That cave-heaven was simply colossal—far vaster and deeper even than the cave-heaven opened by the Little Celestial Venerable using the ancestral method. As immortal radiance and immortal qi descended, the Immortal Realm's energy was immediately transformed into immortal medicine within the cave-heaven and absorbed!
The Little Celestial Venerable, True Lord Yan, and the others could even see the transformation process!
To treat the entire Immortal Realm as an other shore and refine immortal qi and radiance—it was truly magnificent!
"This is an Immortal Realm cave-heaven!"
An Immortal Realm cave-heaven overturned everyone's understanding. The human body's Six Secret Depositories connected to six great other shores, and these six shores had long been fixed; altering them was utterly impossible!
What was more, other shores were opened up—six mysterious realms carved out in the cosmic void, harboring six distinct types of power.
If the Immortal Realm was also an other shore, could it be that the Immortal Realm was also opened up by someone?
"If word of this reaches the myriad worlds, those Qi Refiners cultivating the Nuo methods might well go mad," True Lord Yan murmured.
What concerned the Little Celestial Venerable even more was: who was this person?
Just who could treat the Immortal Realm as an other shore and open an Immortal Realm cave-heaven?
True Lord Yan marveled, "Hooking the Immortal Realm's power and continuously converting it into immortal medicine—this person is truly audacious! No, lawless!"
Outside Tushita Palace, Daoist Taiqing gazed up at the sky, his expression agitated. His focus was not on the Immortal Realm cave-heaven opened by Xu Ying, but on how the Heavenly and Earthly Great Dao of Lihen Heaven was gradually recovering its wholeness!
The Great Dao of heaven and earth was reviving!
The world had long been broken. Lihen Heaven was the Dao Ancestor's dao venue, and the Dao Ancestor's Dao had evolved into the Heavenly and Earthly Great Dao here. Yet Lihen Heaven had long been reduced to ruins, its Great Dao shattered, with Immortal Dao anomalous zones everywhere suppressing this realm.
For tens of thousands of years, it had remained so without change.
Yet now, change had finally arrived!
"With the recovery of the Lihen Heaven dao venue, the Daoist Sect Ancestral Court will reemerge in the mortal world. The restoration of the Daoist Sect is just around the corner!"
Daoist Taiqing said in a low voice, "Once the Ancestral Court is restored, perhaps we can sense the Dao Ancestor and learn whether he is alive or dead..." This was what he cared about most!
In his heart, the restoration of the Lihen Heaven dao venue held even greater significance than Xu Ying opening an Immortal Realm cave-heaven!
Just then, an alien Great Dao surged through the sky as a grand divine consciousness swept in from another world, investigating the upheaval in Lihen Heaven and probing toward the Immortal Realm cave-heaven Xu Ying had opened!
Daoist Taiqing's thoughts stirred. Mobilizing the power of heaven and earth, he forcefully erased that alien Great Dao from the Immortal Realm, leaving behind only that vast divine consciousness.
"The Heaven and Earth Primordial Spirit of the Dao Revelation Ground?" the divine consciousness said in surprise. "You can even erase my dharmic power! The Lihen Heaven dao venue has actually been repaired by you?"
Daoist Taiqing replied leisurely, "Times have changed. Back then, you usurped legitimacy; now, order is merely being restored from chaos."
The divine consciousness laughed heartily. "You are a Heaven and Earth Primordial Spirit with rigid thought. How could you possess the ability to repair the Lihen Heaven dao venue? You couldn't even save yourself and were suppressed by me leading one thousand three hundred subordinates. In that case, someone else must have repaired Lihen Heaven! Most likely, it's the person who opened that Immortal Realm cave-heaven!"
Daoist Taiqing's expression changed slightly. With a flick of his sleeve, he wiped away the divine consciousness.
He frowned slightly.
He had originally intended to keep this strand of divine consciousness to uncover the enemy's secrets, never expecting that the other party would instead deduce so much.
If he kept the divine consciousness any longer, the enemy might deduce that the one repairing the Lihen Heaven dao venue was Xu Ying, bringing Xu Ying great trouble. Thus, he destroyed it immediately.
In the Immortal Realm, within Hutian, Perfected Jade Pot saw off the immortal boy who had come to deliver a message, a slight frown on his brow.
Lady Bailan presented him with a cup of fragrant tea, snuggling into his embrace as she asked, "Why do you look so troubled, Perfected?"
Perfected Jade Pot sighed. "Just now, the immortal boy brought word that an incident occurred in the Demon Realm. Someone opened an Immortal Realm cave-heaven and is stealing the profound secrets of the Immortal Realm. It must be investigated, and I have been ordered to descend to the lower realm to handle it."
Lady Bailan smiled. "That's a good thing. Didn't you say you had some business to attend to in the lower realm as well? Wouldn't it be perfect to take care of both at once?"
Perfected Jade Pot shook his head. "If one could freely descend and ascend, it would indeed be simple. I've also been wanting to find Brother Daoist Cangwu to clear up the misunderstanding between us. But alas, the lessons of the past are stark. Of the Immortal Kings who descended back then, how many met good ends? Once you go down, your merits become someone else's, and you can't even come back! If I go down, I fear someone will claim my achievements while I'm stuck scraping by in misery."
Lady Bailan blinked her pretty eyes and said, "Now that the immortal boy has brought the order commanding you to descend, you cannot refuse."
Perfected Jade Pot pondered back and forth, then said, "I'll accept the command on paper, but I won't budge. I'll drag it out day by day until the higher-ups lose patience and grant me an exemption medallion. I can descend, but only if they guarantee that I can return to the Immortal Realm afterward!"
Lady Bailan draped a robe over his shoulders and said, "This is a major matter. You should head back first and discuss it with your wife."
Perfected Jade Pot agreed and chuckled. "Smell me. Do I carry your scent? I'm worried that yellow-faced hag at home will sniff it out."
Lady Bailan gave him a push and chided with a laugh, "With so many mistresses kept outside, how could she know which scent is mine? Go on, hurry! And if you descend this time, you are not allowed to bring back any more little ones!"
Perfected Jade Pot kissed her lips and said with a grin, "How could I dare do that again?"
With that, the white-haired old man felt a surge of heat in his heart as he rose and took his leave, thinking to himself, *If I do go down to the mortal realm, maybe I can meet a few more fair maidens.*
In the Taishi Great World, within the Nine Heavens Dao Sect, Young Master Yuchuan also frowned slightly upon receiving the Imperial Monarch's message. He said to the sect master, "First the four tycoons of the Netherworld revived, then the Little Celestial Venerable stirred up turmoil, and now an Immortal Realm cave-heaven has appeared in the Demon Realm. These are truly turbulent times!" He had seen which way the wind was blowing early, leaving the Ziwei Remnant Realm before Weixu made its move. Afterward, he fled all the way back to the Taishi Great World, evading the pursuit of the Ancestral Court's experts.
Over these days, the Dao injury inflicted upon him by Xu Ying's Zhuxian sword qi had already healed. But a message had descended from the Imperial Monarch stating that someone had opened an Immortal Realm cave-heaven to steal the creation of the Immortal Realm for cultivation—an unforgivable crime—and ordered him to attend to the matter.
Zhang Xuan, Sect Master of the Dao Sect, asked, "Does the Immortal Realm cave-heaven have anything to do with that Xu Ying?"
Young Master Yuchuan said, "I do not know. Ancestor bestowed the Nine Heavens Ten Earths Extermination Immortal Array upon me specifically to target him. Last time, I intended to use this array to refine the Little Celestial Venerable to death, yet unexpectedly, Xu Ying ruined it. This time, Ancestor brought the matter up again, commanding me to resolve him once and for all without further delay. However..."
He paused, then smiled. "Hearing that I was wounded by Xu Ying, Ancestor passed the Nine Heavens Ten Earths Fiend-Breaking Formula down to me. This is an Imperial Monarch cultivation technique. Combined with the Nine Heavens Ten Earths Extermination Immortal Array, it will surely execute him!"
An Imperial Monarch technique was invincible in the lower realm!
In Weixu, the Five Extremes Immortal King and the Ninth Immortal King also received transmissions. Both frowned, each harboring their own calculations.
"Something that prompts the higher-ups to send orders directly to us cannot be trivial. Just what is going on with this Immortal Realm cave-heaven?"
The Five Extremes Immortal King personally went to see the Ninth Immortal King. The Ninth Immortal King said, "I do not know either. However, back then, I saw an Immortal Realm cave-heaven on Mount Kunlun, magnificent beyond measure... transforming the qi of the Immortal Realm into jade dew and ambrosia. But Kunlun's Immortal Realm cave-heavens have already been destroyed, leaving only one, and even that cave-heaven was sealed. Whoever can open an Immortal Realm cave-heaven out of thin air must be truly extraordinary!"
The Five Extremes Immortal King's eyes flickered. "Hiding away in Weixu forever is no long-term solution either. Leaving Weixu, we are no longer Immortal Kings, and we too would face birth, aging, illness, and death. It cannot compare to the freedom of returning to the Immortal Realm. The higher-ups said that once we handle this matter, we can return to the Immortal Realm."
The Ninth Immortal King chuckled. "Fellow Daoist, there is hidden meaning in your words. Speak your mind."
The Five Extremes Immortal King said, "Whether the higher-ups allow us to return or not, we must prepare a contingency. If they refuse to let us return, could we smuggle ourselves into the Immortal Realm through this Immortal Realm cave-heaven?"
The Ninth Immortal King laughed heartily. "I had the exact same thought!"
The two exchanged a knowing smile.
In Lihen Heaven's Tushita Palace, Xu Ying had severed his Crimson Palace cave-heaven. When he opened a new Crimson Palace cave-heaven, he saw that it pierced through to the Immortal Realm, showering waves of immortal radiance down upon him.
Though he was the one who had opened this Immortal Realm cave-heaven, his questions and perplexity were certainly no less than anyone else's.
He had known he would open a new Crimson Palace cave-heaven, but he had never imagined that it would connect to the Immortal Realm!
Moreover, when he activated this new Crimson Palace cave-heaven, it actually converted the Immortal Realm's power into heart-force immortal medicine for his Crimson Palace!
Although it could not yet compare to his original Crimson Palace cave-heaven, this new cave-heaven had only just been opened and remained at the first layer, not yet refined to the ninth layer.
If it was already this potent at the first layer, once cultivated to the ninth layer, it would likely be even more formidable than a Nuo ancestor cave-heaven!
More critically, this cave-heaven connected directly to the Immortal Realm.
Did this mean that perhaps one did not need to ascend—that one could journey to the Immortal Realm solely through the cave-heaven?
He was currently only at the first layer of the cave-heaven. He needed to cultivate like an ordinary Nuo Master, raising the cave-heaven layer by layer so that its roots sank deeper into the Immortal Realm.
Only when cultivated to the ninth layer could he enter the Immortal Realm through the cave-heaven.
*There is definitely something amiss with this Immortal Realm cave-heaven!*
Xu Ying pondered. Back in Kunlun, he had observed the positions of Yujing and the God Bridge, and he had also examined the structure of his own Third Heavenly Pass. Though he had not yet cultivated to the Ascension Stage, he was by no means unfamiliar with it.
Deducing from the fact that a Qi Refiner crosses the Heavenly Gate and ascends to Yujing to achieve immortality, if the Immortal Realm was a colossal other shore, then the bodily secret depository corresponding to the Immortal Realm had to be Yujing City behind the Third Heavenly Pass!
At that time, he had deduced that a Qi Refiner could open an Immortal Realm cave-heaven.
Now that he had opened one, however, reality diverged from his theory: this cave-heaven was not situated within Yujing City behind the Third Heavenly Pass, but genuinely manifested in the Immortal Realm!
Yet an instant later, Xu Ying realized that while his deduction was flawed, it was not entirely wrong.
He could sense that this Immortal Realm cave-heaven of his pierced straight through Yujing City within his Realm of Xiyi!
The cave-heaven he opened appeared to directly link his Crimson Palace secret depository to the Immortal Realm, but in truth, there was an intermediate transfer station—Yujing City behind the Third Heavenly Pass.
The power drawn from the Immortal Realm was refined by Yujing City before entering his body.
"The Jade Pool also possesses an Immortal Realm cave-heaven, connecting to the Immortal Realm above and Kunlun below. The Queen Mother of the West said that in its prime, the Jade Pool had ten cave-heavens in total."
Xu Ying blinked, thinking to himself, *Were those ten cave-heavens naturally formed, or artificially refined by human hands?*
If they were natural cave-heavens, that meant the Immortal Realm and the lower realm were originally connected, with Kunlun alone possessing ten paths to the Immortal Realm.
Ascension and the Heavenly Road were not the only ways into the Immortal Realm.
If they were artificially refined, did that mean someone had discovered the Immortal Realm other shore long ago—or even that the Immortal Realm itself was opened up by someone?
If the latter was the truth, it was simply terrifying. For Mount Kunlun held the Jade Pool, the God Bridge, and Yujing City, all corresponding to the human body!
It was hard not to wonder whether the ten cave-heavens, the Jade Pool, the God Bridge, and Yujing City on Mount Kunlun were the remnants left behind after the death of some unfathomably powerful entity.
There were far too many unsolved mysteries here.
Xu Ying suppressed his confusion and cultivated like an ordinary Nuo Master, driving the ancestral method to open the cave-heaven's second layer, third layer, and continuing all the way until the fifth layer before pausing his cultivation.
His cultivation base was already sufficient, so advancing the Crimson Palace cave-heaven to the fifth layer was a matter of natural course. But to elevate it further, his overall cultivation realm would have to advance alongside it.
"When I came here in the past, I comprehended the ruins of Tushita Palace and refined a Tushita Palace, placing it on the other shore of the Crimson Palace secret depository to benefit the world's cultivators. Perhaps back then, I sensed that by comprehending Lihen Heaven's Taiqing Realm, one could perceive the other shore," Xu Ying guessed.
Unfortunately, at that time, he had not harmonized with the Dao in the Dao Revelation Ground, nor had he gathered the Dao Ancestor's imprints in Lihen Heaven, let alone mended the heavens of Lihen Heaven. Consequently, the Xu Ying of that era had only refined a single Tushita Palace.
Though he had brought great fortune to the world, he had failed to discover that the Immortal Realm was also an other shore, and failed to open an Immortal Realm cave-heaven.
After forty-eight thousand years, he had finally accomplished what he could not achieve back then.
Xu Ying walked out of Taiqing Hall and found Daoist Taiqing already waiting outside.
Thunder rumbled across the sky. Xu Ying looked up and saw that the clouds bringing rain were not dark clouds, but clouds glowing with iridescent light, brimming with astonishing spiritual qi. Amid the rolling thunder, sweet rain poured from the heavens, nourishing all things on earth.
Without him realizing it, Lihen Heaven had undergone a profound transformation. Once desolate, perilous, and riddled with Immortal Dao anomalous zones, it now radiated vibrant life!
Xu Ying inhaled deeply, feeling the crisp, refreshing air reach straight to his lungs.
"Fellow Daoist Xu's meditation in Tushita Palace has yielded a bountiful harvest," Daoist Taiqing said with a smile. "The Daoist Sect Ancestral Court has regained its vitality because of you. Your merit is immeasurable, Fellow Daoist."
Xu Ying asked, "When Brother Daoist had me cultivate in Tushita Palace, did you foresee this all along?"
Daoist Taiqing shook his head. "I did not. I only felt that since Fellow Daoist Xu gained something here in the past, you would surely gain something this time as well. I simply never expected your harvest to be so grand."
He too could not help but marvel at the wonder of destiny.
Had he not kept Xu Ying here to comprehend the Dao, had he not given the Diamond Bangle to Niu Yuan Qi, and had Niu Yuan Qi and the big bell not run amok causing mischief, Lihen Heaven would never have seen such immense change, nor would the Dao Ancestor's dao venue have been restored!
Xu Ying's eyes gleamed as he chuckled. "However, Brother Daoist, while you've helped me resolve the Crimson Palace cave-heaven, you haven't helped me with the others. I still have five more cave-heavens: Mud Pill, Yellow Court, Bubbling Spring, Jade Pool, and Yujing!"
Daoist Taiqing lamented, "Fellow Daoist Xu, how could I possibly understand all that? Wait a moment... in your first life, you comprehended Tushita Palace in Lihen Heaven and refined a Tushita Palace to place on the other shore of the Crimson Palace. In that case, what immortal palaces and halls did you place on the other shores?"
Xu Ying blinked and said, "There's also the Yellow Court Mansion, the Jade Void Palace, the Chaos Mud Pill Palace, the Twelve-Storied Pavilion of the Nether Sea, and the Xuandu Yujing Palace."
Daoist Taiqing gave a muffled grunt. "Fellow Daoist Xu, you had better seek someone more capable."
Chapter 375