Looking back, it was all like a fairyland.

Watching the old goat devouring its food.

They looked like they had come from some remote corner, but the smell was more like coming from the sea. Even after the surface smell was shaken away, there was still a faint scent of the ocean.

"Did you fall into the sea?"

"Don't even mention it," the old goat mumbled, shoveling food into his mouth.

Not eating for more than ten days was nothing, but the old goat had been with Su Mu for so many years and had long been accustomed to eating twice a day, three times a day, and was not used to it when it was broken. It felt much better after swallowing the food.

Seeing this, several people didn't say anything.

After finishing the food on the table and burping, the old goat finally came back to life. The sea was really not a place for humans to stay.

The old goat ate while listening to Su Mu and the others chatting.

He waited until he finished eating before speaking: "My luck was a bit bad, but it wasn't entirely without reward. I saw two mulberry trees intertwined in the sea's reflection, and the sun had once fallen into that ocean. I don't know if this news will be helpful to you."

"Hibiscus tree?" Su Mu immediately understood what the old goat was talking about.

"Anything else?"

"There are..." The old goat frowned, seemingly recalling some unpleasant memories.

"Encountering the hibiscus trees was purely accidental. I hadn't originally intended to linger, but this extraordinary scene might hold some clue, so I stayed for a while, even venturing into the sea to investigate. I discovered that the two hibiscus trees weren't actually within this celestial realm."

"Or rather, this hibiscus exists simultaneously in multiple dimensions."

"And on that hibiscus tree were nine suns, as if they were hanging in the sky. When the sun sank into the sea, it appeared in a phantom image, but not in the ocean itself."

"My intuition told me I couldn't investigate any further; doing so would only lead to trouble, so I left." The old goat finished speaking in one breath.

"You mean...?"

Su Mu and Shen Qiu exchanged a glance: "These nine grotto-heavens may be connected, or even interconnected."

"Connecting them shouldn't be possible, because I remember that the flow of time in each of these grotto-heavens should be different. If they were connected, the flow of time in each grotto-heaven would have to be balanced," Cao Chen said.

"You're right. Perhaps it was possible in ancient times. While it's still possible now, the risks outweigh the benefits."

"So it's more likely that the nine grotto-heavens are connected through the Fusang Tree. That's a bit troublesome now," Shen Qiu said.

Even if they were to seize this grotto-heaven by surprise, it would be impossible to replicate the same strategy. Because to take over the grotto-heaven, they would inevitably have to confront the mastermind behind it all. Now, the enemy is in the open, while we are in the shadows, allowing us to strike unexpectedly. If we are exposed, the situation will be completely reversed.

This is not good news.

Moreover, if there really is a connection, perhaps this cave world would not be so easy to seize. An independent cave world is not the same as a connected cave world.

Just when everyone was thinking of a solution.

Su Mu smiled and said, "We can just do what we planned beforehand; there's no need to be so greedy."

Hearing this, several people relaxed their brows. It was true. We didn't know what this space would be like yet, so there was no need to worry about anything else.

"However, this news is still very important. It serves as a reminder that premature exposure is not always a good thing." - Cao Chen.

"You said."

We need to fabricate some false destiny to confuse the public.

"But..." Cao Chen wanted to say that the fate he had woven might not be able to deceive the other party, after all, it was such a being.

"It's alright, there's no need to deceive them, and we can't deceive them anyway. What we need is to use these twists of fate to delay our exposure, and incidentally draw that person's realization to us."

It attracted us.

"Yes, that gives the others more time. That being was, after all, once a Heavenly Emperor. We haven't found any trace of him yet. Rather than us searching for him, we should let him come to us. But these fates have better be real. The longer he keeps his gaze on us, the more likely we are to learn where he is and what he's doing through that gaze."

"Since we've already made enemies this time by seizing the cave, and it's a fight to the death, we might as well go all the way."

"Ideally, I'd be the first one discovered, so we don't have to play hide-and-seek. Besides, I'm not afraid of the other person dragging me from the shadows into the light."

Everyone present was smart, and they understood what Su Mu said immediately.

"That's really your style," Shen Qiu chuckled. Su Mu was just that kind of person; he was lazy, but also very good at turning passivity into initiative.

Su Mu just shook her head and said nothing.

Although the news brought by the old goat was not good, it still served as a reminder to everyone. Their opponent this time was no ordinary being. Every member of the opposing camp was a primordial deity, possessing nine complete grotto-heavens. No matter how much the outside world changed, their power was still evident.

Nothing major happened in the next few days.

But ever since the arrival of the floating mountain, the number of people in the city has dwindled. Most have left, fleeing for safety. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that a war is imminent. Those who can escape have done so, and those who can't have found ways to leave.

Even the restaurant where Su Mu and others lived was informing their descendants that it was empty.

After a few days, there was no one in the city.

Of course, the building was still there. Su Mu and the others didn't plan to stay there, as it would be too conspicuous. So they hid in the cave in the painting.

The feeling of a cave within a cave—a nesting doll—was quite novel to the group. Of course, this was also because the cave in Shen Qiu's painting was incomplete. A complete cave couldn't be brought in. It would be like trying to stuff a person inside a person's stomach. The cave's capacity had a limit; if it exceeded that limit, it would be destroyed.

If you act tough, there is a high probability that both sides will perish, and this can also be regarded as a last resort.

So theoretically this nesting doll behavior is impossible.

After years of renovation, the interior of Shen Qiu's cave in the painting has become very complete.

So the few of them were quite comfortable living there. Moreover, the world in this painting was different from the one that sent Yunyue and the others there, as they could see what was happening outside.

That group of immortal cultivators flew around in the sky all day long to investigate, but they did not approach Shang Jingzong, as if they were waiting for some kind of decision.