Chapter 2309: Nine Yuan Temple

The black-faced Daoist said nothing more. With a flick of his sleeve, his body moved, drifting directly towards the inside of the main gate.

He seemed unusually familiar with everything inside the hall. After passing through a vast chamber and several long corridors, each stretching over a hundred *zhang*, his eyes suddenly brightened as a secluded courtyard appeared before him.

The courtyard was filled with an abundance of unusually lush flowers and trees, including various large, bowl-sized blossoms of different colors. At the entrance stood two women in palace attire, their faces veiled with silver scarves.

These two women had skin like jade and graceful figures. The aura emanating from them was subtle, almost imperceptible, yet it gave off a feeling of unfathomable depth.

"Greetings, two Immortals. I have come specifically to pay my respects to the Palace Mistress," the black-faced Daoist said, stepping forward with an exceptionally polite bow upon seeing the two women in palace attire.

"Lord Li, your humble servant wouldn't dare accept such a bow. Please, go inside quickly. The Palace Mistress has already given instructions and has been waiting for quite some time," one of the women in palace attire said with a smile, subtly twisting her waist to avoid the bow.

"Haha, Immortal, you jest," the black-faced Daoist replied with a smile. After bowing to the two women in palace attire once more, he stepped into the courtyard.

Passing through a cluster of fragrant flowers, small patches of vibrant green grass suddenly appeared before him.

Surrounding the grass were trees adorned with unusually delicate greenish-purple flowers. A woman in a purple robe stood before one of these trees, her head bowed as she leisurely admired it.

"Greetings, Palace Mistress!" The black-faced Daoist did not dare to delay. He quickly stepped forward two paces, bowing his head respectfully as he spoke.

"Nephew Li, there are no outsiders here now, so why keep calling me 'Palace Mistress' this and 'Palace Mistress' that? Just call me 'Martial Aunt'," the woman said with a light chuckle, without raising her head.

"I wouldn't dare! We are not at Yuan Guan now. Your Martial Nephew would not want to invite gossip. If someone were to speak ill of us to the Lord Inspector, both the Palace Mistress and I could face difficulties," the black-faced Daoist replied solemnly.

"You are rather timid. But with those inspectors around, being a Palace Master of an Immortal Palace is truly quite dull. We are constrained everywhere. It's far less at ease than being at Yuan Guan. How about I resign this position to your Martial Grandmaster and recommend you, my Martial Nephew, to take over?" The woman finally raised her elegant head, revealing an exceptionally fair complexion. Her arched eyebrows extended straight into her temples, giving her an inexplicable sense of authority.

"Ahem, Palace Mistress, how could Martial Grandmaster possibly agree to such a thing? Although the territory under the jurisdiction of our Jinhan Immortal Palace is insignificant in the entire Immortal Realm, it is, after all, Yuan Guan's face in the Immortal Realm, and it governs countless immortal inhabitants. How could a person of such low cultivation as your Martial Nephew be fit to be a Palace Master?" The black-faced Daoist shook his head repeatedly.

"Hmph, you smooth talker, you certainly know how to flatter. Your master and those other Martial Uncles, whose divine abilities aren't far superior to mine? Why don't I see them coming out to be the master of this Jinhan Immortal Palace? I merely entered your Martial Grandmaster's tutelage a few years later. But I've been stuck in this Immortal Palace for over a hundred thousand years now. It's time for someone else to take over, isn't it?" the woman said with a huff.

"Haha. Before joining Grandmaster's tutelage, the Palace Mistress was once the ruler of a minor spirit realm. Now, serving as the master of an Immortal Palace is merely a small test of your abilities. If it were my master or the other Martial Uncles, they are all accustomed to idleness and truly wouldn't be able to lead the Jinhan Immortal Palace to such prosperity," the black-faced Daoist said, hearing this and showering her with compliments.

"Those words are somewhat pleasing to hear. Your master and your other Martial Uncles, some are completely ignorant of worldly affairs, and it's uncertain if they even emerge from secluded cultivation once or twice in tens or hundreds of thousands of years. Others cultivate like stone statues, devoid of any emotion. Especially your master—even when I used to manage things, he would avoid me as much as possible, not daring to come within several *zhang* of me," the purple-robed woman said, seemingly recalling something unpleasant and gritting her teeth slightly.

Upon hearing this, the black-faced Daoist could only give a wry smile.

Not to mention this junior Martial Aunt, even he himself felt terrified when he usually saw his own master, not daring to utter a single word.

"By the way, today is not the day for Immortal Palace discussions. Do you have something important to discuss with me? Just now, I saw through the Heaven-Gazing Mirror that you seemed on the verge of forcing your way in if the guards at the gate hadn't let you through," the purple-robed woman suddenly asked with a smile, remembering the black-faced Daoist's true purpose for this visit.

"Reporting to the Palace Mistress, I have come this time to deliver on the matter that Grandmaster personally entrusted to me last time," the black-faced Daoist said, his expression suddenly solemn, as he instinctively lowered his voice.

"What, is it about *that* matter? Wait a moment; let's discuss this in my spirit domain," the purple-robed woman said, her previously languid expression instantly changing upon hearing the black-faced Daoist's words.

As soon as she finished speaking, the woman drew a line in the air with one finger.

Immediately, a white mark appeared out of thin air, followed by a ripple.

The white mark then swirled, transforming into countless fragments of white light that scattered.

In the nearby void, everywhere the white light passed, the scenery abruptly transformed, directly materializing into an exquisitely arranged, elegant hall. Inside, tables and chairs were perfectly arranged, and two teams of beautiful palace maids stood silently on either side of the hall.

The black-faced Daoist swept his gaze over the expressionless maids, his expression showing a hint of emotion:

"To think you've cultivated your spirit domain to the third layer, the 'Spirit Transformation Realm,' where you can manifest domain spirits! Although your domain spirits currently seem to have low cultivation and intelligence, with careful nurturing, they will absolutely become a great aid in the future."

"I, your Martial Aunt, only recently advanced my spirit domain from the 'Creation Realm' to the Spirit Transformation Realm, which is why I'm eager to return to Yuan Guan to properly consolidate it. Of course, if your Martial Grandmaster could emerge from seclusion and personally offer some guidance, that would be even better. Martial Nephew, please sit. Within my spirit domain, even the surveillance artifacts of the Immortal Inspectors cannot easily penetrate. Now, tell me thoroughly about that matter," the purple-robed woman said with a faint smile, unhurriedly taking a seat on a chair in the main hall.

"Then, your Martial Nephew shall presume," the black-faced Daoist said, not standing on ceremony, and found a chair below to sit down.

"I recall that matter; you should have started handling it several centuries ago. Do you have any results now?" the woman asked slowly, her tone becoming somewhat solemn.

"Over these past few centuries, your Martial Nephew has exhausted every method and ultimately had to pay a considerable price. Only by borrowing a unique treasure from a friend was I barely able to trace some of that person's whereabouts," the black-faced Daoist replied solemnly.

"As long as that person's traces can truly be found, any price is worth it. That person, carrying that item, defected from our Yuan Guan years ago, vanishing without a trace. Although we hold his soul-bound life token, it seems to have been concealed by some heaven-defying treasure or secret art, preventing us from sensing his life or death. Even your Martial Grandmaster, not hesitating to break custom to personally come out and investigate this matter, was obstructed by several other immensely powerful individuals and could only return without success. It was not until several centuries ago, when you reported that his soul-bound life token reacted again and that the situation seemed very grim, that Grandmaster specifically assigned this task to you. If this traitor perishes, it would naturally be no great loss, but the item he stole and took with him is crucial to the future prosperity of our Yuan Guan; it absolutely must be recovered," the woman said, her face bearing a stern, unyielding expression by the end.

Seeing this, the black-faced Daoist's heart tensed. He quickly rose, affirmed her words, and continued, bowing slightly:

"Martial Aunt, you needn't worry too much. Although cracks have appeared in this traitor's true soul token, it appears he won't truly perish anytime soon; he is most likely trapped somewhere. The only troublesome part is that the results of my investigation this time are a bit tricky. This traitor is currently not in the Immortal Realm, but rather in the Lower Realm."

"The Lower Realm! Which minor spirit realm? What's so difficult about that? Once we have his exact location, we can just spend a few more immortal spirit stones and use a Descent Platform to send someone there directly. Could the Lower Realm he fled to be one of those lost realm clusters?" The purple-robed woman was initially surprised but immediately recalled something.

"Martial Aunt, your guess is correct. The traitor did indeed flee to a minor spirit realm within the lost Little South Continent Realm Cluster. The exact minor spirit realm has not yet been definitively determined, but if we wait a few more days, we should have a precise result. However, the hundreds of minor spirit realms in that Little South Continent Realm Cluster have been lost from our Immortal Realm's control since that great upheaval years ago. We still haven't recovered their exact coordinates, so the Descent Platform cannot transmit there at all," the black-faced Daoist said with a worried expression.

"This is indeed a bit tricky. Ever since the Little South Continent Realm's coordinates shifted, because we cannot rely on the power of our Immortal Realm, not only are our Immortal Realm inhabitants unable to descend there, but it has also become extremely difficult for people from the Lower Realm to ascend to our Immortal Realm. In recent years, any Lower Realm individuals who could still ascend to our True Immortal Realm from these lost realm clusters were all of astonishing talent and boundless potential, absolutely not to be underestimated," the purple-robed woman said, narrowing her eyes, after a long moment.

"I naturally know that. Isn't the renowned Heavenly Radiance Immortal Lord of our Immortal Realm someone who ascended from a lost realm? In just a million years, he achieved such great renown and even became a direct disciple of the Grand Law Emperor Sovereign of our Immortal Realm," the black-faced Daoist said with a hint of envy in his tone.

"Alright, regardless of how those who ascend from these lost realms fare, without accurate coordinates, descending to those lost realms in the Lower Realm is absolutely impossible by conventional methods. Perhaps we'll have to visit Martial Grandmaster and see if he has any way. Given the traitor's current situation, even just one or two individuals descending would be enough to capture him. However, I'm also quite curious how that traitor managed to escape to these lost realms in the first place," the purple-robed woman said after a long moment of contemplation, a cold glint flashing in her eyes.