Supreme Daoist

With the disorientation brought by shifting space, Zhong Bu Wen stepped into the Langhuan Blessed Land.

Just as it appeared from the outside, the Blessed Land before him was entirely a world made of books. Numerous Book Demons bustled back and forth between shelves, books held in their arms.

Roadways like heavenly bridges crisscrossed between the immense bookshelves, stretching endlessly beyond sight, with no end to the shelves in view.

Among these shelves were mundane folk tales, artisan guides, and recipe books, as well as incomparably precious cultivation methods, Buddhist scriptures, and Daoist canons.

Rather than calling it a Blessed Land, it would be more fitting to regard it as an unimaginably vast library.

Though he had read related records of the Langhuan Blessed Land in the Imperial Astronomical Bureau's archives, this was his first time truly setting foot in such a Blessed Land.

Yet Zhong Bu Wen had no mind to explore the Langhuan Blessed Land. He had come for Emperor Xia's mission and had to discover exactly where the Grotto-Heaven in the Cloudmist Mountains had come from.

Not far away, a Book Demon clad in a dark green robe slowly flew toward Zhong Bu Wen and spoke.

"Are you the one here to pay respects to the Book Immortal?"

Zhong Bu Wen nodded. "That's right."

"Then please follow me!"

"However, in order to conserve the spiritual energy within the Langhuan Blessed Land, most of the Book Immortals have fallen into slumber. Only Old One is awake.

"Whether Old One is willing to see you will depend on your own ability."

Zhong Bu Wen had assumed the Book Demon would follow the paths toward where the Book Immortal resided, but at that moment, the scene before him abruptly changed. The enormous bookshelves around him began turning amid thunderous rumbling, and the entire Langhuan Blessed Land seemed to transform into a gigantic Rubik's Cube.

The chaotic space carried an indescribable oppression, while the changing scenery made one dizzy and dazed.

At last, once the inverted space settled, Zhong Bu Wen saw a gigantic book standing upright in the void. Two bold characters were written across its cover.

Primordial Antiquity

When the space shifted here, the dark-green-robed Book Demon had already vanished. In the empty expanse, only the book and Zhong Bu Wen remained.

"Zhong Bu Wen, Director of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau under Great Xia's twenty-fifth generation, pays respects to Senior Book Immortal."

The space was deathly silent.

"Zhong Bu Wen comes on Emperor Xia's behalf, bearing an urgent matter upon which he wishes to seek Senior Book Immortal's guidance."

The empty space remained silent. The gigantic book showed no reaction either.

Zhong Bu Wen's heart sank. Ever since he had met the Langhuan Mountain God, he had realized that this Langhuan Blessed Land, which had once made an agreement with Great Xia, did not seem particularly friendly.

He did not know the reason, but its most immediate consequence was that the Book Immortal had offered no response at all.

He had spent a precious decree to come here. There were only three such decrees in Great Xia's entire treasury, each capable of commanding the Langhuan Mountain God once.

If this had been during the era when the Spirit Tide had fully returned and the Langhuan Mountain God had completely awakened, each decree would have been equivalent to a Void Refining Realm True Lord striking with full force.

To use such a precious decree merely to seek information from an Earth Immortal expert—if he returned empty-handed, it would be an immense loss for the entire Great Xia Court.

With that thought, Zhong Bu Wen gritted his teeth and spoke directly.

"Zhong Bu Wen came this time to ask Senior Book Immortal about the Cloudmist Mountains.

"Did an incomparably powerful sect once exist within the Cloudmist Mountains?"

The moment his words fell, the gigantic book in the void seemed to jolt awake from slumber. Its pages flipped rapidly, while the two characters Primordial Antiquity on its cover shone with dazzling brilliance.

An urgent, aged voice rang through the void.

"What did you say?"

Zhong Bu Wen only saw a blur flash before his eyes. An elderly man with a goatee, clad in a dark robe and holding a scripture, appeared before him.

His aged face was now filled with utter disbelief.

"Where did you learn that a powerful sect once existed in the Cloudmist Mountains?"

"Who exactly told you about the Cloudmist Mountains?"

"What is your purpose in asking about this matter?"

The calm expression on Zhong Bu Wen's face finally crumbled. He had never expected a single sentence from him to shake even a Book Immortal with such a long lifespan.

He began to realize that this Earth Immortal who had appeared in the world might have an origin even greater than he had imagined.

Zhong Bu Wen did not dare conceal anything and hurriedly told the Book Immortal everything he knew, without leaving out a single detail.

"Several days ago, Grotto-Heaven fluctuations appeared within Great Xia. Our Imperial Astronomical Bureau pinpointed their location in the Cloudmist Mountains and sent people to investigate.

"The Star-Seizing Daoist who originally acted had already located the Grotto-Heaven, but it suddenly closed and fled into the void. Even he was severely injured by the lingering might of the Grotto-Heaven's master.

"Emperor Xia believed that since this master of the Grotto-Heaven had appeared in the Cloudmist Mountains, he must be connected to the Cloudmist Mountains. Thus, he sent me here to ask Senior Book Immortal."

After hearing Zhong Bu Wen's explanation, the aged Book Immortal froze in place, his eyes vacant.

"An Earth Immortal?"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

"How could anyone still be alive in that godforsaken place?"

"You must understand, there is Heaven there."

His voice gradually lowered. Then the Book Immortal abruptly raised his head and stared at Zhong Bu Wen with dark eyes.

"Boy, you're fortunate. If the information you provided hadn't truly interested me, I would never involve myself in the struggle between your Great Xia and those sects."

With a wave of his hand, the enormous book Primordial Antiquity above descended before Zhong Bu Wen.

"My name is Primordial Antiquity. You may call me Old One."

Zhong Bu Wen hurriedly bowed. "This junior greets Old One!"

Old One ignored Zhong Bu Wen's respectful manner and continued speaking to himself.

"I was born from the Book of Primordial Antiquity. This immortal tome records neither cultivation methods nor divine abilities. It records history.

"Nothing in this mortal world can escape the records of Primordial Antiquity."

"Since I was born from Primordial Antiquity, I have devoted myself to studying the history recorded within it. From the Human Emperor's Heaven-Earth Severance to the present return of the Spirit Tide, all of it has passed before my eyes.

"But Primordial Antiquity is not omnipotent. Once, when I investigated history from ten thousand years ago, I discovered its greatest flaw."

At this point, Old One's voice even carried a trace of fear.

"All signs indicated that an incomparably vast sect once existed in the Cloudmist Mountains ten thousand years ago.

"The names of its disciples had spread across the world, yet its divine abilities and spells had been forcibly erased from the historical records, leaving behind no information whatsoever."

Zhong Bu Wen's pupils abruptly contracted. The first person he thought of was the master of the Grotto-Heaven who had appeared in the Cloudmist Mountains, and he quickly asked.

"Senior, did that incomparably vast sect truly leave behind no trace at all?"

Only after pondering for a long time did Old One slowly speak.

"Whatever exists must leave traces. Historical records are all hidden within information. For such a vast sect, it would not be realistic to erase all information about it completely.

"Information regarding the hidden sect's important figures, cultivation methods, divine abilities, and spells was indeed entirely erased. But among the many records concerning other sects, another legend remained."

"What legend?"

"Ten thousand years ago, that erased sect sent word to many great sects that its patriarch had used his lifespan to divine that a Supreme Daoist would descend into the world and lead the sect to its pinnacle.

"This news once threw sects across the world into panic. Many prodigies even chose to use secret seclusion arts to enter long slumber, intending to avoid the era when this Supreme Daoist emerged.

"The impact of this news was too immense. Even though all information about that hidden sect was wiped away, related records left behind by other sects still exist to this day.

"The Earth Immortal who appeared in the Cloudmist Mountains may very well be the Supreme Daoist of that hidden sect from ten thousand years ago. He has lived from ten thousand years ago until now!"