Chapter 306: Choice

Since Elder Tianhe was giving it, he naturally accepted it.

"These twelve invitations." Luo Feng sat in his courtyard, gazing at the night view of Rainmist City, his brows slightly furrowed. "The other eleven invitations can be set aside. The most crucial one is... Palace Lord Yuanxiang's invitation."

"Among the three Palace Lords, only Palace Lord Yuanxiang invited me?" Luo Feng was a little puzzled. This didn't align with the information he had. Among the three Palace Lords, there was no need to mention Palace Lord Gaitao; he focused solely on artifact refinement, and the Elders around him were all interested in it. Naturally, he wouldn't actively invite Luo Feng.

However, Palace Lord Weiyang not sending an invitation was quite unusual. "Palace Lord Weiyang loves to recruit Elders! Although he joined Rainmist City later, he has attracted the largest number of Elder-level beings in the entire city! He usually invites newly promoted Elders," Luo Feng mused. "But he didn't invite me!" There were over 700 individuals with Elder-level strength in the city, and 327 had passed the Elder test to gain Elder status. Palace Lord Weiyang's enthusiastic recruitment of numerous Elder-level beings had given him the strongest influence in the entire city. "Coincidentally, I don't approve of Palace Lord Weiyang's methods," Luo Feng thought. The forces involved in theft and plunder were all under Palace Lord Weiyang.

"Tomorrow, I'll go see Palace Lord Yuanxiang!" Luo Feng was curious about Palace Lord Yuanxiang, who was, after all, Rainmist City's founder! As the builder of Rainmist City, Palace Lord Yuanxiang's residence was originally the largest in the city. However, Palace Lord Weiyang later took over multiple residences and combined them into one, making his significantly larger than Palace Lord Yuanxiang's.

Luo Feng arrived at the main entrance of the residence. The main gate was wide open. A slender man stood there, smiling as he looked at Luo Feng. "God Emperor Luo Feng," he began, "the Palace Lord has been waiting for you. Please follow me." This slender man wore loose robes, but his body was quite hairy. "Thank you, General Di San," Luo Feng said politely.

Palace Lord Yuanxiang had three puppets under his command, each possessing power comparable to a peak God Emperor or a low-level Chaos Source Being. This meant that if these three puppets were ranked among the God Emperors in Rainmist City, they would all be in the top fifty. "As expected of the one who built Rainmist City; his foundation is deep, and even his subordinates possess such formidable strength," Luo Feng thought. "This is far stronger than the foundations of the two Ancestors in Origin Continent." As they walked through the residence, a moment later, in a garden, Luo Feng saw a figure seated on the ground, smiling as he looked over. "Luo Feng, come, sit."

Although Luo Feng had received information about him previously, this was the first time he saw Palace Lord Yuanxiang's true appearance. Palace Lord Yuanxiang's appearance wasn't particularly handsome, but he naturally exuded endless charm. Luo Feng couldn't help but feel a sense of goodwill upon seeing him.

"Palace Lord, your subordinate takes his leave," General Di San said respectfully. Palace Lord Yuanxiang smiled and nodded. Luo Feng then walked over and sat down opposite Palace Lord Yuanxiang.

"This Palace Lord Yuanxiang's aura is indeed very weak." Seeing him up close, Luo Feng could sense that even as Palace Lord Yuanxiang sat on the ground, there was a faint hint of weariness about him. It was incredible for someone at this level of cultivation to still feel tired. Luo Feng even sensed that the other's life-fire was struggling to sustain itself.

"It's an old ailment," Palace Lord Yuanxiang said, pouring wine for Luo Feng himself with a smile. "Back then, I went hunting transcendent-level low-level Chaos Source Beings with some friends. We were used to hunting them, but who would have thought one of them would break through and become a high-level Chaos Source Being! After a close encounter with a high-level Chaos Source Being, I ended up like this," Palace Lord Yuanxiang sighed.

"Is there no way to resolve the contamination?" Luo Feng asked. Palace Lord Yuanxiang smiled as he looked at Luo Feng. "According to the records in the Dark Saint Realm, only by having one's mind and will transcend its confinement can one escape this contamination. This is the only way to get rid of it."

Those who faced the high-level Chaos Source Being died on the spot. As powerful beings from a Source World, even their avatars in their home Source World, with shared memories, were contaminated. Clearly, that high-level Chaos Source Being had strong killing intent, wishing to completely obliterate these cultivators. Fortunately, Palace Lord Yuanxiang had the protection of his Source World and secret techniques to guard his mind and will, allowing him to barely survive.

"Since then, I've had to focus solely on cultivating my mind and will," Palace Lord Yuanxiang chuckled. "And because it was too boring, I used my merits to apply for city construction in the Nine Rivers Saint Realm, which is this Rainmist City." Luo Feng listened. The war merits required for city construction were extremely high, indicating that Palace Lord Yuanxiang was originally very powerful and had accumulated a vast amount of merits. Even after being contaminated, during the city's construction, the strength he displayed was still superior to Palace Lord Weiyang's. The reason he ranked second in the city was that, under the contamination, merely maintaining his consciousness was difficult. Naturally, if he could avoid acting, he wouldn't. He also had no desire to contend for power or profit.

On one side was Palace Lord Yuanxiang, who didn't contend for power and rarely took action. On the other was Palace Lord Weiyang, who actively recruited powerful figures from all sides and frequently intervened. Palace Lord Weiyang's influence was naturally stronger.

"I heard that Palace Lord Yuanxiang rarely invites God Emperors," Luo Feng said. "This time, the Palace Lord invited me..."

"You are different." Palace Lord Yuanxiang looked at Luo Feng. "Yesterday, after you defeated Elder Tianhe, I inquired about the two God Emperors from your Origin Continent in the Dark Saint Realm." Luo Feng was startled. Palace Lord Yuanxiang had asked the two God Emperors of Origin Continent, the two Ancestors of the two nations, in the Dark Saint Realm. "Although my strength is weaker now, I still have some prestige," Palace Lord Yuanxiang chuckled. "I found them both, and they briefly spoke about you."

"In just over a thousand eras, from Eternal True God to early God Emperor stage.""Then, in another thousand-plus eras, from early God Emperor to late God Emperor stage! Even overpowering Elder Tianhe." Palace Lord Yuanxiang looked at Luo Feng. "You are far stronger than I was in my youth." Luo Feng was secretly astonished. The other party knew all his information.

"I harbor no hostility," Palace Lord Yuanxiang said with a smile. "Right now, I'm just barely surviving. Breaking through the confinement of my mind and will is incredibly difficult; I don't even know if there's any hope in this life. However, Rainmist City was built by my own hands, and I can feel that the low-level Chaos Source Being race's infiltration into Rainmist City is growing stronger." Palace Lord Yuanxiang looked at Luo Feng. "I'm concerned that Rainmist City might be breached one day. If that happens, the hundreds of millions of cultivators within the city will face a terrible catastrophe." Luo Feng nodded. Cities are built, but they are also destroyed.

"I know Weiyang's character; he is extremely selfish," Palace Lord Yuanxiang shook his head. "He came to Rainmist City to earn resources. If things go south, he'll only look out for himself. This city was built by me, and the hundreds of millions of cultivators who came here are also connected to my karma," Palace Lord Yuanxiang said. "I don't want to see hundreds of millions of cultivators die tragically in a catastrophe! That's why I invited you here."

Palace Lord Yuanxiang looked at Luo Feng. "Your talent is something Weiyang and the others can't compare to! Once you grow stronger, your individual power will be far greater than all the Elders combined! As long as your strength is sufficient, I can transfer the maximum authority of the 'City Founder' to you then," Palace Lord Yuanxiang said, looking at Luo Feng.

"The City Founder's authority?" Luo Feng was surprised. "Yes, the rules within the city were set by me," Palace Lord Yuanxiang looked at Luo Feng. "The reason I'm willing to give Palace Lord Weiyang more benefits now is to tie him down. I can also choose to reduce his benefits."

"Of course, your strength must surpass both Weiyang and Gaitao," Palace Lord Yuanxiang stated. "What kind of strength would be considered surpassing them?" Luo Feng asked. "They are both Half-Chaos Source level Comprehenders, with profound accumulations and numerous treasures," Palace Lord Yuanxiang chuckled. "For you to truly surpass them, you must at least cultivate two paths, and both paths must reach the Half-Chaos Source level. Once that happens... I can entrust you with the City Founder's authority."

Mastering two Half-Chaos Source level paths... Currently, his Path of Life and Path of Destruction were only at the mid God Emperor stage, and his Path of Genesis and Annihilation was still at the early God Emperor stage. "I'm still quite far from that," Luo Feng said. "With your talent, it won't take long," Palace Lord Yuanxiang smiled. "I've seen individuals with such extraordinary talent in the Dark Saint Realm. I believe you'll reach this stage within ten thousand eras." When Palace Lord Yuanxiang was at his full strength, he was already a peerless powerhouse renowned in the Dark Saint Realm. If the two Ancestors of the nations were considered at the bottom tier of the Dark Saint Realm, Palace Lord Yuanxiang was already considered to be at a high level!

"Palace Lord truly believes in me," Luo Feng said. Palace Lord Yuanxiang flipped his hand, presenting Luo Feng with a spatial wristband, and chuckled, "A small gift for our first meeting." The spatial wristband was ownerless, and Luo Feng could penetrate it with a thought. Upon sensing it... Luo Feng was somewhat dazed. Inside the spatial wristband were mountains of Chaos Source Crystals, not as individual small pieces, but cut into large blocks. Each of these large blocks was equivalent in value to a standard Chaos Source Crystal. "Fifty billion Chaos Source Crystals?!" Luo Feng was somewhat dazed. "Just a small token," Palace Lord Yuanxiang chuckled. "Hardly worth mentioning."

Luo Feng thought for a moment, then reached out and accepted it. This was a significant gift. Accepting it meant incurring a great favor! But for his current self, these fifty billion Chaos Source Crystals would be immensely helpful. Seeing Luo Feng accept it, Palace Lord Yuanxiang smiled and nodded, "For now, you just need to focus on your cultivation. There's no need to get involved in other city affairs." Luo Feng nodded, "Thank you, Palace Lord."

After watching Luo Feng depart, Palace Lord Yuanxiang's mood was complex. "The contamination continues to penetrate and torment me, affecting me more deeply. I don't know when I will completely collapse and my consciousness will be extinguished," Palace Lord Yuanxiang felt quite powerless. "Before I die, let me do something for the hundreds of millions of cultivators." Having lived in Rainmist City for so long, he had developed feelings for it. He knew that no city could last forever. But he hoped Rainmist City would endure as long as possible. In Luo Feng, he saw hope.

"Palace Lord, the cultivator 'God Emperor Qufeng' from residence 331297 in Cloud Nine District of the outer city is suspected to be controlled by a low-level Chaos Source Being." A voice echoed in Palace Lord Yuanxiang's ear. "Monitor all movements of 'God Emperor Qufeng' within the city and observe who he associates with," Palace Lord Yuanxiang instructed. "Try to find more infiltrators." "Understood," the voice respectfully replied.

Palace Lord Yuanxiang felt quite exhausted mentally. The low-level Chaos Source Being race possessed diverse talents, and even with all his efforts, Palace Lord Yuanxiang couldn't prevent some of them from infiltrating. Palace Lord Yuanxiang didn't care much about those who infiltrated to kill! What worried him were those who remained dormant, without taking action. If these infiltrators were to erupt, it would spell huge trouble.

Luo Feng was also returning to his own residence at that moment. "Having accepted this gift, I suppose I've chosen a side among the three Palace Lords of Rainmist City," Luo Feng said, smiling as he looked at the spatial wristband on his wrist. Based on the information he had, he was already more inclined towards Palace Lord Yuanxiang.

"To reach that realm within ten thousand eras... The Palace Lord thinks so highly of me?" Luo Feng chuckled as he flew into his own residence.

(End of this chapter)

Taking a day off tomorrow; a new chapter begins the day after.