a token for entering and exiting your clan's market?"

Several super sects in the Central Region have built their own immortal cities.

While not as large as Zengguang Immortal City, both are still large cities with millions of inhabitants and countless cultivators.

If you want to purchase some rare items, there is naturally no better place than the Immortal City. High-end auctions targeting Nascent Soul True Monarchs are also frequently held there.

Entering the Immortal City was easy for Bai Zichen, but to smoothly integrate into the top tier of the Immortal City and enjoy the treatment befitting a Nascent Soul True Monarch, he would definitely have to go through several procedures; it couldn't be done overnight.

Since the right person is right in front of us, we don't need to trouble two people with one thing; we can just resolve it all at once.

For a Nascent Soul ancestor of the Five Phoenix Sword Sect, it was nothing more than a trivial matter.

"This is easy. With my token, you can enjoy VIP treatment at the Heavenly Phoenix level in Honghu Immortal City. Your needs will be met by all the major merchants immediately... However, if you really want to purchase high-level spiritual items, it is easier to gain something by participating in the exchange meeting between Nascent Soul True Monarchs. At the auction, only a few items at the end of the auction will catch our eye, and they may not even be suitable for us. At the exchange meeting, the items brought by our fellow cultivators will at least not be mediocre."

Meng Dongye tossed the jade sword-key in his hand over and offered his advice.

"Fellow Daoist Bai, do you intend to reside permanently in the Central Region, or perhaps travel around more... In a few years, there will be a small exchange gathering, which is established by me and several friends to exchange ideas and make progress. If Fellow Daoist Bai has the time, you are welcome to attend."

"If I am still in Dali at that time, I will definitely come and visit you, True Lord."

In his heart, Bai Zichen did not want to stay in one place for too long.

Xingxiuhai's intelligence capabilities in the inland areas exceeded his expectations.

The fact that Ao Zhe knew so much about Li Hansi's situation showed that even in the Central Region, it was impossible to completely cut off the Starry Sea Demon Clan's spies.

It's unrealistic to directly send transformed demons deep into the inland. It's more likely that human cultivators are providing intelligence to the Starry Sea, or even becoming its vassals, such as the Youlongmen sect and other sects on the Myriad Star Islands.

A Dragon Lord at the peak of the fourth tier would not dare to enter the inland heartland. The capital city is not called that for nothing; it can easily gather four or five Great True Lords to keep the Dragon Lord permanently in the inland.

But we still have to be wary of that fifth-tier old dragon. Its Nascent Soul transformation techniques are mysterious and unpredictable; who knows if it has long-range curse-killing techniques?

If the dragon race were to pass down supernatural powers, such as casting spells to deal with cultivators who have killed their blood relatives, then another long-range attack would be disastrous.

Last time, the Star River Sword Formation was pushed to its limit, and the Purple Star Thunder Sword took the brunt of the old dragon's attack.

But he couldn't keep the sword formation running all the time. He had to keep moving it around and changing positions so that the Starry Sea couldn't pinpoint his location, which would give him peace of mind.

They chatted until it got dark before saying goodbye.

Meng Dongye came to Danyang Peak just to pass by and wanted to see how the sect disciples were performing. He happened to see Kuang Jiuchui colluding with the outer sect and engaging in a fake duel.

This core disciple has already lost points, at least in his own opinion, if he wants to be elected as the Holy Son.

In reality, he had other business to attend to, and he needed to go to the Tianxing Sect to invite the other True Lord to attend the opening ceremony of his junior brother's dojo.

After driving out the Heavenly Principle Sect and seizing the fourth-tier spiritual vein, it took several decades to completely build this Daoist temple.

As a super sect, the Five Phoenix Sword Sect could not allow its own True Monarch's Daoist temple to lose its grandeur. So, it almost razed the original site of the Heavenly Principle Sect to the ground and rebuilt a magnificent architectural complex by conscripting hundreds of thousands of cultivators and millions of construction workers.

For a True Lord's Daoist temple to have only a thousand or so disciples is far too extravagant and wasteful.

All I can say is that the Five Phoenix Sword Sect has the resources to withstand such exploitation.

If it were the Azure Maple Sect, the repair of two fourth-tier spiritual lands on Flame Mountain and the overall construction of the spiritual veins would almost bankrupt the sect.

If it weren't for the significant increase in revenue from the digestion of Hejian County, even this simple spiritual vein construction would have bankrupted the Qingfeng Sect, leaving them unable to even distribute the spiritual blessings to their elders and disciples.

The Five Phoenix Sword Sect and the Heavenly Star Sect are both super sects of the Great Li Dynasty. The two sects have a harmonious relationship, which originated from the fact that Nascent Soul True Monarchs from both sides became Daoist partners thousands of years ago.

Taking advantage of that opportunity, exchanges between the two sides increased significantly, and cooperation began in many fields.

Although they cannot compare to the close-knit ties of the Qingfeng Sect and the Five Elements Sect, they can still be considered stable allies.

With the completion of this temple and the holding of this grand ceremony, it is only natural that the True Lord of the Heavenly Star Sect be invited to attend.

"The ninth day of next month, at the top of White Python Mountain..."

Before leaving, Meng Dongye extended an invitation to Bai Zichen, inviting him to attend the grand opening ceremony of the temple on Bai Mang Mountain.

His junior brother, after receiving news of Bai Zichen's Nascent Soul transformation, muttered several times that he wanted to have a sword duel with him.

Han Chaoxuan of the Five Phoenix Sword Sect is the most outstanding genius sword cultivator in the Central Region after Gu Chongxuan of the Azure Lotus Sword Sect. They are known as the Twin Xuans.

According to Meng Dongye, Han Chaoxuan's speed in mastering the Heavenly Phoenix Divine Sword Technique was the fastest in thousands of years since the technique was first established.

Even the seniors who had cultivated to the Nascent Soul stage did not show as much talent in this sword technique as he did.

"If we are still nearby at that time, we can go and take a look, since there are many Nascent Soul True Monarchs present. Perhaps there will be an opportunity to exchange after the ceremony."

Bai Zichen knew that Han Chaoxuan was also in the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm, and with the same cultivation level, he really didn't think anyone could defeat the sword in his hand.

Even if the Star River Sword Formation is used as a trump card and cannot be used in normal sparring matches, one cannot possibly lose based solely on their swordsmanship level.

Han Chaoxuan had already reached the realm of sword light differentiation, which had long been the talk of the entire cultivation world and could not be concealed.

On the day of his death, Tang Fei achieved a breakthrough in swordsmanship, successfully splitting his sword light, which shocked the cultivation world afterward.

"However, it's not bad to witness the Heavenly Phoenix Divine Sword Technique. The Yuan Ting Sword Technique has greatly improved my Wuzhen Sword Technique. Wouldn't it be even more effective to switch to a stronger sword technique!"

The Wuzhen Sword Technique is a sword technique whose power increases with the breadth of one's knowledge.

To dismantle all sword techniques in the world, one doesn't need to have seen every sword technique in the cultivation world, but one will certainly know more and have fought more. The more inclusive the sword manual will be, until it is truly transformed into one's own set of sword techniques.

(End of this chapter)