The three supreme elders hung suspended in mid-air, bound tight by the iridescent, glowing vines of the Heavenly Horizon Farm. No matter how much they channeled their remaining qi, the living chains absorbed their energy like dry soil drinking rain, converting their desperate struggles into nourishment for the crops above.
Below on the mountain path, hundreds of disciples fell silent. The sight of their highest authorities captured without effort broke their understanding of power.
— Release us, Li Xian! — Grand Elder Yan gasped, his face flushed red with humiliation. — The Grand Ancestor of the Cloud Domain is in secluded cultivation! If you harm a single hair on our heads, he will descend upon you with the wrath of a thousand thunders!
Li Xian stepped forward, floating effortlessly at eye level with the trapped elders. He reached up, casually plucking a sparkling, dew-covered leaf from a vine wrapping around Grand Elder Yan's shoulder.
— The Grand Ancestor? — Li Xian smiled faintly, crushing the leaf between his fingers to release a concentrated burst of medicinal fragrance. — If your ancestor were truly wise, he would realize that the energy flow of this entire continent has shifted. My farm no longer draws from my own inner reserve. It is now absorbing the ambient qi of the sky and distributing it back into the land.
As if to prove his point, a gentle ripple of golden light radiated outward from the floating island. Wherever the light touched, withered mountain trees bloomed instantly, and the barren rocks beneath sprouted ancient, long-extinct spirit herbs. The air itself grew dense with pure, breathable qi.
The disciples below gasped in awe as many among them felt long-standing cultivation bottlenecks dissolve just by breathing the air around the mountain peak.
— He... he is not destroying the realm... — one of the junior disciples whispered, dropping to his knees in reverence. — He is elevating it!
— Enough games — Li Xian said, his voice lowering with an commanding gravity that echoed across the valley. — I have no interest in destroying your sect, nor do I care for your petty hierarchies. But from this day forward, the Heavenly Horizon Farm travels where it pleases. The skies belong to no one.
With a gentle flick of his wrist, the light chains dissolved, releasing the three elders. They dropped back onto the rocky ground, gasping for air, their faces pale with a mixture of terror and awe. They no longer dared to raise their weapons.
Li Xian turned toward his floating domain, a staircase of swirling starlight forming beneath his feet with every step he took upward.
— If you wish to seek the Dao, do not seek it in dusty scrolls or locked halls — Li Xian declared, looking down at the vast mountain range below as the floating island began to drift majestically toward the uncharted regions of the world. — Seek it where it grows freely.
The Heavenly Horizon Farm moved forward, leaving behind a trail of shimmering cosmic dust, embarking on its journey across the infinite realm.