With his thoughts moving slightly, Li Qingshan began to silently operate the secret true meaning of the word "Ji" that he had just realized.
Unlike ordinary cultivators who struggle to trigger their abilities even once out of thousands of attempts, he possessed a profound and boundless Innate Sacred Body Dao Embryo, along with the blessing of supreme wisdom.
After circulating it in the mind seventy-two times,
"Buzz!"
It was as if some invisible shackle within my body had been quietly unlocked, or as if a giant wave had suddenly surged up on a calm sea!
The moment the Nine Secrets: Jie was triggered, Li Qingshan stepped into the Divine Forbidden Domain.
An indescribable, surging power erupted from the deepest part of my being, instantly engulfing my entire body!
Qi and blood surged like a dragon's roar, the Bitter Sea churned like a surging tide, the five Divine Treasures in unison, and the chanting of scriptures from the Dao Palace could be faintly heard.
His aura Ultimate Sublimation in an instant, not a simple accumulation of quantity, but a brief leap in quality, elevating his overall state to a completely new level!
Tenfold trigger!
This is not a figment of imagination, but a genuine, comprehensive, and balanced tenfold improvement!
This improvement is by no means limited to brute physical strength.
At this moment, the speed of my thinking, the range and precision of my spiritual perception, and even my ability to subtly capture the laws of heaven and earth have all been enhanced in every way.
This is a complete leap in the level of life within a short period of time!
This Ultimate Sublimation of the Divine Forbidden Domain, further enhancing the Nine Secrets: Jie, truly broke through the barrier of the Saint King for Li Qingshan's combat power.
It lasted for several breaths before slowly receding like a tide, and the body returned to normal.
In a true duel between masters, a few breaths are enough to decide life or death and determine victory.
"Seventy-two cycles, successfully triggered once, lasting for several breaths." Li Qingshan understood, and had a clear understanding of the effect of his initial comprehension of the "All" secret.
This success rate and duration far exceed those of ordinary cultivators, making it a powerful trump card in his hands.
Although it is only the initial understanding, and it will take time to get used to fully triggering it at will, the core Daoist essence of the "All" character has been deeply imprinted in his Daoist foundation like a seed, and has formed a subtle connection with the origin of his Innate Sacred Body Dao Embryo.
Given time, as one's understanding deepens and one becomes more proficient in its application, the probability and effect of triggering this secret will far exceed that of ordinary cultivators.
After all, his own profound origins and solid foundation are the best basis for performing such secret techniques to unleash potential.
He turned slightly to the side, his gaze falling on the few quiet thatched huts.
Unbeknownst to anyone, Li Ruoyu had silently appeared under the eaves of the hut.
He was still wearing that coarse linen clothes, faded from washing, and straw sandals on his feet were stained with the damp mud of the mountain morning.
He exuded no powerful aura; in fact, he appeared more ordinary and "unremarkable" than ever before.
He stood there, his breath seemingly merging completely with the wood of the thatched hut, the earth beneath his feet, and the gradually brightening sky behind him.
If one does not deliberately search for it with their divine sense, even if their gaze sweeps over it, they may overlook it, mistaking it for just a shadow or an old door frame.
This is the true essence of Clumsy Peak's lineage after one has truly entered the realm of enlightenment: returning to simplicity and following the natural way.
"Congratulations." Li Ruoyu said, her voice calm and even, as natural and ordinary as saying "It's dawn."
There was no surprise, no inquiry, only the calm acceptance of a fellow traveler who senses another guiding light ahead.
Li Qingshan looked at him, nodded slightly, and said nothing more.
Some insights are best left unsaid to outsiders;
Some resonances need no further explanation.
Then, in the increasingly bright morning light, Li Qingshan's figure, like a dewdrop in the sunlight, slowly became transparent and faded away, eventually turning into a fleeting shadow like a Qingfeng, quietly disappearing from the spot.
Only a few withered yellow pine needles, carried by the air currents, swirled in the air before gently drifting down.
Standing in front of the thatched hut, Li Ruoyu gazed at the spot where Li Qingshan had disappeared, then looked up at the sky, a faint, almost imperceptible smile appearing on his face.
He turned around, pushed open the half-closed wooden door, and walked into the thatched hut, beginning his ordinary yet fulfilling day as he did every morning.
Meanwhile, on other main peaks of the Taixuan Sect, some highly skilled elders and even peak masters gazed towards Clumsy Peak in the morning light. Although they did not perceive any specific anomalies, they vaguely felt that Clumsy Peak seemed more "serene" and "profound" than usual today.
It was as if that mountain, silent for many years, had completed a silent breath in the moonlit night, accumulating a deeper essence.
The "all" of the Nine Secrets have already fallen into the trap.
Not long after.
At the summit of Star Peak, behind the main hall, lies a secret chamber unknown to ordinary disciples.
The palace gate was not made of ordinary wood or stone, but was cast from a single piece of black iron that had sunk into the North Sea abyss a thousand years ago. It was three feet thick and weighed over ten thousand kilograms.
The surface of the door is engraved with countless intricate array patterns using secret methods, layer upon layer, as fine as hair, yet interlocking.
When the formation is fully activated, these patterns will flow with a faint blue light, like living meridians. They can not only isolate all sounds, auras, and divine senses from the inside and outside, but also cannot be destroyed in a short time by bombardments from Mighty Figure beings. They can be described as indestructible.
At this moment, Hua Mingxuan, the leader of Star Peak, dismissed all his followers and the disciples guarding the hall.
The two elders, whose auras were deep and had reached the Dragon Transformation Secret Realm, looked puzzled, but seeing the sect leader's unprecedentedly solemn expression, they dared not ask any more questions. They simply bowed deeply and retreated away.
Their footsteps echoed through the long, empty white marble corridor, gradually fading into the distance until they disappeared around the corner.
With a deep, resounding boom like the jaws of a giant beast closing, the heavy iron palace doors slowly closed, sealing them perfectly.
The array patterns on the door lit up one after another, the eerie blue light flowing like ripples on water, eventually weaving into an impenetrable net of light that completely covered and sealed the entire door.
Inside the secret room, only two people remained.
Seven antique-style lanterns hang from the beams. The lanterns are carved from spirit jade, and the wicks are made from the oil of deep-sea dragons mixed with several rare spices. When burning, they produce no smoke, only a faint, slightly fishy fragrance.
A dim, steady light filled the not-so-spacious room, illuminating its simple, almost shabby furnishings:
A thousand-year-old jade table with a warm, lustrous sheen, two old futons, and a three-legged bronze incense burner.
Apart from that, the four walls were empty, and there was nothing else there.
Hua Mingxuan knelt on the futon on the left, his back straight as he tried his best to maintain the dignity of the master of a peak and a Mighty Figure of Immortal Platform.
However, his hands, resting on his knees, betrayed the turbulent emotions churning within him.
Those knuckles were cracking from being clenched so tightly, they were deathly pale, and the veins on the back of their hands bulged out like earthworms.
His eyes were sunken, surrounded by dark bruises, his cheekbones were prominent due to his thinness, and his eyes were filled with spiderweb-like blood vessels, a frightening red.
These three days felt like three hundred years of torment to him. Li Qingshan's words from that day kept replaying in his mind, as well as the terrifying clues he had secretly investigated.
" Eastern Exalt," Hua Mingxuan began, his voice hoarse and dry, like two rusty iron pieces rubbing against each other, each word seemingly draining his strength, "I have followed your instructions, sparing no effort to use the Star Peak's secret ' Star-Gazing Spirit-Derivation Art ' day and night to secretly investigate."
He paused, his chest heaving violently, as if the words he was about to say were as heavy as a thousand pounds and difficult to utter.
His gaze passed over the jade table and landed on Li Qingshan, who sat calmly opposite him. His eyes were bloodshot, almost as if they were about to bleed.
"That kid Yunfei, his movements, cultivation progress, and even subtle changes in personality over the past ten years, combined with certain obscure records from the Star Peak Protector Array that I've almost forgotten, are indeed abnormal." His throat bobbed, each word seemingly squeezed out with difficulty from between his teeth, "Especially that 'secret cultivation' he claimed to have three years ago, the array records show that outside his secluded cultivation chamber, there was an extremely brief and weak residual fluctuation, but its essence was completely different from any other lineage of the Taixuan aura. That fluctuation was cold, domineering, and carried a kind of demonic nature that devoured all things."
Hua Mingxuan suddenly looked up, his gaze fixed on Li Qingshan. His eyes held a mixture of despair at the shattering of his last glimmer of hope and the pain of having to face the cruel reality. " Eastern Exalt said that day, I'm afraid, is true." The last two words, as light as a mosquito's buzz, yet as heavy as thunder, struck Hua Mingxuan's own heart, and also struck the entire enclosed room.
Li Qingshan sat on the opposite futon, his posture completely relaxed, a stark contrast to Hua Mingxuan's tense demeanor.
He didn't look at Hua Mingxuan's almost collapsing expression; instead, his gaze fell on the bronze incense burner in the center of the jade table.
Inside the furnace, a wisp of blue smoke rose straight up, like a pillar, condensing and not dissipating, until it touched the beams and pillars of the palace roof, before slowly spreading out and merging into the dim yellow light.
His calmness was out of place with the almost frozen, heavy atmosphere in the hall.
A deathly silence fell over the hall.
Only the extremely faint crackling sound of the seven oil lamp wicks burning was exceptionally clear in the otherwise impenetrable silence.
Hua Mingxuan's chest heaved violently several times, like a drowning person desperately trying to breathe.
He gritted his teeth, braced himself with his hands on the ground, and actually took three steps back, away from the prayer mat, before his knees landed heavily on the ground with a dull thud.
He faced Li Qingshan and knelt down deeply in the most solemn and humble posture, his forehead pressed against the cold, hard bluestone ground, remaining there for a long time.
"You shameless old man!" His voice came from the ground, muffled and distorted, carrying a desperate resolve, "I implore the Eastern Exalt to intervene and sever this root of disaster for my Taixuan! Save that child Yunfei!"
He paused, then promised, word by word, with absolute clarity. "The 'conditions' promised by the Eastern Exalt will be used for this matter!"
Li Qingshan finally made a move.
He slowly shifted his gaze from the smoke from the incense burner to the old man a few feet in front of him, whose forehead was touching the ground and whose body was trembling slightly with excitement and fear.
"Have you thought this through?" Li Qingshan's voice remained calm, utterly devoid of emotion. "Once we make our move, there will be no turning back. Your most outstanding successor from Star Peak may have his cultivation path completely destroyed, and even his life in danger. The entanglement with the Ruthless One Lineage is by no means something to be trifled with."
Hua Mingxuan didn't raise his head; instead, he pressed his forehead even harder against the ground. His voice was forced out through clenched teeth, each word soaked with blood, tears, and resolve. "I've thought it through! If we let it develop unchecked, it won't just affect Star Peak, but the entire Taixuan! A short, sharp pain is better than a long, drawn-out one! I am willing to bear all the consequences! I only ask that the Eastern Exalt use swift and decisive measures to eradicate it completely!"
Li Qingshan looked at the old man who had held immense power in the Taixuan Sect for nearly a thousand years, yet now appeared as humble as dust.
"Okay." Li Qingshan offered no further comment or words of comfort, simply uttering a single word.
Upon hearing this, Hua Mingxuan abruptly raised his head, his eyes flashing with an almost tangible light—the intense reaction of seeing a glimmer of hope in despair. "When will we make our move?" he asked urgently, his voice hoarse with excitement. "Does the Eastern Exalt need time to prepare? That protector is surely lurking in the shadows, like a venomous snake, fully aware of Yunfei's every move. If we alert him, allowing him to escape or resort to desperate measures, I'm afraid..."
"He's at the Taixuan Sect, he can't escape." Li Qingshan interrupted him, his tone still calm.
"What?" Hua Mingxuan was struck dumb, his face turning deathly pale instantly. " Taixuan Sect? How is this possible?" Before he could finish speaking, instinctively, his powerful divine sense, belonging to the peak of the Second Heaven of the Immortal Platform, swept across the entire mountain gate without reservation, like mercury spilling onto the ground.
However, the moment he turned his head, Li Qingshan moved.
He simply raised his right hand casually, his five fingers naturally spread, his palm facing the direction of the heavy black iron palace door, and then gently grabbed back.
The movements are gentle and unhurried, like a scholar capturing a falling plum blossom from afar, or casually brushing aside a willow branch while strolling leisurely.
But the next moment,
"BOOM!!!"
The entire space emitted a muffled groan as it was forcibly distorted and torn apart by some incomprehensible force!
Inside the secret hall, several feet above the entrance to the Xuan Tie Hall, a pitch-black rift suddenly appeared out of nowhere!
The crevice was initially only a foot long and as thin as a hair, but in an instant it expanded to be more than a person's height, with irregularly twisted and writhing edges. Inside was absolute darkness and nothingness, emanating a terrifying aura that was chilling and devoured everything.
The solid space here seemed to have become a fragile piece of cloth, torn open at will.
Through this menacing spatial rift, one could vaguely see the scene on the other side: a valley, bathed in a cold moonlight, with jagged rocks. It was a remote place on the outermost edge of the Taixuan Sect Star Peak!
At the same time, a powerful aura, cold, obscure, and carrying a strong sense of decay and devouring, rushed into the secret hall from the other side of the crack like a floodgate opening!
This aura was so powerful that it had reached the peak level of a second-level Heavenly Realm expert!
The seven steadily burning dragon oil flames on the lamp suddenly shrank to the size of soybeans under the impact of this chilling aura, flickering like will-o'-the-wisps, as if they might be extinguished at any moment.
The temperature inside the sealed room plummeted, and a thick layer of white frost visibly condensed on the bluestone floor and walls, while a chilling mist filled the air.
Immediately following, a sharp, short shriek, filled with shock, anger, and disbelief, came from the other end of the spatial rift!
A blurry black shadow appeared as if it had been forcibly pulled from the shadows of a valley a thousand miles away by an invisible giant hand. It was forced to pass through a spatial rift and stumbled and "thrown" into the Star Peak Secret Palace!
The dark figure was in a sorry state; clearly, this "capture" across space was completely unexpected and certainly not voluntary.
He managed to steady himself in mid-air, but his movements were slowed by the dizziness of the spatial shift and the binding force of the invisible hand.
Hua Mingxuan then recognized who it was.
He was an old man, thin as a bamboo pole, wearing an old gray robe that had been starched until it turned white and the cuffs were worn.
His face was a sickly, waxy yellow, his eye sockets were sunken like a skull, and his cheekbones were high.
What was most unsettling were his eyes; the pupils had an eerie grayish-white hue, murky and lifeless, lacking the vitality of a living person, like the eyes of a fish that had been dead for a long time.
But at this moment, those lifeless eyes were filled with shock, rage, and a barely perceptible trace of fear.
"You, how did you..." The gray-robed elder, Ruthless One Lineage, stared intently at Li Qingshan, his hoarse voice like sandpaper rubbing against a rusty iron pipe. He couldn't understand how someone could so accurately and in such an inconceivable way "catch" him directly from his hiding place thousands of miles away, when he had concealed himself so deeply, confident that even King- level figure would have difficulty detecting him from a distance of thousands of miles!
Li Qingshan didn't even glance at the protector, as if he were merely brushing a fallen leaf off his shoulder.
He maintained his original posture, but uttered a single word to the protector who had just regained his footing, whose eyes were filled with murderous intent and who was about to make a move:
Li Qingshan didn't even glance at the protector, as if he were merely brushing a fallen leaf off his shoulder.
He maintained his original posture, but uttered a single word to the protector who had just regained his footing, whose eyes were filled with murderous intent and who was about to make a move:
"Certainly."
Words spoken are law followed.
The moment that seemingly ordinary word rang out, everything in the secret hall—the surging, chilling aura, the biting frost, the flickering lamplight—seemed to come to a standstill.
The imposing aura that the gray-robed old man had just gathered suddenly froze.
His gaunt figure, in a slightly forward-leaning, attacking posture with dark, ethereal light beginning to gather at his fingertips, was completely frozen in mid-air, like an insect trapped in amber.
Not only was his body unable to move, but even the divine power surging within him and the divine thoughts churning in his sea of consciousness were brought to an absolute standstill by this one word.
In those gray, lifeless fish eyes, the look of terror and disbelief froze completely.