"The prince has a small sword on his waist, as expected he's cultivating the Heartless Sword Mantra created by Sword Empress Xi."
"I'm more interested in who the father is? Who could make spring arrive for the Heartless Sword Xi?"
"Shhhhh! Do you not want your life anymore, daring to gossip about the Grand Elder?"
"He's like a jade doll, I just want him to just bring him home with me!"
"Junior sister, be careful of what you say. But…ah, I totally understand that feeling!"
"But it's best to strike first while the young prince is still young!"
"But, but…we're still just outer disciples, can he even put us in his eyes now? The prince is already in the Foundation Establishment realm."
"Psh…we can just be his mistress. Even then we would receive a lot of resources!"
Xi Tianyi ignored all the gossiping voices and kept a serious face as he walked through the sect ground leading to the main gates leading to the sect, the Mortal Severance Gate.
"Tianyi, you've arrived." Elder Shan looked at the adolescent who only wore his robes and a sword at his waist. He laughed as Tianyi's coronet shimmered under the sun. "It seems you didn't bring any bags with you. Is that fine?"
Tianyi showed his left hand which had a gold ring with three jewels encrusted onto it on his middle finger. "I put everything in my spatial ring."
The amiable expression on Elder Shan's face disappeared and he showed a serious expression instead. "Little Tianyi, although you can use the spatial ring once you entered the Foundation Establishment Realm, it doesn't mean you should. Don't use it out in the open where others can see. Even if you are Elder Xi's son there are many willing to risk offend Elder Xi to attain a spatial ring, especially yours. Use your spatial pouch for most matters. Although a spatial pouch is rare, it isn't as valuable as that spatial ring."
Tianyi nodded. "I understand Elder Shan. I'll just say it was you then, whenever I need to bring something out."
Elder Shan's face twitched as he rubbed his own spatial ring on his right thumb. "Little brat."
"So this is your mount?" Tianyi looked behind Elder Shan to see a large eagle with red wings sitting obediently. "Why are the wings red?"
Elder Shan smiled proudly. "The Crimson Winged Eagle has the bloodline of the Vermillion Bird and is naturally attuned to fire. Had it not been for me using a Nascent Soul ranked fire to hatch it from the egg, it wouldn't easily be tamed."
"Where did you find such an egg?" Tianyi asked.
"What, you want one too?" Elder Shan asked curiously.
Tianyi shook his head. "No, just curious. I heard that Vermillion Birds are rare to find in the modern world and have been sequestered in their own little realms for thousands of years now."
"You even know this secret?" Elder Shan said surprised. "Mmmm, since we humans have won the war against the divine beasts they no longer dare to openly show themselves in the Huang Realm."
"But rather than a bird, I'd rather have a dragon as a mount. They are much more dignified." Tianyi commented.
Once again Elder Shan's lips twitched. "Not even your mother has a divine beast as a mount, don't even dream about it. We should get going before it's late." Saying so he jumped onto the Crimson Winged Eagle. Tianyi naturally also joined Elder Shan.
With a mighty flap, the surrounding soil all got sent flying as the Crimson Winged Eagle. The eagle soared through the sky and reached an astonishing speed that most Unity Realm Cultivators would not be able to reach without a secret art. Luckily for Tianyi, Elder Shan had spared some attention to him and used some of his qi to cover him so that the high altitude and cold would not affect him.
With the trees flying past like a green blur below, they soon left the main grounds of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Lakes, mountains, meadows, forest, and clouds passed by and soon Tianyi grew bored.
"It's all going back to cultivation, it's always cultivation in the end." With a sigh, Tianyi sat down in a lotus position and closed his eyes once more. Despite having Elder Shan's protection, Tianyi did not enter his inner world where the three figures existed, as that would mean cutting off all his senses to the outside. If he were to fall, he would be unable to laugh or cry, not even knowing how he died.
Thus he focused once more at building his Spiritual Pillars. However, different from when he was sitting on his Jade Lotus Clear Pond when his spiritual sea ran dry absorbing the qi from the surroundings needed even more time to be purified and absorbed.
Elder Shan who saw this scene nodded with an amiable smile. "Born with a Mutated Heavenly Lightning Spirit Vein, even if Tianyi just cultivated occasionally he would still be counted as a genius. But a genius who works hard even though he is born with a golden spoon will rise above geniuses who work hard without any support."
And so this journey continued for two weeks before they finally reached Elder Shan's destination. Luckily Tianyi had already reached Foundation Establishment, which allowed him to exhale impurities, otherwise, they would have needed to make several stops along the way.
The Crimson Wing Eagle floated above an enormous mountain that seemed to be eternally covered in mist. At the foot of the mountain was a welcoming gate, but it was too far away for Tianyi to distinguish the words written upon it.
"Old Codger Yun, I've come to visit you, are you not coming to greet your old friend? Or have you already kicked the bucket?" Tianyi clasped his hands over his ears at the sheer volume that Elder Shan had spoken in.
Soon rumbling laughter was heard from the mountain below. "Stubborn Shan, have you forgotten why you've come? Unless in your old age you forgot I sent that letter to you?"
Soon a middle-aged man with white sideburns flew out atop a fan from the mist, he wore airy grey robes with a gauze light blue mantle atop.
The two elderly men laughed in a strange manner, creeping out Tianyi who was next to them.
Old Codger Yun then glanced at Tianyi, who stood slightly behind Elder Shan. "Oh? A child who has already reached the seventh stage of Qi Gathering." he sighed in admiration. "How envious, your Buzhou Immortal Sect is full of dragons and phoenixes. Is he your disciple?"
Elder Shan stroked his beard in a pleased manner. "This child is Tianyi, he is a child of a senior of mine. Since I was coming here, I thought I'd take him out to see the wider world. The child has been raised in the sect since young and has never left before. Tianyi, go greet the Sect Master of the Fleeting Mist Sect."
Tianyi smiled and saluted the man before him, unsure of his cultivation realm. "Tianyi greets Sect Master Yun."
Sect Master Yun smiled, his long eyebrows twitching in delight. "A cute child, polite too. Much more pleasing than an old man like you." Sect Master Yun threw a half-hearted glare at Elder Shan. He retrieved a jade folding fan from thin air before tossing it to Tianyi. "This is just a little greeting gift from me."
Tianyi accepted the fan, the cool jade feeling especially pleasing in his hand. He silently rubbed the jade ring on his right pinkie finger with his thumb before thanking Sect Master Yun once more.
Elder Shan frowned as he saw the fan. "Hey, wasn't this the mortal artifact you won from me all those years ago? You're using the artifact you gained from me to give to my junior nephew?"
Elder Yun snorted. "I'm a poor Core Formation Realm Sect Master of a Sect in a backwater region. This is already the best, I'm not like you, a Nascent Soul Elder of a Hegemonic Sect."
The two had landed onto the tallest peak and the main hall where Sect Master Yun had flown up from while talking back and forth. Elder Shan pointed his finger at Sect Master Yun, "You, ah you" before helplessly letting it fall to the side.
"Greetings Sect Master!"
Once the trio entered, the Crimson Winged Eagle having been left outside on the doorsteps, the elders and a disciple within the hall greeted Sect Master Yun who had returned. Inside were four elders at the Core Formation Realm, one elderly woman and three middle-aged men, and one girl at the Qi Gathering Stage who still had the tenderness of youth.
"This is my sworn brother from my adventures during my younger years, Elder Shan of the Buzhou Immortal Sect and the child is a disciple of the Buzhou Immortal Sect." Sect Master Yun introduced the two causing the people in the hall to look at the duo with shining eyes.
In the Heaven Continent, there was not a sect or clan worth their salt that did not know of the Hegemon of the Heaven Continent, the Buzhou Immortal Sect. They were like the emperor of mortal worlds, a single word could decide their life or death.
"Yue'er come here, greet Uncle Shan." Sect Master motioned for the girl to come forward. "This is Pan Lanyue, a girl I discovered from the royal family of the Pan Kingdom. Her talent is extraordinary, comparable to the disciple your Sect accepts having a Perfect Fire Spirit Vein with a minor Flawless Water Spirit Vein! This little friend is Tianyi, your Uncle Shan's junior nephew."
Sect Master Yun gave Elder Shan a meaningful look when he turned his eyes toward the fan in Tianyi's hand.
Elder Shan felt his lips twitch at Sect Master Yun's action. He looked at the jade fan in Tianyi's hand before looking at Pan Lanyue's empty hands. Forcefully suppressing the twitch on his face, Elder Shan pulled out a scarf from his spatial ring. It was a clear milky white and seemingly had been woven from the air. "This is my greeting gift for you, the Fleeting Wind Scarf. It seems to have karmic fate with little friend Pan. It can block any attacks under the Core Formation realm and might even slow down Core Formation expert's attack."
Lanyue accepted the gift with glowing eyes of awe as she felt the smooth sensation of the thin scarf.
"Alright, why don't you show little friend Tianyi around?" Sect Master Yun immediately suggested afterward. "Old men like us will only bore little juniors like you."
"As you command, master." Lanyue bowed before pulling Tianyi's hand with her. Tianyi saw the glance Elder Shan offered and did not resist as he allowed himself to be guided away.
Once they were far enough away from the main hall Lanyue turned around to observe the disciple of the mythical Buzhou Immortal Sect. As a princess of the Pan Kingdom, she had seen her royal brothers and her royal father, but compared to the child before her, they looked inferior.
Especially his beguiling phoenix eyes. "Little brother Tianyi, what do you want to see? Big sister will take you."
Tianyi held his chin in his hand for a moment. "Where do the disciples of your sect cultivate?"
Lanyue led Tianyi towards the back of the mountain where the mist was most heavy. "Here, take this, little brother." Lanyue handed Tianyi a jade badge with the word Mist on it. "If you don't have this, you'll get lost."
As they reached a mountain gate where two Foundation Establishment realm cultivators stood guard. "Master-uncles." Lanyue handed her identity token to them. So it's junior niece Pan. What business do you have here? I recall you recently broke through to the tenth level of Qi Gathering realm." One guard, a fierce-looking bald cultivator, asked.
Lanyue took back the token before smiling. "Sect Master told me to show little brother around. Little brother Tianyi is a disciple of the Buzhou Immortal Sect."
The two guards shared a look before smiling. "So it's an esteemed guest from the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Come in, however, be wary of the Lightning Sea."
"Lightning Sea?" Tianyi asked as they passed through the gate.
Lanyue nodded. "It's the source of the Pure Mist that we absorb. Part of the reason our sect is so powerful is because of the Pure Mist that allows us to cultivate twice as fast with half effort."
Tianyi felt the qi in the air grow purer and purer, but still far from his Jade Lotus Clear Pond. "Hmmm, the spiritual qi here is leaning more towards yin and water. So the ones who would benefit the most are water and earth vein cultivators."
"Little brother is knowledgeable." Lanyue said. "Indeed, the strongest cultivators in my sect are mostly Earth Spirit Vein cultivators."
"What about the Lightning Sea?" Tianyi asked.
Lanyue shook her head. "It is too dangerous. It has been here for thousands of years, although the elders can venture deep into the Lightning Sea they cannot absorb the qi there. It's too tyrannical. Unless you have the legendary Lightning Spirit Vein, it is useless."
Tianyi smiled. "I just so happen to possess the Lightning Spiritual Vein."
"Wow, little brother is very impressive. I heard that all Lightning Spiritual Veins are able to become a genius!" Lanyue said.
Soon they reached a platform that had been engraved in a formation where numerous disciples in the Qi Gathering stage were sitting down and absorbing the mist. From where he stood Tianyi could see the continuous lightning strikes in the distance like a heavy downpour of rain, everlasting.
"Big sister, I only see Qi Gathering realm cultivators here. Where do you the Foundation Establishment realm cultivators cultivate?" Tianyi asked, curious.
"The Foundation Establishment realm and above seniors have their own platforms with a stronger formation," Lanyue explained.
"Big sister, I'm going to check the Lightning Sea." Tianyi suddenly said as he jumped towards the lightning.
"Huh? Wait!" Ignoring the disciples whose attraction she held, Lanyue ran forward to stop Tianyu, but she was too slow despite her "higher" cultivation level.
Lanyue sighed in relief when she saw that the lightning had no effect on Tianyi when struck as he entered. But still, she felt endlessly helpless, not daring to enter herself. "What should I do? Should I ask for master, or should I look for a senior brother?"
