Looking back, it was all like a fairyland.

Lin Yuan and Yun Yue felt that the unusual movements outside had disappeared. They didn't know what had happened and didn't dare to go out to take a look. They could only wait.

Outside, Lu Wu looked at the nine doors on the bronze tree, hesitated for a few seconds, and finally pushed with a sigh. The nine doors disappeared into the cracks in space, and where they went was unknown.

On the same day, strange portals appeared simultaneously in nine locations around the world: some were buried beneath the soil, with only a sharp corner poking out, waiting to be excavated; some stood atop mountains, shrouded in mist; some appeared in the depths of forests, worshiped by hundreds of beasts; some landed in rivers, watched by dragons; and still others were scattered across swamps, deserts, and the Gobi Desert. No one knew the purpose of these portals, nor their origins, and no one had even discovered them. But since they landed here, fate has begun to unravel. Though separated, they remain connected, waiting for the right time, the right circumstances, and the right people to reunite them.

After Lu Wu finished all this, he looked at the empty bronze tree, smiled bitterly, and his figure dimmed considerably. He hoped that what he had done would bring some help to the plan. Then he completely crushed this memory.

Opening his eyes again, staring at the empty bronze tree, disbelief filled his eyes: "When?! Where did those nine doors go?!" As the gatekeeper, this was entirely his dereliction of duty. Lu Wu wanted to search but had no way to find them.

But he soon realized something—a gap in his memory. He remembered everything else, but the memory of the Nine Doors had vanished. He was the only one here who could do this, and he wouldn't erase his memory for no reason. Something must have happened. But he couldn't find any trace. Lu Wu had been so cruel to him that he had even erased the cause of his unusual behavior. But he still had a lot of trust in himself—if he did it, there must be a reason for it. So he stopped dwelling on it.

Lin Yuan and Yun Yue felt the tremor once again. "Hopefully we can hold out until the Master arrives," they thought.

......

After reading the letter, Su Mu let out a long sigh. This plea for help was intriguing, and it piqued his interest, so he was happy to make the trip. Not to mention that he had to save the two young men, Kunlun Mountain was also very interesting—though he knew it was just a passing illusion.

Handing the letter to the old goat, Su Mu stood up: "These days have been quite leisurely, how about we go out for a walk?"

The old goat had no objections; wherever Su Mu was, he would be. The mirage dragon, however, stretched and crackled: "It should have been done long ago; I've been squatting here for ages!"

"Where are we going?" Cao Chen, who had just returned from setting up his stall, asked upon hearing this.

"Let's go cause trouble and, while we're at it, see what our biggest future rival is like."

"Opponent? Who?"

"Di Jun!"

"Who?! He's awake too? That shouldn't be the case!" The Mirage Dragon was so shocked he almost strained his back.

"He hasn't woken up yet, but since Kunlun Mountain has appeared, he shouldn't be far behind. Don't be so nervous. Of course, we won't let you confront him right now; we're just going to take a look. I still remember what Siming said back then. Now that we finally have a way to understand our opponent, we should go and take a look, even if it's just some clues."

"The Kunlun Mountains have reappeared? I find it hard to believe." The Mirage Dragon, having regained some of its senses, said, "Not only did the Kunlun Mountains vanish in that previous encounter, how could they possibly reappear now?"

"Haha, it's not the real Kunlun Mountains, but it can't be said to be fake either. Didn't those people always want to rebuild the Kunlun Mountains? Wasn't that the root of the subsequent war?"

"So, they rebuilt Kunlun?"

"Yes, a land-based divine kingdom, it really is a land-based divine kingdom." Su Mu murmured, "It's truly interesting."

"That's interesting, so let's go and see what their plans are."

"Now I understand why you said it would be mere clues. The moment this letter arrived, they probably already started erasing any traces. Speaking of which, there are nine gates in Kunlun, and those nine gates connect to nine grotto-heavens—that was a grand undertaking in that era. It seems that back then, that person had already set the tone for the future war." The Mirage Dragon looked at the letter and roughly guessed what was going on, then handed it to Cao Chen.

If it weren't for the fact that the primordial deities understand the primordial deities...

"After all, that one is a bit special." Su Mu smiled.

"It's good to go and see. I can already guess who it is. It's a pretty good watchdog, but this watchdog is probably badly injured, or maybe it's just barely clinging to life."

"Who did this?" Cao Chen asked.

"Who else could it be? There isn't just one Heavenly Emperor, and it's hard to say who's stronger or weaker." The mirage dragon made a pointed remark.

Cao Chen suddenly realized.

"Let's go, don't keep them waiting."

The few of them didn't have anything to pack, so they left Jiading Prefecture immediately. They had been here long enough.

......

The group moved quickly, arriving at the small country mentioned in the letter in just a few days. It wasn't much different from what was described in the letter, but upon entering, they felt the divine kingdom born from the combined faith of a nation. They were not like Lin Yuan or Yun Yue, who could instantly see the so-called Kunlun Mountains.

"The replica is quite convincing, much more so than your Jade Pool. Speaking of which, wasn't the original Jade Pool also located in the Kunlun Mountains?" Su Mu asked casually.

"Yes, Kunlun Mountain already held a lofty status in those days. Not to mention it was the Heavenly Emperor's land palace, the Queen Mother of the West's Jade Pool, or even the immortal bronze tree, all located there. Do you remember the Dao Embryo we saw in the Ghost Market of the Netherworld also originated from here?"

"This place... is quite unusual."

"He wasn't the strongest of the innate deities, but he was definitely the most powerful; otherwise, he wouldn't have earned the title of Heavenly Emperor." "To the Mirage Dragon, such an existence was already high enough."

"That makes sense." Su Mu nodded.

Then the mirage dragon said, "Of course, Kunlun now is not the Kunlun of the past. Everyone has fled, some have left, and even that Heavenly Emperor could not escape."

Su Mu could tell that the Kunlun revered by the Mirage Dragon was definitely not the fake one in front of him.

"This can be considered a symbol of an era, a relic of history," Su Mu said without any apparent reason.

The mirage dragon was stunned and nodded subconsciously.