Changle Is Dead
The sunlight was just right.
Three suns each occupied a corner, illuminating the lush green mountains brightly.
In the distance, on the mountainside, a crane flew by, its cry clear and melodious, its tail feathers leaving two very faint blue streaks that lingered for a long time.
Chen Lingxi stood at the cave entrance, sensing the Wondrous Fruit atop the Profound Root Tree in the Dao Platform.
It is rich in Dao Origin and contains various Dao mysteries, which help him comprehend the Divine Ability of Thunder-Prison Heaven.
"Now, how am I to conduct myself in this Great Xuanzhuo Realm?"
Having reached a new level, Chen Lingxi began to consider his next step.
"The Great Xuanzhuo Realm is vast and full of Spiritual Qi. Now that I have undergone Immortal Husk, I should be able to cultivate and make a name for myself even if I just find a corner to hide in."
He paused, then shook his head.
"However, if I want to reach the Dao Foundation Middle Stage, I still need a great Divine Ability, and I need the corresponding Divine Ability and spiritual objects."
Both of these items are extremely valuable. If I were to wait here idly, I fear I would never find such treasures in my entire life, and thus never be able to reach the Dao Foundation Middle Stage."
"Moreover... the cultivation world is full of treasures, as well as many mysterious Cauldron Vessel, and even unimaginable supernatural Divine Ability."
"Hiding here is not safe; it is highly likely that someone will find me using such mysterious methods."
Chen Lingxi his head and thought for a moment. He had killed countless avatars of powerful figures in that Cave Heaven.
Southern Heaven Domain, Calamity Sea, Candleflame Star, and also the Yutai Bai Family and the Quexing Xi Family.
Those who died at his hands, those who became his alter egos, probably remember all the scores.
If they find out where Chen Lingxi is and that I am alone, he will likely be in grave danger.
"Especially Bai Lingze."
He narrowed his eyes.
"This person's true form likely possesses Dao Foundation Late Stage cultivation in the Great Xuanzhuo Realm, and he also has the support of the Yutai Bai Family and the Quexing Xi Family..."
Chen Lingxi frowned slightly as she thought of this.
"We still need to find a safe haven."
Chen Lingxi Yin.
The Great Xuanzhuo Realm has so many Xuanmen sects. Putting aside others, just the ones he knows, Dao-Below Academy, Dragon-Offering Sect, Southern Heaven Domain, Calamity Sea, Candleflame Star... and those small sects whose names he can't even recall, any one of them is ten times larger than the scale he has seen in the Cave Heaven.
"The Dao-Below Academy is worth a try."
The Daoist Shurong treated him kindly, and Lin Suri became his close friend.
The Daoist Yaoguang of Profound Repository Institute once wanted to take him as a disciple. Upon careful consideration, the Dao-Below Academy was indeed a good place to go.
"However, although I have arrived in the Great Xuanzhuo Realm, the Great Xuanzhuo Realm is vast, and I do not know where the Dao-Below Academy is, or even where I am now."
With these thoughts in mind, Chen Lingxi stepped out of the cave, activated the Concealed Edge Method to suppress his aura, and walked among the clouds.
From the outside, he appeared to be an ordinary passing monk.
As he soared through the clouds, he realized how vast the mountains of this world truly were.
Each mountain is tens of thousands of feet high, enormous and towering, appearing as a colossal giant from afar.
Chen Lingxi flew among the mountains, sensing the rich Spiritual Qi within, and traveled swiftly.
The world was vast, and even at Chen Lingxi's current speed, it took him a long time to fly, until he crossed several mountain ridges and the view suddenly opened up ahead.
A great river lay across our path, its surface extremely wide, perhaps stretching for thousands of miles.
The river water was turquoise, with white waves rolling in the rapids. Several strange beasts, resembling oxen but not quite, with one horn and one hoof, were drinking water by the river. Upon hearing his footsteps, they took off running, their hooves treading on the water as if walking on flat ground, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Chen Lingxi ignored them.
He walked along the riverbank for a while longer, then suddenly stopped.
Far ahead, something hangs in the sky.
That thing is too big.
It was so large that it gave one a sense of unreality, as if one had shrunk back to an ant standing at the foot of the mountain, looking up at the stone tablet stuck in the clouds.
That was a dragon.
To be precise, it is a statue of a real dragon.
The statue was made of some unknown material, its entire body a bluish-gold color. The dragon's head was raised high, its body spiraling upwards, and its five claws were either open or closed in the clouds. Each dragon scale was the size of a mountain, gleaming with a heavy, cold light in the sunlight.
The statue hung suspended in the Void, tens of thousands of miles high, reaching the sky and connecting with the clouds, as if it had always stretched across the vast heavens of the Great Xuanzhuo Realm.
Even with Chen Lingxi's keen eyesight, he couldn't see where the dragon's tail had landed.
He stood on the riverbank, looking up, and gazed at it for a long time.
A wind blew from the river, carrying the fishy smell of water, making his robes flutter loudly.
Then...
Chen Lingxi was astonished to see three characters on the horn of this towering dragon.
The characters were enormous, radiating golden light, and faintly shimmering with a heavy, oppressive aura.
"So this is the Dragon-Offering Sect."
Chen Lingxi squinted her eyes.
"It seems that Changle is extremely obsessed with that Sun-Watching Peak. Even when she was protecting me on my way to the Great Xuanzhuo Realm, she still managed to make me fall behind the Dragon-Offering Sect."
Before Liu Changle died, there was only one thing that he couldn't let go of, and that he wanted Chen Lingxi to never forget.
If Chen Lingxi arrives at the Great Xuanzhuo Realm, he should go to the Sun-Watching Peak the Dragon-Offering Sect to protect and care for that lineage.
Chen Lingxi gazed at the dragon statue hanging high in the sky, her thoughts wandering.
He still remembered the last sound he heard before he fell into the Rebirth Pool.
"Never forget!"
Liu Changle's voice still echoed in my ears.
"I won't forget." Chen Lingxi withdrew her gaze, straightened her robes, and continued walking forward.
"If this is Dragon-Offering Sect, I can go and look for Sun-Watching Peak."
Go and see where Changle is..."
A glimmer of hope flashed in Chen Lingxi's eyes.
"Perhaps the incarnation of Changle in the Great Xuanzhuo Realm has not died."
--
Dragon-Offering Sect, Sun-Watching Peak.
A thin layer of mist clung to the mountainside.
The territory of the Dragon-Offering Sect is naturally rich in Spiritual Qi. Although Sun-Watching Peak is just an inconspicuous peak among the sect's peaks, it is still within the Dragon-Offering Sect's protective mountain formation and is nourished by Spirit Vein day and night. The mist in the mountain is also imbued with spiritual energy. From afar, it looks like gauze, and up close, it is as clean as if it were washed. When it clings to your clothes, it feels cool and carries a faint fragrance of grass and trees.
At this moment, the six people stood in a shady valley on the north side of the mountain.
There is a large formation in the valley.
That formation was laid out by Zhu Qingjian using the remaining Spirit Vein of Sun-Watching Peak as a base, and it took him three days and three nights to complete.
At the core of the formation, six black stones were laid out, each engraved with three talismans for suppressing spirits, calming souls, and guarding deities. These talismans were interlocked, firmly locking in all the energy within the formation.
There was a coffin in the formation.
The coffin was made of green wood and had little decoration. There was only a talisman written in cinnabar on the coffin lid, but the talisman had faded and was not bright.
The coffin lid was not yet closed.
Liu Changle then lay down in the coffin.
He was wearing a gray-white Daoist robe, his hands folded in front of his chest, his face calm, as if he were asleep.
His face was much thinner than when he was alive, with high cheekbones, deeply sunken cheeks, and an unnatural grayish complexion. His lips were slightly cracked, and the bloodstains at the corners of his lips had long been wiped away.
Zhu Qingjian squatted beside the coffin, holding a damp handkerchief in her hand, wiping away the last bit of dirt from his forehead again and again.
Cheng Shiyan, standing silently behind her, remained quiet.
The wind blew in from the valley entrance, ruffling his robes.
The other four disciples stood around the perimeter.
Hua Liuli stood not far from Zhu Qingjian, dressed in a pale yellow dress with a soft sword at her waist. Her face was delicate yet carried a hint of stubbornness.
Her eyes were slightly red, but she held back her tears.
She knew that her martial uncle had actually already passed away, but he had only created a false impression by trapping his own corpse in the Mystic Spirit Hall and burning the Dao Platform and Profound Root in his body with an array to create the illusion that he was still alive, in order to intimidate the cultivators of Yellow Luminary Peak.
This also fooled the six disciples in the sect.
Ning Ya stood beside her, his figure lean and wielding a narrow knife on his back. His expression was solemn, and his eyes seemed to burn with intense hatred.
Cheng Yu and Zhao Lingzhi stood side by side outside the formation, their expressions silent, but their eyes held a deep sense of confusion and fear.
Uncle Changle is dead.
How can Sun-Watching Peak survive in this treacherous Dragon-Offering Territory now?
The six remained silent for a long time.
Cheng Shiyan finally spoke, his voice low. "My uncle left a letter saying that those who are willing should go down the mountain, and those who are unwilling should stay away for the time being."
He has a good friend who will soon come to Sun-Watching Peak to support us."