Chapter 427: Old Matters of Nanyang Sect

Between sheer cliffs, a white robe billowed.

Shen Yi gazed silently into the distance below the mountain; all that met his eyes was cloud and mist, and he could not make out the true face of the human world.

He suddenly felt the mountain wind grow faintly cold.

It was as if he were standing in a place too high.

Ye Wenxuan claimed to be at the first layer of Returning-to-Void, and this wooden man was clearly an absolute top-tier expert even within the Returning-to-Void realm, yet he had still met with such a desolate end.

By comparison, even though Shen Yi's strength surpassed Ye Wenxuan's, in this realm of heaven and earth, he seemed to count for nothing especially transcendent.

From the words of that middle-aged man from Qingyue Sect just now,

Shen Yi quickly realized that the experts behind those six Dao tablets were actually of lower standing than Shen Zongzhu; with his current strength, it would probably be very hard to hold steady in such a lofty identity.

He turned his gaze sidelong toward the wooden man: "Yu Nanhong's Seven Sons — this place is called Nanhong?"

Though Li Xuanqing's mind was entirely on Nanyang Sect, he still answered seriously: "This place is called Hongze, and we are on its southern side."

"How are the Seven Sons related to one another?" This question was very important to Shen Yi.

"Life and death together." Li Xuanqing answered without the slightest hesitation.

"…" Shen Yi was silent for a moment, then said noncommittally: "Then why, over all these years, have they paid no attention to what has happened inside Nanyang Sect? Is it that they couldn't break through the formation?"

"If Shen Zongzhu were to act, it could be broken, but then this place would be destroyed as well." Li Xuanqing looked at Shen Yi; from the demon blood on the other's body that had not yet fully dried, he could roughly infer the situation inside.

"The most precious thing about Nanyang Sect is itself."

"What do you mean by that?" Shen Yi was faintly curious; he did not quite understand — given that the things inside Nanyang Sect did not even support a cultivator's breakthrough to the second layer of Returning-to-Void, what was there worth coveting for those experts outside?

Hearing this, Li Xuanqing closed his eyes: "'Heaven above, Bai Yujing; twelve towers, five cities; the immortal strokes my crown, binds my hair, and grants long life.' The so-called Bai Yujing is a metaphor for the immortal palace; therefore Returning-to-Void is divided into twelve layers, and ascending to Bai Yujing is nearly equivalent to becoming an immortal."

Shen Yi digested this for a moment, and astonishment rose in his eyes: "You were an immortal before?"

It seemed the "immortal" in his imagination did not quite look like this.

"Nearly."

Li Xuanqing corrected him: "After ascending to Bai Yujing, one still needs a Dao-Unification treasure land. This thing must either receive the recognition of the Heavenly Court and thereby leave a name on the immortal register, or receive the recognition of Heaven and take one for oneself from this world."

"No one from Hongze has gone to the Heavenly Court for many years now."

"Dao-Unification treasure lands are finite in number; each one was obtained by predecessors of old through great perseverance and great fortune, only then receiving Heaven's acknowledgment."

"If this place were destroyed, the Heavenly contract signed back then would no longer count, and one would have to start all over again."

Shen Yi listened carefully from start to finish.

He roughly understood.

This thing was much like the imperial examinations among mortals — after ascending the twelve towers, one had passed the top examination and gained the qualification to become an official.

But whether one could actually become that official — or rather, become an immortal — still depended on whether there was a vacancy.

So the Heavenly Court truly existed in this world, and what he himself held in his hands was actually an immortal's seat?

Thinking of this, Shen Yi suddenly felt the Dao tablet in his hand grow rather hot.

Besides this, Shen Yi also keenly caught a detail in Li Xuanqing's words — the other distinguished between "the Heavenly Court" and "Heaven."

This indicated that the path to becoming an immortal was not limited to one way.

"If I were to give this thing to you, you could become an immortal on the spot?"

Shen Yi slowly raised the Dao tablet in his hand, looking utterly composed.

In reality, however, if this wooden man wanted to seize it by force, no matter what, they could not hold it — better to be open and generous about it.

"It used to be that way."

Li Xuanqing did not even glance at the tablet, and let out a long sigh: "I can no longer be counted as a cultivator now; if one insists on saying, I am more like a demon or a monster…"

Speaking to this point, he suddenly noticed the expression of the youth beside him shift, and the youth looking toward him thoughtfully.

"Don't misunderstand — I was only giving an example; I will not harm you."

Li Xuanqing gave a helpless smile: "I can't even be counted as a demon or monster, just a lonely soul parasitizing a wooden puppet. Now, can you take me home? I truly am a direct disciple of Nanyang Sect's Sect Master, and Nanyang Sect was indeed meant to be left to me back then, but now it is yours to dispose of as you wish."

"One last question."

Shen Yi exhaled lightly: "How did they perish?"

If this matter were not clarified, it would be like a sharp sword hanging over his head, and he would be unable to eat or sleep in peace.

Li Xuanqing was silent for a long time, then said lightly: "The responsibility for this matter lies with me, yet it has nothing to do with you. As for how they fell, it is actually also related to the Dao-Unification treasure land."

"If one day you become the true Sect Master and Dao-Unify Nanyang, the living beings within that realm of heaven and earth will no longer feed on the qi of heaven and earth, but on your qi; they are called Dao servants, or Dao slaves — all their cultivation is at your disposal, their life and death entirely within a single thought of yours."

Speaking to this point, a trace of grief entered Li Xuanqing's voice: "They were eaten by Master. You can also understand it as them returning all their cultivation to the Nanyang Sect Master, fueling this realm of heaven and earth's final struggle."

Hearing these words, Shen Yi was as if struck by lightning: "…"

With a cautious nature like his, how could he possibly entrust his life to another's hands?

But listening to this wooden man's account, and then looking at the other sects, it seemed that in the outside world, this was an utterly commonplace matter.

As if he had read Shen Yi's thoughts,

Li Xuanqing set aside his grief and said softly: "Without the protection of a Dao-Unification treasure land, wandering alone outside, the end would only be worse. Moreover, Nanyang Sect is merely an exception. Like the Sect Masters of other sects, even if they fall, they generally do not act to harm the Dao-Unification treasure land — after all, as long as the treasure land remains, it can be passed down smoothly, producing the next Dao-Unification cultivator, continuing to uphold the sect."

"This period of time was also letting this realm of heaven and earth of Nanyang Sect recuperate and recover."

"It's only that it really has been too long."

Li Xuanqing could not even remember how many years he had waited; the executive elders of the other sects had been replaced batch after batch.

"…"

At these words, before Shen Yi could react, it was the disciples of Mount Wutong whose expressions shifted slightly — they had read through ancient records and knew some of the past.

If that old dog had not been left behind back then, the entire sect's disciples and demons would have been eaten clean.

Following the normal course of events, the remaining descendants of Nanyang Sect's cultivators should have regained control of Thousand Demon Cave in a very short time, and once they cultivated to Returning-to-Void, they could reopen the sect.

"I observe your temperament — it seems very hard for you to accept such a view."

Li Xuanqing looked at Shen Yi again; he could understand — how could a true dragon who had led cultivators in a breakout from the Abyss of the Deep be willing to submit beneath another, entrusting his life and death to another's hands?

"Since you are unwilling to join another sect, then do your best to guard your Dao token... though it will be far harder than you imagine."

(End of this chapter)