This year, it was time for Tiandao Sect to hold their Immortals Assembly. People came and went on Mount Yuheng, and the scene was very lively.

　　Ten years ago, Tiandao Sect lost one Nascent Soul cultivator on Demonic Mountain, as well as several Core Formation cultivators and many disciples in the low stages. This reduced Tiandao Sect’s strength by a lot and even threatened its title as the number one sect in the Celestial Pole. In response, Tiandao Sect’s superiors made a prompt decision to open the mountain gate and receive disciples widely.

　　If this was the past, although this decision couldn’t immediately solve the problem, it might help Tiandao Sect slowly restore its strength after more than a hundred years, and Tiandao Sect would be able to sit comfortably in the top position.

　　But more than seventy years ago, after that Demonic Beast Riot, each sect had just bounced back when they experienced yet another catastrophe, so they all decided to open their gates and recruit disciples. All factions were immediately then competing for disciples. Although Tiandao Sect was crowned as the number one sect, its influence had been reduced and it wasn’t guaranteed they would get enough outstanding disciples in that situation.

　　For this reason, Master Daoist Yanglin, the new head of Tiandao Sect, almost worried his hair white. Although he was a Sect Head, he needed to report to the Nascent Soul Grand Supreme Elders as well as deal with the power struggle. If he couldn’t solve this problem, it was possible that the Nascent Soul Grand Supreme Elders would replace him out of dissatisfaction. The position of Sect Head, though it was like a doormat, was important to the interests of his family, so Master Daoist Yanglin couldn’t just quit.

　　With these considerations in mind, Master Daoist Yanglin even began to envy those painstaking cultivators. Although they had no family backing and had to cultivate hard, they could wholeheartedly devote themselves to cultivation, not needing to worry about these mundane affairs. That was a fortunate thing!

　　However, no matter how significantly Tiandao Sect had been weakened, it was much better than those minor sects. Once news about the Immortals Assembly spread, numerous low stage cultivators poured into Mount Yuheng. Master Daoist Yanglin only hoped that there would be several talented disciples among them so that he could report the news to the Grand Supreme Elders.

　　“Old Three Wu, why are you here?” On Mount Yuheng, someone shouted among the low-stage cultivators who were all waiting for the Immortals Assembly to start.

　　The man who was addressed was a cultivator in his 30s with a white face and short beard. His cultivation level was only in the seventh layer of the Aura Refining realm. If this was the past, such low-level cultivators could only try their luck in small and unknown sects; they couldn’t think about coming to Tiandao Sect at all because it was totally impossible. But they chanced upon good timing. For ten years, Tiandao Sect had held their Immortals Assembly almost every year, and many disciples in the seventh layer of the Aura Refining realm had been accepted.

　　The man called Old Three Wu turned his head and saw the skinny man who called him. Old Three Wu twitched his mouth and said, “Since you, Li Siyang, came today, why couldn’t I, Wu Sande, come too?”

　　This wasn’t an uncommon sight in the Immortals Assembly of recent years, and it also wasn’t hard to understand. Originally, if Immortals Assemblies were held every three or ten years, a bunch of young cultivators from various regions who mostly didn’t know each other would gather, but they held Immortals Assemblies every year, and there were only a limited number of cultivators who could come to the assemblies, so many of them knew each other.

　　Li Siyang laughed upon hearing Wu Sande’s words, and he went up to clasp Wu Sande’s shoulder, saying, “Old Three Wu, we’ve known each other since childhood. I was just greeting you; I didn’t mean anything by it. Don’t misunderstand me!”

　　“Misunderstand? Hmph!” Wu Sande glanced at Li Siyang quite disdainfully. “Forget about it. If Li Siyang’s words are trustworthy, the Sun would rise from the West!”

　　“Hey hey hey, how can you talk like that?” Li Siyang patted Wu Sande’s shoulder heavily. “Let bygones be bygones. We’re old friends—don’t you think it was fate for us to meet during this Immortals Assembly? Come come come, talk with me. Maybe we can learn from each other.”

　　Wu Sande looked at his “old friend” suspiciously and was finally persuaded. He was right. They were all there at the Immortals Assembly. Although they had conflicts since childhood, they really didn’t have great hatred between them. It was good to chat.

　　The two of them then sought out a corner and began to talk about the Immortals Assembly. They talked about their cultivation and exchanged information.

　　Both of them were in the seventh layer of the Aura Refining realm, and if this was in the past, they really wouldn’t have any chances of entering such a large sect like Tiandao Sect, so they eagerly to grasp this opportunity. Who knew when Tiandao Sect would get enough disciples and stop recruiting?

　　After exchanging information with each other, Li Siyang seemed like he hadn’t expressed his views fully and asked, “Old Three Wu, all seven great cultivation groups are recruiting disciples, so why did you come to Tiandao Sect?”

　　Wu Sande touched his small beard and grunted. “Why? Because it was nearby! Besides, Tiandao Sect is at least crowned as the number one sect. It’s better than other sects.”

　　“No no no,” Li Siyang said as he shook his head. “Old Three Wu, you’re wrong about that.”

　　“I’m wrong?” Wu Sande glared. “How could I be wrong? Among the seven great cultivation groups, Danding School suffered great losses over seventy years ago, so it can only be included in the middle-level sects now; Lingshou Sect specializes in cultivating the art of reining beasts and it’s difficult for ordinary cultivators like us who don’t have talents in reining beats to get in; Zhengfa Sect, well, they specialize in the art of water, but both of us don’t have water spiritual roots; Biyun Sect is also impossible since I’m not a female cultivator and they have high requirements for male cultivators; Gujian Sect seems good, but they use sword cultivation techniques and it’s not easy for us to cultivate from scratch. Through the process of elimination, there’re only Xuanqing School and Tiandao Sect left. Xuanqing School is also good but not as good as Tiandao Sect…”

　　“Wrong wrong wrong!” Li Siyang said it three consecutive times to interrupt Wu Sande then he squinted and said, “Old Three Wu, I might not be as good as you in cultivation, but when it comes to these things, you don’t understand as much as I do!”

　　Wu Sande wasn’t convinced, but Li Siyang admitted he was no better than him in regards to cultivation, which made Wu Sande quite satisfied, so he was fine with being interrupted. But Wu Sande still thought he wasn’t wrong. “How was I wrong? Tell me!”

　　“Actually, you were right about the former part. Danding School, Lingshou Sect, and the others are either weak in strength or aren’t suitable for us, but you said Xuanqing School is weaker than Tiandao Sect, and that’s wrong!”

　　“Why?” Wu Sande widened his eyes and said, “Xuanqing School has always lost out a little to Tiandao Sect. Tiandao Sect lost one Nascent Soul cultivator ten years ago, but it still has six of them, including two who are in the late stage of the Nascent Soul realm! Xuanqing School only has one Nascent Soul cultivator in the late stage. Xuanqing School didn’t lose any Nascent Soul cultivators ten years ago and has five left, but we all know that one cultivator in the late stage of Nascent Soul realm is equal to several cultivators in the early stage! So what do you say!”

　　“Hey! You’re only looking at the surface!” Li Siyang said confidently, “Yes, today’s Tiandao Sect is indeed stronger than Xuanqing School a little in strength, but have you thought about the next few hundred years?”

　　Wu Sande looked at him suspiciously. “What? You’re trying to say there will be many cultivators in Xuanqing School who will advance to the Nascent Soul realm? But there are also many talented disciples in Tiandao Sect. How is it weaker than Xuanqing School?”

　　“It’s not weaker!” They were at Tiandao Sect now. As Li Siyang talked continuously and expressed that Tiandao Sect was weaker than Xuanqing School, he had attracted the attention of many others. Since these cultivators came to attend Tiandao Sect’s Immortals Assembly, they had good feelings about Tiandao Sect. Upon hearing Li Siyang’s words, most of them showed unkind eyes. Li Siyang noticed, of course. He was a smart donut, so he continued unhurriedly, “When did I say Tiandao Sect was weaker than Xuanqing School? I said that it’s too early for you to think that Xuanqing School is doomed to lose to Tiandao Sect! Right, Tiandao Sect is stronger than Xuanqing School in the perspective of Nascent Soul cultivators, but a sect’s strength shouldn’t just rely on Nascent Soul cultivators but also on their thousands of low-stage disciples!”

　　The two of them were surrounded by low-ranking cultivators who were in the Aura Refining realm and wished to enter the sect. Upon hearing this, they were quite pleased and no longer directed their hostility toward Li Siyang.

　　Li Siyang continued, “Have you ever thought how many low-ranking disciples Tiandao Sect lost in the Demonic Beast Riot or in the two Demonic Mountain disasters? They lost at least a thousand disciples who were in the Aura Refining and Foundation Building realms! They even lost seven to eight Core Formation cultivators. Originally, Tiandao Sect was stronger than Xuanqing School because it had a thousand more cultivators in the Aura Refining realm, a hundred more cultivators in the Foundation Building realm, and nearly ten more Core Formation cultivators! Because of this, Tiandao Sect had huge potential and always had one or two Nascent Soul cultivators more than Xuanqing School!”

　　These words attracted the attention of the low-ranking cultivators around. Many of them gathered around, and those who didn’t also pricked up their ears to listen.

　　Li Siyang was even more complacent and raised his voice. “But do you know that Xuanqing School didn’t lose any Aura Refining disciples in the Demonic Beast Riot and few of their low-ranking disciples went to Demonic Mountain because it was too far? According to this, the number of Aura Refining disciples and Core Formation cultivators in Xuanqing School is almost the same as Tiandao Sect, if not more!”

　　As he spoke up to this point, someone cut in and asked, “Fellow Daoist, how did you know all this? You’re not a sect disciple, so how did you know the number of disciples in big sects?”

　　“Hey!” Li Siyang glanced at the cultivator who raised the question then he raised his head and answered, “Brother Daoist, you don’t care about these things, so of course you don’t know! However big a sect is, it doesn’t have ten thousand cultivators. Us small cultivators can’t know the exact number of their cultivators, but we can estimate.”

　　Someone agreed in the crowd. “Right, this fellow Daoist is right. The number of cultivators is no secret. Judging by the number of disciples taken in each year by the sects, we can roughly guess.”

　　“Right, right!” Someone else also echoed. Li Siyang was so happy and he couldn’t help continuing. “I estimated the number just as he said!”

　　“Okay okay.” Someone else couldn’t bear to see Li Siyang’s jauntiness and interrupted him. “Just tell us what you know; why are you talking about these unrelated things?!”

　　Their tone wasn’t polite but what he meant was that he wanted to hear the following content, so Li Siyang didn’t get angry and continued: “Okay, I’ll get on with business. Since Xuanqing School has a similar number of low-ranking disciples as Tiandao Sect, they should be equal in terms of potential. But there’s one more thing—I wonder if you’ve noticed that Xuanqing School suffered little to nothing in the past several incidents! This is very significant for disciples’ mental states. With that in mind, I’m afraid the potential of low-ranking disciples might cause Xuanqing School to surpass Tiandao Sect!”

　　Li Siyang turned to look at the other cultivators who were all pondering in silence and didn’t object to his remarks, so he continued, “So which aspect of Xuanqing School is weaker than Tiandao Sect now? It’s that they have fewer Nascent Soul cultivators! But as you know, many of the Nascent Soul cultivators in Tiandao Sect are going to embark on their last journey shortly, while most Nascent Soul cultivators in Xuanqing School haven’t lived through half their lifespans. Do I need to spell out whose prospects are better? I dare say, though, within a hundred years, if Xuanqing School has a Nascent Soul cultivator first, it’ll be prosperous enough to take the crown as the number one sect in the Celestial Pole!”

　　There was silence in the crowd, and after a moment, someone said enigmatically, “Since that’s the case, why didn’t you go to Xuanqing School, Fellow Daoist? Why did you come to Tiandao Sect’s Immortals Assembly?!”

　　It sounded like he was a total supporter for Tiandao Sect. But Li Siyang wasn’t angry and smiled. “Brother Daoist, you haven’t been to Xuanqing School, have you? Let me tell you—

　　Xuanqing School didn’t lose many low-ranking disciples. They’ve been opening their gates to recruit disciples these past few years, but they’re very strict! I’m a smart person, but when it comes to cultivation, I’m not qualified. I really don’t have the strength!”

　　The man sneered. “Are you so sure that Xuanqing School will add one more Nascent Soul cultivator first? Perhaps Tiandao Sect will retain the lead! They’ll still have more Nascent Soul cultivators than Xuanqing School by then, and they’re stronger. So how could Xuanqing School grab the title as the number one sect in the Celestial Pole?!”

　　“I didn’t say that Xuanqing School would have one more first!” Li Siyang said innocently, “I was just analyzing what might happen. I was saying it was a possibility the whole time; didn’t you hear me?”

　　The crowd nodded. He indeed said that. But even so, Li Siyang’s analysis was reasonable. Those in the crowd who were quite confident in their own cultivation level even began to consider—if Xuanqing School really hadn’t lowered their requirements for recruiting disciples, did it mean that they were really strong? Did they need to go Xuanqing School and have a try?

　　“Hmph!” The man who interrupted Li Siyang before was annoyed to see many cultivators seemingly convinced by him. “Just wait! It must be Tiandao Sect that will have one more Nascent Soul cultivator first! Xuanqing School will still be in second place then!”

　　Li Siyang laughed. “Brother Daoist, you can never know such things. It could be Tiandao Sect, and it could also be Xuanqing School. However, it’s their business; small cultivators like us are just having a discussion. We haven’t entered any sect yet after all!”

　　“Right right!” Wu Sande also spoke for Li Siyang. “We’re just discussing. Fellow Daoist, don’t take it too seriously; don’t be so excited…”

　　As he spoke, thunder suddenly rang out from the distance. Golden lights suddenly flashed in the sky, dazzling people’s eyes. The wind and clouds surged, accompanied by endless thundering.

　　All the cultivators looked up to see countless spiritual lights appearing in the air, including dancing spiritual birds and surging auspicious clouds. A strong spiritual aura pressure came down, and the spiritual aura of small cultivators like them were all stirred into disorder. They could barely breathe, and those who had low cultivation levels even spat out blood and kneeled down.

　　The crowd began to stir and someone shouted, “Why, what’s the meaning of this?”

　　Then some others who had extensive experience shouted, “Celestial phenomena, it’s celestial phenomena! Someone has advanced to the Nascent Soul realm, Nascent Soul ream!”

　　The cultivators who were listening to Li Siyang’s remarks were secretly surprised. Someone else in Tiandao Sect reached the Nascent Soul realm again? It seemed there was no way for Xuanqing School to become the number one sect.

　　Li Siyang and Wu Sande looked at each other with a little bitterness in their eyes. Could it be that coincidental? Then wouldn’t they have busied themselves for nothing? But… there was no doubt it was celestial phenomena associated with advancement to the Nascent Soul realm!

　　In the sky, the golden light became brighter and brighter, gradually turning the auspicious clouds red like fire. The auspicious clouds surged and slowly formed a pattern. With wings open, the tail feathers rose slightly and there was a clear bird song. It was a divine beast phoenix!