"……"
Lu Li remained expressionless, merely gazing coldly at the young cultivator in plain-colored daoist robes standing before him.
"May I ask, sir, who exactly are you?"
After a few moments of silence, Lu Li asked this question.
"You can call me Mr. You."
The young cultivator in plain-colored daoist robes answered with a light laugh.
Mr. You?
In his mind, Lu Li rapidly reviewed all thirty Immortal Ascension Realm cultivators who had appeared in the history of Chenping Continent besides himself. Among those thirty Immortal Ascension Realm true persons, not a single one had the surname You.
He wasn't the least bit surprised.
"So, what brings you to my Kongshan Sect today?"
Lu Li said calmly.
"Nothing much, I just wanted to meet you."
Mr. You replied.
"You're so certain that I am Kong Yang's reincarnation?"
"Not certain, it's just intuition."
A faint scent of incense drifted within Caijun Tower. After Lu Li became the Sword Master Elder of Qingchan Peak, he did not choose to move to Qingchan Hall, but rather chose to remain in his Caijun Tower.
Nine thousand years ago, he passed away at the very place where Caijun Tower was built, and even now, his Dao foundation still remained here.
Just then, the sound of footsteps came once more from the entrance of Caijun Tower's main hall.
A disciple wearing deep gray daoist robes, with an ordinary appearance but possessing a spirited air, slowly stepped into Caijun Tower. A token hung at his waist, inscribed with the four large characters "Qingchan Chief Disciple".
Eight years ago, Chu Xiyao stepped down from her position as Chief Disciple of Qingchan Peak and went to Qingchan Peak's Scripture Hall to take up the post of Scripture Hall Guardian.
Three years ago, Chu Xiyao broke through to the Passable God Realm, and finally, one year ago, she was appointed as Scripture Hall Elder of Qingchan Peak.
This was Fu Qian paving the way for Chu Xiyao.
Although Lu Li also disliked handling the various affairs of Qingchan Peak and never dealt with any of Qingchan Peak's affairs, he was, after all, not Chu Chen.
Lu Li did not completely delegate his authority to Fu Qian, nor was he inclined towards Bai Qiming.
He was maintaining a balance of power.
In recent years, opposition to Fu Qian on Qingchan Peak had grown increasingly louder. Although it still hadn't shaken Fu Qian's fundamental power base, it had made him feel his current situation was becoming more and more delicate.
Thus, he had already begun preparing to pave the way for Chu Xiyao, planning for her to smoothly become the Martial Elder of Qingchan Peak after she broke through to the Myriad Transformations Realm.
And he would continue to wield power from behind the scenes in the capacity of an Offering Elder.
The ordinary-looking youth who had just entered Caijun Tower was Lu Li's personal disciple, also the cultivation genius meticulously selected by Fu Qian back in the day, Yi Ning.
"Yi Ning pays respects to Master."
The current Chief Disciple of Qingchan Peak bowed deeply towards Lu Li's direction, then also glanced at the young cultivator in plain-colored daoist robes standing beside him and gave a slight bow of acknowledgment.
Mr. You paid no attention to Yi Ning, only an unintentional smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
"What brings you here?"
Lu Li, sitting on the meditation cushion, asked Yi Ning calmly.
Over these years, he had not taught Yi Ning anything; theirs was a master-disciple relationship in name only.
The reason Yi Ning had achieved such high accomplishments was entirely due to the resource support from the Qingchan Martial Discipline lineage and the personal instruction of Chu Chen and Fu Qian.
"Reporting to Master, word just came from Kongyuan Mountain that the several Dao Union Realm great powers within the Fallen Sword Mountain Range have decided on the time to activate the Abyssal Tower and destroy the Great Demon's Egg."
Yi Ning said.
"When?"
Lu Li still showed no expression, merely asking calmly.
"Tomorrow at the hour of Shen."
Yi Ning replied.
"It seems everything will end faster than I imagined."
Mr. You, standing beside Yi Ning, laughed.
Lu Li glanced at Mr. You, said nothing, then looked back towards Yi Ning's direction:
"You may withdraw first."
"Why so eager to send him away?"
Mr. You said:
"Since this little fellow from Mirage Palace has come, why not let him stay a bit longer?"
Little fellow from Mirage Palace?
Could it be...
Lu Li, being the reincarnation of True Person Caiyun, quickly realized what Mr. You meant.
He saw an extremely unfamiliar smile appear on Yi Ning's face beside Mr. You. Yi Ning then turned and bowed deeply towards Mr. You's direction before speaking:
"As expected, this senior has some connection with my Mirage Palace. You are the second person capable of seeing through the illusion arts of my Weaving Dreams Tower."
In an instant, Yi Ning's face began to gradually distort. After a few moments, it transformed into a handsome young man with sword-like eyebrows, starry eyes, red lips, and white teeth, who was now bowing towards Mr. You with a beaming smile.
"Eight years ago, when I saw Si Youyou perform the Thousand Clouds Transformation at the Floating Light Summit Dao Inquiry, I had already realized senior had some connection with my Mirage Palace."
Xiao Bo'an said.
"So, the reason you're here now is because you knew I would come?"
Mr. You asked.
"Of course not. It's just that I have some mutual interests with a certain Grand Elder of Kongshan Sect, so..."
Xiao Bo'an said.
"I do indeed have some connection with your Mirage Palace."
Mr. You said with a laugh:
"But that's not something a little fellow like you is qualified to know."
In the next instant, the light in Xiao Bo'an's eyes instantly vanished.
Then he fell forward directly onto the floor of Caijun Tower, becoming a corpse.
A single thought determined life and death.
"You killing the current Chief Disciple of Qingchan Peak within this Caijun Tower puts me in a very difficult position."
Lu Li said calmly.
"It's merely the difference between dying a day earlier or a day later."
Mr. You said.
"What is your current cultivation realm?"
Lu Li asked.
"The limit that this era can bear."
Mr. You answered very frankly.
"So, you have already seen it?"
Lu Li asked.
"Seen what?"
Mr. You asked in return.
"Heaven's secrets, destiny, the future of this world."
Lu Li said.
"Just before coming here to see you, I took a peek."
Mr. You said with a smile.
"What did you see?"
Lu Li asked.
"I saw nothing."
Mr. You shook his head, looking very relaxed:
"This world no longer has a future."
Upon hearing this, Lu Li was silent for a moment. In the end, he only uttered two words:
"What a pity."
"There's nothing to pity. At least you and I are not people who have only lived one lifetime."
Mr. You said.
"Your state of mind is quite carefree."
Lu Li said.
"It's not exactly carefree. It's just that I've been pondering a question."
Mr. You said.
"What question?"
Lu Li asked.
"Could it be that our current predicament is merely an erroneous fork on the only correct path?"
Mr. You lifted his foot and stepped over the corpse of Xiao Bo'an lying on the ground, placing his hands behind his back.
"What do you mean?"
Lu Li raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Perhaps, everything still has a chance to start over."
Mr. You said with a smile.