Beyond the cloud wall.
Having received word, Nascent Soul cultivators gradually arrived on the scene.
Gazing at the cloud wall, the cultivators were eager to try their luck, but the reality was that its expansion forced them to retreat again and again.
Those willing to risk their lives and possess the strength to breach the cloud wall were, in the end, an extreme rarity.
Inside the wall of ice, the scene was utterly chaotic, with treacherous undercurrents surging violently. It was far too dangerous!
"Old Ghost Chou, what are we supposed to do? If we keep waiting like this, the top-tier treasures in the secret realm will definitely be picked clean..."
Ancestor Queshan's tone carried a hint of anxiety.
They had gathered their helpers and crossed the turbulent currents together, never expecting to run into yet another stumbling block here.
Although the interior of the cloud wall was in great turmoil, he estimated that as long as a Nascent Soul cultivator remained sufficiently cautious, dying inside wouldn't be easy. Yet Old Ghost Chou refused to take the risk no matter what.
Alone, Queshan felt uneasy about braving it himself, so he was stuck waiting outside as well.
Old Ghost Chou replied unhurriedly, "Some suspect this secret realm is the ancestral estate of the Wuxiang Immortal Sect, and I'd say that's more or less accurate. What kind of people do you think have the power to open such an estate? Even if you manage to get inside, do you have the strength to contend with them for the supreme treasures? Those fellows who just went in haven't stirred up any commotion yet. Wait a bit longer."
"Their cultivations are by no means inferior to ours. If even they are driven back out, we'll have no choice but to wait for the cloud wall to dissipate..." Ancestor Queshan sighed softly.
Clouds and turbulent currents mingled together. The cultivators lingering outside the wall clustered in twos and threes, seeking out acquaintances to propose alliances, while others remained alone in the distance, biding their time.
Some banded together and ventured into the cloud wall.
Before long, figures were repeatedly repelled in retreat, looking thoroughly disheveled, and some were even inadvertently wounded, which made the onlookers even more hesitant to act rashly.
No one knew how much time slipped by.
The cloud wall showed no sign of waning; on the contrary, it grew increasingly violent, appearing ever more perilous.
Beyond the crowd, in a concealed spot, stood several figures suspended in midair.
They were all Buddhist nuns clad in simple haiqing robes, completely devoid of makeup.
Some wore monastic caps, having taken full vows with shaved heads, while others were laywomen cultivating with their hair intact, wearing elegant and dignified Miaochang crowns.
Having arrived not long ago, they had been observing the scene for a short while. Between the brows of the elderly nun leading them, divine light faintly gleamed as a translucent piece of jade surfaced, appearing like an opened heavenly eye.
Reflected within the jade was the cloud wall, along with flickering glimpses of the turbulence within, peering into its depths through subtle and profound means.
In a flash, the jade faded back into the elderly nun's glabella.
She spoke with a grave tone, "The collapse of the mountain-guarding cloud dragon shouldn't have been this violent. However, turmoil within the Wuxiang Immortal Sect triggered the grand formation on its own, and various factors compounding upon one another caused an anomaly. Before the cloud wall shows signs of decline, entering from this spot will be no easy feat."
"Is it truly the legendary Wuxiang Immortal Sect?"
A young nun asked excitedly, "Martial Aunt, didn't you say our Moon Concealing Nunnery shares deep origins with the Wuxiang Immortal Sect? Is there truly no other way to pass through the cloud wall? The Wuxiang Immortal Sect once controlled the legendary immortal halls and unearthed countless supreme treasures. Even if we cannot enter the immortal halls, obtaining treasures from the Wuxiang Immortal Sect would still be an immense opportunity!"
The nuns all looked toward the elderly nun.
To their surprise, the elderly nun hesitated for a moment before actually turning around and flying toward the exit of the passageway. Baffled, the others hurried to follow.
As they flew, the elderly nun glanced sideways at a laywoman beside her and said, "Junior Sister, when I accepted you on behalf of our master, I didn't tell you about these matters because the Wuxiang Immortal Sect was no longer of this world, making it pointless. Furthermore, the cultivation world sought to exterminate the Wuxiang Immortal Sect down to the last root. Though ours is a reclusive sect, we didn't want to expose our connection to them and invite trouble. Little did I expect their ancestral estate would reappear in the world. It seems the sect's legacy was never truly severed."
Although clad in simple haiqing robes without a speck of makeup, nothing could mask the laywoman's breathtaking beauty.
She gave a slight nod, clearly being of a taciturn disposition.
Beside her, a middle-aged laywoman who also cultivated with her hair intact interjected, "Not only was Junior Sister Liuli unaware, but we were also in the dark. We are Buddhist cultivators—how could we be tied to the Wuxiang Immortal Sect?"
"In the cultivation world of the Central Plains, especially the two Southern Barbarian prefectures, if one traces back to the roots, which faction would dare claim they have no ties whatsoever to the Wuxiang Immortal Sect?"
The elderly nun remarked with deep emotion, "The Wuxiang Immortal Sect established the Five Elements Halls based on the standard five phases: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Yet their lineages extended far beyond just those five; it was a flourishing garden of diverse paths. It was simply that they never established separate branches, instead grouping everything under the Five Elements Halls according to elemental affinities. And that was merely within the sect itself. In those days, countless factions were subordinate to them, including Daoist, Buddhist, and demonic sects. Ganlu Zen Monastery and Bajing Abbey also share profound ties with the Wuxiang Immortal Sect."
This was the first time the others had heard of such ancient secrets.
"Our Moon Concealing Nunnery was once subordinate to them as well?"
The elderly nun nodded. "Our nunnery's ties with the Wuxiang Immortal Sect run even deeper than the others'. Our founding matriarch was once the Dao companion of a Deity Transformation elder in the Wuxiang Immortal Sect."
"A Deity Transformation Dao companion!"
The young nun gasped. "Why did our matriarch take monastic vows, then?"
"After reaching the Deity Transformation stage, the opportunity for ascension presents itself, but the road of ascension is fraught with peril. Even Deity Transformation cultivators face uncertain life and death, and ascending with one's entire household exists only in legends. Our matriarch failed multiple attempts to break through to the Deity Transformation stage. Her Dao companion refused to depart alone, but our matriarch did not wish to become a stumbling block on his immortal path. Threatening her own life, she compelled him to leave. Her companion promised to guide her up once he attained sufficient mastery, yet both knew in their hearts that this parting separated two worlds, with no hope of ever reuniting. After he left, our matriarch could not bear the agony of yearning, nor could she bear to look upon the old sights of the Wuxiang Immortal Sect. Thus, she severed ties with the mortal realm, founded Moon Concealing Nunnery, and spent the rest of her days beside a blue lamp and ancient Buddha..."
The elderly nun spoke slowly and calmly, yet everyone could feel the deep, enduring devotion shared between the matriarch and her companion.
How could one ever find a way to preserve both love and the Dao in this world?
Even Deity Transformation cultivators had moments of helplessness.
Upon entering Moon Concealing Nunnery to cultivate Buddhist dharma, their foremost priority was to purify their hearts and abandon worldly desires. It was no wonder the sect held so many techniques centered on such cultivation.
It turned out that their matriarch, having tasted the bitter torment of longing, had turned to Buddhist dharma so that future generations would not repeat her mistakes.
"Did the matriarch's Dao companion fail to fulfill his promise?" the young nun asked, her expression subdued as she sympathized with their founder's plight.
The elderly nun chanted a Buddhist epithet. "The world turns, and immortal sects rise and fall. Over countless ages, there have certainly been many Deity Transformation cultivators who crossed eastward to ascend, yet none has ever been heard to manifest divine power from the upper realm to bestow grace upon old acquaintances. Otherwise, how could the Wuxiang Immortal Sect have fallen to such a state?"
As they spoke, they flew out of the turbulent passage, only to be greeted by a clamorous, dense crowd outside.
Cultivators from the vicinity, regardless of cultivation level, were converging here.
Nascent Soul experts were blocked outside the cloud wall, while those below the Core Formation stage couldn't even enter the passageway right now. All of them waited nearby, eagerly hoping the passage would open completely.
Mount Taiyue surged with an unprecedented sea of people.
The nuns quietly flew beyond the fringes of the crowd. The elderly nun opened her palm to reveal a warm jade immortal pendant shimmering with faint light—the very treasure she had retrieved from the pagoda.
"Due to our matriarch's ties, the Wuxiang Immortal Sect treated Moon Concealing Nunnery with special favor. One could teleport directly from the nunnery into the Wuxiang Immortal Sect. During the catastrophic demon tribulation of that era, the mountains and rivers of the Southern Frontier were displaced, and watercourses shifted. When the Wuxiang Immortal Sect fell into silence, our ancestral masters were also forced to abandon the nunnery's old grounds and flee far away. Later on, they searched multiple times but found nothing, suspecting the nunnery had been drawn into the calamity and collapsed. This jade was a keepsake exchanged between our matriarch and her companion when they first met, later refined anew to serve as a warning treasure. With the Wuxiang Immortal Sect reemerging, the jade has regained its radiance. Perhaps it can help us locate the old nunnery. Rather than risking our lives charging through the cloud wall, it is better to give this a try."
As she spoke, she clasped her palms around the warm jade.
Invoking some unknown Daoist art, the light of the immortal pendant began to pulse in a rhythmic pattern, though it remained somewhat indistinct.
The elderly nun frowned slightly, then suddenly flew toward the eastern side of Mount Taiyue.
She didn't stop until they had flown completely clear of Mount Taiyue. The other nuns had no choice but to suppress their curiosity and follow closely behind.
"Mount Queshan is just ahead," the young nun said in a hushed tone after gazing into the distance.
She had traveled abroad in the past and was familiar with the topography of Nanzhou.
Ancestor Queshan was currently inside the passageway keeping watch by the cloud wall, so they had nothing to fear.
The elderly nun flew straight toward Mount Queshan. The group had already braced themselves to force their way through Mount Queshan's grand formation, but unexpectedly, the elderly nun abruptly shifted direction, her speed surging!
Next, the nuns were utterly bewildered as they watched the elderly nun's figure flicker repeatedly, flying back and forth around Mount Queshan. It was impossible to tell whether the jade had malfunctioned or if the object they sought was moving at high speed.
Before long, the elderly nun plummeted, dropping straight into a deep ravine behind Mount Queshan, and barked, "Open!"
The jade left her hand.
Flying to the center of the ravine, it came to a halt in midair.
The void trembled gently, and a brilliant radiance suddenly burst forth.
The other nuns had already flown above the ravine in advance, joining forces to conceal the phenomenon and prevent outsiders from noticing.
"Found it!"
The elderly nun's initial joy quickly turned into shock. Behind the light was a ruinous scene bordering on total destruction. Nothing remained of its former glory, leaving only a few rickety, dilapidated Buddhist halls teetering on the verge of collapse.
Aside from the nuns of Moon Concealing Nunnery, mysterious figures were scouring various other locations, yet the vast majority returned empty-handed.
***
At the edge of Mount Taiyue.
Here, peaks rose one after another with rugged, treacherous contours, making it the most complex terrain in the entire mountain range.
Diverse perilous grounds, such as poison pools and yin-baleful valleys, were abundant.
Inside a gloomy canyon, a wisp of black smoke suddenly curled upward, coalescing into two bizarre shadows. After a bout of writhing, they assumed human shapes.
Yet the two were exceptionally tall, standing nine feet high. In any crowd, they would have stood out like cranes among chickens, instantly drawing attention.
Naturally, what stood out even more were their appearances.
One possessed cheeks that resembled fish gills, his mouth split across his face from his left ear all the way to his right, making him exceedingly hideous.
The other had a pair of wings sprouting from his ribs, along with a long nose and a pointed beak. His wings were pure white, every feather glistening like jade. A few feathers were slightly disheveled, and he instinctively craned his head to groom them, only to find he couldn't reach.
"Hiss... That old nun had such sharp eyes. Hiding beneath the formation, we were nearly seen through..."
The fish demon patted his chest, lingering fear in his voice.
The bird demon went so far as to stretch his neck, finishing grooming his feathers with his nose before retracting it contentedly. "I actually think that prettiest young nun was the more formidable one. I'm afraid only the Great Sage could suppress her in person."
The fish demon clicked his tongue. "The human race truly has hidden dragons and crouching tigers. And this is just the Southern Frontier—no wonder the Sacred King agreed to govern by dividing the sea. Human experts are growing more and more numerous. The Green-furred Rat and Black Lion are far away in Jinyu Province; they definitely won't make it in time. The Great Sage ordered us to scatter to various places, and who knows how many will even manage to arrive... We're no match for the humans."
"Those nuns were rather strange. Instead of entering the secret realm, they went in the opposite direction." After observing for a moment, the bird demon flew high up to look outward.
The fish demon mused, "The old nun seemed to hold some kind of treasure. Its fluctuations exposed their traces, so she probably had other plans. Too bad it's just the two of us; otherwise, following them would definitely yield rewards."
The bird demon glanced back toward the passage. "Let's wait and see. Maybe we'll get a chance to fish in troubled waters."
The fish demon sneered. "Careful not to throw your life away in there. When human cultivators see us, every single one turns into a rabid dog! Didn't those captured human cultivators say this place is likely the ancestral estate of some ancient human sect? There probably aren't many treasures useful to us. It's best to stay here dutifully and await the Great Sage's decision."
"Let's hope the Great Sage arrives quickly."
After exchanging a few more words, the two demons slipped silently back into the shadows.
***
"Bingyi Palace."
While Qin Sang's true body climbed the Scripture Inquiry Path toward the Langhuan Jade Pavilion, his external incarnation flew for a while and arrived before the ice palace.
Only up close did he realize its sheer magnificence.
The physical ice palace fully matched the apparition within the mysterious ice disc. Tier upon tier of pavilions and terraces displayed the grandeur of an immortal palace. Above the entrance hung a plaque inscribed with three characters: Bingyi Palace!
This differed somewhat from his expectations, as there was no mention of the Water Element.
Yet aside from the Water Element lineage, what other branch would need to construct a palace of this scale?
Qin Sang felt it was more or less certain that he had not come to the wrong place.
The external incarnation glanced left and right. Seeing no one approaching for the moment, he walked up to the entrance of Bingyi Palace, discovered the door was ajar, and pushed it open with effortless ease.
Although it was made of ice, there was no biting chill.
What greeted his eyes was a small lake.
A gentle breeze wafted across, and within the lake grew a multicolored lotus in full bloom.
Yet this was the only splash of vibrant color amidst the desolation.
The lake water had nearly run dry, choked with overgrown weeds.
The incarnation took out the mysterious ice disc. After a moment's thought, he concealed it inside his sleeve, using a secret technique to lock away its aura. Stepping through the main gates, he immediately noticed the broken railings along the lakeshore.
Vines and withered grass crept everywhere.
With a wave of his hand, the incarnation swept aside the overgrowth and peered closely.
With the passage of countless ages, time had erased many marks, yet one could still glean certain information.
"A fierce battle took place here!" Qin Sang concluded.
In the past, that great turmoil had actually spread all the way here, with enemies breaching Bingyi Palace. The Wuxiang Immortal Sect had reached a point of life and death, so it was no wonder they abandoned their sect and scattered in flight.
It was no longer possible to discern what divine abilities the combatants had unleashed from these faded traces.
The incarnation looked up and surveyed his surroundings, discovering quite a few spiritual trees growing along the lakeshore. Those that had survived would be considered rare treasures in the outside world.
Yet his objective was clearly not these. Leaping onto the canopy of a tree, he spotted three paths hidden within the woods and casually chose the one on the left.
After advancing for a short while, the incarnation retraced his steps.
The end of that path was likely a side hall. It was in even worse shape than the lakeshore; though the ancient hall had not collapsed, it had suffered severe devastation and had long been stripped bare.
Unexpectedly, after entering the ice palace for so long, he had yet to encounter formidable restrictions barring his way like those on the precipice, which was clearly unusual.
He hadn't even found an opportunity to test the function of the mysterious ice disc.
"Bingyi Palace couldn't have been completely battered to pieces, could it?" the incarnation muttered, then turned toward the path on the right.
Just as expected, the side halls to the right were much the same.
Wasting no more time, he directly retreated, chose the middle path, and sped forward.
Chapter 1625