Stop it, Taoist, Your Fight almost Ruins the DAO!

"Very good."

"You won't regret today's decision. Relax, we in Zìzài Heaven are not fierce flood dragons or savage beasts; we don't eat people."

Seeing Yi Chen acting with such caution and prudence, Doumu Origin Lord couldn't help but let out a light chuckle. Reflected on her peach blossom mask, the brows suddenly curved into a lovely arc, and the lips slightly lifted.

"Come with me, this is not the place for conversation. Let's return to my Doumu Origin Lord Palace first."

"Don't resist, of course, it would be useless even if you did."

Suddenly, an invisible binding pressure enveloped Yi Chen, causing him to struggle before realizing with alarm that he couldn't move a muscle.

If Jue Xin had this ability, he felt he could already give up with laughter and resignation.

"You're actually resisting."

The designs on Doumu Origin Lord's mask drew a surprised pattern, and then in Yi Chen's frightened gaze, a fair little hand reached into his chest, gently touching his strong pectoral muscles.

Then, she gave it a pinch.

"Hiss! What the hell is Zìzài Heaven up to?" Yi Chen couldn't help but feel a tingling scalp, and for a moment, he felt like he had escaped the tiger's mouth only to enter the wolf's den.

"Not bad, the strength of your physical body is impressive. Ordinary beginning cultivators don't have as strong a body as yours, worthy of someone who has acquired a golden transference order."

"Damn, your bone age is really nineteen. A genius of your caliber should be holding a higher rank violet gold token."

Just then, abruptly, a monk clad in black and gold imperial robes and wearing a plain white mask flew over with the wind. Seeing Doumu Origin Lord, he was immediately shocked: "Lady Yuan Jun, please wait, this person is holding the golden transference order from my Yuqing True King Palace; it should be handed over to me."

"You're talking nonsense, Heavenly Master of Life and Destiny, I found him first. Which eye of yours saw him holding a golden order from your Yuqing True King Palace? He's clearly a person belonging to my Doumu Origin Lord Palace."

"You keep looking then, I'm leaving."

"Little guy, stand firm."

The mysterious woman didn't waste any more words, acting like a thief, she directly grasped Yi Chen's collar and gestured with her finger like a sword, lightly drawing it across the void.

"Zìzài Blooming Flowers Light as Dreams."

Peach blossoms filled the air, as a splendid and gorgeous rain of flowers suddenly fell from the sky, encircling Yi Chen and the mysterious woman.

Before Yi Chen could take a closer look, everything around him suddenly changed.

The endless celestial wind was like blades cutting his face, twisting and distorting it, with a ceaseless rumble of sonic booms erupting behind him.

Yi Chen had never driven at such a speed before and certainly not while being carried as if he were a little chick. It was too outrageously wild.

Compared to the mysterious woman in front of him, his previous full-speed escape was nothing more than a laughable attempt, akin to Michael Schumacher racing an electric wheelchair.

With his current physical strength, to have his face twisted by the wind like a fighter pilot opening the canopy at high speed, he didn't dare to imagine how fast the escape was. They were shooting up to the heavens.

At this moment, they were indeed ascending.

After flying upward at an angle for about the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, in Yi Chen's astonished eyes, a narrow silver gate that could only admit two people side by side suddenly appeared in the sky.

From afar, a dreamlike luminous shadow like a flower petal emerged from Doumu Origin Lord's sleeve, pushing the silver gate open. Both their figures instantly squeezed through.

As their bodies vanished, the silver gate closed abruptly once more.

Even with Yi Chen's robust physique, once he stepped on solid ground, he couldn't help feeling dizzy and disoriented.

In the past, it had always been Yi Taoist lifting others by their collars and running; today was the first time he was being lifted, and a sense of shame rose in Yi Chen's heart.

Reflecting on how the mysterious woman had pinched him earlier, he vowed to himself that once his cultivation was powerful enough, he would grab her and take her for a spin, pinching her back in return.

Not for anything else, just to hold a grudge.

"Alright, now we're in my Doumu Origin Lord Palace, no one will interrupt our conversation here."

"Just a bit dizzy, huh? Seems like your physical body is tougher than I thought. I assumed you would pass out for a while."

A tremendously great and magnificent palace appeared before Yi Chen. Doumu Origin Lord walked up the steps, and the palace doors automatically opened. She stood on the stairs, beckoning Yi Chen to follow.

Under someone else's roof, one must bow their head.

Yi Chen adjusted his mindset and followed closely behind.

"Kid, don't look so glum; coming to my Doumu Origin Lord Palace was the right choice for you."

"Seeing the confused look on your face, you're now part of our Free Heaven, so let me give you a brief introduction."

"Life is full of disappointments, and few matters can be discussed freely with others."

"Thus, the first-generation Heavenly Master of Free Heaven used his great mana in the Eastern Sea of the Central Continent to find a piece of spatial fragment and refined it to create the organization of Free Heaven, a legacy passed down to this day."

"Of course, there was no concept of 'Central Continent' back then, and the separation of the three lands was all due to the great war ten thousand years ago that practically tore the Human Realm continent apart."

"Our Free Heaven has two main palaces: the Doumu Origin Lord Palace, which I am currently in charge of, and the Yuqing True King Palace."

"You may also call them the North Dipper Origin Lord Palace and the South Dipper Star God Palace."

"My Doumu Origin Lord Palace has seven Star Lords, while the Yuqing True King Palace has six. You'd better keep your distance from the folks at Yuqing True King Palace; they're like wood, only knowing how to cultivate without any fun, and they don't like fighting."

"Going further down, there are the Twenty-Eight Constellations, plus the Heavenly Master; these are all our own people in Free Heaven, excluding peripheral members."

"After joining Free Heaven, the organization won't force you to do anything. We just share what we have, exchange goods, offer various kinds of help. There's no discrimination here, as long as you don't betray Free Heaven; no one cares which clan or sect you come from."

"Free Heaven members can publish personal tasks; by accepting tasks you can receive the offered bounty. Sometimes Free Heaven will also have public tasks, none of which are mandatory, all based on personal will."

"However, every ten years, members of Free Heaven must publish or complete a task, otherwise their tokens will be reclaimed, or they can choose to offset with Contribution Points."

"Contribution Points can be exchanged with the organization for mystical cultivation techniques or heavenly treasures, or gained through completing tasks. Of course, every task or trade published by an individual will see a cut taken by the Heavenly Master, since maintaining Free Heaven isn't cheap."

"However, for someone like you who owes Free Heaven your life, you might be forcibly drafted to participate in a public task."

"Like this layer we're living in now, it's the main headquarters of Free Heaven, not open to outsiders. Where you stood before was the public area."

"Know that the Dao is hard to refine; the power of one person is often inadequate. The Heavenly Master will also issue some one-time tokens to invite others to organize a trade fair below, of course, the Heavenly Master will take a small cut of the profits."

...

Following the mysterious woman into the great hall and through a long, narrow corridor, while listening to her explanations, Yi Chen had come to understand the structure of Free Heaven.

This was akin to a company like Jingdong, with both self-operated and a small portion of collaboration with third-party stores.

The Heavenly Master was like... Brother Dong?

All Divine Tokens, masks, Star Discs, etc., within Free Heaven were created by the Heavenly Master.

In the mysterious woman's explanation, the cultivation of the Heavenly Master had reached an unbelievable realm; he was proficient in all kinds of spells, symbols, and arrays, with high accomplishments in the Daoist, Buddhist, and Demonic cultivation techniques, and had a hand in many great Daoist principles. His cultivation level was immeasurable; now he was mostly either in closed-door cultivation or wandering.

"Boy, don't even think about seeing the Heavenly Master; I haven't seen his old man in decades." As if guessing Yi Chen's thoughts, the Doumu Origin Lord chuckled and pointed to a huge bronze mirror inside the side hall,

"Go ahead, walk past the Conscience Mirror. If you bear ill intent towards Free Heaven, you certainly won't fool the Conscience Mirror. If there's a problem, then you can wait for your demise."

Suddenly, the tone of the mysterious woman became serious, seemingly confident in the so-called Conscience Mirror.

Yi Chen, of course, went with the flow and passed in front of the mirror without any incident.

At this moment, the mysterious woman's face beamed with a smile once more as she invited Yi Chen to imprint his hand on a jade book. Instantly, she declared that he was now a member of the Doumu Origin Lord Palace.

"Kid, hurry and come to the Spirit Testing Mirror to see what your talent is like. Let me have a look; a nineteen-year-old True Monarch, it's been many years since I've seen one."

The Doumu Origin Lord cheerfully pulled Yi Chen into another side hall where a huge bronze mirror was placed, obviously the Spirit Testing Mirror referred to.

"There are seven grades within the Spirit Testing Mirror: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Back in the day, I was blue with a touch of violet. Let's see what level you've reached, kid."

Under the Doumu Origin Lord's urging, Yi Chen walked past the Spirit Testing Mirror with some trepidation. After a halo of divine light shone upon him, the mirror reflected a bright white light.

"Origin Lord, what does this white color signify? Is my talent exceptionally strong?" Yi Chen couldn't help but ask, surprised that he did not fall into the known color categories.

"Too strong! I could grab any dog off the street for a walk and this is the color it would show; this kind of talent, comparable to the most stubborn rock, how could it possibly appear in you."

"It seems that the Spirit Testing Mirror is likely broken; we'll test again another time. I recently had an argument with Yuqing True King and I'm not in the mood to ask him to fix it," said the Doumu Origin Lord with a twist of her mouth.

Upon hearing this, Yi Chen's expression involuntarily darkened.

"Off the street, grab a dog, just like this, just like this," the words of the Doumu Origin Lord echoed in his mind, wounding him a bit.

Lies don't hurt people; the truth is a swift blade.

Damn it, if his guess was correct, the mirror was probably not broken...