Above Aligned with the Stars, Below Concealing a Cave-Heaven

But if you had no idea what your subordinates were doing behind your back, you were simply being a fool. Tang Changsheng tolerated Da Xiang precisely because he had some inkling of what the man was up to!

He smiled faintly, picked up a scroll from a desk, and unfurled it. It depicted an immortal's residence amid rolling waves and frolicking fish, coral and water plants.

It was an enormous palace beneath the water. On the plaque above its main gate, four characters were clearly written: "Gourd Immortal Abode."

Tang Changsheng murmured to himself, "Since ancient times, tales have told of Cave-Heaven Blessed Lands between heaven and earth. When heaven and earth first opened, the pure and the turbid began to part, flowing together into rivers and gathering into Mountains. Some were aligned above with the stars; others concealed cave-heavens below."

"And within those cave-heavens were hidden spirit palaces and secluded mansions, jade halls and golden terraces, jeweled pools and emerald ponds, pearl trees and forests of precious jade.

"In short, they were the glorious places where immortals dwelled!"

The Gourd Immortal Abode was one of those legendary Cave-Heaven Blessed Lands.

"Hmph. If my sect hadn't instructed that disciples of the General's Temple could only attempt the Gourd Immortal Abode after mastering the Manifest Spirit arts, would I have let you run wild like this?

"But this works too. You can go in ahead of me and see how much of the Gourd Immortal Abode's formations and restrictions remain."

Tang Changsheng sneered. He had guessed what Da Xiang was plotting back when Song Da and the others were afflicted with Corpse Poison.

He simply hadn't interfered in the slightest!

Now Tang Changsheng reached into his things and drew out a small bead: a tiny gourd carved from crystal.

Turning it