Bi Sheng had lived for nearly 120 years. Thanks to the resurgence of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, he could use the Taoist Sect’s secret martial arts to live for several more years, and he was even aided by Treasure Medicines. The young Su Wanqing simply couldn’t compare.

Bi Sheng stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his leisurely tone tinged with arrogance. "Su Girl, I entered the Qi Cultivation Ninth Realm at the age of forty-five. Your progress..."

He shook his head with profound meaning and let out a soft "tsk," his expression full of smug satisfaction.

"Ultimately, you’re still lacking."

At his words, Su Wanqing’s delicate brows furrowed in anger. The Sword Box at her waist sprang open three inches with a sharp SHING, revealing a flash of cold light that just as quickly vanished.

She pressed down on the Sword Box, her knuckles turning white. Her mind was in turmoil, and her expression flickered with uncertainty.

’I can attack. Of course, I can attack.’

’But this old Daoist is unfathomably powerful. Even with my Ninth Realm Cultivation, I can’t guarantee victory.’

’What’s more troublesome is that if we fight here, alerting the Imperial City Department would be a minor issue. But if word were to reach the Empress...’

’She knew her master’s temperament all too well.’

The Taoist Sect could act without restraint; after all, they had always kept the Court at arm’s length.

But the Celestial Pivot Start Sect was different. Their ability to establish a foothold in Great Zhou these past years was entirely due to the Empress’s personal favor. Otherwise, the Celestial Pivot Start Sect would still be branded a heretical sect by the Six Great Sects of Great Zhou.

If the Empress found out about them secretly possessing something as taboo as the Dragon Vein Map, she would sever this arm without hesitation, even if the Celestial Pivot Start Sect was her most capable tool. With her temperament—one that would rather kill three thousand innocents than miss a single target—she would surely act.

"The Celestial Pivot Start Sect might be considered a great and prestigious sect in the eyes of ordinary Mortal Martial People..."

Seeing Su Wanqing’s hesitation, Bi Sheng grew confident. He knew she was holding back for fear of the consequences and didn’t dare risk an all-out confrontation. After all, the price of doing so was one Su Wanqing absolutely could not afford to pay.

His gaze was piercing, his words sharp as a blade. "But compared to the orthodox Six Great Sects of Great Zhou, you’re nothing special. Even the Jiuyao Sect, whose home has been shattered..."

He deliberately drew out his words. "Its remnants can still tie down the Daqian Iron Cavalry in Yanbei Dao, preventing them from advancing even an inch. How could an ordinary sect possibly compare with that kind of heritage?"

Su Wanqing remained silent for a long while before finally speaking. "You only want the Profound Celestial Treasure Talisman?"

Bi Sheng nodded slightly. "Of course. Just give me the original copy of the Profound Celestial Treasure Talisman, and I’ll act as if this conversation never took place."

’Xu Yunfan, watching from the side, saw it all clearly. He couldn’t help but marvel at Bi Sheng’s cunning. The old Daoist was so calculating, each word a precisely calibrated weight, pressing right on the brink of Su Wanqing’s mental defenses.’

Su Wanqing’s knuckles turned white as her Jade Armor dug deeply into her palm.

’When she broke through to the Ninth Realm at sixty, she had been so full of pride. She thought the Celestial Pivot Start Sect could finally take its place openly among the first-rate sects of Great Zhou.’

’But now, this pinnacle of cultivation had become her heaviest shackles.’

’After all these years, she was deeply bound to the Empress. They were like two grasshoppers tied to the same string.’

’If she tried to break away now, never mind the relentless, to-the-death pursuit the Empress would surely unleash, even if she did manage to escape...’

’...where would she go? Across the entire Mortal World, the Six Great Sects controlled all the major territories. The Three Mountains and Five Peaks—all the famous lands—were where they spread their teachings.’

’The actions of the Celestial Pivot Start Sect over the years had burned all their bridges.’

’Impossible, impossible, impossible!’

After a long silence, Su Wanqing spoke in a low voice.

"Just the Profound Celestial Treasure Talisman?"

"Of course."

"This Treasure Talisman only records ethereal nonsense about living on mist and dew..."

A sneer touched her lips. "If your life wasn’t nearing its end, Daoist Bi, would you really be stooping to the level of common mortals, seeking immortality?"

’She knew the Emperor sought Longevity, of course. But where in this world was there true immortality? Even the legendary Land Immortals of old had all returned to dust.’

A faint smile played on Bi Sheng’s lips, but his tone was perfectly serious. "I eat the Three Pristine Rice and recite the Yellow Court Scripture. Isn’t seeking the Dao and the way of the Immortals my very purpose?"

Hearing this, Su Wanqing hesitated no longer. She pulled a yellowed leather scroll from within her robes.

The edges of the Scroll were worn and frayed. As it was unrolled, one could even hear the faint, crisp sound of fibers snapping. This was the original copy of the Profound Celestial Treasure Talisman, passed down in the Celestial Pivot Start Sect for six hundred years.

This core Cultivation Technique, used to break through to the Outer Three Harmonies Realm, could condense an incredibly tyrannical True Qi that allowed a Cultivator to battle opponents of a higher realm. However, it had a fatal flaw: the Cultivator’s flesh, blood, and internal organs would be continuously eroded by the violent True Qi.

Despite their exceptional talent, generations of Holy Sons and Saintesses were ultimately stopped at the Outer Three Harmonies Realm, their bodies ravaged by the technique. They became "Lamp Burners" on the path to the peak of the Martial Dao.

This method of cultivation, akin to drinking poison to quench a thirst, allowed the masters of the Celestial Pivot Start Sect to briefly unleash power far beyond their Realm, but it prevented any of them from ever becoming a true Grandmaster.

The reason Su Wanqing was able to break through her shackles and achieve the Nine Realms Qi Cultivation sixty years ago was because she had practiced a different martial art.

Today, the Sect was still trapped in the martial paradox of "injuring oneself to injure the enemy." Those outwardly glamorous Holy Sons and Saintesses were nothing more than a fleeting bloom, their brilliance bought at a terrible price.

Therefore, when Bi Sheng demanded the original Profound Celestial Treasure Talisman, Su Wanqing felt no great loss. In fact, she was even a little relieved.

’This way, at least the most talented members of the Celestial Pivot Start Sect wouldn’t have to keep throwing their lives away on this dead-end path.’

Bi Sheng casually flipped through a few pages.

He nodded slightly. "It’s the original, no doubt."

He looked up at Su Wanqing and cupped his hands, but just as he was about to speak, she dissolved into a frost-colored afterimage and vanished from the Magic Altar.

Bi Sheng’s eyes narrowed for a moment before he shook his head with a wry chuckle. After confirming no one was around, he whispered, "Let’s go. The Imperial City Department’s Profound Armor Guard patrols every fifteen minutes. We can’t stay here."

He had chosen this location specifically to make it difficult for Su Wanqing to act.

Xu Yunfan understood and nodded in agreement.

The two used the night fog for cover, moving swiftly through the shadows along a water channel. They changed direction three times to avoid patrol routes before finally slipping through a side door back into the Taoist Sect’s local residence.

A stone lantern in the small, green-bricked courtyard cast a dim yellow glow. Bi Sheng swung the door shut behind him and listened intently. Only after confirming they were alone did he take the ancient scroll from his robes.

Bi Sheng slowly unrolled the ancient tome, which emitted a faint, bronze glow. He ran his fingertips over the mottled cover of the Profound Celestial Treasure Talisman, his heart filled with a thousand emotions.

"The Daoist Scripture Pavilion has a copy of this, but it retains less than a tenth of the original’s True Intent. Only the original can reveal a fraction of its power. But after so many years... I suppose it’s better than nothing."

"These complex characters require an infusion of Spiritual Qi to manifest. When Spiritual Qi is depleted, it’s no better than a piece of scrap metal." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"This is Celestial Demon script... Could this item have come from the Outer Realm?"

Bi Sheng nodded slightly. "Two thousand years ago, during the great calamity, a Celestial Demon called the Red-eyed Demon Lord slaughtered the inhabitants of the Three States. He was ultimately obliterated by Ancestral Master Chunyang with the Nine Heavens Thunder Technique. This Treasure Talisman was pulled from his corpse."

In the time since Xu Yunfan had joined the Taoist Sect, the name of Ancestral Master Chunyang was one he had heard constantly, a name that resounded like thunder.

This peerless figure, who had dominated an entire era two thousand years ago, was the most shockingly brilliant Extreme Daoist in the history of the Taoist Sect.

According to the Daoist Golden Scroll, he grasped the essence of the Yellow Court Scripture at age nine, created the Pure Yang Qi Skill at age twelve, and broke through the shackles of the Ninth Realm by the age of thirty, becoming the last Land Immortal of his time.