CHAPTER 366: CHAPTER 366 CLOUD CONCEALMENT SECT - XIE CHENYUAN

"So it seems..." Tang Qin frowned, "Mr. Jiang, are you suggesting there’s treachery involved?"

She looked up, and saw flying mounts and airships frequently rushing over. These powerful cultivators directly aimed for the best positions to land, while those less powerful cultivators who arrived earlier had no choice but to make way.

The result was that the top and bottom of the mountain became increasingly crowded and chaotic.

"The sects and families here are not to be underestimated, and though there are fewer high-realm loose cultivators, they have strength in numbers. If the Immortal Peach is the bait, what is the mastermind behind attracting so many cultivators plotting? I don’t think anyone could rob so many cultivators."

Tang Qin couldn’t make sense of it, and mocked herself, "There’s still no movement. Could it be that a heavenly net has already been laid, capable of fooling so many high-realm cultivators, and in an instant, ensnare everyone? Even if the rumors are false, at most we’ve been tricked into a meaningless trip."

After all, it’s well known that once the Immortal Peach ripens, sword flight is no longer possible here. By then, the square in front of the market gate and the cliff face of Wo Hu Mountain would be insurmountable obstacles, so despite the crowding, many cultivators still gather at Wo Hu Mountain, leaving the plaza quite empty.

With so many people, if there were really any arrays or mechanisms, they would have already been detected.

Jiang Yuan couldn’t pinpoint it, but he just felt something was off, "So let’s keep a bit of distance and observe first. That way, we have the option to enter or withdraw as we please.

If intuition is right, the bait of the Immortal Peach will likely first affect those closest. Even if we act contrary and start from the foot of the mountain to encircle, we are positioned in the middle-lower area, giving us time to retreat if necessary."

"Mr. Jiang’s thoughts are meticulous. Unlike me, eager to explore supposedly reliable information about the Immortal Peach’s ability to extend lifespan, without stopping to discern, keen to rush ahead and seize the opportunity. So, let’s wait here and see." Tang Qin, who was counting on the Immortal Peach to increase her lifespan, was reluctant to believe it was a conspiracy, so she quietly sat in the sedan chair, closed her eyes to rest, and waited for some movement from the peach tree at Wo Hu Temple.

The Bear Demon, seeing the young cultivator talking warmly with a ghost cultivator, was envious and conflicted. By rights, his own power wasn’t bad, and he was among the higher realm cultivators in sight, so could he try to team up by engaging them?

In case it came down to the need for numbers, having them on his side would increase his chances of success.

He was about to step forward and squeeze through, when he saw a white-clad, elegant cultivator approach the young cultivator and salute, revealing the intricately cloud-patterned sword on his back— a disciple of the Cloud Concealment Sect!

The Bear Demon had heard of this mysterious sect, rumored to be one of the oldest sects in the Wilderness World.

Their foundation was evident; the disciples of the Cloud Concealment Sect were the cream of the crop, enjoying the best cultivation conditions to practice the most appropriate and best techniques. Except for occasional disciples descending the mountain to experience the world leaving behind legends, ordinary cultivators didn’t even know where the Cloud Concealment Sect was.

The news of the Immortal Peach had even alerted such a mysterious sect; competition was surely going to be fierce.

He hoped that heaven would look favorably on him and leave an Immortal Peach for himself...

Both anxious and troubled, he thought about how the young cultivator had such broad connections, even having interactions with a cultivator from the Cloud Concealment Sect. Today, even if he had to be shameless, he had to join in!

The Bear Demon imagined the scenario and slowly made his way through the crowded people toward the location of Jiang Yuan and his group.

Meanwhile, the white-clad cultivator from the Cloud Concealment Sect politely said, "I am Xie Chenyuan. May I ask your honorable name, fellow Daoist? I wandered here upon hearing that Wo Hu Mountain has Immortal Peach ripening, attracting countless cultivators. I was quite surprised and came to join the excitement.

All the cultivators across the mountain are eagerly discussing the ripening of the Immortal Peach, yet you alone possess a unique perspective similar to mine. To meet a kindred spirit in a sea of humanity is truly fate. I wish to make friends with you."

Xie Chenyuan had just entered from the market gate and noticed this unique fellow Daoist at a glance.

Since entering the Cloud Concealment Sect as a child to study the Celestial Secret Dao, Xie had cultivated to the Nascent Soul Realm, and his Celestial Eye could see through ordinary mortals’ six paths of reincarnation; although cultivators were more complex, he could also see their approximate lifespan, causal lines, and recent fortunes.

While standing in the square earlier, he had opened his Celestial Eye and noticed that all the cultivators across the mountain were, more or less, shrouded in misfortune, with many showing signs of imminent death.

Except for this fellow Daoist, whose lifespan he couldn’t see, had no causal lines on his body, except for a faint red sign of great fortune, everything else was absent, as clean as if he were an outsider to this world.

Since gaining insight from studying the Dao, Xie Chenyuan had never misjudged.

Yet even the handsome men and women around this fellow Daoist were entangled with red, black, blue, and green causal lines, but he alone had nothing.

Could there really be a miraculous person beyond the Three Realms and not in the Five Elements?

Or perhaps the other party practiced some miraculous cultivation technique that completely concealed his causal ties?

Unable to fathom, Xie Chenyuan intended to approach and make acquaintance to observe, but unexpectedly, upon landing, he heard the other party express skepticism about the Immortal Peach. He couldn’t help but be curious, was it because of different thoughts that others faced disaster needing to pass through life and death, while this one enjoyed great fortune?

"Many blessings to you, Daoist Xie." Jiang Yuan hadn’t expected a stranger to approach here and quickly returned the salute, saying, "My surname is Jiang, like the ginger root, with the single character to be the same."

[Xie Chenyuan: Intermediate level, Nascent Soul Realm level eight monster, an inner disciple of one of the ten ancient sects in the Cloud Concealment Sect, temporarily residing in Carefree City in the Wilderness World for training and roaming.]

The system’s prompt left Jiang Yuan slightly stunned. Carefree City? He hadn’t heard of this place—was it a big city? Did it have a teleportation array going to Cloud City?

"Many blessings to you, Daoist Jiang." Approaching on his own, Xie Chenyuan not only couldn’t see any causal lines extending from the other party, but couldn’t even sense any spiritual power, which was truly magical.

So, he searched for a topic and said, "I’ve only heard that the Celestial Realm has peach trees that blossom once every three thousand years, bear fruit in another three thousand years, and mature in another three thousand years. Consuming one allows ascension to immortality, making one fit and healthy; those blooming every six thousand years are rarer, granting one the ability to fly on clouds and live forever; those blooming every nine thousand years are the rarest, allowing one to live as long as the heavens and earth, and as old as the sun and moon.

I also heard that there is a ginseng fruit tree somewhere in the Celestial Realm, which, like the former, takes nine thousand years to mature. A mere whiff of this ginseng fruit can extend a mortal’s life by 360 years, and consuming one can increase lifespan by 47,000 years.

Yet I’ve never heard of any Immortal Peach in the Wilderness World, ripening every 1,200 years, that can increase life by a hundred years when eaten. Even if such a treasure exists, spreading the news so widely is unreasonable.

But these cultivators seem so intoxicated by the good news that they would rather believe in baseless rumors. It truly embodies the saying, ’those involved are confused, those watching are clear,’ which is pitiful."

"Since Daoist Xie doesn’t believe it, why have you come here to wait?" Jiang Yuan, seeing the other party in a fluttering white robe with a gentle demeanor, couldn’t help but think of "Clear Breeze and Bright Moon," so clean and transparent with such high cultivation, he seemed like a protagonist template.

Oh no, in certain exploitative upgrade-style novels, this kind of character usually meets particularly tragic fates.

After all, just like the rise of a feckless protagonist, stepping on ordinary people can’t create the standout effect as well as slapping the face of the rich and handsome and stepping on the proud children of heaven to showcase their shocking might. Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but glance at his disciple, thankful that the one he raised didn’t seem to be that destined hero of the feckless path out to harm others.