Chapter 468

Chapter 468: World Reactions, Breakthrough Opportunity

In the Northern Province, Hanshui Palace,

Han Lingshuang gazed at the golden invitation before her, lost in thought.

In front of her, several capable men also gazed at the invitation.

“Palace Master, what do you think the three from the Holy Mountain are trying to accomplish by convening this Holy Meeting?”

Finally, a young man couldn’t help but ask.

“What else could it be? Restricted by the rules of heaven and earth, each time we open an entrance to our four secret places, we consume a vast amount of spiritual energy.

Therefore, we can’t enter or exit the secret realms at will, and we spend most of our time recuperating within them.

Consequently, for nearly a thousand years, the world has been practically under the control of the Holy Mountain.

Now, with the changes in heaven and earth, the world’s structure has drastically shifted, and the Holy Mountain’s control over the entire world has long since become inadequate, existing in name only.

This Holy Meeting must be an attempt to reestablish the rules and regain control of the world,”

another woman analyzed.

“But is that even possible?” someone wondered. “This isn’t a thousand years ago, when the laws of heaven and earth were suppressing us. Aside from our four secret sites and the Holy Mountain, no other warriors could break through their limits. They could only cultivate to the realm of innate perfection.

Reports from our subordinates indicate that thunderstorms have rumbled across the world over the past year.

Presumably, many powerful individuals, suppressed by heaven and earth for so long, have overcome these tribulations and entered the Golden Core realm.

Even if the three from the Holy Mountain had reached the Golden Core realm, their true forms couldn’t leave the Holy Mountain.

Reclaiming control of the world would be impossible.”

“Right. What are those three thinking? This isn’t a wise move,” someone agreed.

The three Holy Masters of the Holy Mountain couldn’t leave the Holy Mountain in their true forms. While not many knew about this, it wasn’t an absolute secret.

The Four Secret Sites, in particular, had long known about it. After all

, the sudden appearance of three powerful individuals, capable of breaking through limitations, over a thousand years ago, surely wouldn’t have caught their attention.

Over the past thousand years, the three Holy Masters had never publicly revealed their inability to leave the Holy Mountain.

But the world is full of intelligent people, and various clues have led many to speculate.

Before the resurrection of heaven and earth, even without revealing their true forms, the three Holy Lords could still sweep across the world with their puppet Dharma bodies. That’s

why the various sects recognized the Holy Mountain’s status.

But now that the world’s situation has changed, they are deeply pessimistic about the outcome of the Holy Meeting convened by the three.

It might even bring disaster to the Holy Mountain.

“Alright, forget what the three Holy Mountain members think. The key now is whether or not Hanshui Palace will participate in this Holy Meeting,”

a middle-aged man interrupted the discussion and spoke bluntly.

The others immediately fell silent.

Indeed, everything else was a minor matter; the real challenge now was whether or not Hanshui Palace would attend the Holy Meeting.

Everyone turned to Han Lingshuang.

As the Palace Master, the final decision rested with her.

Han Lingshuang had not interrupted the earlier discussion.

She had been poring over the invitation for a long time, finally looking up. “Our Hanshui Palace will attend this Holy Gathering, and I will go personally.”

“Palace Master!”

The others were shocked upon hearing this.

“Palace Master, no! You are about to undergo a tribulation, and the most important thing is to retreat and cultivate, preparing for it.

I can lead the team to attend the Holy Gathering, so why do you need to go in person?”

the middle-aged man urged urgently.

“That’s right, we can go. Palace Master, you should focus on your cultivation,”

the others urged.

“You won’t be able to control the situation.” Han Lingshuang shook her head. “This Holy Gathering is destined to be turbulent. Many sects and forces are likely to be pulling out all the stops, hoping to demonstrate their strength and compete for their interests.

While our Hanshui Palace has no intention of engaging in conflict, we cannot compromise our reputation.

Otherwise, if we show weakness, countless forces will be eager to attack us.

Therefore, I must go to this Holy Gathering. Your strength is still a bit lacking.”

“But Palace Master, your cultivation…”

“My cultivation has reached a bottleneck. Further retreat will not improve it.

Only by surviving the thunder tribulation and achieving the Golden Core stage can I make further progress.

Recently, despite continuous self-cultivation, I haven’t sensed the opportunity for a breakthrough.

But when I received this invitation, I suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment.

I sense that the opportunity to enter the Golden Core stage may lie at this Holy Gathering.”

Han Lingshuang’s gaze fell on the invitation before her again.

A sense of wonder filled her heart.

This was why she had been staring at it so intently.

She was somewhat curious as to why her chance to achieve a breakthrough to the Golden Core stage would come at this Holy Meeting.

Could it be that some opportunity was waiting for her at the Holy Mountain?

“A chance to achieve a breakthrough?”

Upon hearing this, the others were speechless.

If this was true, then the Palace Master must truly act decisively this time.

As fellow cultivators, they knew that a breakthrough opportunity was something you could only encounter by chance.

If you missed it, you wouldn’t know when you would have the chance to catch it again.

“In that case, we are willing to follow the Palace Master to the Holy City and participate in this Holy Meeting.”

Since persuasion proved impossible, everyone could only declare their stance.

Han Lingshuang nodded, “Very well, you can go and see how many outstanding individuals have emerged since the Resurrection of Heaven and Earth.”

…

As envoys from the Holy Mountain continued to visit numerous sects and offer invitations

, word of the Holy Gathering gradually spread throughout the various states, becoming the most anticipated event since the Resurrection of Heaven and Earth.

Countless cultivators, upon learning of this, set out for Zhongzhou.

Even those without invitations were unwilling to miss such a grand event.

Even Cang County, in faraway Cangzhou, had heard of this.

“The Holy Mountain is holding a Holy Gathering in the Holy City? Such a grand event, I truly wish I could be there in person and experience it all.” In

the County Magistrate’s Mansion, Yan Canghai gazed at the secret letter in his hands, his eyes filled with wonder.

But he knew that was impossible.

As the magistrate of a county, he couldn’t leave his jurisdiction at will.

Although, due to the previous incident, his father had lifted the ban on him, allowing him to return to the capital at any time.

But Yan Canghai was no fool; how could he leave Cang County at this moment?

After witnessing Lu Qing’s magical powers, he realized that he was infinitely more powerful than he had ever imagined.

Cang County was the closest place to Jiuli Village, and the Wei family, with whom Lu Qing had a close relationship, also lived in the county.

Furthermore, his good friend Lin Zhirui was also familiar with Lu Qing.

With such a close opportunity, how could he not seize it?

So, no matter what, he couldn’t leave Cang County and return to the capital.

“I wonder if that person will receive an invitation from the Holy Mountain. And I wonder where Zhirui has been traveling recently. I could still ask him about the situation.”

Just as Yan Canghai was pondering, a figure appeared outside the study.

“Sir, Shadow Guard Number One has something to report!”

“Go ahead,” Yan Canghai said, still reading the secret letter.

This Shadow Guard was an elite member he had personally trained, specifically to gather information for him.

“Just now, several white-robed messengers entered the county and headed for the Wei family. Judging from their attire, they must be the Holy Mountain messengers that have been making so much noise lately,” Shadow Guard Number One replied.

“What did you say?”

Yan Canghai suddenly stood up, his face filled with shock.

“Sir, you are not joking, are you?”

Inside the Wei family, the chief steward Wei was equally shocked, staring in disbelief at the unpredictable white-robed messengers before him, whose auras he could not fathom at all.

Just now, these people arrived, holding a golden invitation, claiming that the Holy Mountain had invited their Wei family to attend a sacred gathering in the Holy City.

Chief Steward Wei was naturally aware of the recent widespread rumors surrounding the sacred gathering.

However, he had never imagined that his family would even receive an invitation.

For a moment, he was bewildered, completely unable to believe what he was witnessing.

“Of course, this is no joke,” the leading white-robed envoy said solemnly. “This invitation has been personally imprinted with the magical mark of the three Holy Lords. How could it be forged?

Chief Steward Wei, simply present it to your family head, and they will be able to tell the difference.”

Chief Steward Wei took the invitation, somewhat dazed.

He opened it and saw the three mysterious marks within.

While he couldn’t confirm its authenticity, he knew it couldn’t be forged.

“Rest assured, envoy! I will present it to the family head as soon as he returns,” Chief Steward Wei said solemnly.

The white-robed envoy smiled upon hearing this. “That’s very good. We have important matters to attend to, so we won’t bother you any more. We’ll take our leave now

.” “Your Excellency, will you stay for dinner? The food and wine are ready,” Chief Steward Wei said quickly.

“No need to bother you.”

With that, the figures of the white-robed envoys slowly dissipated.

Witnessing their enigmatic tactics, Chief Steward Wei felt even more awed.

He dared not delay and immediately had his horses prepared. He then, accompanied by several guards and carrying the golden invitation, hurried to Jiuli Village.

Wei Shanhai and the others in the Jiuli Village villa were equally astonished upon seeing the invitation.

They immediately brought it to the small courtyard halfway up the mountain and requested an audience with the old doctor.

“Doctor Chen, do you think this invitation is real or fake?”

In the courtyard, the old doctor examined the golden invitation, and Wei Shanhai felt a sense of unease.

He had never imagined that the Holy Mountain would send a special invitation specifically to their family.

No matter how he thought about it, the Wei family didn’t have the credentials.

So, he immediately suspected the invitation was a fake.

However, the three marks on the invitation were indeed mysterious, so he wasn’t sure.

“These three marks are indeed left by three Jindan realm masters,”

the old doctor said after examining the invitation for a moment.

“So, this invitation is genuine?” Wei Shanhai stared.

“That’s for sure,” the old doctor said.

He had seen the Third Saint Lord in Zhongzhou. Although it was only a puppet Dharma body, one of the three marks on it had the same power and aura as the Third Saint Lord.

Furthermore, the Wei family was only a small clan, and there was no way they were worthy enough to allow three Jindan realm masters to work together to deceive them.

“But why? How could a small Wei family like us deserve such a special invitation from the Holy Mountain?”

After receiving the old doctor’s confirmation, Wei Shanhai’s disbelief only deepened.

However, the old doctor simply smiled at him.

Wei Shanhai felt the old doctor’s gaze and paused for a moment, then a flash of inspiration struck him.

“Doctor Chen, did the Holy Mountain send an invitation to you and Young Master Lu?”

Logically, the old doctor and Lu Qing were both Jindan realm masters, so the most important people the Holy Mountain should have invited were them, master and disciple.

“I didn’t receive an invitation, but Ah Qing did, and he and Zhirui had already left for Zhongzhou.”

“So Young Master Lu went to Zhongzhou?” Wei Shanhai suddenly realized.

A while ago, Lu Qing had sent Xiaoyan and Xiaoli to the villa, then said he had something to do. It turned out that he and Lin Zhirui were going to Zhongzhou.

Lu Qing and Lin Zhirui had gone to Zhongzhou, and then their Wei family received an invitation from the Holy Mountain…

For a moment, Wei Shanhai keenly felt that there seemed to be some connection.

The old doctor saw his thoughts and smiled, “Don’t overthink it. Since the Holy Mountain has invited your Wei family, there must be a reason for it.

If you’re willing, why not go and broaden your horizons?

If you’re late, you might miss this grand event.”

Hearing the old doctor’s words, Wei Shanhai’s heart was instantly stirred.

If they were alone, traveling to Zhongzhou would be a bit of a hassle.

After all, the outside world is not peaceful right now, and Zhongzhou is even more teeming with powerful individuals and experts.

Everyone knew that the Holy Mountain’s sacred gathering would undoubtedly cause unimaginable turmoil.

If their frail limbs went, they’d be the very ones caught in the crossfire.

But if Lu Qing were also in Zhongzhou, things would be different.

“Doctor Chen, aren’t you going?” Wei Shanhai asked.

“I prefer quiet, so I won’t join in the hustle and bustle.” The old doctor shook his head. “Besides, Jiuli Village needs someone to watch over it. You should go.”

Wei Shanhai nodded, looking at the precious medicinal herbs outside the small courtyard halfway up the mountain and the rich spiritual energy surrounding it.

Jiuli Village is now truly a paradise for immortals. Taking anything out would likely attract a fight among warriors outside. It truly needs to be guarded.

“Then I’ll go back and think about it.”

Wei Shanhai left the courtyard halfway up the mountain and returned to the villa.

After some thought, he finally decided to go to Zhongzhou to attend this grand event.

Of course, besides the fact that Lu Qing was also in Zhongzhou, giving him a sense of security,

it was more important because his cultivation had been stuck at the realm of innate perfection for a long time.

Yet, he still couldn’t sense the slightest opportunity for a breakthrough.

To this end, he even consulted Lu Qing and the old doctor several times.

However, even with their guidance, he still couldn’t break through that barrier.

This made Wei Shanhai despair for a time, and he even thought that he might never reach the Xiantian realm in his lifetime.

But now, the invitation from the Holy Mountain touched him.

This grand event would surely attract many powerful people from all over the world.

The scene would be unimaginably vast.

Perhaps, he could find his own opportunity for a breakthrough?

(End of this chapter)