Chen Yan had known this all along.
If he only kept hiding and fleeing, the day he would be discovered would inevitably come.
It was just that he hadn't expected it to be this soon.
He was well aware that his greatest reliance was his ability to step into the Cycle of Reincarnation countless times, and Chen Yan did not fear death.
However, falling into the hands of those Immortal Ascension Realm immortals would be a different matter altogether.
Chen Yan simply could not fathom what would happen next.
This was also the reason he chose to run.
"...I pay my respects to True Person Kong."
After a few moments of silence, Chen Yan spoke up and bowed in the direction of Lu Li.
"If you were still a disciple of my Kongshan Sect, today you should have called me Patriarch Kong... I admire you. It's a pity my Kongshan Sect cannot afford to provoke you now."
Chen Yan understood clearly what Lu Li was referring to.
Now, he bore the Karmic Backlash spanning over 60,000 years that led to the fall of Heavenly Summit Mountain.
Yet, this Karmic Backlash had still not caused any effect on Chen Yan to this day.
"Now, with the Great Dao of Chenping Continent reviving, I, Kong, have been able to re-enter the Immortal Ascension Realm. It can be said I rely entirely on you, Chief Disciple Chen."
Lu Li said calmly, shaking his head.
"To single-handedly withstand the Karmic Backlash of over sixty thousand years, Chief Disciple Chen's feat can even be mentioned in the same breath as the Sword Immortal Su from seven thousand years ago. It truly inspires admiration."
This was the first time Chen Yan was truly facing an Immortal Ascension Realm cultivator.
Yet, the sense of oppression Kong Yang before him gave off was not as strong as that from Huo Mu or Qi Yi in the past.
It wasn't even as strong as the pressure Chen Yan felt from the innate true energy swirling around Fu Qian when he first met him.
The Lu Li standing before him seemed completely like an ordinary person chatting with him.
But Chen Yan knew Lu Li was a true immortal.
"So, you can try to guess why I, crossing tens of millions of miles from Kongshan Sect, have come to this remote borderland of Chenping Continent."
Lu Li said.
"True Person Kong's question is truly a bit too difficult for me."
Lu Li merely shook his head and continued speaking.
"I am not here to kill you, but I know someone wants you dead."
Chen Yan remained silent.
"Who do you think it is?"
"I don't know."
Chen Yan replied bluntly.
"Chief Disciple Chen is perhaps a bit too boring."
Lu Li said indifferently.
"Rather, it is True Person Kong who seems a bit too enthusiastic."
Chen Yan said.
"Since I ascended to immortality, you are the first sub-immortal realm cultivator to speak to me in this tone."
Lu Li still maintained that expressionless attitude.
"That's right, I am indeed very interested in you. Interested in how you survived the Outer Court Cataclysm, interested in how you exactly eradicated the Cause of Calamity..."
As he spoke, Lu Li paused slightly.
"...and also very interested in just who you are."
"This junior is also very curious about one question."
Chen Yan said.
"What question?"
"Might I ask, by what identity are you interested in me? Is it the identity of Lu Li, Elder of Caijun Tower on Qingchan Peak, or the identity of True Person Caiyun, Kong Yang?"
"Kong Yang is me, Lu Li is also me."
The young cultivator with a lean face said softly.
"However, for Kong Yang, Lu Li is merely a brief, illusory, and utterly meaningless dream."
Chen Yan instinctively glanced towards Si Youyou standing at the entrance of the small courtyard.
"..."
The young girl was still standing there, utterly confused by the conversation between Lu Li and Chen Yan.
For a little girl like her, only fourteen years old and without much experience, Si Youyou didn't even know what the two words "True Person" represented in the cultivation world of Chenping Continent.
But she could still glean some conclusions from their conversation.
For instance, the fellow in the pure white daoist robes who just walked in was an immortal.
The general situation was probably the same as her own...
A brief, illusory, and utterly meaningless dream.
Lu Li clearly noticed Chen Yan's glance towards his back, so Kong Yang slightly turned his head and looked again at the little girl standing at the courtyard gate behind him.
"Pure Dust Glazed Glass."
True Person Kong said calmly.
"Thus, the seven Immortal Ascension cultivators of this current era are all gathered... Then, Qi Sea Realm mid-stage cultivation, hmm, probably not for much longer either."
"..."
Si Youyou was also silent, the little girl's gaze towards Lu Li filled with hostility.
Lu Li knew very well that one day, when Si Youyou broke through to the Passable God Realm, regained her memories, and re-entered Immortal Ascension, Pure Dust True Person would likely hold enmity towards Kongshan Sect.
After all, this hot-tempered 10th Steward of Heavenly Summit Mountain had significant grievances with Kongshan Sect's True Person Kongmiao, Yan Yunhe, over seventy thousand years ago.
Although Pure Dust True Person would likely be an enemy to Lu Li, or rather True Person Kong Yang, he would not interfere with Si Youyou in any way.
Because it was meaningless.
He could, of course, slap to death Si Youyou who had not yet regained her Immortal Ascension memories, but what would that achieve?
Pure Dust True Person would reincarnate again, and eventually, one day, she would re-enter the Immortal Ascension Realm.
By then, his act of slapping her to death now would undoubtedly be adding fuel to the fire.
Lu Li could only hope that Pure Dust could confine the grievances of seventy thousand years to seventy thousand years ago.
"Someone wants you dead, Chief Disciple Chen."
Lu Li withdrew his attention from Si Youyou behind him and returned it to Chen Yan.
"And there are also those who do not want you dead."
"Who?"
Chen Yan asked.
"Those who wish for people to continue ascending to immortality in this world naturally hope you live... At the very least, before finding a vessel capable of bearing this sixty-thousand-year Karmic Backlash, these people will hope you live."
Lu Li said.
At this moment, all the Karmic Backlash was on Chen Yan's shoulders.
In other words, if Chen Yan died and the Karmic Backlash of Heavenly Summit Mountain's fall remained unresolved, it would mean the eradicated Cause of Calamity would once again seal the Heavenly Dao, preventing sub-immortal realm cultivators from ascending.
"As for those Immortal Ascension Realm cultivators who do not wish for more people to ascend, they naturally want you dead."
If the Heavenly Dao of Chenping Continent were resealed, it would have no effect on those who had already ascended to immortality.
As for how the cultivators of Chenping Continent should touch those realms higher than the Immortal Ascension Realm, looking across the entire history of Chenping Continent, probably only two people knew.
Those were Immortal Venerable Fusheng and Falling Star Realman.