My low-key cultivation of immortality was discovered by the emperor in my diary.

The moon shines brightly, the night is drawing to a close, and the Milky Way hangs low. (Note 1)

In the misty mountains, the pavilion in the middle of the lake stands alone above the blue waves, surrounded by a light mist.

Old Man Meilin sat alone in the pavilion in the middle of the lake, his face unusually pale, showing obvious fatigue and weakness.

The peak master arrived under the moonlight, slowly stepping into the pavilion in the middle of the lake, and tossed the wine jug in his hand over.

Old Man Meilin reached out and steadily caught it, opened it, and took a sniff. A rich and intoxicating aroma of wine wafted out.

He chuckled softly, "It's lotus seed wine that's at least a hundred years old."

Upon hearing this, the peak master immediately showed a pained expression, but then quickly regained his usual calm and composed demeanor.

These lotus seeds are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain. This lotus seed wine, which has been hidden deep beneath the lotus pond for hundreds of years, uses lotus seeds that were picked up by our ancestors during the last tribulation of the ice lotus. The quantity is scarce, and every pot we drink reduces the supply.

If it weren't for the fact that Elder Merlin suffered a severe backlash from divining heavenly secrets, the Peak Master wouldn't have been willing to use such a treasure to help him heal.

He sat down opposite Elder Meilin and asked in confusion, "Elder Mei, what exactly did you divine this time?"

Merlin's lineage is skilled in divination, and his descendants are all able to discern the secrets of heaven and predict the future.

However, every attempt to glimpse the secrets of heaven comes at the cost of one's own fortune and lifespan.

Therefore, the descendants of Merlin are often cautious in their actions and rarely consult divination or the heavens.

Old Man Meilin, though only forty years old, looked as old as someone in their seventies. This was all because in his youth, he acted impulsively, got into a fight with someone, determined to determine who was superior, and kept casting divinations. Although he ultimately won, he shortened his lifespan considerably.

Since then, he has lived a secluded life, rarely getting involved in worldly disputes, and even less willing to use divination techniques.

This time, he took such a risk and was seriously injured, which makes people curious.

At this moment, the old man Meilin hurriedly drank the lotus seed wine and began to refine its medicinal properties.

Upon hearing this, he said with lingering fear, "Alas, it was the Ten Directions Forest that asked this old man to divine the truth of the matter of demons appearing in the world."

"So that's what it was about..." the peak master murmured.

Wushan is detached from worldly affairs, indifferent to worldly matters, and is thousands of miles away from the capital city, making it isolated from news.

Nevertheless, rumors about Chu Lengyu, demons, and the Nine Cauldrons inevitably spread through the Ten Directions Forest.

Especially the Jade Cauldron Pavilion, which almost emptied out and headed to the capital.

After all, Master Lu's letter was like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.

In his letter, he described the existence of "immortal cultivators" with absolute certainty, which shocked everyone.

That wasn't all. In his letter, Master Lu continued to throw out all sorts of novel and unusual things that they had never heard of before, such as door gods and Yellow Turban warriors, or mid-grade spirit stones...

People in and around Wushan were restless and discussing the matter.

Even the peak master couldn't resist the temptation and secretly sent people day and night to the capital to find out the truth.

Unexpectedly, the Ten Directions Forest found the plum grove, hoping to obtain the answer through a trick.

As for what reward they offered that would entice Elder Merlin, the Peak Master didn't care.

In the pavilion in the middle of the lake, the night was as dark as ink, and a gentle breeze stirred up ripples.

The old man, Merlin, looked distressed and spoke in a heavy tone: “That day, I accepted the request from the Ten Directions Forest, thinking it was just an ordinary matter.”

Unexpectedly, the moment I opened the divination, I felt the world change color, and an ominous aura enveloped my heart. "I have cultivated for decades, weathering countless storms, yet I have never felt such a strong sense of crisis."

Recalling how he felt at that time, he still feels extremely scared. He carefully took out a handful of broken wooden sticks from his pocket and gently placed them on the stone table.

Those wooden slips, each carved with an exquisite plum blossom pattern, are the treasures passed down through generations of the Plum Grove family—the Thirteen Plum Blossom Slips.

At this moment, they were all broken, the broken ends charred black, as if struck by lightning, a shocking sight.

Upon seeing this, the peak master could not hide his surprise and couldn't help but gasp.

His gaze was fixed on the shattered wooden sticks, and he asked incredulously, "This...this is the Thirteen Plum Blossom Sticks? They're all broken!?"

The Thirteen Plum Blossom Oracle is an ancestral ritual artifact of the Plum Forest lineage, passed down for hundreds of years, and is extremely efficacious.

Even beginners in divination can use it to find the answer to their questions, with a success rate of seven or eight out of ten.

Now, it has been damaged to this extent in the divination process, how could he not be shocked?

Looking at the shattered wooden divination sticks, an expression of regret and self-reproach flashed in the old man's eyes: "I sensed something was wrong and immediately forcibly interrupted the divination, but Heaven had already sensed it and sent down punishment. It was the Thirteen Plum Blossom divination sticks that took the calamity of heavenly lightning for me; otherwise, I would probably have been annihilated long ago."

His voice trembled slightly as he spoke, clearly still shaken.

However, even though he survived, the old man Merlin's pain did not lessen in the slightest.

The destruction of his ancestral artifact, which was beyond repair, was undoubtedly a huge blow to him.

What worries him even more is that without the Thirteen Plum Blossom Divination slips, what will become of the Plum Blossom lineage? Although he possesses exceptional divination skills, if no one inherits his legacy, this lineage will ultimately be severed in his hands.

At that time, not only will Wushan's position be in jeopardy, but the Meilin lineage will also fade into obscurity and decline.

The peak master's expression hardened, and he fell silent, realizing that this matter was not so simple.

The Way of Heaven is silent and formless, governing all things in the world. It has no time to pay attention to any one person, nor will it easily send down divine punishment.

Matters involving demons are indeed of utmost importance...

After a moment of contemplation, the peak master asked, "In Elder Mei's opinion, how much of what Alchemist Lu said is true or false?"

The old man in the plum blossoms gazed at the snow-covered lake, stroking the empty wine jug in his hand, and said softly, "The peak master must have already sent someone to verify it. We'll soon know whether it's true or not."

The peak master laughed, concealing some of the embarrassment of being exposed, and explained, "This Chu Lengyu is really strange. Suddenly he became the Grand Preceptor of Great Xia and stirred up a bloody storm."

Moreover, she actually ordered the casting of nine tripods. What was her intention? Was she trying to emulate the ancients, or did she have other plans? The truth about this woman's character concerns the safety of the world; I must investigate.”

"It's good that the Peak Master knows what's going on," Elder Merlin replied.

Above the misty mountain, apart from the Bai family, the four lineages of plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum each have their own strengths. Now that the thirteen plum blossom divination slips have been broken, the plum grove lineage will have to keep a low profile for a while.

With divine retribution already in effect, Elder Merlin realized that turbulent times were likely to follow, and the world would undergo a great upheaval, if one day demons truly ran rampant...

Both of them fell into deep thought.

The peak master sat there quietly for a while, then left on his own.

This icy lake connects to the lotus pond where the ice lotuses on the mountaintop reside. It is extremely cold, and even ordinary cultivators would find it difficult to stay there for long.

The old man Meilin needed the power of this icy cold to heal his injuries, which is why he rested here.

The cold night was silent, desolate, and lonely.

At the lotus pond atop the mountain, the legendary thousand-year-old ice lotus blooms quietly, its petals a rare ice blue, as if carved from glass, cold and beautiful, pure.

Its jade is of lofty and solitary quality, standing tall and unique, utterly free from any trace of worldly dust. (Note 2)

The night was deep and all was quiet, except for the ice lotus that emitted a faint blue light, which gave everything around the lotus pond a dreamy and mysterious color.

Its icy mist swirls around the entire Fog Mountain, forming a natural barrier that protects its tranquility.

However, beneath the seemingly peaceful night, an undercurrent was quietly brewing.

At the foot of the mountain, a wisp of black mist drifted up silently like a ghost.

It cleverly used the cover of night to conceal all its movements and silently infiltrated the ice fog formation without alerting anyone.

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Note 1: The moon shines brightly, the night is drawing to a close, and the Milky Way hangs low. —Du Renjie, "Jixianbinbei"

Note 2: Her jade-like quality is lofty and solitary, her innate beauty radiant and intelligent. She is utterly free from worldly dust. Like a white lotus locked in an empty palace, her fragrance is secluded, standing tall and alone in the autumn light. —Cai Shen, "Ta Sha Xing"