Just as Ruo Yi was about to activate the array runes, she was interrupted by a man arriving at the hill.

"You should save your strength, Ruo Yi. Demonic cultivators are notoriously deceitful."

The man arrived alongside two others. His expression was arrogant, his eyes sharp and cold.

Their attention fixed directly ahead, staring at the man standing beside the blonde-haired woman.

"Shen Li?" Ruo Yi asked.

"The kingdom has already issued orders to reject every cultivator coming from the Song Kingdom. Allowing them in could open a path for enemy infiltration," replied the arrogant man named Shen Li.

From Wang Qinghe’s perspective, Shen Li was only a Core Formation cultivator, even weaker than Ruo Yi.

Yet judging by the way Ruo Yi lowered her head respectfully, his status was clearly unusual.

"To prevent disaster, we must eliminate anyone coming from the Song Kingdom," Shen Li declared firmly.

"But we still don’t know whether he’s..."

"It doesn’t matter! From now on, every cultivator from the Song Kingdom will be treated the same, demonic cultivators!" Shen Li interrupted.

He turned toward the two elders beside him and ordered them to attack Wang Qinghe. Ruo Yi tried to stop them, but she was too late.

A sword attack and a blazing fire phoenix surged forward together, powerful enough to kill Wang Qinghe outright.

Wang Qinghe calmly raised his hand and extended it forward. Their energies collided instantly.

BLAST!

An explosion erupted across the hilltop altar. Ruo Yi stared in shock while Shen Li laughed in satisfaction.

Just as he was about to turn away, a voice echoed from within the smoke, stunning them all.

"Judging all cultivators as evil because of circumstance is foolish."

Wang Qinghe stepped out from the smoke and stomped his foot onto the ground.

The impact sent a wave of qi rippling through the surrounding forest, enough to injure the souls of all four of them.

Ruo Yi and the others trembled in shock, clutching their chests as their hearts pounded violently.

"Perfect Nascent Soul?!" Ruo Yi gasped.

"What?!" Shen Li shouted. His cultivation was only at Mid Core Formation.

Shen Li and the two elders immediately tried to retreat from the hill, but Wang Qinghe’s attention locked onto him.

With a single step, Wang Qinghe appeared before Shen Li in a flash of golden lightning.

His arrival caused the sky itself to tremble with qi fluctuations. Even the sect disciples below could clearly witness it.

Qing Yi and Bai Zhou stared in disbelief. They had never imagined the man from the teleportation altar was actually a Nascent Soul master.

Ruo Yi immediately realized disaster would fall upon the Baisheng Sect if they continued offending Wang Qinghe.

She quickly flew forward and stopped beside Shen Li, bowing deeply with clasped hands.

"Please forgive this junior’s recklessness, Senior," Ruo Yi said respectfully.

She turned and signaled for Shen Li to do the same. At first, he resisted. His pride was simply too great.

But after realizing the man before him was a Nascent Soul master, he had no choice but to obey.

"This junior Shen... apologizes for my offense."

"Is there a city near here?" Wang Qinghe asked calmly.

"A city? The nearest city is hundreds of li away from Baisheng Sect. But there are smaller villages surrounding the sect," Ruo Yi replied.

Wang Qinghe stepped aside and glanced toward the Baisheng Sect disciples, noticing their relatively low cultivation levels.

He was certain even the Baisheng Sect Master was weaker than him. Still, he had no intention of disrupting the sect’s peace.

After all, he had only arrived here by coincidence through the teleportation altar.

"The Song Kingdom will soon fall completely under the control of the Abyss Demon Sect Alliance," Wang Qinghe said.

"They may eventually destroy the barrier formation protecting the teleportation altar in the Song Kingdom."

"Yue."

"I understand, Qinghe."

Yue immediately flew back toward the hilltop altar. She condensed natural qi in her palm before firing it directly at the stone altar.

BLAST!

Another explosion shook the area. Everyone instinctively turned toward the hill as smoke rose into the sky. One of the elders quickly flew back to Ruo Yi.

"That woman... destroyed the teleportation altar."

Ruo Yi’s eyes widened before she looked back at Wang Qinghe, confused about why he had ordered it destroyed.

"That teleportation altar could become one of their invasion routes into the Wu Kingdom," Wang Qinghe explained calmly.

"I can guarantee that no cultivators from the Song Kingdom will be arriving here anymore."

Ruo Yi nodded respectfully. Shen Li and the others followed suit.

Once his business with the Baisheng Sect was finished, Wang Qinghe flew away, golden qi rumbling around him.

Everyone watched as he disappeared into the clouds and sky, vanishing without a trace. No one knew where he had gone.

"What does a Nascent Soul master like him even want?" Shen Li muttered irritably.

"He’s a Perfect Nascent Soul cultivator," Ruo Yi corrected softly. "Clearly... he came here seeking heavenly enlightenment."

"To discover a dao concept and use his dao heart to walk the difficult path toward immortality."

"Tch. What’s the point of advancing to Soul Formation? Living as a Nascent Soul cultivator is already comfortable enough," Shen Li complained.

Ruo Yi looked at him sharply.

"Every cultivator has their own ambitions and desires."

"Perhaps Senior Wang seeks that power so he can free the Song Kingdom from the demonic cultivators’ grasp," she said.

At that moment, a powerful voice echoed from the sect’s main hall. Everyone turned as the Baisheng Sect Master arrived.

The man walked through the sky itself. Everyone lowered their heads respectfully before him. His cultivation was at Mid Nascent Soul.

"Greetings, Sect Master Shen!" they said in unison.

"Li’er."

"You should learn more from Yi’er. What she said is correct," said Shen Yun, the Baisheng Sect Master.

"The essence and dignity of a cultivator are not determined by strength or techniques, but by the depth of their understanding of heavenly enlightenment."

"Those who spend centuries seeking dao enlightenment are far more honorable than Nascent Soul cultivators who waste their lives in laziness," Shen Yun explained.

Shen Li nodded obediently, fully listening to his father’s words.

Then Shen Yun looked ahead and spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear.

"An immortal cultivator must possess the ambition to defy the heavens. I want all of you to learn from that senior cultivator."

"Dao conception... is the most precious treasure a cultivator can possess."