The replica of the Xuanhuang Linglong Tower was, after all, just a small episode.

But even though the Xuanhuang Tower in front of him is only a mid-grade spiritual treasure, it is still a rare treasure in today's spiritual energy tide environment.

Just to manifest it in the world, a high price must be paid, which is enough to show that the Great Xia court has put a lot of thought into it.

This spiritual treasure-level attic serves as both a safeguard and a deterrent to the sects passing through.

As Shen Yuan and the other two stepped into the Xuanhuang Tower, a concentration of spiritual energy that was completely different from that in the outside world instantly filled their bodies. Looking around, Shen Yuan did not see any reception staff from the Imperial Observatory.

There is a trace of spatial power inside the pavilion, making the space inside much wider than it appears from the outside.

Those coming and going in the pavilion were all practitioners wearing the uniforms of various major sects.

At just a glance, Shen Yuan saw some old acquaintances.

A monk wearing a Taoist robe and carrying a wooden sword covered with talisman papers on his back walked through the corridor. He was obviously a member of the Fujian Sect.

Shen Yuan had come into contact with disciples of the Fu Jian Sect who were controlled by Old Demon Kuang, and even obtained some of the authentic talisman techniques of the Fu Jian Sect, which was quite inspiring to Shen Yuan.

"That is Yunzhou's Fujian Sect, which is considered one of the largest sects under Laojun Mountain. It is backed by the Jinting Mountain Blessed Land, one of the 72 Blessed Lands."

“Not only did the Jinting Mountain blessed land not collapse during the last spiritual energy depletion period, the surviving real people even established contact with the Fujian Sect early on, allowing the Fujian Sect to gain a news advantage when the spiritual energy tide just arrived.

Although there are no outstanding Qi training masters in Fu Jian Sect, there are two geniuses at the peak of Qi transformation realm. "

Xue Mingzhi introduced to Shen Yuan in a low voice.

The tide of spiritual energy is returning at an accelerated pace, and the Qi Transformation Realm is no longer as rare as it was when Shen Yuan set out, but practitioners who can reach the peak of the Qi Transformation Realm at this stage require excellent talent and a large amount of resource support.

In addition to the Fu Jian Sect, Shen Yuan also saw other sects in this pavilion that he had seen in Yunfu Market, including the Hou Tu Sect and the Guanxing Sect.

However, it was somewhat beyond Shen Yuan's expectations. Several people from Houtu Sect were wearing brown robes, but among them there were only three Qi Transformation Realm practitioners, and the highest one was only in the middle Qi Transformation Realm. The remaining ten or so were all at the peak of Essence Refining Realm.

Those practitioners who were at the peak of refining essence were sitting cross-legged in the corner of the floor, constantly inhaling and exhaling spiritual energy. The violent fluctuations of spiritual energy even stirred up a breeze.

Such a scene surprised Shen Yuan a little.

As a large sect backed by a blessed land, even if the Houtu Sect did not have geniuses at the peak of Qi Transformation, it would not send out so many practitioners at the peak of Essence Refining.

Moreover, judging from their behavior, they don't seem to be attending a conference on Taoism. Instead, they are here to absorb the rich spiritual energy in the Xuanhuang Tower.

Noticing Shen Yuan's gaze, Xue Mingzhi followed his gaze and said in surprise:

"Those are the people from Houtu Sect. How dare they come here?"

Shen Yuan looked at Xue Mingzhi in confusion, and Xue Mingzhi immediately said:

“Sir, you don’t know that the blessed land behind Houtu Sect was not originally included in the list of 72 blessed lands, but its heritage is quite impressive and has been passed down for thousands of years.

In this era of spiritual energy tide, Houtu Sect could be said to be one of the first sects to rise to power. It once united many small sects to establish an alliance, and as the leader of the alliance, Houtu Sect could be said to be unrivaled at the time.

Even in the Yunfu Market that they participated in before, Houtu Sect had a place, and even Laojun Mountain did not dare to look down on them."

Shen Yuan pointed at the Houtu Sect disciples who were frantically absorbing and exhaling spiritual energy, and said in a puzzled tone:

"Then how did they end up like this?"

Xue Mingzhi had a strange look on his face, and he seemed to be hesitant to speak, as if he didn't know where to start.

“In fact, the blessed land behind Houtu Sect collapsed long ago when the spiritual energy was exhausted.

However, the disciples of Houtu Sect successfully preserved the tradition of practice during these three thousand years, so they were able to gain momentum in the initial period.

Even taking advantage of this opportunity, Houtu Sect joined forces with various small sects to gain a lot of benefits."

“Such a method can only last for a short time. The sect that has lost its blessed land will have a qualitative gap in its foundation.

In the beginning, they could cover it up with the help of inheritance and some treasures obtained by luck, but after a while, the major sects began to realize that something was wrong.

This is because although two people in Houtu Sect were promoted to the Qi Transformation Realm very early, their cultivation progress was slow after the promotion, and the quality of their disciples was mixed.

Just half a month ago, one of the sects in the Houtu Sect's alliance finally confirmed that the blessed land behind the Houtu Sect had collapsed.

As soon as this news came out, it immediately caused an uproar in the entire sect world. You know, many sects have been deceived by Houtu Sect in the name of learning and exchange and got a lot of benefits.

Suddenly, everyone wanted to kill Hou Tu Sect, and even the Hou Tu Sect's alliance fell apart overnight."

After listening to Xue Mingzhi's narration, Shen Yuan couldn't help but twitch his eyelids.

For a sect without a blessed land behind it to be able to make it to this point, it must be said that it has talents. At this moment, Shen Yuan was finally convinced that those people from Houtu Sect came to Xuanhuang Tower to take advantage of them.

The concentration of spiritual energy in Xuanhuang Tower is much higher than that in the Yunfu Mountains. If Houtu Sect can draw on it for a few days, perhaps a few Qi Transformation Realm cultivators can be born.

However, considering what Houtu Sect had done in the past, Shen Yuan was very curious about how they survived.

"After those sects found out, didn't they attack Houtu Sect?" Xue Mingzhi's mouth twitched slightly:

“The Houtu Sect was able to do this because they had been prepared for it.

The things they had defrauded were not precious to those large sects that owned blessed lands. In addition, those he had visited were all famous and upright sects, and no one was willing to admit that they had been deceived by a sect that did not have a blessed land inheritance. The whole thing could not be made public and had to be left unresolved.

As for the sect alliance, Houtu Sect has nothing to worry about, because all members of the sect alliance are carefully selected by Houtu Sect from small sects that do not have the foundation of blessed land to suppress, or are impoverished sects whose ancestors were once wealthy.

These sects joined the sect alliance with the intention of clinging to the powerful Fudi behind Houtu Sect and taking advantage of Fudi's reputation, but ended up being fleeced by Houtu Sect.

None of them alone can compete with Houtu Sect, but it is also unrealistic for them all to unite to fight against Houtu Sect. The various sects have their own ulterior motives in joining together, and there is no basis for cooperation at all.

Even if the matter of the blessed land is exposed, the Houtu Sect will only lose its reputation and some secular industries, and the other losses will not be much."

Speaking of this, Xue Mingzhi couldn't help but sigh:

“Although no major sect is willing to take action against Houtu Sect openly, there are definitely many sects that want to retaliate secretly.

If Houtu Sect stayed within the sect, things would be fine, but this time they went out in such a grand manner, which was beyond my expectations."

Shen Yuan heard this and shook his head slightly:

“No, it would be really smart for them to attend the conference.

If we insist on staying within the sect, the gap between us and other sects will only get bigger due to the lack of resources.

When more sects give birth to high-level practitioners, the only thing waiting for Houtu Sect is destruction."

After a slight pause, Shen Yuan continued to explain:

"The Dao Discussion Conference is essentially the Imperial Astronomical Observatory trying to interfere in the affairs of the sect. Houtu Sect's participation in the Dao Discussion Conference can establish a relationship with the Imperial Astronomical Observatory. If it involves the affairs of the sect later, the Imperial Astronomical Observatory can intervene and interfere.

In addition, the spiritual energy in the Xuanhuang Tower is much richer than that of ordinary spiritual veins. He brought all the disciples who have reached the peak of refining essence here, and used the time when the Dao Discussion Conference was open to absorb and exhale spiritual energy.

You should know that the biggest hurdle in refining essence into qi is the technique and spiritual energy. As long as the spiritual energy is sufficient and the talent is not too bad, you can cross this hurdle.

As long as one-third of these dozen disciples who have reached the peak of refining essence can complete the promotion, the strength of Houtu Sect will be doubled.

Even if a sect wanted to take action, it would be difficult to quickly deal with so many Qi Transformation Realm cultivators unless it sent out strong men in the Qi Condensation Realm.

There shouldn't be any Qi training masters in the sect that Hou Tu Zong offended, right?"

Xue Mingzhi was slightly stunned, and then immediately said:

"Those who can advance to Qi training during this period are all from large blessed places that rank among the top, or from certain caves. Even if Houtu Sect has the guts to do so, they would not dare to provoke them."

After finishing speaking, Xue Mingzhi said with admiration:

"Sir, you are very thoughtful. I am short-sighted."

Shen Yuan ignored Xue Mingzhi's compliment and fell into deep thought.

Although Houtu Sect's actions are somewhat absurd, it is undeniable that as a sect that has lost its blessed land and has no geniuses, what Houtu Sect has come so far is already its limit.

Looking ahead, the Xuanming Temple behind Xuankong and Xuanle is the current situation of most of the sects in the blessed lands.

You must know that behind Xuanming Temple are the seventy-two blessed places, and its foundation is much deeper than that of Houtu Sect during its peak period. But now it has fallen to a level far inferior to Houtu Sect.

"The spiritual energy dried up and the blessed land collapsed. It may seem like just a short sentence, but it represents the demise of a once-powerful force in the long river of history.

In these ten thousand years, I wonder how many sects have experienced such things.

After a long time of erosion, the lost heritage may not even leave behind legends.

Because it is almost impossible for a sect without a blessed land to survive the long three thousand years of spiritual energy depletion period and pass on its heritage to the next spiritual energy tide era.

This is like a gamble that is doomed to fail. The period of spiritual energy exhaustion can come countless times, but everyone only has one chance. Once you fail, there is no recovery. "

Shen Yuan's mood became slightly heavy. Gong Buyu, who was holding Bai Xue, seemed to have noticed something and looked at Shen Yuan curiously.

At this moment, the entire Xuanhuang Tower suddenly shook. All the practitioners in the sects were stunned. Even the Houtu Sect, which was taking advantage of the situation, stopped absorbing and exhaling spiritual energy.

“Bang!”

The middle-aged man with the highest cultivation level in Houtu Sect slapped a young man at the peak of his refining level on the head and said with a ferocious look:

"What are you guys watching? Hurry up and practice!"

"This is an opportunity that I have fought so hard for. If you still can't break through the Qi transformation stage in such a good environment, you will have to go down to the mine with me to explore for a month after you return!"

As soon as these words were spoken, all Houtu Sect cultivators who were at the peak of refining spiritual energy immediately began to swallow and exhale spiritual energy in large gulps.

The unremarkable Houtu Sect diluted some of the tense atmosphere in the pavilion. Everyone looked out the window and saw that at the confluence of the Jishui and the Yellow River, thousands of aquatic creatures were rushing towards the place like a tide. The violent waves, under the control of the aquatic creatures, continued to shake the Xuanhuang Tower.

At the front of all the aquatic creatures, a young man who had lost both legs sat on a dragon, staring in the direction of Xuanhuang Tower with a gloomy expression.

The green dragon under him headed straight for Xuanhuang Tower.