Therefore, the situation it faced was considerably more severe than the other three secular dynasties.
The other three nations had all learned from Lu Kingdom’s experience, so their situations were somewhat better.
The ruler of Lu Kingdom had asked the Mirage Palace’s stationed envoy disciples for help more than once, but the reply he received was always, "Cultivators must not interfere in mundane affairs, that is the rule."
The Mirage Palace truly could not offer any real advice about the current situation.
But if things continued this way, Lu Kingdom would likely, one day, become a living hell.
For the Mirage Palace, those lofty cultivators even wished Lu Kingdom would fall into complete chaos so they could tear it down and rebuild it, which would also relieve the pressure on the few secular dynasties that voluntarily attached themselves to the Mirage Palace.
However, the Mirage Palace could not simply let Lu Kingdom implode.
The reason was simple.
Reputation: those two words mattered greatly to an immortal sect at the level of the Five Great Sects.
Too many people on Chenping Continent knew that Lu Kingdom had sunk into its current lifeless state primarily because of the Mirage Palace’s influence, which prevented surrounding secular dynasties from developing according to the normal rules of a worldly nation.
Although this liability wasn’t a severe scandal,
if it became fuel for disputes with other sects, opponents could certainly use it to pester the Mirage Palace.
So the Mirage Palace could only try to alleviate the severe situations of these secular dynasties by supporting cultivation families, effectively using other hands to help.
It was precisely for this reason that the so-called Four Kingdoms Dao Discussion existed.
The Four Kingdoms Dao Discussion was held every three years, and its location rotated among the four secular dynasties neighboring the Mirage Palace.
"I originally thought Dongzuo City would be more prosperous than Luzhou," Zhou Jinyun said.
"It might have been that way before," Chen Yan replied.
On the streets, now and then people cast ill-intentioned looks at Chen Yan and the others, because although their clothing wasn’t extravagantly lavish, at the very least it was presentable.
Those malicious gazes were mostly focused on Zhou Jinyun.
After all, Little Zhou at this moment was just a graceful, very beautiful fifteen-year-old girl.
It was obvious that Su Hongzhen had noticed this as well.
He quickened his pace slightly and stepped so that he was a bit ahead of Zhou Jinyun.
Then he lightly steadied the Xun-Li Sword hanging at his waist.
Those ill-intentioned looks vanished in an instant.
Zhou Jinyun glanced briefly in Little Su’s direction but said nothing.
In fact, the streets of Dongzuo City normally shouldn’t be as crowded as they were today.
That was because the Four Kingdoms Dao Discussion was not limited to cultivators.
It was completely open to mundane citizens.
This time’s Four Kingdoms Dao Discussion would be held at the Zhenji Gate in Dongzuo City.
Zhenji Gate was the largest square in Dongzuo City and could hold up to two hundred thousand people.
In less than another hour, the Four Kingdoms Dao Discussion would officially begin, and at that time, anyone could come to Zhenji Gate to admire the postures of the Upper Immortals.
Wei Yiming was the host of this Dao Discussion.
Compared to Su Hongzhen and Zhou Jinyun, Chen Yan’s reaction was naturally far calmer.
He walked slowly through the crowd.
At this moment, his spiritual sense covered the skies above Dongzuo City.
This ancient, bloated capital was currently gathering millions of living beings.
As for cultivator auras, there were two that felt quite familiar.
Thinking this, a faint curve formed at the corner of Chen Yan’s mouth.
...
Suspended in the air on a stone platform more than ten zhang high,
a Mirage Palace disciple wearing deep green robes and appearing in his twenties stood there. He was Wei Yiming, the Daoist Hall’s stationed envoy disciple of the Illusion Time Tower.
Hands clasped behind his back, he stood on the stone platform with his robes fluttering lightly in the breeze.
His gaze swept calmly across the crowd below, then a single plain white figure intruded into his field of vision.
Wei Yiming immediately shifted his sight away.
Such a high-ranking Mirage Palace disciple would not fix his attention on one among millions of ants.
Besides, he did not care at all about the lives of these mundane people.
Apart from presiding over this Dao Discussion, Wei Yiming had a more important mission.
Otherwise Elder Zheng Song would not have sent him here over something so trivial.
Although he was only a Martial Spring Realm cultivator and currently of little use,
ever since Elder Shen Chuan’s incident was exposed, the high-ups had been in a passive position and were short-handed.
Not to mention, more than four months ago someone had mysteriously disappeared and still had not been found.
So even though he was only a Martial Spring Realm cultivator, up until now he had been heavily relied upon.
Wei Yiming also knew he would not remain a Martial Spring Realm cultivator forever.
If all went well, in ten years—no, even within five years—his cultivation would rapidly advance.
He would cross the Qi Sea Realm and go straight to the Passable God Realm, perhaps even the Myriad Transformations Realm!
With that thought, Wei Yiming placed his hand on the thick sheepskin parchment at his waist, and a near-crazed excitement flashed in his eyes.
"Envoy Wei!" a middle-aged man’s voice came from behind him.
Wei Yiming suppressed his excitement and turned calmly to look at the middle-aged man in light brown robes behind him.
This man was Li Quan, leader of the largest cultivation sect in Lu Kingdom, the Xuanqi Cult.
His cultivation was in the early Qi Sea Realm.
Although Li Quan’s cultivation surpassed Wei Yiming by a fair amount, he acted extremely humble in front of this Mirage Palace inner court envoy disciple.
Because he knew that everything Xuanqi Cult currently had was entirely owed to the Mirage Palace’s favor.
Without the Mirage Palace, Xuanqi Cult would not exist as it did today.
"Hmm," Wei Yiming replied with a slight nod.
"The time should be about right. What do you think..." Li Quan said respectfully.
"Since the time is about right, prepare to start," Wei Yiming said.
"Yes!" Li Quan responded eagerly.
Then Wei Yiming turned his gaze behind Li Quan toward a young man standing there.
Li Quan noticed Wei Yiming’s look, hurriedly turned, and called out:
"Hurry, introduce yourself to Envoy Wei."
The young man stepped forward a few paces, then stood beside Li Quan. He bowed respectfully toward Wei Yiming and said,
"Junior Chu Fan pays respects to Envoy Wei!"