Master of the Grotto-Heaven

The unexpected news threw Shen Yuan's original plans into disarray. After casually buying some vegetables, he hurried home and immediately began searching online for relevant information.

Just as the old man at the market had said, there was no information online about the Cloudmist Mountains being sealed off. However, the ticket purchase portal on the Cloudmist Mountains scenic area's official website had already been closed, and it had even been removed in advance from several travel apps.

Still, beneath some earlier videos about the Cloudmist Mountains, Shen Yuan found quite a few comments about tourists being driven out of the scenic area. The comments had been posted only a few hours ago.

This confirmed the credibility of the old man's words. Something had indeed happened in the Cloudmist Mountains.

"The Great Xia Court has sealed off the Cloudmist Mountains. It really could be related to the Falling Cloud Grotto-Heaven."

Shen Yuan's heart rose to his throat.

The Great Xia Court was nothing like the China of Shen Yuan's previous life. This was an ancient empire that had endured for three thousand years, free from the cyclical rise and fall of dynasties.

Though the Great Xia Court could not be called feudal, and its ability to endure for three thousand years surely meant it possessed something extraordinary, Shen Yuan still found it difficult to place his trust in this unfamiliar empire.

If the Great Xia Court discovered the Falling Cloud Grotto-Heaven and, through it, uncovered the secrets he carried, it would very likely bring Shen Yuan unnecessary trouble.

Forcibly suppressing the thoughts flashing through his mind, Shen Yuan began carefully considering whether he had left any flaws during his trip to the Cloudmist Mountains.

"The Cloudmist Mountains are an extremely famous attraction in Great Xia. With the holiday these past few days, daily visitor traffic was at least several hundred thousand. It would have been difficult to notice me amid the crowds. On the way to the Falling Cloud Grotto-Heaven, I was cautious every step of the way. I cleaned up any traces of camping and campfires, while the trash was tossed into the Space Grenade before I left and swallowed by space along with it. Not a single trace was left behind."

"And when I left the scenic area, I didn't see any response from the Court at all. The Grotto-Heaven had first opened yesterday afternoon. Even if the Court had been slow to react, one night was more than enough time to deploy troops. Yet the Court did not seal off the Cloudmist Mountains immediately. It only did so after I had left. That is enough to show that the Court knows very little about the Falling Cloud Grotto-Heaven, so the intelligence did not reach them in time."

"Moreover, due to the calamity's effects, the Falling Cloud Grotto-Heaven will collapse in less than half a day. Once it collapses, all related information will vanish into the shattered space. By then, even if the Court wants to investigate, it will no longer have the means to do so."

After giving it some thought and sorting through the sequence of events, some of Shen Yuan's worries eased.

Judging from all the information available, there should not be any issues with the Falling Cloud Grotto-Heaven.

Unless the Court managed to pinpoint the Grotto-Heaven's location during the final few hours before its collapse—but that was almost impossible.

"How could there possibly be such a coincidence?"

Shen Yuan was full of confidence.

At the same time, within the imperial city of the distant Imperial Capital, a furious voice rang out through the Golden Luan Hall.

"What did you say?"

The aged emperor seated upon the throne had finally lost his usual composure.

A sharp glint flashed through his murky eyes. The dragon aura of the Imperial Capital's revived dragon vein transformed into boundless pressure and bore down upon the Director of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau within the hall. The dragons in the surrounding murals seemed to have been granted a strange vitality at that moment, their golden eyes staring directly at the Director of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.

The Director of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau trembled, then cupped his hands and bowed to Emperor Xia. "Your Majesty, this information was personally relayed by Star-Seizing Daoist, chief consecrated cultivator of the Southern Pacification Marquis's Residence. The secret guards investigated all fifty-three soldiers present and confirmed the circumstances at the time.

"Furthermore, the Starwatching Observatory has indeed lost track of the Grotto-Heaven in the Cloudmist Mountains. There are only two possible explanations for this result. One is that the Grotto-Heaven collapsed, making it impossible to trace. The other is that someone has obscured the Starwatching Observatory's observation.

"The former is highly unlikely. The Spirit Tide has only just arrived; no one has the ability to destroy a Grotto-Heaven that forms a small world of its own.

"That leaves only the final possibility: the Grotto-Heaven in the Cloudmist Mountains has an owner!"

As the Director of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau finished speaking, the pressure erupting from Emperor Xia abruptly vanished, and the hall returned to its usual calm.

Yet beneath that tranquil atmosphere seemed to lurk an immense pressure that made it hard to breathe.

"A master of the Grotto-Heaven..."

Emperor Xia let out an aged sigh. There was regret in his voice, but even more than that, fear.

As the emperor of Great Xia, Emperor Xia would naturally not lose his composure over the gain or loss of a single Grotto-Heaven. What concerned him more was the overall situation of the realm; the gain or loss of one mere Grotto-Heaven could not affect the true grand scheme.

But if this Grotto-Heaven had an owner, everything would become entirely different.

Grotto-Heavens were creations of heaven and earth, nearly equivalent to small worlds. Almost all Grotto-Heavens currently existing in Great Xia were controlled by those reclusive sects.

Yet even those sects, despite holding Grotto-Heavens in their hands, were not qualified to call themselves their masters. They were merely parasites living upon the Grotto-Heavens.

The only ones who could truly be called masters of Grotto-Heavens were immortals who had fused their own bodies with a blessed land or Grotto-Heaven and attained the rank of Earth Immortal.

Even after ascending to the upper realms, such great figures could establish themselves as overlords. Even during the flourishing age of cultivation ten thousand years ago, they had been rare.

Especially before the Human Emperor enacted Heaven-Earth Severance, the vast majority of Earth Immortals had chosen to ascend. Those who remained in the Profound Yellow Realm were few and far between, and of those, fewer than one in ten had survived ten thousand years without perishing.

Under such circumstances, the return of a Grotto-Heaven Earth Immortal during this era of the Spirit Tide's revival was enough to shatter Great Xia's current balance.

"As spiritual energy gradually recovers, an Earth Immortal fused with a Grotto-Heaven will recover far faster than other cultivators. With the advantage of possessing a Grotto-Heaven, even trying to ambush and kill a Grotto-Heaven Earth Immortal would be exceedingly difficult.

"The threats posed by all the old monsters in those reclusive sects who have yet to awaken combined cannot compare to a single awakened Grotto-Heaven Earth Immortal."

The Director of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau spoke solemnly to Emperor Xia. "Before those reclusive sects discover this, we must win that Grotto-Heaven Earth Immortal over in advance. At the very least, we cannot drive this mighty Earth Immortal to the sects' side."

Emperor Xia's gaze was deep as he slowly shook his head. "How could the will of a mighty Earth Immortal be swayed by others? Before we learn this mighty Earth Immortal's identity, we must make no moves. We cannot even take the initiative to investigate that mighty Earth Immortal's whereabouts."

"Next, I ask the Director to make a trip to Langhuan Blessed Land and inquire with those Book Immortals about information concerning mighty Earth Immortals.

"This mighty Earth Immortal's Grotto-Heaven appeared in the Cloudmist Mountains. Their identity may be connected to the Cloudmist Mountains."