Chapter 504: Chapter 410: One Mountain and Four Sects

Inside the bamboo house.

Li Xuan rubbed his hands together and leaned over to Chen Sheng (Shi Jian), who was meditating cross-legged, his voice full of excitement:

"Senior Brother! You really have no idea, Elder Mu’s Pill Refinement Feast was truly lively and grand!"

Chen Sheng didn’t even raise an eyelid, responding with indifference, merely giving an "Mm" from his nose.

Li Xuan, however, was undeterred, speaking as fast as beans spilling:

"You know Zhushan Sect, right? And also He Sha Dao!"

"Both major factions sent their Golden Core Elders personally to congratulate. Although not High Grade Golden Cores, their presence was no less impressive than Elder Mu."

This piqued Chen Sheng’s interest.

Although Zhushan Sect and He Sha Dao weren’t as famous as the Mingguang Five, they were longstanding orthodoxies with a history of thousands of years.

Their ancestors had produced True Immortals, and today they are protected by Venerables of Yin Divine Spirits, a stark contrast to Tianmu Sect.

Since its founding, Tianmu Sect had never produced a Nascent Soul Cultivator. The current Sect Master, after exhausting all his strength, managed to form only a Lower Grade Golden Core, serving as the backbone of the sect.

Li Xuan and Shi Jian both reached the Heart Moving Stage, with the prospect of attaining Golden Core, marking them as rare geniuses the sect hadn’t seen in a century, earning their positions as Inner Sect Elders.

Chen Sheng also noticed his junior brother had changed how he addressed him, suggesting he indeed had his horizons broadened.

Before he could respond, Li Xuan slapped his thigh, lamenting:

"Mu Xia Valley is really going to rise now! With Elder Mu’s High Grade Golden Core as a stabilizing pillar, it may just evolve into a Nascent Soul Grand Sect in a hundred or so years."

Chen Sheng inwardly shook his head, suspecting Wood Daoist wasn’t destined for the Nascent Soul!

...

Back then, Chen Sheng’s myriad thoughts entered this Middle Thousand World, scattering across various realms, either reincarnating into mortal bodies or possessing beings for rebirth.

Some even directly descended into the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands of the Immortal Realm.

In this "Shi Jian" body of his, he descended upon the Bright Light Realm a decade ago, coinciding with the original owner’s failure to break through the Heart Moving Stage, with his Divine Soul about to dissipate.

Compared to the previous possession of Zhang Ling, who had no cultivation whatsoever, this body with foundation in the Heart Moving Stage was a fortunate start.

Correspondingly, Chen Sheng needed to deal with the connections and relationships left by his predecessor.

This was simple, as the predecessor’s master had long passed away, and due to personality reasons, had no friends.

There was only one junior brother, whom he had mentored himself, so there was some closeness.

Similarly, Chen Sheng also needed to maintain Shi Jian’s personality traits: arrogant, cold, harsh, bullying the soft and fearing the hard, with a penchant for scorn...

For ten years, he played such a role at will and found enjoyment in it.

Of course, during these ten years, using Shi Jian’s identity, he roamed around and had long grasped the ins and outs of the Bright Light Realm clearly.

This Bright Light Realm, belonging to Zhonglou Heaven, though a Small Thousand World, harbored hidden talents.

Within the realm, "One Mountain and Four Sects" stood together, each wielding top-tier immortal artifacts as powerful forces, producing True Immortals every few generations with profound foundations.

The "one mountain" is Xuankong Mountain, still the orthodoxy established by the incarnation of the Heavenly Emperor descending to the Lower Realm. The mountain gate is hidden in the Cloud Sea, controlling the Treasure Mirror of Xuankong, observing the changes in the fate of this realm.

The other four sects are not simple either. All are Heavenly Immortal orthodoxies, with sect patriarchs having good connections in the Immortal Court, sending down top-tier immortal artifacts to stabilize their sect’s fortune.

Purple Mist Sect inherits the "Purple Mist Immortal Garb," White Cloud Temple inherits the "Cloud Inscription Pill Furnace," and Jade Pure Palace worships the "Jade Pure Immortal Sword."

As for Butian Dao, it’s quite mysterious, and Chen Sheng didn’t know what kind of immortal artifact this sect controlled.

This power structure is several times stronger than the Small Thousand World he experienced last time.

"And the reason for all this..."

Chen Sheng quietly operated his secret technique of fate, and the fate veins of the entire Bright Light Realm presented themselves clearly before his eyes.

Countless subtle threads of fate extended from the bodies of all living beings, interwoven into a golden web that covered the entire domain.

All creatures were in this web, swaying the vibration of the threads.

His gaze slowly rose, finally landing on the dome above.

There, the Power of Origin of the Bright Light Realm was like a clear luminous sphere, yet tightly enveloped by that golden web.

The Origin, which should have held dominion over the realm, had become nourishment for the golden web!

"The network of the Fate Dynasty has already infiltrated the laws of the realm, replacing the Origin to control the authority of the world!"

"This is the terror of the Fate Dynasty system!"

This network of the Fate Dynasty operated in an orderly manner, gathering scattered fate every two hundred years into one person, making them the "Child of Fate."

This Child of Fate would, by chance, join the "One Mountain and Four Sects," advancing with overwhelming fortune and becoming invincible in their time.

Ultimately, carrying more than half of the accumulated fate of the realm, they would ascend to the Upper Realm—thus continuing the cycle.

The "One Mountain and Four Sects" could both bolster themselves through the Child of Fate and endlessly transfer resources of the realm to the Upper Realm via ascension, effectively a sustainable "fate harvesting."

This was also the reason Chen Sheng judged the Wood Daoist’s fate to be limited.

The current Child of Fate had already been born, traversing the world, and a prominent Golden Core Cultivator like the Wood Daoist was the perfect "stepping stone" on the Child of Fate’s path to rise.

Chen Sheng mused:

"And the arrival of Zhushan and He Sha two sects to the Mu Xia Valley wasn’t to congratulate, but rather to push the Wood Daoist forward to ward off calamity."

Zhushan and He Sha are also major sects of pavilions, with ancestors who were True Immortals. Although their patriarchs in the Upper Realm were unsatisfactory, failing to enter the ranks of the "One Mountain and Four Sects."

But they understood the rules of fate in this realm, naturally avoiding resistance like an ant trying to stop a cart; rather, they would go with the flow to avoid disaster!

After understanding everything, Chen Sheng made a decision: 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"With my own being, facing this network controlled by the One Mountain and Four Sects, I can break it with a snap of a finger!"

"But what I want is not to stir the situation in this realm but to ascend to the Upper Realm and integrate into the Fate Dynasty system."

"Therefore, I must follow the trend, neither standing out nor shrinking back, maintaining balance in between. Zhushan and He Sha’s patriarchs are the best examples."

...

Under the bamboo house’s corridor, Li Xuan, holding freshly brewed tea, continued rambling nonstop.

"The abnormal phenomenon when Elder Mu refined the pill, the glow shone around the mountain unfading for three days, even turning the clouds in the sky gold and red!"

"It’s said that when a High Grade Golden Core condenses, there’s a dragon and tiger phenomenon..."

Having said this, Li Xuan noticed that although his senior brother hadn’t opened his eyes, he didn’t immediately reprimand him as usual. His demeanor was much calmer, making Li Xuan quite satisfied:

"Senior Brother’s aptitude and comprehension have always been top-notch in the sect, yet his temperament is too prideful, becoming impetuous when encountering matters of High Grade Golden Core."

"It’s a pity Senior Brother refused to attend the banquet earlier; now, only I can mention it more often, helping him become familiar, slowly desensitize, and possibly refine his temperament and elevate his mindset."

Thinking so, he became even more motivated, lowering his voice with a mysterious touch:

"Moreover, I heard from the elder of He Sha Dao that condensing a High Grade Golden Core doesn’t only depend on temperament; there must also be an opportunity..."

"Enough!"

A cold reprimand abruptly interrupted his speech. Chen Sheng suddenly opened his eyes, exuding an irrefutable authority:

"Cease your noise!"

"This seat has recently perceived something, already touching the threshold of the High Grade Golden Core, and now wishes to enter closed-door cultivation, away with you!"

The smile on Li Xuan’s face instantly froze. While he secretly considered it a pity, he still maintained a stubborn front:

"Last time, Senior Brother also said you’d break through to High Grade Golden Core within three months, and yet..."

Before he could finish, he met Chen Sheng’s cold gaze.

Li Xuan no longer dared to speak, retreating quietly.

Inside the bamboo house, Chen Sheng rubbed his forehead. His junior brother’s little schemes were clear as day to him.

He also mused inwardly: Although Li Xuan’s aptitude and comprehension were mediocre, his sincerity was genuine, and perhaps in the future, he could lend him a hand.

In a previous life, he had also helped ’Angel Investor’ Steward Huang Yu become a Yin Divine Spirit Venerable, proving to have considerable experience.

"As they say, when one attains the dao, even the chickens and dogs ascend to Heaven!"