But she had no other choice—she had absolutely no ability to defy him.
"This junior understands."
Zhou Jinyuan made a bow, then turned toward Mr. You and posed another question:
"Just now, sir, you said Senior Chen is busy with something up there... may I ask what you meant by that?"
"He's inside Heavenly Summit Palace."
Mr. You replied.
"Heavenly Summit Palace?"
Zhou Jinyuan's face filled with disbelief:
"But isn't Heavenly Summit Palace under a restriction set by Qinghong Realman, the last steward of Heavenly Summit Mountain? Only cultivators at the Martial Spring Realm or below can enter. Otherwise..."
Mr. You paused briefly, as if pondering for a moment, then said:
"I suppose it's because your Senior Chen is incredibly resourceful."
Incredibly resourceful?
Regarding this answer from Mr. You, Zhou Jinyuan harbored no doubt in her heart.
Because Senior Chen's incredible resourcefulness had left an indelible mark on Zhou Jinyuan's mind even to this day.
Mirage Palace, as the longest-established cultivation sect on Chenping Continent and one of the current Five Great Sects, had its foundation rooted in the two immortal artifacts within the palace—
The Abyssal Tower and the Thousand Clouds Blade.
It could be said that as long as Mirage Palace possessed these two immortal artifacts, they had the confidence to fear nothing—even if an Ascended Steward personally came knocking.
Zhou Jinyuan had witnessed with her own eyes that Senior Chen, within just a few breaths, could conjure three immortal artifacts from nothing, their aura in no way inferior to the Abyssal Tower and the Thousand Clouds Blade.
Such a feat completely overturned Zhou Jinyuan's understanding of the cultivation world.
As the former chief disciple of Mirage Palace's Weaving Dreams Tower, Zhou Jinyuan had received the sect's top-tier resources and education from almost the very first day she began cultivating.
The instructors of Weaving Dreams Tower were not responsible for transmitting scriptures or teachings to Zhou Jinyuan.
Because for a genius of her caliber, these Inner Court instructors indeed had nothing they could impart to her.
Zhou Jinyuan had been personally taught by Shang Ao, the Supreme Imperial Law Elder of Mirage Palace, since childhood. However, due to the vast difference in seniority and the rule that the Grand Elder Council could not interfere with daily sect affairs, Shang Ao and Zhou Jinyuan did not have a formal master-disciple relationship.
Thus, the daily responsibility of Weaving Dreams Tower's instructors toward Zhou Jinyuan was simply to impart knowledge about the cultivation world of Chenping Continent.
In Zhou Jinyuan's understanding, Immortal Venerable Fusheng, who had roamed Chenping Continent for tens of thousands of years, was merely a legendary figure. After all, the era when Immortal Venerable Fusheng was active was so ancient that even Heavenly Summit Mountain had yet to fall.
Therefore, in Zhou Jinyuan's eyes—or rather, in the eyes of almost all cultivators in the present world—Ascending to Immortality Realm cultivators were already the pinnacle of the immortal path, an insurmountable peak.
It wasn't until the appearance of Chen Yan and Mr. You that Zhou Jinyuan's understanding of the cultivation world was completely overturned.
She had originally believed without a doubt that the cultivation world of Chenping Continent was entirely controlled by the Five Great Sects.
But now, it seemed the reality was not so.
Behind the Five Great Sects, there were existences far surpassing Ascending to Immortality Realm cultivators, moving in the shadows.
The man before her was one.
Senior Chen was another.
...
Dressed in dark black daoist robes, Yuan Yi walked swiftly through the streets of Profound Origin Pavilion.
On both sides of the street, cultivators from various cultivation sects across Chenping Continent gathered, discussing the hundreds of duels that had taken place today in the Daoyan Arena.
The most talked-about topics were, unsurprisingly, the two duels between Su Hongzhen and Jia Hongtao, and between Li Haoran and Xia Song.
Both were effortless, complete victories, but the styles displayed by Su Hongzhen and Li Haoran were entirely different.
One was a straightforward, unreasonable crushing.
The other was a flawless, impeccable performance.
So much so that many people had already begun debating who would be the ultimate victor in the final battle of the Heavenly Summit Mountain Dao Inquiry—Su Hongzhen or Li Haoran.
As for He An's name, it was occasionally brought up as well.
"What do you think will happen to that He Eighty-Thousand from now on?"
"Who cares? He'll probably be abandoned by the Unmoving Sword Sect. Starting tomorrow, he's just a cripple who can never use a sword again."
"Keep your mouth shut, you loudmouth. I bet He Eighty-Thousand could still beat you into a grandson even without a sword."
"What nonsense are you spouting? Without a sword, I'd beat He Eighty-Thousand so hard he'd shit out his mouth!"
"Shhh~"
A few young disciples in daoist robes from different cultivation sects were gathered together, chatting and bragging. As those people were mocking He An, someone suddenly noticed Yuan Yi passing by.
Then, the one who noticed Yuan Yi froze instantly, frantically tugging at the sleeve of the young disciple who had claimed he'd beat the shit out of He An's mouth.
"What are you pulling me for?"
The young disciple asked in confusion, then followed the gaze of the cultivator who had grabbed his sleeve and looked behind him.
The moment he saw Yuan Yi, his face turned deathly pale, his legs went weak, and he nearly fell to his knees.
These cultivators were only young disciples from second- or third-rate sects. They weren't even Dao Inquirers at Heavenly Summit Mountain—they had simply come along with their sects to witness the spectacle.
Yuan Yi paid no attention to the arrogant words of these juniors. He simply continued walking forward.
This Spirit Connection Realm cultivator had his spiritual sense fully extended, and everything within a radius of dozens of feet was completely under his control.
He reached into his sleeve again, confirming the talisman hidden inside.
After leaving the blue stone path of Profound Origin Pavilion, Yuan Yi's steps did not pause.
This Spirit Connection Realm cultivator followed a small path on the northern side of Heavenly Summit Mountain, climbing higher and higher, until he finally stopped beside a withered tree.
Though the withered tree beside Yuan Yi seemed ordinary, any plant capable of growing on Heavenly Summit Mountain was no common thing.
This was a Withered Meditation Branch. A few years ago, one had been sold on the black market—a three-inch-long Withered Meditation Branch that fetched three hundred high-grade spirit stones.
As for the Withered Meditation Branches growing on the tree beside Yuan Yi, their total value was no less than ten thousand high-grade spirit stones.
First, Yuan Yi used his spiritual sense to inspect his surroundings. After confirming there was no issue, he used true qi to set up a concealing barrier roughly five zhang in radius around himself.
Then, he took out the talisman from his sleeve. On the back of the talisman was embedded a silver long nail.
Next, Yuan Yi retrieved a rope from his robe, hung it on the withered tree beside him, and tied a noose.
"Su Hongzhen..."
Yuan Yi closed his eyes lightly, recalling in his mind the figure of that young man dressed in a cyan daoist robe, his brows and eyes brimming with unbridled ease.