Chapter 577: Painted Screen

Li Xuanfeng frowned slightly upon seeing his appearance. Watching Si Yuanli fly at high speed without the slightest hint of caution, he pondered inwardly: "Does this person have some reliance that makes him this confident, or has he been protected by a True Person for so long that he has become naive, careless, and devoid of vigilance?"

The people of the Si family were low-key and reserved within the sect. Li Xuanfeng had rarely seen them and had no prior contact with Si Yuanli, nor had he ever heard his name. He feared the man was merely a reckless fool who would end up harming himself.

He followed closely behind, his golden bow held in his hand. His tiger-like eyes scanned the surroundings, his ocular arts in operation, sweeping over the scenery of the lake. The two flew for only a dozen breaths before they soon caught sight of a vague, blue palace upon the water, where a golden light was dimly docked above.

"Buddhist cultivator!"

The golden light of a Buddhist cultivator was not hard to identify. Si Yuanli saw it at a glance, a look of disgust rising on his face. He looked toward Li Xuanfeng and whispered:

"Brother Xuanfeng, don't let him get there first!"

Li Xuanfeng was naturally not afraid of offending a Buddhist cultivator. The golden string hummed, and a golden arrow leaped from his waist. He cleanly and decisively condensed his *gang* energy; the string hummed and vibrated, and only then did he release his fingers. In the distance, the golden light flew out a shower of flower petals as if it had been startled.

"Your mother... what evil monster! How dare you use evil arts to harm this old monk!"

The golden light let out a cold shout and leaped up from the air. Li Xuanfeng and his companion arrived in an instant. He cast his gaze, coldly colliding with the old monk within the golden light, and raised his golden bow, pointing it at the man.

"This old monk... I..."

The monk's gaze was gloomy, scorching anger shooting from his eyes. It collided directly with Li Xuanfeng's cold stare, and his tone softened instantly. His fierce gaze transformed into terror in the blink of an eye, and he exclaimed in horror:

"Li Xuanfeng!"

"I... this little monk... does not wish to bear a grudge against you, fellow Daoist. This predestined opportunity belongs to you!"

He dove into the golden light and fled in a flash, leaving behind a trail of flower petals. It was clear he didn't even have time to conceal his injuries.

The radiance on Li Xuanfeng's string slowly dissipated. There was no telling how much more fighting there was in this place, so he would not waste his magic power on this wretch. Si Yuanli glanced sideways, paused for a full breath, and then said: "Fellow Daoist... Brother Xuanfeng... please..."

The two went down together and stopped in front of the hall. Si Yuanli merely waved his sleeve to push open the hall doors. In the center of the hall sat a large table, set with several jade chairs. It was luxurious and elegant, surrounding an incense burner that was antique and spotlessly clean.

"Xuan..."

Si Yuanli had just opened his mouth when he saw Li Xuanfeng say softly:

"Fellow Daoist, seize the time. Collect the items and head quickly toward the center."

"Good."

Si Yuanli paused, then walked quickly along the corridor over the water. Li Xuanfeng watched as his spiritual sense swept rapidly across the entire hall. One by one, magic tools floated into his storage bag, trailing a colorful light in the air. He missed nothing, stuffing them into the bag with his head down.

Li Xuanfeng immediately gained some understanding of this person's temperament. He raised his hand and looked toward the screen at the very center of the hall. Painted on it was an armored man, each hand gripping a strange beast, looking back with a rather heroic spirit.

The screen was indeed an ordinary one, with nothing strange about it, except that the person painted on it was very majestic. Beside it was a line of small characters, the handwriting graceful:

"【Emperor Liang Founds the State】, gifted to Brother Jiang."

At the end, it was signed:

"Chen Xuanli."

Li Xuanfeng looked at it with interest and picked it up casually. Si Yuanli had just finished collecting the treasures in the hall and hurried to his side. He looked at the object in Li Xuanfeng's hand and asked:

"Fellow Daoist, this is..."

"Looking at this appearance, it's quite interesting."

Li Xuanfeng flipped his hand and put it away. The two did not stop, flying up together on the wind, rushing toward the center at high speed. The scenery of the lake beneath their feet flashed by rapidly. After about a dozen breaths, another palace appeared before them.

This palace was even smaller than the previous one, but Si Yuanli was full of enthusiasm, taking the lead to land on the wind. Li Xuanfeng had no choice but to follow him down. His spiritual sense swept through the hall in a hurry; it was indeed empty.

Si Yuanli had a look of regret on his face. Li Xuanfeng looked at him and said softly:

"Fellow Daoist, there is no need to be like this. These palaces are in this state, so presumably, most have already been visited by others. It is really not appropriate to delay any longer. We should immediately head to the mountain cliff in the center. If we delay any further, I fear we won't get a share of anything."

Si Yuanli rose on the wind with him, revealing a bit of embarrassment, as if he had some concerns. After a few breaths, he nodded and sighed: "Fellow Daoist is right! Let's head forward quickly!"

Although Li Xuanfeng kept looking forward, he secretly paid attention to Si Yuanli's expression, lost in thought. The two streaks of light instantly pulled out two long tail flames in the air, flying straight toward the cliff.

After about half an incense stick of time, the cliff appeared before their eyes. Li Xuanfeng had vaguely seen people landing, and he nodded inwardly: "Although the 【Great Ning Palace】 is vast, it cannot compare to a grotto-heaven in any way. The cultivators are none of them mediocre; wherever they go is like a swarm of locusts. It hasn't even been an incense stick of time since we entered the grotto-heaven, and only these few palaces on the mountain are left to be looted."

Everyone would definitely have a fight on the mountain; this was the main event of the grotto-heaven, no longer like the initial exploration of the grotto-heaven where they dragged their feet and couldn't bump into anyone for several days.

And from what he had seen along the way, he understood: perhaps due to the changes in heaven and earth, the Early Zifu taking action, or some other problem, not a single formation of the 【Great Ning Palace】 was effective; they had all become decorations. The cultivators came and went freely, as if strolling in their own back gardens.

This cliff was the center of the 【Great Ning Palace】 and the most critical place in the entire immortal palace. But as he looked, the radiance on the entire cliff was still sparse, countable on one hand, and still dim and lusterless—a matter that could be settled with a few arrows.

"It's truly extremely comfortable... it cannot be compared to the 【Mirage Mirror Heaven】 of the Green Pine Temple at all... The direct descendants of all the families have their own means, and everything has been paved by the Early Zifu. The real things lie in the struggle between each other..."

He simply took out his bow and landed with Si Yuanli. His spiritual sense swept across the sky; the whole mountain was full of blue halls. He found a nearby palace to land in. Si Yuanli hurried behind him, finally showing a bit of vigilance.

Li Xuanfeng had just landed in the hall when a chill suddenly washed over his face. A rich spiritual energy rushed toward him. The formation eye in the center of the hall was gushing out spiritual energy, so rich that it had turned into 【Lesser Clear Spiritual Energy】, rushing out of the hall in a scramble, trailing a piece of pure white.

Surrounding the formation eye in the hall were four large tripods, all spraying white energy. Treasures were dazzling, the jade seats were luxurious, and above the hall sat a huge yet intricately carved immortal seat. On both sides were six blue square tripods, piled with various spiritual objects.

Two square tripods had already been overturned in front of the steps, lying scattered, with a dazzling array of treasures rolling out, clattering. The colorful light was so dazzling it was almost intoxicating, making it impossible to open one's eyes.

Several cultivators were already standing in the hall, confronting each other. Li Xuanfeng's gaze, however, did not rest on them, but quickly bypassed these cultivators and landed on the screen behind the immortal seat.

This screen emitted an obscure blue light, crafted entirely from a dark, ink-green material, its edges painted with complex runes. There were eight panels in total, blocking spiritual sense so that the back could not be seen.

This screen seemed to have a unique charm, instantly capturing his gaze, making it difficult to look away for a long time. The eight panels were interconnected, presenting the appearance of a large hall, making one feel dizzy and dazzled looking at it. Li Xuanfeng hadn't had time to look closely, but the sense of familiarity the hall brought him made it impossible for him to look away.

"This is..."

This strong sense of familiarity made a throb rise in his heart. Clearly, he had never seen it before, yet this simple and unadorned style had a sense of familiarity. His gaze followed the screen to the last panel, which presented the scenery outside the hall. It depicted the outside of the hall, where a man was listening intently.

Not until this moment did Li Xuanfeng's mind shake violently, and he finally remembered where this sense of familiarity came from. He had clearly seen the scenery outside the hall; the 【Deep Abyss Great Wind】 painted in black-green, the pine forest that seemed to be swaying slightly in the wind...

"Chongming Hall! This screen shows the six sons of Chongming!"

He quickly withdrew his gaze and scanned the hall again as if nothing had happened. The cultivators in the hall looked toward him one after another, some with demonic energy, some with spreading true fire, some with Buddhist light rippling, their gazes fixed firmly on him.

Li Xuanfeng's gray eyes narrowed slightly, and he swept across them mercilessly, completely ignoring the warnings in their gazes. He walked forward openly, stepping into the hall, one hand holding the bow, the other behind his back.

Si Yuanli followed closely behind, his expression slightly nervous. The brilliance of the long sword in his hand was overflowing, almost sticking to his armor as he stood, his eyes fixed on the four large tripods in the center.

"So it is Fellow Daoist Xuanfeng..."

The atmosphere in the hall was once deadlocked, but finally, someone spoke. This person wore a dark red robe and held a horse spear in his hand; it was Gao Fangjing of the True Fire lineage.

Many demonic and Buddhist cultivators had been suspicious of his attire, but because of his words, they became wary. The gazes that had been cast over were shifted one by one, and they looked at each other as if nothing had happened.

Li Xuanfeng had destroyed Lord Murong Wu's body and spirit in a quarter of an hour, shattered Yu Gan's dharma body, and torn apart a demonic beast, leaving a sky full of blood rain. This had already shocked the northern demonic cultivators.

Later, he had killed Tang Shedu, who had entered the Buddhist path, pushing his reputation to its peak. Several demonic cultivators had not seen him in person, but they had heard his name and knew he was not someone to be trifled with, so they were unwilling to confront him.

Gao Fangjing looked around, the true fire on his body burning scorching hot, and finally said:

"Everyone, there is no need to drag this out. More and more cultivators will come. If we drag this out to the end, even if you have great strength, how much can you grab? How many injuries will you have to pay?"

As his voice fell, the horse spear in his hand was raised high, and he laughed:

"Now that Fellow Daoist Xuanfeng has arrived, there are exactly eight people here. Why not duel in pairs and each take a tripod!"

These words were spoken clearly, completely ignoring Si Yuanli as a person. Hearing this, he choked silently. Li Xuanfeng simply reached out to protect him and whispered:

"Fellow Daoist, just protect yourself."

Before his voice had even fallen, a burst of brilliance exploded in the hall. Li Xuanfeng stepped forward and reached for the nearest large tripod, raising his eyebrows slightly to find that not a single person was willing to come and compete with him.

Instead, the two nearby demonic cultivators looked at each other and suddenly erupted. One released rolling purple energy, and the other had demonic smoke rising, surrounding Gao Fangjing, who was covered in true fire, and emitting a violent roar.

'There are acquaintances after all...'

Li Xuanfeng saw clearly. One hand had already lifted the large tripod. This tripod was a deep blue color, warm to the touch, and covered in bird and beast patterns, like dragons flying and phoenixes dancing; it was very gorgeous.

And one of the two demonic cultivators besieging Gao Fangjing was cultivating 'Purple *Qi*'; it was Lord Murong Gong, with whom he had briefly exchanged blows a few days ago. His figure was hidden in the purple clouds, releasing a piece of demonic light.

"Hahahaha..."

Gao Fangjing laughed in extreme anger. The horse spear in his hand was scorching like a hot spiritual flame, releasing a dazzling golden-red light. He let out a low shout from his mouth: "Old dog Lord Murong has always been despicable and shameless! I knew you would have this trick!"

Seven of the best among the Foundation Establishment cultivators fought in the hall, erupting with a huge roar. Golden light, white light, immortal energy, and demonic energy intertwined and gushed out, but the hall remained as stable as a mountain, not moving at all.

"Boom!"

Following the actions of the few, a huge roar came from the distance almost simultaneously. The entire Great Ning Palace had a chain reaction. A moment ago, it was as calm as water, but all places that were silently confronting each other erupted simultaneously. Spiritual energy was distorted and twisted, and it was a mess.

Li Xuanfeng weighed the large tripod. Not only was it tightly covered and difficult to shake, but even his spiritual sense could not probe it. It was silently emitting obscure radiance, and there seemed to be another world inside; it could not be put into the storage bag.

He had no interest in this large tripod. After all, no matter how good the things inside were, nine times out of ten, they would not fall into his own hands. Si Yuanli's eyes were almost glued to the tripod. Li Xuanfeng handed the tripod to him casually and whispered: "Follow me closely!"

Si Yuanli nodded busily, the satisfaction on his face almost flying off his face. Where was there any unwillingness? He muttered in his mouth:

"Fellow Daoist is righteous! I will definitely speak well of you in front of the ancestor. After we get out of the grotto-heaven, there will definitely be a generous reward..."

Li Xuanfeng responded half-heartedly, but his spiritual sense was silently locked on the screen behind the immortal seat, not paying attention to him at all.

Perhaps stimulated by the many demonic and magical lights, this treasure—a dark, ink-green folding screen—was now even more vivid in color, approaching a weathered bronze-green. It stood firmly behind the main hall, unmoved by the residual power of the magic that had surged past.

Li Xuanfeng hesitated no longer. His gaze did not linger for even a second on the mountain of treasures piled on the ground; his figure flew rapidly toward the immortal throne, reaching out to grab the screen.

"Hmm?"

Li Xuanfeng narrowed his eyes slightly. White-gold patterns suddenly lit up on his chin, flowing downward along his chest to transform into the simple and elegant 【Heavenly Gold Armor】. His eyes also flickered with a hidden radiance as he focused his spirit to look.

"Benefactor..."

A figure suddenly appeared before his eyes, quietly blocking his path. This burly man had long, thin eyebrows and a clean, bald head. He was draped in a golden cassock. As he looked over with both eyes, he said softly, "This humble monk has long heard of the Benefactor's name and felt a yearning in my heart. It is only that fate is fickle, and we have repeatedly failed to meet... Now, at last, I have waited for the Benefactor..."

Li Xuanfeng glared coldly, one hand already gripping his golden bow. He did not say a single word to him. Golden brilliance flowed, and five golden arrows jumped onto the golden string simultaneously. A piercing, humming sound resonated through the entire hall, causing all the cultivators present to fall silent at once.

"Clang!"

I've been rushing to write the side stories for the "filling the plot holes" festival these past few days, writing until past three o'clock every night. The updates here are indeed a bit rough in places, and there are many typos. I've finished writing today, so I'm rushing back to review them.

The plot in the Great Ning Palace will end very soon; it definitely won't drag on for ten or twenty chapters, so everyone don't worry! If you have any suggestions, feel free to leave a comment below in the "Author's Words." I will try my best to take them into account^