On the banks of Lixiu River, white egrets flew across the water’s surface, leaving behind ripples.

On the plum trees by the shore, the plums had already ripened. Picked and washed clean, then soaked in well water, they had a sweet and sour taste. Paired with a cup of fragrant tea, this was the favorite way for cultivators in Huajin Tower to beat the summer heat and quench their thirst.

It had been a year since that great flood.

The dead would not return to life, and the houses and farmsteads submerged by the flood would not be restored to their original state overnight. Like a person recovering from a serious illness, everything needed time to slowly recuperate.

The major sects had suffered considerable damage in this flood. However, throughout this past year, the sects continued to send their disciples down the mountain to help the common people repair their homes that had been destroyed by the flood.

Whether human or demon race, cultivator or mortal, before natural disasters, everyone was equal—there was no distinction between you and me.

Fortunately, Duzhou was gradually recovering its vitality.

The most obvious sign was that the spiritual veins, which had gradually grown thin and depleted over the years, had become abundant and vibrant once again. With Duzhou’s spiritual energy now plentiful, cultivators’ training progressed much faster than before. Because of this, more and more rogue cultivators or disciples with outstanding spiritual roots joined the sects, and the major sects began recruiting new members again.

When the old ones departed, new ones would slowly appear. The comings and goings of the mortal world, the joys and sorrows of separation and reunion—it was always thus.

The Taiyan Sect had recently accepted a batch of new disciples, again holding selection trials in Pingyang Town. Young men and women, carrying beautiful dreams of the path to immortality, stepped onto the square competition platform, beginning their long journey of cultivation.

Today was the day for new disciples to first enter the sect.

In the main hall of Gufeng Mountain, a golden statue with kind eyes and gentle features held a whisk, smiling down benevolently at all sentient beings.

The new disciples jumped down from the spirit boat, unable to contain their excitement as they looked around at the scenery. After passing around the main hall, a waterfall cascaded down from the cliff face, scattering silver droplets. A white-robed youth carrying a silver spear walked by. Hearing the commotion, he paused his steps and turned to look.

His appearance was outstanding, his features clean and distinct. When his gaze swept over them, it was like an autumn moon and long frost, pale and about to scatter.

As if he were looking at someone else entirely.

“Martial Uncle,” the man leading the new disciples down from the spirit boat called out cheerfully, shouldering his axe. The youth nodded faintly and turned to leave.

The crowd behind him erupted into excitement.

The female disciples gazed at the youth’s departing figure and asked the man, “Senior Brother, you just called that immortal master ‘Martial Uncle.’ Is he from our sect?”

The man laughed heartily, “Yes, he’s our sect’s Seventh Martial Uncle.”

“Seventh Martial Uncle?” The young female disciple’s face reddened slightly as she smiled, “It would be wonderful if we could become his disciples.”

“Don’t even think about it,” the older disciple kindly warned. “Our little Martial Uncle here doesn’t have the best temper.”

Another young girl came forward, giggling, “That doesn’t matter—who told him to be so good-looking?”

The man shifted his golden axe to the other shoulder and gave a knowing look at the young girls who were discussing enthusiastically, ruthlessly crushing their fantasies: “Even if he’s good-looking, don’t harbor any delusions—he already has someone.”

The female disciple who had spoken first was stunned: “Who?”

“Well… a fairy maiden.”

“A fairy maiden?” Others gathered around, full of curiosity. “Is she very beautiful?”

In the distance, mountains undulated and a clear breeze blew past, stirring waves of deep green forest.

The man looked into the distance and smiled. As he smiled, his gaze became somewhat melancholy: “Yes, very beautiful.”

“She’s the most beautiful girl under heaven.”

…

In the great hall, Meng Ying was discussing next month’s sect assembly with everyone.

Since the Ruins of the Golden Gate, Shaoyang Zhenren’s health had grown increasingly frail. Over these years, he had forcibly used his yuanli to maintain the flow of spiritual veins on Gufeng Mountain, then healed Gu Baiying’s injuries and burned his lifespan to divine the immortal hexagram—every one of these acts had exhausted his body and life force. When the sect members said he was always going into seclusion, he was nurturing his already damaged spiritual roots.

With his current cultivation level, he would probably never achieve ascension in this lifetime.

However, he likely never intended to ascend anyway.

Fortunately, over these years, Meng Ying had been trained as the future sect leader of the Taiyan Sect and was already capable of handling things independently. Now that Shaoyang Zhenren was gradually stepping back, Meng Ying naturally came forward. Negotiations with the major sects and the future continuation and development of the Taiyan Sect were all entrusted to Meng Ying’s hands.

After the flood, the major sects had suffered considerable damage.

Among them, the Chihua Gate had suffered the most.

When the spiritual veins of all sects in Duzhou had become depleted, the Chihua Gate’s depletion was the most severe. Because of this, after Lingxin Daoren, each generation of disciples was worse than the last. Among the youngest generation, there weren’t even a few worth looking at properly. If things continued like this, the decline was only a matter of time.

Their sect’s discipline was also improper. When the great flood came, many young disciples even abandoned the sect and fled for their lives alone.

Although Duzhou’s spiritual energy had now recovered, the Chihua Gate’s spirit was already scattered. Even with Lingxin Daoren presiding over it, rising again was not an easy matter. It was regrettable that while Kong Tan Laojun had willingly given up his path to ascension for Duzhou, stopping before the Ascending Immortal Platform to save countless lives in Duzhou, he could not save the fate of his sect’s decline.

In comparison, the Yinfeng Sect was much better off.

After the spiritual energy recovered, the spirit stones mined from Yinfeng Sect’s veins increased again. However, after the previous incident, Fu Ronghua ordered everyone in the sect not to be extravagant and wasteful, promoting a culture of frugality. He even distributed spirit stones widely in the city to provide disaster relief, and for a time, the Yinfeng Sect’s reputation among the people of Duzhou soared like riding a spirit boat. Especially the Yinfeng Sect disciples—the common people praised them as kind-hearted and wealthy, saying they deserved to get rich.

After all, the major sects were now starting to compete from scratch again. Since cultivation levels couldn’t determine victory or defeat for now, gaining a good reputation first wasn’t bad either.

The Xiangling Sect remained as it had been before. Rongshuang was always strict with her disciples, and after this incident, the disciples in the sect trained even more diligently. They also had more contact with the Taiyan Sect. Those previous conflicts had suddenly become trivial matters in the face of life and death. The two sect leaders had clear winds and bright moons in their hearts, but their disciples’ idle chatter had become increasingly excessive, all speculating that Shaoyang Zhenren and Sect Leader Rongshuang were going to rekindle their old romance and reunite.

This was, of course, impossible.

After all, after the previous incident, all matters of love and romance, separations and reunions, were not worth mentioning before the great dao of all living beings. Young new disciples still had the mood for romance, but the older disciples knew that for now, diligent cultivation was more important.

However, there were still one or two who were different from the rest.

Mu Cengxiao slipped in through the back door of the great hall carrying a basket of pastries. Now that Meng Ying was no different from the Taiyan Sect’s sect leader, she was very busy handling affairs every day. Sometimes Mu Cengxiao couldn’t see her for several days in a row.

Meng Ying, who was reading documents at her desk, was slightly startled when she saw him enter: “Junior Brother Mu?”