The chain reaction caused by the vanished residences
Beneath the greyish-white dome of the Ancient Heavenly Palace, more and more figures poured in from the direction of the Dragon Ascension Gate.
Some of those figures traveled in twos and threes, while others went alone, but without exception, they all exuded a considerable amount of Spiritual Energy.
They held various tokens bestowed upon them by the Dragon Ascension Gate: White Wolf, Azure Wolf, Silver Eagle, Golden Eagle, White Flood Dragon, Azure Flood Dragon, and occasionally one or two Silver Dragon Tokens could be seen gleaming in the crowd.
The light emitted by those tokens converged, like a multicolored river flowing from the Dragon Ascension Gate into the Inner Domain of the Ancient Heavenly Palace.
Among these successors were many exceptionally talented individuals.
There were core disciples from the Southern Region's Sacred Demon Palace, their dark red demonic arts standing out in the crowd; there were True Disciple from the Western Region's Primordial Sect, their physiques as imposing as iron towers, each step causing the Stone Island beneath their feet to tremble slightly; and there were also Rogue Cultivator from all over the Sky Luo Continent, who, though lacking sect backgrounds, attracted even more attention with their solitary and arrogant demeanor.
Facing that desolate and ancient landscape, some marveled at the towering peaks, others were moved by the vastness of the Stone Island, but many more turned their gaze to a deeper place, where they found what they truly sought on this journey.
Among these newcomers, a few appeared remarkably composed after entering the Heavenly Palace. They calmly took out their Jade Slip, checked their locations, and then sped off in a certain direction, clearly not entirely ignorant of this ruin.
A middle-aged monk dressed in a blue robe took out a roll of yellowed parchment from his robes. The ink on the parchment was mostly blurred, but the main lines drawn on it were still faintly discernible.
He compared the markings on the parchment with the surrounding green peaks and Stone Island, finally locking onto a direction, a confident smile appearing on his lips.
A young cultivator nearby leaned over to take a look at the parchment and exclaimed in surprise, "Old Ge, where did you get this map?"
The middle-aged man in the blue robe put away the parchment and chuckled, "It was passed down from my ancestors. My Old Ancestor was once a steward in the Heavenly Palace. Although this map is incomplete, the approximate locations of several mansions are still clearly marked."
Similar conversations were not uncommon among the crowd. Many of the forces that poured in from all over the Sky Luo Continent had intricate connections with the Ancient Heavenly Palace.
Some of their ancestors were outer disciples of the Ancient Heavenly Palace, some had scattered records of the Heavenly Palace's layout hidden in their clan's books, and others unearthed incomplete maps from ancient Ruins during their adventures in the Far Western Lands.
The map they had might not be as complete as the one Lin Ming found on the Stone Island, but it was enough to locate the positions of several of the Nine Residences.
So these newcomers sped off towards the Nine Residences marked on their respective maps.
In an instant, dozens of streaks of light scattered in all directions like startled birds beneath the gray-white sky.
The first to arrive at Lin Residence was a group from a small sect in the Eastern Region. They were five people, led by a middle-aged cultivator at the Tier 9 Supreme, who held a tattered map passed down from his ancestors. The map bore the words "Lin Residence," with a smaller inscription beside it. "One of the Nine Residences, Sacred Artifact of the Wood Element."
The middle-aged cultivator, accompanied by his four disciples, landed at the original location of the Stone Island in the Lin Residence mansion. Staring at the empty void before them, they remained stunned for several breaths.
He looked down at the map, then looked up at the void, then looked down at the map again, repeatedly confirming his location several times. Finally, his expression became extremely interesting.
"This... this isn't right," the middle-aged cultivator murmured.
He reached out and touched the air, but found nothing. He flew around the area again, searching carefully, but he couldn't find a single broken tile, let alone a Stone Island.
Only extremely faint traces of Spiritual Energy remained in that void, like a riverbed that had dried up for a long time, with only a few shallow fluctuations of Spiritual Energy proving that something had once been there.
"Master, could the map be wrong?" a disciple asked cautiously.
The middle-aged cultivator's face turned pale and then red. He stared at the tattered map in his hand, examining it closely. The map clearly marked the location of the Lin Residence, with a small circle next to the two characters.
He gritted his teeth and led his four disciples toward the Dragon Mansion, thinking that perhaps he had gone to the wrong place and the real Lin Residence was elsewhere.
But when they arrived at the location of the Dragon Mansion, they found nothing but an empty void.
There wasn't even a trace of the Stone Island in that void; only scattered pebbles and withered branches remained, like a fruit pit that had been eaten clean and then carelessly discarded.
The middle-aged cultivator finally lost his temper. He crumpled the tattered map in his hand into a ball, threw it on the ground, and then stomped on it, grinding it into the sand. He roared, "What kind of lousy map is this! Are you kidding me?!"
The four disciples behind him looked at each other, none of them daring to speak.
The middle-aged cultivator stomped on it a few times, still not satisfied. He picked up the wad of paper, tore it to shreds, and scattered the pieces like snowflakes in the gray-white wind.
Similar scenes unfolded one after another at the original locations of the Lin Residence and Dragon Mansion.
A lone expert from the Southern Region stood before the Lin Residence Ruins, staring at the empty void, his face so gloomy it could drip water.
He took out a Jade Slip passed down from his ancestors from his bosom. The slip clearly recorded the location of the Lin Residence and its general layout. He checked the information on the Jade Slip several times, then smashed Jade Slip on the ground, stomped on it, and turned to leave, cursing.
When another team from the Western Region Primordial Sect arrived at the Dragon Mansion Ruins, the leader, a Big Man in the Early Stage Tier 9 Supreme realm, tore the map in his hand to shreds on the spot, roared to the sky, and the roar echoed in the empty sky for a long time before dissipating.
What these newcomers didn't know was that the Lin Residence and the Dragon Mansion they were looking for had already been taken into Lin Ming's Inner World, and all the opportunities within had been completely plundered.
The map they had was correct; it just arrived a little too late.
The remnants of Spiritual Energy remaining in that void were like silent mirrors, reflecting their figures as they arrived full of excitement but left disappointed.
Deeper within the Heavenly Palace, at the original location of the Star Residence, a graceful figure swept in from afar.
Qing Yanjing moved with incredible speed, her figure tracing an elegant arc against the greyish-white sky.
She held a Jade Slip in her palm. The Jade Slip was a warm, milky white color, and its surface was engraved with extremely ancient Spiritual Runes. Within the Spiritual Runes, a faint star-blue light was slowly flowing.
This Jade Slip is a secret treasure passed down through generations of the Buddha Ancient Clan. It contains detailed information about the Ancient Heavenly Palace, from the examination rules for Dragon Ascension Gate to the distribution of the Nine Residences, from the cultivation level of the prefects to the attribute characteristics of the Sacred Artifact within each prefecture—it covers almost everything.
The Buddha Ancient Clan, an ancient race that has been passed down since ancient times, had intricate connections with the Heavenly Palace Ancient Heavenly Palace its destruction. Their clan's records of the Heavenly Palace are far more complete than the scattered traditions passed down outside.
After entering the Heavenly Palace Qing Yanjing barely paused. Referring to the map in the Jade Slip, she avoided the outer areas that had been searched by countless later visitors and headed straight for the location of the Star Residence.
Her speed was so great that she left those who entered the Heavenly Palace at the same time far behind.
But when she arrived at the void where the Star Residence was originally located, she suddenly stopped in her tracks.
That void was completely empty. There were no Stone Island, not even a single pebble remained. Only some extremely faint traces of Spiritual Energy floated beneath the gray-white sky, like a night sky stripped of all its stars, with only a few wisps of dim stardust drifting silently.
Qing Yanjing hovered in the void, her plain white dress fluttering gently in the breeze, and the silver Spiritual Runes on her forehead flashed briefly before dimming again.
A rare tremor flashed across her clear, cold eyes, like a clear crack appearing on a surface of ice that had never melted in millennia.
She glanced down at the Jade Slip in her palm. The location of the Star Residence was marked on the Jade Slip, perfectly matching the empty void before her.
She carefully examined the surroundings again with her divine sense. Although the residual Law fluctuations in those Spiritual Energy remnants were extremely weak, the star-blue light contained within them was exactly the same as the aura of the Star Residence recorded in the Jade Slip.
The Star Residence is indeed here, but it's no longer in its original location. The remaining traces of Spiritual Energy are like a series of footprints, telling those who come after what once existed here, but that "something" has been taken away by someone else.
Qing Yanjing's expression darkened at that moment. She could sense some extremely faint yet extremely condensed aura from the remaining traces of Spiritual Energy. That aura contained a fire Law she had never seen before, like a Golden Flame compressed to its limit leaving its last embers in the void.
The aura of that flame was completely different from any known flame on the Sky Luo Continent. Her pupils contracted slightly as she memorized that aura.
"Someone beat me to it," Qing Yanjing said in a low voice. Her voice was clear and calm, but it contained a very faint chill, like a thin blade that had been sheathed and was slightly vibrating in its scabbard.
She put the Jade Slip into her sleeve and looked up into the deeper parts of the Heavenly Palace.
The Star Residence Token had been taken away, and the entire Star Residence had been moved. She didn't know who that person was, but she knew where that person would go next.
The Nine Residences Tokens is the key to entering the Heavenly Pool, so he will inevitably go to the Heavenly Pool.
Without lingering, she First Revolution and sped directly towards the Heavenly Pool.
Her speed was extreme, like a silver-white lightning bolt tearing through the gray-white sky.
She would wait at Heavenly Pool, waiting for the one who dared to seize her opportunity first.
She was going to find that audacious man there.