Daning Palace.
Li Xuanfeng regulated his breath in midair for a while. Si Yuanli stood holding his sword, one hand clasped behind his back, looking up silently at the crystalline pillar of light connecting heaven and earth. The State of Ning's orthodoxy was renowned for True Qi, frequently combining it with the talismanic dao, and there were even many practitioners of the talismanic and shamanic ways. Anhuai Heaven had never been opened, so there were bound to be countless fine treasures within.
He felt no particular urgency. The grotto-heaven was vast, with many formations intact—far beyond anything Daning Palace could compare to. Entering a quarter of an hour earlier or later made little difference. Si Yuanli pondered for two breaths when the world suddenly seemed to dim for an instant, the crystalline pillar of light flickering slightly. Just as he furrowed his brows, everything before him swiftly returned to normal.
"Hm?"
A hazy golden luminescence dawned in the sky. Si Yuanli stared blankly, then looked down beneath his feet: billows of white vapor churned across the clear lake surface, and small lotus blossoms pushed their way out, rapidly swelling into full bloom.
"This..."
In that single moment of distraction, boundless pink lotuses crowded and collided across the lake's expanse. Auspicious clouds of morning glow rose on the horizon, and Si Yuanli raised his head.
Endless gold filled the heavens, showering down rustling golden dust. Reflected in his pupils was a colossal body in the sky—a majestic yet compassionate golden face occupying nearly the entire firmament, parting the clouds as though the heavens themselves were collapsing. Two eyes gleaming like gold lacquer descended bit by bit into Daning Palace.
The sky filled with brilliant hues—yellow, orange, red, and purple—as broad, hazy halos bloomed and misty flames burst forth. Figures plunged downward one after another. In the span of a single breath, a hand reached down before the two of them, and a white-robed woman strode through.
"Are they mad?!"
She had barely leaped into the air when a fine drizzle of white rain drifted down from the heavens, hazy, ethereal, and captivating to behold.
Yet neither man had any leisure to appreciate it. As the white rain brushed past unintentionally, the magical wind beneath Li Xuanfeng's feet dissolved entirely like winter snow, wiped out in an instant. His footing gave out, and he instinctively attempted to gather his magic power, yet not a trace of magical wind responded.
Before he could even finish speaking, a True Person with a handsome beard streaked past at extreme speed, rolling True Fire sweeping by and vaporizing a swath of lake water. Scattered sparks rained down, forcing him to shut his mouth and raise his hand to conjure magic power in defense. The scorching heat twisted his face, his palms sizzling.
Li Xuanfeng likewise endured the agony to ward off the True Fire. Having escaped the brunt of it, his face was dark as he asked in a deep voice, "The True Persons..."
"Brother Xuanfeng! They have all made their move..."
Si Yuanli closed his eyes almost simultaneously as a dull boom like muffled thunder resounded amid flashing gold and white. Si Yuanli spat out a mouthful of blood, both eyes tightly shut and one hand pressed against his chest as he shouted:
"Quick, get down and take cover! You have the Huaijiang Map; if a critical moment truly arrives, unfolding that map should save your life!"
Before his sentence was even half-spoken, his long sword had already plunged into the earth. One palm pressed down upon the pommel while two fingers of his other hand tapped against the blade, his voice solemn:
"Quanyuan Escape Method, seek the subterranean darkness!"
A vibrant brilliance surged from the sword. Li Xuanfeng watched as the ground beneath their feet split open, revealing a wide fissure. Si Yuanli nodded slightly and burrowed straight into the earth.
Guided by the traction of his spell, Li Xuanfeng waited patiently for the time it took an incense stick to burn until they finally reached the bottom. A pitch-black stone wall emerged before his eyes. The chamber was only the size of an ordinary small room, with remarkably neat and square stone walls on all sides.
He crashed heavily onto the stone platform, smashing the bricks beneath his feet to powder. Si Yuanli fared even worse, slamming down beside him with a loud thump, his face flushed.
Li Xuanfeng suddenly noticed Si Yuanli looked much shorter. Looking closely, he saw Si Yuanli's lower body was still lodged in the stone, unable to move. His face was slightly pale, a breath of magic power locked tight in his chest.
Understanding at once, Li Xuanfeng struck the stone with a palm, digging out his bloody lower half. As Si Yuanli circulated his magic power, the wounds covering his legs vanished immediately.
The man struggled twice before rising from the ground. He still could not open his eyes, which bled profusely, bright red trickling down his cheeks. He spoke in a low voice:
"Something terrible is bound to happen in that grotto-heaven."
"More than just terrible—we should count ourselves lucky to have kept our lives!"
Watching him retrieve medicinal pills to heal his injuries, Li Xuanfeng replied softly, "Brother Yuanli speaks too gravely."
"Brother Xuanfeng's caution saved our lives!"
These words made Li Xuanfeng lower his gaze, his hand on the golden bow turning slightly pale. But Si Yuanli before him felt relieved, wiping the blood from his face and shaking his head. "Naturally. If not for that delay, even if we entered the grotto-heaven, you would have had Master Yuanxiu's protection, so nothing major would have happened. Fortunately... fortunately, we took a moment to rest."
By now, even the slowest mind would realize that heading toward the grotto-heaven was pure folly. Before completing half the journey, one's soul would be incinerated by True Fire and body corroded by Fushui, ending in complete obliteration without even a corpse left behind!
Si Yuanli retrieved a jade bottle and dripped two drops into each eye before slightly parting his lids. Both palms were still seared by True Fire, the flesh sizzling, yet he ground his teeth in grim satisfaction.
"It's just a pity that the Chi family's Chi Tianxing and Chi Chiju have no cultivators of their family to protect them in the grotto-heaven right now. The Chi family only produced those two outstanding figures across two generations, and this time both will probably perish in there! I'd like to see who the Chi Zhiyun brothers will turn to next!"
He coughed once and broke into laughter. "I forgot about those two bastards! Serves them right! What a delight! Truly delightful!"
Li Xuanfeng felt the vibrations passing through the ground beneath his feet. He stood up, watching Si Yuanli laugh.
Li Xuanfeng's thoughts, however, were elsewhere. In a low, steady voice, he asked:
"Can we leave Xiaoning Palace?"
Si Yuanli's smile faded. "Without a Violet Palace master to guide us, you and I won't get out of this damned place till we die!"
***
In the Great Void.
Amidst the boundless dark haze, an impeccably graceful circular arc lit up bit by bit, gradually revealing its form. The outline of the grotto-heaven grew brighter and brighter, steadily becoming the most conspicuous presence.
More and more gazes turned toward it, falling upon the grotto-heaven, closely observing what lay inside through that transparent barrier. Stationed in the Great Void, Lu Jiangxian moved his divine sense slightly and slipped right inside.
Lu Jiangxian's divine sense was far superior to spiritual senses. While the Violet Palace masters were still guessing whether a grotto-heaven truly existed, he could already clearly see its shape. Now that the grotto-heaven had manifested and the Violet Palace masters could finally see it, he was already able to enter without needing to pass through Daning Palace.
Having witnessed the three True Monarchs of Qingsong Temple, he had long understood that even a Golden Core cultivator in person could not detect his divine sense. Feeling secure, a wisp of his divine sense drifted inside and descended upon a small lake.
The small lake spanned merely two to three li. Its water rippled with a blue-and-white radiance, yet did not quite look like water, floating into the air before being constrained by the lake's surrounding arrays and falling back into the basin.
By the lake stood an ancient stone inscribed with white characters: 【Daling Lake】.
The water before him was formed entirely from condensed 【Daling Profound Qi】. Back then, Li Tongya had used this very qi to refine qi, paying dozens of spirit stones for a tiny bottle. Yet here in the grotto-heaven lay an entire lake of it, likely left for Kan-water cultivators to cultivate their techniques.
As Lu Jiangxian paused, he suddenly saw two figures flying through the air and stopping here as well. The leader was a female cultivator in golden attire, her eyes clear and gentle. The person behind her wore a black robe, veiled in hazy gold.
Naturally, the two could not see Lu Jiangxian. They looked up at the lake together, Master Qiushui murmuring in admiration.
The black-robed person transmitted his voice with magic power:
"Ancestor, this grotto-heaven is somewhat strange; spiritual sense cannot extend outward... the arrays are mostly intact, and who knows how long it will take to find anything..."
Master Qiushui nodded slightly. She revealed a golden pearl in her hand, which emitted a mist-like golden radiance that enveloped the two of them before she spoke softly.
The two casually gathered treasures from the palaces on the small island within the lake. Though valuable, these things were insignificant to Violet Palace masters. Master Qiushui's main attention was focused on listening for sounds of fighting elsewhere, but the man beside her sighed and spoke in a low voice.
Master Qiushui gave a gentle smile and answered:
"Through this battle, not only did our Jinyu Sect secure two quotas, but in fertile Jiangbei, Jinyu secretly nurtured its own sect. It will guard the north, extract countless spiritual herbs and spiritual items from the spiritually exuberant Jiangbei, and continuously funnel them into Jinyu Sect..."
The man replied, "That is only natural."
Looking at this lake full of Daling Profound Qi, Master Qiushui was reminded of something.
"Back when laying the scheme, I casually placed a piece by putting the 《Jianghe Daling Sutra》 into that Li Tongya's hands, thinking he was extraordinary and matched the Whale-Drinker profile, perhaps capable of unlocking that thing. Who knew a Maha would intervene...
"Later, seeing Li Yuanjiao make rapid progress in cultivation with fierce ambitions, I thought he might stir up the situation north of Qingchi, cross the great river, unite Jiangbei, and accomplish great things. Who knew he would die in the grotto-heaven..."
Lu Jiangxian was taken aback: 'So it was her...'
'So that's how it was supposed to unfold upon entering...'
Hearing the two converse, they seemed extremely familiar. Master Chang Yun was actually her junior, speaking in a tone full of great respect.
The person before him was none other than Chang Yun of Jinyu Sect! Many years ago, he entered seclusion to attempt a breakthrough to Violet Palace. Only a few decades had passed, yet he had quietly broken through to Violet Palace and even infiltrated the East Sea demonic cultivators!
Master Qiushui remarked:
"This is Jinyu Sect's hundred-year layout... A hundred years ago, guessing that Shangyuan would attempt a breakthrough, unrest would surely arise north of the Jiang. Several Jinyu Violet Palace masters united and secretly began plotting. Today, it has finally borne fruit.
"Who would have thought it would turn out like this? A pity that Tianjue, Tianyuan, and I secretly arranged to preserve Zhong Qian, yet in the end he had no use here.
"If things had gone according to the normal plan, Zhong Qian, having been specifically preserved, would have entered the grotto-heaven, shone brilliantly, and seized countless treasures."
Chang Yun replied:
"Ancestor, Zhong Qian is a gentlemanly figure, the easiest to manipulate. That is why we specifically chose him. Even if he cannot be used in this grotto-heaven, once we establish our sect in Jiangbei, he can still play a major role. Perhaps he can quickly reorganize our demonic sect into an orthodox immortal path."
Master Qiushui nodded:
"That is the logic. Daxu is currently empty and clean, with extremely abundant spiritual energy. Do not waste the painstaking schemes of your Grandmaster and me."
Lu Jiangxian sighed in his heart.
He focused his gaze slightly and instantly saw through Chang Yun's disguise, glimpsing the middle-aged man's true face: plain in appearance, but with sharp eyes, a blade hidden inside his robe, sheathed and unreleased.
In an instant, all the suspicions connected into a clear picture!
Why had Jinyu Sect disseminated the 《Xuemo Dharma Book》 during the demonic disaster? Why did the demonic cultivator Chimen Difu know Jinyu Sect's cultivation method?
Why did Zhong Qian, who was supposed to be dead with his magical artifact divided, mysteriously appear among the demonic cultivators?
Naturally, Jinyu Sect had secretly preserved him to use as a pawn today to enter the grotto-heaven!
Clearly, preparations had been made many years ago. To avoid suspicion, they stole the South Sea Miao family's 《Xuemo Dharma Book》, covertly raised a group of demonic cultivators, and converted northern disciples recruited into their sect, such as Chimen Di and Zhang Huaide, into demonic cultivators to scatter into Jiangbei!
Once Chang Yun broke through, he immediately had a following of demonic cultivators to rely on! Taking advantage of the chaos in Daxu where no one could trace his origins, he fabricated an identity as an independent Violet Palace master to legitimately establish a sect!
Furthermore, because he had not openly established a sect at first and had played a major role in the north-south conflict, he could even claim a quota in Xiaoning Palace!
As for the majority of cultivators who had already entered the grotto-heaven, they could only pray that their own True Persons were there to protect them. Otherwise, without any True Person even targeting them, merely standing in that grotto-heaven, within less than two hours, not even a wisp of their true spirits would remain!
Chapter 594