Chapter 1583: Primordial Divine Illumination Lotus
Demon King Yao possessed his own cultivation cave heaven within the Hundred Flowers Palace, yet he spent most of his time on the top floor of the Alchemy Hall, reviewing daily accounts. Moreover, when encountering major clients, he had to personally receive them to show his respect.
The account books from the past five days were all piled on a bronze desk, forming a thick stack, indicating that the Hundred Flowers Palace's business was growing increasingly prosperous.
"Ever since the lady came to the Hundred Flowers Palace for secluded cultivation, the number of clients has more than doubled. It seems it's time to have the Thousand Stamen Realm send a few more people over, otherwise, I'll soon be too busy to find time for cultivation."
Demon King Yao thought to himself as he sat down beside the desk, preparing to inspect the accounts. Suddenly, a sharp light surged in his eyes, and he immediately looked around.
Because he noticed that the inkstone on the desk had been moved.
It was a small detail, but it absolutely could not escape Demon King Yao's eyes.
Someone had been here.
This room was a heavily guarded area of the Hundred Flowers Palace, protected by an eighth-rank formation. Who could have silently broken in?
After confirming that no other living being was in the room, Demon King Yao moved the inkstone aside and discovered a note underneath.
Opening the note, he saw a line of text: "King Shang Feng is actually a cultivator from the Black Demon Realm."
After reading the information, Demon King Yao's expression shifted between anger and shock, mixed with some doubt. "Who sent this note? Is the content reliable?"
Although the seven senior experts of the Hundred Flowers Pavilion all belonged to the Thousand Stamen Realm, they came from seven different major powers, representing the interests of different factions.
King Shang Feng hailed from the Shang Die Ancient Clan.
The Black Demon Realm and the Thousand Stamen Realm were separated in the universe by only a medium-sized star domain, essentially neighboring great worlds.
Within the star domain were widely distributed life-bearing planets, ruin realm continents, and mineral-rich treasure stars.
Naturally, the two great worlds had their share of interest disputes, and as these disputes grew, bloodshed became inevitable. Once blood was shed, hatred deepened.
The Thousand Stamen Realm was far more powerful than the Black Demon Realm and had always held the upper hand in conflicts. To seek revenge and seize benefits, the Black Demon Realm had dispatched some infiltrators to embed themselves in the Thousand Stamen Realm.
King Shang Feng was one of the most successful infiltrators, having cultivated all the way to the Five-Step Saint King realm and entered the mid-to-upper ranks of the Hundred Flowers Pavilion.
"If Shang Feng truly is a Black Demon Realm spy, he must be dealt with immediately, lest he rise to an even higher position and cause greater calamity for the Thousand Stamen Realm."
Setting aside the question of who sent the information for now, Demon King Yao left the room and immediately sent a message back to the Thousand Stamen Realm, ordering a thorough investigation into Shang Feng's background.
If Shang Feng really was a Black Demon Realm spy, he would surely have left some traces.
...
Zhang Ruochen stood with his arms crossed in a sea of flowers, gazing from afar at the direction of the Alchemy Hall, watching Demon King Yao's every move, a faint smile curling on his lips.
Having Demon King Yao deal with Shang Feng was the best possible outcome.
"Haha, it's you! Remember me? I'm the one who brought you to the Hundred Flowers Palace." A Heavenly Fire Demon Butterfly flew out from among the sacred flowers, appearing before Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen had already sensed the Heavenly Fire Demon Butterfly's aura, so he showed no surprise. He smiled and said, "I remember, of course I remember."
"My name is Ling Ling. What's your name? I heard you're a big client with a lot of sacred stones. Your identity must be quite extraordinary, right?"
Before Zhang Ruochen could figure out how to answer, the other Heavenly Fire Demon Butterflies flew out, eagerly introducing themselves.
"My name is Xiu Xiu."
"My name is Feng Feng."
"My name is Jing Jing."
...
All eight Heavenly Fire Demon Butterflies, except for the Demon Butterfly Princess, gathered around Zhang Ruochen.
The one called Xiu Xiu blinked her eyes and asked, "What are you doing here all alone?"
The other Heavenly Fire Demon Butterflies also widened their eyes, staring at Zhang Ruochen as if his face had flowers growing on it.
Zhang Ruochen replied calmly, "I originally wanted to go study the Truth Path diagrams left by the Mandala Flower God, but with so many sacred flowers planted here and various formations arranged, I ended up getting lost."
"Hehe."
All the Heavenly Fire Demon Butterflies burst into laughter, then eagerly offered to take Zhang Ruochen there, no longer bothering to ask his name.
In the Scholarly Garden Cave Heaven, Zhang Ruochen had seen records about the Mandala Flower God, learning that she was the most powerful god of the Thousand Stamen Realm and its sovereign ruler. Naturally, Zhang Ruochen was eager to study the Truth Path diagrams left by such a formidable deity.
Following the eight Heavenly Fire Demon Butterflies, he walked through the sea of flowers, passing through one formation after another.
The further he went, the more astonished Zhang Ruochen became. There were far too many sacred flowers planted here. If they were allowed to grow for ten thousand years, each one would be worth a ten-thousand-year sacred medicine.
There were at least a hundred thousand sacred flowers growing here, their value incalculable.
Where did so many sacred flower seeds come from?
And who managed to make them all sprout and bloom so vibrantly? Sacred flower seeds were already expensive, and their germination rate was less than ten percent, making them extremely difficult to cultivate.
So, Zhang Ruochen subtly questioned the eight Heavenly Fire Demon Butterflies and indeed got his answer.
"More than eighty percent of these sacred flowers were planted by Fairy Sister."
"Fairy Sister cultivates the Path of Life. With just a single thought, she can make a hundred flowers bloom. As long as she's here, these sacred flowers can grow ten times faster."
This wasn't the first time Zhang Ruochen had heard the name of Hundred Flowers Fairy Ji Fanxin. A hint of curiosity stirred within him, but before he could ask further, the Heavenly Fire Demon Butterflies all spoke up.
"Fairy Sister is a Primordial Divine Illumination Lotus, born in the cosmic star sea—rootless, leafless—drifting for millions of years. Later, the Mandala Flower God discovered her, brought her back to the Thousand Stamen Realm, took her as a disciple, and passed down cultivation techniques to her. She is the leader of this generation's beings in the Thousand Stamen Realm."
It was worth noting that not all plant-type beings possessed endless lifespans. Many had very short lives, withering year after year. Only the more extraordinary plants had longer lifespans.
One could imagine a Divine Illumination Lotus, born in the distant Primordial Era, drifting through the cosmos, developing intelligence, yet without any cultivation techniques, having to grope and comprehend the great Dao on its own.
To survive for millions of years like that without dying was enough to show just how special it was—truly a miraculous flower of the universe.
As they spoke, the eight Heavenly Fire Demon Butterflies led Zhang Ruochen deep into the sea of flowers, to the foot of a white stone cliff.
Below the cliff was a hundred-zhang-wide jade square. The square was divided into various areas of different sizes and positions, where over a hundred beings sat cross-legged, most of them at the Supreme Saint or Half-Saint King realm.
This was just one of the Thousand Stamen Realm's cultivation grounds. In the Truth Heaven Domain, there were other grounds as well, where other beings from the Thousand Stamen Realm gathered.
Zhang Ruochen wasn't surprised, as he had read in the scrolls that great worlds ranked between the top thousand and top hundred received one quota per day to enter the Truth Temple for cultivation. Over a year, that added up to hundreds of quotas.
Moreover, for a powerful realm like the Thousand Stamen Realm, they could obtain additional quotas through other means.
Thus, it was perfectly normal for the Thousand Stamen Realm to have several hundred outstanding talents in the Truth Heaven Domain.
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen sensed several hostile gazes, all coming from an area on the left side of the square.
A Half-Saint King clad in Roc Sacred Armor said coldly, "Another suitor has arrived, but his cultivation is quite low. I wonder what background he has, daring to reach for the moon."
Beside him sat a tall, burly man, also in Roc Sacred Armor, cracking his finger joints, producing a series of explosive sounds. He said, "Your Highness, let me throw this clueless human brat out of the Hundred Flowers Palace."
Golden Roc Prince opened a pair of golden, gleaming eyes, observing Zhang Ruochen. He found him unfamiliar, never having seen him before. He was probably not a divine son or descendant of a god.
"Go ahead, break his legs and throw him out." A hint of disdain flickered in Golden Roc Prince's eyes.
A tall and a short Half-Saint King, both in Roc Sacred Armor, immediately stood up and walked toward Zhang Ruochen.
Eternal Life Divine Son sat to the right of Golden Roc Prince. He was extremely handsome, neatly dressed, with not a single strand of hair out of place. He let out a light laugh: "A cultivator who can come here to study the Truth Path diagrams must be a distinguished guest of the Hundred Flowers Palace, having at least traded millions of sacred stones with them. This human brat is no simple character."
Golden Roc Prince exuded an overbearing aura, clearly accustomed to being in a position of authority. He snorted, "Millions of sacred stones? Is that a lot? Anyone can obtain that much wealth with a single fortuitous encounter. Besides, I've seen mirror images of almost all the proud sons of heaven on the Sacred Merit Ranking, but this human brat isn't among them."
"A Half-Saint King who can't even make it onto the Sacred Merit Ranking—how great could his background be?"
"Not just any stray cat or dog is qualified to be a suitor of the Hundred Flowers Fairy. This third-rate trash naturally needs to be crippled and thrown out, so he won't bother the fairy like a fly."
Besides Eternal Life Divine Son and Golden Roc Prince, there were several other figures of noble status around, either divine sons and descendants or heavenly sons of ancient civilizations.
These individuals all had cultivation grounds and sacred stores in the Heavenly Capital Sacred Market, yet they chose to spend large amounts of sacred stones on treasures at the Hundred Flowers Palace, becoming VIPs.
Then, they could legitimately stay temporarily at the Hundred Flowers Palace.
Of course, their true purpose wasn't to study the Mandala Flower God's Truth Path diagrams, but to pursue the Hundred Flowers Fairy Ji Fanxin.
Zhang Ruochen's arrival made them feel that another cultivator had come to approach and pursue Ji Fanxin, naturally making them hostile toward him.