The emergence of a power that could stand above the Three Great Sacred Lands was the perfect opportunity to break the old balance and fight for greater space and a voice for oneself.
Sending congratulatory gifts was both a form of testing the waters and a prelude to choosing a side.
What's more, some Sect families and large chambers of commerce, who were already quite dissatisfied with the Three Great Sacred Lands of Qingyun, Lingxu, and Tianyuan, were secretly fueling the flames.
"Quick! Carefully compile the deeds of the 'Yaochi Empress' and spread them through all our channels!"
"We must let the Cultivators in every corner of the Southern Region know that a pillar of heaven has emerged in our Southern Region!"
"Also, contact those storytellers and wandering Cultivators. Turn the story of the 'Yaochi Empress' into anecdotes and scripts. It must be vivid and exciting enough!"
Under these various overt and covert promotions, the four words 'Yaochi Empress' completely resounded throughout the Southern Region at an astonishing speed.
The breadth of its spread and the depth of its influence far exceeded that brief battle on the Heavenly Dome Plain itself.
It was no longer just a title, but gradually evolved into a symbol—
The collective desire and spiritual sustenance of the Southern Region's Cultivators for their own Peak powerhouse after being suppressed for twenty thousand years.
A few days later, outside the Myriad Absolute Mountains, in Linyuan City.
As the largest gathering place for Loose Cultivators adjacent to the Myriad Absolute Mountain Range, Linyuan City was always bustling with people and was the place where news was most well-informed.
Inside 'Listening Wind Pavilion', the largest teahouse in the east of the city, it was currently the time of the afternoon when the crowd was at its Peak.
The three-story building was filled with all kinds of Cultivators: travel-worn Loose Cultivators, merchant guards escorting goods, and Disciples from nearby small Sects taking a break.
The storyteller had not yet taken the stage today, but the discussions in the hall were more fascinating than any scripted story.
"Have you heard? Something big happened over at the Heavenly Dome Plain a few days ago!"
A burly Golden Core Stage man with a full beard took a gulp of spiritual wine. His voice was loud, instantly attracting many gazes.
"Hu the Third, where did you hear this gossip from again?"
A thin Cultivator at the next table sneered,
"When does a Secret Realm opening not have something happen?"
"This time is different!"
Hu the Third's eyes widened as he slapped the table and said,
"I have a sworn brother who is an Outer Sect Disciple of the Flowing Cloud Sword Sect. He just came back from the Secret Realm a few days ago! He said—"
He deliberately paused, whetting everyone's appetite, before lowering his voice, yet still making it audible to the whole hall:
"The Secret Realm closed early! And inside... Venerable Tian Qiong awakened!"
"What?!"
"Didn't that great demon die? How did he come back to life..."
Venerable Tian Qiong's reputation was quite notorious in the historical records of the Southern Region.
This caused everyone who heard it to instantly break into an uproar.
"That's not it!"
Seeing that he had achieved the desired effect, Hu the Third put even more effort into his proclamation,
"That was only a wisp of Venerable Tian Qiong's remnant soul. He wanted to devour the entire Secret Realm and the Disciples to stabilize himself."
"It was the Palace Master of the Jade Pool Immortal Palace who took action. With one palm strike, she shattered the Secret Realm, and then she brought out a divine bell, directly suppressing and dispersing that remnant soul!"
"My goodness..."
"Shattering a Secret Realm with one palm? What kind of cultivation must that be?"
"Jade Pool Immortal Palace?...Could it be that hermit Sect in the Myriad Absolute Mountain Range?"
The crowd discussed animatedly, their faces filled with disbelief.
"That's not all!"
Hu the Third's voice lowered even further, carrying a hint of mystery:
"I heard that the Palace Master has a peerless appearance and unparalleled grace. Her cultivation is at least at the Peak of Undergoing Tribulation, and might even be the legendary Immortal Ascension!"
As soon as the words 'Immortal Ascension' were spoken, the entire teahouse fell silent for a moment.
Following that was even more intense discussion!
"Immortal Ascension? The Southern Region hasn't had a new Immortal Ascension for twenty thousand years, right?"
"If she's truly an Immortal Ascension... then wouldn't the Jade Pool Immortal Palace..."
"No wonder they could build their Sect in the Myriad Absolute Mountain Range!"
Hu the Third looked at everyone's shocked expressions, took a satisfied sip of wine, and threw out another heavy blow:
"And, the people from those Sects on the Heavenly Dome Plain have privately given that Palace Master an honorific title—"
He looked around and said word by word:
"Yao. Chi. Em. Press."
As those four words fell, one could hear a pin drop in the teahouse.
Empress.
In the Canglan Continent, this was not a title that just anyone could use.
The Eastern Region had Empress Qing Xuan, the Northern Region had Empress Ling Shuang, and the Central Region also had a Dragon Soaring Emperor. All were supreme existences who governed a region and awed all directions.
Now, was the Southern Region... also going to have an Empress?
After a brief, deathly silence, an even more surging wave of sound erupted.
"Yaochi Empress... good!"
"If the Palace Master of the Jade Pool Immortal Palace is truly an Immortal Ascension, what's wrong with calling her Empress?"
"Exactly! Our Southern Region has been quiet for so long; it's about time we had a Peak powerhouse overseeing us!"
"I heard that the Jade Pool Immortal Palace doesn't limit its recruitment to the Human Race or Yao Race. Their Disciples performed amazingly in the Secret Realm this time—two Golden Core true Disciples, and dozens of Foundation Establishment..."
"If that one is truly an Immortal Ascension, then the future of the Jade Pool Immortal Palace..."
All sorts of amazement, speculation, and longing spread through the teahouse.
In a corner, a pretty woman dressed in blue quietly got up and left.
After walking out of the teahouse, she took out a transmission jade talisman and sent everything she had just heard in the 'Listening Wind Pavilion'.
Along with her own preliminary observations and judgments, she sent it toward the direction of the Eastern Region's Qingxuan Dynasty.
After doing all this, she gently put away the jade talisman, an indescribably complex light flashing in her eyes.
Her name was Luo Shui, a powerhouse at the ninth level of undergoing tribulation.
She was the Senior Sister of Ye Ningshuang, the Old Ancestor of the Ye Family in the Eastern Region, and even more so, she was the first Disciple Empress Qing Xuan had taken in her early years.
Her visit to the Southern Region this time was precisely by her Master's order to investigate Gu Han's background.
After all, Gu Han had appeared too suddenly. Empress Qing Xuan was naturally curious about her origins and the power of the Jade Pool Immortal Palace.
"Jade Pool Immortal Palace... Yaochi Empress..."
Luo Shui repeated these two names in a low voice, her beautiful face showing little emotion.
Her cultivation made her a top-tier existence even in the Eastern Region.
But she knew well that between the ninth level of undergoing tribulation and Immortal Ascension, though it seemed like only one step, it was actually a world of difference.
It was a leap in the level of life, a difference in essence.
"One palm to shatter a Secret Realm, one bell to suppress an Immortal Ascension's remnant soul... Early Stage of Immortal Ascension, or perhaps even higher?"
The discussions from the teahouse echoed in Luo Shui's mind as she slowly constructed a blurred image of that battle on the Heavenly Dome Plain.
Although she had just arrived in the Southern Region and had not witnessed it with her own eyes, the ability to suppress Venerable Tian Qiong's remnant soul so easily...
All of it indicated that the strength of that 'Palace Master Gu' was likely even beyond her Master's estimates.
"Such a person is interesting..."
Luo Shui smiled faintly and then merged into the bustling crowd.
She walked slowly along the bluestone-paved street, seemingly browsing through the various Magical Artifacts, Medicinal Pills, and spiritual materials displayed in the shops on both sides.
In reality, her Divine Sense was like spilled mercury, silently and invisibly penetrating every corner of this city.
She heard more discussions about the 'Yaochi Empress'.
Some said the Yaochi Palace Master had hair as white as snow and an incomparable appearance, with a grace that surpassed even Empress Qing Xuan of the Eastern Region.
Some said her methods were heaven-defying, having trained two Golden Cores and dozens of Foundation Establishments in just one year... Others said the divine bell on the Yaochi Empress was a legendary Immortal Artifact; otherwise, it would have been impossible to easily suppress Venerable Tian Qiong.
These discussions were either exaggerated or distorted, but the information revealed within them made Luo Shui's heart grow increasingly heavy.
"Immortal Artifact... the immortal path has been broken for eight hundred thousand years... where would an Immortal Artifact come from..."
She whispered to herself, a complex light flashing in her eyes.
As the Disciple most trusted by Empress Qing Xuan, she also knew many of her Master's unknown secrets.
For example, her Master possessed a Magical Artifact from another world called an Emperor Weapon.
That was a Magical Artifact completely different from the Heaven Rank artifacts of this world, and it was also the strongest artifact she had ever seen besides a quasi-immortal artifact.
There were only two quasi-immortal artifacts in total in the Canglan Continent; one was in the hands of the Dragon Soaring Emperor, and the other had long since been damaged.
She did not believe that the artifact in the hands of this Yaochi Empress would be stronger than the one in her Master's hands, nor did she think she would have a quasi-immortal artifact.
Luo Shui shook her head, suppressing these stray thoughts.
"Master only told me to 'investigate' well and deliver the items, but didn't say in what manner they should be delivered."
Luo Shui slightly furrowed her beautiful brows.
"Would it be inappropriate to directly visit and present the gifts?"
"Congratulating the newly-risen Empress? That seems a bit cliché."
"Forget it, I'm too lazy to think... I'll just go directly using Master's name!"
Luo Shui smiled mischievously, a plan gradually forming in her mind.
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