"In this jade scroll, with your experience, it should be quite easy to discern its authenticity." Wen Qing smiled again, lifting his hand as a streak of emerald light shot toward him. Han Li caught it in his hand—a jade scroll about the size of a palm. Nodding, he bowed slightly and immersed his spirit into it, scanning through. Indeed, there were clearly seven or eight secret techniques within. Han Li casually selected one and examined it carefully. Unaware that, while he was evaluating the authenticity of the scroll's contents, Wen Qing had glanced at Ling Xiao Feng, his eyes gleaming with satisfaction. "Indeed, it's genuine—of great use to me," Han Li said after a cup of tea passed. "Since you're convinced the scroll is accurate, our transaction is settled. My wife and I have other matters to attend to, so we shall not linger any longer." Ling Xiao Feng's gaze flickered, speaking calmly. "Ha ha, it's still within your palace's influence. The words of farewell should surely be mine, and I shall take my leave first." Han Li chuckled warmly, bowed to the two across from him, and then his body shimmered with a vibrant jade glow, transforming into a brilliant streak of jade light that flashed swiftly to twenty paces beyond. The speed of his departure left even the two celestial saints of Tianxing momentarily startled. "It's no wonder he's so confident—indeed, he possesses genuine abilities. Do you think, my lord, that the young Han will fall for our scheme?" As the jade glow faded from the horizon, the lady in court attire turned to the man and asked suddenly. "As long as he is genuinely committed to advancing to the stage of Divine Spirit, he cannot help but fall into our trap. Though the secret technique we offered to help him break through the Divine Spirit stage is genuine, he will soon realize that upon trying it himself. The other methods either yield only minor effects or are entirely unattainable—mere fantasies. Only the method we provided—drawing upon the Five Elements' powers to overcome the Divine Spirit bottleneck—is truly effective." And this young man is so young—now is precisely the time to cultivate the Primordial Magnetic Divine Light. If everything goes smoothly, he could achieve its full mastery before his life's end. Would he really abandon such an apparently effortless path? Ling Xiaofeng smiled faintly, a touch of coldness in his expression. "That's true. We briefly mentioned the characteristics of the Primordial Magnetic Divine Light and the divine powers it unlocks when fully developed. Even without overcoming the transformation into Immortal stage, he would surely be eager to harness its power and wouldn't easily give it up. Should he truly commit to cultivating this technique, he would inevitably have to draw upon the strength of the Magnetic Mountain, thus retracing our very steps and remain confined within the Star City, with no room to think of anything else. It wouldn't be until his life's end that he would realize the demanding conditions required for the Divine Light to reach its peak. By then, it would already be many years later. During that entire period, as long as Yu Ling successfully advances in her cultivation, there would be no need to worry about him seeking any grievances. "Wen Qing smiled and said, 'But what if Yu Ling isn't able to advance to the later stage? Then we'd truly be in trouble.' Ling Xiaofeng paused, then said this. 'We've already given her so much time. If she still fails to reach the later stage, then it must simply be her fate. We should then promptly abandon her ambition of controlling the Star Palace and quietly leave the Star City, settling instead as a common wandering cultivator.' Wen Qing was momentarily startled, but soon sighed and replied. 'Without the later stage cultivation, it will be difficult to command the palace elders. Even if we leave her with some reserves, it won't last. However, our immediate priority should be to return and immediately transmit to Yu Ling the method of cultivating and fusing the Yuanmagnetic Mountain. Only then will the Han youth be hesitant to act against her—otherwise, if he truly manages to endure the hundred-year wait, and strikes upon our passing, he will indeed pose a serious challenge.' Yuling's potential isn't bad either; as long as she finds a suitable partner for dual cultivation and makes good use of the dual cultivation synergy along with a steady supply of pills and elixirs, she has a reasonable chance of reaching the late stage. "Ling Xiaofeng said calmly. "That's all we can do. Once this young man's matter is settled, we'll have another hundred years to focus on resolving the Six Paths and the Wan San Gu. Yet now, the immortal cultivators from the outer seas have suddenly stirred up trouble again. It seems we'll have to temporarily suspend hostilities with the Xisheng Alliance and first address the issue of the Wanhai beast tribes before anything else?" The lady in the elegant court furrowed her brows, speaking with a touch of resignation. "Hmph. These immortal cultivators probably think that our inner sea haven't produced any Shenshen-level cultivators for many years, and that the number of high-level cultivators is significantly smaller than in previous eras—so they've begun to harbor ambitions, even attempting to breach the original agreement. Yet they never stop to consider: if our ancestors were bold enough to establish such an agreement in the first place, why would they fear its After so many thousands of years of cultivation and careful planning, our cultivators have now transformed the Inner Sea into a fortress as solid as iron walls and bronze. Even if the ten-tiered beast warriors unite and launch a coordinated assault, they cannot breach the current defenses of the Inner Sea. Moreover, as I understand, the outer sea cultivators are not as unified as one might think." Ling Xiaofeng said coldly. "You're referring to the conflict between the Dragon and the Suanli royal families?" Wen Qing asked, her expression shifting. "Exactly—this is a matter between these two great beast clans. The Suanli royal family, originally, wasn't much stronger than the Dragon clan. Only two ten-tier cultivators could secure their royal positions. However, three centuries ago, their senior ten-tier elder passed away. With that, the Dragon clan naturally no longer wished to remain content in second place. As long as I return and carefully plan my strategy, I can provoke a conflict between these two clans. Once that happens, the Inner Sea will be even more secure." The man spoke with confidence. "With your assurance like this, it truly seems certain that there will be no issues at all." The mineral vein on Bi Ling Island has been a bit of a pity. We just received news of the emergence of a premium spiritual stone, and before we could dispatch personnel to assist, these immortal cultivators had seized the vein. Fortunately, I had immediately sent a message urging them to bring the premium stone and all the higher-grade stones they had recently gathered back to the Inner Sea. Yet, it was still too late. Now even Master Gui has fallen victim to the Golden Dragon King. The lady in court expressed her deep regret. "It's no surprise at all. The Outer Sea remains the domain of the beast-immortals. In the past, due to little competition, the higher-tier cultivators never regarded the less-advanced, spiritually unawakened beast-immortals as their own kin, and thus, naturally, they had simply watched our efforts to establish islands in the Outer Sea with indifference. Now that even they are drawn in by the emergence of premium spiritual stones—stones that have previously gone unnoticed—how could these cultivators remain passive?" Lin Xiaofeng shook his head. Whether or not the outer seas finally give up is irrelevant—what matters is that we now consolidate all our strength within the inner seas, maintaining stability until Yu Ling takes charge of the Star Palace. Yet merely speaking this way may not be enough; the independent cultivators and the Inverse Star Alliance won’t easily relinquish their hold on the outer seas. Wen Qing said thoughtfully. "That’s precisely what we need! Return to the city and open all the transmission arrays to the outside world—let them send their guests to the outer seas as long as they pay the spirit stones. Since the Inverse Star Alliance rose to prominence, these independent cultivators have grown less respectful toward us at the Star Palace. This is the perfect opportunity to give them a solid lesson. Once the outer seas’ beast disturbances are settled, we’ll uproot the Inverse Star Alliance entirely. Lu Dao and Wan San Gu truly believed we were incapable of ever leaving the Star City. When they finally fall, they’ll realize how mistaken they were. Every century, the Yuanmagnetic Mountain loses its magnetic force for one full month. During that period, neither of us will be constrained by the mountain’s influence. Hmph. By that time...” Ling Xiaofeng’s expression flashed with simmering anger, and he emitted a sharp, cold exhalation. “Indeed, our grievances with Brother Luodao will also be settled at once.” Wen Qing’s voice grew frosty as she spoke. “How can you still hold onto that past? You can’t let it go, can you?” Ling Xiaofeng was momentarily startled, then furrowed his brows in query. “How could I ever easily set this matter aside? Had it not been for meeting you back then, I would have been reduced to dust long ago. During the last great battle, if it hadn’t been for the restriction of the Yuanmagnetic Divine Light, I would have never allowed him to slip away from my sight.” The lady in the palace’s face turned fierce. Ling Xiaofeng watched this silence for a while, then finally sighed softly. “Very well. Then, when we next strike them down, Luodao will be left specifically for you to handle personally.” Immediately upon saying this, Ling Xiaofeng transformed into a streak of white light and shot back toward his original path. Wen Qing remained in place, her expression shifting between gloom and resolve before finally stomping her foot and summoning her own light to chase after them. At that moment, Han Li had already begun his journey toward Kuixing. Naturally, he was unaware that on the very second day after his return from the outer sea, the Silver Shark Island received the news that nearly all its cultivators from Biling Island had been wiped out. Simultaneously, the discovery of top-tier spiritual stones deep within the island's mineral veins sent shockwaves across the entire star sea. Just two days after his meeting with the Heavenly and Star Saints, the high-ranking immortal beasts from the outer sea issued an official decree to all human cultivator islands, demanding that every human settlement evacuate the outer sea completely within three months—or face total annihilation. This time, neither the independent cultivators nor the major or minor powers from the inner sea could remain passive. For generations, the immortal beasts' spiritual essences from the outer sea had become as essential as spiritual stones themselves, profoundly impacting every single sect and power house. They all had immense interests stretching across the outer seas—how could they easily let go? With transmission arrays now active throughout the Star Palace and the Inverse Star Alliance, various power factions and countless independent cultivators swiftly began gathering toward the outer seas. Thanks to the presence of high-tier spiritual mineral veins and the emergence of premium spiritual stones on Biling Island, half of the cultivators managed to transmit directly to the waters surrounding the island. Countless beasts of various ranks appeared in abundance in the waters near Biling Island, and numerous high-ranking, previously unknown cultivators began making frequent appearances on the island itself. The conflict between the human cultivation world and the outer-sea beasts seemed poised to erupt at any moment! Amidst this chaos, a rumor began spreading among the star-sea cultivators—rumors that the Xitian Ding had reappeared, containing an unknown spiritual pill capable of enabling a Jiedan cultivator to advance to late Yuan婴 stage within less than two centuries. The origin of this news remained unknown, yet the rumor grew steadily more widespread—(Hehe, let's add yesterday's chapter now!