Chapter 160: Chapter 82: Are You Going to Kneel and Bow to Me? _1

“Founding Ancestor? What kind of reward is this?”

Shen Yuan looked at the prompt on the system interface in front of him, countless desires to vent his frustrations were bubbling up within him.

“I built such a large scripture depository, especially with the exchange of books for points, and spent over a month cultivating the Six Arts. Is this the generous reward it touted?”

“Leaving aside the enormous amount of effort it took to promote my status, the singular advancement from Sect Master to Founding Ancestor, is this a norm?”

After barely suppressing the chaotic thoughts in his mind, Shen Yuan began to try and clear his thoughts on the main task.

“Firstly, if it was ten thousand years ago, after I advanced to the Qi Transformation Stage, selecting cultivation techniques from the scripture depository of the sect, and receiving a reward after mastering them, should be the normal course.”

“If I, alone, master all the categories of cultivation techniques, it’s fairly easy to stand out among the many external disciples.”

“Breaking away from the status of an external disciple and skipping two ranks, bypassing inner sect disciples, and directly becoming a core disciple seems very reasonable.”

“For the time when the Falling Clouds Sect still existed ten thousand years ago, making a leap and becoming a core disciple, enjoying benefits and status second only to direct disciples, would absolute be a great fortune.”

“Yet ten thousand years later, since I started as the Sect Master of the Falling Clouds, progressing two ranks for me means skipping the Supreme Elder and directly attaining the position of Founding Ancestor.”

“If it was ten thousand years ago, they could directly place my plaques on the top row in the ancestral hall, with a crowd of people giving me their blessings.”

“In terms of the difficulty of promotion, the reward for my task seems to have given me quite an advantage.”

Yet, the crux of the matter is, only I remain from the Falling Clouds Sect; what use is it even if I become the Founding Ancestor?”

At this thought, the corner of Shen Yuan’s mouth twitched. He looked icily up at the complex starry sky above the secret realm, speechless with exasperation.

“The entire Falling Cloud Sect has endured divine punishment for ten thousand years. Could someone really pop out of the grave to pay respect to me?”

Atop Mount Laojun, within the Forefathers Palace, Mo Li, deemed the greatest genius of his generation, respectfully worshipped the statue of the ancestor, holding three sticks of incense.

Sticking the three incense sticks in the burner, a golden halo quietly opened within the Forefathers Palace.

” What matter warrants the opening of Rongcheng’s Fine Jade Grotto Heavens?”

A majestic voice resounded from the golden halo. Through the halo, one could faintly see a world utterly different from the Forefathers Palace.

There were Spirit Flowers and lush green grass everywhere, Spirit Beasts roaming freely among the forests, and ethereal clouds, giving the impression of a secluded Immortal Realm.

Mo Li, his head slightly lowered and with a solemn expression, ceremoniously paid respect to the True Being in front of him:

“Mo Li pays his respects to True Being He. Mo Li has urgent matters and needs to visit the Forefather’s Palace. I ask for your consent.”

True Being He fell silent for a moment. Then, the golden halo expanded to form a spacious passage allowing ordinary people to pass through.

“Opening a passage to the grotto heavens is not cheap. Hurry up and enter!”

Upon hearing this, Mo Li hurriedly stepped into the passage.

Accompanied by a bout of spatial fluctuation, a crushing sense of weightlessness swept over Mo Li’s whole body. By the time spirit essence flooded into his body, Mo Li was already in Rongcheng’s Fine Jade Grotto Heavens.

Compared to the brief glimpse of the miraculous scene outside, only when one truly enters Rongcheng’s Fine Jade Grotto Heavens can they experience what it truly means to be in a heavenly grotto.

Spirit objects, which are difficult to find in the outside world due to the rudimentary return of the Spirit Energy Tidal Surge, are practically everywhere within Rongcheng’s Fine Jade Grotto Heavens.

The vast Earth was brimming with vitality. The Immortal Deer and Spirit Birds residing there curiously watched Mo Li who had just trespassed, their clear eyes filled with curiosity.

All of this seemed so full of vitality and identical to the world in his imagination. However, only Mo Li himself felt a sinking feeling in his heart.

He was abandoned by his parents when he was a child. It was the leader of the Old Ancestor’s Temple who raised him since he was an infant.

Just as the Spirit Energy Tidal Surge was returning, Mo Li demonstrated astonishing talent. Half a year ago, he was an exception and had stepped into this sacred ground named Rongcheng’s Fine Jade Grotto Heavens alongside the numerous peaked disciples.

The first time he stepped into this sacred ground, what he saw was not the Immortal Realm before his eyes, but endless barren mountains and a parched Earth.

Countless Spirit Beast carcasses piled together; the exhausted bones were brittle, Spirit Woods were uprooted, and their spirit essence filled the grotto heavens’ formation.

In order to survive the Spirit Energy depletion of three thousand years, every strand of Spirit Energy in Rongcheng’s Fine Jade Grotto Heavens was thoroughly squeezed out, with no capacity to support so-called spirit plants or Spirit Beasts. Those spirit plants and Spirit Beasts could only provide consumables to maintain the grotto heavens.

Yet this is merely an insignificant part of it. Piles of spirit stones in all corners of the grotto were constantly being filled into the formation to uphold the spirit essence density in Rongcheng’s Fine Jade Grotto Heavens and to maintain the stability of the whole grotto formation.

That was the sight he saw half a year ago on his first entry to the grotto heavens, while on his second entry now, he saw a completely different sky and earth. These exotic flowers and rare plants, Immortal Deers and Spirit Birds made Mo Li feel a little puzzled. Which of these was the true Rongcheng’s Fine Jade Grotto Heavens?

True Being He, who was in charge of guarding the premises, dressed in a deep blue Taoist robe, seeming to have captured the traces of doubt in Mo Li’s eyes, spoke with a smile on his face:

“Are you surprised by the sight of Rongcheng’s Fine Jade Grotto Heavens?”