Color Pierces the Thoroughfare

Zilin nodded slightly, then asked:

Has Ao Xiao made any unusual moves?

Upon hearing this, Yang Nan's expression immediately relaxed, even showing a hint of a smile, and she unconsciously rubbed her hands together.

"With the golden headband and scriptures borrowed from the East Sea by Abbot Su, he can't cause any trouble." There was even a hint of schadenfreude in his tone. "Fellow Daoist Li Chaoxue uses the golden headband day and night, keeping Ao Xiao from having any disloyal thoughts and ensuring he obediently follows our plan."

After hearing Ying Qi stepped forward, cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards Yang Nan, and said solemnly:

"I trouble you, fellow Daoist, to guard the Water Palace Secret Realm well; this matter must not be neglected. Zilin and I will guard this place, to prevent those demon kings from causing trouble."

Upon seeing this, Yang Nan quickly returned the greeting, slightly cupped his hands, and said no more. His figure transformed into Subterranean Water, silently disappearing into the lake and vanishing from sight.

After Yang Nan left, Ying Qi turned around and looked at Zilin, the relaxed look between her brows disappearing.

He hesitated for a moment before asking:

"The Purple-Blue Secret Realm is about to open. Has Fellow Daoist Su completed his second Divine Ability?"

Upon hearing this, Zilin shook her head, her gaze turning towards Golden Ao Mountain, a faint hint of solemnity in her voice:

"I don't know. After all, even among those favored by the Fruition Position of cultivation, Fellow Daoist Yang failed twice to break through to the second level of Divine Ability Divine Ability, only succeeding three years ago..."

She paused, then looked away. "After Fellow Daoist Su achieved perfect Divine Ability, he went and killed two Purple Mansion Early Stage who escaped from Longchuan Heaven, and then went into seclusion to break through to the second stage of Divine Ability. I went to check on him before I came, and he's still in seclusion..."

Upon hearing this, Ying Qi nodded and didn't press the matter further. He turned around, his gaze sweeping across the surface of Cibi Lake towards the confluence of the two rivers to the north. His brows furrowed slightly, and his tone deepened:

"A few days ago, Mo Li, Xuan Yan, and Fellow Daoist Yang sent word from the confluence of the two rivers that the aura of Proclaiming Earth has become increasingly strong recently..."

Upon hearing this, Zilin's expression turned cold.

She had heard Su Yao and Yang Xiu mention this matter many times over the years. Back then Xue Min, with her Five Laws Perfection body and the power of the Cang Mountain Divine Power and the Law Treasure, could only barely fight against the reincarnation of True Lord had just entered the Purple Mansion. Now, more than forty years have passed, Xue Min has long since disappeared, but the reincarnation of the True Lord must have recovered to its original state, and his cultivation is probably even more advanced.

Her fingers unconsciously tightened around the hilt of the sword hidden in her sleeve, mentally reviewing her own strengths and weaknesses. Of the five, Yang Xiu possessed the Purple Mansion Second Divine Ability; if Su Yao could break through the second Divine Ability of the Divine Power this time, coupled with that clear Sword Intent, he could barely be considered a mid-stage fighter of the third Divine Ability. As for the others... even if they were all combined, they probably wouldn't be able to defeat a Supreme True Person reincarnation with just one hand...

Moreover, when the king intervened back then, he only severely injured the reincarnation of the True Lord; he did not truly expel him from Nanzhao, but instead imprisoned him at the confluence of the two rivers.

Nowadays, even simply driving them away is wishful thinking.

Unless the adults intervene secretly or provide additional means.

But if they rely on those above them for everything, then these few people will truly just be pawns being pushed around by others.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but speak with a hint of hope, leaning slightly forward and fixing her gaze on Ying Qi's face:

"According to what Fellow Daoist Su said back then, and as you and I have also visited it later, there is a layer of Proclaiming Earth barrier at the confluence of the two rivers, with Subterranean Water Restriction established by the king..."

Before she could finish speaking, Ying Qi slowly shook her head, her brows slightly furrowed:

"They sent word that the Subterranean Water Restriction is almost completely destroyed."

Upon hearing this, Zilin's expression changed drastically, and she almost blurted out:

"Are you really abandoning Nanzhao?" Her hands clenched unconsciously inside her sleeves, her voice carrying a hint of urgency she herself didn't realize. "These past years have been plagued by disasters. Demons and Devil Cultivator have ravaged Nanzhao. Apart from the royal city, the Golden Ao territory, and the villas you, Mo Li, Xuan Yan, and Fellow Daoist Yang Xiu run, it's basically a living hell..."

Ying Qi paused for a moment, then shifted his gaze from the surface of Cibi Lake to the direction of the royal city, his tone tinged with uncertainty:

"I don't know. I only heard from Fellow Daoist Yang before I came that Fellow Daoist Su was in seclusion, and he received an imperial decree that he only said..."

Zilin quickly pressed for an answer, leaning forward an inch further:

"What did you say?"

Ying Qi did not speak immediately.

He hesitated for a long time, as if weighing whether he should say those words and how to say them, before finally speaking slowly:

"Back then, not long after Fellow Daoist Su broke through to the Purple Mansion, the King of the Kingdom, along with the King of Great Qing Liao, the Witch God of the Witch Hall, and the Grand Master of the Confucian School Vast Righteousness Academy, watched a play in the Nanzhao Royal City. The play was called ' Autumn in the Old Court.'" He paused, his gaze slightly narrowing. "The last line of the play was: 'The true gate does not open to the mundane world, but only on the stage where the moon is full deep in the clouds. If you wait until the sky collapses and there is nowhere to stand, then bring your old bamboo slips up the mountain. The old bamboo slips can be burned or exchanged; I ask you, are you willing to remove your crown?'"

After he finished speaking, the two remained silent for a long time.

Zilin repeatedly murmured those few lines of opera dialogue, her voice extremely slow, as if she were savoring the weight of each word.

"The true gate does not open to the mundane world..." she murmured. "The true gate, does it refer to my Mysterious Gate? Does 'not opening to the mundane world' mean that the immortal Immortal Dao does not intervene in the struggles of the mortal world? Or does it mean... that the gate only opens to those who are 'true'?"

She frowned slightly, then recited the next line. "Only on the platform where the clouds are deep and the moon is full. Deep clouds, full moon... The depths of the clouds are unknown, the full moon wanes after it is full. Does this refer to the opportune moment? Or does it mean that the door will only open on the day when the clouds are deep and the moon is full?"

She took two small steps, pacing slowly through the Great Void. Her purple robes swayed gently with her movements, like smoke and mist. She lowered her head, her fingertips unconsciously calculating within her sleeves, as if she were deducing something.

"If the sky collapses and there's nowhere to stand... the sky collapses, the sky collapses..." She suddenly stopped, raised an eyebrow, and a flash of understanding appeared in her eyes, "The sky collapses, are you referring to the Proclaiming Earth Rebellion?"

She paused, then recited the last two lines: "Bring the old bamboo slips up the mountain. The old bamboo slips can be burned or exchanged; I ask you, are you willing to remove your hat?" She lingered on the tip of her tongue, her brows furrowing deeper and deeper. "Up the mountain... up the mountain, is it Qixia Mountain? Or Kunlun? The old bamboo slips can be burned or exchanged; are the old bamboo slips the old traditions? The old laws? Can be burned or exchanged, does that mean these cannot be preserved, can all be discarded? Remove your hat... remove your hat..."

She suddenly looked up at Ying Qi, her eyes now clear, yet tinged with an inexplicable chill. "These lyrics, could they have been written by one of the great masters of my Mysterious Gate?"

She paused, her voice lowering further, almost inaudibly. "Watching a play, watching a play, why is it that those of us watching the play, unlike the elders of my Mysterious Gate, know the lyrics..."

Ying Qi didn't reply, but just looked at her quietly, his eyes filled with complex emotions. He knew that Zilin was always intelligent, and she would eventually understand these lines of dialogue.

He didn't continue the topic, but instead asked:

"Fellow Daoist Zilin, I haven't seen Fellow Daoist Su many times in recent years, so I don't know what the name of the second Divine Ability that Fellow Daoist Su cultivated during this seclusion is."

Upon hearing this, Zilin snapped out of her reverie, glanced at him sideways, and whispered:

"The magical Divine Ability of the Rainbow Clouds Sect, ' Color Pierces the Thoroughfare '."