"I can't believe I will have a chance to listen to Grand Elder Xi's sermon!" A female disciple said in excitement while traveling towards Jade Peak with her fellow disciples.

"Grand Elder Xi should be the strongest expert of our sect now. I doubt even the First Grand Elder could stand on the same level as her. She's the only immortal sovereign in the Huang Realm." Her friend added.

"I don't know about that. There's got to be some reason the First Grand Elder has existed since the birth of the Huang Realm. Maybe he's divinity like the Cloud Goddess?"

"Psh, don't talk about them. Now that our sect produced an immortal sovereign, the Anti-Heaven Alliance and Tripartite Alliance would have to ally themselves in order to stand a chance."

"Careful what you say. They might really do that."

"What are you worried about? Even if they do, so what? Haven't you seen the mission board? Our sect can still send us to the Earth Continent to help the Eight Pillar Sect, which means we still have enough strength to deal with the two rebel groups."

"You're right."

"Not to mention that Grand Elder Xi is so young, only a thousand years old! I'm almost already a thousand, but I'm still stuck at the Nascent Soul Realm. Some people make you envious but powerless as well."

"Quiet, we've arrived at the mountain. Don't speak any more nonsense." The first female disciple said.

The two were among the many who had arrived to hear Mengfei's first sermon. Ever since she had reached the Immortal Realm, Mengfei had focused on cultivating and did not interact with the rest of the sect much. It was much the same even after she became a grand elder.

Her reputation as the youngest immortal empress had spread far and wide, becoming a legend to many, but even within the Buzhou Immortal Sect itself, few had seen her, causing her to become a tale in the sect. That all seemed to have changed with the birth of Tianyi.

None of the disciples had seen Mengfei personally, but Tianyi was a lot more noticeable, not that he wasn't also reclusive. With the addition of Daoyi and Xi Ri, Mengfei's veil of mystery had slowly been shed.

There had even been a picture of Mengfei on the Xiyinet, causing many disciples to purchase one just to catch a glimpse of their legendary grand elder, but sadly, the picture and related searches had been taken off with no warning.

Even now, there's a rumor that a picture of Mengfei was hidden somewhere on the Xiyinet.

Now that Mengfei had become an immortal sovereign, her fame rose even further and even caused the two rebel organizations to halt most of their activity, giving the Heaven Continent a rare moment of peace. What sent ripples through the Buzhuo Immortal Sect was that Mengfei had announced she would publically give a sermon.

In reality, Mengfei had only wanted to preach to Tianyi to solidify his foundation before his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. Daoyi had also reached the Nascent Soul Realm, so she had been included, and even Xi Ri tagged along.

It was only thanks to Sect Master Xia's pleading that Mengfei announced that she would publically give a sermon to anyone able to arrive. Naturally, not everyone could come.

Outer disciples weren't allowed, and only inner disciples at the Nascent Soul Realm, its equivalent, or above were even allowed to take the trial to ascend Jade Peak.

The two female disciples were at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, but even they only managed to barely reach the summit after much struggle. Atop, the whole scenery changed as if they had entered a separate world.

However, searching for the right place was a cinch. The two female disciples saw Grand Elder Xi sitting atop a purple lotus throne surrounded by numerous prayer mats. As always, she was dressed in a gorgeous purple dress with phoenix designs with a mist cloaking her face.

In the first row sat four figures on prayer mats. The two easily recognized Daoyi, Mengfei's first and only disciple. What surprised them was Xi Ri. The two had seen him before and had a good impression of him, but the current him exuded a gloomy aura that made them uncomfortable even with their current distance. Even stranger, his hair turned bleached white.

The third person was a complete mystery to them. She was a woman that wore the traditional Buzhou Immortal Sect robes with snow-white hair and an ephemeral temperament. Whoever she was, she was obviously someone special, being able to sit in the first row with Grand Elder Xi's disciple.

As for Tianyi, he looked to be in a daze, and they could not detect a hint of cultivation from him. The two didn't think that Tianyi had suddenly become a mortal. There was simply no way the son of the Sword Empress, now Sword Sovereign, could turn into a regular mortal. It was much more likely that he had reached an unfathomable level in his cultivation. The duo had heard that those who reached the peak resembled a mortal with no qi fluctuation.

In the second row were the immortal monarch elders of the sect. The two female disciples saw several head elders that they recognized and ten more immortal monarchs that they had never seen before. It was a shocking number as these monarch-level figures usually never showed their faces to mortals like them.

The third row was even more exaggerated with thousands of true immortal elders. The two female disciples' masters were only earth immortals, so they only caught glimpses of true immortals on rare occasions.

The fourth row was composed of elders ranging from venerables to earth immortals and everything in between. Not just elders but talented disciples as well. The two caught sight of Wei Daying, Ji Shuye, Xia Yushan, and to their immense relief, no sign of Lovespot, who had been getting much attention lately.

The two heaved a sigh of relief as they managed to squeeze themselves onto the last few remaining prayer mats in the fourth row. Beyond that, there were no more prayer mats. The people who came later could only stand up or sit on the ground.

Naturally, this caused an issue.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"What do you mean I can't get a seat? You want me to stand up?"

The two disciples recognized the speaker. Her name was Bu Fanfan, a descendant of a true immortal elder, and she always liked to fight with other female disciples.

"Why do you think you should be any different? I got here first, so go stand with the other people in the back row." The harassed female disciple said impatiently. Although she wasn't an elder's descendent, her master was a true immortal as well, so she wasn't afraid.

"Do you know who I am?" Bu Fanfan questioned.

"Does it matter, or do you want to steal my seat?" The female disciple retorted.

"You should give up your seat if you know what's good for you." Bu Fanfan said, but upon seeing the female disciple ignore her, Bu Fanfan's face became red from anger, but before she could speak, a voice sounded.

"Little friend, how about giving me some face and giving the seat to my granddaughter?"

The female disciple's face changed. Unfortunately, her master wasn't in the sect at the moment, and she didn't think that a true immortal elder would be so shameless as to steal her seat. However, she wasn't willing to give up so easily.

"Elder, why should I give up my seat? I earned it fair and square."

Elder Bu frowned. He wanted to force her off her seat, but he saw the other elder's mocking eyes and knew that it wouldn't work. He couldn't use hard methods, so he could only use soft methods. "Don't worry, little friend. I'll compensate you in the future."

The female's disciple barked out a laugh out of anger. What could a true immortal give her to compensate for the chance to hear an immortal sovereign's sermon? "Dare I ask Elder what the compensation is? If it is enough, this little girl will naturally give up her seat."

Elder Bu's face darkened, and just as he was about to speak again, he discovered that the scenery had changed.

"Grandfather, what happened?" Next to him, his granddaughter, Bu Fanfan, looked around in confusion.

Elder Bu's face paled. There was only one reason why the two could be so easily teleported out. The master of Jade Peak had personally taken action.

"G-Grandfather?" Bu Fanfan said as she took a step back, fearful of her grandfather's murderous gaze.

Elder Bu quickly softened his gaze. He couldn't bear to blame his precious granddaughter, the pearl of his palm, so he could only blame that female disciple.

"Elder, can I ask what happened?"

Elder Bu turned and saw a sight that made him darken his gaze immediately. He snorted and waved his sleeve, bringing his granddaughter away. He couldn't let his precious girl interact with Lovespot. What if he beguiled her?

The Dragon Emperor stood in place with a stiff smile. Once he turned away from the mocking gaze, killing intent filled his eyes.

----------------------------------------

Back in the Tri-Unity World, Mengfei opened her eyes. A quick-witted disciple quickly snatched the vacant prayer mat in the third row, causing a few others to be disappointed since Mengfei didn't seem to care.

She looked at Tianyi, who still had unclear eyes, and inwardly sighed. After she brought him back from the Broken Primordial World, it had taken her much effort to rejuvenate his spirit.

Tianyi had spent too much time inside the core of the Broken Primordial World. Alone for so long, even those with the strongest willpower will waver. But it was not all that bad. If he managed to regain his clarity, his willpower would increase.

Then she turned her gaze to Xi Ri, this nephew she didn't care much about. When she found Tianyi, she had found the Kunlun Mirror in his grasp, and when he wanted to trade it in to help Xi Ri, she stepped in. Trading a divine artifact to cure a core formation master's inner devil was a terrible deal.

Grand Elder Zhang also contributed since she wanted to compensate Mengfei a little. Logically, Grand Elder Zhang had no control of what happened inside the Broken Primordial World and should not be blamed, but the human heart was a fickle thing. So she aided Tianyi so that Mengfei would feel less irritated towards her.

However, not all was well. Ever since Xi Ri had woken up, he had been in a tense and irritable state. Not only that, but to save him, his spiritual core had to be shattered, rendering him incapable of cultivating despite being in the organ fortification realm.

She focused again on Tianyi and began her impartation of the worldly laws. The dao is oneself, and no one could impart the dao, it is something that must be sought by oneself, but the worldly laws and concepts were different.

As Mengfei spoke, miraculous events began to occur with her words. Lotus petals drifted in the air, karmic merit rained down upon the listeners, swords of karmic sin erupted from the ground, and illusionary lines appeared from their bodies and connected with one another. Everyone had a line connecting them to Mengfei except Tianyi, but no one noticed amid the numerous phenomena.

As the materialized phenomena neared Tianyi, they were unilaterally absorbed into his body. Mengfei purposely controlled the Tri-Unity World to create the phenomena upon seeing this.

Although others could not absorb the manifestation of the worldly laws, they still benefited immensely. These phenomena allowed the immortals to catch a glimpse of the truth instead of groping in the dark. The closer to the front, the greater the gains, while those far in the back weren't as fortunate, but they could still hear Mengfei's increasingly esoteric words.

The longer Mengfei spoke, the more confused they became until all the Unity and Nascent Soul Realm cultivators' minds shut down due to information overload. The transcending mortality sages and earth immortals were next.

Six months later, only the immortal monarchs were awake. Daoyi and Xi Ri had long lost consciousness, but due to them being in the front, they were baptized by the phenomena. Only Tianyi still looked as usual as his body continued to absorb the manifestations.

Nine months in, the immortal monarchs started to slumber one after the other, and at the twelve-month mark, only Grand Elder Zhang and Tianyi were still conscious.

When Mengfei stopped talking, everyone woke up from their unconscious state. After they woke up, they all kneeled and saluted Mengfei.

"Felicitations to the Sword Sovereign for illuminating our path. May you attain divinity and gain eternity!"

Mengfei waved her sleeve noncommittally. "I have received your thanks. All of you should return and meditate on your gains, lest you lose the most opportune time."

The crowd thanks Mengfei again before leaving. Mengfei, on the other hand, bid farewell to Grand Elder Zhang and looked at Tianyi. "How are you?"

Tianyi opened his mouth and finally said a word after a minute. "...fine."

Mengfei felt her heart lift a bit. Tianyi's reaction had noticeably increased. "Your gains? How are you feeling? Is it better?"

"...I only learned a few concepts...but...I felt...like the laws...are inside...my body right...now. I...just need to look...inside and can recall them...when I advance."

"Then you should hurry and meditate too. The sooner you can recover, the greater your chances of transcending the Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation." Mengfei said.

Tianyi nodded, but he didn't go toward his room. Instead, he walked towards the crowd. Specifically, he walked in front of the female disciple harassed by Bu Fanfan and held out a Xiyi Talisman for her.

"Senior Brother Xi?" The female disciples asked.

"For you," Tianyi said, noticeably speaking faster than earlier. "If they trouble you...use this to contact...me."

After saying those words, Tianyi walked away with a dull expression. The female disciple held the Xiyi Talisman in hand, and a hint of redness came on her cheeks. She shyly glanced at Tianyi and cupped her hands. "Disciple Rousui thanks Senior Brother Xi for your care."

When Tianyi returned, Daoyi teased him. "What, afraid that something will happen to her?"

"...no...I'm...waiting...for them to take...action. It...will be fun."

Daoyi palmed her face. She should have expected nothing less.

Afterward, everyone went into secluded meditation to digest their gains, with Tianyi coming out three years later with much of his cognitive abilities restored. To his disappointment, Rousui didn't contact him at all.

During this time, the war between the three factions of the Heaven Continent started to show signs of resuming, but Tianyi had no plan to enter. It was better to transcend his Immortal Ascension Heavenly Tribulation.

But before he did, he had a few things tick off his bucket list and a promise to fulfill, like his promise to Xia Yushan.

After hearing news of Tianyi's exit, Xia Yushan, who had firmly stabilized his early Unity Realm cultivation base, challenged Tianyi to a duel.