The cultivation world of Chenping Continent was on the verge of a golden age, its prosperity likely to surpass even the peak of the Heavenly Summit Era.
This was the consensus reached by the vast majority of cultivators on Chenping Continent.
There were, of course, many reasons for making such a judgment. Over the past few hundred years, the quality of the new generation of cultivators on Chenping Continent had been improving, and geniuses kept emerging.
Among the current generation of young cultivators, three in particular were recognized as having the aptitude for Ascending to Immortality: Zhou Jinyun, Li Haoran, and Su Hongzhen.
Su Hongzhen especially displayed a level of talent that could truly be called unprecedented.
Not only among recent young people; the Kongshan Sect currently had three cultivators at the Dao Union realm at the same time, and the other four great sects together had seven Dao Union cultivators.
In other words, the Five Great Sects now had ten Dao Union cultivators in total, and it was highly probable that many of those ten would break into the Immortal Ascension Realm within the next thousand years.
It wasn’t only Dao Union cultivators. Over the past few centuries, the number of Upper Three Realms practitioners within the Five Great Sects and other top cultivation schools had exceeded the total number of breakthroughs into the Upper Three Realms over the previous two thousand years.
No one doubted that the cultivation world on Chenping Continent was flourishing.
Although Su Hongzhen had only just won the Heavenly Summit Mountain champion title and was currently only a Martial Spring Realm cultivator, many had already begun to compare his potential future achievements with those of Immortal Venerable Fusheng who once dominated Chenping Continent eight thousand years ago.
The era when Immortal Venerable Fusheng held sway across Chenping Continent nearly coincided with Heavenly Summit Mountain’s own peak era.
Or rather, since its founding Heavenly Summit Mountain had been on an upward trajectory until the twelfth-generation steward Qinghong Realman took charge, and then Heavenly Summit Mountain suddenly collapsed.
To this day, the destruction of Heavenly Summit Mountain remains an unsolved mystery in the cultivation world of Chenping Continent.
That said, during the time Immortal Venerable Fusheng dominated Chenping Continent, this great power above Ascending to Immortality rarely interfered in the petty affairs between various cultivation sects.
So to present-day cultivators of Chenping Continent, aside from leaving behind Fusheng City on Fusheng Island in the Southern Region abroad, Immortal Venerable Fusheng hadn’t actually left many traces in the world.
Their attitude toward Immortal Venerable Fusheng was more one of pure reverence, and nothing more.
But Su Hongzhen was different.
No one could clearly say what kind of person Su Hongzhen truly was, nor what changes his existence might bring to Chenping Continent.
Especially since, in the eyes of the other four great sects, Su Hongzhen’s relationship with Mirage Palace seemed to be unusually close.
Though not spoken of openly, Mirage Palace had always been an oddity among the Five Great Sects.
In extremely distant history, before written records existed and even before Heavenly Summit Mountain was established, Mirage Palace had already appeared in the world. It was the oldest cultivation sect on Chenping Continent, unmatched by any other.
It also preserved the ancient, uncanny illusion arts of the Weaving Dreams Tower.
Given the current circumstances, if Su Hongzhen continued to maintain a close relationship with Mirage Palace, what would Chenping Continent look like in the future?
Such doubts inevitably fermented among the other four great sects.
Some would act against Su Hongzhen, hoping to snuff him out in the cradle before he could rise.
That was a destiny bound to occur.
It was precisely for this reason that Lin Mo, the True Dharma Elder of Time-Stealing Tower, grew impatient after repeatedly sending messages to Mirage Palace from Heavenly Summit Mountain without receiving any response.
And then events developed into what they were now.
After the gray-black vortex was cut open by Su Hongzhen’s Innate Sword Intent, a clear sky opened and a sun hung above. Under that sunlight floated several cultivators dressed in gray daoist robes.
Among these cultivators, the lowest cultivation was late Unity, while the highest reached mid Divine Ability.
Floating beneath the same clear sky beside the rented ferry were white robes fluttering in the wind.
“Who’s there?”
Seeing Chen Yan so casually defuse an attack from a late Unity cultivator, the Upper Three Realm cultivators in the sky felt a measure of unease.
Especially since they had no way to pierce the cultivation level of the young man in plain white daoist robes before them.
“Upper Three Realm cultivators from the four great sects, bullying a Martial Spring junior here—have you no shame?”
Chen Yan ignored their question and instead fired back in a tone of ridicule and scorn toward their direction.
He emphasized the word “four” to make it clear he understood their intentions and aims.
Indeed, the several cultivators in gray robes floating under the clear sky numbered four.
They came from the other four great sects, excluding Mirage Palace.
If the aim was to prevent Su Hongzhen’s rise, naturally the other four great sects would be involved. After all, killing a Martial Spring cultivator was not such a significant matter on the surface.
But it was not insignificant either: this Martial Spring cultivator’s talent had been destined for Ascending to Immortality.
If such a deed were to be carried out, none of the four great sects could have clean hands—this was their private consensus.
It was for that reason the four Upper Three Realm greats who had come to intercept and kill Su Hongzhen were from the other four great sects besides Mirage Palace.
“Hmph.”
The mid Divine Ability great cultivator snorted lightly, then swept his gaze toward the ferry.
That single glance was enough to obliterate Su Hongzhen’s presence using spiritual sense.
Yet at the moment that chilling spiritual sense—having traversed over a thousand zhang and capable of crushing Su Hongzhen—was about to touch the ferry, it suddenly vanished, as if it had never existed.
A grave look flashed across the mid Divine Ability cultivator’s eyes.
How was that possible?
“Looks like you’re deliberately ignoring me, then?”
Chen Yan lifted his eyes slightly and glared sharply in the direction of that mid Divine Ability cultivator.
The Divine Ability cultivator’s spiritual sense stiffened.
He could feel the overwhelming killing intent radiating from the young man in plain white daoist robes—
What kind of battles must one have fought to forge such a killing intent?