“The five of you, seal your five senses right now and sit upon this cloud,” Dongyang Bo said as he stood up, suddenly summoning a purple cloud and speaking to Qin Sang and the others.
Qin Sang and the rest were taken aback. Exchanging glances, none dared defy Dongyang Bo’s command or ask questions, so they flew onto the purple cloud and sealed their five senses of their own accord.
Their entire world plunged into darkness, leaving them completely oblivious to everything outside.
Chenyan cast a sideways glance at them and remarked coolly, “Fellow Daoist Dongyang is truly cautious. You do not even trust your own disciples?”
“It is not that I distrust them, but merely a precaution.”
Dongyang Bo raised a hand in a guiding gesture, and the purple cloud bore Qin Sang and the other four along, following behind him on its own.
“The entrance to this secret passage shifts continuously across Heavenly Mountain. This time it was at the bottom of the lake, but next time it might appear beneath an ancient tree. Only this old man knows how to find it.
“However, the exit of the secret passage is fixed and unchanging.
“This old man would rather not be ambushed and slaughtered the moment I step out next time.
“That old fellow Chifa has coveted this secret passage for a long time. When the previous sect master of the Chunyang Sect and my master were still alive, they engaged in overt and covert struggles over this passage and the key in my hands. Fortunately, this secret passage does not touch upon the core, merely saving the trouble of breaking through formations. Otherwise, an unworthy descendant like me would have lost it long ago.
“That old eccentric is neither purely righteous nor evil. If one of them lets something slip after leaving and leaks the word, it wouldn’t be surprising in the least if they were dragged off to Chunyang Cave to undergo soul searching.
“Knowing nothing is actually for their own good.”
Chenyan replied indifferently, “Speaking like that, Fellow Daoist, will I also have to seal my five senses when we exit the secret passage before your mind can be at ease?”
Dongyang Bo chuckled at her words and gave a slight shake of his head. “If you didn’t know how to get out, would you be able to set your mind at ease, Miss Chenyan? Why would this old man force someone into a corner? You and your master are not cultivators of our Lesser Cold Domain; staying here now is nothing more than an accident. Given your master’s and your strength and origins, once you rescue your master, there should be nothing in the Lesser Cold Domain worth lingering for. For the two hundred years you have resided on Shaohua Mountain, this old man has never treated you poorly. Not only have I gathered cultivation resources for you, but I have also helped you search for your esteemed master. What reason would you have to betray me?”
Chenyan fell silent for a moment, then said, “After leaving Ziwei Palace, I will swear upon my inner demons never to reveal anything about this secret passage to anyone, including my master.”
“That would be best!”
Dongyang Bo nodded and swept toward the depths of the secret passage with the purple cloud in tow.
Chenyan hurriedly followed.
Their journey was unobstructed throughout, without encountering any blocking restrictions or battles. The five on the purple cloud sat steadily as they were carried along.
The secret passage had long since been cleared clean, leaving behind not even debris.
Winding this way and that, a wall laid with cyan bricks suddenly appeared ahead, blocking the passage entirely.
Dongyang Bo cast a glance at Chenyan, then formed several hand seals before her eyes and sent them into the wall. Ripples like water washed across the brick surface, shimmering with faint light and turning nearly transparent until it became a wall of water.
On the other side of the water wall lay a dilapidated grand hall, currently silent and utterly devoid of people.
Chenyan and Dongyang Bo passed through the water wall and emerged into the hall. Looking back, the water wall had vanished, returning to a mottled, weathered cyan brick wall bearing the deep marks of age.
The brick wall was utterly unremarkable; no one would ever suspect that a secret passage lay hidden here.
Stepping out of the grand hall, dense clouds blotted out the sun, limiting visibility only to their immediate surroundings.
The place they stood now seemed to be the summit of Heavenly Mountain, deep within the sea of clouds. Yet their surroundings were exceptionally tranquil, with no sign of turbulence in the sky above.
It was markedly different from the rest of Ziwei Palace.
Nearby were buildings identical to the grand hall they had just left, arranged in neat rows. Ancient palaces stood row upon row; in a place like this, it was even less likely that anyone would notice anything amiss about a single wall.
Deep within the sea of clouds, shadowy shapes loomed, cloaked in mystery.
Neither Dongyang Bo nor Chenyan showed curiosity toward this place. After observing for a moment, they set off with clear intent, continuing to soar upward.
Even they did not dare barge into certain areas and were forced to take detours.
The higher they went, the grander the scale of the palaces became. Though the ornate decorations had weathered away, the structures themselves remained intact, displaying an imposing grandeur.
“Here we are!”
Dongyang Bo pointed forward.
Deep in the dense clouds, a pool of water came into view. Pavilions and covered walkways had likely once lined its edge, but they were now severely ruined, with rubble strewn everywhere in a wretched sight.
Across the pool, a towering pagoda stood erect.
This pagoda was a hundred zhang tall, jet-black all over. Wisps of black qi seemed to hover over its surface, as though it could draw in even a person’s gaze—exceedingly eerie.
At the four corners of the black pagoda, four extraordinarily thick iron chains extended from the top down to the ground, seemingly intended to anchor the pagoda in place. Rusted through from the weathering of countless years, these four chains were inscribed with indecipherable runes.
Not a single ancient palace stood around the black pagoda; it stood alone in solitary isolation.
Upon laying eyes on the black pagoda, Chenyan’s eyes, previously still as an ancient well, surged with deep agitation.
Dongyang Bo and Chenyan flashed across the pool, touching down before the doors at the base of the pagoda.
Chenyan stepped forward alone, slowly reaching out to caress the door. Feeling the icy chill radiating from it, she then lifted her head and looked past tier after tier toward the pagoda’s peak.
Dongyang Bo watched her actions, and after a moment, he spoke.
“Miss Chenyan, now you can see just how formidable the restrictions on this door are. This old man did not lie to you, did he?
“The higher up one goes, the stronger the restrictions become with every layer.
“Your master is an anomaly. In this day and age, even combining the Lesser Cold Domain and the Heaven-Traversing Alliance, there is not a single late Nascent Soul grand cultivator. Only someone with his strength could ascend the pagoda alone.
“Even taking a shortcut with the Five Elements Beast Seals, we would need at least two Nascent Soul cultivators to have a chance of opening that door. Therefore, if you wished to enter and save him, you had to break through to the Nascent Soul stage.
“You shouldn’t blame me anymore for forcing your hand back then, should you?”
As he spoke, Dongyang Bo’s gaze seemingly drifted past Qin Sang at random, a strange smile curling at the corners of his mouth.
Qin Sang sat cross-legged on the purple cloud, his five senses still sealed, oblivious to everything taking place.
Catching the hidden meaning in Dongyang Bo’s words, Chenyan spun around sharply. Her face darkened as she glared at him and said, “I bear the consequences of my own actions! The choice was mine; I will not, nor should I, vent my anger on anyone else. What on earth are you trying to say?”
“It is good that Miss Chenyan does not blame me. This old man merely feared that you would be unable to untie the knot in your heart, letting it turn into inner demons—that would truly be my fault... My apologies, this old man misspoke.”
Dongyang Bo laughed it off and said no more. With a flick of his finger, he sent out a burst of true essence that dispersed the purple cloud while forcibly unsealing the five senses of Qin Sang and the others.
The five tumbled to the ground. As their five senses returned, they immediately steadied their footing and eagerly looked around at their surroundings.
Be it the ancient palaces shrouded in the sea of mist or the black pagoda before them, both exerted an immense allure.
Chapter 605