As he departed the Ancestral Mausoleum of Zhao, Wei Yuan once again felt the faint sensation of being watched. It seemed a great upheaval was indeed imminent; many supreme beings were no longer bothering to conceal themselves and had begun making their moves.
Wei Yuan had originally felt that with two hundred million strands of mortal fortune in hand, everything was well within his control. But at this moment, his confidence wavered.
Immortal Zhao Li's talk of fleeing far overseas was no casual remark. Faced with such a great catastrophe, seeking good fortune and avoiding calamity looked much the same.
Zhao Li's desire to head overseas meant that his instincts viewed the present situation as utterly bleak—which was why he believed that overseas was the only auspicious ground.
Returning to Qingming, Wei Yuan was still riding his missile across the sky, a peerless sight. He was soaring carefree and content, and before he could even chant the line, "Roaming the heavens, gazing far across three thousand rivers," the scene before him suddenly blurred. He watched helplessly as his projected image flew off atop the missile while his true form rose continuously. The landscape shifted around him, and the next moment, he was standing in Yanshi's small courtyard.
At this moment, Wei Yuan was no larger than a speck of dust. Seeing that True Monarchs Yanshi, Zhu Yan, Xuanyue, Danming, and Feng Yuan had all arrived, each looming like a primordial mountain, he remembered he had yet to resume his true form and hurriedly manifested himself.
Yanshi also rose to greet him, and there was surprisingly a seat in the courtyard for Wei Yuan as well. Seeing True Monarch Xuanyue stand up too, Wei Yuan hastily stepped forward and performed the full formal disciple-master salutation, not daring to show the slightest remissness.
True Monarch Xuanyue accepted the greeting with a chuckle, then sat down right after Yanshi. Stroking his beard, he smiled and said, "This old Daoist's lineage truly has an embarrassment of talent. Even my great-granddisciple is now able to sit here and deliberate affairs alongside all of you fellow Daoists. Then I have a granddisciple with nowhere to put her, so we had to send her off to the Sword Palace to serve as co-palace master. And my one disappointing disciple will probably only manage to inherit the Sky Azure Hall after another century or two of bitter cultivation, unable to make any further progress."
The various view masters and hall masters could only roll their eyes in exasperation, yet there was nothing they could say. It was universally acknowledged that barring any unforeseen accidents, the future palace master of the Palace of Grand Beginning would be Wei Yuan. And if Zhang Sheng could leave to assume the post of vice palace master at the Sword Palace, the Palace of Grand Beginning and the Sword Palace would become practically as one—far better than having her remain as merely a vice palace master here.
One had to admit that True Monarch Xuanyue's Sky Azure Hall lineage was frighteningly formidable. Even the seemingly ordinary and unremarkable Fenhai was among the finest of his generation and those surrounding it, fully qualified to inherit the mantle of the Sky Azure Hall in the future.
The cultivators paid him no heed, and True Monarch Xuanyue didn't press his luck, settling down quietly to prepare for the council.
Immortal Monarch Yanshi first returned to his room and brought out two immortal swords once wielded by the Patriarch. He placed one in the air above the courtyard and one beneath the ground, then bade Wei Yuan sit at the courtyard entrance. This arrangement secretly aligned with the heavenly mysteries: the Patriarch's swords sealed heaven and earth, while Wei Yuan, bearing mortal fortune, blocked the sole entrance and exit with his physical body. Thus, heaven and earth were cut off, karmic causality was sealed, and the contents of their discussion could remain hidden from all prying eyes.
Once all the preparations were complete, Yanshi's expression turned solemn. "Junior brothers, summoning you all here today is truly a matter of life and death! Originally, the Master of the Hall of the Bright King should have been among us, but he cannot come."
At these words, everyone's expression grew stern. All present knew the divine abilities of the Master of the Hall of the Bright King. His inability to attend meant that this place had already become a ground of life and death.
Immortal Monarch Yanshi continued, "The great catastrophe draws near. I must lay our cards on the table so that you all clearly understand what we hold in reserve. What we can rely on now is nothing other than the two immortal swords left behind by the Patriarch. When I ascended to immortality back then and assumed the post of palace master, an important reason was that under the lock of my Art of Heavenly Mysteries, no matter who the adversary might be, they could never escape a strike from an immortal sword.
"The world believes that our Palace of Grand Beginning still possesses two immortal swords. In truth, however, only one remains."
The cultivators all paled. Only Wei Yuan remained composed; during his previous meeting with Immortal Monarch Yanshi, he had already been told the truth. It was not that Immortal Monarch Yanshi played favorites, but rather that Wei Yuan was fighting on the absolute front line of the Palace of Grand Beginning. Qingming was already beginning to resemble a fourth mountain gate, and in terms of sheer strength, it was no longer inferior to any of the nine states. Thus, Immortal Monarch Yanshi had laid bare the truth to Wei Yuan to prevent him from misjudging the situation.
"Where was that immortal sword used?" Zhu Yan was the first to ask.
Immortal Monarch Yanshi replied, "Back then, the Grand Palace Master quietly emerged from seclusion and used that sword to sever his last thread of karmic ties to this mortal realm. From then on, he completely slipped beyond the reach of causality, becoming someone who simply does not exist in this realm. As for why he departed, he never said. But Tinghai back then, and I today, both believe he most likely went to deal with the great catastrophe. What exactly he is doing, even I do not know."
The cultivators' expressions eased somewhat instead. "If the Palace Master was able to plan ahead and make early arrangements, that is a good thing. As for the crisis before us, we will simply endure it. At worst, we sacrifice our Dao paths to achieve Unity. Can they truly kill every last one of us?!"
Though they spoke thus, every hall master and view master understood full well the vast difference between two immortal swords and one. No faction—not even an alliance of factions—could withstand the consecutive loss of two immortals, or a grievous wound dealt to a heavyweight immortal. But with only a single immortal sword remaining, many would entertain dangerous thoughts. After all, the temptation to destroy the Palace of Grand Beginning at the cost of losing a single immortal was exceedingly high.
Yanshi raised his hand slightly. Waiting for the crowd to quiet down, he said, "The sudden emergence of Junior Brother Zhu Yan's opportunity to ascend to immortality was no accident, but an intentional move by our adversary. The other side has already made its move. If he misses this chance, Junior Brother does not know how long he will have to wait for another perfect opportunity to ascend. But if he seizes this opening—"
A chill ran through the cultivators' hearts as they recalled a legend circulated only within a select few circles: When three immortals appear together once more in the Palace of Grand Beginning, the palace shall meet its doom.
This rumor was not entirely groundless. If three immortals were gathered in the Palace of Grand Beginning, its strength would far outstrip the other immortal palaces. At that point, every immortal from the great aristocratic families who had ever opposed the Palace of Grand Beginning would inevitably feel endangered.
Moreover, with the great catastrophe impending, the various factions had long since formed secret alliances. With their alliance already established, all that remained was to strike with thunderous force, just as they had when ambushing Immortal Monarch Tinghai back then. Furthermore, when Zhu Yan ascended, the heavenly tribulation would surely be tampered with. At that time, Yanshi would likely have to exert his full strength to protect him—precisely when Yanshi would be at his weakest and most vulnerable.
Thus, the enemy's target was not just Zhu Yan; it might very well be Yanshi as well.
Furthermore, the gathering of three immortals might trigger unpredictable changes in the Heavenly Dao. This was something that the side scheming in the shadows, having already secured the upper hand, could never permit.
Zhu Yan grasped the causes and consequences in an instant and declared on the spot, "I understand. This opportunity to ascend—I give it up! Once the moment passes, I will force my ascension later, and leave life and death to fate!"
The cultivators were deeply moved. Doing so would protect Yanshi, but Zhu Yan's own Dao path would end at the threshold of immortality. A so-called ascension opportunity meant the acknowledgment of heaven and earth, where authority over the Great Dao was within easy reach and perfectly suited to Zhu Yan's Dao path.
As the saying went, to refuse what Heaven grants is to court disaster. If Zhu Yan did not seize this moment to ascend, the authority over the Great Dao most suited to him might never appear again. To force an ascension afterward would surely provoke backlash from heaven and earth, drastically increasing the risk of death.
The adversary's supreme beings were truly terrifying in their methods; this single move parried and struck simultaneously, instantly plunging the Palace of Grand Beginning into a dilemma.
Seeing the grim expressions of the cultivators, Yanshi said calmly, "The enemy acted in haste, and in doing so, they underestimated me. In the Dao of Heavenly Mysteries, though I have not attained the authority I ought to hold, I still possess a measure of power to resist. I can make some preparations, leveraging the power of Qingming to alter the Heavenly Dao, extending this window for ascension from one year to ten. Within these ten years, Junior Brother Zhu may ascend at any time. This will surely tie down a substantial portion of our adversary's attention and disrupt their arrangements."
The spirits of the cultivators lifted. Yanshi then gave several instructions regarding matters to watch out for when the great catastrophe arrived, after which he dismissed the view masters and hall masters to return to the Palace of Grand Beginning, keeping only Wei Yuan behind.
Once the cultivators had departed, worry finally crept onto Yanshi's face. "Forcing a delay on my junior brother's ascension opportunity is likely also within the enemy's expectations. This was merely an expedient measure born of helplessness; going forward, we will surely find ourselves on the defensive at every turn. You have always possessed extraordinary foresight. To break this impasse, do you have any good strategy?"
Wei Yuan pondered for a moment before speaking. "At present, all signs indicate that the enemy holds a distinct advantage. Under these circumstances, our best strategy is to find every possible way to muddy the waters and introduce as many variables as we can."
Chapter 1117