Watching the Mountain

Chapter 353: Chapter 197: Dust-covered

As she spoke, she lowered her head slightly. ”I contributed the least, yet I’m the one receiving the most praise. Miaomiao and Uncle Chen weren’t as fortunate. They’ll never get to enjoy this...”

Xu Ran studied Qing Li’s expression for a moment before saying softly, ”In that case, you should do your best to enjoy this praise in their stead.”

”Yes, I will.” Qing Li nodded lightly.

They didn’t say much more. After a brief exchange, they parted ways.

The matter of Dao Concealment had not yet been announced, but the Profound Pure Sect had received word in advance and was already starting to prepare.

Xu Ran had originally wanted to discuss the matter with Zhang Zhentian and Shen Wuchen, but they told him they needed to prepare for what was coming. They could discuss everything else once things had settled down.

Xu Ran couldn’t do anything about it, but he understood. After all, with such a major event on the horizon, the Sect had to make preparations in advance.

So, during this time, he clearly noticed the entire Sect bustling with activity, while he alone remained quite idle.

He didn’t ask what, specifically, they were so busy with.

Senior Sister Yue had told him not to do anything—to just relax and wait.

A month later, at the Creation Sect, a host of powerful experts announced to the Cultivation Realm that the malady of Heaven and Earth could finally be resolved. However, they did not mention the Dust-Sealed Stones.

The Cultivation Realm erupted into a frenzy. Many people cheered, ecstatic that they could finally escape the torment of the malady.

One hundred days later, Heaven and Earth rumbled. Endless visions appeared, and the entire Cultivation Realm witnessed the spectacle.

Dao Concealment was not an instantaneous event, but a gradual process. According to the deductions of the great experts, from this day forward, the Dao Laws of the world would slowly fade, and the Spiritual Qi between Heaven and Earth would also begin to wane.

This process would last for about a thousand years. After that millennium, the world would enter an End of Dharma era where the principles of the Dao are no longer manifest. Then, in as few as ten thousand years or as many as thirty thousand, the Laws of Heaven and Earth would re-emerge, heralding a new golden age.

The very next day, Dust-Sealed Stones began appearing in every corner of the Cultivation Realm. The Profound Pure Sect, having prepared in advance, swiftly dispatched personnel to collect them.

Only on the ninth day did the great experts make another announcement, this time revealing the truth of Dao Concealment and the method for using Dust-Sealed Stones.

The Dust-Sealed Stones would appear intermittently over the next hundred days. Those first nine days were the reward the participating sects had claimed for their role in resolving the malady of Heaven and Earth.

Just as Xu Ran had expected, once news of the Dust-Sealed Stones spread, the entire Cultivation Realm was thrown into chaos.

The flames of conflict ignited everywhere as factions battled to seize the Dust-Sealed Stones.

The appearance of the Dust-Sealed Stones followed a pattern: a fixed number would materialize in the territories of influences of a certain rank. For example, the territories of the highest-level influences would receive a certain percentage, Divinity Transformation influences another, and so on down to Nascent Soul influences, Golden Core influences, and the rest.

Therefore, the Upper Three Sects of the Five Domains issued a joint declaration: the struggle for the Dust-Sealed Stones must be confined to same-level influences. The strong were forbidden from preying on the weak.

Otherwise, all the Dust-Sealed Stones would fall into the hands of the most powerful influences—an outcome the great experts did not wish to see.

This fortuitous opportunity was meant to benefit the entire Cultivation Realm. To claim it, one had to stand out among one’s peers of the same rank.

Xu Ran had been worried that the Profound Pure Sect would be targeted and that the Sect should be preparing to defend itself.

However, the day after the Upper Three Sects issued their declaration, the Profound Pure Sect’s current Chief Disciple, Li Daoyi, suddenly made a public announcement of his own.

In light of what his friend Chu Lingxiao had suffered, he had decided to launch a punitive expedition against the Illusion Spirit Sect and demand justice on his friend’s behalf.

The Illusion Spirit Sect had previously announced that Chu Lingxiao had defected and that his master had been executed. The incident remained an unsolved mystery in the Changqing County cultivation world, and there had been no news of Chu Lingxiao since.

When Li Daoyi first heard the news, he did nothing.

Now, his chance to make a move had finally come.