Starsnatch Peak!

As the number one principal peak of the Zephyr Mountains, it stood at 6,800 meters tall.

There was a pagoda atop this mountain called Starsnatch Pagoda, and it was 1,200 meters tall.

The legendary Water Moon Paradise of the Basking Moon Sect was within this pagoda.

It was said that Starsnatch Peak was originally 7,600 meters tall.

1,800 hundred years ago, in order to build upon this mountain, a Titan of the Basking Moon Sect cut off the top eight hundred meters of the mountain and moved it into Starsnatch Pagoda. At that point, Starsnatch Pagoda became the Water Moon Paradise. It was a grandiose move of great ambition and daring, and the paradise was many times larger than the Wandering Palace’s Langya Blessed Land.

The Starsnatch Pagoda was a Dao armament, and there was no limit to its internal dimensions. It was its own little world, so let alone an 800-meter-tall mountain, it could hold far more with little problem.

There was another hall at the base of Starsnatch Pagoda: the Hall of Divine Conference.

As the principal hall of the Basking Moon Sect, it was where discussion on all of the Basking Moon Sect’s internal matters took place.

On major occasions, all the disciples of the sect would be assembled, the ceremonies held, and speeches made within this hall and the large square in front of it.

The hall came with its own surrounding complex, with a vast number of buildings made from a variety of precious materials, resplendent to the extreme.

The four Violet Palace True Lords of the Basking Moon Sect resided within the Hall of Divine Conference.

Of course, there were five now.

In other words, the Water Moon Paradise was actually being protected by all five True Lords of the Basking Moon Sect. Such was its importance!

On this day, a young man arrived on Starsnatch Peak.

Tang Jie!

Standing before the Hall of Divine Conference, he pushed open the giant doors. Within was a vast sky of stars.

To stand in this hall was to feel like one was suspended in space. All around were twinkling stars, and in the distance was a silver crescent moon. No matter how the stars shifted, that silver moon would forever remain suspended in the sky, radiating its gentle and elegant light.

Tang Jie prostrated to the silver moon.

A booming voice resounded through the hall. “Tang Jie!”

“This disciple is here!” Tang Jie respectfully said.

A ball of light shot into the air, hanging above the silver moon like a small sun.

If one looked carefully, one would find that this was a person, seated cross-legged in the air. The radiance he exuded was so powerful that it obscured his form. This light was clearly spiritual energy, which was being released in a special form, completely enclosing his body and allowing him to float in the air. Tang Jie’s heart trembled at this sight, and he lowered his head even more.

“This one is the Mystic Moon True Lord. In reward for your contribution in Endsea, you have been granted the right to enter the Water Moon Paradise. Are you prepared?”

“Yes, this disciple is prepared,” Tang Jie replied.

The light weakened, and Tang Jie was finally able to see a little of the Mystic Moon True Lord’s face. This was a man who was white all over, his age difficult to discern. If he just sat there, one would take him for a statue.

The Mystic Moon True Lord said nothing. His eyes lightly swept over Tang Jie, causing Tang Jie to shiver.

He knew that the Mystic Moon True Lord had given his body a thorough inspection with this single glance, even checking the contents of his Mustard Seed Bag for any banned items.

Fortunately, Tang Jie had made sure to not bring in any banned items. Things like the Soul Refining Pearl had been left in his cave estate for Yiyi to look after.

After his inspection, the Mystic Moon True Lord had a strange expression on his face. It seemed like he found some of the things Tang Jie had on him to be quite odd.

But though he found it odd, he ultimately gave a nod of approval.

He formed a sign with a hand and pointed a finger at Tang Jie. A light shot from the finger into the center of Tang Jie’s forehead.

Tang Jie felt heat on his forehead as a silver moon mark appeared on it.

The Mystic Moon True Lord said, “This is the mark that allows you into the pagoda. With this mark, you may move freely within the pagoda.”

He waved his sleeve. “Go.”

A power wrapped around Tang Jie and took him toward the back of the hall.

As he flew along, countless doors thundered open.

As the final door opened, Tang Jie flew out of the Hall of Divine Conference. Before him was a high pagoda wreathed in clouds, Starsnatch Pagoda.

The power carried him forward. It seemed like a short distance, but it took him quite a while to actually reach the pagoda. Tang Jie knew that this was probably due to some sort of mechanism installed on Starsnatch Peak, and that if there were no True Lord to send him, he could probably walk for the rest of his life and never reach the pagoda.

When he arrived in front of the pagoda, the power finally disappeared, and Tang Jie dropped from the air.

The Mystic Moon True Lord’s voice resounded, “Starting from now, you may enter on your own. After you enter the pagoda, remember to obey the rules!”

“This disciple does not dare to forget the rules!”

The Mystic Moon True Lord said no more, and Tang Jie strode forward.

In front of him was a gate cast from bronze. Carved into the gate was a strange monkey beast with three eyes, one that he could not identify.

Tang Jie was about to push open the door when that strange beast began to move. It smiled at him and said, “Oh, another kid wanting to come into my belly? Let me think… Other than those people who come in to manage the fields, how long has it been since another outsider has come in? One year… two years… oh, no, no, it should be three years. It’s been three years since anyone else has come. What’s up with the Basking Moon Sect recently? Are people just less and less talented these days? Or are the bigshots of the sect getting more and more petty?”

Tang Jie looked at the beast carving and said, “Might I ask who Sir is?”

The three-eyed monkey laughed. “Me? Didn’t I say that you were going to come into my belly? Idiot, dummy!”

“You’re the Starsnatch Pagoda?”

The monkey beast put a hand on its hip and nodded. “Yes, yes, I’m the soul of this Dao armament, the venerable Starsnatch Monkey. All of Starsnatch Pagoda is under my control. If you dare to break the rules, I’m allowed to deal with you. Of course, if you’re willing to bribe me, perhaps I can pretend to not see.”

The Starsnatch Monkey chuckled.

“Is that so? But I don’t have any bananas, so maybe next time,” Tang Jie said before proceeding to ignore it and go inside.

The monkey saw this and froze in shock. It then exploded in anger, “Bastard! Bastard! Daring to ignore this venerable monkey!? ‘Bananas’!? He wants to use bananas to soothe me? Ming Yekong, did you hear that!?”

There was a soft chuckle, and then a flash of light in front of the Starsnatch Pagoda. Just like the Mystic Moon True Lord, it was a sun-like ball of light, inside which sat Ming Yekong.

His long hair reached his shoulders, and his eyes were closed in meditation.

After he manifested, he slightly raised his head and looked at the Starsnatch Monkey. “Senior, I already told you that this trick of yours couldn’t fool him, so what about it? He didn’t even need to ask you anything to see through you. A guardian beast so easily bribable, even asking for bribes… haha, if that were the case, the six major sects wouldn’t be the six major sects.”

Although the Starsnatch Pagoda had only been converted into the Water Moon Paradise two thousand years ago, it had a history of five thousand years. Even True Lord Ming Yekong addressed it as a senior.

“Tsk!” The monkey on the bronze gate folded its arms, appearing unconvinced. It also knew that a disciple who could be allowed into the Water Moon Paradise could not be so easily deceived. In truth, the number of disciples it had managed to fool in the last two thousand years could be counted on one hand. But there were few like Tang Jie, who didn’t even ask a question about how one could bribe the monkey.

“Then, what does Senior think of this child?”

The Starsnatch Monkey looked around before saying, “He’s a talent that can be worked with. So long as he doesn’t break the rules, I’ll help him if I can.”

“Many thanks, Senior.” Ming Yekong bowed to the monkey before disappearing.

Once Ming Yekong was gone, the Starsnatch Monkey’s expression darkened. “Is any person who can enter this Water Moon Paradise not a seedling that someone has placed high hopes on? Numerous people have asked me to serve as a guide in these last two thousand years, but how many people were ultimately able to reach that summit? This child has thirty thousand contribution points, so he can only stay for around one hundred days. Trying to reach the apex in just one hundred days is basically impossible! Hmph, this monkey will save his energy and just sit back and watch the show.”

It closed its eyes and became motionless once more, not taking Ming Yekong’s request seriously at all.

——————————

Upon entering the pagoda, Tang Jie found himself in the middle of a field, wild flowers blooming around him.

The spiritual energy was extremely thick. With each breath, a drop of spiritual liquid would condense in his body. The energy concentration was much thicker than that of the Nine Executions Immortal Formation.

This was understandable. The Martial Lord’s Returned Remnants were those of a singular man, and they had been spread out over such a large dimension.

As the place where countless Titans of the Basking Moon Sect had left their Returned Remnants, the Water Moon Paradise was naturally different.

If possible, Tang Jie wanted to sit down right now and start cultivating. Simply breathing in the spiritual energy of this place would multiply his cultivation speed.

But if this were all he wanted, Tang Jie wouldn’t have needed to spend ten years accumulating contribution points.

Even if the spiritual energy here was ten times as concentrated as in the outside world, one hundred days was still the equivalent of only three years.

And he had wasted ten years, not three.

Far in the distance was a mountain.

Tang Jie knew that this peak was exactly 888 meters tall, the part of the mountain that had been chopped off of Starsnatch Peak.

At the peak of the mountain was a pond called the Moonlight Pond. It was said that the founding ancestor of the sect, the Water Moon Celestial Sovereign, entered the Dao and ascended here, leaving behind a rich legacy. Anyone who could summit the mountain could enjoy a great blessing.

Alas, there was a formation around the summit that prevented people from flying. Even when walking up, one would feel an immense pressure.

The Basking Moon Sect had produced countless elite disciples over the centuries, but only a few were ever able to reach the summit. Even Celestial Heart and Violet Palace cultivators were no exception. The stronger one was, the greater the pressure. A higher cultivation level brought no advantage. All that one could rely on was one’s own will.

Besides that, the Basking Moon Sect’s thousand-year fields circled the mountain.

The disciples of the Agriculture Hall worked the fields on this 888-meter-tall mountain. These fields were divided up by year and harvested and planted as such. The higher up the field, the older the plants were and the greater their rarity.

These disciples wore special protective gear that allowed them to freely travel up and down the mountain without being affected by the formation’s pressure. But with the Starsnatch Monkey watching, while they worked with these plants all year, they had no chance at getting any one of them. The occasional individuals that took the risk had all had messy ends.

According to the rules of the Basking Moon Sect, for every one hundred meters one ascended, one could freely choose a spirit plant from a field of that level.

At six hundred meters, this selection could be made every fifty meters.

At 750 meters, this selection could be made every 10 meters.

Besides that, there was also the blessing left by the predecessors.

Far too many seniors had left their Returned Remnants here, and far too many seniors had left behind their experiences and insights at varying elevations.

This precious experience could only be seen and studied by those disciples who climbed up through their own effort.

For this reason, every disciple that entered the paradise would choose to attempt the summit—for more valuable resources, for more precious experience, and for the more concentrated spiritual energy at the summit.

As Tang Jie gazed at the summit, a fire blazed in his eyes.

He howled, and then he began to walk toward the summit. His pace was deceptively fast, and it wasn’t long before he had reached the base of the mountain.

Stone stairs had been carved into the mountain, circling the mountainside up to the summit.

Numerous terrace fields lined the stairs, and Agriculture Hall disciples in their special uniforms were taking care of the plants.

Someone spotted Tang Jie and shouted, “Look! Someone’s coming up the mountain!”

Numerous Agriculture Hall disciples looked over, and only now did Tang Jie realize that there were quite a few disciples tending to the spirit fields. The lower one hundred meters of spirit fields had more than a hundred disciples tending to them.

These people looked at Tang Jie with envious gazes.

While they spent all day in this Water Moon Paradise, while they were wearing these formation clothes, they found it hard to even take in a breath of this place’s spiritual energy. They were in this land of treasure, but they couldn’t take away even a whiff of the treasure within it. All they could do was watch as those outstanding disciples came over the years, freely breathing in this place’s spiritual energy and taking away those precious spirit plants.

“It’s Tang Jie,” an Agriculture Hall disciple sternly said.

The matter of Tang Jie being granted the right to enter the Water Moon Paradise ten years ago had sent the entire sect into turmoil for a while, and there were naturally quite a few Agriculture Hall disciples who knew about it.

“So it was that lucky guy,” another disciple gruffly said.

“‘Lucky’?” A disciple holding a three-section staff scoffed, “If you can kill more than one hundred Beast Refining Gate disciples and two Celestial Heart True Persons in one go, then you can also be this lucky. But I’m afraid that not only would you fail to take their heads, you might end up as their contribution points instead!”

The disciple who had spoken earlier immediately shut up.

At this time, Tang Jie began to climb up the stairs. Suddenly, he realized something and turned to bow at the Agriculture Hall disciples on both sides. He shouted, “Tang Jie pays respects to the senior brothers of the Agriculture Hall. It is thanks to my senior brothers nurturing these fields for a thousand years that my Basking Moon Sect can have this paradise and that Tang Jie today has the chance to enter this treasured land! I bow in gratitude!”

He spoke with a sincerity that came from his heart.

Nobody had expected Tang Jie to be so polite, and they were momentarily caught off guard.

In all these years they had been tending to the spirit fields, they had seen many disciples come to this place.

There were those who were polite, and there were those who considered a nod to be enough to show respect. There were also disagreeable bastards who would even jeer at them for being incompetent. While swaggering their way up the mountain, they spoke all kinds of humiliating words.

It was the first time in years that they had seen someone as polite as Tang Jie, bowing to them in thanks before even starting their climb.

The Agriculture Hall disciples looked at each other, and in the end, a senior brother who appeared to be an adjutant stepped forward and said, “Junior Brother Tang is being too polite. Junior Brother has been part of the sect for less than ten years and has already entered the Water Moon Paradise. You are bound to be a future elite of the Basking Moon Sect, and we can only look up at you in admiration. This Zhao Hui wishes Junior Brother Tang a smooth climb to the summit!”

The other Agriculture Hall disciples also bowed to Tang Jie.

Tang Jie bowed back. “Everyone, my thanks!”

He turned and took his first step up the summit.

As he made this step, he immediately felt his body turn heavier and almost tripped.

Gravity had increased!

Tang Jie realized something and looked down at his feet.

The difference of a single step had created an entirely different sensation. When Tang Jie stood on the first step, he could sense something pulling him down such that he couldn’t raise his foot.

Fortunately, this power wasn’t too strong. He had just momentarily been caught off guard. As he took another step, sure enough, the weight increased again.

Tang Jie finally understood why it wasn’t possible to fly here.

It was clear that this force came from the land beneath the mountain.

In truth, this wasn’t gravity, but some sort of pulling power.

The farther one was from the ground, the stronger the pull from the earth. At a certain height, one probably wouldn’t even be able to take a single step.

Sure enough, that Agriculture Hall disciple, Zhao Hui, said, “Junior Brother Tang, this land is controlled by the great formation. The farther you ascend, the harder it will be to move. But this power only works when going up. Thus, you can simply stay on that step. Please do not push yourself. That will only make the power continue to work on you and drain your strength.”

Zhao Hui’s words immediately made Tang Jie understand the purpose of this arrangement.

Clearly, the pull only came into effect when going up so that disciples would have a chance to rest and achieve breakthroughs.

If this were a pressure that worked even when going down, then those climbing the mountain would be under heavy weight for a long time, which meant that they would have no time to rest.

In ordinary circumstances, it was fine to not be able to rest, but in trials that tested one’s limits, to not rest meant death.

Reaching one’s limits couldn’t be maintained forever. If it could be maintained forever, one clearly hadn’t reached their limits.

“I see. The sect truly is farsighted. Senior Brother, my thanks for the advice.” Tang Jie smiled.

These Agriculture Hall disciples had no hope of climbing up the mountain, but over the years, they had seen many things. Zhao Hui’s words had answered his many questions. He could now save a lot of strength, which meant saving a lot of time.

Just as Zhao Hui said, there was no need to force himself to climb to the summit in one go. It was better to rest after each step.

These first one hundred meters of steps were the easiest to climb. Thus, it wasn’t long before Tang Jie had climbed fifty meters.

At fifty meters, there was a bend. Next to the bend was a stone stele marking the elevation and a stone bench to rest on.

Tang Jie sat on the bench to rest. He saw Zhao Hui walking around with that three-section staff and asked, “Senior Brother Zhao, what are you carrying around a weapon for?”

Zhao Hui replied, “To stop those damned fiends from coming over and causing trouble, of course.”

“‘Fiends’?” Tang Jie was taken aback. “There are fiends in the Water Moon Paradise?”

Tang Jie knows the importance of human relations! Even if you’re a cultivator, you have to get along with your colleagues.