Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 291 Xuannv responds
Does Yuan Muyu really have disciples?
The group looked at each other, indicating they had never heard of it.

Furthermore, what's with you training Yuan Muyu's disciple? Even if you helped teach her disciple out of sisterly affection, she can't be considered a member of the Tianyao Holy Land. What's the use of her impressive cultivation?

Forget it, let's just say the sect leader has nothing better to do than suppress his sister.

The elders pretended not to hear and asked, "If you really need someone, we have others besides Qingli. They are older but not over the age limit, so it's no problem at all."

Ye Tinglan said, "If we keep the age limit down, won't people laugh at us for each generation being worse than the last? Back then, I was a young man who joined the battle, and someone else was already laughing and joking when he hadn't even grown any hair yet."

"Uh, is she fully grown yet?" A fleeting doubt crossed Ye Tinglan's mind.

“There will likely be some sarcastic remarks, but it’s not against the rules, so what can we say? If you’re so capable, why don’t you lower the age cutoff?” An elder said, “Besides, they’re not all young men and women. How many people in history have broken through to the third rank at this age? It’s impossible that our Tianyao Holy Land only encountered one Qingli, while they could encounter a whole bunch of them. That doesn’t make sense. If we really lower the age cutoff, I’m afraid not many families will be able to gather enough people.”

"Yes, we only feel ashamed when we compare ourselves to ourselves, it's not that we're really worse than them."

"But compared to myself, it is indeed somewhat regrettable."

Ye Tinglan coldly observed the discussion and said indifferently, "You can make your own selections; why bother with unnecessary trouble? Where is Qingli?"

"Qingli learned about the competition not long after she returned, and she is currently in seclusion to refine her skills."

"Do you have a list of the other two candidates?"

"Before the sect leader returned, we had already conducted a preliminary selection and have shortlisted the top candidates. If the sect leader is interested, we can conduct further assessments to select the final candidate."

"Who do you think has the best chance? Zhang Qingxiang? Xiao Qingya? Xie Qingxiu?"

The names Ye Tinglan announced were all outstanding disciples under the elders of the Tianyao Holy Land, mostly around thirty years old and already having broken through to the third rank. However, such disciples were indeed in a somewhat awkward position. When it came to the Rising Star Ranking, they had been on it when they were young, and their positions were among the top few, but they had never been in the top three. Now that they were older, they had squeezed onto the Heroes Ranking, but they still didn't rank very high.

At least in the world's accounts, people don't usually mention those in the hundreds; most don't even remember who's who.

This is the norm. Even in a sacred land, geniuses are hard to come by. Having a group of disciples who consistently rank high on the Rising Stars List and consistently enter the Heroes List is quite a feat, something other places can only dream of. Given time, if they advance to the second or first rank, they will naturally be at the pinnacle of the Heroes List and will be the successors to the positions of elders of the Tianyao Sacred Land.

But the people Ye Tinglan has met recently have become a bit abnormal. Whether it's Lu Xingzhou and his apprentice, Shen Tang and Pei Chuyun, or even her own apprentice, they've raised their standards for young people a bit too high, and they seem rather listless and unenthusiastic when looking at others.

One of the elders said, "Zhang Qingxiang is the strongest, having reached the upper level of the third rank. Qingli should not be his match either, given the age difference..."

"Is that so?" Ye Tinglan glanced at him, said nothing more, and was too lazy to argue with anyone about this matter, so she said, "I will test it out when I have time."

After saying that, he immediately changed the subject: "What measures has Gu Zhanting taken recently?"

"We've been paying close attention, but we haven't seen any particularly noteworthy actions. On the contrary, they've reinforced their troops in the northern border and fought several battles with the demon race. They've also sent people to inform us, hoping we'd join them on an expedition. Some people from the National Palace have also gone with the army."

Ye Tinglan pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "How is Huo Zhang?"

"Huo Zhang's previous loss of the city was exposed, and he was suspended from his post for investigation. This incident mainly led to the removal of many of Huo family members from the military. Gu Zhanting believes that this result was caused by these people helping to deceive the government, and he cannot tolerate such a thing. Now, the military influence that Huo family has cultivated for ten years has been reduced by almost half, which is a huge loss."

Another person said, "Over the years, many people have tried to shake the Huo family from various angles, but to no avail. Gu Zhanting has done too many dirty things through the Huo family... It's rare to see something like this that has dealt such a heavy blow to the Huo family. The sect leader's move is indeed brilliant."

Ye Tinglan smiled slightly.

This was indeed an unexpected gain from being a teacher at the Dan Academy, but it was Lu Xingzhou who came up with the idea of ​​how to subtly bring the matter to Gu Zhanting's attention.

This was probably the first collaboration between myself and Lu Xingzhou. It was a good start, which led to a whole series of subsequent events...

As Ye Tinglan was lost in thought, she stopped hearing what others were saying praising her.

"Sect Master, Sect Master?"

"Huh?" Ye Tinglan snapped out of her reverie and said calmly, "I was thinking about the game between Gu Zhanting and me. Hmm, I heard that Miss Sheng joined the army. How is she doing now?"

"It is said that when she first arrived in the northern border, many seasoned soldiers looked down on her, thinking that what could a spoiled young master from the capital do? He might not even be as good as Huo Zhang. As a result, the first thing she did was to lead a scout battalion to gather intelligence. Everyone knows that being a scout is one of the most arduous jobs, and they were all waiting to see her make a fool of herself."

"The results of it?"

"The result was jaw-dropping. I don't know where she got the enthusiasm from, but she did a near-perfect job, and she kept gathering information... No one else who trained eagles earned as much as she did."

"..." Ye Tinglan propped her head up and said leisurely, "The editor-in-chief of the Heroes Ranking, that's their job." "Speaking of the editor-in-chief, this Feng Zhan is always at the forefront, extremely brave. Coincidentally, there have been more conflicts between the Great Qian and the Demon Realm these days, and she's been even more active. Although she hasn't achieved any major victories, she's accumulated merits and received awards. Now she's leading a force on her own. Hmm, I think it's a scout army, and she's also in charge of the intelligence battalion, I think."

Ye Tinglan chuckled softly, "Alright, is there anything else?"

"Uh, and some internal sect matters..." Everyone brought up the things that had been piling up for months. Ye Tinglan listened with her head propped up, her mind already on the little man.

I wonder if he'll be able to find what he's looking for... And as for the cultivation technique, Elder Feng basically never speaks, and he's a man of emotional intelligence, so there shouldn't be any conflict...

…………

Lu Xingzhou is immersed in an ocean of knowledge.

It used to be said that Yuan Muyu had more knowledge than the average person, but that was because he revealed more information verbally. But where did Yuan Muyu get his information from? It came from here.

This time, we went directly to the source of Yuan Muyu's knowledge and roamed freely, as if swimming out of a fish's brain, infinitely vast.

Ordinary people might think that although there are ancient methods of cultivating immortality, and some people have even seen immortals (most of whom are visitors from ancient times), there are no clear stories of anyone becoming an immortal in front of people, nor are there any clear stories of immortals descending to earth, making immortals seem like legends.

The root cause probably lies in some kind of severance of the connection between heaven and earth, which leads to the separation of immortals and mortals. If one cultivates to a certain level in the human realm, one will ascend to heaven and will not be allowed to descend to the mortal realm. Occasionally, one may descend to the mortal realm because of some kind of mission, and those who are lucky may be able to see one.

Tianyao Holy Land has also incorporated this view into its various accounts, recognizing it as a kind of worldview.

However, there is another school of thought in the Tianyao Holy Land that does not think so.

Although they acknowledged the possibility of ascension, many knowledgeable individuals, including Ye Tinglan herself, questioned whether it was the Immortal Realm.

Because they had never actually witnessed an ascension, they believed that even if ascension did exist, it wouldn't be a grand path to immortality; rather, it might resemble exile or isolation.

Since there is no celestial realm, there is no consensus or rule regarding whether or not one is allowed to descend to the mortal realm. So why don't people like Maha and Zhao En, who have found the passage to the mortal world and possess formidable strength, dare to openly cause trouble there, instead remaining in the shadows?
One line of thought, represented by Ye Tinglan, believes that immortals originally resided in this realm, which is the true primary realm, a fact supported by numerous ancient battlefields and ruins. They argue that modern cultivation, aside from the loss of many advanced techniques and species, and changes in cultivation levels, is at least no less advanced than that of the ancients in terms of spiritual energy. Furthermore, modern cultivators who obtain advanced techniques and possess sufficient talent will not be slower in their cultivation than those of the ancients.

For example, according to ancient records, a genius who could break through to the Huiyang realm within a hundred years was extremely rare, one in ten thousand. But Ye Tinglan herself didn't need a hundred years to break through this realm; she reached the peak of the Huiyang realm in less than a hundred years... Similarly, Gu Zhanting and Yuan Muyu didn't need a hundred years either.

That at least proves that the spiritual resources in this world are definitely not inferior to those in ancient times, and the cultivation speed of geniuses is about the same.

If there truly is a separation between the mortal and immortal realms, then the spiritual energy in the mortal realm should be weaker than that in the immortal realm. How could it be in its current state? And how could it have attracted the constant covetousness of people like Maha Zhaoen?
They seemed more like beings from a broken ancient realm, their eyes red with envy as they stared at the main plane.

However, despite exploring countless ancient ruins throughout the Tianyao Holy Land, the specific circumstances leading to this situation remain unexplained.

On the surface, they can only rely on the common understanding of the outside world that there is a celestial realm and ascension as their main worldview, while inwardly they relentlessly explore, hoping to find a more authentic answer.

Lu Xingzhou kept these explorations in mind. The main purpose of his search for the records in the classics was not to explore the worldview, but to find clues about the Taoist cultivation part of the Yin-Yang Extreme Intent Technique.

Based on the keyword "Yin Yang," the miscellaneous disciples brought out so many books that they could be piled up like a mountain.

The vast majority of them are related to dual cultivation...

It's clear that whether or not the Tianyao Holy Land studies it themselves, this is a topic that cultivators can't avoid...

Lu Xingzhou searched helplessly, but it was clear that most of the information was useless, leaving him completely clueless.

However, he inadvertently came across a lot of analyses and notes about fighting against the Hehuan Sect, which added a bit of fun to the tedious exploration process by seeing familiar faces. Whenever he saw something related to the Hehuan Sect, Lu Xingzhou would take a closer look.

But as he looked on, Lu Xingzhou's expression grew increasingly serious.

"The reason why the Queen of the Maidens is only called the Mysterious Maiden and has no other name is because countless incarnations have taken over her body to continue her existence. Over the millennia, the names used have been countless, making it impossible to identify her. Therefore, each incarnation is called the Mysterious Maiden."

"There are currently two known sources of the manifestation."

"The Mysterious Woman uses the method of splitting the soul to attach herself to another woman's womb, and the resulting female fetus becomes her incarnation. This method is quite risky. First, the fetus born from another woman may not be good-looking or talented, and it all depends on luck. Second, there is no blood relation between her and herself, and there is a possibility that the possession may not be compatible. Therefore, she must cast a wide net, create countless incarnations, and choose the best one to possess."

"Another method is to give birth to oneself... the mother takes over the daughter's body. This method has many benefits and can also bring advantages to the husband's family. However, it also has risks, because if one's conscience is completely lost, Heaven will not tolerate it, and the day of taking over the body will be the day of calamity. A thousand years ago, the Mysterious Woman used this method and almost died and her cultivation was destroyed. I wonder if she has healed her wounds and would dare to try it again?"

As Lu Xingzhou read, he gripped the pages tightly, his face turning ashen.

(End of this chapter)