"The Immortal Alliance... interesting."
Between heaven and earth, spiritual light sparkled brightly. Countless streaks of light shuttled through the clouds, dining on the rosy dawn and drinking the morning dew. In the distance, palaces rose from the ground and hovered in the rosy sky—truly a scene of prosperity.
Seeing this, a monk with red lips and white teeth couldn't help but sigh with emotion:
"To think there is actually such a place overseas."
In the depths of the monk's eyes, a Buddha light shone brightly. He looked around with great interest, riding a streak of light and arriving at an island governed by the Immortal Alliance.
Before he had walked many steps, a Qi Refining cultivator quickly walked over, carrying a fawning smile on his face: "Dare I ask this senior, do you need a guide to lead the way?"
Hearing this, the monk nodded slightly, then took out a spirit stone from his sleeve and handed it over:
"Then I will trouble you, Benefactor."
Seeing the spirit stone, the cultivator's face instantly lit up with a beaming smile, and he hurriedly said: "Not at all! You must be a newcomer here, senior. Is there anywhere you'd like to go?"
"Just walk around."
The monk said casually. Suddenly, he felt a sensation in his heart. He looked up at the sky, frowning slightly, and then subconsciously prepared to pinch his fingers to calculate the karma involved.
Then he froze.
Because after hearing his words, the Qi Refining cultivator standing in front of him actually also pinched his fingers. True Qi surged, and several bagua patterns appeared in his palm.
Before long, he said with understanding:
"So that's how it is. Senior plans to visit the [Virtuous Immortal Temple] next? That's perfect timing. Follow me, senior, I'll take you there."
The monk: "..."
What did I just see?
A Qi Refining cultivator, calculating karma? Could it be that he has cultivated some great divine ability... No, this person has no stature; it's impossible for him to have cultivated a great divine ability.
With this thought, the monk's originally careless gaze became solemn. He truly began to treat the little cultivator in front of him as a person. After a moment of silence, he whispered: "I didn't expect that you, Little Benefactor, would actually be proficient in the art of karmic deduction. May I ask where you obtained this from?"
"Karmic deduction?"
Hearing this, the Qi Refining cultivator was stunned for a moment, then came to a realization: "Oh, you mean the [Divination Golden Scripture]. It was passed down by the [Virtuous Immortal], and it's quite effective."
"It's just that my cultivation is low, so I still have to spend time calculating."
"It is said that there are big shots in the Immortal Alliance who, after passing the [Virtuous Immortal's] test, successfully cultivated the [Dripping Essence of Heaven]. That is truly knowing the world with a single thought..."
The monk fell silent once again.
Virtuous Immortal? Could this be the source of the karmic change?
Which Dao Lord's chess piece is this?
At this moment, the Buddha light in the depths of the monk's eyes suddenly expanded slightly, causing his thoughts to turn as he said: "Since that's the case, let's go take a look."
"Right away!"
Following the Qi Refining cultivator, the monk quickly arrived at the center of the island. There, a resplendent and magnificent temple sat at the peak of the mountain in the center of the island, amidst the clouds and sky. Looking around, hundreds, even thousands of cultivators flowed in and out of the temple; the flourishing incense offerings were truly eye-opening.
"Senior, this way please."
Stepping into the temple, the monk's gaze was immediately drawn to the dragon and phoenix jade pillars on the left and right. What entered his sight was impressively two lines of golden, flamboyant characters:
[The Pivot of Righteous Qi that Stabilizes Heaven and Earth]
[The Land that Protects the Peace and Prosperity of All Living Being]
In the exact center between the jade pillars hung a plaque:
[Righteous, Great, and Honorable]
For such a thing to appear in the Immortal Nexus, in the monk's eyes, was like finding a grain of white rice inside a pile of shit. His expression twisted somewhat in an instant.
And beneath the [Righteous, Great, and Honorable] plaque sat a shrine. There was no divine idol inside the shrine, only a memorial tablet bearing a single line of title:
[Enlightened Lord of the Righteous Dao, Virtuous True Immortal]
"...And what is this?"
The monk finally couldn't help but ask, while the Qi Refining cultivator beside him explained with a matter-of-fact look: "It's the memorial tablet of the Virtuous Immortal."
"Senior, you must have come from outside the Immortal Alliance, right? You might not know, but this Virtuous Immortal is no ordinary figure. He is a truly divine being who cares for the common people. The Immortal Alliance's current prosperity is all because of Him. That's why we specially set up a memorial tablet to worship Him, so everyone won't forget the Immortal's great benevolence and virtue."
"What did he do?" the monk asked curiously.
"He preached the Dao, of course!"
Hearing this, the Qi Refining cultivator said proudly: "As long as you have the cultivation of Nascent Soul Condensation, and you offer a stick of incense to the Virtuous Immortal, you have the hope of cultivating a divine ability and enjoying a long life."
"I've even seen it with my own eyes."
"The Perfected One Thunder Accumulation who oversees our Thunder Accumulation Island today used to have Nascent Soul Condensation cultivation. It was only after passing the Immortal's test that he became a Perfected One."
"...Perfected One?"
Hearing this, the monk's frown deepened. He subconsciously sensed the area and actually did find the aura of a Foundation Establishment stature occupying the island.
It's actually a true Foundation Establishment?
This Virtuous Immortal is actually distributing divine abilities, and divine abilities with stature at that, using them to help people establish their foundation? Since when did Foundation Establishment become this easy?
There is definitely something fishy here.
Thinking of this, the monk asked curiously: "The realm of a Perfected One is fraught with danger, a narrow escape from death. Could it be that this Virtuous Immortal can guarantee a one hundred percent success rate in breaking through to Perfected One?"
"That's not possible."
Hearing this, the Qi Refining cultivator shook his head: "However, with the [Divination Golden Scripture] bestowed by the Virtuous Immortal, we can calculate the breakthrough success rate ourselves."
"If the odds of success aren't high, we just won't try."
"In addition, the Virtuous Immortal has also passed down a dharma edict: as long as we do good deeds and accumulate virtue, it can accumulate destiny for us and increase the breakthrough success rate."
"When the success rate is high enough, we can just go and try."
The monk: "..."
This speech from the Qi Refining cultivator almost made the monk think he was hallucinating. Good heavens, doing good deeds and accumulating virtue? Such words can actually be spoken in the Immortal Nexus?
For a moment, he was left utterly speechless.
By the time he snapped out of it, his first reaction was—What the hell.. could it be this Virtuous Immortal is planning something big, and is just building up merit right now?
After pondering for a moment, he slowly stepped forward.
"I am currently also at Qi Refining Perfection. Although I come from outside the Immortal Alliance, my heart leans toward the Dao path. If I offer a stick of incense to the Immortal, could I be bestowed a divine ability?"
"Rest assured, Senior."
Hearing this, the Qi Refining cultivator immediately patted his chest: "How could the Virtuous Immortal have a bias? As long as Senior is sincere, why would the Immortal refuse you?"
"...That's good then."
The monk nodded slightly, then solemnly took a stick of incense and inspected it with his divine sense. After confirming there were no problems, he slowly lit it.
Boom!
Ethereal blue smoke drifted from the tip of the incense, connecting to the clear heavens above and responding to the turbid earth below. At some unknown point, a hazy layer of thin mist covered the monk's vision.
Time seemed to stop in its tracks at this moment.
In the monk's eyes, the upward-drifting blue smoke seemed to transform into a path of blue clouds leading straight to the heavens. His divine sense followed the path and walked into the celestial vault.
However, in the depths of his eyes, a trace of disappointment leaked out from the obscure and silent Buddha light:
So it's Mu Changsheng.
He awakened early? Is this that Unorthodox Dao Fruit he nurtured using the [Nourishing Life Master]? Is that all? It's a completely meaningless variable...
The disappointment only lasted for an instant.
Because in the next second, as the monk's consciousness formally drifted into [Heaven of Nothingness], a voice fell lightly beside his ear.
"Senior, the Ancestral Dragon has already been controlled by the Primordial Saint."
'!!!'
Instantly, the monk's expression froze. And in the depths of his eyes, the Buddha light that was originally about to recede, leaving only a faint spark, skyrocketed ten thousand times over in a split second:
"What did you say!?"