Star Trace Gate

in the wilderness.

Master Jiuhan lowered his head and stared at the black spyboard. After deliberating for a long time, he wrote with his index finger: "Young Huang still hasn't come home, and Tianwei left home after midnight... I followed her all the way to the vicinity of the dilapidated temple in the wilderness south of the city, and then Tianwei disappeared."

His fingertips touched the cold spyboard, and he saw each word briefly appear in his eyes before quickly disappearing.

After a long while, he finally saw a sentence slowly appear on the black spy screen: "Tian Wei is only at the Crimson Qi Realm, and you actually lost her?!"

“There was a master helping her. When Tianwei walked into the vicinity of the dilapidated temple in the south of the city, I unintentionally followed her into a strange illusion, and my soul was affected, causing me to pursue in the opposite direction.” Daoist Jiuhan paused slightly, and then added, “That master was very powerful, with a very high level of attainment, otherwise I would not have been so easily affected.”

"What?! There are experts helping them?!"

Before long, the benefactor, responding to a series of question marks, also showed a very bewildered state of mind.

As everyone knows, he framed the Huang family aunt and niece, so he really couldn't understand how this mother and daughter could have a master helping them.

What's going on?

The benefactor was stunned for a while before replying again: "Eliminate your presence, leave the vicinity of the ruined temple for now, and then wait for my message."

"it is good."

After replying with a single word, Jiu Han quickly disappeared into the wilderness.

……

The four perpetrators strolled across the overpass, treading through the night wind and drifting clouds, venturing deep into the heavens, and reaching the "Heavenly Palace."

Ren felt as if he had walked for a very long time, as if it were an eternity, but when he looked around, he found that the night sky around him had not changed much, and he did not feel that time was passing quickly.

He speculated that the Divine Tomb was actually quite far from the Illusionary Village, but the Divine Rainbow Bridge beneath their feet, which appeared to have no flow on the surface, was the fastest and most convenient way to enter the Divine Tomb. It was as if it contained a mysterious law of shrinking the distance to an inch, which quickly transported the four of them to their destination.

"boom!"

As the group crossed the end of the Divine Rainbow Bridge, they immediately saw a surge of dazzling light, followed by an extremely awe-inspiring and unprecedented spectacle.

Standing at the end of the overpass, looking out, the first thing that catches the eye is the vast wilderness, a divine mountain palace that connects the heavens to the netherworld, and the Milky Way hanging upside down in the sky.

In the wilderness, the vegetation was incredibly lush. As far as the eye could see, there were towering ancient trees, rare and exotic plants, and rolling hills. A night breeze blew by, and countless green leaves swayed, surging like ocean waves.

Above the sacred mountain, a golden celestial palace appears ethereal and otherworldly. It floats in the sky along with the mountain, beneath which swirling dark energy flows like the River Styx, seemingly suppressing the netherworld; above it, the cosmos and starry sea are laid out before you, appearing ethereal and lonely.

It seemed to be a place where immortals were buried, and the Heavenly Palace and the Divine Mountain were also emanating an extremely chaotic aura of the Great Dao, as if countless gods and immortals had used divine magic here.

However, Ren Ye could not sense these chaotic Dao Qi at this moment, and could only vaguely glimpse the magnificent state of the Immortal Palace.

Above the sacred mountain and celestial palace, beneath the cold, dark universe, a dazzling galaxy appears to be cascading down in an inverted manner. It is like a flowing waterfall of stars, seemingly about to irrigate the entire celestial palace; or like a celestial curtain of lights made of countless sparkling gems, illuminating the sacred mountain and celestial palace.

To be honest, this scene truly shocked Ren Ye and Xiao Pang. They stood at the end of the overpass, stunned for dozens of breaths before slowly coming back to their senses.

On the contrary, the storyteller and Aunt Tianwei remained relatively calm. Although a dazzling light flashed in their eyes, they did not show much shock.

"Damn it... The universe is the sky, the nine netherworlds are the earth, the divine mountains and palaces are the heavens, the Milky Way hangs upside down... The grandeur of the divine tomb in my Illusion Village is truly a world-shaking spectacle." Although Li Xiaopang had also spent countless years in the divine tomb, he was still very young when he came out of the coffin, and he had slept for too long, so he was somewhat out of his mind. Therefore, he had no memory of the environment or scenery here at all.

"This is the extraordinary phenomenon of the Fallen Star River. Legend has it that the final scene of Laozi's Eight Scenes Palace is just like this...!" Ren Ye said softly, "Damn it, what kind of divine power could move the sun, moon, and stars, spread them across the sky above the universe, and arrange this Fallen Star River scene?!"

"Is this a mirage, or is it real? If it is real... this is terrifying."

Having traversed so many secret realms and read so many ancient texts, the Little Bad King is now a man of discerning taste. He recognized the strange phenomenon of the inverted Milky Way, which was exactly the same as the scene of the fallen Milky Way recorded in the ancient books of Blue Star, which made him even more shocked and incredulous.

Could it be that the legendary Laozi truly existed? Could it be that cultivators, upon reaching the final destination, truly possess divine power capable of influencing all things in the universe and moving the sun, moon, and stars?!

If I were to one day master such divine power, I could marry several wives; my beloved consorts probably wouldn't have too much of an objection, right? After all, my purpose is only to benefit humanity and leave behind excellent descendants, not for my own selfish desires…

Ren Ye had previously seen the illusory divine tomb in Zhou Taozhi's soul memories, but because the former had been insane for too long, his soul memories were too chaotic and fragmented, so everything he saw was blurry and illusory, far less real and shocking than the scene before him.

While everyone was still stunned, the overpass behind them suddenly disappeared, as if it had never existed at all.

Li Xiaopang snapped out of his daze and couldn't help but ask the storyteller, "This sacred mountain is floating in the air, hovering in the heavens above. How are we supposed to get up there? If we fly through the air, we might get suppressed by the Divine Tomb Formation...!"

"You're a local, why are you asking me?!" The storyteller rolled his eyes. "Who knows how to get up there?"

“When you reach the grave, there will be a path.” Just then, Aunt Tianwei spoke softly, raising her arm and pointing to the open field and green forest in front of her, “If you pass through here, you will see the path up the mountain.”

"Are you familiar with this place?!" the storyteller immediately asked.

"I wouldn't say I'm familiar with it, but I was already an adult when I woke up in the tomb. After leaving the coffin, I still have some memories of this place," Aunt Tianwei replied softly.

“In that case, you can lead the way.” The storyteller was also willing to curry favor, especially with a beautiful woman: “We’ll follow you.”

In Ren Ye's memory, his aunt Tianwei left the Divine Tomb on the same day as him, but she woke up several hours later than him, and she didn't suffer any conspiracies, plus she was still an adult. Therefore, he wasn't surprised that his aunt knew some things about this place.

After a moment's hesitation, Tianwei said uncertainly, "The closer we get to the sacred mountain, the more we will be affected by that strange devouring power. So... after we cross the wilderness, let the two little ones wait outside the Sacrifice Grounds."

"Alright," the storyteller nodded.

"Follow me, let's go." Aunt Tianwei responded, then stepped onto the land of the Divine Tomb and led the group forward.

While on the road, Ren couldn't help but ask Little Fatty, "Oh, by the way, did you get your sixth grandfather's ancient mirror?"

“Got it, got it.” Li Xiaopang nodded and said, “Before I followed my second uncle to the clan hall, I had already drugged my sixth grandfather and then stole his Heavenly Dragon Four Directions Mirror.”

"You really are a filial child...!"

"I'm just a kid who wants to survive," Li Xiaopang replied, sniffling.

As they swiftly moved using their divine powers, they talked amongst themselves. After about half an hour, they traversed the wilderness and green forests and arrived at the outer perimeter of the Floating Divine Mountain.

The terrain here rises steadily, and the closer one gets to the sacred mountain, the steeper the slope becomes. Ren Ye stood at the edge of the green forest, looked up and saw countless golden points of light shining in the winding, upward-sloping wilderness.

He strained his senses, discreetly peering at the golden specks of light, only to discover that within the golden light lay human-shaped statues.

The little rascal suddenly realized and murmured, "Oh, these are the death row inmate sculptures that were drenched in molten gold during the Dead Silence Day. They're commonly known as—the Little Golden Men, or the Living Dead."

Thinking of this, he sensed the strangely shaped sculptures and felt a chill run down his spine for no reason. He even unconsciously imagined that under this starry sky, a small golden statue suddenly wriggled and jumped up, saying in a hoarse voice: "Since I can't win an Oscar, I'll forge myself into a golden statue and live forever...!"

"Damn it, my thoughts are getting a bit out of sync."

Ren shook his head and then asked his aunt, "What should we do next?"

Tianwei turned her head to the side and asked softly, "What were you originally planning to do?"

“First, get close to the tomb of the gods, and then use my family’s Void Technique to teleport into the tomb,” Li Xiaopang quickly replied.

“Your family’s secret techniques might work, but with your abilities, you can’t break through the void within the Divine Tomb.” Aunt Tianwei shook her head.

“Little Aunt, I know my own limitations.” Li Xiaopang grinned and said, “I don’t need my abilities. I stole Sixth Grandfather’s ancient mirror. You take this and go find a suitable place to enter the tomb. Then, I will release a drop of my heart’s blood, which will allow Number 79 to briefly control the Heavenly Dragon Four Directions Mirror and push it to its limit, thereby causing a slight crack to appear in the void of the Divine Tomb. This should be achievable.”

“With your sixth grandfather’s ancient mirror, it’s worth a try.” Aunt Tianwei nodded slowly. “However, the closer we get to the sacred mountain, the more unstable that strange devouring power becomes, and the aura of the divine tomb’s grand formation is also very chaotic. It’s dangerous. You and my nephew should wait here. I’ll go with him to explore the outer perimeter of the divine tomb.” Aunt Tianwei gently reminded him, “Remember, you two must not wander off. Just wait here.”

"Okay." Ren Ye nodded solemnly.

"Shh!"

Li Xiaopang waved his hand, summoning his sixth grandfather's Heavenly Dragon Square Mirror, and then handed it to the storyteller: "Take this first, and return it to me when you're done."

"I'll think about it and then return it." The storyteller took the ancient mirror, turned around, and walked with Aunt Tianwei towards the place of the death sacrifice.

A galaxy stretched across the sky, illuminating the eternal night. Little Aunt Tianwei moved with light steps and relaxed posture, avoiding some of the dangers in the Sacrifice Grounds, and led the storyteller slowly disappeared from the sight of the two little children.

"Wait a minute." Ren Ye sat down on the ground and waved to Little Fatty, "If you're bored, I can allow you to use the aphrodisiac powder once...!"

"I'm really not in the mood today." Li Xiaopang slumped his face and sighed, "Great former masters, please bless me... I must succeed tonight."

……

In front of Ren Ye's house in Xuwang Village.

Dozens of black-level experts from the three major halls, along with several elders from the clan hall, had surrounded Ren Ye's dilapidated house like an iron barrel.

They had just broken into the Huang family home and thoroughly investigated the interior, but they did not find the Huang aunt and nephew, nor did they find any evidence or clues related to the crime.

It was already late at night, but the Huang family aunt and niece had suddenly disappeared, leaving all the investigators bewildered and suspicious.

In the dark alley, Zhao Haochen emerged from a very dirty and messy public toilet, then wiped his hands with a handkerchief with a gloomy expression.