Everlasting Heavenly Palace

His two Formless apertures had opened, and the dharma power within him was vast as the sea.

Xu Yan held yang in one hand and bore yin in the other.

The Baihui and Juque apertures were like the two principles of yin and yang, reflected behind him. Spiritual power surged like colossal waves, its roiling thunder never ceasing.

"They say opening one Formless aperture rivals the nine apertures of ordinary cultivators. That truly underestimates the Formless spiritual apertures."

Xu Yan felt immensely gratified.

His ink-black scholar's robe billowed as though a gale had swept through it.

Standing atop the Literary Gold Shuttle, he streaked through the ancient hall at astonishing speed, a fleeting flash in an instant!

When a high-grade spiritual shuttle was unleashed, cultivators below the Profound Treasury realm simply could not catch him.

Even without that clam-spirit demoness's help earlier, Xu Yan would still have been able to escape.

A high-grade dharma artifact was worth a fortune, and a bonded high-grade dharma artifact was even more difficult to forge. Daque Temple was merely an ordinary sect; the artifacts it could produce, from top to bottom, were nothing exceptional.

Returning to the ancient hall, he looked at the earthen jar lying on the ground, trembling without end.

Xu Yan's gaze sharpened. The Literary Gold Shuttle shot forth in an instant, smashing the earthen jar to pieces.

Wails of resentment rang endlessly from within. Yin energy poured out as wind, while Xu Yan curled his fingers and guided the artifact, shattering the lingering souls inside one by one—more than a hundred in all!

That Chen Shengzhi truly was cruel and ruthless. Amid the resentful cries from the jar, Xu Yan had even heard the screams of several children.

"Consider this helping you find release."

Xu Yan said it casually, then plunged headfirst back into the Hunyuan Sect's Daoist scripture treasury.

Three days later, within the empty ancient hall.

Xu Yan focused his gaze and steadied his mind. His steps were nimble and light as he paced fluidly through the hall. The meridians within him trembled, and dharma power continuously gathered in his right palm.

Suddenly, his elbow bent slightly before he thrust backward with force!

Crack!

His curled palm became a claw, and a soft sound like bursting thunder came from within it.

The space beneath his palm twisted faintly. Pitch-black spiritual power gathered there, rolling and roaring like thunder.

"There's still strength left!"

Xu Yan's eyes turned sharp. His stance sank again, his spiritual apertures quivered, and boundless dharma power surged through his meridians like dragons and tigers racing wild.

Crack!

Another soft sound rang out. The dharma power in his palm grew even more tyrannical, black as night, like long blades trembling with a keen hum.

He did not stop. He suddenly stomped down with one foot.

With Three-Fold Cloud Dragon, he instantly soared more than thirty zhang into the air. His arm swept like a swimming dragon flicking its tail. As his meridians shook and his blood and qi boiled, his heart began pounding at terrifying speed like a divine being beating a drum.

Crack!

The third blast, like exploding thunder, reverberated throughout the ancient hall. Within the dark, profound dharma power beneath his palm, a bolt of lightning actually flashed.

Xu Yan hesitated no longer. Like a great eagle swooping upon its prey, his divine ability palm howled down toward a dilapidated ancient pavilion nearby!

Bang—

A terrifying boom echoed through the ancient hall.

Tyrannical, merciless dharma power tore relentlessly through that stretch of space like countless yin blades.

The pavilion was instantly crushed into powder. Even the rust-stained black-iron floor was blasted by Xu Yan's palm into a massive pit three zhang wide, while dust and shattered stone flew in all directions!

"What a tyrannical divine ability. If this palm struck true, it could rupture a Qi-Exhaling Daoist's qi sea."

Xu Yan narrowed his eyes as he pondered inwardly.

However, for Xu Yan, who was still in the Aperture-Opening realm, this technique consumed an immense amount of spiritual power. Had his two Formless apertures not opened, that palm strike's might alone would have drained all the spiritual power from one aperture.

This divine ability was the Eighteen Primordial Resonances recorded in the Hunyuan Great Method, an inherited palm technique.

It had originally been created by the founding patriarch of the Hunyuan Sect. At first, it possessed only eight resonances, but under the refinement of each successive sect master, it had gradually reached perfection.

One line had left a deep impression on Xu Yan: when the eighteen resonances fell, even celestial beings would perish!

Such grand words were precisely one reason Xu Yan had practiced this divine ability.

Entering the treasury on the other side, Xu Yan gathered all the Hunyuan Sect's near-ancient Daoist books and scriptures. These books differed from modern ones; they had been written in near-ancient imperial script and mostly recorded events from the primordial era, making them immensely valuable for study.

Xu Yan intended to study them carefully once he returned to the academy.

In the Ten-Thousand Mang Mountains, mist blotted out the sky, and demon qi veiled the sun.

He was roughly three thousand li into Mang Mountain. The ghosts, sprites, and monsters here had mostly only just entered the Dao and posed little threat.

After Xu Yan rode his flying shuttle several hundred li, his brows drew tightly together.

"Why isn't there a single demon beast or monster in sight? Where have they all gone?"

Xu Yan found this deeply strange.

Two months ago, when he had first arrived in this region, he could often hear terrifying roars coming from the deep mountains and ancient forests, while bone-chilling demon qi drifted through the air.

Yet now, not a single one could be found.

Not only that, but the demon qi had drastically diminished. The demon beasts and monsters within several thousand li seemed to have vanished into thin air overnight!

Within the desolate ancient forest, only a leisurely cold wind passed by, carrying fallen leaves fluttering through the air.

Xu Yan's Crystal Heart Realization listened closely in all directions. He had been planning to find a demon beast or monster to test his skills on, only to come up empty-handed.

As he flew onward, a terrifying whistling streak suddenly sounded from the high heavens.

Xu Yan raised his eyes. Amid the black clouds overhead, a red-robed Daoist rode fire through the sky. His Five Elements Heavenly Fire dharma power was so immense it nearly scorched half the heavens, sweeping away the mist and demon qi.

For a time, the sky cleared and the sun shone bright, its dazzling rays pouring down.

The red-robed Daoist flashed past at extreme speed, flying toward the depths of Mang Mountain before swiftly vanishing from sight.

Such cultivation and attainment had clearly reached the peak of the five realms of the mortal world.

"Which grandmaster of this age was that..." Xu Yan's eyes darkened slightly as he thought to himself.

Ever since a year ago, the Ten-Thousand Mang Mountains had been anything but peaceful. Every few days, great grandmasters would arrive.

Deep in thought, Xu Yan continued flying toward Mang Mountain's outskirts.

After flying for the time it took half an incense stick to burn, more commotion came from the sky. Two silver streaks flashed overhead, vast dharma power gathering into clouds as a man and a woman rode the clouds and mist through the high heavens.

Xu Yan looked up at them.

As the two passed above Xu Yan, they seemed to sense his gaze. They abruptly stopped, then rode the clouds and mist down toward him.

Xu Yan's heart jolted. He was just about to ride his flying shuttle away.

"Young man, wait. We mean no harm!" A woman's voice, clear as a spring, drifted gently over.

"Young man, stay and speak with us."

They appeared to be around twenty-five or twenty-six, yet their cultivation was extraordinarily high.

Draped in silver robes and wearing dharma crowns, they descended gracefully like wisps of clear smoke.

Hearing this, Xu Yan used his crystal-clear state of mind to sense them out. He did not detect the slightest killing intent from either, so he turned around and cupped his hands in salute. "May I ask what guidance the two seniors have for me?"

The woman's appearance was ordinary, but her bearing was exceptionally ethereal, like an immortal jade maiden from beyond the heavens. She smiled and said, "Formless Aperture Opening—and you have opened two apertures. That is truly rare in this world."

"Young man, are you a disciple of Shangyin?" the man asked at once upon seeing Xu Yan's black robe.

"I am. This one is Xu Yan. Greetings, seniors." Xu Yan nodded in response and introduced himself.

"Xu Yan?" The woman seemed to ponder it, then smiled. "So you are King Wuan's adopted son, that little prodigy of Huanglong City who expounds the classics."

"Young Master Yan, after next spring's Great Yin Dragon Gate Examination, if you are interested, you may come cultivate at our Everlasting Heavenly Palace."

As he spoke, the young man seemed to be in a hurry. He directly took a jade token from his storage pouch. Its front bore the words "Everlasting," while its reverse bore the words "Heavenly Palace."

"Everlasting Heavenly Palace?" Xu Yan raised a brow and accepted the jade token. He had read extensively and knew nearly every sect and school of note within Great Yin. How had he never heard of such a sect?

The two said no more, seeming to be rushing toward the depths of Mang Mountain.

As they drifted away, they left behind two lines of verse, chanting them leisurely aloud—

"An immortal palace of ageless gods."

"Daoists among men, sharing heaven's lifespan!"

Xu Yan stared blankly as he listened. After several breaths, his brows furrowed, and he muttered, "What nonsense."