Looking at the almost weightless piece of spiritual paper, Zi Dong Lai didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He felt like this paper weighed at least a ton and couldn’t find any courage to continue reading it.
He wasn’t sure what other kinds of earth-shattering treasures he will see next on the list.
However, he remembered that he was the one who told Ling Xian not to be shy with what he needed. Therefore, he had to force himself to continue reading. Even if he couldn’t gather all these items, he had to at least finish reading the list as a form of respect.
As he skimmed the list, a bitter smile blossomed on his face, "I knew my eyes would be sharp. Ling Xian really is not that type of person to greedily request everything he wants."
There was a giant list written on the spiritual piece of paper. The first few items were rare treasures that are almost impossible to find. But after the first few, there were merely basic items needed for arrays.
To the House of Zi Yang, those items were a single hair off of a bull's back.
At the end of it all, there was one sentence: [Headmaster please retrieve all the basic materials listed at the bottom of the list. The first few rare treasures are merely supplementary. If none can be found, it is not a big deal.]
"I guess I was being too cheap and overthought everything," Zi Dong Lai gently grinned and walked out of the room. To the guard, he said, "Gather all materials listed on the bottom of this piece of paper and send them to Master Ling."
"Yes, Headmaster."
The guard took over the list and began his trip towards the vault of the House of Zi Yang.
...
It has been two days since Ling Xian restored the broken Array of the Purple Cloud.
When this news was passed around, every controlling force fell into a state of chaos.
In the beginning, everyone’s first reaction was disbelief.
How was this possible?
A young boy who was not even 20 years old yet somehow fixed the Array of the Purple Cloud that overwhelmed Master Lin?
But after Master Lin personally stepped out and admitted this fact, everyone started to believe it. While it was simply unbelievable, the facts were before their eyes, and they had to believe it!
The name Ling Xian was heard across the entire Shi Ao Island for the first time!
He appeared in front of every controlling force’s vision with a violent entrance and replaced Master Lin’s old position!
Known as the next rising Sun, his name rattled Shi Ao Island!
To those on Shi Ao Island, the name Ling Xian was very unfamiliar, and he could even be considered nameless. Now, however, everyone’s heard of these two words and have imprinted them deeply in their minds.
This was all because everything Ling Xian has done was far too shattering. Or rather, he was an astonishing person.
A youth not yet 20 confronted a completion leveled beast and restored an array Mater Lin had no way of fixing.
To achieve glory on both cultivation and arrays determined him as an unprecedentedly strong Heaven’s Favorite.
Luckily, Ling Xian’s identity as a Seventh-Realm Alchemist was not widely known. If it were, there would be another storm on Shi Ao Island caused by everyone’s heavy gasps of admiration.
Once all the Supreme Headmasters of the different forces received this news, they all ordered their subordinates of the same matter. Every order was different, yet they were all the same. A few words could summarize what they wanted.
Grant him with great fortunes.
Why give him fortunes?
What an obvious question!
There were only one Array Master on Shi Ao Island before so nobody had a choice.
Now that there was another Array Master, one who was even better than Master Lin, how could they not feel overjoyed? Naturally, they needed to win him to their sides with great treasures. Even if he refuses to join the House, they needed to leave a good impression in case of future needs.
Therefore, all the different forces who were geographically close to the House of Zi Yang rushed over in order to personally gift this new Array Master.
These Supreme Headmasters gathered at the House of Zi Yang, turning it into a tourist attraction.
When the guards of the House saw the convergence of all these people, they reacted by reporting to Zi Dong Lai that they were under attack.
When Zi Dong Lai arrived and recognized these cultivators, he guessed their intentions.
"Everyone, I wonder why all of you have gathered here today?" Zi Dong Lai greeted.
"Headmaster of the Zi Yang House, I am here in hope of seeing Master Ling."
"I am here with the same intentions. I have heard that Master Ling is an Honorable Guest residing in your House, so I traveled here in request to see him."
"Haha, that’s right. I think everyone here came with the same goal."
Chatter broke out among the visitors. Without exceptions, everyone came to see Ling Xian.
Hearing this, Zi Dong Lai wanted to both laugh and cry. He was happy but felt a little bitter too.
Happy because since Ling Xian was the House of Zi Yang’s guest, the more popular he was, the more face Zi Dong Lai gets.
Bitter because as one of the three controlling forces of the Shi Ao Island, he’s never ever been treated with so much respect. Ling Xian was not even 20 years old yet, and he was already drowning in admiration and flattery. Zi Dong Lai had to admit that this was a type of achievement.
"He has gotten famous from one fight." Zi Dong Lai sighed. He hesitated as to whether or not he should let these people in.
Truth was that he didn’t want these people to see Ling Xian. If a force was generous enough to offer whatever Ling Xian wanted and as a result, acquires Ling Xian, then Zi Dong Lai doesn’t even know where he would go to cry.
But he couldn’t just do nothing.
Even though the House of Zi Yang was very powerful and didn’t need to be scared of these smaller forces, Zi Dong Lai was worried that once Ling Xian finds out how wanted he is, he would become dissatisfied with what he was provided with in the House of Zi Yang.
After pondering for a minute, Zi Dong Lai waved around his hand and sighed. "Oh well, you may enter. Someone will lead you to where Master Ling is. But, I cannot promise that he will agree to see you all."
He then whispered something in a guard’s ear before disappearing in front of everyone.
Then, under the guidance of a guard, those who came to see Ling Xian arrived at the mountain peak Ling Xian was staying in.
The mountain peak was grand and large but did not lack details nor grace. Like a sword that was stuck in the middle of clouds, the peak was surrounded by foggy clouds, just like a beautiful collectible painting.
Everyone went up the peak and began to shout in front of the entrance door with admiration in their eyes.
"I am the Clan Leader of the He Clan, here to specifically see Master Ling."
"I am the second Elder of the Wang Clan, please show yourself, Master Ling."
"I am the brother of the Zhao Clan, I am here today with gifts, please accept them, Master Ling."
Right then, Ling Xian was sitting inside his home enlightening himself with Feng Qing Ming’s inheritance. Suddenly hearing screams outside his door startled him. He wasn’t sure what was happening.
To see him?
Confused, Ling Xian walked out of his room. Since people are here, he had to see them.
Creak…
The entrance door slowly opened, and Ling Xian walked out in grand steps. Looking at so many silhouettes, his eyes flashed, overwhelmed. Based on his experience, he could tell that everyone here was rich. Each one of them carried a sense of importance with them. They definitely were not ordinary cultivators.
This was why he was so confused. Why did these rich people want to see him?
Seeing such a young man walking out of the house, everyone’s face flashed with shock. The only thought that ran through their head was, [how young!]
How young!
Rumors are one thing, but seeing it with their own eyes is another. When the rumors matched reality, the shock that followed was unstoppable.
Though they were mentally prepared for the fact that Ling Xian was young. Only after seeing him in person, did they finally believe that the rumors were not exaggerations.
"Who are you? Why are you looking for me?" Ling Xian frowned.
Hearing this, everyone collected themselves, and the flattery began.
"You really are a Heaven’s Favorite. To have restored the Array of the Purple Clouds at such a young age… your future really is bright."
"Not only that, but I heard you also defeated the Demonic Fairy? You are undefeatable in the foundational level!"
"At the same time, you achieved so much on the cultivation path. You are the very definition of a Heaven’s Favorite. You put me to shame."
Everyone’s faces were painted with bright smiles as compliments after compliments flew out of their mouths.
"Not this again…" Ling Xian shook his head as he finally understood why these people were here. The other forces have found out that he fixed the array.
Nowadays, when he hears compliments, he gets a headache. He quickly interrupted everyone, "Stop. Skip the foreplay and get to your main points."
Everyone froze, they didn’t expect Ling Xian to be so blunt. Very quickly, however, everyone found creative new ways to praise him.
"Haha, Master Ling sure is direct. I like it!"
"Yes, this is how masters should be. Waste no time."
"Master sure has good time management."
Was this allowed?
What kind of people were they?
Ling Xian was utterly speechless and again interrupted everyone, "Stop. Another word of useless stuff, I will turn around right now."
Immediately, everyone shut their mouths.
"Good, this is a lot better." Ling Xian nodded, satisfied. He pointed to a middle-aged man in the crowd and asked, "You, speak. What are your intentions?"
"Me?"
The middle-aged man shook a little but quickly turned ecstatic. As a Clan Leader of one of the smallest families on the Island, he thought he wouldn’t get to give the gifts until everyone else was done.
However, Ling Xian has chosen him randomly. This made him very excited. He didn’t think he’d be lucky and be the first one to give him the gifts.
While this didn’t seem like a big deal, who gives gifts first mattered greatly.
Think about this. If a crowd of people were shoving gifts at you, would you remember their faces? Under this kind of circumstance, the first one to show up has a far easier time leaving an impression than those who come after.
However, during his moments of hesitation, Ling Xian impatiently waved his hand and glanced at another middle-aged man. "You, speak."
"Haha, amazing."
The middle-aged man laughed and jogged before Ling Xian to speak of his intentions.
The previous middle-aged man was crestfallen. Staring at Ling Xian chatting with the other man, he wanted to slap himself.
"I… Why did I pause? I missed such a great opportunity."
The middle-aged man cried a tearless cry.