Grandpa, times have changed.

the other side.

After leaving Yanjian City, Xu Xing and Mei Zu first returned to the Sword Sect.

We're going to Qingxu, and Meizu said she wanted to say hello to Bie Xuening so we wouldn't go without a clear explanation.

Arriving halfway up the mountain where the Sword Master's Hall is located, a lush green bamboo forest comes into view. The bamboo stalks are glossy, and the green bamboo leaves rustle in the wind.

Bamboo shadows sway gently as a path paved with blue bricks winds its way inward.

"If I hadn't told Sword Master, she would have thought I'd run off with you," Meizu explained earnestly.

Yes, I'll come back and tell Bie Xuening about this.

It was she who suggested it.

"..."

Xu Xing didn't say much.

This clearly shows that she had reached an agreement with her senior sister beforehand.

I just have no idea what they were talking about in their little group chat...

Walking along the blue brick path into the bamboo forest, a corner of a bamboo house just came into view.

Buzz~!

A fierce, murderous sword light pierced through the air, aiming straight for the Demon Ancestor's heart.

"Ah~"

With a nimble turn, the wisp of killing sword light grazed past her and continued forward for a distance before gradually dissipating.

Having dodged the sword, she raised an eyebrow and looked at Bie Xuening standing by the pool:
"That's incredibly rude of you!"

Bie Xuening, however, remained unconvinced and slowly lowered her hand:

"The response was pretty quick."

I think you're just jealous of me!

"Ok?"

Before I could react, I saw Meizu puff out her chest.

"..."

How childish.

Growing up wouldn't suit my aloof and cool personality!
Bie Xuening was too lazy to argue with her.

"Weren't you going to Qingxu? Why are you back?"

"Of course I came back to tell you, so you wouldn't think I'd run away with someone."

"You're more likely to come back to provoke me," Bie Xuening said calmly. "But since I've already agreed, I won't regret it."

Xu Xing, who had been listening to this, finally couldn't help but speak up:
What exactly are you guys talking about in that group?

But then Meizu and Bie Xuening exchanged a glance, seemingly reaching a consensus, and spoke in unison.

"This is not something you, fellow Daoist/Junior Brother, should know."

Xu Xing: "..."

He has always been the one saying this to others, but today it's his turn.

This feeling……

It's too complicated to say without explaining.

No wonder Jiu Yu always looks constipated whenever he hears that sentence.

“Once everything settles down and you make your choice, you will naturally know,” Bie Xuening said.

“I remember Brother Dao said that he doesn’t make choices; he wants them all,” Meizu retorted.

“…” After a pause, Bie Xuening looked at her, “That is also an option.”

Ok?
……

……

It's evening.

Inner sect of the Sword Sect, Soul Nourishing Cave, beneath the Soul Nourishing Tree.

"I will leave all matters concerning this alliance to you, senior," Yuan said solemnly.

Qian Xiang was somewhat helpless, but he had no choice but to agree.

"I will do my best to cooperate."

He had made some arrangements before coming to the Sword Sect.

If everything goes according to his plan, Yuan's return to the Righteous Alliance could help him achieve some of his goals.

But plans never keep up with changes.

Not only did none of those plans come to fruition, but he was also left terrified by a combination of intimidation and threats...

Hey~
But there is nothing we can do.

According to Yuan, this 'Ascension Plan' is the common will of the True Immortals!
As someone who came from that era, Dongzhen knew all too well what this meant.

True immortals are very tolerant in many things, but once they make up their minds to push something forward, it means that the thing will definitely be accomplished!

Rather than waiting for those stubborn individuals in the alliance to cause trouble and invite the strong measures of the True Immortals to suppress them, it's better to cooperate now.

"Then it's Senior Lao."

Qian Xiang shook his head slightly and said nothing more.

The plan that could make the Tai Xuan True Immortals determined to advance it together...

Without a doubt, it is related to the Cang Clan who escaped from the Central Continent and hid on the other side of the starry sky back then.

Based on that alone, he will do his best to cooperate.

His personal thoughts are insignificant compared to this matter.

He can still tell what is important and what is not.

"Now that things have been discussed and agreed upon, let's go back as soon as possible. This will allow us to clarify the situation within the alliance sooner," Qian Xiang said.

Yuan paused.

I was just about to say something more.

Three streaks of light appeared on the horizon, approaching from afar, and soon arrived in front of them, landing to the side and transforming into three figures.

It was Ning Wanzhu, Mingyu, and Yinling.

Seeing this, Yuan finally nodded:
"Let's go then."

Qian Xiang looked at Yin Ling, then at Yuan, his expression somewhat strange.

In the end, he didn't comment on Yuan's private life, but simply sighed:

"We'll go over first, and you can come over after you've packed up."

After saying that, he turned and left with the Xuan cultivators who had been standing there for a long time.

Until their figures completely disappeared from sight.

"How did it go?" Ning Wanzhu asked.

“It went very smoothly.” Yuan looked in the direction Qian Xiang and the others had left, as if murmuring, “It went a little too smoothly than I expected.”

Throughout their previous interactions, Senior Qianxiang had always been extremely stubborn.

But today they compromised so quickly, without even having a chance to say many of the prepared remarks...

"I'm starting to doubt whether he's lying to me."

Mingyu shook her head slightly: "It's normal. After all, even Senior Sword Ancestor supports you, and Senior Qianxiang also knows what this means."

"……Too."

It seems I underestimated my fellow villagers.

His name is really useful; we should definitely use it more often in the future!

Yuan made up his mind once again.

“Let’s go.” His gaze swept over the three of them. “Let’s go to the Alliance first. Once things are sorted out there, I’ll find a way to complete the construction of the Immortal Network connection node for the Third Realm as soon as possible.”

Yes, Ning Wanzhu is also going to the Righteous Alliance.

The establishment of the immortal network connection nodes in the third realm is not urgent; the matter of the righteous alliance is more important at the moment.

Considering that Ning Wanzhu also had a certain influence in the Righteous Path Alliance, Ning Ruo gave her a leave of absence and asked her to go with Yuan to resolve the matters of the Righteous Path Alliance.

After the matter with the Righteous Path Alliance is resolved, we will proceed with setting up the Immortal Network connection nodes. ...

……

Qingxu.

As evening approached, the distant sky was ablaze with colorful rainbows, resembling molten gold in a fiery blaze.

The near-vertical cliff stretched as far as the eye could see, with a dark, thick, gray-black mist swirling and rising, creating an unsettling and eerie atmosphere.

The wind howled, occasionally raising clouds of dust.

Just away from the cliff edge, in a safe area protected by array formations, you can see the acquisition points of various large corporations, righteous alliances, and official sects of major immortal sects.

If you obtain rare and precious materials from exploring the Qingxu Ruins but don't need them, you can come here to have them appraised and sold.

Large corporations offer higher prices for acquisitions, but they insist on a clean transaction where payment is made on the spot and there's no going back.

The official acquisition points of the Righteous Path Alliance and the Immortal Sect do not have this regulation.

Within a month, you can buy back the rare and precious materials you sold by paying an extra 5% of the price.

Within two months, it is one-tenth.

Within three months, it is one-fifth.

It will become unredeemable after three months.

In addition, if you decide not to redeem, the Immortal Sect can also provide an 'escort' service.

Although the disciples responsible for escorting the goods were not of high cultivation level, they had the sect's seal on them, which would immediately report back to the sect if they were attacked.

It can be said to be very safe.

Near the edge of the cliff, some exploration teams were using magical artifacts to slowly descend, constantly using their magical powers to stabilize themselves, gradually penetrating deeper into the surging gray-black mist.

Recently, there have been fewer strange beasts inside Qingxu, but the frequency of spatial turbulence has increased significantly.

To avoid running into spatial turbulence as soon as they enter the Qingxu area, even cultivators with high cultivation levels will not venture deep into the area without the help of magical artifacts.

Meanwhile, in a corner that no one noticed.

Two figures appeared silently.

“Qingxu…” Meizu gazed at the surging sea of ​​mist ahead, “If I think about it carefully, it has been many years since I last came here.”

The place the two chose was relatively low, and some gray-black mist even surged up to the edge of the cliff, flowing slowly and darkly, which made people feel uneasy.

"Didn't you just come here when you went to the Immortal Realm before?" Xu Xing teased.

Meizu paused for a moment, then said in a serious tone:

"That's inside Qingxu, I was just talking about the edge of Qingxu, okay!"

Aside from that time in the Immortal Realm, the last time she personally came to Qingxu was when she fought against the Cang Clan and ganged up on 'Tai' with the others.

"Looking back now, 'Tai' was quite unlucky back then."

The others were all fighting one-on-one, but he was fighting multiple opponents by himself. He didn't put up any effective resistance and was beaten to death!

Over the years, the only one who has received such treatment is the 'Heavenly Will Immortal' in the Earthly Immortal Realm.

"It was pretty unlucky," Xu Xing didn't deny.

The reason we chose to target Him back then was because we had no other choice.

Xuan is the strongest, and even if he dies, he can be resurrected from the other Cang clan members. Unless the entire Cang clan is wiped out, he cannot die at all.

The same goes for Tian. Although he is not as powerful as Xuan, as the embodiment of the will of Heaven descended to earth, he is equally difficult to kill.

As for the ancient...

Needless to say, although he is not strong and a bit stupid, he is almost impossible to kill because he controls the past.

These three are all mechanic-driven monsters, with Xuan Na being an overpowered monster combining mechanics and stats.

After much thought, it seems that the best solution to the problem of 'law' and 'order' is to focus our efforts on eliminating it first.

"Let's go check out the situation first."

They witnessed Tai's death here.

Its origin transformed into the four star regions of today, creating the weakest point of the Tai Xuan Realm, 'Qingxu'.

After that, the human race and the Cang race fought each other for so many years, and they never saw Tai again...

But his cultivation level has improved considerably since then, so maybe he can see some clues?

"Ah."

Meizu nodded slightly, and then disappeared with Xu Xing at the edge of the cliff.

……

……

The ever-expanding realm of the past.

Across the ages, on the endless river of time, a majestic, seven-colored deity walks slowly forward, a dazzling halo behind his head swirling with endless light and shadow.

No matter how the river erodes it, it remains unshaken.

antiquity.

Light and shadow shimmered in her crystal-clear, seven-colored eyes.

It was an endless cliff, and in front of the cliff was a swirling, gray-black mist.

Qingxu!

Every moment and every instant of the past 'Qingxu' was retrieved, analyzed, and observed by Him for its anomalies.

And His true form is gradually moving from the 'past' to the present world.

Not long ago, Xuan finally explained his guess to Him and asked Him to find a way to go to Qingxu in the Central Continent to see the situation.

'When Tai fell, he didn't seize the opportunity to usurp power; perhaps there were circumstances unknown to us.'

These are Xuan's original words, and also the reason why He doubted Tai.

only……

"Do you doubt 'too much'...?"

Gu raised his head and looked forward along the long river of time that runs through the past and present, the light and shadow in his eyes gradually subsided.

He had seen the 'past ruins' and found nothing unusual.

But that doesn't mean there are no problems.

Those who attain enlightenment possess supreme power, which time cannot leave a trace of.

The Thirteen True Immortals of Tai Xuan held such high positions that even though they controlled the past, all they could do was extract fragments of their actions from real history.

Furthermore, the power of those historical images is far inferior to that of the real person...

If they deliberately conceal it and act without His witnessing it, He will not even be able to find any trace of their actions in the past realm.

If the True Immortal Tai Xuan could do it, so could Tai Ziran, who was an innate Daoist.

If the unusual occurrences during his previous sermons were His doing, it's certain that they won't leave any trace in the 'past'...

As he pondered this, Gu had already drifted closer to the present world along the river of time.

Looking out, a gray-black mist surged, and some human adventurers were collecting spiritual items within it...

Spatial turbulence raged, and the strange beasts and poisonous insects that had been polluted by the abnormal environment of Qingxu, carrying toxins that were enough to kill those who had entered the Tongxuan Cave, scurried through the gray fog. Even ordinary people who had not yet entered the Dao could crush them with a single step.

As the innate source of 'law' and 'order', the perilous place that Tai descended into after its fall cannot be judged by ordinary standards.

Gu's gaze followed the edge of the cliff, penetrating deep into the gray-black mist, sweeping over the Qingxu inch by inch.

Just as He had seen one-tenth of the ruins.

"antiquity?"

A voice that He absolutely did not want to hear rang in His ears, crystal clear.

Um? ! !
His gaze quickly locked onto the source of the voice, and upon seeing who it was, the majestic divine body that had traversed the river of time froze.

In the gray-black mist, two figures stood on a relatively flat boulder.

One person possesses unparalleled elegance and boundless allure, yet exudes an overbearing aura that commands all laws and principles to grovel before me.

The other person was dressed in black, with a tall and slender figure, and held a peerless immortal weapon that was entirely crimson and whose blade shimmered with divine light.

At this moment, a faint red light shone in his eyes, standing out conspicuously amidst the surging gray-black mist.

Looking at him like that, his gaze seemed to pierce through the boundary between the present and the past, sending a chill down Gu's spine. (End of Chapter)