Heavenly Summit Mountain.
Located slightly north of the exact center of Chenping Continent, it was a sacred cultivation site from the ancient era.
The Kongshan Sect's ferry was now slowly approaching this towering peak, more than eight thousand zhang high, standing majestically at the center of Chenping Continent.
Two thousand zhang above the summit, a colossal palace hung suspended.
Its scale was hundreds of times that of Kongyuan Hall.
This magnificent palace was made entirely of white jade, tilting slightly in the air. Up close, one could see cracks and damage everywhere on the palace.
It looked like a grand corpse.
"I really want to go in and take a look..."
A disciple on the ferry muttered this to himself.
Another Kongshan Sect disciple beside him said.
"Why not?"
"Every ten years, only one person can enter the Heavenly Summit Palace ruins to comprehend the Dao and seek opportunities."
"Who?"
"The Heavenly Summit champion, of course. Who else?"
"You say Heavenly Summit Mountain collapsed so many years ago, why keep the palace so restricted? If someone wants to go in and look, just let them in."
"It's not that simple. Do you know how many immortals Heavenly Summit Mountain produced?"
"How many?"
"Twelve who ascended to immortality!"
"Wow, that sounds like the total immortals produced by the Five Great Sects added together is only, like, seventeen?"
"Which is why, before its destruction, Heavenly Summit Mountain was the only cultivation sacred ground in the world..."
All of these Kongshan Sect disciples' conversations drifted into Chen Yan's ears.
Since history began to be recorded in this world, Chenping Continent had produced thirty-one cultivators who reached the Immortal Ascension Realm. Heavenly Summit Mountain had produced twelve of them, and the Five Great Sects had produced seventeen, totaling twenty-nine.
Besides those, two Immortal Ascension cultivators did not come from any sacred cultivation site, nor from any sect.
Those two were rogue cultivators.
One of them was the only one among the thirty-one Immortal Ascension cultivators of Chenping Continent who truly stepped further — Immortal Venerable Fusheng.
The other was Chenping Continent's first Sword Immortal and its last Sword Immortal, Falling Star Realman, Su Hongzhen.
Ironically, it was amusing that these two who had once touched the threshold of the Realms Above Immortality were both rogue cultivators.
Chen Yan looked up. The ferry glided by slowly, only a hundred zhang away from the Heavenly Summit Palace.
As a direct-line disciple of Kongshan Sect, Chief Disciple of Kongyuan Mountain, Chen Yan had naturally heard many sect rumors and secrets.
The reason the Five Great Sects hold such status in Chenping Continent today was that they divided up the inheritance left after Heavenly Summit Mountain's destruction.
But the Five Great Sects could not fully divide everything. The largest piece of the pie still belonged to no one.
That was the Heavenly Summit Palace.
During the long ten-thousand-year rule of Heavenly Summit Mountain over Chenping Continent, it was the only sect in which Immortal Ascension cultivators never had a broken lineage.
In other words, the Heavenly Summit Palace had once housed twelve Immortal Ascension cultivators.
The last Immortal Ascension cultivator of Heavenly Summit Mountain, the final steward, was known to the world as Qinghong Realman.
No one knew how Heavenly Summit Mountain fell apart in a single night, nor what started the internal chaos. By the time the Five Great Sects reacted, Heavenly Summit Mountain had already been completely destroyed.
The mountain was a scene of death and desolation.
Only the Heavenly Summit Palace remained suspended in the sky.
The Five Great Sects spent three years dividing the cultivation resources, treasures, and scriptures on Heavenly Summit Mountain.
Qinghong Realman left a restriction on the Heavenly Summit Palace at the very end.
This restriction allowed only cultivators of Martial Spring Realm and below to enter the palace.
Immortal Ascension cultivators could force their way through the restriction, but the consequence would certainly be the destruction of the Heavenly Summit Palace.
During those three years, the Five Great Sects debated how to divide the palace.
After all, all the legacies of the twelve generations of Heavenly Summit Mountain caretakers were stored within the Heavenly Summit Palace.
You could take a loss here or gain something there; that was tolerable.
But not with the Heavenly Summit Palace.
Those were inheritances of Immortal Ascension masters!
No matter how it was divided, someone would be dissatisfied.
Tensions among the Five Great Sects gradually escalated. According to sect records, Kongshan Sect mobilized all cultivators of Martial Spring Realm and above, preparing for all-out war.
The other four sects were in similar states.
In the end, the Five Great Sects chose restraint. Under Lingxiao Temple's leadership, they established the ten-year Dao Inquiry Assembly of Chenping Continent and the Heavenly Summit Mountain Dao Inquiry.
At each Dao Inquiry Assembly, only the Heavenly Summit champion had the qualification to enter the Heavenly Summit Palace, and the time inside the palace was limited to three days.
This rule continued to the present; no one wanted to break it.
Not because everyone cared about fairness, but because it wasn't worth the risk.
By now, more than sixty thousand years had passed.
The Heavenly Summit Dao Inquiry had been held more than six thousand times.
No Heavenly Summit champion had ever come out of the palace having gained anything notable.
Therefore, the qualification to enter the Heavenly Summit Palace today was merely a prize attached to the Heavenly Summit Dao Inquiry.
Still, not a single one of the Five Great Sects was willing to loosen the access rules.
What if someone obtained the great legacy of Heavenly Summit Mountain?
...
The ferry began to descend. At this moment, Heavenly Summit Mountain was bustling with voices.
"Look, it's people from Kongshan Sect!"
Someone shouted.
Immediately, many cultivators on Heavenly Summit Mountain looked up, casting admiring and reverent glances at the Kongshan Sect ferry.
To ordinary sect cultivators, the Five Great Sects were untouchable.
Elder Zhong Yin slowly stepped out from the cabin, followed by Martial Uncle Yue Chi and Liu Yantang.
Like Lin Qifeng, Liu Yantang attended the Dao Inquiry Assembly as a senior disciple.
However, unlike Lin Qifeng, Yun Yichen had reserved this position for Liu Yantang from the start, but not for Lin Qifeng.
"Chu Xiyao."
Elder Zhong Yin said slowly.
"Present."
Chu Xiyao responded from the side. Dressed in white, her ink-black hair especially striking, she stood out on the ferry.
Elder Zhong Yin did not speak further, only lifted his chin slightly.
Chu Xiyao understood at once, bowed to Zhong Yin, then walked to the ship's prow.
"Look, someone from the Kongshan Sect's ferry is coming out!"
"Wow, so beautiful..."
"That's Chu Xiyao, Chief Disciple of Qingchan Peak of Kongshan Sect!"
"If I could marry Chu Xiyao, I'd join Kongshan Sect willingly!"
"What are you dreaming about?"