Chapter 641: The Vanished Heavenly Venerable

In the final days of the Great Plague Era, cultivators had forced the vast majority of mortals to relocate to various grotto-heavens and minor worlds.

But as the Exclusivity of Immortal Techniques tightened its grip, the cultivators ultimately could not escape the fate of turning on one another. The immortal sects were shattered, and the civilization of cultivators entered a long, dark age.

As the saying goes, one rises as the other falls.

The number of cultivators dwindled to near extinction. But the mortals, tenacious as weeds, began to sprout anew from every corner of the world.

As for the origins of these newly born mortals, some said they were stragglers who had slipped through the cracks during the Great Migration. Others claimed they were the offspring left behind by the cultivators. Still others whispered that mortals from the minor worlds had crossed the Immortal-Severing Grand Arrays and returned.

Whatever the truth, as cultivators slowly faded from the face of the earth, the mortals of the Xuanhuang World began to thrive in the cracks left behind.

And alongside the mortals, the Xuanhuang Heart Clarification Sutra appeared.

Like a folk song or a legend with no known origin, passed down by word of mouth, almost every tribe of humanity came to know of this method, a way for mortals to free themselves from the influence of the Immortal-Mortal Miasma and once again tread the path of cultivation.

Modern cultivators speculated that this was very likely the work of the mysterious Heavenly Venerable East Pole of the Myriad Immortals Alliance.

This was because the Body Purification Spirit Pool, which could also cleanse the Immortal-Mortal Miasma, had been created by that same Heavenly Venerable. It seemed entirely possible, then, that the Xuanhuang Heart Clarification Sutra was the fruit of an early attempt by Heavenly Venerable East Pole, a precursor to the creation of the Body Purification Spirit Pool.

But Li Fan, who now knew the true form of the Xuanhuang Heart Clarification Sutra, understood that this possibility was slim.

Heavenly Venerable East Pole, the nominal leader of the Myriad Immortals Alliance, had appeared only a scant few times in the earliest recorded history of the Alliance before vanishing without a trace.

Rather than a True Immortal, Li Fan suspected that this East Pole might have been someone like himself, someone who had discovered the secrets of the Xuanhuang Heart Clarification Sutra and, inspired by it, gone on to create the Body Purification Spirit Pool.

Perhaps the disappearance of Heavenly Venerable East Pole is also linked to the Xuanhuang Immortal Heart Sutra. The thought surfaced unbidden in Li Fan's mind.

When Li Fan tried to search for records on Heavenly Venerable East Pole, the result was exactly as before: virtually nothing. A perfect blank.

This clearly did not match the status of the Myriad Immortals Alliance's leader at all.

The more I think about it, the more unsettling it becomes.

Li Fan decided not to delve deeper. Instead, he turned his focus back to the Xuanhuang Immortal Heart Sutra, meditating upon its profundities once more.

Half a month later, Li Fan once again assembled a crowd in the Administration Hall.

Expecting him to announce some other momentous news, they were instead met with the update that Li Fan would be entering seclusion again.

"Didn't he just come out of seclusion? He's going in again? Could it be that all ancient cultivators were this diligent?"

"The Secretary-Envoy doesn't lack contribution points. He can maintain the epiphanic state boost for as long as he wants. Cultivation must be pure enjoyment for him. I'd do the same if I could."

"Rumor has it that the Secretary-Envoy has already recovered to the Nascent Soul realm. Could it be he's about to break through to Spirit Transformation now?"

Amidst the murmuring crowd, only He Zhenghao seemed lost in thought.

It seems the Secretary-Envoy is preparing for the descent of the Soul Arbiter of heaven and earth.

He cast an inadvertent glance at Zhou Qing'ang beside him.

When the Secretary-Envoy had made the announcement, Zhou Qing'ang's face had shown not a flicker of surprise, suggesting he had already known.

Thinking back to the beginning, I was the Secretary-Envoy's most trusted man. If not for one moment of greed, that trust would never have been stolen away by this brat.

At the thought, a wave of discomfort surged within He Zhenghao.

His eyes darted about, and a thought suddenly surfaced in his mind. He sent a voice transmission to Zhou Qing'ang: "Fellow Daoist Zhou, how has your cultivation been going recently?"

Zhou Qing'ang looked at He Zhenghao with some surprise at the sudden question. After a moment's thought, he immediately understood the petty scheme being plotted against him.

A cold laugh echoed in his heart as he replied, following He Zhenghao's lead: "Heh, you must be jesting, Brother He. You know the Secretary-Envoy does not handle governance. All the trivial matters, big and small, are left to us to manage. Gao Yuan used to share the burden with us, but he is on leave these days, so things have gotten even busier.

"Just dealing with political affairs alone consumes the vast majority of my time each day. How could I possibly find the time to cultivate in peace?"

He Zhenghao pretended to agree wholeheartedly, sighing and echoing his words.

But soon he shifted the conversation.

"I have a word of advice. Are you willing to hear it, Fellow Daoist?"

Zhou Qing'ang was taken aback at first, then hurriedly said, "Brother He, please share."

He Zhenghao's expression turned serious. "It's good that you dedicate yourself to easing the Secretary-Envoy's burdens, no doubt about that.

"But," he said earnestly, "to forge iron, one must first strengthen oneself! No matter how favored you are by the Secretary-Envoy, you are still only at the Golden Core realm, and to make matters worse, just the early-stage Golden Core realm at that. Here in this tiny Congyun Sea, you can still keep your subordinates in check. But as the Secretary-Envoy's cultivation recovers and his realm rises, his followers will surely come to include Spirit Transformation and Nascent Soul cultivators. If you, Fellow Daoist, remain stagnant, how will you command respect then?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qing'ang's expression shifted slightly.

He first looked as if he was about to open his mouth to retort, but soon fell into deep thought.

Seeing this, He Zhenghao couldn't help but feel secretly pleased.

Gao Yuan's line of reasoning really is useful. If my own Dao Heart weren't so firm, I might have been convinced by it myself, back then.

After a long while, Zhou Qing'ang seemed to have thought it through, a bitter look appearing on his face.

"What you say makes sense, Fellow Daoist. But I truly cannot leave, and it's hard to find peace for cultivation."

He Zhenghao's spirits lifted. "Fellow Daoist Zhou, why not follow Gao Yuan's example? Within the ruins of the Chaoyuan Sect, there are surely great opportunities. If you can obtain them, you should be able to break through at least one cultivation stage. Even reaching the Nascent Soul realm isn't impossible."

Zhou Qing'ang seemed to want to say something, but hesitated.

He Zhenghao cut him off. "I know what you're worried about, Fellow Daoist. It's not that you'll neglect your duties. Rest assured, I'm here! Since I already have one extra task, what's one more?"

Zhou Qing'ang replied with a hint of suspicion. "If that's the case, Brother He, why don't you go yourself? Since when have you been this considerate of your colleagues?"

He Zhenghao showed clear displeasure. "How can you say that? Back then, the Secretary-Envoy reminded me that unity must come first among us. For the sake of helping my two brothers raise their cultivation, what's a little hardship on my part for a while?

"You must understand, as the Secretary-Envoy's cultivation level rises, more and more people will follow in his wake. We are naturally bound allies. Helping you is helping myself."

He Zhenghao paused, studied Zhou Qing'ang's expression for a moment, then continued, "Besides, I've recently gained some insight, and I don't think I'm far from breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm myself. Even without a fortuitous encounter, I'm confident I can advance within ten years!

"Why not do a good deed while I'm at it?"