If a talented youth were to join the world’s Purple Cloud Palace, with talent, hard work, and opportunity on their side, they could cultivate to the Nascent Soul Stage, unify the other two major sects, collect three tokens, open the secret realm, receive the teachings of the ancestral master Zhang Dao, and obtain the incomplete Transcendance Tribulation stage techniques of a super-grade sect, ultimately cultivating to the Divinity Transformation Stage.

Should their luck be even better, they could join a super-grade sect, perfect their techniques, and reach straight for the clouds, becoming a Transcendance Tribulation stage powerhouse.

Of course, all of these premises are based on the actual existence of such a talented youth, and not on someone like the Infinite Honored One pretending to be a youth.

Gathering his thoughts, Lu Yang silently watched the scene unfold before him.

Zhang Dao was kneeling on the ground, fervently kowtowing: "I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have stolen the thing, your honor is magnanimous, please spare me!"

Zhang Dao never dreamt that stealing a single cultivation technique, and after so much time, would lead the Infinite Honored One, this great figure, to personally seek him out.

Zhang Dao was just over a hundred years old, and before he had started cultivating, the Infinite Honored One was already an unreachable Transcendance Tribulation stage, a peerless great power beyond his lifetime’s reach.

Is there a problem with this cultivation technique? Is it hiding some secret that could even entice those at the Transcendance Tribulation stage?

Zhang Dao couldn’t figure it out.

The Infinite Honored One sighed lightly: "Enough, rise, your original self is already dead, what remains here is but a divine consciousness, and what use is there in punishing a divine consciousness that won’t last much longer?"

"Thank you, Honored One!" Zhang Dao knocked his head on the ground three more times before standing up.

"However, there is one thing I need your cooperation with."

"Your command is my wish, Zhang Dao will go through fire and water!"

"Tomorrow I will join the Purple Cloud Palace. When the time comes, I’ll find a way to collect the three tokens, and I’ll come looking for you. Then you’ll pretend not to recognize me and pass on that technique to me."

Zhang Dao was filled with question marks upon hearing this; the matters spoken by the Infinite Honored One were beyond his comprehension.

But he didn’t dare to ask more, simply nodding vigorously in agreement.

"Infinite, you still wish to continue on this path?" the Thousand Charms Honored One teased.

When Zhang Dao heard the Thousand Charms Honored One refer to the Infinite Honored One, cold sweat broke out; judging by her tone, this young lady was also a remarkable figure.

The Infinite Honored One snorted coldly: "Why not?"

He had just been beaten up by Lu Yang using the Invincible Nascent Soul and had some difficulty accepting this fact; he needed to go to the Purple Cloud Palace to find some self-confidence.

The four left the secret realm, and Lu Yang hurriedly bade farewell to the two great powers. After the farewells, they quickly departed, still able to hear the great powers’ conversation from a distance.

"What are you following me for?"

"To see what you old thing are up to in the Purple Cloud Palace."

Lu Yang quickened his pace to leave.

Back in the stables of the city, they found Old Ma, who looked at them sideways.

Inside Nine Dragons City, it was he who had the highest cultivation level. Others might not sense the disturbances outside the city, but he was acutely aware.

What’s the matter with you two? Weren’t you going to recruit disciples and inspect their conduct? Why are there auras of two Transcendance Tribulation stage beings where you left?

Can’t you two consider the cultivation level of me, the Protector?

"Why are you looking at me like that? It was all an accident." Meng Jingzhou noticed Old Ma’s skeptical eyes and spoke truthfully, seriously defending himself.

"Right, I can vouch for what Old Meng said," Lu Yang voluntarily stepped forward as a witness.

Old Ma rolled his eyes; what use was it for them to vouch for each other?

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They got on the carriage and rapidly left Nine Dragons City, then took out a booklet and drew a cross next to the name "Xie An" on the first page.

"Let me see, the nearest one from here should be this Gu Junye from Yinzhou’s Lintian City."

"The report says it was Junior Brother Wei Nanfei who, while on a mission in Lintian City, disguised himself as a school teacher and encountered him at a private school. Wei Nanfei praised him for being calm and composed despite his youth, deliberate in actions, and having great academic achievements."

Wei Nanfei and Lu Yang were part of the same group that joined the Seek Dao Sect. He cultivated the "Heaven Burning and Blood Igniting Art." Even though his talent was not as good as Lu Yang’s and Meng Jingzhou’s, for the outside world he would still be considered a top-tier genius.

He especially demonstrated his prowess in the finals, securing the first place in the late stage Foundation Establishment group.

After hearing this, Lu Yang analyzed, "So, this person named Gu Junye doesn’t like to talk, enjoys daydreaming, and doesn’t like to be active?"

"You could say that."

Just as the two were about to continue assessing Gu Junye’s information, they felt the carriage shake and come to a halt.

"Old Ma, what’s happened?"

Meng Jingzhou poked his head out and asked, with Old Ma snorting and signaling for Meng Jingzhou to look up at the sky.

A refined laughter descended from the heavens.

"Junior Brother Meng, has Old Dai also sent you out?" The youth dressed in Confucian robes descended to greet them; he recognized the carriage.

"Senior Brother Ji?"

The newcomer was none other than the Fourth Elder’s lead disciple, Ji Hongwen, who was at the early stage of Unification.

Hearing the commotion outside, Lu Yang also stuck his head out.

Ji Hongwen, seeing Lu Yang, couldn’t help but laugh, "Old Dai has sent both of you out? Seems like the sect really is short on people."

"What are you doing, Senior Brother Ji?"

Ji Hongwen lifted the booklet in his hand, "Well, Old Dai said that staying in the mountains all the time isn’t good for cultivation, so he sent me out to observe the conduct of the people on the list too."

"How many have you observed?"

"Just one. I’ve just finished observing him. He’s a good seedling. His father is a mortal, and his mother a cultivator, but his mother disappeared when he was young, leaving only half of a jade pendant as a clue. He and his father depend on each other for survival. He said he wants to cultivate diligently to become a great cultivator so he can use this half of the jade pendant to find his mother."

"When he said that, his eyes revealed an unwavering will, but his roots are quite average; he has Three Spirit Roots, just barely meeting the sect entry standards."

"I thought this kid’s filial piety was praiseworthy, so I decided to help him find his mother by meticulously observing the jade pendant."

"If that half of the jade pendant is worn for a long time, it can enhance one’s Spirit Root and improve their physique. The pendant also hides a cultivation technique, which can only be opened after the youngster manages to draw Qi into his body."

"Through this half of the jade pendant, I concluded that the kid’s mother is no ordinary cultivator."

"But that’s as far as my analysis goes; I couldn’t find the person."

"No choice, I had to make a trip to the Heavenly Strategy Sect and ask a friend to use the Causality Divine Ability to trace back to the source and find the kid’s mother."

"So, did you just come back from the Heavenly Strategy Sect?" Lu Yang asked.

Ji Hongwen shook his head, "After leaving the Heavenly Strategy Sect, I learned that the cause related to the jade pendant was at the First Class Sect, the Hear Sea Sect in Yu State, and I went directly to them."

"I discovered once I got there that the kid’s mother was the saintess of the Hear Sea Sect. She went against the sect’s wishes, secretly married a mortal, leading to the Hear Sea Sect’s wrath. They captured the saintess back and suppressed her under the sect."

Meng Jingzhou suddenly realized, "Then, Senior Brother Ji, surely you took decisive action, fought a great battle with the sect leader of the Hear Sea Sect, and saved the saintess?"

Ji Hongwen looked at Meng Jingzhou with confusion, "No, what are you talking about? I went to report the incident. The Hear Sea Sect was restricting personal freedom, which constitutes the crime of illegal detention; naturally, this is something for the government office to handle."

"Did their family of three reunite then?"

This time, Ji Hongwen nodded, "They did reunite."

"After the government office rescued the saintess, they arrested a bunch of people from the Hear Sea Sect, including the sect leader and the Supreme Elder. They’re probably looking at several hundred years of incarceration."

"The investigation revealed that the half jade pendant the boy wore was a treasure of the Hear Sea Sect stolen by the saintess, which incurs a theft charge. She’s probably also facing several hundred years of incarceration."

"Just now, I’ve come from taking the kid to visit the prison."

"Before leaving, I told him if he still intends to cultivate, he can come to the Seek Dao Sect to participate in the entrance examination on the second day of the second lunar month next year. I don’t know if he will come or not."