From the moment the Li Clan's Old Ancestor, Li Wei, entered Medicine Mountain, every Mahayana realm cultivator in the entire Imperial Capital stopped what they were doing.
Whether it was an old beggar hiding in plain sight within the bustling markets, a powerhouse concealed within a Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land in some corner of the Imperial Dynasty, or high-ranking officials in the imperial court like Wu Neng of the Department of Immortal Suppression...
All of them cast their divine senses over to pry into the situation.
At this moment, Empress Wenren Xianyi sat despondently upon the Golden Throne.
The Wenren Immortal Clan's Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land was like a dust-filled house.
Li Wei ruthlessly tore through its window paper, exposing the filth hidden beneath the dust.
A pungent stench drifted from the unsightly house, assaulting the noses of these experts, reaching from their throats straight into their hearts and souls.
"Half-immortals... how could our Wenren family have so many half-immortals?"
"There is an immortal inside Medicine Mountain... and our Wenren clansmen... Great-Ancestor, this is the Great-Ancestor of my lineage. Didn't you pass away three thousand years ago...?"
"Old Patriarch, thirty thousand years ago you..."
The tentacles within Medicine Mountain thrashed wildly. The immortal qi radiating from the immortal filled them with a primal fear welling up from the depths of their hearts.
The Wenren family cultivators who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion to resist the enemy all ground to a halt, followed by a profound joy erupting from their hearts!
The aura within Medicine Mountain was incomparably powerful.
Representing an unknown number of years of accumulated foundation, they could see that the immortal within Medicine Mountain was working for them.
With tentacles thrashing wildly and the dead seeing the light of day once more, relying solely on the unknown number of Divinity Transformation and Void Refinement realm cultivators within Medicine Mountain was enough to allow their Wenren family to leap into the position of the most powerful immortal clan in the entire Imperial Dynasty.
However...
Only Wenren Yiyuan felt a bone-piercing chill rise from the soles of his feet straight into his very soul!
"The Wenren family began cooperating with immortals a very long time ago. As for exactly how long, perhaps only you know."
Spatial rifts began to appear throughout the entire Wenren Immortal Clan.
Li Wei's icy eyes fixed upon everyone present. His voice, carried by spatial Spiritual power, transmitted through the spatial rifts to the entirety of the Imperial Capital.
The commoners and cultivators of the Imperial Capital were all struck with panic.
Li Wei's voice was as if it were being broadcast through a massive loudspeaker, drawing the attention of all cultivators.
At this moment, even Golden Core realm cultivators cast their divine senses, following the direction of the voice to peer into the situation.
"Kill him!!!"
Wenren Yiyuan roared furiously like a madman.
At this moment, the cultivators of the entire Wenren family froze for a brief second before deploying every possible means to slay the Li Clan's Old Ancestor.
Array formations, Dharma Treasures, talismans... but it was all useless!
Mirrors materialized one after another around the entirety of Medicine Mountain.
The spatial rifts grew larger and larger.
Li Wei's silhouette completely vanished, and when he reappeared, he was already right behind Wenren Yiyuan.
Before that Tai Chi power capable of annihilating almost everything, the Dao-Glimpsing realm Wenren Yiyuan was nothing more than a slightly sturdier ant.
He trembled in sheer terror, able only to lower his head and stare at the Tai Chi diagram beneath his feet.
More and more prying eyes entered the Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land.
It was unstoppable!
Outside the Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land.
"It's over... everything is over." Wei Gang seemed to age significantly in an instant.
Beside him, divine senses shot into the Wenren family's Grotto-Heaven like streaks of light.
Even the companions behind him who had pursued Li Wei together unleashed their divine senses to enter the Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land.
Their eyes were filled with a complex mix of disgust, sheer disbelief, and burning anger.
...
"Since when did this begin?" Li Wei's voice was faint and eerie.
Within the spatial rifts of the Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land, the divine senses of more and more cultivators appeared, even the divine sense of Wenren Xianyi.
Standing behind Wenren Yiyuan, he possessed absolute certainty in his ability to kill the man; a single strike of the 'Spirit-Pointing Art' was more than enough.
Wenren Yiyuan suddenly calmed down.
Under the oppressive might of the Li Clan's Old Ancestor, against whom he had absolutely no chance to resist, he surveyed his clansmen in all directions.
He then raised his head, expressionlessly staring at the cultivators' divine senses peering into the Grotto-Heaven.
"From the very establishment of the Imperial Dynasty, our Wenren family has been cooperating with immortals."
Wenren Yiyuan's tone was indifferent.
"So what? Wasn't the establishment of the Imperial Dynasty achieved with the assistance of immortals? Hasn't the Zishu family made it to this day largely thanks to the immortals?"
He pointed at the hideous tentacles of Medicine Mountain.
"Immortals—the most perfect masterpieces of the mortal realm. They can devour the flesh and blood of living beings to strengthen themselves.
But no matter how powerful an existence is, they can all be utilized by our Human Race. This is wisdom!"
"Wisdom is the foundation of our Wenren Immortal Clan's survival. Transforming into immortals? Transforming into demons? No, that is the path walked by the Zishu family.
Our Wenren family has never produced a half-immortal, nor have we ever had a clansman turn into a demon. We firmly believe that human will can triumph over heaven!"
"Through immortals and array formations, all these half-immortals were captured by our Wenren Clan.
Channeled through the grand array, their Spiritual power is more than enough to benefit our Wenren Immortal Clan."
Beneath Wenren Yiyuan's calm exterior lay absolute madness.
All the cultivators were utterly horrified.
Since the establishment of the Imperial Dynasty, the Wenren Clan had already formed ties with immortals, using them to capture half-immortals and strengthen themselves.
And this covert operation had been going on for over a hundred thousand years!
"But there are always fools in this world. Those in power are afraid—afraid that someone will surpass them. Those in power are the Zishu family; it is the Human Emperor." Wenren Yiyuan sneered.
"Audacious!"
"Insolent!"
The prying divine senses all rebuked him furiously.
"I am insolent? Hahaha!"
Wenren Yiyuan laughed loudly,
"The Human Emperor established the Imperial Dynasty, single-handedly suppressing all of our hidden factions.
Even the emergence of Divinity Transformation experts was fraught with immense difficulties; he didn't even want Void Refinement experts to appear in the mortal realm!
The higher his status and power, the more he feared the people of the world. He wanted the Imperial Dynasty to be his Zishu family's Imperial Dynasty forever."
"From that time onward, our Wenren Immortal Clan possessed the means to become powerful in a short period of time, yet we did not dare reveal ourselves to the world.
The Department of Immortal Suppression, the Imperial Protectors Guard, the Emberwing Guard, the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion...
You running dogs of the Human Emperor held swords over our heads, forcing our Wenren Immortal Clan to tread on thin ice!"
"It wasn't until my generation, when I had my daughter Xianyi enter the palace, that things finally got a bit better."
"We exhausted every possible means and depleted countless resources because we knew that the Zishu family's half-immortals and demons would one day play with fire and get burned.
They would inevitably face decline. And sure enough, those princes and princesses who utilized immortals and demonic transformations died off one by one."
"And Xianyi, after our Wenren family expended tens of thousands of years of accumulated foundation, finally became the Empress!"