HSSB1082: Land of tranquil stream
If it was possible, Yan Zhaoge actually hoped that Fu Ting would leave Ingenious Flying Peak and hide in the Restful Immortal Valley or elsewhere.
He believed that it would be Fu Ting’s turn when the Brocade Emperor had finished settling Meng Wan’s affairs.
Still, it was all just a guess as no one could guess what exactly this Emperor was thinking before anything was really done by him.
Those atop Ingenious Flying Peak had studied the legacies of the Grand Clear lineage for many years as they understood the current situation too.
He trusted that Fu Ting and the others would eventually arrive at the correct conclusion and choice.
Yan Zhaoge was currently still focused on Feng Yunsheng’s and Meng Wan’s side.
With two Emperors gracing the northern Profound Heaven Territory, things had naturally diverged from the norm there.
The Northern Exalt appeared early on to welcome the Brocade Emperor and Encompassing Emperor.
If one were to say that it would only have been out of formality before, he was fully vigilant now.
The incident at the southern Blazing Heaven Territory’s Star Reflecting Lake had only spread amongst the upper echelons as it had not been spread around to become widely known.
Still, the Northern Exalt was naturally in the know, thus definitely being wary of the Brocade Emperor.
This was also Yan Zhaoge’s first time seeing this Lord of the North, Guan Yuluo’s grandfather.
Seven Exalts had attended Broad Creed Mountain’s opening ceremony in the Royal Reed Sea.
Besides the Upper Exalt Chen Qianhua and the Earth Exalt Wang Zhengcheng, there was only the Northern Exalt who had been absent.
The revelation of the identities of Yan Zhaoge and Yan Di afterwards had shocked the entire World beyond Worlds.
However, the Northern Exalt had still done nothing. While he was not hostile to them like the Western Exalt Lang Qing and the others, he had never tried getting closer with them either.
This was congruent with the Northern Exalt’s usual style.
He could basically be considered the most low key of the Ten Exalts.
He was rather like the Female Emperor in that he seldom interacted with outsiders.
His way of doing things was not completely unfounded.
Yan Zhaoge actually had a very good impression of him.
The Northern Exalt held a neutral stance towards the matter with his mother, Xue Chuqing, also having kept those of Cloud Pavilion Mountain’s Profound Remnant Locale from getting involved.
While he had not helped to look after her, this was already a form of goodwill from the Northern Exalt.
The northern Profound Heaven Territory’s Cloud Pavilion Mountain’s Profound Remnant Locale had always been renowned for its powers of divination as the Northern Exalt was an elite in this area.
If he and his disciples had participated in the chase, it would have been incomparably difficult for Xue Chuqing to evade capture especially when her cultivation base had still been low back then.
While Xue Chuqing bore half the River Diagram for protection, there were just too many areas where she needed to utilise it.
Even if the Northern Exalt did not personally enter battle, if many disciples of Profound Remnant Locale participated in the chase, Xue Chuqing would still easily be compromised as the risks would rise greatly for her.
It was precisely because they were proficient in this dao that the Northern Exalt’s lineage generally kept a low profile, seldom participating in the world’s various conflicts.
“Yan Zhaoge greets the Northern Exalt,” Seeing the Northern Exalt, Yan Zhaoge bowed, “It has been some time since I last saw Miss Guan. Is she doing well?”
From merely his appearance alone, the Northern Exalt was probably the most inconspicuous person amongst the Ten Exalts.
He was old and slightly hunchbacked with a turbid gaze, seemingly devoid of energy as it was like he could pass away at any moment.
Amongst the Ten Exalts, the one who was the oldest and had the greatest seniority was indisputably the Earth Exalt Wang Zhengcheng.
After him was the Northeastern Exalt Liu Zhenggu. Of course, he was still much younger than Wang Zhengcheng.
Next was the Northern Exalt.
From just his appearance alone, Liu Zhenggu looked younger than the Northern Exalt despite being older than him as he appeared tough and authoritative and full of spirit.
After exchanging greetings with Yan Zhaoge, the Brocade Emperor and the Encompassing Emperor, the Northern Exalt smiled, “The little girl is crazy and wilful. I hope Little Friend Yan does not find it laughable.”
Yan Zhaoge said, “No, no. I still have Miss Guan to thank for letting me know the general direction that my wife has gone in.”
The Northern Exalt naturally knew why they had come to the northern Profound Heaven Territory, with news of this having already been transmitted to Cloud Pavilion Mountain’s Profound Remnant Locale earlier.
He pondered slightly before saying, “Little Friend Yan, Little Friend Fu, you should be prepared first. That dimensional passageway which Little Friend Feng entered extradimensional space through this time has probably really been corroded by the Nine Underworlds as it has become a land of tranquil stream.”
The so-called land of tranquil stream was not a dimension of the Nine Underworlds as it was instead created by the Nine Underworlds’ corrosion of space.
The power of the Nine Underworlds was strange and tyrannical as whether a world was formless or not, it would still be corroded by it.
Still, extradimensional space was complex as the power of the Nine Underworlds was hard pressed to corrode it. An extremely long period of time would be needed for an area to truly be assimilated.
Before that, space which had been tainted by the devilish qi of the Nine Underworlds could not be considered actual domains of the Nine Underworlds.
The reason it was termed as tranquil stream was that it could basically be considered a grey area between the Nine Underworlds and the great thousand worlds, being different from that usual encroachment from crevices of the Nine Underworlds on ordinary worlds within the universe.
After having been notified of their arrival and learnt why they had come, the Northern Exalt had made a divination for the first time in many years.
With the gap in the cultivation bases of him and Feng Yunsheng, his divination of her whereabouts should be a hundred percent accurate under normal circumstances.
Even if Feng Yunsheng was currently in extradimensional space and it was hard to precisely ascertain her position, he should still be able to determine the general direction she was in.
Still, the divination results had been chaotic and unclear.
What this entailed was really obvious.
“I understand. Many thanks for the reminder, Northern Exalt,” Yan Zhaoge inhaled deeply, cupping his hands towards the Northern Exalt.
Meng Wan looked rather nervously at her father who said, “Let us go take a look.”
The Northern Exalt said, “This old man will accompany the two Emperors in heading to the Extreme Northern Lands and wait there in case of anything.”
The Encompassing Emperor looked calmly at the Northern Exalt, nodding towards him.
They immediately set off, soon arriving at the world of ice and snow that was the Extreme Northern Lands.
They followed the clues that Feng Yunsheng had previously left behind, gradually coming to narrow down the radius of their search.
The Brocade Emperor raised a hand as the world before them instantly changed.
The all-encompassing wind and snow and the pure icy plains turned illusory, as if the actual space of the heavens and earth had become a flat, scenic portrait.
This was a variation of the Grand Beginning Bright Emptiness Form of the Grand Clear direct lineage.
The Grand Beginning Bright Emptiness Form possessed outstanding defensive power, but was not a simple defensive martial art.
It had both offensive and defensive capabilities as it possessed boundless miraculous uses.
There was only the Brocade Emperor who currently had such attainments in it within the World beyond Worlds.
Everyone gazed over and saw that amidst the heavens and earth before them that resembled a scenic portrait, some black lines could vaguely be seen.
It was like the portrait showed signs of having been restored after previously being ripped apart.
Before the Brocade Emperor had executed this technique, one would not be able to view all this.
These were dimensional crevices that would appear here from time to time before soon vanishing.
The Northern Exalt carefully examined it for a moment before his gaze fell on one of the black lines, “This should be the place.”
Following the Northern Exalt’s gaze, Yan Zhaoge and the others all nodded slowly.
“Let’s go,” The Brocade Emperor retracted his hand, the scenes before them returning from illusory to real.
As the heavens and earth regained their original look, the entrance to a dimensional passageway appeared atop the icy plains.
Gazing over from outside, it was completely black as it resembled a black hole, with streaks of electricity flickering within that were visible at times whilst indistinct at others.