Qinglan Holy Land, forbidden grounds in the back mountain.
"That girl finally left."
Sect Master Xuanmingzi stood in the middle of the stone chamber with his hands behind his back. In the candlelight, the kindly old face he wore year-round had turned sinister as a ghost's.
He tapped the stone wall with a fingertip, and the dull echo reverberated through the secret chamber.
"Two years..." His voice was hoarse. "Ever since that day, when someone from the Upper Realm came and slew Elder Mo, we've been walking on thin ice."
Four figures emerged one after another from the shadows of the stone chamber—all Core Elders of the Holy Land.
Their expressions were grave, their auras obscure and unfathomable. They no longer looked like the serene, otherworldly cultivators they usually pretended to be.
"We'd planned to support Old Mo with everything we had and help him break through. Once he did, our Qinglan Holy Land could claim first place."
"But we never expected a Great Power of Upper Realm to make a casual move and ruin decades of planning."
They'd had no choice but to practice evil cultivation under Qinglan's name. After all, theirs wasn't the only Holy Land in this world.
Without a trump card, they couldn't even sleep in peace.
"Who cares whether it's an Evil Art or a righteous one? As long as it makes us stronger." The Third Elder spoke in a sinister voice, turning a Blood-colored Jade Slip between his withered fingers. "So, do we continue?"
"If we stop here, all those years of effort will be for nothing."
"But if we continue, who will do it?"
Who?
The candle flames suddenly lurched, and the chamber fell deathly silent.
Without meaning to, they all recalled that nightmarish scene from two years ago—
Nine figures clad in golden armor had hovered in midair. The mere wisp of aura they let escape had cracked the Mountain Protection Array that shielded the entire Holy Land.
Mo Qianjue, a mighty cultivator in the mid-stage of the Third Realm, hadn't even had time to scream before he turned to a mist of blood before such beings.
It was only now, after Yin Qiyue had left the Holy Land, that they dared gather here to discuss it.
The Fourth Elder slammed the table and shot to his feet. "Forget all that for now. Think of a way to deal with her first!"
"Watch your tongue!" The First Elder swept his gaze over them coldly. "Have you forgotten the might of the Immortal from the Upper Realm who descended that day? What if they left a mark from the Upper Realm on her..."
"This can't be done, that can't be done. Then what do you suggest?!"
"We've raised her for so many years and spent countless resources..." The Sect Master's voice turned suddenly eerie. "That girl's Yin Essence should have been the finest supplement."
With a sweep of his sleeve, the stone wall rumbled as it turned around, revealing rows upon rows of Jade Slips behind it.
Each Jade Slip bore a name. Most had already faded into darkness—these were the disciples who had "gone missing" over the years.
"We can't put this off any longer." A flash of bloody light glinted in Xuanmingzi's eyes. "If the Upper Realm hasn't paid her any attention for two years, then she must be nothing more than an insignificant pawn."
He crushed the Jade Slip in his hand. Blood-red dust gathered in the air, forming a phantom image of Yin Qiyue.
"Forget the Yin Essence. We can't let greed blind us over something so trivial."
"When she returns to the mountain in a few days..." He curled his fingers into a Five-Finger Claw, and the phantom shattered at once. "We'll send her to join Elder Mo!"
The Elders exchanged glances, then nodded one after another.
They were all wily old cultivators who'd practiced for a century. None of them would risk their lives just to covet a young girl's beauty.
As they talked, the entire stone chamber suddenly shuddered violently!
"What's happening?!" The First Elder's face blanched with shock. The horsetail whisk that was his Magic Treasure snapped in two with an eerie crack.
They rushed out of the secret chamber, but the instant they crossed the threshold, it felt as if lightning had struck them—
BOOM—!!!
The entire Qinglan Mountain Range trembled violently, and rocks tumbled down the slopes.
They looked up. Somehow, a Cyan Jade Flying Ship, vast enough to Cover the Sky and Sun, had come to a stop atop the Mountain Protection Array. The shadow cast by its thousand-zhang hull cloaked the main peak in darkness.
"This... this can't be!" Sect Master Xuanmingzi stared blankly, the words escaping his mouth. "That's a Flying Ship? How could a Flying Ship this large exist?"
It wasn't that they lacked experience. The Flying Ship before them was simply too enormous.
Even the Azure Luan statue at its prow was larger than the entire main peak of Qinglan.
Now it was slowly descending. The golden Light Screen of the Mountain Protection Array appeared, a clear sign that it had activated.
"Enemy attack! Quick! Pour all your power into the array!" The Elder guarding the formation's core had no idea what was happening. He could only scream at those around him in desperation.
As Spirit Stones were fed into the array, the Mountain Protection Array blazed with light.
And yet—
With a sharp crack, it broke.
This Mountain Protection Array was said to withstand a full-force strike from a Fifth Realm powerhouse. Now it was like a soap bubble blown by a child. The Flying Ship merely pressed down lightly, and the array didn't last a single breath before shattering with a roar.
As golden flecks drifted down from the sky, the Flying Ship continued its slow descent.
It hadn't even activated a single offensive or defensive measure. Moving at the leisurely pace of someone out for a stroll, it had crushed the thousand-year-old Mountain Protection Array of Qinglan Holy Land into dust.
Xuanmingzi's legs gave way, and he dropped straight to his knees.
"Immortals from the Upper Realm..."
Before true power, the Mountain Protection Array they'd taken such pride in couldn't even slow the Flying Ship down.
It was like ants trying to understand the weight of an elephant's step.
Without a doubt, this had to be a Great Power of Upper Realm!
At the rear of the Flying Ship's deck, Yin Qiyue gazed down at the Holy Land crumbling beneath her feet, as if caught in a dream.
Just a few breaths ago, she had been speaking with the mysterious youth beneath the Old Scholar Tree in Qingshi Town. In the blink of an eye, she had returned to the Holy Land.
And that wasn't all.
The greatest and strongest Holy Land within ten thousand li, the place she had been proudest of, was now collapsing beneath her feet.
The Spiritual Pressure storm released as the Flying Ship descended was enough to destroy an entire Holy Land.
"So this is... someone from the Upper Realm..." she murmured.
But to the Li Clan Sword Servant beside her, those words sounded utterly ridiculous.
He gave a derisive laugh. "The Upper Realm?"
His tone made it seem as though he held the very words in contempt.
"Not the Upper Realm?" Yin Qiyue suddenly realized that these terrifying beings did indeed seem never to have said they came from the Upper Realm. She hurriedly asked, "Then may I ask where you Immortals come from?"
"Immortals?" The Sword Servant thought for a moment and didn't correct her.
But he didn't answer, either. He merely shook his head.
"The place we come from cannot be spoken of or described in this world."
"The people of the Lower Thousand Provinces often call the Middle Thousand Provinces the 'Upper Realm.' They're not entirely wrong, but they're not entirely right, either."
"Only when you truly set foot in the Upper Realm and learn of Heaven Above Heaven will you understand where we come from."
Speaking the words "Ten Directions Immortal Court" in the Lower Thousand Provinces or Middle Thousand Provinces would invite karma.
It wasn't a serious problem, but there was no need to explain all that to the girl before him.
"Heaven Above Heaven...?" The young girl froze, then instinctively looked up.
Those few short words struck like thunder, shattering everything she had believed since childhood.
"Heaven... there's another heaven above it?"