Chapter 230. Alliance of the Celestial Ruins (Organization)

Thanks to this connection, the Meng family had developed at an astonishing pace, now boasting 7 Foundation Establishment cultivators among their ranks—2 of whom had even reached Foundation Establishment, Late Stage.

Meng Xingwan was truly exceptional among them, having already reached the seventh level of Foundation Building at a young age. In the future, she might even attempt to break through to the Purple Mansion realm twice.

Rumor had it that even Kael held some affection for her, but it was a case of unrequited love—Meng Xingwan gently declined his advances.

The Old Patriarch cast a glance at Meng Xingwan and the several Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Meng Clan beside her, then nodded with a faint smile.

"Where is Cousin Xinghe today?"

Patriarch...

Meng Xingwan hesitated slightly before saying, "The clan leader has been bedridden for many days. I'm afraid he won't last much longer."

"How is that possible?"

The old clan leader's expression shifted slightly as he couldn't resist asking, "Didn't I gift him several Life-Extending Spirit Apricots some years ago?"

The clan leader, feeling sorry for his grandson, gave the Spirit Apricot to his clansman Luo Yuan.

Beside them, a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Meng family looked despondent and murmured in a low voice.

The old clan leader let out a sigh, his eyes dimming slightly. Just as mortals face the cycles of life and death, so does the moon wax and wane through its phases.

Within the clan, many of the Nian generation such as Nian Yong, Nian Yuan, and Nian Qian had nearly exhausted their lifespans. There was no shortage of cultivators in need of life-extending treasures, yet he couldn't indefinitely deplete the clan's precious resources by bestowing them upon others.

Years ago, Patriarch Mu Xuanming of the Mu Clan purchased a 5 Elements Treasure Crystal in an attempt to break through to the Purple Mansion realm. Yet he ultimately failed, exhausted his lifespan, and passed away seated in meditation within his cave abode. Now, Meng Xinghe too was nearing his end. Of the cultivators from his generation, only a handful remained.

The old clan leader was in poor spirits and had little heart to continue the conversation.

Eldrin glanced at the assembly and casually tossed a vial of elixirs to Meng Xingwan. "I shall have someone deliver another Longevity Treasure Apricot," he declared. "No 1 is permitted to lay hands on this particular apricot again."

"Thank you..."

Meng Xingwan received the jade bottle and promptly expressed her gratitude, only to discover he had already vanished into the distance.

She could only stand there quietly, watching the snow-white figure recede into the distance until it vanished at the edge of the world.

In this life without you, I wander alone through the mortal dust.

In this life, 1 glimpse of you has ruined my entire existence.

A person's life is always filled with regrets and powerlessness.

Ascending Celestial Ruins Mountain (Location), 1 finds pavilions and towers standing in great numbers amidst the mountain ridges.

The Zifu Elders and Foundation Establishment cultivators waited in small clusters, clearly anticipating the commencement of the alliance gathering.

Upon seeing Eldrin's arrival, 4 or 5 cultivators including Percival and Xavier from Border Province stepped forward.

Beside Percival stood a young man named Pan Lingran, a newly ascended Purple Palace realm cultivator from the Pan family. Eldrin recognized him at once. Xavier, whose cultivation had now broken through to the 7th level of the Purple Palace, said with a joyful expression, "Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Chen, on your remarkable advancement. Having reached Purple Palace, Mid Stage, I fear even this old man may no longer be your match."

"Not at all. With your cultivation having reached the Purple Palace, Late Stage, Fellow Daoist, you may very well have prospects of forming a Golden Core in the future."

Eldrin smiled faintly and said, "Xavier is not yet 3 100 years old. At his age, reaching the Late Stage of Purple Palace suggests he'll likely have 2 opportunities to attempt forming the Golden Core."

If 1 was willing to spend a fortune on longevity pills, living past 5 100 years would be effortless, and there might truly be a 20 percent chance of breaking through to the Golden Core realm in the future. However, the Golden Core Heavenly Tribulation is notoriously difficult to withstand—it would require destroying at least several top-grade tier-3 magic treasures to have any hope of surviving the ordeal. Ultimately, it depends on whether the Xu Family possesses the resources to afford such a cost.

The thought had just flashed through his mind when Eldrin’s gaze shifted into the distance.

Xavier seized the opportunity to explain, "Those are fellow Daoists from the Purple Mansions of the 2 Qingyang provinces."

As Xavier introduced them, Eldrin and the old clan leader gained a clear understanding of these cultivators' origins.

Currently, there are 8 Purple Manor clans across the 2 provinces of Qingyang, collectively boasting 15 Purple Manor cultivators—6 more than those from the Qingyang Sect.

Among these 15 Purple Palace (Cultivation Realm) practitioners, 2 were at the Purple Palace, Late Stage, while the rest were in the early or middle stages of the Purple Palace realm.

This time, the 8 great immortal clans of Qingyang and the 2 neighboring provinces dispatched 8 Purple Palace realm cultivators, among whom were the 2 ancestors at Purple Palace, Late Stage (Cultivation Realm).

2 Patriarchs of the Purple Palace, Late Stage (Cultivation Realm)—1 was Fang Qingmei from the Yangzhou Yunyang County's Fang Immortal Clan (Organization). This female cultivator, at the seventh level of the Purple Mansion, possessed cultivation on par with Xavier (Person Name), though she had only recently broken through to this realm.

The other was Patriarch Qian from the Qingzhou Mo Immortal Clan. His cultivation had reached the ninth level of Foundation Establishment. The Qian Clan boasted 4 Purple Mansion cultivators, ranking among the top 3 Purple Mansion clans in the Chu Kingdom. They were nearly comparable to the Yan Clan of the notorious Yan Lao Mo.

Elder Qian was now 4 100 and 60 years of age, yet thanks to consuming 3 Third-Grade Life-Extending Pills, he still had 30 years of lifespan remaining.

At this moment, Patriarch Qian (Person Name) had actually come personally to Celestial Ruins Mountain (Location). It was clear he intended to settle this debt with the Qingyang Sect (Organization) before his vital essence blood had completely dried up.

During the previous beast tide invasion, the Qian Clan lost 2 Golden Core Elders in battle. Of the over 30 Foundation Establishment cultivators who participated in the conflict, nearly all perished. Yet Patriarch Xu of the Green Sun Sect fled without engaging in combat. This reveals the depth of resentment the Qian Clan holds toward the Green Sun Sect.

Just as they were getting acquainted, the Alliance of the Celestial Ruins (Organization) finally commenced.

Lyra emerged from her secluded cultivation to meet the assembly, whereupon Elara, standing nearby, addressed the gathering: "Honored allies, while the Qingyang Sect monopolizes the greatest benefits across 3 provinces, they show no inclination to safeguard these very territories."

"We fought blood-soaked battles on the front lines for humanity, yet they hoard the captured resources without distributing compensation, flee without engaging when facing demonic hordes, and lounge in the rear enjoying spiritual and terrestrial ley lines."

"Now that our Master has formed his Golden Core, he will naturally no longer tolerate the existence of parasites like the Azure Sun Sect."

"This time, the Alliance of the Celestial Ruins (Organization) seeks to forge an agreement with all present—to jointly assault Qingyang Mountain and demand justice for our countless fallen cultivators."

As Elara's words fell, everyone nodded repeatedly, clearly having waited for this moment for many years in their hearts.

Seeing everyone was satisfied, Elara handed each person a contract.

Eldrin was thoroughly familiar with this contract. In essence, it was merely an extended version of the former Celestial Ruins Mountain alliance pact from Bianzhou, albeit with certain modifications.

After confirming there were no surprises, Eldrin signed the contract with the elder chieftain representing the Chen Immortal Clan.

The alliance gathering lasted for 3 full hours. Celestial Ruins Mountain (Location) hosted a grand feast for all attendees, with festivities continuing until the following day before concluding.

After the event concluded, the crowd did not disperse. Coincidentally, over 20-some Zi Palace cultivators had gathered at that moment, and everyone decided to convene an exchange assembly.

The trade gathering was held at the Celestial Ruins Pavilion. Elara (Person Name), representing Celestial Ruins Mountain (Location), stepped forward first and presented 3 treasures.

These 3 treasures consisted of a bottle of third-grade precious pills, a fourth-grade low-tier spirit talisman, and several third-grade high-tier spirit talismans.

With the great battle looming on the horizon, the importance of these spirit talismans and elixirs naturally goes without saying.

Elder Qian expended 400,000 spirit stones to acquire that fourth-tier lower-grade Heaven's Ruin Immortal-Slaying Sword Talisman, while the precious pill fell into the hands of Fairy Fang of Yunyang County.

3 third-grade, top-tier spirit talismans were purchased by Xavier (Person Name) at a steep price.

Eldrin (Person Name) stepped forward as the second participant, producing 2 Violet Qi Cloud-Vein Pills and 5 Cloud-Vein Creation Pills as he declared.

"Esteemed guests, I trust you all understand the value of these 2 treasures."

"2 Violet Qi Cloud-Pattern Pills in exchange for 1 top-grade third-tier magical treasure. As for the Cloud-Pattern Creation Pills, you may name any price."