Inside the carriage, Chen Yan examined the bronze mirror fragment in his hand.
He had originally intended to return this fragment of the Heavenly Summit Mirror to those two Grand Elders of the Kongshan Sect.
But then Mr. You suddenly appeared, casually killed those two Unity realm Grand Elders, and informed Chen Yan that if he returned to the Kongshan Sect, the Karmic Backlash he now bore—a result of affecting the past across over sixty thousand years—would inevitably lead to the Kongshan Sect's destruction.
So, the fragment of the Heavenly Summit Mirror remained in his possession until now.
A dao artifact.
In this world, there are still four immortal artifacts currently in existence.
The Lingxiao Temple has one, the Mirage Palace has two, and the Star Heaven Sect also has one.
The origins of these immortal artifacts lie with the Immortal Ascension Realm great powers from the history of the Chenping Continent, who forged them.
The same was true for the immortal artifacts once possessed by Heavenly Summit Mountain.
As for the other Heavenly Summit Mountain immortal artifacts, they were also forged by the Stewards of Heavenly Summit Mountain.
Back when Chen Yan was still a Supervisor at the Spirit Plant Workshop in Wind Ravine Valley's Qingjin Ravine, he spent a great deal of time in Qingjin Ravine's library, researching the life experiences of the thirty-one Immortal Ascension Realm cultivators in the history of the Chenping Continent.
His initial goal was to uncover Mr. You's true identity.
During this process, Chen Yan also gained a general understanding of the history of the Five Great Sects and Heavenly Summit Mountain.
The Heavenly Summit Mirror suddenly appeared in the texts he browsed, much like Heavenly Summit Mountain itself.
In those documents, from the very beginning, Heavenly Summit Mountain stood as the Chenping Continent's premier sacred land for cultivation, reigning supreme over the world.
But before the appearance of Heavenly Summit Mountain, the cultivation world of the Chenping Continent was already highly developed. However, the peak of the cultivation world at that time was the Dao Union realm, similar to how it has been during these seven thousand years with the path to immortality severed.
The Mirage Palace is an ancient cultivation sect that has been passed down since that era.
Perhaps only certain Grand Elders of the Mirage Palace might know something.
The Heavenly Summit Mirror, the only dao artifact on the Chenping Continent.
Chen Yan did not know what function this bronze mirror possessed. He only knew that he had indeed used this mirror to affect an era over sixty thousand years in the past and indirectly caused the downfall of Heavenly Summit Mountain.
His mind conjured the image of the colossal, thousands-of-zhang-tall, seven-colored flowing gold Goddess Statue that appeared from the massive tear in the sky over sixty thousand years ago.
And the information gleaned from the lip movements of Elder Wen Mian, or rather, Li Haowen, within the Heavenly Summit Mirror.
"That existence observed the changes in cause and effect generated because of you."
Chen Yan had pondered the meaning behind this sentence seriously, not just once, and tried to make inferences.
It observed the changes in cause and effect generated because of him. But in the Heavenly Summit Palace, he, who witnessed everything through the illusions created by the Heavenly Summit Mirror, how exactly did he affect the cause and effect over sixty thousand years ago?
He was merely a Spirit Connection realm cultivator.
Although, given his current realm, he could be considered a notable figure in any corner of the Chenping Continent today.
After all, even the ordinary elders of the Five Great Sects are only at the Spirit Connection realm in cultivation.
But when placing his cultivation realm within the macroscopic situation he currently found himself in, the influence a mere Spirit Connection realm cultivator could exert was negligible, to say the least.
The most drastic thing Chen Yan could imagine himself doing was to activate immortal qi and then randomly choose an unlucky Unity realm target to self-detonate.
Apart from the above questions, Chen Yan had another confusion.
Why were the Five Great Sects so fearful of the Heavenly Summit Mirror?
As mentioned before, Chen Yan did not know what function this bronze mirror possessed. But based on his experiences within the Heavenly Summit Palace, Chen Yan began to have a certain speculation.
Perhaps, at the same time he saw everything that happened on Heavenly Summit Mountain over sixty thousand years ago through the Heavenly Summit Mirror's illusion...
In that era over sixty thousand years ago, there was also someone who observed him, from over sixty thousand years in the future, through the Heavenly Summit Mirror. Then, that person took action to destroy Heavenly Summit Mountain and imposed all of this Karmic Backlash upon him.
And that person was the "that existence" mentioned by Li Haowen.
Chen Yan did not know if his speculation was the truth, but he believed that, at the very least, the logic of his guess was self-consistent.
If people in the past could observe his future self through the Heavenly Summit Mirror...
Chen Yan looked at the bronze mirror fragment in his hand.
"Why have you been staring at this all this time, Chen Yan?"
Just as Chen Yan was lost in thought, Si Youyou suddenly moved close to his side and peered in the direction of the Heavenly Summit Mirror fragment.
In almost an instant, Chen Yan hurriedly put away the Heavenly Summit Mirror fragment in his hand.
"..."
But Si Youyou stood there beside him, her face blank and dazed, then slowly turned her head to look at Chen Yan:
"Just now... what you had in your hand was a mirror, right?"
"Mm."
Chen Yan nodded.
"But... the me in the mirror was a completely unfamiliar woman..."
Si Youyou said.
"Most likely, the you reflected in the Heavenly Summit Mirror fragment is the true appearance of Pure Dust True Person."
Chen Yan guessed this.
"Heavenly Summit Mirror?"
At only fourteen years old, Si Youyou didn't know what the Heavenly Summit Mirror was, but she knew of Heavenly Summit Mountain, the former sacred land for cultivation on the Chenping Continent.
For something to have the characters "Heavenly Summit" in its name was already enough to indicate its extraordinary nature.
She was the reincarnated body of Heavenly Summit Mountain's tenth-generation Steward, Pure Dust True Person...
This was the first time the young girl seriously considered this issue.
No matter what happened, Si Youyou would always be Si Youyou. That's what the girl believed.
But when she saw that unfamiliar woman in the fragment of the Heavenly Summit Mirror, Youyou felt self-doubt for the first time, along with a certain fear of the unknown.
"Chen Yan."
She softly called the name of the young man she regarded as her brother:
"If... if I break through to the Spirit Connection realm, will I really disappear?"
Hearing this, Chen Yan's breath hitched for half a beat, and his fingertips trembled slightly.
He didn't know how to answer Si Youyou's question.
"You won't disappear. You'll just remember many things from the past."
After a moment of hesitation, Chen Yan answered this way.
It's just that those memories would completely overwrite Si Youyou's existence.
The little girl's eyes flickered, bright then dim, and then she turned a smile towards Chen Yan.
"Isn't that just fine!"
Immediately after, the young girl lifted her hand to slightly raise the cloth curtain and looked outside, murmuring softly as if talking to herself:
"As long as I stop cultivating, as long as I never break through to the Spirit Connection realm, then it's fine, right?"
"..."
Chen Yan was speechless.