Chapter 137: Liu Junhuai's Grievance

Mu Fanghe forced himself to speak up, "Faith is the unwavering and absolute conviction in the singularity of truth across all existence. The power of faith, on the other hand, is a very subtle energy; it is transformed from the spiritual realm of humanity, representing the finest and purest aspect of the human psyche, and condensing humankind's most urgent and intense aspirations.

"To a large extent, the power of faith is a spiritual force. More often than not, spiritual strength surpasses physical willpower; it is a spiritual yearning built upon one's own contemplation and enlightenment. The reason why all of you present here today—myself included—have generated this spiritual power is because we listened to Sect Master Liu's perfect exposition of profound benevolence and righteousness, which awakened the deepest longings within our hearts, while also sparking a flicker of enlightenment regarding the Great Dao.

"I believe the reason Sect Master Liu is able to evoke such a powerful resonance within us is that his comprehension of the Dao has reached a height unattainable by ordinary mortals. I wonder if any of you here noticed the movement technique Sect Master Liu used just now when he went behind the VIP podium to adjust his robes? If my eyes did not deceive me, despite being only in his teens, Sect Master Liu has already grasped a shred of the supreme divine ability of teleportation. Sect Master Liu, am I correct?"

Liu Junhuai had no choice but to nod. He had not anticipated Mu Fanghe's discernment to be so acute, seeing through his teleportation ability at a single glance.

Upon hearing Liu Junhuai's explicit confirmation, another wave of uproar swept through the crowd. This time, even more cultivators shouted aloud, imploring Liu Junhuai to demonstrate the teleportation technique once again.

One cannot blame these cultivators for making such a commotion. Divine abilities were legendary existences, said to be completely out of reach even within the Immortal Realm; how could these lower-realm cultivators of the cultivation world not yearn to witness them with their own eyes?

Seeing Liu Junhuai's hesitant expression, Mu Fanghe urged, "Junhuai, just give a brief demonstration. It will be immensely beneficial to your prestige, and besides, I would also love to witness it myself."

Liu Junhuai glanced around, shifting his intent. His figure instantly vanished from where he stood, and when he reappeared, his body was already ten miles away.

Those with sharp eyes caught sight of Liu Junhuai ten miles away and cried out in shock and awe. Only then did the rest of the crowd, looking around in bewilderment, spot his figure.

Liu Junhuai waved toward the crowd, and his form abruptly vanished from the spot once more. In the blink of an eye, his body was back at the VIP podium.

After a brief silence, the venue erupted into a clamor, immediately followed by thunderous applause.

A look of profound shock also lingered on Mu Fanghe's face. Although he knew Liu Junhuai possessed the teleportation ability, he had assumed it was merely a rudimentary introduction to the technique. He never imagined that the distance of his teleportation would be so vast. How could this possibly be considered just starting out? It was clear that Liu Junhuai had already achieved a thorough mastery of this divine ability, possessing no small degree of insight.

One must not underestimate this "small degree of insight." Ordinary immortals could not comprehend even a single trace, a mere feather, of a divine ability, and the vast majority of immortals could not catch even a glimpse of it throughout their entire lives. This shows just how tremendously difficult it is to grasp the true essence of a divine ability from even a fraction of enlightenment.

While legendary teleportation could span thousands or tens of thousands of miles in an instant, those were feats performed by great deities at the Immortal Monarch and Immortal Emperor levels of cultivation, beings separated from the Great Dao by only a hair's breadth.

Yet Liu Junhuai, a teenager still in the late Golden Core stage, was like a baby in swaddling clothes compared to those supreme deities. Nevertheless, this single feat of teleportation was already far beyond the reach of countless immortals.

"This Sect Master Liu's future is terrifyingly boundless!" For a split second, a chilling sense of awe gripped Mu Fanghe's heart.

Struggling to digest the shock brought by Liu Junhuai, another cultivator in the audience asked, "Domain Lord Mu, Sect Master Liu merely advanced from the early Golden Core stage to the late stage; why did a lightning tribulation manifest? Is it not said that even pseudo-heavenly tribulations only appear when advancing to the Soul Formation stage?"

Mu Fanghe felt an even greater headache coming on. He was still utterly bewildered himself; how could he possibly explain this to others?

Yet the question had to be addressed. A Mahayana stage cultivator was an omnipotent, god-like existence in the cultivation world. "I am also hearing for the first time of a pseudo-lightning tribulation being triggered before entering the Soul Formation stage, as Sect Master Liu has done. To my mind, given that Sect Master Liu possesses such a cultivation level at merely a dozen years of age, he must have stirred a trace of jealousy from the Heavenly Dao.

"As you all know, cultivation is an act of seizing longevity from the hands of the Heavenly Dao—it is inherently an act defying the heavens. What Sect Master Liu did today is an even more monstrous act of defiance against the heavens. The heavens could not tolerate such a freakish rate of cultivation, and thus specifically descended a bolt of lightning tribulation as a minor punishment! Yes, that must be it!" Mu Fanghe nodded as he spoke, seemingly well satisfied with his own explanation.

A buzzing murmur arose from the crowd below, with many sighing that their trip today had not been in vain, having witnessed firsthand such a heaven-defying figure performing on the spot. Upon returning to their sects, they would have plenty to boast about.

Knowing that lingering on this subject would lead to endless entanglement, Liu Junhuai hurriedly spoke up, "Too much time of late has been wasted by me. Let me go and check if the Sect Alliance has any pending matters to announce. Please bear with me and wait a moment."

Without waiting for the crowd to react, Liu Junhuai hastened over to the seats of the Sect Alliance and said to Ren Yinhuai, "Due to this unexpected situation, this grand assembly has gone on for rather long. Let the Sect Alliance see if there are any remaining matters. If not, let us bring this to a conclusion here; the banquets in the discussion hall and the banquet pavilion have already been prepared."

Ren Yinhuai exchanged a few low-voiced words with Xiao Qingtian before saying, "Let us do that. Although the process was less than perfect, the outcome is exceptionally full, and we even received an unexpected surprise thanks to Sect Master Liu's extraordinary performance. Several thousand people fell into states of enlightenment because of you—that is simply unheard of! However, you cannot pull all the newly recruited disciples over to your side; you must leave some soup for the rest of us, right?"

Liu Junhuai said apologetically, "I never expected that speaking a few extra words would cause such a massive disturbance! Rest assured, Sect Leader Ren! I have thought about it: for recruiting new disciples, our two sides will jointly recruit. After you recruit them, they will still need to be distributed among various sects. Why not simply let each sect display its own banner and allow the aspiring cultivators to choose freely!"

Xiao Qingtian chimed in from the side, "We have already discussed this just now. Your小子 prestige is simply too high; no sect can compete with the Myriad Manifestations Sect for disciples. Right now, the various sects have divergent opinions; let us discuss it separately once the banquet begins!"

Liu Junhuai chuckled, "Uncle Xiao, even if they all rushed to the Myriad Manifestations Sect, we couldn't possibly accommodate them all. How about this: the Myriad Manifestations Sect will only recruit one thousand disciples. Once that quota is reached, we won't take even one more. Furthermore, the Myriad Manifestations Sect lacks manpower and has no time to meticulously screen candidates one by one—we'll just keep whoever catches our eye. There are still tens of thousands of people outside; I won't be envious even if you keep all the rest. This is the sole condition of the Myriad Manifestations Sect. When the time comes, Uncle Xiao can just relay my opinion."

Xiao Qingtian said, "Let us tentatively settle on this for now. Come, let us go together to announce the subsequent proceedings!"

The group stood up and returned to the VIP podium. After Ren Yinhuai quietly reported to Mu Fanghe, he raised his voice and announced, "Today's founding assembly and grand establishment ceremony have concluded with great success! Once again, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to all the seniors and fellow Daoists who have traveled from afar. The Sect Alliance and the Myriad Manifestations Sect have prepared modest banquets for everyone in the discussion hall and the banquet pavilion. Furthermore, after the banquet concludes, the various sects will jointly hold a recruitment assembly. Cultivators who are interested in joining a sect may gather back here afterward, where numbered tallies will be uniformly distributed. Thank you all once again for your presence, and please proceed to the banquet!"

Liu Junhuai swept his divine sense outside the mountain gates of the Myriad Manifestations Sect, where tens of thousands of people were eagerly awaiting the start of the recruitment assembly.

Walking over to Xiao Qingtian's side, Liu Junhuai said in a low voice, "Uncle Xiao, I never expected so many people to return. We must also prepare food and wine for the cultivators outside the mountain gates. I will go and instruct our disciples to procure provisions posthaste so they can be settled right on the spot!"

Seeing that Xiao Qingtian had no objections, Liu Junhuai beckoned Mei Bingyi and Wu Shaoyuan over, instructing them to hurry to the nearest restaurants to purchase food and wine.

Seeing this, Wan Xingyun also walked up, and Liu Junhuai instructed him to go outside the mountain gates to announce the relevant arrangements and soothe the impatient crowd.

In a private parlor within the banquet pavilion, Liu Junhuai met with Mu Fanghe, who was about to set off.

"Junhuai, you must arrange everything here properly and remain at all times ready to heed my summons. Remember, for the time being, the Domain Manor takes orders solely from me! The two hall masters, the same goes for you both. Before taking down Liangqiu Tuochu, there might be some chaos within the Domain Manor; there's no telling who might try to fish in troubled waters," Mu Fanghe said with a grave expression.

Liu Junhuai perceived the mixture of tension and excitement underlying his solemnity. "Domain Lord Mu can rest easy. This recruitment assembly will take at least a few days to conduct, and manpower can be concentrated over these few days without drawing too much attention. Only, the people you summon over must avoid meeting your personal retinue; at a critical juncture, not even a whisper of a leak can be permitted."

"I have already arranged all of that! Are the jade slips prepared? It is very likely we will dispatch you to Long Whale Island and King Yama's Hall to capture Che Shuguan and Guan Shaoqing. This is a supreme-grade spirit artifact; it is a bit small, but its speed is extremely fast." As he spoke, he produced a flying spirit artifact and handed it to Liu Junhuai. "The guests who came today will surely include individuals closely tied to the Blood-Slaying Alliance. Your actions must be kept within the narrowest possible scope."

Mu Fanghe looked toward Fang Yexu. "Hall Master Fang will temporarily serve as the person in charge of the Western Domain Manor here. All dispatch orders from the Sect Alliance must be executed through you! Hall Master Guan must constantly monitor the transmission of intelligence messages without any delay!"

Ren Yinhuai produced the jade slip he had prepared overnight. "Domain Lord Mu must ensure your own safety upon this trip. After all, that Liangqiu Tuochu possesses late Mahayana cultivation; the entire Western Domain cultivation world depends entirely on you!"

Mu Fanghe waved his hand and smiled, "I am not so foolish as to cross blows with him personally! Once I report back, there will be those capable of restraining him sent to execute the task. Your Sect Alliance sits at the very forefront of this struggle. All operations should focus on catching the enemy unawares rather than deploying in formal battle formation against them. If you are unsure of success, try your best to seek out Junhuai's advice; this kid is full of sly tricks!"

Ren Yinhuai smiled as he looked at Liu Junhuai. "Sect Master Liu is truly a talent. With your cooperation during this joint celebration, you stole all the limelight; the upcoming recruitment work will leave the Sect Alliance at a disadvantage! I was just wondering how to make things difficult for him, but since Domain Lord Mu has given his blessing, we of the Sect Alliance had better pull him back into the alliance's camp after all!"

Everyone present burst into laughter. Liu Junhuai said aggrievedly, "Sect Leader Ren, you can't be serious. I didn't do a thing! Rushing to the front lines in the beginning was purely to provide cover for the Sect Alliance, which was still in hiding! In truth, every step taken by the Myriad Manifestations Sect was completed under the meticulous planning of the Sect Alliance. It's just that all the glory happened to fall upon us. Next time, our Myriad Manifestations Sect will be more mindful and will no longer steal the Sect Alliance's thunder."

Ren Yinhuai patted Liu Junhuai on the shoulder. "That simply won't do. In the future, the Sect Alliance will primarily be responsible for coordination, while seizing the limelight will still have to be done by you. With you stepping forward, we feel at ease!"