Cultivating with Top Enlightenment Chapter 812 - 343: Secrets of Mountain and Sea

The manifestation born from the Mountain and Sea Realm's will approached and stood next to Ning Qi.

Surprisingly, it deliberately warned Ning Qi, disclosing that certain people in the Mountain and Sea Realm harbor malicious intentions toward him.

This action was clearly aimed at frightening Ning Qi, preparing the ground for its upcoming suggestion to accept him as a disciple.

Yet, not even the will of the Mountain and Sea Realm could foresee that Ning Qi felt no fear whatsoever toward those individuals!

As a result, its effort to intimidate Ning Qi completely missed the mark.

Ning Qi looked at it with a contemplative look on his face.

His growing exchanges with the Mountain and Sea Realm's will had deepened his insights, sparking even more curiosity in Ning Qi about its ties to the Mountain Ancestor and Sea Ancestor.

"Realm Venerable, could you explain why you want to take me as your disciple?"

Ning Qi inquired.

He had no intention of becoming its disciple, yet he still sought to understand the motive behind it.

The manifestation cleared its throat and responded, "This Venerable desires a disciple; across the whole Mountain and Sea Realm, nobody would turn it down. Why all these questions from you?"

"Would the Mountain Ancestor and Sea Ancestor consent to that?" Ning Qi pressed further.

The will of the Mountain and Sea Realm abruptly went quiet.

After some time, it told Ning Qi, "Fine. If you refuse to be my disciple, then face their retaliation on your own!"

Ning Qi, of course, needed to play along with this.

"Realm Venerable, since I'm inside the war realm assisting you in capturing nodes and expanding territories, don't you plan to safeguard me?"

The manifestation let out a cold snort and replied, "There's no bond between you and me at all; even if I wanted to shield you, it would be impossible."

It tilted its head upward toward the heavens, as if peering across dimensions straight into the Mountain and Sea Realm.

"Although I embody the will of the Mountain and Sea Realm, some feats remain beyond my reach."

With those words, it fell silent once more.

From its statements, Ning Qi could deduce that the Mountain and Sea Realm's will was undoubtedly restricted by the Mountain Ancestor and Sea Ancestor.

If not, this entity wouldn't seek to take him on personally as a disciple, nor utter such remarks.

It utterly lacked the commanding presence over an entire realm.

Ning Qi wondered if this situation could serve as an opportunity for him to strike back against the Mountain and Sea Realm in the future?

With the information available so limited right now, he had no choice but to bide his time and look for chances to probe deeper later.

In the meantime, he wasn't rushing things, as he had just freed twenty self-severed Harmonization cultivators from the Vast Realm, escalating the inter-realm conflict. He was confident that, to ensure their own survival, the enemies wouldn't stay quiet indefinitely.

Soon after, the manifestation of the Mountain and Sea Realm's will provided rewards for Ning Qi's capture of Central Domain nodes and then disappeared from his sight.

In contrast to the prizes from taking over the Lower Realm, this time the Mountain and Sea Realm's will granted even more generous ones.

It refrained from withholding any rewards just because Ning Qi turned down the discipleship.

Examining the map, Ning Qi noted that his Three Domains forces had claimed all the leftover nodes.

The full Central Domain, except for those spots held by the Vast Realm's troops, had completely surrendered to the Mountain and Sea Realm's control.

Moreover, the nodes under Vast Realm army occupation, now without any guards, would slowly convert into areas dominated by the Mountain and Sea Realm's will.

Upon the Three Domains army's return, Ning Qi would then choose if they should start a cross-realm battle right away.

The Mountain and Sea Realm's will, knowing full well that twenty self-severed Harmonization cultivators had infiltrated the Upper Realm, displayed no urge to push Ning Qi forward.

Ning Qi sensed its intentional hands-off approach, as if it were scheming something via this inaction.

...

In the Mountain and Sea Realm.

Atop Heaven-Reaching Peak of the Zhou Mountain Immortal Sect.

The Mountain Ancestor remained perched on the summit, appearing as though he hadn't budged at all.

Known as Haoshan, his enormous silhouette blended seamlessly with Heaven-Reaching Peak itself.

His body emitted no detectable aura, but it evoked a profound detachment, like being dwarfed under an endless Divine Mountain, rendering one's own being trivial.

Behind the Mountain Ancestor, a servant abruptly bowed low and announced, "Mountain Ancestor, the Domain Masters from the Celestial Fire Realm, Earth Gold Realm, and Vine Wood Realm seek a meeting."

Hearing this, the Mountain Ancestor offered no response.

The servant kept bowing, too afraid to rise.

The Mountain Ancestor's eyes stayed locked on the distance beyond the realms, fixed in the direction of the war realm.

Occasionally, his attention would drift, settling on the ascending throne of the Sea Emperor amid the azure waves inside the Mountain and Sea Realm.

As if keeping watch over the Sea Ancestor's actions.

After a prolonged silence, the Mountain Ancestor abruptly spoke, "Realm Venerable, any fresh updates from the war realm? I notice the Southeast realm's Central Domain is getting rapidly claimed by our side as well?"

In front of him, the Mountain and Sea Realm will's manifestation materialized and promptly answered:

"Haoshan, that disciple Ning Qi you're interested in taking has run into major problems now."

The Mountain Ancestor's tone seemed to waver just a bit as he asked, "Wasn't he faring quite well earlier? What kind of trouble has befallen him this time?"

Thus, the Mountain and Sea Realm will relayed its gathered intel to the Mountain Ancestor.

Despite the Mountain Ancestor being at the peak among all Mountain and Sea Realm cultivators, with abilities centered on forging and perceiving the vast war realm.

He nevertheless depended on the Mountain and Sea Realm will to learn what was happening inside the war realm.

When informed that the Vast Realm had sent twenty self-severed Harmonization cultivators to assassinate Ning Qi,

Even while bearing orders from the Vast Realm's Saint Ancestor, the Mountain Ancestor's expression showed a faint change.

"So, you're saying Ning Qi made it through alive?"

"He didn't just survive—he drove them to escape across realms; naturally, with some aid from this Venerable."

The Mountain Ancestor gave a small nod.

"This youth is truly exceptional, equal to an army of a million, a prodigy deserving full nurturing!"

He hesitated briefly, then addressed the Mountain and Sea Realm will, "Realm Venerable, for you and me to advance to the higher stage, we absolutely need to conquer the Vast Realm. This is the moment to employ gifted individuals; we cannot let Ning Qi perish—make sure he's protected."

"If not for you and the Sea of Emotions taking away this Venerable’s authority in the past, I'd have ascended to the Immortal Realm ages ago; none of these issues would plague us!"