On a life-bearing planet, if a star-level sect exists, there’s usually just one. Two star-level sects coexisting on the same planet isn’t unheard of, but it’s rare.
On Li Zhou Star, the star-level sect is Li Zhou Palace, yet the most famous feature isn’t the palace, it’s Time Mountain. Time Mountain earns its renown from the Time Tree growing upon it, a tree so valuable it’s named the mountain, even surpassing heaven-opening treasures in worth.
Thanks to this Time Tree, Li Zhou Palace boasts many experts skilled in time rules. At the same cultivation level, those mastering time rules far outmatch their peers in combat, a key reason no one has threatened Li Zhou Palace until now.
But today, the plaza at Time Mountain’s base is packed with cultivators. Normally a spot for Li Zhou Palace disciples to comprehend time rules, it’s now a stage for multiple star-level sects to witness the Time Tree’s bonding.
If the Time Tree doesn’t choose a master, it’s good for Li Zhou Palace, as long as it remains, the sect thrives eternally. Yet the tree is set to flee into the void, or rather, if no one worthy claims it within a set time, it’ll vanish into the void on its own.
Once it does, it’s a fatal blow to Li Zhou Palace.
So the palace declared that any cultivator living on Li Zhou Star can attempt to bond with the Time Tree. Succeed, and it’s yours, if you’re not from the palace, you must join, if you are, you could rise a rank, even become the next palace lord.
In truth, joining Li Zhou Palace is every cultivator on Li Zhou Star’s dream, no one would refuse.
Though the Time Mountain plaza teems with people, order prevails.
Li Zhou Palace Lord Shan Bu’ang, of medium build with a long beard, sits smiling at the head of the plaza’s seats, but inside, he’s seething with killing intent, if he could, he’d leap up and slaughter everyone on his left and right.
To his left sit not his palace’s people, but representatives from star-level sects Tian Mo Hall and Huang Quan Sacred Dao, including Tian Mo Hall’s Lord Zhen Changtian and Huang Quan Sacred Dao’s Ancestor Huang Quan. To his right are Beast Soul Dao’s Lord Yi Xie and Saint Desolation Sect’s Lord Da Xuanqiong.
These visitors brought their sects’ top genius powerhouses, infuriating Shan Bu’ang further, they’re here for the Time Tree too.
Li Zhou Star’s Time Tree should be Li Zhou Palace’s domain, yet now it’s a prize for five star-level sects to vie for.
He could refuse, but what then? Li Zhou Palace, strong as it is, can’t fend off four star-level sects combined, worse, they’d already fallen into Huang Quan Sacred Dao and Beast Soul Dao’s trap, palace disciples seeking opportunities had shattered a Huang Quan destiny vein and accidentally killed a Beast Soul Dao proven divine beast.
Absurd as it sounds, it happened.
“Brother Shan, your Li Zhou Palace is brimming with talent, I see three Seventh-Turn Sages qualified to climb Time Mountain, and that young woman, an Eighth-Turn Sage at her age, she’s likely the one this time,” a clean-shaven man laughed warmly, his tone familiar, he was Zhen Changtian of Tian Mo Hall, a Ninth-Turn Sage, some even said he’d half-stepped into eternity.
Shan Bu’ang felt helpless, though the Time Tree was on Li Zhou Star and many palace cultivators grasped time rules, in today’s contest, their odds were less than thirty percent.
Zhi Yi seemed the highest at Eighth-Turn Sage, but he knew her chances were slim to none, her Eighth-Turn status weaker than a typical Fourth-Turn, or even Third-Turn Sage, a cultivation puppet lacking spirit, timid and shrinking, her “Coward Sage” nickname a disgrace to cultivators, let alone a sage, if she bonded with the Time Tree, he’d eat dirt.
The best shots were Cai Gu Yuan of the Cai family and Chen Manxing of the Chen family, Cai Gu Yuan, a Seventh-Turn Sage, brimmed with vitality and drive, relentless in pursuit, Chen Manxing, his top pick, only a Fifth-Turn Sage but the youngest, youth was a huge edge for the Time Tree, gifted and blessed with deep fortune, his time rule mastery rivaled his great-uncle, the palace’s second lord Chen Jiutian.
Claiming the Time Tree wasn’t about higher cultivation, age had a limit, too old and you’d be ejected from Time Mountain’s peak.
A supreme relic like the Time Tree picking a master wouldn’t choose some non-eternal cultivator who’d burned through most of their lifespan.
Shan Bu’ang didn’t fear these sect lords, they weren’t eligible to compete, he worried about their genius protégés, Tian Mo Hall’s Zhen Yuan, a Sixth-Turn Sage, talent on par or slightly above Chen Manxing, Huang Quan Sacred Dao’s Tong Qianqian, a Seventh-Turn Sage rivaling Cai Gu Yuan, Saint Desolation’s Chong Shuanglou and Beast Soul Dao’s legacy saint son Tang Qi, one Seventh-Turn, one Sixth-Turn, both viable contenders.
…
Zhi Yi sat nervously farther off, her timely return meant she hadn’t missed the Time Tree contest, deepening her gratitude to Lan Xiaobu, without him, she’d still be traveling.
“Sister Zhi Yi, I was sent to fetch those old geezers, I know they’re here to steal our palace’s Time Tree, I didn’t want to, but I had to, if you win it this time, they won’t take it,” Yiya, sitting beside her, grumbled.
Zhi Yi, ever cautious, hushed her, “Yiya, don’t talk nonsense, those are star-level sect lords, show respect.”
Before Yiya could reply, an aged voice sighed beside Zhi Yi, “Zhi Yi, Yiya’s right, they’re here for the Time Tree.”
“Ancestor…” Zhi Yi stood and bowed as the old man approached.
This was Zhi Ji, her family’s ancestor and a Li Zhou Palace elder, a Sixth-Turn Sage, the Zhi family’s foothold in the palace owed nothing to Eighth-Turn Zhi Yi, it was all Zhi Ji.
Her Eighth-Turn status meant little, not just in the palace, even her family dismissed it, a hollow rank with no strength or guts, if not for family pressure, she wouldn’t have ventured out this time.
The Zhi family lacked successors, if Zhi Yi wouldn’t strive for the Time Tree, no one else fit, beyond Zhi Ji and her, their strongest was a mere Second-Turn Sage.
Zhi Ji waved her down, sat beside her, cast a sound barrier, and asked, “Zhi Yi, how confident are you this time?”
Zhi Yi fell silent, unsure herself, without meeting Lan Xiaobu or receiving his time rule jade slip and small Time Dao Scroll, she’d have zero confidence, now, she felt saying “none” would disrespect him.
Seeing her expression, Zhi Ji sighed inwardly, “Zhi Yi, the Time Tree might well be taken by another sect this time…”
“What…” Zhi Yi gasped, staring at him in disbelief.
Zhi Ji said gravely, “It might not be all bad, if we keep it, the others might turn on us and seize it, then Li Zhou Palace ceases to exist, Li Zhou Star would turn to dust.”
“Ancestor, then why should I compete?” Zhi Yi asked, puzzled.
Zhi Ji replied, “If you can claim it, you must, only then will the others hesitate to act rashly, a disciple who bonds with it and escapes into the void could grow beyond their reach, the Time Tree is the ultimate fortune, a path to eternity, who’d dare provoke a future eternal sage?”
Zhi Yi sat stunned, then murmured, “Brother Lan was right, I’m too timid, it’s bad for my Dao…”
Zhi Ji looked at her, confused, “What did you say?”
As if resolving something, Zhi Yi handed him a jade slip, “Ancestor, if I win the Time Tree and they still target us, take this to a man named Lan Xiaobu for help, he’s aided me, he might step in once.”
“Lan Xiaobu?” Zhi Ji frowned, unfamiliar with the name.
Zhi Yi took a breath, “Ancestor, Brother Lan’s a friend I met out there, righteous and heroic, with sky-high strength, I believe if he’s willing, Li Zhou Palace’s troubles would dissolve.”
Saying this, she decided, if she won the Time Tree and Lan Xiaobu helped, she’d give it to him.
Compared to Li Zhou Star’s destruction, the Time Tree was nothing.
