Xie Linlang and Shen He bid farewell to the Gossip Female Cultivator and arrived at the central square of the Central Lake Market.
Hong Kui, Senior Brother Qian, and the others were already waiting there. Senior Brother Qian’s family had a small outpost in the area as well, and he had gathered quite a bit of common knowledge and information about the True Realm. He had imprinted numerous Blank Jade Slips and distributed them one by one to his fellow sect members.
For low-rank cultivators, obtaining this information on their own would cost a considerable amount of money. For high-rank cultivators, such things were optional, but they still left a favorable impression of Senior Brother Qian.
In an instant, even those who had previously been dissatisfied with or looked down on Senior Brother Qian for his spendthrift ways straightened their attitudes and expressed their thanks.
By the time Xie Linlang and Shen He arrived, Senior Brother Qian had nearly finished distributing them.
“Oh, you two Senior Brothers are back? Take a look and fill in any gaps.”
Shen He smiled and exchanged a few pleasantries with Senior Brother Qian, while Xie Linlang merely nodded before closing his eyes.
The heavens and earth of the True Realm were filled with dense spiritual energy. Although he had become a Demonic Cultivator, the core of his cultivation was not a demonic sect technique but the family inheritance, the Treasure Tree Scripture.
Though this technique appeared to be a game of summoning heavenly demons to eliminate, the world misunderstood it. Heavenly demons were not truly demons; they were chaotic spirits born from the heavens and earth in response to the sentiments of living beings.
Heavenly demons did indeed tempt cultivators into illusions, but they also acted on behalf of the heavens to administer trials and rewards or punishments. They were existences that were both righteous and evil.
Thus, in theory, Xie Linlang’s Treasure Tree Scripture could also absorb spiritual energy.
Moreover, since he had been a True Realm cultivator before his rebirth, encountering the spiritual energy that was once so familiar required him to exert tremendous effort to suppress the Treasure Tree Scripture that spontaneously activated within his body.
The longer he stayed in the True Realm, the more restless the power cultivated by the Treasure Tree Scripture in his body became.
Xie Linlang felt somewhat depressed. Fine, heavenly demons were such creatures, after all—always striking unexpectedly. The Treasure Tree Scripture, which fed on heavenly demons, had a similar temperament. He should have been prepared for it.
After chatting with Senior Brother Qian, Shen He wanted to share the information Senior Brother Qian had provided with Xie Linlang, only to notice that Xie Linlang seemed somewhat fatigued.
Shen He hesitated for a moment before turning to find Hong Kui.
“Senior Brother Hong, how much longer do we have to wait here?”
Hong Kui asked, “What’s wrong?”
Shen He replied, “I just feel like all of us gathered here draw too much attention.”
Hong Kui glanced around and realized that their group was indeed the most conspicuous in the vicinity of the square.
He went to speak with the Golden Core Cultivators. Soon, several Golden Core Cultivators counted the numbers, confirmed that everyone was present, and the crowd filed out of the square.
They arrived outside a mansion that appeared exquisitely decorated and imposing.
A plaque hung above the mansion with two words written on it: Dream Flower.
This was the outpost of the Dream Flower Immortal Sect in the Central Lake Market.
Soon, cultivators from the Dream Flower Immortal Sect came to receive them. The low-rank cultivators returned to their rooms to rest and sort out their gains from the market, while the high-rank cultivators were invited to the reception hall to build rapport and exchange information.
Xie Linlang and Shen He, both low-rank cultivators, went to rest separately.
As for the elusive Night Senior? They ignored him.
Meanwhile, in a relatively secluded and quiet cabin on a boat in the Central Lake Market, Gao Chunqiu seemed to have lost all his energy. He leaned against the edge of the cabin, staring blankly at the undulating water waves, and answered Pei Jiye’s questions in a low voice.
“…I don’t know Tianling Sect’s intentions. I only know they have been continuously summoning cultivators who are traveling abroad. It seems they want to do something. Not just Tianling Sect—sects like Dream Flower Immortal Sect and Yunjing Temple have also issued summons.”
He answered listlessly, “Before coming here, I heard some rumors that experts from Xuanming Sect performed bathing divinations and initiated the Heavenly Inquiry. The results didn’t seem good, so the various sects summoned their disciples to cope with the unknown calamity…”
The pitch-black bird hid in the shadows at the edge of the gunwale, its scarlet eyes growing even colder, like a pursuing ghost in the gloom.
Xuanming Sect, Pei Jiye suddenly understood. Of course he knew this cultivation sect. No wonder things had felt off—it turned out these fate-peeping diviners had made their move.
Pei Jiye fell into an eerie silence.
The divinations of Xuanming Sect were quite accurate. Silent Night Palace’s overdue account of over ten thousand years was about to erupt. If not handled well, it would indeed affect the True Realm. After all, though the True Realm and Demon Domain were separated by the Boundary Gate, they were essentially on the same continent!
He had a friend in Xuanming Sect who had said that Pei Ji’s fate carried baleful aura, that he was a heaven’s baleful lone star.
But at the time, Pei Jiye had been deeply entwined with Xie Linlang—how could he be a heaven’s baleful lone star?
Pei Jiye had scoffed at the other’s divination skills, leading to a big argument and an unhappy parting.
Looking back now, he had been too young then.
After sharing what he knew, Gao Chunqiu’s expression turned somewhat dazed.
