Chapter 610 The Invisible Hand of the Celestial Mansion

If it were that broken place, the Immortal Pivot, Lu Yang would never have dared entertain such a thought—after all, just striving for Golden Core ascension there had already pushed him to his limits.

However, when placed in the Celestial Mansion, it was a different matter entirely.

‘Because in the Celestial Mansion, you can buy a Fruit Position!’

‘Although it costs a fortune, I just so happen to have a project that can rapidly accumulate capital. Given time, it might not be out of reach.’

‘In any case, I don’t need him to hold it for long—even if it’s just for a single breath of time, as long as I can buy it and have him become an orthodox True Lord of the Celestial Mansion, my 【A Model Teacher】 talent will activate, syncing the True Lord-level Dao attainment tied to the Fruit Position into my foundation.’

At that thought, Lu Yang’s heart blazed with excitement.

At the same time, the explosive popularity of the Worry-Free Talismans, following their second issuance, had completely swept through the first to fifth levels of the Celestial Mansion, birthing countless tales of overnight wealth.

A large number of cultivators began to enter the market.

Very quickly, Worry-Free Talismans on the market were snatched up madly again, and their price surged like a soaring dragon, further igniting the cultivators’ fervor.

After all, who could say no to money?

But as the scale grew larger, the storm became increasingly outrageous, until it finally reached the ears of the higher-ups and startled the Immortal Lords on the upper floors of the Celestial Mansion.

Celestial Mansion, Eighth Level.

Excluding the Ninth Level, which served as the Dao Domain of the Taiyin Immortal Venerable, the Eighth Level was the Celestial Mansion’s decision-making tier, a venue used only when the various Immortal Lords convened for deliberations.

At this moment, within one of the great halls of the Eighth Level—

As one divine sense after another pierced through the void and lit up the Dao platforms, the previously empty hall was instantly filled with one towering figure after another.

Except for the Taiyin position, which had no representative—

The Immortal Lords of the remaining five Dao lineages—Sun, Yangming, Lesser Yang, Lesser Yin, and Jueyin—had all arrived, clearly surpassing the count of ten fingers.

“The lower realms have been quite noisy lately.”

“Have you heard? Those External Dao folks down below have apparently come up with a new item called the Worry-Free Talisman. Its price is being speculated sky-high right now.”

“The lower realm? Lesser Yin is dead! Flame-Treading is dead too!”

“You seem really upset, Qingyang. Were you close with them?”

“Close my ass! I heard they were heading to the Immortal Pivot on a mission as the vanguard, so I went all-in on their Immortal Talismans. Now it’s all fucking gone!”

A furious Immortal Lord roared. His name was 【Qingyang】, also an Immortal Lord of the Sun lineage, but unlike the Flame-Treading Immortal Lord, he held the "Sun in the Spring" median position.

In the Celestial Mansion, each Dao lineage had "Heaven-Governing" and "In the Spring" divisions.

The Heaven-Governing sat above, "In the Spring" below. This formed a dividing line. Furthermore, within each division, there was a distinction between main and median positions—another hierarchical boundary.

The "In the Spring" median position was essentially the lowest rung within a Dao lineage, comparable to a Grade Four True Lord in the Immortal Pivot, only slightly stronger than an External Dao True Lord.

Thus, for Immortal Lord Qingyang, his greatest ambition was for the value of his own issued Qingyang Immortal Talisman to soar, allowing him to afford a main position Fruit Status within the "In the Spring" division. To this end, he had invested heavily into Immortal Talismans under other Immortal Lords’ names, especially those of the Lesser Yin and Flame-Treading Immortal Lords.

But now, both of them were gone—and this had even affected his own Qingyang Immortal Talisman.

Although he could still issue new ones, the plunge in value meant he’d need far more volume to compensate, increasing his effort and costs dramatically.

Unlike External Dao Immortal Talismans, orthodox Immortal Lords’ Talismans contained a wisp of Fruit Position intent. In high quantities, they genuinely benefited True Lords’ cultivation. Otherwise, they wouldn’t command such high prices, and True Lords wouldn’t bother hoarding Talismans issued by others.

With that in mind, Immortal Lord Qingyang sighed deeply.

Seeing his dejected state, another Immortal Lord laughed: “Qingyang, if your recent losses are that severe, I think you should pay closer attention to the lower realms.”

“What do you mean?”

Immortal Lord Qingyang blinked, and then saw the speaker wave his hand. A strand of divine sense transmitted the entirety of the Worry-Free Talisman’s recent emergence.

“I must admit, the External Dao Alliance has produced a real talent.”

“I looked into it. He’s a recent arrival, very capable—a first-generation Dao-proven External Dao True Lord. Much stronger than the ones we raise ourselves.”

“This Worry-Free Talisman...”

Immortal Lord Qingyang pondered briefly, then grinned: “Interesting. Speculating price, eh? Could it really reach the value of an orthodox Immortal Talisman?”

“In my view, it very well might.”

“At the very least, it’s already surpassed Flame-Treading’s Immortal Talisman. Lesser Yin’s is only a matter of time. That outcome alone will further boost market confidence.”

“But ultimately, this Worry-Free Talisman is still External Dao. Its value can’t compare to our orthodox Talismans imbued with Fruit Position intent. Its rapid surge is purely due to high entry volume—it can’t last forever. Once it hits a threshold, I’m sure it’ll crash.”

“So what?”

“Whether it crashes or not is entirely up to us. If we coordinate properly, we can easily make a fortune off of it.”

Immortal Lord Qingyang’s eyes sparkled:

“At the end of the day, Immortal Talismans are backed by their issuing Immortal Lords. The stronger the Immortal Lord, the more profound the cultivation, the higher the Talisman’s value.”

“So to crash the Worry-Free Talisman’s value is actually simple—any one of us could publicly defeat and humiliate the External Dao True Lord who issued it. That very night, its price will crash.”

“And we control the timing.”

“Before then, we can go with the flow and drive its price up. The higher it goes, the more we earn!”

“After we cash out, we crush its price.”

“Granted, it’s still an External Dao Talisman. Though it will crash, it’s bound to rebound somewhat afterward. We can just buy another batch at the bottom.”

“Once it recovers, whether we resell or hold long-term... we’ll easily keep this newcomer External Dao True Lord under our thumb.”

With those words, the entire scheme took shape.

For the Celestial Mansion’s Immortal Lords, such tactics were business as usual. Every so often, they would use methods like this to harvest from the lower levels.

Every time the upper-tier Immortal Lords were strapped for cash, they would wield this invisible hand—with astonishing success, time and again.

“Not bad, not bad.”

The Immortal Lords present all nodded in agreement with the plan.

Finally, the host of this meeting—a kindly-looking elder with white hair and youthful features—spoke with a smile toward Immortal Lord Qingyang:

“Qingyang, I trust your capability.”

“Let’s proceed then. But since Lesser Yin and Flame-Treading have fallen, we need to focus on military affairs for now. You’ll handle this matter.”

“This subordinate accepts the task!”

Immortal Lord Qingyang cupped his hands respectfully.

This elder was 【Duoxuan】—despite his kindly appearance, he was the chief under the Taiyin Immortal Venerable, the undisputed number two of the Celestial Mansion.

A "Sun Heaven-Governing Median" position Immortal Lord.

If not for the fact that the Sun Heaven-Governing main position was tied to a Supreme Fruit Position, which even Great Dao Immortal Talismans couldn’t purchase, Immortal Lord Duoxuan might already be an Immortal Venerable himself.

Soon, the meeting concluded and divine senses withdrew.

Celestial Mansion, Sixth Level. Within his seclusion cave, Immortal Lord Qingyang opened his eyes, burning with excitement: “Though we both belong to the Sun lineage, there’s still some karmic bond of incense.”

“Immortal Lord Duoxuan clearly saw I was injured and heavily lost this time, so he deliberately gave me this chance—to make a killing off that Worry-Free Talisman in the lower levels. And now that Flame-Treading has fallen, the Sun 'In the Spring' main position is vacant. Perhaps Duoxuan even intends for me to take that place.”

At the thought, Immortal Lord Qingyang grew thrilled.

He looked again at the price of the Worry-Free Talisman, regretting only that he hadn’t paid attention to the lower levels earlier. If he’d bought in sooner, he could’ve profited even more!

“No time to waste. I must go all-in!”