Chapter 724

"Zhou Qingmei, come with me!"

Zhou Qingmei was He Pingsheng's bodyguard; she was definitely going.

"I'm coming too!" Zi Qing Immortal shifted her body and stood before He Pingsheng: "My master ordered me to guard you without ever leaving your side, lest you be killed at the Stone Platform Assembly!"

He Pingsheng nodded: "Fine!"

With Zi Qing Immortal as additional support, that would be even better.

"Hao Cang!" He Pingsheng's gaze turned to Hao Cang: "After I leave, handle all affairs on Solitary Pine Mountain!"

"Long Yue, any matter concerning the sect's interests must be reported to Hao Cang one by one!"

"Yes!"

Long Yue bowed respectfully.

Her reverence for He Pingsheng had reached its peak, especially after he once bestowed upon her a supreme-grade magic treasure.

"Go now!" He Pingsheng waved his hand, and everyone left.

Only Zhou Qingmei, her clone, and Zi Qing remained.

"Your clone doesn't need to come with me!" He Pingsheng said: "Send her to the Indestructible Emperor Domain to protect Second Lady and my son!"

"Yes!" Zhou Qingmei's clone immediately understood and opened a space wormhole directly to the Indestructible Emperor Domain.

Seeing Zhou Qingmei's clone open this void, He Pingsheng's heart stirred; he looked at Zi Qing and said: "You still owe me something, don't you?"

"Oh oh oh…" Zi Qing hurriedly pulled out a golden bone and offered it respectfully to He Pingsheng: "Thank you—I've already learned this technique!"

Unconsciously, this woman had also begun to respect He Pingsheng.

Before, her words carried an air of arrogance; she liked to refer to herself as "this palace."

Now, she called herself "this humble servant."

He Pingsheng's understanding of space Dao had deepened further; he wanted to test whether he could cultivate this "space wormhole" technique.

But he certainly wouldn't attempt it now.

First, he'd visit the Zhu Que Emperor Palace—to ask Nan Qiqi when the Stone Platform Assembly would be held.

Also, he hadn't seen his senior sister Qiao Hui Zhu in a long time; he needed to go see her.

The Silver River Celestial Shuttle streaked across the sky!

Half an hour later, they arrived at the entrance to Zhu Que Emperor City.

He Pingsheng retracted the shuttle.

Around the entrance, countless eyes turned toward them; upon sensing the aura of an emperor-grade treasure emanating from the shuttle, they all cast greedy glances.

But after seeing the cultivation levels of He Pingsheng and his two companions, they quickly withdrew those greedy stares.

Hummm…

The three of them performed a teleportation!

The next instant, they appeared before the massive palace gates of Zhu Que Emperor Palace!

Layer upon layer of palaces, towering and majestic.

From He Pingsheng's viewpoint, each level was lower than the one behind it, creating a sense of stacked heights.

The final, colossal palace even pierced the clouds.

Seeing the three standing before the vast red gates, two armored cultivators in golden battle armor immediately approached and bowed: "Elder, are you here to enter the palace?"

"Yes!" He Pingsheng didn't waste words; he pulled out the golden token Nan Qiqi had given him earlier and said: "I am He Pingsheng of Solitary Pine Mountain. I seek an audience with Zhu Que Holy Maiden Nan Qiqi. Please announce me!"

"What?"

The golden-armored cultivator trembled slightly upon hearing He Pingsheng's words: "You… you are He Pingsheng, Elder He?"

"We've long heard of you! They say you once fought a Body Integration eighth-layer cultivator while only at Void Refinement first layer?"

"Incredible! Almost everyone in Zhu Que Emperor Domain now knows Elder He's name!"

"Elder He, please wait—I'll announce you at once!"

He Pingsheng's expression grew awkward.

Fought?

Well… if Tian Jinpeng heard this, the old bastard would probably die of rage.

It was a one-sided retreat, plain and simple.

Soon, after about half a stick of incense, Nan Qiqi in red robes descended before the palace gates.

He Pingsheng's eyes flashed; he slightly activated the Heavenly Eye Cosmology True Interpretation technique and instantly saw through Nan Qiqi's cultivation level.

Nan Qiqi was impressive—she had reached Void Refinement twelfth layer.

So fast!

The first time He Pingsheng saw her, she was Void Refinement sixth layer.

Now she was twelfth.

But then again, it had been… hmm… He Pingsheng calculated in his mind—over two hundred and sixty years?

No wonder.

Two hundred and sixty years to advance from Void Refinement sixth to twelfth layer wasn't unusual.

After all, Zhu Que Emperor Palace surely didn't lack cultivation resources.

Had she not deliberately stalled her cultivation to qualify for the Stone Platform Assembly, He Pingsheng suspected she'd already reached Body Integration.

"Elder He, after more than two hundred years apart, you've reached Void Refinement sixth layer?"

"Truly astonishing… please, please, come in!"

Nan Qiqi warmly ushered He Pingsheng into Zhu Que Emperor Palace.

Zhu Que Clan currently had no Mahayana Emperor-level cultivators, but there were likely many Body Integration cultivators.

If it was only Body Integration, He Pingsheng had no fear of danger.

"Holy Maiden," He Pingsheng asked as they walked toward the palace, "how long until the Stone Platform Assembly begins?"

"Where exactly will it be held?"

"And what trials will it test?"

He Pingsheng was completely ignorant about every detail of the Stone Platform Assembly.

"Hehe…" Nan Qiqi chuckled: "The Stone Platform Assembly is still four or five years away—we'll need to prepare, but there's no rush… You haven't seen your consort in so long; I'm sure you want to visit Qiao Dao you right now!"

"No… now I should call her Elder Qiao."

What?

He Pingsheng's heart stirred slightly: Elder Qiao?

No way!

Has Senior Sister Qiao already achieved Body Integration?

Become a Body Integration cultivator?

"Impossible!"

That's too fast.

The last time he parted from Qiao Hui Zhu, she was Void Refinement first layer—only seventy-six years have passed!

"Hmm…" Nan Qiqi's expression turned grave; she nodded and whispered: "Qiao Elder's condition is… I don't even know how to explain it… Actually, even if you hadn't come, I was about to send for you… Just come with me first!"

"You'll see for yourself when you get there!"

Nan Qiqi reached out and took He Pingsheng's hand, then soared directly through the palace.

Flight was forbidden within the palace, but Nan Qiqi was its ruler—who dared stop her?

Let it be said, this palace was enormous!

It spanned hundreds of thousands of zhang in diameter!

In the center of the palace stood a mountain range!

Upon the mountain, layer upon layer of palaces!

Far off, He Pingsheng saw Qiao Hui Zhu.

Qiao Hui Zhu had cultivated the Technique of Manifesting Heaven and Earth; she now stood atop a distant peak in the void, her thousand-zhang divine body gazing upward.

Vast, overwhelming Dao forces erupted from her body; countless emerald runes surged like tides, crashing outward in waves.

Then they reversed, flowing back into her body.