Ultimate Magus in Cultivation World

Tian Lei's gaze lingered on Haiyun, thoughtful. "Will you teach me those modes?"

Haiyun smirked faintly, leaning his weight against the staff. "Teach? No. But you can have them."

Tian Lei arched a brow. "Have them?"

"Watching's a kind of teaching," Haiyun said, voice rough but certain. "Stay alive long enough, keep your eyes open, and you'll pick up what I've carved out. Can't hand them over like sweets to a child—but you'll see."

Tian Lei inclined his head, accepting without further words. He closed his eyes, slipping back into meditation, qi cycling in calm streams as the beast carried them onward.

Days passed in that steady rhythm—wind, mist, silence, and the quiet pulse of cultivation. Until, at last, Haiyun's voice cut through the stillness.

"Open your eyes, boy."

Tian Lei stirred, lids lifting slowly—then stilled.

Spread out before him was a vast, breathtaking land. Islands like emerald jewels floated in seas of rolling mist, their cliffs draped in waterfalls that tumbled into the white void below. At the center, rising proud and radiant, was a city bathed in azure haze. Towers gleamed through the mist, bridges of light stretched between floating peaks, and at its heart rose a mountain shaped like a throne, crowned by a citadel so vast it seemed carved for gods.

"This…" Tian Lei whispered, eyes wide. "This is the Mist Azure City?"

Haiyun's expression softened—only slightly. "The city of the Divine Land, Mist Azure Divine Land. A place where heaven's favor and human craft entwine."

Tian Lei's breath caught as he drank it in, his usual composure faltering. "It feels like… a fantasy given form."

The qi here was thicker, richer—like breathing pure essence instead of air. It clung to his skin, pressed into his meridians, tugged at his soul with a whisper of endless possibility.

"The qi is thicker here," Tian Lei murmured, awe plain in his voice.

Haiyun nodded once. "Thicker, deeper, older. A place where power gathers and lingers, as if the land itself refuses to let go. That's why sects root themselves here. That's why laws bend easier in this place."

Tian Lei's eyes flicked to him, understanding dawning. "So this is what they mean by sitting at the edge of worldly laws…"

Haiyun gave a grunt, eyes fixed on the sprawling city ahead. "One step closer to the marrow of creation itself. For some, it's a blessing. For others, it's a grave."

The beast gave a long, rumbling cry as it descended, wings spread wide, carrying them toward the azure-wrapped city that pulsed like the heart of a living dream.

Their beast touched down upon the terrace with a low rumble, talons scraping against azure stone. From afar, Tian Lei had already noticed how even the lowest servants of the Divine Land treated the grand elders of visiting sects with thinly veiled disdain—polite enough, yes, but their eyes sharp and their mouths curled like they were swatting flies.

He braced himself for the same treatment.

But the moment those servants laid eyes upon Haiyun, everything shattered. They didn't sneer. They didn't delay. They ran. Robes fluttering, heads lowered, they hurried past gathered sect elders as though those great figures were nothing but background stone. They stopped only when they dropped to their knees before Haiyun, their voices ringing with reverence.

"Elder Haiyun!""Honored guest elder—welcome home!"

Tian Lei froze, mouth parting. What…?

He glanced sideways—and caught Haiyun's faint smile. That tiny curve of the mouth told him everything: Haiyun was enjoying his confusion.

As they were led down the grand causeway, Tian Lei's sharp eyes picked out the expressions of other sect leaders nearby. Some twitched at the corners of their mouths, others stood stiff and unsmiling. More than a few looked like their pride had been quietly stabbed. None dared speak.

The boy leaned closer, lowering his voice. "…Master. Why is this…?"

Haiyun didn't answer right away. He let the silence stretch, his pace unhurried, gaze fixed forward. Only when Tian Lei's brows knit tighter did he murmur, almost lazily, "I see your esteemed Sect Master failed to tell you."

Tian Lei blinked. "…Tell me what?"

Haiyun's smirk widened, his voice dipping low so only his disciple could hear. "Our Azure Feather Sect is not an independent sect. It is a sub-sect of the Mist Azure Divine Land itself. And me—" He tapped his staff against the stone, the sound echoing. "I hold a guest elder's seat here. That is the seal they bow to."

Tian Lei nearly stumbled. His eyes went round, his thoughts scattering. He looked back at the servants still bent low before Haiyun, at the other elders standing stiff with sour faces. Heat rushed to his cheeks as every memory of speaking with pride—or doubting while talking to his master—flared painfully bright.

All those times I thought I was being careful…

His chest tightened, and he didn't need to look to know Mu Qinxue was probabaly laughing at him now—probably rolling on the ground back in sect.

The servants led them through curving bridges of mist-crystal, past hovering lanterns that shone with living qi, until at last they reached a secluded pavilion suspended above a waterfall of pure essence. Curtains of azure silk swayed gently in the breeze, muffling the noise of the city beyond.

Once the attendants withdrew, silence lingered—save for the steady roar of falling qi-water.

Tian Lei sat cross-legged opposite Haiyun, his eyes still restless with questions. At last he spoke. "Elder… what exactly is the tie between our Azure Feather Sect and the Divine Land?"

Haiyun propped his staff against the railing, shoulders relaxing as he leaned back. "Nothing complicated."

Tian Lei frowned. "Nothing complicated? They treat us with more honor than most grand sects here."

The old cultivator smirked, eyes half-lidded. "That's because our sect wasn't built from scratch like theirs. The Azure Feather Sect was born from the hand of the Divine Land's second Sect Master—her own daughter, Mu Qinxue."

Tian Lei stiffened. "…Our Sect Master?"

Haiyun gave a low chuckle. "In her youth she was a mischief-brat, headstrong beyond reason. One day, after her father gave her a scolding she couldn't swallow, she stormed out. Boldly declared she'd create a divine land of her own." His eyes gleamed with amusement. "Of course, she failed at that. Creating a Divine Land is no small feat. But what she did manage… was founding a King-grade sect. Our Azure Feather Sect."

He shifted his staff slightly, the motion deliberate. "When her father saw it, he was amused rather than angered. So he decreed the Azure Feather Sect would not stand alone—it would be named a formal sub-sect of the Mist Azure Divine Land. The only one in existence."

Tian Lei's thoughts roiled. So that's why…

Haiyun's tone flattened into matter-of-fact. "That's also the reason none dare move against us. As long as we carry the Divine Land's seal, aggression against us is aggression against them. And the Mist Azure Divine Land is no minor sect—it stands in the top three across this realm, sitting second only to the Serene Dragon Pavilion."

The waterfall thundered on, mist curling into the pavilion like a veil.

Tian Lei exhaled slowly, trying to steady the surge in his chest. "So Master Mu is… not just a sect master. She's a daughter of the Divine Land itself."

Haiyun nodded once, gaze sharp. "That's why she's respected—and feared—even when her methods are questioned. The blood she carries, and the shelter we enjoy, comes from here."

Tian Lei's fists curled faintly in his lap, his mind still reeling. He could hardly reconcile the image of his sect master—Teasing and non serious woman—with the tale Haiyun had just spoken. A daughter of the Divine Land, a runaway brat who had carved her own sect into the realm.

But even that picture felt incomplete. His thoughts tangled until he finally blurted, "Master… Mu Qinxue… she feels like such a teasing lady. Always laughing at our expense, always mocking us. How could she be the same person who created the entire Azure Feather Sect with her own hands?"

Haiyun's eyes narrowed slightly, then softened with a faint, knowing glimmer. "Because that's who she is. A woman who plays the fool, but behind it, she carries the spine of steel it takes to birth a sect into existence."

Tian Lei blinked, still confused. "…Then who was that woman she once spoke about? The one she called her master?"

Haiyun leaned back, staff resting across his knees, and nodded once. "Ah. That. Not her master. Her caretaker. Her real mother died giving birth to her. From that day on, her caretaker raised her as if she were her own daughter."

His gaze drifted toward the mist beyond the pavilion, as if peering back into memory. "When Mu Qinxue was still young, she asked her caretaker what she should become. And the woman—who was more a mother than anything else—told her: 'Perhaps one day be, I will be the founder of a great sect.'"

Tian Lei's eyes widened. "…She said that?"

Haiyun grunted. "So the story goes. And Mu Qinxue… well, you've seen her nature. Mischievous, prideful, impossible to bind. She took those words to heart, perhaps more seriously than even her caretaker expected. Some say that's why she left the Divine Land, opened her own sect, and even named it in her caretaker's honor—instead of after herself."