Chen Yan had certain grounds for deducing that Mr. You undoubtedly had some connection to Mirage Palace.
Eight thousand years later, the Thousand Clouds Transformation he had taught Si Youyou was a secret technique from Mirage Palace's Return-Into-Emptiness Pavilion.
But how Immortal Venerable Fusheng had come to learn Mirage Palace's secret technique was a complete unsolved mystery.
As for Mr. You being very familiar with Weaving Dreams Tower's ancient illusion arts, that also fell within Chen Yan's expectations.
Because he believed that Fusheng City, which Mr. You had created, seemed to share certain commonalities with Weaving Dreams Tower's illusion techniques from Mirage Palace.
However, Chen Yan did not intend to press further on this topic.
It was better to touch on this subject lightly and leave it at that.
"Might I ask what brings you to Moxu Mountain?"
Chen Yan inquired.
Mr. You replied.
"Are the things you're collecting meant for that stone platform in the city?"
Chen Yan continued pressing.
Upon hearing this, Mr. You was slightly taken aback at first, then broke into a smile. He half-raised the teacup in his hand, shook his head gently, and said softly:
"Right, you should know about this matter."
"Otherwise, I wouldn't have come here either."
Chen Yan also smiled.
Standing to the side, Zhou Jinyun was completely baffled by the half-concealed words spoken by Senior Chen and the person he addressed as "Mister."
They were talking in riddles—who could possibly understand any of this?
Zhou Jinyun's brow furrowed slightly. From just a moment ago, she had been paying close attention to the words of the young cultivator in plain Daoist robes whom Senior Chen called "Mister."
Just as she was pondering, Chen Yan suddenly shot a glance in her direction.
Zhou Jinyun immediately understood. She bowed toward Chen Yan and Mr. You, then withdrew from the room.
Even though she was extremely curious about what these two riddle-speakers were saying, there was nothing she could do about it.
"In that case, have you had any success?"
After Zhou Jinyun left, Chen Yan continued.
"Naturally."
Mr. You chuckled lightly and nodded in affirmation.
Hearing this answer, Chen Yan paused briefly.
He seemed to think of something.
A few days ago, Elder Du, the cave master of Cloud Ridge Cave—reputedly the foremost of the Three Titans of Moxu Mountain—had died bizarrely in his own cave dwelling without any warning whatsoever.
One had to understand that Elder Du was a late-stage Spirit Connection realm cultivator.
To kill him in such a manner, the perpetrator's cultivation must have been at least starting from the Upper Three Realms.
Cultivators at the Divine Ability Realm and Dao Union Realm were few and far between across the entire Chenping Continent. Each one was famous and commanded awe across the land.
For these great powers of the eighth or ninth realm, killing a Spirit Connection realm cultivator was as simple as saying the word. There were plenty willing to do the deed for them.
Moreover, why would any great power of the Divine Ability or Dao Union Realm even bother to take notice of a mere ant in the fifth realm?
And if it had been a Unity Realm cultivator making the move, Chen Yan couldn't possibly have sensed nothing at all.
This meant Elder Du's death had definitely been carried out personally by a cultivator above the eighth realm.
Now, if a Spirit Connection realm cultivator had been targeted by someone above the eighth realm, combined with what Mr. You had just said...
Ascending to Immortality reincarnation!
Elder Du was very likely the reincarnated body of some great power at the Immortal Ascension Realm, and Mr. You's purpose in coming here was to retrieve Elder Du's Dao Basis and send it into Fusheng City.
This was the possibility Chen Yan had pieced together based on the information he currently had.
Yet there was still one doubt.
That was, at this point in time, the Path to Immortality on the Chenping Continent should not have been severed yet.
If so, the reincarnated bodies of those Immortal Ascension Realm great powers should have been able to ascend directly to immortality once their cultivation reached the Spirit Connection realm.
"Why..."
Chen Yan began to speak but stopped himself, raising his question.
But just as his question had barely left his mouth, his doubts were instantly dispelled.
Because he saw a wisp of Immortal Qi revealed when Mr. You raised his hand.
Eight thousand years later, Mr. You had never stepped into the realm Above Immortality, stopping only at the peak of the Dao Union Realm.
But this didn't mean that eight thousand years ago, Mr. You had also never entered the realm Above Immortality.
The Mr. You before him now was not at Dao Union, and might not be simply at Ascending to Immortality either.
He possessed a true Immortal Venerable's body!
"You need to understand, those reincarnated bodies who Ascend to Immortality don't necessarily have talent equivalent to their prime. Moreover, to set foot on the immortal path, favorable timing, geographical advantage, and harmonious human relations are all indispensable—not a single one can be missing."
Mr. You spoke as if he had seen through Chen Yan's doubts:
"Breaking through to the Spirit Connection Realm is far from simple. As for why that person had already reached Spirit Connection yet still remained at his current realm, it's because he knew that someone would come hunting down the reincarnated bodies of Immortal Ascension Realm cultivators, and that person was someone he couldn't afford to offend."
In other words, Elder Du hadn't dared to ascend to immortality, hoping to escape Mr. You's hunting.
There were a total of forty-nine Great Daos across the Chenping Continent. For each person who Ascended to Immortality, one Great Dao was claimed.
This meant Mr. You would inevitably detect it.
But that didn't mean that not ascending to immortality would prevent Mr. You from noticing.
Once one stepped into Spirit Connection, they would certainly be detected by Mr. You through some trace or clue.
As for the outcome, everyone already knew.
The reincarnated bodies of those Immortal Ascension Realm great powers, before stepping into the Spirit Connection Realm, were practically starting over from scratch.
Take Lu Li, for example. His cultivation talent was far too distant from the qualifications for Ascending to Immortality. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been transferred from Yuanhua Mountain to the outer court to serve as an instructor.
The reincarnated bodies of these Immortal Ascension Realm great powers had completely different innate talents in each lifetime.
Only Qiu Siruo's Pure Dust Crystal Body was special. It could be said that her path to cultivation was completely smooth.
Moreover, their backgrounds were different too.
The Chenping Continent was vast—extremely vast.
The population ratio between cultivators and mortals was roughly one to one hundred thousand.
This meant that even the reincarnated body of an Immortal Ascension Realm cultivator had a significant chance of remaining a mere mortal for their entire life.
As Mr. You had said, to set foot on the immortal path, favorable timing, geographical advantage, and harmonious human relations were all indispensable—not a single one could be missing.
But...
But why, eight thousand years later, did a scene unfold where all six remaining reincarnated bodies of the Immortal Ascension Realm, aside from Mr. You himself, had all Ascended to Immortality and gathered together?
This was a question Chen Yan had never considered before.
Because he had always believed that after he had borne over sixty thousand years of karmic backlash and the Dao had been revived, the gathering of those Immortal Ascension Realm cultivators was a natural and inevitable outcome.
But after hearing what Mr. You had just said, Chen Yan believed that such a situation occurring was not realistic.
Unless there was an invisible, giant hand behind the scenes, orchestrating everything.
From Mr. You's behavior, it was clear that he was not the one who had orchestrated that situation.
But then, who could it be?
The person capable of orchestrating such a situation would undoubtedly have a cultivation level above the Immortal Ascension Realm.
Besides Immortal Venerable Fusheng, who else could it be?
Suddenly, the enormous black rift in the sky—ten thousand zhang long—and the Seven-Colored Flowing Gold Goddess Statue that emerged from it flashed through Chen Yan's mind.
He still remembered clearly that back then at Shengyuan Mountain, when he was on the verge of death, triggering over sixty thousand years of karmic backlash, the Seven-Colored Flowing Gold Goddess Statue in the rift had displayed an eerie smile on its face.
Was it possible that the puppet master behind the chaotic scene of Ascending to Immortality eight thousand years later did not belong to the Chenping Continent at all?