Inside the stone pavilion, Ye Qingxuan poured a cup of tea for Liu Tai’an.
Now that he saw it was Liu Tai’an who had come, Ye Qingxuan dropped the pleasantries and got straight to the point:
“Tai’an, how does the sect plan to handle the Nuclear Explosion Pill and me?”
At these words, Liu Tai’an heard his own master’s instructions echo in his mind.
He was silent for a moment, then his gaze grew firm as he spoke:
“Senior Brother, the Nuclear Explosion Pill was developed by you, so naturally, it belongs to you.”
“However, due to the special effects of the Spirit-Cleansing · Nuclear Explosion Pill, the pill formula needs to be sold to the Earth Mysterious Realm Alliance.”
Having said that, Liu Tai’an took a deep breath, looked directly at Ye Qingxuan, and declared solemnly:
“I’ve come this time to ask what you want, Senior Brother. The sect will fight for your interests within the Earth Mysterious Realm Alliance on your behalf.”
No sooner had Liu Tai’an finished speaking than Cen Zhe, who was far away atop Xuantian Peak, cursed under his breath with irritation:
“Brat, is this how you follow your master’s orders?”
After a moment’s hesitation, Cen Zhe ultimately chose not to interfere.
In truth, Cen Zhe had sent Liu Tai’an for exactly this purpose.
But there was a precondition: Ye Qingxuan had to pass Xuantian Sect’s test. Only then would the sect go all out to protect his interests.
That test was simple: Ye Qingxuan had to decide for himself whether he was willing to hand over the pill formula and let the sect handle everything on his behalf.
If Ye Qingxuan was willing to trust the sect, Xuantian Sect would step up and defend his interests within the Earth Mysterious Realm Alliance.
If he was unwilling to trust the sect and didn’t want to hand over full authority over the formula…
Then the sect would only ensure his personal safety and would not interfere with any interests related to the Nuclear Explosion Pill beyond its own borders.
It could be said that if Ye Qingxuan weren’t a disciple of Xuantian Sect, the mere Nuclear Explosion Pill would have long been reverse-engineered by other powerful figures in the Earth Mysterious Realm.
Whether the Earth Mysterious Realm Alliance was willing to purchase the pill formula, and what price they’d pay to buy it out entirely, depended entirely on Xuantian Sect’s stance.
In the world of cultivation, strength reigns supreme!
Only the strong have the right to defend their own interests.
The weak can only enjoy a relative sense of fairness under the rules set by the strong.
Ye Qingxuan was slightly surprised upon hearing Liu Tai’an’s words.
But he wasn’t foolish—just by looking at Liu Tai’an’s demeanor, Ye Qingxuan could guess that his junior brother was holding back something unfavorable to him.
As for the issue of the Nuclear Explosion Pill formula, Ye Qingxuan was rather open-minded.
After a moment of contemplation, Ye Qingxuan took out all the pill formulas in the Nuclear Explosion Pill series and handed them to Liu Tai’an, saying:
“Senior Brother, my strength is shallow. For now, I’m stuck here in my blessed land and can’t even leave the sect. I’ll leave the formulas to the sect and let them handle everything!”
Seeing that Ye Qingxuan was willing to voluntarily hand over the formulas, Liu Tai’an breathed a sigh of relief and respectfully accepted them.
This way, his senior brother had automatically passed the test, and Liu Tai’an hadn’t disobeyed his master’s words after all.
After putting away the formulas, Liu Tai’an looked at Ye Qingxuan and asked seriously:
“Senior Brother, what kind of heavenly treasures do you want? I’ll report it to the sect on your behalf.”
Ye Qingxuan could tell that Liu Tai’an was being persistent, and it didn’t seem like it was just his own idea.
After thinking for a moment, Ye Qingxuan finally spoke slowly:
“If possible, I’d like a Town-Boundary Stone or Spirit Crystals. If not, some Source of Spirit Veins would also be fine.”
A Town-Boundary Stone was a seventh-grade heavenly treasure, and Spirit Crystals were the currency used by cultivators at the seventh grade and above.
Ye Qingxuan wasn’t sure if he could actually get a Town-Boundary Stone or Spirit Crystals.
If not, he’d be content with some Source of Spirit Veins.
Truth be told, the Nuclear Explosion Pill formula wasn’t actually worth that much.
If it weren’t for the Spirit-Cleansing · Nuclear Explosion Pill that Ye Qingxuan had accidentally created—which could cleanse demonic qi on a large scale—the Earth Mysterious Realm Alliance wouldn’t have made such a big fuss over purchasing the formula from Xuantian Sect.
That’s right—purchasing it from Xuantian Sect.
The other high-ranking members of the Earth Mysterious Realm Alliance had never really set their sights on Ye Qingxuan, a mere humble blessed-land cultivator.
The reason they wanted to buy the formula wasn’t because the alliance lacked other heavenly treasures capable of cleansing demonic qi on a large scale.
It was simply that, in comparison, the Spirit-Cleansing · Nuclear Explosion Pill that Ye Qingxuan had developed offered better cost-effectiveness and lower production costs.
That was precisely why the alliance’s higher-ups had taken notice of it.
After learning what Ye Qingxuan wanted, Liu Tai’an didn’t ask for the reasons and simply gave a slight nod.
The two continued chatting for a while longer.
It wasn’t until dusk began to fall that Liu Tai’an finally took his leave.
Watching Liu Tai’an depart, Ye Qingxuan himself returned to the Qingxuan Blessed Land and resumed refining the components for his city.
Only after the two parted ways did Cen Zhe withdraw his divine sense, letting out a light chuckle:
“This disciple of mine has a pure heart—not bad, not bad at all. Heh heh heh.”
The bond between Ye Qingxuan and Liu Tai’an was hardly a secret to Cen Zhe.
As for his remarkably gifted disciple, Cen Zhe kept a close eye on him.
Then his thoughts turned to Ye Qingxuan, and he mused quietly:
“This one… must have some great secret, some great fortune. But his character is sound, and he’s beneficial to Xuantian Sect. I’ll let nature take its course.”
Ye Qingxuan’s current cultivation at the Nascent Soul stage naturally couldn’t escape the notice of Cen Zhe, a Great Ascension cultivator.
He had actually detected Ye Qingxuan’s hidden cultivation long ago, though he hadn’t thought much of it at first.
But in such a short time, not only had Ye Qingxuan not been held back by his blessed land, his cultivation had instead advanced by leaps and bounds, breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage.
For someone who originally only had a single spiritual root like Ye Qingxuan, this was clearly abnormal.
However, even though Cen Zhe had noticed Ye Qingxuan was no ordinary person, he had no intention of prying further.
Cen Zhe’s own Dao had long been set; he had no need for excessive external help.
As long as it posed no harm to Xuantian Sect, Cen Zhe wouldn’t interfere.
Moreover, in the future, Xuantian Sect would need enough powerful figures to ensure its legacy endured.
“Sigh.”
Thinking of the divination results of the sect’s Grand Elder Yao Qiudao, a trace of worry crept into Cen Zhe’s eyes.
Among Xuantian Sect’s Great Ascension cultivators, Grand Elder Yao Qiudao possessed the strongest divination abilities.
According to Yao Qiudao’s predictions…
The Earth Mysterious Realm would usher in an unprecedented great era in the future—and would also face unprecedented crises.
Whether Xuantian Sect could stand firm through that great era was something even Cen Zhe had no absolute confidence in.
Because the great era to come didn’t depend on their generation of cultivators, but on the younger ones.
Cen Zhe wasn’t worried that Xuantian Sect would lack mid-level cultivators in the future—that was the confidence that came with being a hegemon-level power.
What he was worried about was whether, in the great era Yao Qiudao had foreseen, Xuantian Sect could produce more peak-level experts.
Cen Zhe didn’t seek for Xuantian Sect to dominate the ups and downs of that great era. He only wished for the sect’s legacy to be passed down unbroken.
At present, Cen Zhe saw hope for sustaining Xuantian Sect’s future only in his disciple Liu Tai’an.
It wasn’t that the sect’s other disciples weren’t outstanding.
It was that, in the coming great era, Xuantian Sect would need pillar-like peak experts to protect it and secure its destiny.
With this thought, Cen Zhe glanced in the direction of Ye Qingxuan’s blessed land and murmured softly:
“I hope you can succeed on the path of blessed-land cultivation and give Xuantian Sect a pleasant surprise in the future.”
With that, Cen Zhe waved his hand, activating the sect’s grand protective formation to conceal the Qingxuan Blessed Land where Ye Qingxuan resided.
From that day forward, apart from Cen Zhe himself, no one else would be able to see through Ye Qingxuan’s true cultivation level—even if they caught a glimpse of him in that area from afar, they would only see an unremarkable-looking Ye Qingxuan.
