Starting with the consumables of the Demonic Sect, one can barely achieve immortality.

Upon hearing this, Tian Tong simply smiled and said:

"Junior brother, you think too highly of me!"

His gaze instantly sharpened:

"Do you think... the Palace really needs one or two Foundation Establishment cultivators of the [Cold Qi] or [Netherworld] realms?"

Yan Cheng naturally wouldn't think that way.

【Han Qi】is the manifest path of the Northern Frontier, and 【You Ming】is the true teaching of the Palace.

Even if the Hall of Longevity appears to be in a state of decline among the various lineages within the hall, it certainly does not lack the resources to cultivate these two foundation-building cultivators.

The true disciples deliberately bypassed the [Netherworld] cultivation practiced by the Palace Master himself and chose the Five Elements lineage to cultivate because they knew too much.

If that's the case, why not just find a bunch of cultivators who don't know the ins and outs to cultivate these two paths?

Surely, out of dozens or even a hundred talented individuals, there must be at least a few who can reach the Foundation Establishment stage.

Then Tiantong continued:

"What the Palace Master wants is not just an ordinary Foundation Establishment stage."

"The five true disciples in the hall, from the eldest sister down, cultivate the [Flowing Fire], [Sinking Earth], [Geng Metal], [Jin Water], and [Hidden Wood], which perfectly embody the imagery of the five elements generating each other."

"Now that I think about it, the Palace Master must have made arrangements from the very beginning of their Qi cultivation, so as to use the imagery of the Five Elements to replenish the spiritual atmosphere of the Palace."

He gave a cold laugh:

"The five elements in the human body originate from the five internal organs: the heart is fire, the spleen is earth, the lungs are metal, the kidneys are water, and the liver is wood."

"The internal organs of a corpse cultivator are in a state of decay, making it impossible to cultivate the Five Elements Dao lineage, and thus unable to benefit from the enhancement of the Five Elements Qi."

Yan Cheng was not surprised by this. When had the Emperor ever treated a corpse cultivator as a disciple?

Then Tiantong continued:

"Although the five true disciples are living people, they all achieved their immortal foundation by using Yin-attribute Five Elements spiritual objects."

"This is to bring the imagery of the five elements generating each other, which is beneficial to the path of immortality, to the 'living cultivators who practice Yin methods'."

"I need not say more about who in the hall meets this condition."

Yan Cheng's face was gloomy.

Tiantong said:

"Huang Tong is a descendant of the Palace Master and has benefited greatly from the imagery of the Five Elements generating each other. Although the progress is slow, he will surely succeed."

"In contrast, the Holy Maiden who cultivates Yang techniques with a Yin body is not so lucky."

"The Silk Weaver was originally a flawed product created by the Palace Master to obtain silk, based on the Heavenly Corpse Dao Remnant. She couldn't even condense an immortal foundation, and was a natural consumable from the beginning."

"The original plan of the Palace Master was to seal them in coffins and let them die on their own after collecting enough puppet threads."

But his smile seemed rather amused:

"But who could have imagined that one of the silk weavers would suddenly be afflicted by the Cultivation Technique and master the True Power of the Sun?"

"In this way, the last trace of the image of cultivating Yang with Yin body has been gathered."

"Once all seven disciples have reached the Foundation Establishment stage, the Palace Master can use this imagery of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements to advance further in his cultivation at the Core Formation stage."

"His lifespan is running out. If he cannot advance any further, he will ultimately have no choice but to take the path of possession and reincarnation."

As he spoke, the corpse cultivator, widely regarded as the future target of the Lord of the Hall of Longevity's possession, grinned:

Ultimately, the one suffering is the downward revision.

Yan Cheng believed he had understood:

"So... in your opinion, it would be best if both of them were successful?"

Tian Tong shook his head and chuckled:

"Can my opinion influence these two people's thinking?"

"The feud between these two is not without reason."

"After the Holy Maiden ascended to the throne and passed on the true teachings, she hoped to get rid of all the existing silk weavers in order to prevent another competitor from emerging among them."

"Huang Tong insisted on keeping them and modified them so that they could become the key to unlocking the Moon-Sealing Palace."

"Furthermore, Huang Tong cultivates the Netherworld rather than the Yin. If the two of them were to reach the Foundation Establishment stage, she would certainly not be as important as the Holy Maiden in the eyes of the sect."

"Junior brother, do you think that given Senior Sister Huang's temperament, she might easily teach the Holy Maiden to attain enlightenment?"

"Since the Holy Maiden knew that Huang Tong could not tolerate her, and she also had the Soul-Capturing Bell that could kill her if necessary, she naturally did her best to prevent Huang Tong from successfully establishing her foundation."

"If I'm not mistaken, she even suggested that you, junior brother, take action on her behalf and find an opportunity to assassinate Huang Tong within the Biyue Palace, is that right?"

Yan Cheng didn't try to cover for the Holy Maiden, and laughed:

"Your Holiness is too kind to me."

Tiantong remained noncommittal for a long while before finally smiling and saying:

"If Huang Tong was indeed killed by you, which fellow disciple do you think the court would instead support to ascend to the position of true disciple and attain the Foundation Establishment stage?"

His piercing gaze fixed on Yan Cheng sent a chill down the latter's spine.

A silence began to spread, and after a long while, Yan Cheng finally replied expressionlessly:

"Senior brother must be joking."

Tiantong said:

"This concerns a matter of great importance; we dare not joke about it lightly."

His voice suddenly became slow and gentle:

"Do you know what the saintess fears most?"

"If Huang Tong completes the [Sacrificial Cocoon] of the Netherworld Path step by step, the Holy Maiden can simply disregard everything and immediately rush to the seventh floor to seek the protection of the Palace Master."

"As long as the Palace Master still intends to collect moonlight, at least he won't stand by and watch Huang Tong eliminate the Holy Maiden in front of him."

"But what if there's even the slightest possibility that the Moon-Sealing Palace holds an opportunity for the [Taiyin] path, allowing Huang Tong to change his cultivation path and achieve Taiyin Foundation Establishment?"

"Then Huang Tong has completely gained the upper hand in this contest, leaving the Holy Maiden with absolutely no chance of survival!"

Yan Cheng frowned and said:

I still don't understand.

"From the Palace Master's perspective, isn't having both Taiyin and Taiyang at the Foundation Establishment stage under his command the most ideal outcome?"

"Even if Huang Tong switches to cultivating the Taiyin style, the Palace Master doesn't necessarily have to abandon the Holy Maiden for it!"

Tian Tong said softly:

"It's normal that you can't figure this out, Junior Brother. Given your background, you wouldn't have had the opportunity to come into contact with the scriptures and Taoist texts in the hall."

"But in many cases, if a person wants to increase their spiritual attainment, they still need to read more classics and ancient books."

"Do you know... which immortal lord of the Celestial Dynasty my Daoist lineage originated from?"

Yan Cheng naturally knew this.

【Taiyin Changyou Wuming Immortal Lord】 refers to the ancient immortal lord who was in charge of the Taiyin Dao.

The Taiyin Immortal Sect now claims to be the authentic lineage of this immortal lord.

Tiantong said:

"The Immortal Lord was the second son of the Northern Emperor, while the Immortal Lord who was in charge of the [Sun] path at that time was the Emperor's eldest son, the [Sun Pure Jun Dao True Immortal Lord]."

"This Sun Immortal Lord is said to have been shot down from the sky by an arrow from the Moon Immortal Lord and perished."

His voice carried an epic weight:

"From then on, the sun lost its brilliance, and yin prevailed over yang in the world, marking the beginning of the decline of the once-dominant Northern Huang Immortal Dynasty."

"If Huang Tong, with his Taiyin Foundation Establishment cultivation, were to kill a fellow disciple who was also a Taiyang Foundation Establishment cultivator, it would be equivalent to what the Immortal Lord did in the past. He would surely be able to ride this momentum and advance triumphantly to obtain the Golden Core."

"At that time, even if the Palace Master still intends to protect the Holy Maiden, I'm afraid the sect will have to send someone to hasten her demise, thus fulfilling Huang Tong's image!"