Cultivation Starts with Rejuvenation

Three days later, Feihong Immortal City welcomed a grand event unseen in decades.

The Golden Core Ceremony of ”Yongan Fairy” Ning Sujin was held solemnly at the main venue of the Business Alliance, ”Moon Capture Platform.” This platform is suspended a thousand feet high, with white jade as its foundation, paved with spiritual clouds, overlooking the entire Immortal City, magnificently imposing.

The ceremony was grandly staged, with guests primarily invited from various domains friendly to the Great Marsh Cultivation Realm in the east and the Ten Thousand Merchants Domain: several leaders of the new alliance in the Yellow Heaven Domain, representatives of sects from the Celestial Cyan Domain with close ties to the Business Alliance, and leading figures from resource-rich domains in the east.

In the native Ten Thousand Merchants Domain, presidents or influential elders of eighteen core commerce associations were the primary attendees, complemented by some powerful, established families.

On the Moon Capture Platform, colorful lights flowed, various magic robes and treasures shone, silently showcasing the intricate web and significant influence of the Business Alliance in the east.

Li Ji’an and Ning Sujin stood side by side on one side of the main platform.

Ning Sujin was dressed today in a long gown of celestial aqua, draped with a moon-white veil, her dark hair simply pinned up with a long green jade hairpin, her visage clear and her temperament tranquil like an ancient jade deep in a pond.

With a graceful smile, she nodded slightly to the greetings and congratulatory glances from all sides, but for the most part, she quietly stood beside Li Ji’an, leaving the scene to the real host of today’s ceremony—the Commerce Alliance Leader, True Man Ziyuan, Tong Yaoyao.

Tong Yaoyao wore a purple leader’s robe embroidered with faint cloud patterns and the alliance emblem, regal yet dignified.

She stood at the front of the platform, her voice clear and calm, spreading afar.

First, she sincerely welcomed friends from various domains who traveled a long distance from the east, sentimentally appreciating the mutual support and companionship over the years;

Then briefly reviewed the fruitful outcomes of resource circulation and information sharing between the Business Alliance and various parties in recent years.

In her words, she did not claim credit, but attributed the achievements to the sincere cooperation of all parties;

Lastly, she tactfully mentioned the Core Formation of ”Yongan Fairy,” as a fortunate event for the Business Alliance, and a delightful narrative witnessed collectively by fellow Daoists, hoping this auspicious event heralds smoother collaboration in the future and so forth.

The words were sincere, with a broad vision, demonstrating the host’s demeanor without excessive boastfulness, cleverly elevating a personal path celebration ceremony to a grand event consolidating eastern connections and showcasing the Business Alliance’s platform.

Li Ji’an listened with a calm heart; the core of the Tier Three High-Level Puppet and top-grade talisman spiritual materials he needed were rare in the Ten Thousand Merchants Domain, and couldn’t be efficiently gathered without relying on the Business Alliance’s trade network spread across various domains.

To this end, having Ning Sujin briefly stand under the spotlight and endure certain necessary attentions was a calculated expense he had to bear, he just needed to ensure this attention didn’t evolve into uncontrollable probing.

Moreover, the phenomenon during Core Formation two years ago at Feihong Dao Field couldn’t be concealed.

Thus, under Tong Yaoyao’s gentle guidance, Ning Sujin stepped forward half a step, gracefully saluting the guests in all directions, her voice soft yet clear: ”Sujin, a person of the mountains and fields, was fortunate enough to condense a Golden Core, entirely relying on the protection of my Dao companion, the care of the Business Alliance, and the blessings of fellow Daoists.

This body, this path, seeks longevity and tranquility, yet never forgets the warmth of the mortal realm.” The words were concise, without mentioning any sect inheritance, attributing the beginning merely to simple companionship and opportunity, and then calmly retreating beside Li Ji’an, returning the scene.

At this point, the core part of the ceremony had nearly reached its end, with host and guest raising their glasses, the atmosphere harmonious.

Just as everyone expected the event to end in mutual satisfaction and smoothly come to a close, a peculiar clear melody suddenly reverberated from the high sky.

The sound was neither gold nor jade, ethereal and distant, like wind brushing over millennial ice crystals, or like water droplets falling into a deep pond, carrying a unique rhythm and penetrative power, instantly dispersing the flowing clouds above the Moon Capture Platform and halting all conversation in the scene.

Everyone gazed upward together, only to see the sky seeming to be parted by an invisible hand, as a cloud chariot drawn by four extraordinary spirit beasts slowly descended along the misty glow.

The spirit beasts pulling the chariot were snow-white and flawless, with only a short horn as clear as jade on their foreheads, their eyes as azure as the sea, full of spirituality when glancing around, evidently extremely rare Tier Three Spirit Beasts ”Jade Cloud Horned Deer.”

The cloud chariot’s design was simple, without excessive ornamentation, but the faint talismanic glow naturally circulating around the chariot and the pure aura emitted by the four spirit beasts already revealed the extraordinary status of the arrivals.

”Central Ten Domains, Saint Beast Mountain’s envoy arrives—”

The high-tier steward standing by the platform, evidently also caught off guard, suppressed his shock, mustered magical power, and announced loudly, his voice exceptionally clear in the suddenly silent air.

Saint Beast Mountain!

In an instant, countless gazes were filled with disbelief, deep curiosity, and instinctive reverence.

One of the giants of the Central Ten Domains, a legendary entity possessing numerous Nascent Soul True Monarchs, even a mid-stage Nascent Soul overseeing the entire Great Marsh Cultivation Realm, actually sent an envoy to personally attend this far eastern Golden Core celebration?

The cloud chariot silently stopped at the designated welcome position outside the Moon Capture Platform.

The elegant curtain was lifted by a slender hand, and a middle-aged Taoist with a clear, gaunt face and three strands of short beard on his chin descended slowly, dressed in a moon-white magic robe.

No overwhelming spiritual pressure wantonly emanated from him, but when his eyes, as calm as an ancient well, swept through the scene with indifference, almost every cultivator touched by his gaze, regardless of cultivation level, involuntarily tightened slightly in the heart, as if lightly brushed by some higher-level existence, arousing no slight negligence.

Late-stage Golden Core, Realm of the Ascendant, moreover, his entire Golden Core Magical Power was thick and extended, being balanced and peaceful, never the type relying on Pill Medicine accumulation with a shallow Dao Foundation, his aura deeply condensed, subtly resonating with Heaven and Earth Spirit Mechanism, manifestly grounded with an extremely solid foundation, already touching higher thresholds, a true master.