Chapter 594: Wendao Palace

Two people conversed in the air. Lu Jiangxian, present only as a wisp of spiritual consciousness, remained completely undetected by them despite his inability to intervene. He passed by Chang Yun and Immortal Qiushui, looking up towards the sky.

He did not linger there. His spiritual consciousness moved for a while, detecting bursts of divine abilities clashing against each other. Many familiar faces appeared, all of them Purple Mansion Immortals.

These cultivators, from both south and north, were mainly Purple Mansion and Lianmin. His spiritual consciousness surveyed the area, then entered the air. He saw countless dark blue and black halls, artfully arranged, some built around lakes, others lined up on mountain ranges like fish scales. Clouds and mist drifted everywhere, and various arrays interwove, creating an infinite spectacle.

Several grotto-heavens had been opened in the south previously. The Eastern Fire Heaven was broken through by Chu Yi alone, with no restrictions to speak of, and the Mirage Mirror Heaven had connections allowing entry for all Jiangnan Dao lineages. However, Anhuai Heaven was the first grotto-heaven that had never been fully opened.

Most of Anhuai Heaven's arrays were not set up independently; instead, they functioned as sub-arrays connected to the foundational grand array of Anhuai Heaven. This entire grand array was inscribed within the grotto-heaven, and although weakened by the passage of time and worldly changes, it remained very stable.

These, of course, were matters for the Purple Mansion cultivators to worry about. Lu Jiangxian came and went freely, even able to observe the scenery in more than half of the grotto-heaven, and he slightly frowned.

"Where did Jinlian and Zhelu go?"

The strength of these several Mahas should not be underestimated. Jinlian, the leader, was a Seven-Incarnation Maha, and in Jiangnan, likely only Zi Pei could contend with her. The actions of these Mahas were particularly important as they influenced the entire grotto-heaven's evolving situation.

He observed for a while but did not find any trace of these Mahas. A slight doubt arose in his mind. He specifically paused his spiritual consciousness in Anhuai Palace, located at the highest point of Anhuai Heaven. The golden essence remained perfectly still on the immortal seat. Its brightness subtly changed due to the various divine abilities of the Purple Mansion cultivators, but it showed no signs of having been tainted.

Beside the immortal seat lay a legal seal, silently radiating light. Four large characters were inscribed beneath it:

"Huaining Jiang Clan."

Although spiritual consciousness cannot move spiritual objects, he had cultivated that immortal art—the True Communication Marvelous Art from the Mirage Mirror Heaven—making it incredibly easy to manipulate the golden essence. Lu Jiangxian could have entered Anhuai Palace and seized the golden essence.

The prerequisite was to reveal his true form to take the golden essence.

"How could the Upper Sect Luoxia Mountain not be paying attention to such a matter?" he wondered. "The Southern Underworld originally collected golden essences; would they now be observing from the void? Perhaps there's an agreement that gives these Purple Mansion cultivators hope of contention... But if I were to take this golden essence like this, I would undoubtedly die suddenly."

He had no intention of taking this item in the first place. He flew quickly through the grotto-heaven, the arrays seeming to be mere illusions, allowing him to pass through them effortlessly. Soon, he traversed numerous immortal halls, passing over various shimmering treasures, and stopped before a tall, circular, altar-shaped hall.

A brightly shining grand plaque hung above the entrance. Its brushstrokes, like dragons and phoenixes soaring, clearly indicated it was also a magical artifact. Several ancient seal characters were inscribed on it:

"Wen Dao Palace."

The light of dharma within the hall was bright. Jade slips hung high, empowered by several arrays, floating quietly on shelves. The jade slips were evenly spaced and neatly arranged, extending along a path of ornate brown long shelves deep into the hall.

Wen Dao Palace was circular in shape, becoming taller towards the center and roughly divided into six tiers. The outermost circle was vast and seemingly boundless, revealing only countless star-like crystalline lights adorning the endlessly long and tall brown shelves.

The innermost tier, however, was only the size of an ordinary room. It used altars to display jade slips; six scattered silver altars clustered around the central cylindrical jade platform, above which a crystal-clear immortal slip quietly hovered.

"The Ningguo Dao lineage... all the cultivation methods left behind by Anhuai Heaven are here!"

He stepped directly over the densely packed, bright jade slips beneath his feet, landing in the center. The platform where he landed was a faint gray, with crystalline patterns that shimmered bright and dim, as if breathing.

There was clearly some profound array on this platform. It had been faithfully operating for thousands of years, yet it did not detect anyone's arrival. Lu Jiangxian calmly passed through it and looked at the immortal slip at the very center.

His spiritual consciousness lightly moved and landed on it. As expected, there was a restriction embedded within. The royal family of Ningguo was extremely cautious; even after setting up an array on the central platform, they were still not at ease and had placed a restriction within the immortal slip itself.

This restriction emitted a crystalline radiance, with strands of divine power entangled around it, vaguely connecting with the circular altar below and even extending to the grand array that enveloped the entire grotto-heaven.

Lu Jiangxian hesitated for a moment but decided not to forcibly try to access its content. He moved his spiritual consciousness around and landed it on the surrounding altars, reading carefully.

Fortunately, the remaining cultivation methods were clearly for the ordinary practice of Anhuai Heaven's cultivators. One could read them by accumulating enough merit or obtaining permission to unlock the arrays. Several encrypted techniques were also quite shallow and easily discerned.

"Purple Mansion cultivation methods... truly Purple Mansion cultivation methods..."

Lu Jiangxian frowned as he looked. All six volumes were of the True Qi path, extremely high-grade, originally forming a complete set. The Qi gathering method was exceptionally brilliant, with extremely demanding requirements, even requiring the cooperation of many buildings within Anhuai Heaven.

"By now, it's 100% impossible to gather Qi from them," he thought. "I can only take them as reference... at least they are a few Purple Mansion cultivation methods..."

He speculated that the immortal slip at the very center was also very likely a True Qi technique. He immediately lost his initial interest, quickly scanning past it and focusing on the massive amount of cultivation methods and techniques below.

While Lu Jiangxian enjoyed peaceful times in Wen Dao Palace, Anhuai Heaven had long since devolved into chaos.

The True Monarch who established this grotto-heaven cultivated the True Qi path. The colors in the sky were crystalline, and faint array patterns could still be seen behind them, flowing downwards from above, appearing very beautiful.

Yuan Xiu's expression was grim. He stood suspended above a grand hall, the golden light in his hand indistinct, held back and not unleashed. The cultivator before him stood with clasped hands, speaking in a slightly low voice:

"Senior Si, this place belongs to my Changhuai Mountain."

The Purple Mansion cultivator from Changhuai Mountain stood in mid-air, quietly watching him. Yuan Xiu's face grew heavy as he listened, but not because of the grand hall.

Although Anhuai Heaven was good, the Jiang clan was gradually declining. That Golden Core cultivator had disappeared early on, and Anhuai Heaven gradually detached from the present world. Before even the last Purple Mansion cultivator fell, the Jiang family had to withdraw from Anhuai Heaven, with only that Purple Mansion cultivator still able to enter and exit the grotto-heaven.

The last Purple Mansion cultivator died suddenly, and Anhuai Heaven completely vanished into seclusion. Most of the good things in it, from the perspective of Purple Mansion cultivators, had long been used up; the truly useful items were undoubtedly only a few spirit artifacts and spirit objects. If not for the current discovery of the golden essence's aura, it would not have descended into such chaos.

His grim expression was not due to greed for the items in the hall. If the golden essence were in this hall, the resulting disturbance, once unleashed, could not be concealed by the Changhuai Purple Mansion, nor could it simply be taken by whoever discovered it first.

Nor was it because Changhuai Mountain unhesitatingly disrespected him. Rather, he caught information from it that caused him anxiety: as his old friends fell one by one, Yuan Xiu, who survived alone, had become weak and isolated, no longer respected by these juniors.

Although he usually bickered with Yuansu and they disliked each other, if the Changhuai Mountain Purple Mansion dared to say such words in his presence, Yuansu would immediately slap him and start cursing him openly.

"That fool has done such things before..."

Yuansu's face flashed in his mind for a moment, but was immediately dispelled by Si Boxiu. He looked grimly at the Changhuai Mountain Purple Mansion cultivator before him. In the end, he did not utter a single word, silently turning and walking away.

He had only taken two steps when the divine ability within him, Jian Chayu, subtly stirred. He immediately retreated half a step, and the golden runes in his hand leaped up, decisively blocking the golden light sprinkled towards him.

He saw two Dharma bodies darting out before him, both shimmering with golden light. One had four arms and four legs, with two faces on its neck, one grinning and one weeping, and held various magical artifacts in its hands.

The other had two eyes on its face and three on its chest. It looked over coldly, its arms arranged in a lotus shape. The golden light from before was precisely launched by it.

"Nuzi, Wumu..."

Si Boxiu was already secretly annoyed, as if a spark had ignited him. His eyes became dark and heavy, and densely packed runes, small as grains of sand, appeared, flowing like river water from his eyes. His voice overlapped:

"Do you two bald donkeys have such audacity? Who else is there?!"

"Fellow Daoist Yuan Xiu... don't be so anxious..."

Nuzi Lianmin, standing before him, seemed completely good-tempered. All its faces simultaneously squeezed out smiles, murmuring softly as if chanting a spell:

"But we can talk properly... I just need patron to admit they will no longer meddle in Li Xuanfeng's affairs... Fulfill my desire to enlighten... and I will never bother patron again in this grotto-heaven!"

Si Boxiu had always found Buddhist cultivators most disagreeable. Rage surged in his heart. How could he listen to such words? From his mouth, a roar exploded like spring thunder:

"Dream on!"

The golden rune in his hand suddenly leaped up, bringing forth a shimmering golden veil of light, like falling rain. Complex incantations flew out. This was his renowned Yellow Dao Profound Talisman. Yuan Xiu murmured:

"The Profound Talisman nourishes the core, draws forth profound vitality, and commands divine abilities to conceal."

Instantly, the radiance on the two Lianmin cultivators seemed veiled by a layer of grey gauze. The colorful and golden lights behind their heads dimmed, the air became hazy and lost its vibrancy, and various streams of light drilled into the Profound Talisman.

Nuzi Lianmin's spell flickered twice in his hand, but he grasped nothing. The golden blade he should have conjured did not appear in his palm. Anger simultaneously appeared on both his faces, and he sneered:

"What a formidable divine ability!"

He shook his hand, and astonishingly, the golden blade swung out from his arm. Half of it was still embedded in his Dharma body, biting his arm like a viper. Seeing Wumu still watching from the side, he quickly transmitted his voice:

"Wumu! Attack with me quickly! As long as we wound him, it will have the same effect... That fruit will definitely be presented after this is done!"

Wumu Lianmin nodded gravely. The three eyes on his chest simultaneously emitted purplish-blue light. His expression was focused and calm, while he quietly made his calculations:

"I've long heard that this person is considered an outstanding figure even among Purple Mansion cultivators. His talismanic arts often injure people unexpectedly... I wonder how much damage he can inflict on me... Ideally, he could severely injure me to the point of near-death, then I could turn around, find a place to hide, and cultivate."

How could Wumu Lianmin be stirring up this mess for some fruit? Yu Mujian was defeated at Moon-Gazing Lake. He had foolishly made a series of miscalculations and almost caused his own demise! He had finally found a turning point, yet was incredibly anxious.

He had boasted to that esteemed senior, claiming he would properly resolve the matter. But overtly, he had no choice but to retaliate against Li Xijun... Otherwise, if someone noticed something amiss, and that esteemed senior didn't know how to handle it, he would certainly be doomed.

After much deliberation, he finally found a solution. He immediately agreed with Nuzi Lianmin, who had come seeking aid. Outwardly displaying greed and acting hesitantly, in reality, he wished he could rush to the front and have Yuan Xiu bash his head in, so he would have a reason to quickly return north and hide properly.

How could Nuzi Lianmin know how many twists and turns were in Wumu's mind? He only saw that the person truly made a move and immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He secretly rejoiced:

"Fortunately, this fool urgently needs a spirit fruit... This matter is stable!"

Si Boxiu was in the midst of unleashing a divine ability when three purplish-blue beams of light shot towards him, instantly causing his face to darken. He had no choice but to lightly flip his hand, conjure another divine ability, and softly say:

"Hear the Dao, the void is empty, heterodox paths are nearly nothing."

He flipped his palm again, and a sphere of shimmering white mist appeared. The three purplish-blue beams of light struck it. Si Boxiu's eyebrows slightly furrowed; he squeezed and pulled forcefully, then clenched his hand into a fist, and with a wave, threw it. The spell was thus dissolved.

The three eyes on Wumu Lianmin's chest blinked. After two attempts, he had completely forgotten how to cast the spell. He felt both surprise and delight, but loudly cursed:

"Nuzi! How is this person so powerful! You want to trick me into fighting him to the death for a mere spirit fruit! What kind of sense does that make?!"

Nuzi Lianmin had just dissolved the spell. His body rapidly expanded, and his numerous arms conjured various weapons. He muttered a voice transmission:

"What are you playing at?! How many Purple Mansion cultivators from that era were simple? Yuansu, Yuan Xiu, Zi Pei, Qiushui—all were formidable figures! The reason they weren't widely known was because Duanmu Kui and Dong Hua were overshadowing them!"

How could Wumu Lianmin not know? He was merely taking advantage and trying to extort more from him. He transmitted his voice:

"No more fighting! No more fighting! This old monk won't fight anymore!"

Nuzi replied, "Add to it if you want!"

Nuzi Lianmin naturally knew what he was thinking and coldly replied. The two Lianmin cultivators appeared to be working together, but were privately haggling. How could Si Boxiu not see through them? He sneered:

"A rabble!"

He was in the process of manifesting his divine ability, but his expression suddenly froze. He looked up and observed carefully for a moment, then suddenly withdrew his hands and clasped them behind his back. His expression was grim, and he remained silent.

The two Lianmin cultivators also noticed something and abruptly looked up. Before them, a man appeared.

The newcomer was clad in green robes, his face young. His sleeves billowed, and his long, unbound hair slightly spread in the wind. His eyes were a light blue, and numerous green reflections shimmered around him.

He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his expression very natural, in wide-sleeved robes. He looked over casually and softly said:

"Martial Uncle, it's truly been many years!"