"Creak..."
Xu Taiping reached out to push the doors open as he asked Blade Ghost beside him:
"Senior Blade Ghost, I've never heard of this Zen Meditation Sect. Could it be a sect in the Shangqing Upper Realm?"
Blade Ghost shook his head.
"That, I do not know."
Xu Taiping nodded.
"Then I'll just have to adapt to whatever comes after I step through."
From what Xu Taiping knew of the Land of Chaos in Outer Heaven, the best way to determine whether the Zen Meditation Sect lay in Outer Heaven or within the Five Heavens was to see whether there was a sun or moon overhead.
Lotus Eye spoke up as well:
"Most sects in the Shangqing Realm's Upper Realm are built within secret realms scattered across the Land of Chaos. They have mountain-guarding grand arrays, and often use sect sacred artifacts or spirit beasts as their sun and moon to illuminate the entire sect."
Xu Taiping silently committed this to memory as he continued pushing the doors, while asking Lotus Eye in his mind:
"Was Shangqing already divided into upper and lower realms when the Five Emperors ruled?"
Lotus Eye answered:
"At least, it was when I fought alongside Zhao Xuantan."
Lotus Eye immediately added:
"But the Upper Realm was mostly a motley rabble back then. Only after certain upheavals occurred in the Five Heavens did the Upper Realm's sects gradually become stronger than those in the Lower Realm."
Xu Taiping nodded without betraying anything.
"I see."
At last, Xu Taiping pushed the two immensely heavy wooden doors fully open.
He looked up and saw nothing but chaos beyond them.
But when Xu Taiping lowered his head, he finally caught a glimmer of light.
Within the equally pitch-black, boundless Land of Chaos below, a small world hovered silently