Some time later, matters related to the Di family were mostly resolved. In Dizhou City, sects like the Jade Rhinoceros Valley and the Divine Evolution Temple had already departed, leaving only Qingling Mountain behind.
As the new Xuantian Order Master, Qingling Mountain had to stay to tie up loose ends—such as handling the affairs of the Purple Flame Realm. With the Di family purged, nearly half of the Purple Flame Realm’s elders and disciples were gone, and the position of sect leader stood vacant.
After careful consideration, Sect Leader Li and Pavilion Master Xu found a capable elder within the Purple Flame Realm who had previously been sidelined for offending Di Xiuyuan. They supported her ascension to leadership.
On the day the new Purple Flame Realm leader took office, Dizhou was renamed Yaozhou.
"Yao"—the "Yao" of Qi Yaoling, the "Yao" of the Yaoling Heart Technique—symbolized radiance and brilliance.
The sun, moon, and stars could all be called "Yao."
This name would forever commemorate the countless predecessors who had sacrificed themselves for the Xuantian Continent over the centuries.
The truth—both good and bad—was now laid bare for all to see.
Tian Sang, Qi Yaoling, Ye Qingrong, the Star-Moon Taoist, Starstone, Moonstone, the Helan family… These individuals and spirits would be recorded in Xuantian’s history, revered alongside the Seven Sages of five hundred years ago, honored by generations to come.
Meanwhile, the Di family and Li Yi, the former Qingling Mountain sect leader who had stolen half of the Lotus Heart, would be condemned by all.
With that, winter gave way to spring.
On an early spring morning, as the ice and snow melted, Wen Shuangbai and her five companions followed the sect leaders, pavilion masters, and elders aboard the Qingling Ship, escorting the Sacred Tower back to Qingling Mountain!
Unlike their quiet departure from Qingling Mountain to Yaozhou for the Xuantian Grand Competition, this time, their triumphant return drew an overwhelming crowd of cultivators and commoners, packing the mountain to the brim.
"Ahhhh! Our Qingling Mountain team of six is finally coming back!!! I’m so excited, my palms are sweating!!!"
"It’s been such a journey! I watched every round of the Xuantian Grand Competition—our Little Wen, Little Xie, Little Yin, Little Li, Little Lu, and Little Shen were absolutely amazing!"
"The crowd keeps growing… Good thing we came early and snagged the best spots, hehe!"
"…"
Among the masses, Wen Xin—now noticeably taller—quietly led her team from the Colorful Fate Pavilion, squeezing through the throng with difficulty.
After her senior brother and sister had mostly recovered from their injuries, Wen Xin had returned to Qingzhou City ahead of them to scout locations and reopen the pavilion.
Qingzhou was their true home base.
The six major shareholders trusted Wen Xin completely, entrusting her with full authority over the Colorful Fate Pavilion. She lived up to their expectations, quickly establishing the business in Qingzhou, where it flourished beyond expectations. In fact, she had been so busy with orders that she arrived late today.
Wen Xin sighed in frustration. "I should’ve just closed shop today… I didn’t expect so many people to welcome Senior Brother and Senior Sister…"
Brother Qiang, a core employee of the pavilion, had mastered the art of flattery: "Little Boss Wen, it’s not your fault. Blame our pavilion’s success! The orders are piled mountain-high—those cultivators just won’t buy from anyone else! Honestly, they could at least try other shops!"
Others chimed in: "Exactly! Other places have decent stuff too—not as good as ours, of course—but why wait half a year just for our pavilion?"
"True…" The employees were well-versed in humblebragging.
At the clearing where the Qingling Ship would land, the Divine Evolution Temple and Jade Rhinoceros Valley had already arrived ahead of time.
The little spirits chattered excitedly with the monks.
Yu Xiaoli spotted Wen Xin in the crowd and called out, "Oh! It’s Little Wen Xin!"
A monk blinked. "Who?"
"Little Wen and Senior Brother Yin’s junior sister!"
"Ah, the junior sister! Bring her over, quick!"
And so, Wen Xin—who had hoped to blend into the crowd—ended up joining the Jade Rhinoceros Valley and Divine Evolution Temple entourage, with Brother Qiang and the others in tow.
"They’re here!" someone suddenly shouted.
The crowd looked up and saw the Qingling Ship soaring toward Qingling Mountain, its elegant stern carrying the gleaming white Sacred Tower.
"Waaahhh! It’s the Sacred Tower, the Sacred Tower!!!!"
"I’m so happy we won’t have to travel all the way to Dizhou to pay respects anymore!"
"Yaozhou! It’s Yaozhou now!"
"Yes, yes! Yaozhou!"
"…"
When the ship landed, the crowd erupted in cheers so loud they shook the heavens.
As the cabin door opened, the six hesitated, exchanging awkward glances—none felt they deserved such a reception.
Wen Shuangbai thought she hadn’t done much; the true heroes were the predecessors who had sacrificed everything. After all, her motivation for competing had always been earning spirit stones… So, she nudged Li Zhuohua. "Senior Sister, you go first!"
"N-no! Not me!" Li Zhuohua stammered, gripping the doorframe before kicking Shen Hefeng. "You go first, you lunatic!"
"Given my vastly superior status, I should go last," Shen Hefeng declared, grabbing Lu Jiayao. "Let Third Lu go—everyone wants to rub off his luck anyway!"
Lu Jiayao shrieked. "No way! I’m scared! There are too many people! Xie Ziyin, you go!"
Xie Ziyin: "?"
He swiftly deflected. "Brother Yin is the eldest. He should go first."
Yin Xuan: "Huh?"
What did his age have to do with it? Plenty here were older than him. His gaze drifted toward the amused elders behind them, and he said gently, "Perhaps the sect leaders and pavilion masters should go first."
Sect Leader Li chuckled. "This is your moment. Go on—don’t keep everyone waiting."
Pavilion Master Xu added, "Yes, they’ve been eager to see the six of you."
"Since when are you all so polite?" Cao Xing, fearing they’d miss the auspicious timing, stepped forward and unceremoniously kicked all six out of the ship.
"It’s them! The team of six! Seeing this, my life is complete!"
"Ahhhhhh!!!!"
Amid the deafening screams, the disciples of the Jade Rhinoceros Valley and Divine Evolution Temple exchanged mischievous glances, catching the six and tossing them into the air.
Laughter and joy filled the air.
---
After the welcome ceremony came the long-awaited Sacred Tower relocation rite.
The disciples stepped aside, clearing the prepared space.
At the auspicious hour, the leaders of the seven major sects worked together to move the Sacred Tower from the ship to its new resting place.
A solemn hush fell over the crowd as they gazed upward in reverence.
Amid the lush bamboo groves and birdsong of spring, the Xuantian Sacred Tower now stood atop Qingling Mountain’s highest peak—forever guarding this vast, beautiful land.
Led by the seven sect leaders, followed by the disciples who participated in the final battle of the Xuantian Grand Competition, and then the pavilion masters, elders, disciples, and commoners in order, everyone bowed three times and kowtowed nine times toward the Sacred Tower with deep reverence.
Wen Shuangbai was devout.
With every bow and every kowtow, countless memories surged through her mind.
When she first arrived in this world, she met her junior sister, then Lu Jiayao, Xie Ziyin, Shen Hefeng, her senior brother, and Senior Sister Li Zhuohua.
In the book—or rather, in the future foreseen by the Star-Moon Taoist—everyone except Lu Jiayao, who was destined to survive, had their tragic fates rewritten.
She and her senior brother lived, so her junior sister Wen Xin did not succumb to vengeance and demonic cultivation. Instead, she found her passion and dedicated herself to expanding the influence of the Caiyuan Pavilion across Xuantian.
Shen Hefeng, though plagued by misfortune after splitting half of his lotus heart, at least had better luck thanks to the jade pendant given by Pavilion Master Xu. Winning at gambling was still impossible, but as the saying goes, "the wicked live long," so he wasn’t dying anytime soon.
As for the others, her friends were all still by her side.
Wen Shuangbai felt immensely grateful.
It was the ancestors within the Sacred Tower who had granted her and those she loved the chance to live.
From now on, as a cultivator of Xuantian, she would devote her life to protecting the world.
And she would cherish every day, savoring every moment.
She thought, this must be what the ancestors wished to see.
...
With that, the ceremony concluded.
Fearing that the gathering might lead to unnecessary dangers, the disciples of Qingling Mountain quickly dispersed the crowd after the rites were completed.
Sect Leader Li led everyone to the main hall of Qingling Mountain, first cordially receiving the representatives of various sects before publicly appointing Wen Shuangbai and several other disciples as young pavilion masters, grooming them as future leaders.
Li Zhuohua, as the sect leader’s daughter, was already the young sect leader. However, Sect Leader Li declared that the other five—or any disciple who wished to compete—could challenge her for the position. The winner would take the role, with no favoritism shown.
Aside from Shen Hefeng, who loudly proclaimed his challenge to Li Zhuohua only to be chased around the hall in a humiliating defeat, no one else showed interest.
Once the ceremony ended, Lu Jiayao happily went off to chat with his little demon friends.
As for Yin Xuan, he wasn’t even keen on being the young master of the Sword Pavilion, but the position was practically forced upon him—Sect Leader Li insisted he take it.
Yin Xuan sighed in frustration. Wasn’t this just bullying him?
Meanwhile, Wen Shuangbai immediately dragged Xie Ziyin to intercept Elder Qian Lai: "Long time no see, Elder Qian! I’ve missed you so much!"
The money-loving elder took one look at the smiling girl and knew exactly why she was here. "Heh, here for your competition rewards, aren’t you?"
Wen Shuangbai didn’t deny it. "Exactly! Elder Qian, when will the rewards be distributed?"
Their team of six had earned a total of 1.1 million sacred stones in the Xuantian Grand Competition, equivalent to over 1.17 billion spirit stones.
With the Di family fallen and the Ziyan Realm left in ruins by their misdeeds, the new Xuantian Order leader, Qingling Mountain, was responsible for the payout.
Given the astronomical sum, Elder Cao had explained back in Yaozhou City that they couldn’t distribute it immediately—they had to return to the sect and consult the higher-ups.
Wen Shuangbai understood.
At the time, everyone was busy purging the Di family’s demonic strongholds, which also required vast amounts of spirit stones, so the matter was postponed.
But now that everything was settled, wasn’t it time to settle their dues?
Nearby, the monks from the Divine Evolution Temple, whose monthly allowances were meager, overheard and immediately swarmed over, greeting Qian Lai with pious smiles. "Amitabha, so you are Elder Qian Lai. We’ve long admired you."
The jade spirits of Yuxi Valley didn’t care much about the reward—they’d nearly forgotten about it—but they loved joining the excitement and soon crowded around as well.
Before long, disciples from the three major sects had Qian Lai encircled.
Outside the crowd, Elder Cao Xing passed by, then quickened his pace and fled without looking back.
Hahaha! His days of suffering were over! He was going on vacation—immediately! If he didn’t leave Qingling Mountain right now, he might never get the chance!
"Enough, enough! You’ll get your rewards, not a single stone less!" Qian Lai’s gruff voice boomed from within the circle. "I was just about to discuss this with you all. Truth is, Qingling Mountain’s spirit stone reserves are insufficient to cover the amount… Stop with the Amitabhas, I’m not finished!"
He glared at the monks before continuing, "The sect leader has approved opening the Spirit Realm for you to mine the stones yourselves."
"Oh?" Wen Shuangbai raised an eyebrow. "We mine them ourselves? Are you sure?"
This was practically like opening the vault and letting them take what they wanted!
"Absolutely," Qian Lai confirmed. "But the Spirit Realm was previously controlled by the Di family. There might be traps, so the sect needs to inspect it thoroughly first. Once it’s deemed safe, you’ll be allowed in—likely in two or three months. I’ll notify you then."
The disciples nodded eagerly, suddenly the picture of patience. "Of course, of course! No rush, we’ll wait…"
They respectfully watched Elder Qian depart.
The moment he left the hall, Qian Lai’s expression darkened. He immediately summoned his subordinates. "Fetch Cao Xing for me."
The subordinate hesitated. "Young Elder Cao has already left. He said he just requested leave from you…"
"That fast?!" Qian Lai’s eyes bulged. "That brat… Fine, he’s earned it. None of you are reliable anyway—I’ll handle it myself!"
When the Spirit Realm opened, he would personally ensure those little rascals didn’t take a single extra stone beyond what they were owed!
Meanwhile, the eleven disciples from Qingling Mountain and the Divine Evolution Temple remained blissfully unaware, grinning from ear to ear, each already scheming.
Only the jade spirits and Lu Jiayao were purely delighted.
Yu Xiaoli chirped, "How wonderful! Does this mean we’ll see each other again in a few months?"
Lu Jiayao nodded. "Exactly! I’ll treat you all to a feast then!"
The little spirits cheered. "Yes, yes!"
Yin Xuan, waiting impatiently, finally herded the group toward the banquet hall like ducklings. "The Qingling banquet is about to begin. Let’s hurry!"
