Shrouding the Heavens: Those Years as the Female Emperor's Strictest Master

As long as she harbored doubts, even if respect kept her from openly refuting him, she would not treat his words as an unshakable sacred canon, never questioning or reflecting on them, and blindly accepting them.

Perhaps even "heaven-blessed and gifted" was no longer enough to describe this young disciple...

"Remember the ambition you showed today. Even if things are truly as I said, and there truly is no Reincarnation in this world, if one day you can transcend this world's shackles and reach the point of influencing it in reverse, you may be able to create a Reincarnation of your own."

Tan Lin's words slowly echoed in the girl's mind.

The girl stood frozen in place.

If she remembered correctly, this was the first time in several months that her master had spoken to her in such a gentle, nurturing tone.

The usual coldness was gone. In those words, he seemed to be speaking with a friend, communicating with her as an equal...

After a long while, Li Qingjue slowly came back to herself. She bit her lower lip as though making some kind of decision, then said to Tan Lin:

"Master, I want to go to those Weapon-Refining Grounds."

The restrictions connecting the Immortal Palace to the outside world had been broken for three days.

Over the past few days, she had learned from the discussions of various cultivators that the Immortal Palace had ten levels, each corresponding to different cultivation levels. The lowest level was suitable for cultivators like her in the Sea of Reincarnation Secret Realm to temper themselves.

All this time, she had gone wherever he told her to go.

She had been like a puppet on strings, never voicing her own thoughts to him. Every step of her path and how she should take it had been arranged by her master.

Yet one or two months had already passed since her master's last arrangement.

She knew that her master must have some concerns, or perhaps he was deliberately testing her to see how she would react.

But regardless, this time, she wanted to make her own decision and let her master see her resolve.

"Have you thought this through? It is easy to enter that place but difficult to leave. You may die inside."

Tan Lin had returned to his usual indifference, with not a trace of emotion in his words.

He knew very well that after the restrictions were broken, the Primordial Era laws within the tower's small world conflicted with the laws of the present-day Ancient Era outside.

Without anyone maintaining the core formation and shutting it down in time, that tower would not last long before being worn away and destroyed by nature.

After discerning some of Human Emperor Hall's measures, his original plan had been to have a pawn enter in his stead and accomplish the objective, then wait quietly for the tower's destruction.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, he could draw the snake from its hole while quietly heading to the Central Plains himself. With both measures proceeding at once, the greater undertaking might succeed.

However, not a single step in this plan could go wrong. Otherwise, all previous efforts would be wasted.

The situation was changing at all times, and the time of the tower's destruction was uncertain as well. Perhaps he should set a smaller short-term goal and make another choice?

"The Immortal Palace is very dangerous. This disciple knows that. This disciple also knows there is something inside that can help you recover, isn't there? This disciple does not want to put Master in a difficult position..."

After a long silence outside the ring, Li Qingjue gave her answer.

"You must understand that true strength lies within yourself. After entering the tower, I may not necessarily act."

Tan Lin's voice remained as indifferent as ever.

"Even if this disciple dies inside, I will not regret it."

Li Qingjue spoke each word with deliberate firmness.

"Very well. Since that is the case, let us act. Most people outside have already entered. If you continue lingering here, unforeseen complications may arise instead."

Tan Lin sighed, then gave his instructions:

"Now, conceal your aura and walk as I tell you."

Rustle... rustle...

The autumn wind was bleak, shaking loose countless leaves from the ancient trees among the mountains. The girl with ram-horn braids had vanished from where she stood.

Woo...

At this moment, on the cloud carriage in the distance.

Noticing something slightly unusual about the Cloud Leopard, Goddess Gu's beautiful eyes flashed with confusion. Her bare jade feet touched the ground as her graceful figure descended from the soft couch. She walked to the Cloud Leopard's side and reached out with a delicate hand to stroke its head.

It was the same way she had doted on her younger brother Gu Qinghan before he had grown up, many years ago.

Woo...

The Cloud Leopard slightly raised its head and lazily licked her fair palm.

Having cultivated to the Half-Saint realm, it naturally was not incapable of speech.

It was simply that most of the time, it knew its "master" did not want it to speak, because doing so would shatter a certain hope she had always held onto.

"Oh? You mean we can enter the tower now?"

Gu Qingying's autumn-water eyes brightened slightly.

The Cloud Leopard nodded its head and merely let out another soft whine, still not speaking human words.

Its eyelids drooped. Deep in its eyes was an exceedingly faint, nearly imperceptible pity for the "master" who had raised it since it was young.

The distance from the outskirts of the Vast Mountain Range to its core region spanned several thousand li.

By the time Li Qingjue could clearly see the "tower" pouring down endless immortal radiance, night had already fallen.

"The formation maintaining the operation of the world within this tower is incomplete. Entering the tower is not limited to those two paths..."

Tan Lin's voice rang out repeatedly in her mind.

Under his precise guidance, Li Qingjue moved like a spirit cat in the darkness. Her figure vanished into the vast mountain forest, eventually arriving soundlessly at the edge of a waterway.

Splash...

Without the slightest hesitation, she plunged straight into the water and continued diving downward.

Downward...

In the end, she successfully surfaced within an icy underground river.

The underground river was not pitch-black. Numerous stalactites hung upside down from the cavern ceiling, emitting crystalline, faint glimmers of light.

Whoosh!

Whoosh... whoosh...

On the ground above, the cultivators of Spring Autumn Pavilion had watched for several days. As the final top-tier orthodoxy to enter the tower, they seemed to have given cultivators from those small and medium-sized factions a signal.

A signal of safety.

In an instant, cultivators' hunger for opportunity completely overwhelmed the impact of the previous bloody incidents. They rushed inside in a swarm, crowding the entrance at once.

And at that very moment, no one noticed.

At the entrance of a hidden underground river deep within the earth veins, space twisted slightly. Enveloped in invisible crimson mist, a petite figure silently arrived in the tower's small world before them.

Tap... tap...

The chill of the underground river had not yet fully faded from her bones.

Before Li Qingjue had even taken two steps into this small world, an entirely different, suffocating pressure rushed straight toward her.

She cautiously surveyed the lowest level of the legendary Human Emperor's Drill Ground.

By now, those eyes that had once been as clear as gemstones appeared to be filled with numbness, ruthlessness, and other dark emotions. Yet beneath the surface, they remained clear.

But how many people could see through that layer of camouflage?

Her gaze swept slightly.

As expected, this place was not the palaces and pavilions she had imagined. Where she stood was a vast, desolate land from ancient times.

The sky was a dim lead-gray, much like her eyes. There were no sun, moon, or stars, only faint light seeping through from some unknown source.

That little light barely illuminated the twisted, bizarre rocks around her and the dry, cracked earth.

"Huff! Huff..."

Using the brief time she had spent observing, Li Qingjue had already adjusted her ragged breathing.

The air here was so heavy it seemed solidified, and every breath carried a gritty sensation like sand.

Even more unexpectedly, the gravity here far surpassed that of the outside world. Having only recently stabilized her Life Spring realm, she felt as though she were carrying a small mountain on her back, her movements becoming exceptionally sluggish.

Creak... creak...

From afar came what seemed to be the faint sound of grating metal, along with the low growls of unknown creatures.

"The remnants of Primordial Era laws here are incompatible with the present outside world. The restrictions have been broken, and the space here is distorted as well."

As he spoke, a clear radiance flashed over the ring's surface, and Tan Lin's illusory remnant soul manifested from within.

The gleam of his Primordial Spirit radiating from the depths of that remnant soul had grown noticeably stronger than before.

He looked at his young disciple and said blandly:

"I will be leaving for a while. Whatever unexpected situations arise next, you will need to handle them yourself."

"Rest assured, Master. This disciple understands."

Li Qingjue pressed her lips together, then nodded firmly.

Seeing this, Tan Lin said nothing more. Crimson mist curled around him, making him vanish from Li Qingjue's sight.

After entering this place, the resonance between the fragment of his true soul and his remnant soul had become increasingly intense.

He had locked onto the true soul fragment's location. It was within an underground palace somewhere on this level.

That place also held memories from his previous life, shared with another person.

After he left.

The girl with ram-horn braids stood where she was, her small hand tightly clutching the Bronze Ring that no longer housed Tan Lin. She did not move for a long time.

At that moment, she suddenly felt that this sole keepsake her brother had left her seemed much lighter in her palm, utterly empty.

Master...

For the first time, the master who had accompanied her for more than half a year had left her side. She felt an inexplicable sense of loss.

Was she alone again?

Her Master... Could He Be the Human Emperor?

The surroundings were utterly lonely.

Only then did Li Qingjue understand that, all along, she might have subconsciously regarded her master as a "replacement" for her brother after he was gone.

A "replacement" who could give her a sense of security, eliminate every hidden danger, shelter her from wind and rain, and speak with her when she was lonely.

Even though her master was so strict with her, even though his tone was always so cold and far less gentle than her brother's.

She stood there foolishly for who knew how long.

Li Qingjue silently put the Bronze Ring away close to her body, then took heavy steps toward the distance.

Tap!

Tap... tap...

Still unaccustomed to the gravity of this level, she inevitably left footprints as she walked, some deep and some shallow.

This made her frown slightly. She then decisively circulated the divine power within her Sea of Bitterness and erased the traces.

She had not forgotten that she and her master had not entered through that gateway, nor had she forgotten that her master was surely planning something important.

If her momentary oversight allowed someone to notice something from a few clues, ultimately ruining her master's great plan, then even dying a hundred times would not atone for her sin.

Even if her master had not given her additional instructions, she could not hold him back!

Tap... tap...

With thoughts swirling through her mind, Li Qingjue slowly advanced beneath the dim sky.

After walking for a long time, the terrain ahead changed completely. Jagged gravel lay beneath her feet, while the faint smell of sulfur and decay gradually spread through the air.

After walking another several li or so, the scene ahead changed entirely.

A forest of strange, jagged rocks appeared before her. The stones within were eerily translucent, with crimson and deep-blue streams of light seemingly flickering alternately inside them.

Strands of extreme heat and extreme cold, two utterly opposing fluctuations of aura, waxed and waned unpredictably.