Shrouding the Heavens: Those Years as the Empress's Strictest Master

From bottom to top, her Saint King Dao foundation grew ever more complete. She had a premonition that once she climbed alone to the tenth layer of heaven in the coming days, merging the insights of all ten layers, breaking through to Great Saint while maintaining the Eight Forbidden Domain would not be impossible.

Perhaps it was precisely because of these gains that some of her initial doubts, from outside the tower and its lowest level, had briefly been cast to the back of her mind and gradually blurred within her subconscious.

But just a few days ago, that haze seemed to vanish all at once, and certain doubts surged back into her mind with unparalleled clarity.

The "gaps" between the connections of one event after another also seemed to have linked together.

This anomaly made her take the matter seriously and sounded an alarm within her.

Whimper...

Before her, facing Gu Qingying's interrogation, the Cloud Leopard first blinked its vertical pupils blankly. Then, as though innocent, it let out a soft whimper and extended its tongue to gently lick her fair palm.

This was its usual trick.

Whenever Gu Qingying got angry in the past, doing this would usually let it muddle through.

But today was clearly different...

"Stop playing dumb. Your cultivation has now reached the Saint realm, and your wings have grown strong. Why should you truly care about my feelings?"

Beneath her light veil, Gu Qingying's stunning face revealed a self-mocking smile. As she spoke, the jade-like hand resting on the Cloud Leopard's nape inexplicably tightened, her five fingers slowly closing.

"Tell me, then. On that rainy night several months ago, where did you go? When you returned, there was lingering astral gale aura on your body. With your lazy nature, you had never gone so far before..."

Her gaze fell upon the Cloud Leopard's vertical pupils, trying to catch even the slightest change within them.

"The very next day after you came back, news spread through the Eastern Wasteland that the Human Emperor's Legacy had appeared here. At the time, I did not actually become suspicious."

Before finishing, Gu Qingying immediately followed with another question.

"But why did you suddenly fool around some time ago and 'tease' the warship carrying Tyrant Blood's group? Their formation for traveling back and forth to the outer starfields was destroyed on the very night you went out..."

The words reached its ears, but the Cloud Leopard said nothing. It merely rubbed its head against the back of Gu Qingying's hand, as affectionate as ever.

"Then tell me this. When we passed through the lowest level and saved that little girl, was it truly a coincidence? The tower's formation diagram aura leaked out then, so why were neither of you affected? And why did you erase that little girl's divine power foundation..."

Rustle... rustle...

The Cloud Leopard swished its tail and still did not speak in human words. It was adept at disguising itself; every movement, even its eyes, gave Gu Qingying no sign of anything abnormal for the moment.

Yet one suspicious incident after another connected to it had indeed occurred, plain for all to see.

Previously, on the fourth layer of heaven, Overlord Blood Cang Yuhang had merely overstepped by sending a trace of his technique's aura into the Immortal Platform Secret Realm, only to be blasted to death by the tower's "enforcer."

But back on the lowest level, the Cloud Leopard had released the pressure of a Half-Saint, crushing the strange beasts that had besieged the girl. Yet it was still alive and kicking to this day. That was another major point of suspicion...

At last, Gu Qingying fell silent.

The barrier became completely quiet. She remained mute, as though waiting for the Cloud Leopard's answer.

At this moment, the Cloud Leopard knew that the filter through which she had regarded it as her "deceased younger brother" had temporarily faded.

It had to reveal something substantial if it wanted to get through today.

Of course, even if it truly said nothing, or spouted nothing but lies, she would not take its life.

After all, back then, it had been such a coincidence. Those Zhao-surnamed witch master and disciple from Spring Autumn Pavilion had set up an altar and performed rites to save Gu Qinghan after her failure to merge with the Dao.

Then, at the same time and in the same place, this Goddess Gu's younger brother had completely passed away, while it had been born in a nearby cave.

The Zhao master and disciple had said that it carried some trace of Gu Qinghan's spirituality?

Gu Qingying had truly believed them, because she had sensed a trace of spiritual aura in its body, that of an ordinary Cloud Leopard beast. From birth, it had been remarkably intelligent and human-like.

There was no way to explain that with common sense. There had been no heavenly materials or earthly treasures around that cave either, as though this seemingly absurd possibility was the only explanation...

But later, it had understood the truth. Especially after being driven by that Human Emperor several months ago, it had realized even more clearly that the claim about Gu Qinghan's spirituality had all been bullshit!

The true source that had given spiritual intelligence to it, a muddleheaded young beast, had been a minuscule fragment of the Human Emperor's true soul!

Its ability to become what it was today, to advance from an ordinary Cloud Leopard with no divine beast bloodline whatsoever into a Saint Beast, had all relied on the Human Emperor's lingering grace!

It had absolutely nothing to do with that damn Gu Qinghan's reincarnated spirituality!

Reincarnation and rebirth were all nonsense...

Still, it had to admit that over these years, it had truly enjoyed the special treatment of being both Gu Qingying's spirit pet and "younger brother."

There were as many spirit medicines and divine fruits as it wanted.

Many times, it felt that Gu Qingying was rather pitiful...

Whimper...

Inside the barrier, the hand around its nape had tightened a little too much, and it let out another soft whimper.

"Do you truly have nothing to say? Qinghan... he would never lie to me..."

Gu Qingying's slender fingers loosened slightly, then began gently stroking the smooth fur along the Cloud Leopard's back.

It had guessed correctly. She truly would not do anything to it, but...

Her thoughts turned. A deeper contemplation flashed through the depths of her beautiful eyes. At this very moment, she faintly felt that she had touched the edge of some enormous vortex of conflict.

However, just as that intuition arose, someone within the Heavenly Mystic Ancient Clan Secret Land in the Central Region of the Eastern Wasteland activated [Inverted All-Causes Vision], preparing to return to the Weapon-Refining Grounds through the Mystic Platform.

In an instant, that person selectively drew in one Causal Line after another, including the line belonging to the woman and leopard within the barrier.

The next moment.

A faint crimson gleam seemed to flash past in the pupils of both Gu Qingying and the Cloud Leopard.

Gu Qingying blinked her limpid eyes. The crucial "button" in her memories—the one that had sorted through and linked all the suspicious events together—loosened at this moment, becoming blurred once more.

She glanced at the barrier she had personally set up, her dark brows knitting slightly before she waved a hand and erased it.

Ancient Clan Secret Land's Silkworm Baby

Several days earlier, in the Central Region of the Eastern Wasteland.

Invisible crimson mist drifted through the air. Tan Lin's remnant soul silently emerged from the void and, within moments, traveled from the territory of Ancient Emperor Mountain in the Northern Region to a remote valley devoid of human traces.

The secret land abandoned by the Heavenly Mystic Ancient Clan before the Primordial Era was located within this valley.

This was also where he had arrived after using the Mystic Platform left behind by the Ancient Emperor's Daughter in the underground palace of the Drill Tower, rebuilding the passageway, breaking free from the Soul-Killing Array's confinement, and crossing the void.

It was likewise one of the treasure sites he had chosen in advance for himself in his next lifetime.

He intended to bury his starting capital for his next life here.

In this world, no one knew what accident might occur in the next moment.

Plans could never keep up with changes.

Perhaps before the second, or even third, Deep Crimson Light Point filled with "firefly light," he would encounter some unforeseen mishap and be forced to activate the Soul Pearl early, reincarnating and taking rebirth.

Logically speaking, possessing this All-Causes Soul Pearl, which allowed one to shed one's body and reincarnate, fake one's death and escape, even see through the mystery of one's time in the womb...

He should have kept a low profile under an assumed name, steadily accumulated strength over one lifetime after another, and avoided too much involvement with anything in the outside world until he could truly look down upon this universe.

Yet obtaining the fuel required to activate the Soul Pearl forced him to show himself.

Fortunately, after the Soul Pearl's transformation, its miraculous abilities had become increasingly extraordinary. The effects produced merely by filling one or two Deep Crimson Light Points into the markings on the Soul Pearl's barrier were enough to leave him unafraid of most dangers.

Furthermore, he could wander through forbidden lands and restricted zones such as Ancient Emperor Mountain, continuously making new gains.

Tan Lin knew that this meant the straitened circumstances he had faced since awakening had changed, entering a virtuous cycle.

"Half a year ago, I truly would never have imagined that I could visit Undying Mountain and Ancient Emperor Mountain in this state as a wandering ghost... That little girl really is my lucky star..."

As his remnant soul ventured deeper into the valley, Tan Lin continued monitoring the movements of the Anchor Points at the ends of the Causal Lines.

After leaving Ancient Emperor Mountain, he had already withdrawn [All Causes Barrier], retaining only [Inverted All-Causes Vision].

Maintaining both states consumed too much of the firefly light within the Deep Crimson Light Points. He had to avoid needless waste.

After all, the second Deep Crimson Light Point had already become an empty shell. What he was consuming now was capital for starting his next life.

If possible, he did not even want to maintain [Inverted All-Causes Vision] right now. But he could see that the causal Anchor Point belonging to Xiaoyao Heavenly Venerable's Dao body had not returned to the restricted zone and was still wandering the Eastern Wasteland, though it had left the Central Region.

If he encountered it unprepared during this time, that would be quite the "surprise," and the losses would outweigh the gains.

Whoosh...

As Tan Lin pondered, his remnant soul had just arrived before the entrance to the secret land when he discovered that the causal branch belonging to the Undying Heavenly Empress had suddenly separated from the Undying Heavenly Emperor's Causal Line, becoming an independent, tangled main line connected to him.

"Did she already guess my identity from the Undying Daoist?"

Tan Lin's deep eyes flickered slightly.

These Causal Lines naturally could not tell him what exactly had happened. He had to infer for himself the key changes and the reasons behind them.

Hum...

The entrance deep within the valley, leading to the Ancient Clan Secret Land, silently opened. Tan Lin entered with familiar ease.

Nearly a million years ago.

Only Ancient Emperor's Daughter Tian Ling and a few members of her clan had known of this secret land. Yet now, that Primordial Emperor Clan, along with the Ancient Emperor's Daughter herself, had long perished amid the chaos of time.

After such an immense span of years, the dead were gone, enough to bury every secret.

Now, he was undoubtedly the only one who knew the location of this secret land's entrance and how to open it.

What lay before him was still exactly as it had been when he crossed over here and departed almost immediately. The Mystic Platform from the underground palace of the Drill Tower had also been moved here with him through that crossing.

If he wished to return to the Drill Tower in the Southern Region, he only needed to activate this Ancient Clan Mystic Platform here. It would not alert anyone. His former beloved, Ancient Emperor's Daughter Tian Ling, had often done the same.

Unfortunately, the secret land, the Mystic Platform, and even the painting she had gifted him during the Primordial Era remained, while she had already vanished.

Standing amid these scenes of the past, Tan Lin lingered for a long time.

The secret land formed its own world. It was not small, and like the Drill Tower, it was isolated from the outside world. Yet it had remained tranquil throughout the ages. Even at its most crowded, there had only ever been him and Tian Ling.

Dense Primordial Era spiritual energy gathered into mist, filling the small world and nourishing the withered roots of spirit medicines scattered across the ground.

Here, even time seemed to pass exceptionally slowly.

At this moment, Tan Lin's state of mind was entirely different from when he had arrived in haste and left in haste before.

He was in no great rush to bury the rare treasures he had plundered from the restricted zones. Instead, he began carefully examining this place.

His remnant soul drifted through various parts of the secret land's small world for a while.

Tan Lin could tell that after his death in the Primordial Era, Tian Ling had likely lived here for a long time.

He had already noticed it in the underground palace before. The Mystic Platform bore traces of having been activated several times before the Ancient Era, indicating that she had also stayed in that tender place at the bottom of the Drill Tower.

After a while, Tan Lin's remnant soul floated above the secret land's core region. His gaze repeatedly swept over this space that carried memories of himself and the Ancient Emperor's Daughter.

Deep in his mind, every little moment from his previous life with Tian Ling here and in the underground palace was like shattered glazed tiles, occasionally glinting with a nostalgic radiance.

In the end, he stopped reminiscing and slowly composed his emotions.

He had not forgotten why he had come.

His beloved was gone. Those still living had to seize the present.

Whoosh!

The radiant light of his Primordial Spirit spread within the Soul Pearl's barrier, passing through his translucent remnant soul.

He suddenly formed hand seals, activating Source Arts to seek dragons and determine acupoints.

He prepared to seal the Undying Medicine Seed, the rare mutated Nine-Revolution Soul-Restoring Grass, divine gold, medicine kings, and other items beneath the most stable Dragon Vein Node in this place.

Every Dragon Vein Node contained a naturally formed formation pattern. With the convergence of geomantic forces, it could not only preserve the essence of rare treasures without loss; if compatible with this place, their spirituality might even increase instead.

Together with the small amount of Divine Source Liquid he had found in Undying Mountain, it would be enough to preserve these resources until he needed them in his next life.

However.

When he pushed the Source Arts he had mastered to their limits and had already located the ideal burial site, he unexpectedly sensed a faint ripple entirely different from that of the Dragon Veins.

That fluctuation was extraordinarily weak. It was not spiritual energy leaking out, but more like some profound spatial restriction resonating with the Dragon Veins of this place after being eroded by time.

Had he not been actively employing Source Arts, he would never have noticed such a peculiar fluctuation.

"Could it be... Tian Ling left something else here?"

Interest rose within Tan Lin's remnant soul.