East Sea.
The seawater was profound and deep. The long chasm was bottomless and dark, an unbroken expanse of gloom. A streak of azure light darted past, shuttling through the water like a fish. Not a single living creature could be seen in the surroundings—only the murky, dark sea.
Who knew how much time had passed before the pale-gray floor of the chasm finally came into view. Layers of fine, light-gray debris tumbled in the currents, revealing the faint white reef beneath. The azure light shifted and coalesced on the seabed, transforming into a man in azure robes.
The man was clad in azure garments with golden tassels hanging from his waist. He possessed handsome features, azure eyes, and loose, cascading hair. Standing firmly on the seabed, he swept his gaze around.
It was none other than Chi Buzi.
The seabed of the Near Sea was shallow and rich in spiritual energy; it had once all been dry land, comprising the six great southern commanderies. Past Qingsong Island and Fenkuai Island, the seabed plummeted abruptly; this was the ancient coastline.
This place was not far from Fenkuai Island. One had to pass through the zone where spiritual energy was thickest, arrive near Zhuxi Island, and shuttle downward through the earth veins to reach a deep chasm. Following it all the way down, one would finally arrive at the chasm floor.
Internal records of Qingchi noted that True Person Yuansu had cultivated at the bottom of this chasm for a long time. The deepest part of this chasm floor was far deeper even than the bottom of the Zhulu Sea, likely exceeding the graben on Fenkuai Island.
Even rarer was the total absence of spiritual energy within the chasm. If traversing through the Great Void, any Violet Palace cultivator could search for a hundred or a thousand years without ever being able to discover this place.
Because spiritual energy was utterly absent, traversing this realm was all the more troublesome. Even an exalted Violet Palace cultivator had to dutifully drive their own magical power downward. At the speed of a Violet Palace cultivator, the descent would inevitably take four or five days.
Foundation Establishment cultivators went without saying; under an environment stripped of all spiritual energy, they might have the ability to go down, but they might not have the strength to fly back up.
Chi Buzi stood thus on the pitch-black chasm floor. Crouching slightly, he released a push of magical power, instantly sweeping aside the churning white sand on the ground to reveal a smooth stone platform, atop which was drawn only a simple golden circle.
Forming an incantation gesture and silently chanting a spell in his mind, he pressed his palm against the platform and poured his divine ability magical power into it. Layers of profound, marvelous brilliance instantly lit up, and specks of golden light finally surfaced within this abyss that had been devoid of all luster.
Yet Chi Buzi's expression was grave. Not daring to move, he stood quietly in place.
One had to realize that there were untold layers of restrictive grand formations here. If even a sliver of their might spilled out, it would be more than enough to make him suffer grievously. The bottommost layer was an immortal formation; if he triggered its backlash, it would be a matter of turning to ash and smoke!
He waited for a good while before the golden radiance upon the platform transformed into white light. The golden circle shone brightly for a moment before swiftly dimming, leaving behind a glittering point of light at the center of the ring.
*Clang!*
With great caution, Chi Buzi drew the magical sword at his waist, wiped an azure gleam over it, and sent it into the point of light. After waiting a brief moment, he reached out to retrieve it. Only upon confirming that no one was waiting in ambush inside did his form shift, transforming into a streak of flowing azure light that darted into it.
Who knew how much time passed before a hazy brightness appeared before his eyes, revealing an entirely different underwater expanse before him.
In this place, what met his eyes was a towering undersea cliff carpeted in coral. Everywhere his gaze reached were ruined walls and rubble. Off-white stone cliff-faces had collapsed at the base of the precipice, while tile fragments of varying sizes shimmering with multicolored light were strewn across the ground. Sunlight from the outside world fell across the terrain like scales, shimmering faintly.
Looking upward, one saw the glistening sea surface. Seen from the seabed, the outside appeared bright white, and the sun in the sky shone with immense brilliance. With a rough estimate, this undersea cliff was barely a thousand zhang tall; its highest point was already about to break through the surface of the sea.
Chi Buzi paused slightly, appearing somewhat lost in thought. Taking two steps forward and finding no abnormalities, he retrieved the cauldron-shaped spirit tool from his breast and began searching the entire sea region.
He headed east all the way to the boundary of this sea region. Although he could still see the endless coral seabed stretching into the distance, his hands could touch an invisible barrier. After circling the perimeter to ensure no one was present, he finally climbed the cliff step by step.
The higher he went, the brighter the sunlight penetrating the sea surface became. Chi Buzi ascended steadily and soon discovered a stone table halfway up the mountain.
The stone table was massive, surrounded haphazardly by over a dozen high-backed stone chairs. Most had toppled over, looking dilapidated and forlorn. Over the only intact stone chair draped a white Daoist robe, swaying gently in the water.
Atop the stone table, bronze wine vessels lay scattered in disarray, some standing, some overturned. A single jade flagon rested quietly on the table. Apart from these, there was nothing else.
Chi Buzi had visited this place many times. The earliest had been with Chi Wei, and it was also here that he had first conceived feelings of defiance toward Lushui. This stone table had rested here ever since, and as soon as one drew near, an intense sense of mortal danger would arise.
Chi Buzi carefully detoured around it once again this time, continuing upward until he reached the cliff's summit. There, he finally came upon a gleaming stone cliff-face. It was about the height of a man and two palms thick, covered in ant-sized golden characters that floated on its surface. This spot was merely a few zhang beneath the sea surface; it seemed as if one could break through the waves into the open air simply by riding the wind upward.
Without sparing it a glance, Chi Buzi simply sat down slowly.
According to Chi Wei's descriptions, beyond this sea surface lay the ancient Golden Crow Transmutation Mysterious Light. Should anyone dare poke their head out, they would immediately be burned to cinders; even a Violet Palace cultivator would face no end other than instant death.
As for the Hunyi Immortal Cliff, Chi Wei and Ning Tiaoxiao had been here; Qiushui and Tianyuan had been here; and Zimu, lauded in his day as possessing the highest attainment in the Dao, had also been here. Every True Person who passed through this place had been a darling of the era, yet not a single one could remember even one character from it. Even the name "Hunyi Immortal Cliff" had been told to them by Li Jiangqun.
Whether Li Jiangqun could remember it was something only he himself knew.
Chi Buzi bowed slowly. Drawing profound patterns on the ground with his magical power, his voice grew increasingly low and solemn:
"Humble cultivator Chi Buzi... prays to the Heavenly Official on high, seeking to avert disaster and dispel calamity..."
...
The world within the mirror.
Winds surged and clouds churned across the world. Lu Jiangxian stood silently within the snow-swept immortal cave, his pupils swiftly reflecting the stone cliff within that ocean.
He lifted his eyes slightly, glancing twice at the Golden Crow Transmutation Mysterious Light in that realm. Golden talismans leaped out from his pupils, whirling around him and shining ever brighter, gradually coalescing before him into lines of seal script.
"Hunyi Golden Core Wondrous Method"!
As the incantations within his memory surfaced one by one, Lu Jiangxian silently looked up as sheets of mysterious light descended beside him.
The full title of the "Hunyi Golden Core Wondrous Method" was "Supreme Wondrous Formula of Seeking Transmutation into the Hunyi Golden Core in Immortal Dao." It shared the same source as the "Tongzhen Wonder Method" Lu Jiangxian had obtained on Three Drums Cliff; both were written in seal script.
The difference was that the "Tongzhen Wonder Method" was contained within the magic treasure Three Drums Cliff, being an immortal art for cultivating truth and attaining gold. The "Hunyi Golden Core Wondrous Method," on the other hand, was a supreme method used by ancient immortals to evade calamities, establish the azure skies, hold a Fruit Status while incorporating surplus positions, and preserve their status while attaining intercalary status.
This "Hunyi Golden Core Wondrous Method" was concise yet inexhaustible in its variations, spanning nearly ten million characters with exhaustive explanations according to diverse permutations—its contents practically boundless. Its primary purpose and guidance was to instruct cultivators on how, while occupying a Fruit Status, to seek one of several surplus statuses, and how, without departing from the Fruit Status, to realize one of several intercalary statuses.
The "cultivators" referred to in this text were already Dao Embryo immortals in the understanding of ordinary cultivators—amounting to merely a handful in today's world.
Now that this immortal method had fallen into Lu Jiangxian's hands, its greatest utility could not be put to use for the time being. At most, it offered a bit of minor assistance when composing a method to seek gold for Chi Buzi. However, this method of dual cultivation shared little similarity with the method of intercalary status; it aided him merely by virtue of its exceptionally lofty vantage.
Yet what could equally not be underestimated was the immortal method's second function: namely, "evading calamities and establishing the azure skies."
This technique could erase one's traces in the mortal world so that others could not perceive them, and could conceal a grotto-heaven and construct an immortal realm by drawing upon one's status.
*The Immortal Mirror's status is exceedingly lofty, which naturally allows me to erase traces without question, but the latter is a genuine ancient method for constructing immortal realms!*
This so-called method of constructing an immortal realm was by no means simply hanging a grotto-heaven in the Great Void. In ancient times, intercalary and surplus statuses were both complete, making it easy to open a grotto-heaven; one could even establish an immortal cave inside a spirit tool. Secret realms opened by ordinary cultivators inside spirit tools or precious lands were the lowest grade, called chambers or caves, and with the shifting of heaven and earth, they had long since all collapsed.
Only secret realms opened by major sects and great factions within the Great Void or anchored to blessed grounds had any chance of enduring to this day. Those of imperial clans were typically palaces, and those of immortal cultivators were typically halls. Provided they were well sealed, this kind could still survive to the present.
The Daning Palace of yesteryear was just such a place. Yet such secret realms could also undergo changes due to fluctuations in the mortal realm's spiritual atmosphere, abruptly emerging into the world or revealing an accidental entrance.
Among them was an exceptionally special category: the blessed lands of the Ziyan and Hengzhu lineages.
Only upon obtaining the "Hunyi Golden Core Wondrous Method" did Lu Jiangxian gain an understanding of these so-called blessed lands. A blessed land was usually forged through the power of the Golden Core level; by expending divine abilities and cultivation to link a locality to a Fruit Status, the place would manifest all sorts of wondrous anomalies, becoming more beneficial to certain kinds of practitioners—or even facilitating those of a certain nature in breaking through to Foundation Establishment, refining divine abilities, or seeking Fruit Status.
The highest tier was a grotto-heaven opened by a True Monarch anchored to a Fruit Status, known as a Heaven. If this True Monarch was exceedingly powerful and their grotto-heaven vast, it might even be called a Dharma Realm—something shockingly immense.
What the "Hunyi Golden Core Wondrous Method" provided was precisely a method for constructing grotto-heavens and partitioning realms of heaven and earth. Anchored to one's status, this immortal realm was neither lodged in the Great Void nor hosted within magical artifacts. Having reached the level of an immortal art, it relied solely on two things: first, status, and second, magical power and divine abilities.
With this method, the superposition of its two functions meant that he could open a grotto-heaven by relying on his status, noiselessly forging a portal in the mortal realm to truly allow others to enter in the flesh!
And what Lu Jiangxian lacked least of all was status. In fact, a realm already existed within the mirror! It was merely that he had previously been unversed in this path, capable only of detaining and summoning souls.
He turned back in an instant to look at the realm within the mirror looming in the clouds behind him. In a flash, his understanding of this world soared to the pinnacle.
The method behind this world was likewise extraordinarily profound: lodged upon the Immortal Mirror and completely severed from the Great Void, it was half illusory and half real. Only thus was he virtually invincible here. If one wished to communicate with the Great Void, one had to rely on the Immortal Mirror first; and because the Immortal Mirror was impenetrably exalted, it could never be perceived by outsiders.
Yet this also had its drawback: the Immortal Mirror itself did not receive outsiders. For people from the outside world to enter this realm, there was only one path: physically contacting the mirror's true form, or through calculations and soul-searches that linked their soul and karmic mandate to the Immortal Mirror. Only then was entry possible.
When Lu Jiangxian first acquired this world, it had been nothing more than a mountain range beneath a dusky sky. Even then, he had been the absolute master of this place. Sealed off inside and out, it could not interact with the outside world. Later, as Lu Jiangxian's strength gradually rose, this realm within the mirror gradually altered its form.
This world held both reality and illusion. The immortal palace above the cloud layer was naturally an illusion conjured by his thought, yet the mountain range beneath the clouds was solid and real. Now, with the "Hunyi Golden Core Wondrous Method," he could forcefully open an entrance in the mortal realm to permit others to enter.
Taking Chi Buzi as an example, he could now enter this place in the flesh. To Chi Buzi, once inside, whether the immortal palace above the clouds or the ruined mountains beneath them, both would be tangible and visible, with no apparent difference.
However, should he attempt to carry anything out, taking something from the heavens would amount to nothing more than a wisp of Taiyin Moon Splendor, whereas the pebbles and soil of the mountains beneath the clouds could genuinely be carried outside.
*In truth, whether it is real or illusory holds little significance for them, and I would never permit them to take anything outside. Even a single pebble from this world within the mirror could become a fatal poison if brought into the outer world!*
As Lu Jiangxian's power steadily rose, he could hardly fathom how terrifying the enemy had been who had shattered the Immortal Mirror into this state in a previous life. They were undeniably a figure on the level of an immortal. Who knew what manner of cataclysmic war this mountain range had weathered, or how many traces had been left behind? How could he dare be careless?
More importantly, it was not merely an issue of entering and leaving. Lu Jiangxian deeply suspected that an intact Taiyin Fruit Status lay concealed within the Immortal Mirror. If it were directly linked to the outside world, the "Hunyi Golden Core Wondrous Method" could indeed conceal traces and keep others from noticing, but the reaction of heaven and earth sensing the Taiyin Fruit Status could not be faked. When the time came, all manner of auspicious omens would surge forth; whether Mount Luoxia or the Underworld, each would surely become more nervous than the last. Even if they failed to find him, it would still raise the alarm.
Yet this was a realm inherent to the Immortal Mirror; it did not mean Lu Jiangxian could not open an entirely separate realm by relying on the "Hunyi Golden Core Wondrous Method"! The exalted status granted to him by the Immortal Mirror, paired with his current top-quality and inexhaustible divine ability magical power, was precisely the perfect nourishment for fueling the "Hunyi Golden Core Wondrous Method" to construct the azure skies!
He merely raised his hand. His robes billowed as boundless radiance coalesced in his palm. Countless wondrous thoughts sprang to mind. Tiny white specks surfaced in his grasp, blending into a pure white expanse.
This pure white point expanded ever outward without communicating with the Great Void in the slightest. Sheltered by the "Hunyi Golden Core Wondrous Method," earth, water, fire, and wind churned endlessly within it, releasing waves of mysterious light.
"Only by anchoring to my own status and conceiving an entirely new world—truly opening a Heavenly Palace realm to communicate separately with the mortal realm—can I allow the Li clan to enter, influence the course of events in the mortal realm, and gather the shards!"
Chapter 876