It turns out, they were the main characters.

Her words were perfectly calm, and there was never a trace of disdain in the eyes of this Holy Maiden of Yaochi for the congratulatory gift given by Mu Zhian. The smile on her face remained indifferent.

Although offering a single osmanthus cake on such a grand occasion might seem a bit stingy, she wouldn't be affected in any way.

The most important thing about the Holy Maiden of Yaochi is her Dao heart. She faces everything with equanimity, and that is the true nature of the Holy Maiden of Yaochi.

Because of this, the Holy Maiden of Yaochi had very few enemies; on the contrary, her demeanor and behavior attracted many suitors.

Zhou Hao shook his head and smiled faintly: "Fairy Yao Yue used to cultivate in the Jade Pool, so she probably doesn't know that this Senior Sister Lan has an extremely aloof personality and is not interested in most things. Some of the elders in my forbidden area once said that Senior Sister Lan's cultivation speed is likely related to her being ignorant of the world and focusing on cultivation."

"Why would someone like that be interested in a piece or two of osmanthus cake?"

“She’s not the kind of girl who can be fooled by a few words.” As Zhou Hao said this, his gaze inadvertently fell on Mu Zhi’an, his eyes sharp.

The Holy Maiden of Yaochi raised her eyebrows slightly, her body seemingly bathed in moonlight, her snow-white skin enveloped in silvery radiance. She smiled gently and said, "It seems that your relationship with the disciple who is presenting the gift is not very good?"

"I'm just stating a fact," Zhou Hao said with a shake of his head and a faint smile.

Then, his gaze fell on the slender back of the girl in the purple dress in the crowd.

Although he appeared calm and collected on the surface, his gaze towards Ye Lingxuan was filled with an undisguised fervor.

Ye Lingxuan, as the Holy Maiden of the Forbidden Zone, naturally became the object of pursuit for many of the younger generation within the Forbidden Zone.

However, a few months ago, when his younger brother returned to the forbidden area, he revealed that Ye Lingxuan already had someone she loved, and that they had been expelled from the Liangyi Sect because of Mu Zhian's scheme.

These words naturally aroused the hatred of some disciples in the forbidden area.

Zhou Hao was among them.

In his eyes, Mu Zhian had become synonymous with "despicable, treacherous, and cunning".

Ultimately, even without this incident, just knowing that the young lady was pursued and won over by a cultivator who had absolutely no redeeming qualities except for his looks would still cause resentment.

"Do you know him?" the Holy Maiden of Yaochi asked softly.

"I don't know him, but I've heard my clansmen mention him before." Zhou Hao smiled faintly at Mu Zhian, who was just stepping forward to hand the butter paper bag to Lan Mulian.

He continued, "Back in Tianxuan City, Mu Zhian was obsessed with beautiful women and committed all sorts of evil deeds. He was a despised playboy."

"However, something seems to have happened to him later. After he suddenly realized his mistake, his cultivation speed did improve, but he can only be described as having ordinary talent. Moreover, he is fickle and two-timing, a good-for-nothing young master who is as promiscuous as can be."

That indifferent tone, coupled with that disdainful contempt, seemed to be an attempt to reduce Mu Zhi'an's image to its lowest point in the heart of the Holy Maiden of Yaochi.

"Mu Zhi'an..." The Holy Maiden of Yaochi repeated softly, and after confirming that she had no recollection of the name, she smiled indifferently and did not take it to heart.

She had heard of most of the talented cultivators of her generation.

The Holy Maiden Ye Lingxuan of the Forbidden Zone, Bai Ruoxi, the most beautiful woman in Tianxuan City, and Wei Mengrou, who has a weak presence but whose cultivation surpasses that of all the geniuses.

Aside from that, Ye Yu, who just gave away the Youth Preservation Pill, could also be considered a genius.

Within the Eastern Continent, there are many unseen geniuses who will likely participate in this Ascension Ceremony.

Among these young geniuses, she had never heard of Mu Zhian before.

"If I remember correctly, Fairy Yao Yue has never left Yaochi before, and the Ascension Ceremony is still two months away. Why did she come to Liangyi Sect ahead of schedule this time?"

Not far from the two, a young man with a handsome face and dressed in white robes asked in a gentle voice.

Yao Yue smiled faintly and said, "I received some guidance from Sister Lan in the past. Two days ago, I sensed the tribulation of lightning within the Liangyi Sect, so I asked Elder Yaochi to come to the sect ahead of time to congratulate her."

Upon hearing this, many people suddenly realized what was going on.

A faint smile appeared on the lips of the Holy Maiden of Yaochi. A thin mist emanated from her, and her skin, as white as jade, seemed to be visible through her thin gauze. However, the mist and moonlight completely concealed her skin, and to onlookers, only a blurry figure could be seen.

A few days ago, the Grand Elder of Yaochi Holy Land conducted a divination and mentioned that the first Holy Maiden of Yaochi was born in Liangyi Sect.

Yao Yue's visit to the Liangyi Sect was partly to offer congratulations, but the main reason was for the Azure Emperor.

If the Azure Emperor is still alive, please let her return to Yaochi and take control of the power. In the future, Yaochi's status will be unparalleled in the Nine Provinces.

However, when she came to the Liangyi Sect not long ago and tried to use the jade slip constructed by the Yaochi Secret Method to call the Azure Emperor, she did not feel the Azure Emperor's aura or response.

This is a very strange situation. Logically speaking, each generation of Yaochi Saintess should be able to sense the aura of the 'same origin', but when she came to Liangyi Sect this time, she did not sense any aura of the Azure Emperor.

The Grand Elder's deductions couldn't possibly be wrong, so something must have happened to Senior Qingdi, which is why we can't contact her for the time being...?

As the Holy Maiden of Yaochi pondered, she quietly glanced at Mu Zhi'an, who was not far away.

When Mu Zhian handed the butter paper bag to Lan Mulian, Zhou Hao couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

Lan Mulian was unmoved by the pills sent by the major peaks and even the forces outside the Eastern Continent, let alone a osmanthus cake.

Compared to the pills and medicinal herbs given by others, the osmanthus cake sold in this mortal world is pitifully cheap.

Looking at this scene, Ye Yu couldn't help but chuckle and said, "Young Master Mu prepared for so long, and all you prepared was a osmanthus cake?"

Many disciples were subtly agitated, clearly somewhat surprised by Mu Zhi'an's congratulatory gift.

Mu Zhian was a prominent figure in Tianxuan City, yet after the sect leader's personal disciple advanced to the Returning to the Void Realm, he only sent him a osmanthus cake.

Even if Senior Sister Lan doesn't say anything due to her personality, she'll probably be speechless inside.

This can be seen from the slightly confused look in Lan Mulian's eyes at this moment.

After accepting the butter paper bag from Mu Zhi'an, Lan Mulian couldn't help but glance at the food inside.

A serving of osmanthus cake and two meat buns.

After a brief moment of surprise, she slightly raised her eyelids, and a glint seemed to flicker in her cold, deep eyes.

A moment later, Lan Mulian parted her red lips beneath the thin veil, gazing at Mu Zhian: "You've returned to Tianxuan City?"

"I had been planning to go back for a while, but I never had the time, so I took this opportunity to go back." Mu Zhian smiled.

"Flying on a sword from here and then rushing back... won't you get tired?" Lan Mulian asked.

"It only consumed two Spirit Replenishing Pills and one Essence Restoration Pill, nothing much," Mu Zhian said with a shake of his head and a smile.

Upon hearing the conversation between the two, the disciples below all subtly shifted their gazes.

Speaking of which, the nearest city to the Liangyi Sect is three or four hours away by flying on a sword.

So where did Mu Zhian get his food?

To buy a snack, he spent three Rank 5 pills flying on his sword for a full eight hours?!

Are you crazy?!

This thought flashed through the minds of many disciples.

However, a glint of light appeared in the eyes of some of the female disciples.

Women think completely differently from men, and perhaps in the eyes of male monks, this practice is utterly wasteful.

After all, the value of three grade-five pills easily surpasses that of these snacks.

But in the eyes of the female disciples, the act of making a special trip to Tianxuan City for their beloved senior sister was undoubtedly very romantic.

Lan Mulian silently gripped the butter paper bag in her hand, gazing at Mu Zhian's sincere expression and his warm, sunny smile.

After a long silence, her delicate brows relaxed, and she said softly, "I like it very much."

As she finished speaking, a faint smile appeared on her cool face, but unfortunately it was veiled, making it difficult to see clearly.

This senior sister's single sentence caused a huge stir among the disciples of these sects.

From the moment she arrived until now, all this senior sister has said "thank you" to the gifts from the main peak.

The only thing Mu Zhian said he liked was the pastry he gave her.

This is enough to prove that the congratulatory gift Mu Zhian gave had indeed won the favor of his senior sister.

"Mu Zhian is really pushing himself too hard. He wasted three Rank 5 pills and even traveled for a whole day and night, all for a snack..."

One of the disciples in the crowd couldn't help but whisper.

“But isn’t it romantic?” a female disciple retorted.

"But in the end, it's just a snack..."

"If I had known that my senior sister liked snacks, I would have gone to Tianxuan City too..." one disciple said with regret.

For a moment, there was a lot of whispering and discussion in the room.

Ye Yu watched this scene with considerable dissatisfaction in his eyes.

He spent nearly two days preparing for this youth-preserving pill, spending a long time just gathering the medicinal herbs, only to receive a faint smile from his senior sister in return.

On the contrary, Mu Zhian's snack won her a "like" from her senior sister.

Hearing the whispers around him, Mu Zhian paused slightly, then suddenly said with a serious expression, "I will name this pastry Enlightenment Cake."

The room fell silent for a moment, and many people's eyes fell on Mu Zhian.

"Enlightenment Cake?"

"Isn't this just an ordinary pastry?" someone asked, looking at Mu Zhian with suspicion.

"Young Master Mu, you can just buy a snack in the city and call it Enlightenment Cake?" Ye Yu sneered in return.

Mu Zhian ignored him and simply whispered something to Lan Mulian.

Lan Mulian's eyes flickered slightly as she noticed Mu Zhian's frank and sincere gaze. Her spiritual sense quickly swept across the butter paper bag.

Then, as if she had discovered something in the butter paper bag, she reached out her delicate hand and took out a seed the size of a piece of silver from the bag.

The room fell silent instantly.

Then, the breathing in the crowd quickened, and their eyes even showed a hint of fervor.

The Holy Maiden of Yaochi had watery eyes and slightly parted red lips, equally astonished, staring intently at the seed in Lan Mulian's hand.

Zhou Hao's eyes slowly widened, and his heart pounded faster.

...The seed of enlightenment?!

Chapter 173 Mu Zhian: I want my maids to wear black and white stockings! 5K

The Enlightenment Seed is a divine object that can only be obtained from the tribulation of the Dao Integration Realm, or by undergoing the tribulation of the Dao Integration Realm and comprehending the laws of the Great Dao. It has an extremely small chance of being obtained from the tribulation.

Not to mention the disciples of these sects present, even those ancient aristocratic families might not be able to produce a seed of enlightenment.

Ultimately, in the last hundred years, there hasn't been a single cultivator who has reached the Enlightenment Realm.

It's not that these cultivators lack talent, but rather that the laws of heaven and earth do not allow cultivators at the Enlightenment Realm to appear.