Floating Immortal Order

Chapter 213: Monster Core

Chapter 213: Monster Core

The Anxi Province occupied a vast area, with the Luo River cordoning off the south and east borders. The Guangxi Province bordered it on the north side, while a dense mountainous forest stretched seemingly endlessly off to the west, a wide variety of monsters and ghosts lurking about within. Most mortals born in this Province wouldn’t leave it for their entire lives.

The other several hundred Provinces under the jurisdiction of the Shangqing Sacred Sect would occasionally hold a Meridian Measurement Ceremony, but the Anxi Province hadn’t held one in a long time now.

These poor border Provinces couldn’t produce much tribute and resources, and there were very few people who were born with meridians on the Spiritual Root Sequence and could become profound cultivators. That meant they couldn’t even provide fresh blood to the sect, so why did Celestial Tide Spirit Master want him to be stationed in a place like this for 10 years?

Xu Disheng was standing next to one of the horns of the suanni, watching the capital of the Anxi Province grow closer. His brows were creased slightly as he pondered on Celestial Tide Spirit Master’s true intentions on having him come here.

Celestial Tide Spirit Master had even mentioned Mountain Master Yangze when they had spoken, and this was clearly a test for him.

But Xu Disheng still couldn’t pick up on the slightest clue as to what he was being tested on. At the moment, he could only head to the provincial capital and meet with the two peak Dao Foundation stage envoys who had already been stationed here for 100 years. Only then might he be able to learn something.

“Soul Suppressor Sacred Son, according to the map in the jade slip, Evening Valley Palace, which is in the rear of the provincial residence, appears to be where Gou Lezhan and Qin Huamao are situated,” He Ziming said after approaching him.

Xu Disheng nodded, sending a mental command to the suanni spiritual beast. Rays of blue radiance shone down from the sky above the provincial capital. There were ethereal clouds wrapped around the suanni’s enormous body as it gradually descended and landed in front of Evening Valley Palace.

“Soul Suppressor Sacred Son, Ancestor also handed me several jade slips, which he instructed me to give you only after arriving at the Anxi provincial residence,” He Ziming said respectfully, taking 3 jade slips out from his sleeves and handing them to Xu Disheng.

Xu Disheng already had some ideas. He took the jade slips and sunk his consciousness into them.

After a while, he put away the jade slips and looked down at the people standing before Evening Valley Hall. Then, he moved the power of heaven and earth and flew down from the suanni spiritual beast.

There were hundreds of luxuriously dressed mortal martial artists waiting respectfully in front of Evening Valley Palace. The two people in the front had peak Dao Foundation stage cultivations, but behind each of them were a dozen or so Cleansed Meridian stage disciples on standby.

After Yuan Qi, Chu Luo, and the other ten or so people got off the suanni spiritual beast, its body began to emit an even more dazzling watery blue profound light. A moment later, it returned to its original size of only 10 meters in height, then leapt up into the air and disappeared.

“Greetings, Affairs Envoy,” Gou Lezhan said, addressing Xu Disheng first. His expression hid a hint of surprise, clearly not expecting Xu Disheng’s cultivation to be so low, at only the early Dao Foundation stage.

There was also a strange look in Qin Huamao’s gaze as he spoke. “Greetings, Affairs Envoy.”

Xu Disheng nodded. “The orders of Affairs Hall dictate that the duration of Gou Lezhan and Qin Huamao’s term in the Anxi Province is to be extended by another 10 years.”

Qin Huamao and Gou Lezhan exchanged a glance, then both nodded in agreement.

The two of them had been stationed here for 100 years, and had very little news from the sect. Information to them was limited, and in the jade slip they had received from the sect, they had not been informed of Xu Disheng’s status as a Sacred Son. As a result, they only knew of Xu Disheng by his identity as an Affairs Envoy.

An Affairs Envoy was higher in rank than an Envoy by half a level, but they didn’t have the authority to make decisions without consulting others.

What none of them knew at this point was that in the Shangqing Sacred Sect, there were quite a few gazes concentrated on this area, waiting to see what the results would be 10 years later.

As it turned out, it appeared that even Xu Disheng was just a pawn in this matter.

… …

100 years earlier.

“The legacy of the Sacred Sect has existed for countless years. It doesn’t need to be changed!”

“That’s not true. Let us speak not of the far, distant past—but just several tens of thousands of years ago, when Heavenly Lord Yu Jing was still present, look at how mighty the Shangqing Sacred Sect was! There were over a thousand Divine Core stage Spirit Masters and over a hundred Primordial Lords, but look at how things are now!”

“The number of Divine Core stage Spirit Masters has declined greatly. Some of that has to do with the limited lifespan, but it also has to do with the fact that there are less people rising to the Divine Core stage!”

“At the Primordial Spirit stage, there are various methods to avoid death and extend life, but in the end, one’s lifespan at this stage is still limited. Nowadays, our Shangqing Sacred Sect is becoming weaker and weaker. If we don’t think about how we can change, we will undoubtedly be washed away and made irrelevant in the rivers of time!”

“Aside from the direct descendents of sect disciples, the sect’s only sources of fresh blood are the several hundred Provinces under our jurisdiction and the 27 Mortal Secret Realms. Don’t tell me we have to start taking in mortals?”

“That’s right. Although mortals are as weak as livestock, every profound cultivator starts from mortal beginnings. If we change the living environment of the mortals, we might be able to start producing more people with exceptional Spiritual Roots.”

“Precisely. Most of the middle and upper class Spiritual Roots were born as mortals. Although there are a lot of lower class Spiritual Roots in the relatives and descendents of the sect disciples, it doesn’t do us any good in raising the sect’s overall strength.

“We could first pick a more remote location and try to improve things there, then wait and see the results.”

“There is the Anxi Province at the border of the Sacred Sect’s lands. It is also on the border of the Shan Mountain Territory, surrounded on the south and east sides by the Luo River. The mortals there are rather cut off from the rest of the world, so perhaps it would be better to start there.”

“Agreed.”

“Then let us wait and see how things turn out a hundred years from now.”

… …

Although Xu Disheng was a chess piece, he now understood a good amount of the inside story, and knew that he had an extremely important mission. 10 years from now, he had to hold a Meridian Measurement Ceremony in the Anxi Province!

The 3 jade slips that Celestial Tide Spirit Master had passed down to He Ziming were only to be given to him after he had arrived at the Anxi provincial capital, which was why Xu Disheng had no idea what the specific objectives were the entire journey here.

Now, he was clear that all of this was just an experiment devised in the Yuluo Realm by some of the Primordial Lords and Mountain Masters.

It could have been entirely possible that Qin Huamao had been specifically selected for this job due to his righteous and heroic character, but he would naturally be totally unaware of this.

In fact, it didn’t necessarily have to be Xu Disheng who came here to orchestrate the Meridian Measurement Ceremony. Zhang Yangui or Mo Yue would have been equally qualified to do something like this, but his recent performance had been too dazzling, which led to the focus of all of the Primordial Lords falling on him.

“We have already prepared a palace hall for you, Affairs Envoy. You may head there at any time,” Gou Lezhan said, coming forward with a smile. Clearly, he wasn’t that discriminatory of Xu Disheng’s early Dao Foundation stage cultivation.

Even if he did look down on his cultivation inwardly, he still wouldn’t show it on the surface. After all, in terms of rank, an Affairs Envoy was undeniably above himself. In the Shangqing Sacred Sect, hierarchy was inviolable.

Xu Disheng nodded. He didn’t refuse, but he seemed to inadvertently glance sideways at Yuan Qi.

Yuan Qi was quick-witted and immediately stepped forward out of the ranks. He spoke loudly, “Respected Affairs Envoy, disciple has something important to report!”

“What is it?” Xu Disheng asked, stopping in his tracks.

Yuan Qi’s tone took on a hint of resentment as he declared, “On the journey here, disciple noticed that the tribute that the Anxi Province has been paying in recent years is extremely inconsistent with the actual output!”

“Is that true?” Xu Disheng asked, his expression appearing outwardly astonished as he turned his gaze to Gou Lezhan. “Envoy Gou, can you explain?”

Gou Lezhan immediately took a half step back, then turned to the side to let Qin Huamao come forward. “Affairs Envoy, any matters related to the tribute were handled by Junior Martial Brother Qin. In the last 100 years, I was simply in secluded meditation.”

Qin Huamao was clearly prepared for this in advance. “Disciple standing next to the Affairs Envoy. You must have seen many fertile fields on your way here, yes?” Qin Huamao said, his tone clear.

“That’s right. The output of those Golden Feather Flower crop fields was enormous, so why did the Anxi Province only pay 4000 Golden Feather Flowers in the most recent tribute payment several months ago?”

Yuan Qi was only at the peak Sea of Qi stage, but he spoke in a neither servile nor overbearing manner before a peak Dao Foundation stage cultivator like Qin Huamao. He was able to do this because Xu Disheng was backing him, but it took a considerable amount of courage to do something like that.

Qin Huamao glared at Yuan Qi, then turned to Xu Disheng and smiled. “Affairs Envoy, it’s true that there are some reserves of a few kinds of spiritual plants in the Anxi Province, but you may not be aware that several years ago, a monster in the Luo River cultivated to the Monster Core stage. It went on an unbridled rampage, which was why the tribute we paid last time was so little.”

When his words reached everyone’s ears, the expressions of all dozen or so people behind Xu Disheng changed drastically, and they all looked like they wanted to speak up and retort.

Yuan Qi also snorted disdainfully. “…You have the cheek to try and deceive—”

Halfway through his sentence, it suddenly looked like he thought of something and turned around to look at Xu Disheng. He met his cold gaze, then immediately shut his mouth.

Xu Disheng flicked his sleeves and nodded. “It’s fine, just bring me to the palace hall. Also, find suitable accommodation for the people behind me. If you don’t have any business, don’t come find me.”

Xu Disheng actually acted like he didn’t even hear Qin Huamao’s clearly deceptive words!

An Affairs Envoy was only a half rank higher than an Envoy, so he didn’t have the authority to directly punish him. To enact any punishment, he would have to go through a convoluted process involving Affairs Hall and Disciplinary Hall, and he would also need conclusive evidence of his faults.

As a result, when Qin Huamao found out that only one Affairs Envoy was coming, he was inwardly relieved, and planned to just feel his way through it.

He obviously thought that Xu Disheng was just a hotshot descendent of some powerhouse. After all, Qin Huamao didn’t believe for even a moment that Xu Disheng, with only his early Dao Foundation stage cultivation, could get a reasonably high level position like an Affairs Envoy without a strong powerhouse backing him.

Qin Huamao had already thought about how he would resolve the problem with the tribute coming up in 10 years. Although he had already completely waived the tribute levied on the citizens of the Anxi Province and conferred various crop fields to people, he had made preparations in advance. He had stored up more than enough reserves to pay off the final tribute coming in 10 years.