From the Outside

"The loss Canghong suffered at the hands of Old Demon Ye might be worse than we thought. I even suspect he once took a Withered Yuan Pill..." Flying out of the Heavenly Scar, Jingyu looked back, casting a downward glance as she spoke abruptly. "What makes you say that?" Qin Sang asked. It was only a guess on Jingyu's part. "Unless he had no other choice, why would Canghong throw caution to the wind and refuse to let go? Looking at him, it was as if he treated that Abyss Ruins fragment as his final lifeline. Of course, it's also possible he knows something we don't." "The top powerhouses of the previous generation are stepping down one after another..." Qin Sang nodded, lost in thought. Even setting aside Old Demon Ye, Patriarch Chifa and Old Man Tianzheng had fallen one after the other. Daoist Zhenyi had forced an ascension, his life and death unknown. Demon Monarch Tongyou and Feather King had both announced secluded cultivation after returning from Ziwei Palace, and there had been no word of them for a long time. Demon Monarch Tongyou had risen to prominence at roughly the same time as Patriarch Chifa, yet right up until Chifa's death, Tongyou had always been overshadowed by him. Feather King was said to have reaped great gains in Ziwei Palace, but whether he could break through to the late Transformation stage remained uncertain. For truly remarkable figures, one had to look to the present day! The two returned to Qingyang Temple. After lingering for a few days, they set out once more and arrived at Hanging Skull Pass. Snake King and Qianji Demon King were already waiting for them. So were Bing Han and Xiang Qing, who had come at Qin Sang's invitation. Decades had passed since Ziwei Palace's ascension, and the Ancient Celestial Battlefield was gradually stabilizing. Having gathered news from other fellow Daoists, Qin Sang had decided to go take a look in person. Bing Han and the others had shared the same thought, readily agreeing upon receiving his invitation. At the Hanging Skull Pass ramparts, the six of them looked up toward the lands outside the pass. It was precisely when the spiritual tide surged most violently. Storms swept through heaven and earth; though it was clearly midday, the sky was shrouded in murky darkness. *Boom! Boom!* The city-protecting warding formation bore the brunt of the storm's impact. The barrier formed by the grand formation defended Hanging Skull Pass, holding the tempest firmly at bay. Guards sat cross-legged behind the barrier, sparing no effort to channel spiritual power into sustaining the glowing shield. Any guard whose strength was spent would be relieved at once. Patrols of Hanging Skull Pass guards darted back and forth in a hurry, yet their rotations remained orderly. Though taxing, this also held benefits for them, serving as a process to refine the spiritual power within their bodies. As the tides shifted several hours later, the fury of the storm weakened noticeably. The pressure on the city-protecting formation dropped drastically, and the guards seized every second to rest. Qin Sang and his companions took the opportunity to leave the city. The storms along the periphery posed no threat to them, and they maintained a leisurely demeanor. Nearly fifty years had passed. This was Qin Sang's first time entering the Ancient Celestial Battlefield since then. Upon careful observation, he found it altered beyond recognition. Recalling his very first venture into the battlefield, he could not help but sigh with emotion. The group sped through the storm without pausing. Their destination, unexpectedly, was the place where Ziwei Palace had once stood. "It should be here..." Jingyu surveyed the surroundings, her tone somewhat hesitant. An earth-shattering change had occurred; no trace of the past remained. The tempest vortex had vanished without a trace, and now not even a wisp of cloud or mist could be seen. Space had become slightly more stable than when they had last departed. Through the spatial rifts and residual storms, the landscape not far ahead could be faintly discerned. The earth was sunken into a massive crater, of indeterminate depth and breadth. Bing Han, who had come here several times in the interim, nodded and pointed toward it. "We only saw this after the space here stabilized. The crater was the source of that tempest vortex. We suspect it was gouged out when an immortal palace from beyond the realm crashed here all those years ago..." Qin Sang walked forward a few steps and stared at it for a long while. "We'll only know after going down to see whether the immortal palace flew in from beyond this realm or was originally built here..." Qin Sang looked at Bing Han. "Please lead the way, Fellow Daoist." Bing Han nodded, conjuring her protective magic treasure to fly ahead. Qin Sang and Jingyu flanked her on the left and right to protect her, while Snake King and the others followed close behind. Weaving cautiously between the spatial rifts, they arrived at the edge of the crater. Peering downward, they were met by pitch-black darkness. "Quite a few fellow Daoists must have visited already, right? Did anyone find something like a secret realm here? Or perhaps damaged ancient restrictions that might reveal something?" Before this, Jingyu had been occupied first with consolidating her cultivation and second with training Fat Chicken, so she had not had the chance to come. Bing Han hummed in assent. "Fellow Daoist Lu explored the crater three times and reportedly found an unusual spot." With that, Bing Han looked toward Qin Sang. Qin Sang was on good terms with Lu Boyuan and had asked him before setting out. "Fellow Daoist Lu did make a discovery—what seemed to be the ruins of an ancient cultivator, down below. Regrettably, it was too severely devastated, and he came away empty-handed. Still, there is no harm in taking a look." The others readily agreed. With Bing Han still leading, they descended continuously. The farther down they went, the more chaotic it became, until each step forward was an ordeal. Fortunately, Qin Sang had the Heavenly Eye Butterfly, saving them a great deal of time. After traveling an unknown distance, still far from the deepest reaches, Qin Sang spotted the marker Lu Boyuan had mentioned. Taking over from Bing Han to lead the way, he turned right and proceeded for a time until he saw a battered black stone. The black stone resembled the pedestal of some object. Struck by immense force, it bore several shocking cracks. Qin Sang examined it for a while and recognized it as a formation artifact. Searching along its traces, he discovered several more remnants nearby. They surmised that an ancient palace must have stood here originally, but now not even a roof tile could be found—only these few relics remained. "For a remnant formation to survive to this day, its power was certainly not weak. But it falls far short of Ziwei Palace..." Snake King shook his head repeatedly. Even with the flimsiest understanding of formations and restrictions, one could tell the two were not on the same level at all. Qin Sang examined it even more closely. To his modest discernment, he could essentially confirm that this place had nothing to do with Ziwei Palace. "Fellow Daoist Qin, what are you thinking about?" Qin Sang had been deep in thought for so long that Jingyu noticed the oddity and sent a voice transmission to ask. "Nothing! There's nothing more to see here. Let's look elsewhere. Perhaps with a stroke of luck we'll find an ancient treasure; that would make the trip worthwhile," Qin Sang replied, shaking his head as he made the suggestion. The others agreed and pressed deeper. As Qin Sang walked, he split his attention to look inward at the primordial spirit within his purple palace. He dispersed the Yin-Yang Armor; on the surface of his primordial spirit, the jade Buddha emanated a faint yellow radiance. Qin Sang fell into contemplation. Ever since Ziwei Palace had ascended, a single question had lingered in his mind. He had come here this time precisely to verify it. Barring any unforeseen explanation, Ziwei Palace was an immortal palace from beyond that had crashed here; it had never belonged to this realm. Not counting Bai and the ancient demon, whose origins were unknown, only he, like Ziwei Palace, had come from the outside. In the past, though the intervals between Ziwei Palace's appearances were not fixed, the variation had never been very large. Yet after his arrival... More accurately, after the jade Buddha had brought him to this realm, the timing of each appearance of Ziwei Palace had been pushed forward drastically. As if summoned by something, it had appeared three times in a mere two centuries, ultimately ascending! Could that truly be a coincidence? Qin Sang gazed at the Buddhist light on the surface of his primordial spirit, the image of that mysterious jade Buddha flashing through his mind, and silently asked in his heart, *Just what role do you play in all of this?*