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

The manifestation created by 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 are plotting against him.

The intent behind this was obviously to frighten Ning Qi, paving the way for its later offer 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 toward those individuals at all!

As a result, its effort to intimidate Ning Qi completely backfired.

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

Through his growing exchanges with the Mountain and Sea Realm's will, Ning Qi gained deeper insights, which sparked even more curiosity about its ties to the Mountain Ancestor and the Sea Ancestor.

"Realm Venerable, may I ask why you want to take me as your disciple?"

Ning Qi inquired.

He had no intention of becoming its disciple, but he still sought to learn the motive.

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 are you asking so many questions?"

"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, "Never mind. If you refuse to be my disciple, then face their vengeance on your own!"

Ning Qi, of course, had to act the part in response.

"Realm Venerable, since I'm now in the war realm aiding you in capturing nodes and expanding your territories, surely you'd want to safeguard me?"

The manifestation huffed and replied, "There's no bond between you and me at all; even if I wanted to shield you, I couldn't."

It lifted its gaze to the heavens, as if peering across dimensions straight to the Mountain and Sea Realm.

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

With that, it fell silent once more.

From its statements, Ning Qi deduced that the Mountain and Sea Realm's will must be restricted by the Mountain Ancestor and Sea Ancestor.

Otherwise, such an entity wouldn't seek to take him as a personal disciple, nor utter those kinds of words.

It utterly lacked the commanding presence of a realm's overlord.

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

With information still scarce at present, he could only bide his time until chances arose to probe deeper.

In any event, he wasn't rushing things, having just unleashed twenty self-severed Harmonization cultivators from the Vast Realm, which would escalate the inter-realm conflict. He doubted the enemies would stay quiet indefinitely for their own sake.

Afterward, the manifestation of the Mountain and Sea Realm's will delivered the prizes for Ning Qi's capture of Central Domain nodes and then disappeared from his sight.

Unlike the rewards from taking over the Lower Realm, this time the Mountain and Sea Realm's will provided even greater bounties.

It refrained from withholding any rewards simply because Ning Qi declined to become its disciple.

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

The full Central Domain, excluding those nodes held by the Vast Realm's troops, had entirely come under the Mountain and Sea Realm's control.

Moreover, the nodes taken by the Vast Realm's army, now without guards, would slowly convert into domains controlled by the Mountain and Sea Realm's will.

Upon the Three Domains army's return, Ning Qi would determine if they should initiate warfare across realms right away.

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

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 positioned on the summit, appearing as though he had never budged.

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

No aura emanated from his figure, but it evoked a profound detachment, like being dwarfed under an endless Divine Mountain, rendering one's own being trivial.

A servant behind the Mountain Ancestor suddenly knelt and announced, "Mountain Ancestor, Domain Masters from the Celestial Fire Realm, Earth Gold Realm, and Vine Wood Realm seek to meet with you."

Hearing this, the Mountain Ancestor offered no reply.

The servant kept bowing, too afraid to rise.

The Mountain Ancestor's eyes stayed locked on the distance, directed toward the war realm.

Occasionally, his attention shifted, fixing on the ascending Sea Emperor's throne amid the azure waves in the Mountain and Sea Realm.

As if monitoring the Sea Ancestor's actions.

After an extended period, the Mountain Ancestor abruptly stated, "Realm Venerable, is there any fresh update from the war realm? I notice the Central Domain in the Southeast realm is also rapidly being claimed by our side?"

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

"Haoshan, the disciple Ning Qi whom you seek to accept has now run into grave difficulties."

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

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

Despite standing at the peak among Mountain and Sea Realm cultivators, with abilities centered on creation and perception across the entire war realm,

He nevertheless depended on the Mountain and Sea Realm's will to learn what transpired inside the war realm.

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

Bearing orders from the Vast Realm's Saint Ancestor, even the Mountain Ancestor's expression changed faintly.

"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 assistance from this Venerable."

The Mountain Ancestor gave a slight nod.

"This youth is truly exceptional, equivalent to an army of a million, a genius deserving of nurture!"

He hesitated briefly, then addressed the Mountain and Sea Realm's will, "Realm Venerable, for you and me to advance to the higher stage, subjugating the Vast Realm is essential. The moment calls for leveraging such talents; Ning Qi cannot perish—make certain he stays safe."

"Had you and the Sea of Emotions not taken this Venerable's power in the past, I would have ascended to the Immortal Realm ages ago; none of these issues would plague us!"