Jiang He put his jade scroll away after around three seconds.
A curious thought had just occurred to him.
“This jade charm seems to possess another function…” He fiddled with the jade charm, positive that the trinket was similar to a ‘sensor’—once he infused his mystic energy within, Elder Mo, the owner of the Jade Charm, would definitely sense it.
Still, he did notice that the array of cloud and mist before him that shrouded all of Mount Kunlun appeared to ripple a little… when he charged the jade charm.
“Doesn’t that indicate that the jade charm could open the array too?”
“No, that’s not quite right. Other jade charms might work that way, but definitely not this one, which Elder Mo has given me. Perhaps he holds a primary charm while I’ve got a secondary charm, and he would sense me when I charged it.”
In that very moment, Jiang He’s brain went to work.
If he planted this jade charm to strengthen it…
“Feels a little unrealistic.”
“However, doesn’t that mean that mountain arrays wouldn’t work against me at all?”
“As for throwing hundreds of Doom Shrooms at the array to instantly destroy the mountain array of the Taixu Sect…”
“Why bother?”
That was when a voice abruptly called out—it was Elder Mo, who was stepping out of the array and smiling. “Fellow sage Jiang. Could you have experience about arrays too?”
Jiang He felt a little embarrassed just then.
It was lucky that Elder Mo did not actually hear what he had said, and so, keeping his face not red and his heart not thumping, he said, “I only have the rough idea. I haven’t studied much on grand mountain arrays since I mainly developed my sword arrays.”
Though he was curious as to why Jiang He would come to the Taixu Sect so quickly, his chieftain had described Jiang He as a protagonist of fate for this era. Therefore, being on good terms with Jiang He would bring every advantage and no drawback to the Taixu Sect, which was why Elder Mo promptly waved his hand and caused a raging tempest over Mount Kunlun, shifting the clouds and mist to reveal a cloud staircase just ahead.
Elder Mo extended a hand in humble invitation then, saying, “Mister Jiang, if you please.”
Jiang He strode up the stairs and headed into the massive array, thinking, ‘It would be too difficult to break the array from the outside, though I wonder if I could kill a Convergence-tier elite if I were to throw over five hundred Doom Shrooms inside.’
He then looked around, clicking his tongue in awe and sighed. “As expected of an immortal sect. The Secret Realm here in the Taixu Sect is even more concentrated than the Secret Realm of the Tantra Sect.”
“But of course.”
Elder Mo appeared extremely proud. Walking alongside Jiang He, he said, “We were ranked among the best immortal sects over two thousand years ago, with immortals presiding in our sect and possessing immortal items that could grasp destiny itself.”
“Oh?”
Jiang He glanced at him sideways. The Taixu Sect had actual immortals?
He looked up at the skies above when he saw a round moon hanging above, surrounded by starlight, and was suddenly left taken aback.
Today… what day was it on the lunar calendar again?
Regardless, it was not the fifteenth… but why was the moon so round?
A fake moon?
Staring at the round moon which was immeasurably bright, he found its pure-white radiance washing over the Secret World, as if it was putting on a silver silk upon the entire realm. It was especially beautiful when matched with the pavilions that stood amid the cloud and mist inside the microworld.
Jiang He was spaced out just then, while Elder Mo was smiling inwardly.
So what if Jiang He was powerful and possessed grand providence?
How many people of the profane could have experienced such sights?
After Jiang He was made to understand the might of the Taixu Sect and its prosperity in this visit, he would most certainly yield. At that point, he just had to be persuaded a little and offered the title of elder, and he would hence jump on the battlewagon of the Taixu Sect.
Even so, would Elder Mo even know what Jiang He was thinking just then?
He was spacing out because he was imagining what his farm would look like… after he plucked that moon and placed it there.
It would definitely be very beautiful.
While Jiang He’s imagination ran wild, he heard Elder Mo chuckle. “Mister Jiang, that moon is a sage item that our sect has refined by gathering lunar energy. It usually hangs up in the sky as the moon of our sect, and could be invoked to kill our foes during critical moments.”
“Fine treasure!”
Jiang He praised, exclaiming in delight. “Has the Taixu Sect chieftain grasped item refinement as well, Elder Mo? Could you ask him to make another identical moon for me?”
Elder Mo appeared taken aback just then, but soon shook his head and smiled. “Lunar energy is extremely difficult to gather. The chieftain was said to have spent eighteen years on refining that sage item, not to mention that it is a very difficult process since it is superior-grade. The creation might not even succeed even without enough materials and lunar energy.”
“It can’t be done?”
Jiang He’s tone shifted as he asked, “Then, could you introduce me to your chieftain? I have a trade I wish to speak to him about.”
That moon…
Jiang He liked it very much. However, he was uncomfortable with stealing it since the Taixu Sect was treating him well, and most importantly, this was a sect where actual immortals ascended. There was no telling how deep their strength went, and stealing it by force might not exactly work.
That was why Jiang He decided to change his approach… And buy it instead!
In the end, that moon was a sage item, not love. Was it something money can’t buy?
“Of course.”
Despite what he said, Elder Mo was left completely confused.
Trading with the chieftain?
Nonetheless, he did not let it show and laughed out loud. “I’ve already informed the True Habitant when you arrived, Mister Jiang. This way, please!”
As Jiang He continued forward on the cloud stairs, he studied his surroundings.
The Secret Realm of the Taixu Sect was really vast and was more than three times the size of Tantra Sect’s secret realm. Aside from buildings around its mountain archways, there were also mountains, forests and rivers—the only problem was that there were not many people around and it was very bleak.
After a few exchanges with Elder Mo, Jiang He also learned that the Taixu Sect had not accepted disciples for over 200 years.
Elder Mo himself had been accepted over a thousand years ago.
Nonetheless, the method with which the Taixu Sect recruited disciples was no different from kidnapping in Jiang He’s perspective. The general idea was to send someone among the profane in search of children with soul roots, and bring them back.
Even so, there was naturally a gap between mortals and immortals after the children were brought back—something that left Elder Mo sighing. He joined the Taixu Sect when he was nine, though when he went out that one time after he had cultivated up to Golden Pellet, he found that his parents had already died to the chaos of war.
“Only parents of the ancient times would be willing to go with that.”
Jiang He could not help saying then, “If you recruit disciples in the same way now at the Hua Nation, none of the children’s guardians or parents would be willing to release them…”
“To be initiated into an immortal sect is to sever oneself from worldly affairs and hence be separated from the profane. It is the same for many sects, or could the parents of this era not hope that their children succeed in cultivating immortality, to live free eternally?” Elder Mo asked in return, which only amused Jiang He.
Succeed in cultivating immortality, and live free eternally?
You did not even get to see your parents before they died after being imitated into your sect. How is that living free eternally?
Nonetheless, he did not argue the matter with Elder Mo, and instead asked in surprise when he remembered something, “By the way, weren’t you saying you would help me pass my word along, Elder Mo?”
Elder Mo was speechless.
He laughed out loud before quietly saying, “Well… I had something urgent, so I had to return here for a bit. However, I am all set and I would head to the Penglai Sect and the Ten Thousand Swords Sect tomorrow, and pass your word along… here we are, Mister Jiang. My chieftain resides here.”
The pair had stopped in front of a great temple then, when laughter echoed from within.
“Young Jiang He. Please, come in.”
As he spoke, the Taixu Sect chieftain stepped out of the great temple… but Jiang He was surprised to find that he looked just like a youth appearing to be around nineteen.
His hair was spread whimsically over his shoulders, and he was wearing long green robes, while the eyes beneath his gray-white hair ran deep.
“Salutations, True Habitant.”
Jiang He bowed and offered a fist-palm salute, inwardly shocked…
What was the chieftain’s cultivation?
His presence was mystifying. Though he appeared to be an ordinary youth, it was as if he had fused as one with the world itself. However, if someone important like Elder Mo was a full-fledged Yuan Spirit, the leader of the sect would at least be Convergence-tier… or even Sufferance.
Still, even Elder Mo himself did not expect that his chieftain would personally come to welcome Jiang He into the great temple.
He kept up with the other two, his heart beating wildly…
How long has it been since the chieftain left confinement?
Elder Mo himself would speak with the chieftain temple separating them. An elite who had reached Sufferance, the chieftain had cultivated up to the Eighth Calamity and was perhaps not far from the Ninth Calamity.
When the time comes and his Sufferance proved successful, he would reach Mahayana. From there, it was only a matter of time before he cultivated as an immortal.
But should his Sufferance fail, his mind and soul would certainly be destroyed. Even if he could maintain it through sheer chance, he would hence remain an untitled immortal.
Meanwhile, after they entered the great temple, several wine cups and a wine flask appeared over the temple table with a wave from the Taixu Sect chieftain.
Elder Mo went up, pouring wine for Jiang He and the chieftain.
Jiang He took a small sip, and could not help praising, “Good wine.”
He had never had Maotai before, but Maotai would definitely not measure up to such sagely wine.
Smiling, the Taixu Sect chieftain then had a rather frivolous conversation with Jiang He…
Naturally, he was focusing himself and ‘seeing’ Jiang He closely but discreetly.
Though destiny was something illusory and elusive, those who grasped seer techniques could observe certain signs.
Some possessed even destinies that showed nothing special.
Others were born unlucky that nothing would go well at all for them, even getting violently chased off when they tried to woo gals. While misfortune latches upon them and dark qi follows them around them, there were those with such profound luck that they would often pick money up from the floor or escape from the jaws of death, their bodies most definitely covered in blessed qi.
And from what the chieftain of the Taixu imagined, for Jiang He to gain such cultivation despite his young age, he must hold great providence and a great destiny.
Even so, after taking a look…
His destiny was actually even untold times weaker than that guy named Wang Hou or something who had come to Mount Kunlun last time.
Nonetheless, he maintained his smile despite his doubts and asked, “You wish to trade with me, young Jiang He? I wonder… what trade it would be?”
Smiling, Jiang He said earnestly, “To tell the truth, True Habitant, I’ve taken a liking to the moon of the Taixu Sect… would you sell it? I’ll buy it at a high price!”
The Taixu Sect chieftain’s smile stiffened, unsure how to answer him just then.
Clang!
Beside him, Elder Mo dropped the wine flask he was holding as if thunderstruck, and it smashed into a million pieces.
