"Senior possesses keen eyes. This junior is indeed a disciple of the Duanchen Sect," the young Xuanist said.
Mingchengzi asked, "Which fellow Daoist of the Duanchen Sect is your master?"
The young Xuanist shook his head. "It is not that junior is unwilling to speak, but truly that I fear bringing trouble upon my master. I ask Senior's understanding."
Mingchengzi let out a cold laugh.
"Even if you don't say, I can guess who it is. Fine, I won't make things difficult for a junior like you. Let me ask you: is this 'Exterior Heaven' also the handiwork of your Duanchen Sect?"
The young Xuanist replied, "This... junior honestly does not know. I have been here for merely three days. Perhaps Senior and Chen Xuanji could ask my martial uncle?"
Mingchengzi looked suspicious. "Your martial uncle is here as well?"
"Yes. Martial Uncle has been here for over a hundred years."
The young Xuanist spoke with lowered eyes and an obedient demeanor, then bowed to the two of them. "It was precisely Martial Uncle who commanded this junior to come out and welcome you, and to invite the three honored guests for a talk."
Mingchengzi's thoughts raced. He was not very familiar with the younger generation of the Duanchen Sect, but he knew every single person of his own generation from the past. Yet no matter how he searched his memory, he could not think of who would be here.
Chen Chuan said, "Lead the way, then."
The situation remained unclear. Since the other party was adopting a courteous posture, there was no need for him to charge in shouting for slaughter right off the bat; better to observe the situation first before deciding on a countermeasure.
Entering this place had been somewhat troublesome, but leaving would actually be much easier.
"Honored guests, please follow this disciple."
The young Xuanist led the way, heading toward the Taoist abbey as expected. As they crossed over the vast lake beneath them, perhaps their arrival disturbed something, for a massive surge of waves suddenly erupted from the water's surface. A white flood dragon soared out from within, tracing a long arc through the air with its sinuous body before plunging back into the waters.
This sight could not help drawing a glance from the three of them.
Chen Chuan could tell this was a genuine flood dragon, not one of those later-generation aberrant beasts that merely bore a slight resemblance.
Such aberrant creatures had been relatively common before the Middle Ancient era. Later, due to widespread hunting and pill-refining, they grew rarer after the Near Ancient era, and hardly any could be found even in the convergence zone nowadays.
Places capable of keeping such creatures were virtually always tied to the imperial family.
At this moment, Mingchengzi transmitted mentally: "Xuanji, there are no additional esoteric rituals arranged here. I only wonder whether any exist within the palace opposite us."
Chen Chuan nodded slightly. Although he did not fear anyone playing tricks, he maintained the vigilance he ought to have.
The young Xuanist landed on the plaza before the golden palace, but he did not walk toward the main hall. Instead, he turned around and gestured toward an adjacent mountain path leading to an abbey higher up. "Honored guests, please step this way."
Mingchengzi glanced inside the golden hall, where palace servants seemed to be moving about. "Oh? Your martial uncle does not reside here?"
The young Xuanist replied, "Martial Uncle said that is the dwelling of mortal emperors, not a place where we practitioners of the Dao should linger for long." He made an inviting gesture again. "Please follow this disciple, the three of you."
Chen Chuan followed him onto the mountain path. Orderly stone steps paved the slope, flanked by rare flowers and exotic trees—a scenic vista at every step. After rounding several bends, they arrived before the upper abbey.
Wisps of mist drifted past them, dewdrops lightly congealing on leaves, the valley brimming with peach blossoms as though it were an immortal mountain beyond the mortal world. Yet who could have imagined that barely a hundred paces away stood golden towers and jade terraces, the residence of emperors?
Regardless, both the abbey before them and the palace below followed the architectural style of three to four centuries ago; they had likely been built during the same era.
The young Xuanist said, "Martial Uncle respectfully awaits you inside. This disciple will not enter."
Chen Chuan immediately stepped inside. Passing through the abbey gates, the sight that met his eyes made his gaze stir faintly.
Barely ten-odd paces past the gates, an abyss-like, boundless ravine opened up. High above, stones of varying sizes floated in midair. A Xuanist with black hair and black robes stood upon one of the stones, his hair ribbon and robes fluttering in the wind.
The man looked scarcely twenty years old, wrapped in a layer of emerald-green flame, exuding an air of aloof detachment from the mortal world.
At that moment, he spoke in a clear, resonant voice: "Greetings, three honored guests. I am Pilingzi of the Duanchen Sect, and half the master of this place."
As he spoke, three stones drifted toward the trio.
Mingchengzi recognized it at a glance: an independent esoteric ritual field had been laid out here. If one did not step onto the stone, one could not reach the space ahead and would merely pass straight through the area.
He immediately informed Chen Chuan via mental transmission.
Chen Chuan was not ignorant of esoteric rituals and saw the mechanism at work as well. He stepped forward onto the stone. Beneath his feet, the stone felt immensely steady, as if it could support a great mountain.
Mu Xiaoren and Mingchengzi followed suit and stepped on, though Mu Xiaoren left an avatar behind. Pilingzi saw this, but said nothing, merely smiling faintly.
The stones moved on their own, carrying the three men as they floated slowly until they arrived before Pilingzi. The latter made a guiding gesture with his hand, and three teacups flew across the empty air.
"Though this place appears to boast fine scenery, it yields nothing of value. I have only coarse tea with which to receive guests. I hope the three of you will not mind."
Chen Chuan expressed his thanks, took a cup into his hand, and tasted a sip. He nodded slightly; the tea leaves here were scarcely inferior to what Emperor Wenguang drank.
Mingchengzi spoke up at this moment: "Fellow Daoist Piling, that junior said you hail from the Duanchen Sect?"
Pilingzi replied, "Indeed."
Mingchengzi said, "I have had quite a few dealings with fellow Daoists of the Duanchen Sect. How is it that I have never heard your name, Fellow Daoist Piling?"
Pilingzi smiled faintly. "That is because I belong to a separate lineage of the Duanchen branch. Since achieving success in my cultivation, I have guarded this mountain by my master's command and had little contact with my peers.
"What I worship here is also the founding patriarch of the Duanchen Sect; I chant the 'Hongcai Miao Zhang,' and I possess a purple talisman as proof." Saying this, he drew a purple bamboo talisman from his sleeve and displayed it to the three of them.
Mingchengzi took one look and believed him at once, for the purple bamboo talisman was an authentic token of the Duanchen Sect with a distinctive aura that outsiders could not forge. He nodded to Chen Chuan.
Chen Chuan looked at Pilingzi and said, "Master Piling claims to be half the master of this place. Was this 'Exterior Heaven' established by the Duanchen Sect? And who is the other half of the master?"
Pilingzi smiled and said, "That touches upon a past tale. Even had our honored guest not asked, I intended to speak of it."
He continued, "This 'Exterior Heaven' was originally established by a senior of my sect. Before attaining his Dao, he received offerings and support from an emperor of the Chang Dynasty, thereby incurring a karmic tie with the mortal world. Until this bond was severed, he could not free himself.
"A century passed thus. The Chang Dynasty declined. When the dynasty fell, the Last Emperor of the Chang Dynasty came here and said three secret vaults needed to be hidden in this place. He entrusted them to this senior's care and agreed that his descendants would come to retrieve them; once those descendants were met, the mortal tie would be deemed broken.
"That senior agreed immediately. But three to five years later, the Chang Dynasty was destroyed by the Yuan clan. Rather than the former dynasty's descendants, Taizu of the Ding Dynasty arrived instead. Having found this place, he intended to seize the secret vaults."
Here, he smiled again.
"However, that senior was remarkably capable, merely one step shy of transcending the barrier. The Ding Dynasty could do nothing against him. In the end, Taizu of the Ding Dynasty entered this place in person and had a discussion with that senior. He stated that the new dynasty was newly founded and everything awaited rebuilding, requiring wealth and goods to circulate across the realm. He wished to borrow two of the secret vaults first, promising that once matters grew comfortable, he would slowly repay and replenish them.
"Even if he could not repay them himself, his descendants would, and a golden pillar would be erected before the palace as a pledge of trust.
"Seeing that this Taizu of the Ding Dynasty was exceptionally valiant, spoke with sincerity, and truly deserved the title of a hero of his age, the senior granted his request."
Pilingzi looked at Mingchengzi. "Fellow Daoist Mingcheng, persuaded by your Fulong Faction, Taizu of the Ding Dynasty renounced the imperial throne twenty years later and ventured beyond the realm to seek a higher boundary. Thereafter, Taizong of the Ding Dynasty ascended the throne and came here as well. The senior originally thought he had come to return the secret vaults, but to his surprise, Taizong said he wished to borrow the remaining one.
"The senior adamantly refused, saying that the prior agreement had been made with Taizu: without repayment, no further loan could be granted. Thus Taizong of the Ding Dynasty departed in anger.
"Of course, the Ding Dynasty's national power was growing increasingly prosperous by then, far surpassing what it had been under Taizu, yet he did not break his word. Over the following decades, he sent copious amounts of wealth and goods here and even constructed palaces and abbeys on this site, but the deficit of the secret vaults was never fully restored.
"At that juncture, because the era of the world beyond the realm was approaching, that senior had another revelation and resolved to leave this place to seek it. Yet mindful of his sworn oath and refusing to break his word, he entrusted the matter to me.
"I have stood guard for over a hundred years now. Not long ago, Emperor Wenguang arrived here and delivered a shipment of wealth and goods.
"I calculated it: that shipment happens to fully settle the past debt. Emperor Wenguang also said that before long, descendants of the former dynasty would naturally come to retrieve what is theirs.
"If that is truly so, not only can I fulfill that senior's wish, but by virtue of this legacy, I may also sever my mortal ties and shed the earthly barrier. Then all mundane affairs of the world will no longer concern me."
Having said this, he looked at the three men with a smile.
By now, Chen Chuan understood his meaning. This man anticipated that they had likely come for the secret vaults here, and so he wanted them to find the descendants of the former imperial lineage. As long as the descendant asked for the items back, he could extricate himself and leave, no longer caring about what remained.
Mingchengzi frowned. "Fellow Daoist, you mean all that is needed is to find a descendant of the former dynasty?"
Pilingzi shook his head. "Not just anyone. It must be a direct descendant of the former imperial bloodline; I will acknowledge no other."
Mingchengzi's frown deepened. He said to Chen Chuan, "Xuanji, the Chang Dynasty fell more than three hundred years ago. The direct descendants of the imperial house were likely exterminated by the Ding Dynasty long ago. I fear they cannot be found now."
Chen Chuan pondered for a moment, then looked at Pilingzi. "May I ask the Daoist master's secular surname?"
Pilingzi smiled and said, "My secular surname is Cao."
Mingchengzi glanced at him in astonishment, because the imperial surname of the Chang Dynasty was precisely Cao.
Chen Chuan nodded. He said to Pilingzi, "I recall the Daoist master saying that when Taizu of the Ding Dynasty came here back then, he did not ask about these rules at first either. He was only willing to discuss them because he could not defeat that senior."
"Precisely so."
Pilingzi smiled and said, "In this world, reason never exceeds the fist. How could mere words rival martial might? If you gentlemen can defeat me, then naturally, whatever happens here will be yours to decide."
Chapter 1447