Sudden Change!

The next day, the rain cleared and the sky was bright.

Chen Qing stood inside the Jiaowei Qin Lu, looking up at the sky.

Above Jade Capital, several floating immortal palaces drifted slowly, like scattered stars.

His gaze locked onto one of them.

This palace was like a white jade ring, layer upon layer encircling a verdant small mountain. A waterfall cascaded from the peak, refracting a rainbow in the morning light.

"Yunmiao Immortal Palace," Chen Qing's voice deepened slightly. "Elder Lü, is my Spiritual Bone truly within? Didn't you say the Spiritual Bone was dug out to be planted in someone else's body? Why is mine placed separately?"

Inside, Lu Feng's withered fingers hovered over the Jiaowei Qin, replying, "My informants have been tracking it for years and confirmed it's inside the Shuyu Pavilion of the Immortal Palace, sealed within a Nine Nether Cold Jade Box. Such treatment suggests your Spiritual Bone is more precious than imagined."

"But you also said that's where the Empress cultivates! How can she be involved in everything!" Chen Qing's heart sank. "Is there a way to break through?"

Lu Feng shook his head. "The defenses of Yunmiao Palace are the strictest in Jade Capital. Forget living beings; even a wisp of foreign spiritual energy that approaches within a hundred miles of the Immortal Palace would be instantly annihilated by the 'Circumference Star Dou Forbidden'!"

Chen Qing felt a heavy stone pressing down on his heart. "No one can get in?" By now, he had a rough idea that his Spiritual Bone was likely special, but leaving it exposed like this was still a hidden danger.

"There is." Lu Feng's tone shifted. "Every time it's the Empress's birthday or a grand sacrificial ceremony, the Immortal Palace opens a side hall, the 'Sound Listening Platform,' to summon musicians to play heavenly music to entertain the gods. I've entered it seven times."

"Is it too late to learn the zither now?" Just as a flicker of hope ignited in Chen Qing's eyes, Lu Feng extinguished it with his next sentence--

"But Shuyu Pavilion is located in the core forbidden area of the Immortal Palace. Let alone musicians, even princes and princesses would... perish body and soul if they entered without a Yunmiao Token!"

Silence fell upon the courtyard.

Chen Qing stared at the palace in the clouds, and after a long while, said, "So Li Xiao has the Empress behind him? Was she involved in framing me back then? This feud started quite early."

Lu Feng walked into the courtyard, facing the direction of Yunmiao Immortal Palace, and said, "Actually, there is one other person who can freely enter and exit the forbidden areas of the Immortal Palace, including... Shuyu Pavilion."

"Who?" Chen Qing turned sharply.

Lu Feng slowly uttered three words: "The Tenth Princess."

Chen Qing was stunned at first, then his brow furrowed. "Because of a special permit from the Immortal Emperor?"

Lu Feng nodded.

Chen Qing then said, "With the Immortal Emperor's favor, would the Empress still dare to suppress her?"

"For beings of that realm, the affections of sons and daughters are ultimately less important than the opportunity for enlightenment." Lu Feng sighed and shook his head. "The Empress has accompanied the Immortal Emperor for tens of thousands of years, how could she not know where to draw the line? The fact that she dares to act this way is precisely because she understands that in the pursuit of eternal life, even flesh and blood are but fleeting clouds."

He paused, then added, "If the Princess... is no longer around when the Immortal Emperor emerges from seclusion, to him, she would merely be a wisp of karmic connection on his path of cultivation."

These words, spoken so lightly, sent a chill down Chen Qing's spine.

He suddenly understood why the Princess had told him to stay away from this place.

In the face of such grand forces of the Immortal Dynasty, an individual's life and honor were truly as insignificant as ants.

Calming his thoughts, Chen Qing asked, "Elder Lü, how can the Princess freely enter and exit the Immortal Forbidden zones?"

Lu Feng replied, "The Immortal Emperor once bestowed upon the Princess the Formless Token, allowing her free passage into thirty-six Immortal Palace forbidden areas. This has always been a thorn in the Empress's side."

Chen Qing pondered for a moment and made a decision. "Then the plan is simple: first, have the Princess leave the separate courtyard, then enter the Immortal Palace to retrieve the Spiritual Bone! Have there been any leads on the ingredients for that medicinal formula?"

Lu Feng then said, "We're close to a result..."

Chen Qing nodded, then suddenly asked again, "Elder Lü, do you know if there is anyone within or outside Jade Capital who goes by the moniker 'Xuan Ming'?"

Lu Feng's expression changed slightly, but then he shook his head and said, "Don't casually mention other people's names here."

Just then.

Tap, tap, tap--

A sound of light footsteps approached from a distance.

"Elder Lü! I'm back!"

A silver flash, and a boy of about twelve or thirteen years old hopped into the courtyard. He had delicate features, but on both sides of his nose were a few fine silver scales that twitched slightly with his breathing.

Hearing the voice, a smile appeared on Lu Feng's withered face. "Yin Lin'er, have you found them?"

"This is a small matter!" The boy proudly lifted his chin, speaking rapidly. "The Thousand Year Snow Lotus is hidden in a secret compartment at the Hundred Herbs Hall south of the city. The Profound Yin Cold Marrow was just transported from the Northern Cold Continent to the Myriad Treasures Pavilion last night. As for the Nine Revolutions Soul Returning Grass..." He grinned slyly, "The one in the Zhao Family Medicine Garden in the west of the city blooms at midnight tonight!"

Chen Qing's eyes lit up. "So soon?"

The boy suddenly fell silent, his silver scales trembling. He warily retreated behind Lu Feng, his nostrils twitching.

"It's alright." Lu Feng gently placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Young Master Chen is one of us."

Only then did the boy relax his shoulders, but his small face immediately drooped. "All the other herbs are easy to deal with, but this Red Vein Stone..." His small face suddenly fell. "I searched the entire city and couldn't find it. In the end, I heard from the Curiosity Shop that the last piece was sent into Yunmiao Immortal Palace three years ago."

Chen Qing's expression tightened.

This had become a dead end.

"However--" the boy's tone suddenly shifted. "I heard from the black market that Void Abyss Floating Li will pass through the southern territory of Jade Capital in half a month! There are many heavenly materials and earthly treasures on that mountain, perhaps there will be some!"

"Void Abyss Floating Li?"

Chen Qing's heart stirred.

That divine mountain that could connect ancient and modern times?!

"Void Abyss Floating Li hosts a Liushang banquet," the boy said excitedly, gesticulating wildly. "It's said that if you can compose a matching couplet with an immortal outside the mountain, or present a brilliant Daoist theory, you can attend the banquet and obtain treasures! Last time, someone exchanged a copy of the 'Theory of Supreme Void Induction' for a Ten Thousand Year Spirit Crystal!"

"Liushang Banquet?" Chen Qing recalled the records he'd seen in ancient texts—

[Every time Void Abyss Floating Li passed through a region, cultivators would ascend the peak to attend the banquet, drinking from void crystal goblets, listening to celestial music from the Ninth Heaven, plucking stars and capturing the moon, indulging in extreme luxury, and enjoying immense popularity for a time.]

"It is indeed an opportunity," Lu Feng mused for a moment, then said, "Normally, if one can offer something that satisfies the current Void Abyss Mountain Master, they can obtain a treasure. However, the rules of the mountain are strange and unpredictable, and the path up is fraught with extreme danger."

Chen Qing fell into thought.

"Half a month, but I only have seven days of remaining time. This means I'll need to leave at least one more Dao Mark to possibly align with the timing, and even that might not be enough..."

He still had three Dao Marks, and he could gain more upon waking; that wasn't the problem. Besides that, Chen Qing had originally planned to find this mountain and leave something behind to verify his suspicions.

With this in mind, he made up his mind. "Little brother Silver Scale, do you know the specific time the banquet on the mountain is held?"

"They say it's at midnight," the youth scratched his head. "You want to ascend the mountain? Without any skill, you can't even attend the banquet. There are man-eating Yao on the mountain..."

"It's fine, ascending the mountain is easier than breaking into the Immortal Palace," Chen Qing replied calmly instead. "But that's all for half a month from now. The immediate priority is still the pill recipe..."

"Alright, then..."

Lu Feng nodded as he was speaking, but before he could finish, the ground beneath their feet shook violently without any warning!

"Rumble--!"

A muffled roar echoed from the depths of the earth's veins, instantly sweeping across the entire Yujing City!

The bluestone slab road undulated like waves, the old trees in the courtyard swayed violently, and dead leaves rained down!

"Dong! Dong! Dong!"

Following that, a colossal pulsating sound, as if from the Ninth Heaven, like a god beating a drum, descended with a roar!

Chen Qing felt his heart fiercely gripped by an unseen hand, his blood surged, and his vision darkened!

He circulated his Supreme Harmony Qi madly, barely managing to steady himself, then looked up sharply, seeing the crimson clouds in the sky like blood, dyeing half the firmament!

In the eastern direction, purple energy soared into the sky, condensing into nine colossal dragons tens of thousands of feet long, roaring and churning in the sea of clouds, their dragon cries shattering the floating clouds!

At the end of the Western Wilderness, the phantom of a sky-piercing black sword mound rose from the ground, billions of ancient swords humming in unison, their murderous sword energy piercing the firmament!

On the shores of the South Sea, monstrous waves churned up a water wall tens of thousands of feet high. Above the water wall, the phantom of an ancient and magnificent underwater palace could be vaguely seen slowly rising, its doors seemingly opening and closing!

"This is..."

Before and after his transmigration, Chen Qing had never witnessed such terrifying celestial and terrestrial phenomena!

"It's coming!" Beside him, Lu Feng, who should have been blind, suddenly "looked" towards the center of Yujing City, the deepest part of the Nine-Layered Palaces! The hollow sockets of his eyes contracted violently, his face extremely solemn, his hands tightly gripping the Jiao Wei zither in his embrace, the instrument emitting groans of unbearable strain!

Chen Qing's heart leaped, guessing what it was, yet he couldn't help but ask, "What's coming?!"

"The Emperor..." Lu Feng's voice carried a tremor of near-delirium. "...is about to break through the Heavenly Gate!"

"Really?! Now?"

Chen Qing abruptly turned his head, also fixing his gaze on the Nine-Layered Palaces!

The First Origin Immortal Emperor was about to ascend!

I... I can actually witness the phenomenon of an Immortal Emperor ascending!?

The next moment!

A brilliant golden light shot up from the depths of the palaces!

Wherever the golden light passed, space shattered like fragile glass!

Billions of golden runes flowed and extinguished within the light pillar, exuding supreme pressure!

The entire Yujing City trembled under this golden light, countless cultivators' bodies weighed down by the pressure, as if carrying a high mountain!

Within the golden light, a blurry yet majestic phantom slowly condensed!

The phantom wore an imperial robe and a crown, its face indistinct, only its eyes like two burning suns, overlooking the entire territory of the Immortal Dynasty!

A boundless will, surpassing all living beings, yearning to break free from the shackles of this realm, swept across the eight directions like a tsunami!

He slowly raised one hand, palm facing upwards, as if to support this world!

Two chapters submitted! I hope passing readers will support me with collections and follow-ups! This novice thanks you!