Three days later.
The Five Great Sects of the Chenping Continent issued a joint proclamation, announcing to the world that the Great Demon's Egg within the Fallen Sword Mountain Range had been destroyed.
Simultaneously, the Chenping Continent also began, quietly and without fanfare, to establish a brand new order.
The path to immortality on the Chenping Continent was reviving. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth had become more abundant than before, also making it more suitable for cultivation.
And the matter of True Person Caiyun, Kong Yang of the Kongshan Sect returning to the mortal world had long since spread throughout the entire Chenping Continent.
Because his feat that day, appearing in the Fallen Sword Mountain Range and effortlessly annihilating the demon egg with a wisp of immortal energy, had already been passed from mouth to mouth among the cultivators.
...
Kongshan Sect, Qingchan Peak, Caijun Tower.
Dozens of Kongshan Sect Grand Elders dressed in pure white daoist robes stood within the main hall of Caijun Tower, paying homage to that young cultivator with a lean face and an expression devoid of joy or sorrow, who was toying with a small bronze tower in his hand.
The elder standing at the very front spoke first, bowing deeply with hands clasped.
This elder was the Kongshan Sect's Supreme Martial Pacification Elder, He Zongzhou.
A peak Divine Ability Realm cultivator, already over four thousand years old this year.
"We pay respects to Patriarch Kong!"
Everyone bowed and greeted in unison.
"Rise."
Lu Li put the Abyssal Tower into his sleeve and said calmly.
Only then did the various Kongshan Sect Grand Elders standing in the hall dare to straighten their posture before this young cultivator with the lean face.
Every single Kongshan Sect Grand Elder standing before Lu Li was, without exception, an Upper Three Realms cultivator.
Any one Kongshan Sect Grand Elder stepping beyond the mountain gate was a major figure who could make the entire Chenping Continent's cultivation world tremble three times over.
But within the main hall of Caijun Tower, they all stood like lackeys, not daring to make a sound.
Because the one seated on the main throne of the hall was an Immortal Ascension Realm cultivator, of which only thirty-one had ever appeared in the entire history of the Chenping Continent.
After Li Haoran and Huo Mu died, the Kongshan Sect had been temporarily managed by He Zongzhou.
Judging solely by cultivation talent, He Zongzhou was actually superior to Huo Mu, but in terms of seniority, he was indeed far shallower compared to Huo Mu.
After all, He Zongzhou was nearly two thousand years younger than Huo Mu.
If nothing unexpected happened, within three hundred years at most, He Zongzhou would inevitably break through to the Dao Union Realm.
And now, with the Great Dao of the Chenping Continent reviving, the path to immortality reconnected, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth becoming more abundant, it naturally made He Zongzhou's cultivation speed even faster.
Within a hundred years, he would definitely break through to the Dao Union Realm. However, given his talent, his chance of Ascending to Immortality was probably not very great.
Before a figure like Patriarch Kong, He Zongzhou naturally could not refer to himself as the Supreme Martial Pacification Elder.
He originated from the Kongshan Sect's Linwu Mountain, hence before Lu Li, his self-designation was "Linwu's He Zongzhou."
He Zongzhou had sat in the position of Kongshan Sect's Supreme Martial Pacification Elder for eighteen hundred years.
He considered himself quite experienced and knowledgeable.
Setting aside the more distant Cause of Calamity purges or other major events, in just the last twenty years, He Zongzhou had already experienced the Heavenly Summit Mountain Cataclysm, the Kongshan Sect Outer Court Cataclysm, and the demon egg calamity of the Fallen Sword Mountain Range.
Yet He Zongzhou had never imagined that he would one day meet True Person Caiyun, Kong Yang, who had fallen nine thousand years ago.
"The contributions all of you have made to the Kongshan Sect over these many years, I, Kong, have always kept in mind."
Lu Li, or rather Kong Yang, spoke thus to the various Grand Elders standing in the hall.
"Today, I am here to give only three instructions."
"Please give your orders, Patriarch Kong!"
He Zongzhou said respectfully.
"Where is Yun Yichen?"
Lu Li asked slowly.
"This disciple is here."
Yun Yichen took two steps forward from the crowd, coming to the front.
As the Sect Leader, Yun Yichen's identity was not that of a Grand Elder, but both his status within the sect and his cultivation realm were sufficient for him to rank among the Grand Elders.
"Since the Heavenly Summit Mountain Cataclysm, our Kongshan Sect has lost a total of one Dao Union Realm cultivator, one Divine Ability Realm cultivator, two Unity Realm cultivators, and four Myriad Transformations Realm cultivators. I will not list the other casualties here one by one. Yun Yichen, what are your thoughts on this?"
Lu Li posed the question this way.
"In reply to Patriarch Kong, these are all due to this disciple's dereliction of duty."
Yun Yichen bowed towards the direction of Lu Li on the platform.
"Oh? A mere little fellow in the Unity Realm, who hasn't even fully grasped his own innate spiritual energy yet. Yun Yichen, can you shoulder such a great responsibility?"
Lu Li looked somewhat playfully in Yun Yichen's direction.
"..."
Yun Yichen said nothing more, merely maintaining a deep bow for a long time, not daring to raise his head.
"You are quite good. You have already done everything you should have done. But the losses our Kongshan Sect has suffered over these twenty years are truly too great, and we urgently need to replenish with fresh blood. As for how to proceed, that is entirely up to you to handle."
After Lu Li finished speaking, he shifted his gaze away from Yun Yichen.
"This disciple understands."
Yun Yichen said, then retreated back into the crowd.
"He Zongzhou."
Immediately after, Lu Li spoke again.
"This junior is here!"
He Zongzhou stepped forward and bowed towards Lu Li's direction.
"There is one matter to entrust to you. In the coming period, the Mirage Palace side may frequently send people asking to see me. No matter who wants to see me, refuse them all. Find your own reasons."
Lu Li instructed He Zongzhou.
"This junior understands!"
He Zongzhou replied.
Lu Li certainly would not meet people from the Mirage Palace.
When the Great Dao of the Chenping Continent revived and Lu Li had just regained his Immortal Ascension Realm cultivation, he casually performed a divination.
The Great Dao of the Chenping Continent comprised forty-nine paths, of which seven were currently occupied.
This meant that at this very moment, within the Chenping Continent, there were seven reincarnated bodies of Immortal Ascension Realm cultivators, all waiting for the removal of the Cause of Calamity.
He did not know if among the other six, there existed a reincarnated Immortal Ascension being from the Mirage Palace.
If there was, then the Mirage Palace would certainly not let the matter of him "forcibly seizing" the Abyssal Tower rest.
But Lu Li did not intend to return it.
Forging an immortal artifact for the Kongshan Sect had always been True Person Caiyun's dream.
Back then, the Mountain-Shaking Bell he painstakingly forged ultimately had its foundation damaged due to the Karmic Backlash caused by that half-step Immortal Ascension Black Flood Dragon. It could forever only remain a high-grade, high-tier magical instrument, unable to step into the rank of an immortal artifact.
This matter had always been his regret, until he saw the Mirage Palace's Abyssal Tower within the Fallen Sword Mountain Range.
"The final matter, I ask everyone present to listen clearly."
Lu Li's speaking voice was also very soft, his tone very flat, but every single Upper Three Realms cultivator present could hear him with perfect clarity.
"Please give your orders, Patriarch Kong!"
The Kongshan Sect Grand Elders present bowed respectfully towards Lu Li seated on the platform.
"The path to immortality has been severed for seven thousand years, the world has long forgotten the might of Immortal Ascension. Now we must make all enemies remember anew what Immortal Ascension is, sweep the Chenping Continent clean, and purge all petty villains."
Lu Li, seated on the high platform of Caijun Tower, said calmly.
His expression was devoid of joy or sorrow.