Volume 1, Chapter 191 – Everyone Stunned

Defiance, longing, wariness, hesitation… countless emotions mingled in everyone’s eyes.

Gu Han listened in silence, his thoughts perfectly clear.

Sovereign Longteng had not said a word about extending Sacred Lord Yaoguang’s life.

He had linked “mending the heavens” solely to the “path to immortality” and their “path of cultivation,” using the tide of events to pressure them and the promise of personal gain to tempt them.

A fifty-percent chance? It might not even be thirty.

If they truly succeeded in reopening the path to immortality, he could take Yaoguang directly to the Immortal Realm.

As for whether the Heavenly Dao would be enraged afterward, or whether Canglan Continent would suffer any consequences, he did not care in the slightest.

Even if they failed, he was a favored son of destiny, so the Heavenly Dao would naturally spare him. The others might not be so fortunate.

What a masterful scheme…

As everyone’s thoughts churned and they weighed the costs against the benefits, Empress Qingxuan suddenly laughed softly, breaking the oppressive atmosphere.

“Fellow Daoist Longteng’s proposal is certainly tempting.”

She leaned lazily back in her chair, her gaze drifting over everyone present.

“Joining forces to mend the heavens and reopen the path to immortality sounds wonderful.”

Then her tone shifted, taking on a hint of playful intrigue.

“However, I’ve traveled widely and heard and witnessed my share of strange and extraordinary things.”

“Something interesting has just occurred to me.”

“Oh?”

Sovereign Longteng raised an eyebrow.

“What insight might you have, Fellow Daoist Qingxuan?”

Not only Sovereign Longteng, but everyone in the hall turned their attention to Empress Qingxuan.

The Empress of the Eastern Region had always been mysterious. Since she had chosen to speak now, there had to be a deeper meaning behind her words.

Unhurried, Empress Qingxuan summoned a flash of light to her fingertips.

The Red Emperor Heaven-Scorching Lotus appeared in her palm once more.

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Its scorching, ancient, tyrannical aura as an Imperial Armament surged through the hall, instantly sweeping away the oppressive atmosphere and making everyone’s pupils contract.

“This is the Red Emperor Heaven-Scorching Lotus. I obtained it twenty thousand years ago in a place called Xuanhuang Continent,” Empress Qingxuan said, her clear voice carrying throughout the hall.

“The cultivators there call it an Imperial Armament.”

The instant the words left her lips, Soaring Dragon Hall fell into a deathly silence so complete that the air itself seemed to freeze.

Every gaze fell upon the crimson lotus platform slowly revolving above her palm, radiating astonishing imperial pressure.

“Xuanhuang… Continent?”

The Desolate God lowered his wine jug and stared wide-eyed at the red lotus, his throat bobbing.

Only moments ago, he had been guzzling strong wine. Now his mouth felt parched.

Although that scorching, tyrannical imperial pressure had been restrained, experts at their level could perceive it all the more clearly.

It did not resemble the aura of any known artifact on Canglan Continent.

It was ancient and boundless, imbued with an entirely different Dao Resonance.

“An Imperial Armament…”

Venerable Baiyun lowered the book in his hands. For the first time, undisguised shock showed on his refined face.

“Fellow Daoist Qingxuan, is this true? Did this object truly come from another continent?”

An almost imperceptible tremor ran through his voice.

Buddha Lord Wufa’s fingers stilled on his prayer beads, a sharp gleam flashing in his eyes.

Demon Lord Wutian narrowed his eyes, the baleful energy around him surging erratically. He was clearly anything but calm.

Star rivers revolved within Old Man Tianji’s eyes as though he were deducing something, and a rare look of astonished uncertainty appeared on his face.

Even Sovereign Longteng, who had remained seated calmly upon the raised platform, saw his pupils contract slightly.

His gaze lingered on the Red Emperor Heaven-Scorching Lotus for several breaths before swiftly shifting to Empress Qingxuan, his eyes unfathomably deep.

A trace of surprise also crossed Sacred Lord Yaoguang’s gentle features, though she appeared more thoughtful than shocked.

Only Empress Lingshuang and Gu Han, who sat quietly beside Empress Qingxuan, remained calm, as though they had expected this all along.

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As Empress Qingxuan felt the shocked, probing, and disbelieving gazes converging on her, the languid smile on her lips deepened.

This was precisely the reaction she wanted.

“Why would I lie?”

Empress Qingxuan’s clear voice carried unshakable certainty.

“This object truly did come from Xuanhuang Continent.”

“Back then, it was only through a fortunate coincidence that I managed to reach that place via an extremely well-hidden void node.”

Her fingertips gently brushed a lotus petal. Fiery red light illuminated her breathtaking profile as her voice softened with reminiscence and emotion.

“Xuanhuang Continent is entirely different from Canglan Continent.”

“The Great Dao laws there are complete, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is abundant and pure. It is a true ‘central great world.’”

She paused, sweeping her gaze over the crowd and lingering especially on Sovereign Longteng and Sacred Lord Yaoguang.

“And its cultivation system is completely different from ours.”

“Here, Immortal Ascension is the pinnacle, and the road beyond has been severed.”

“But on Xuanhuang Continent, that may not be the case…”

“May not be?!”

The Desolate God shot to his feet, his face filled with shock.

“Qingxuan, what do you mean? Are there truly immortals on Xuanhuang Continent?!”

Everyone instinctively held their breath.

For those who had been trapped in this world for a hundred thousand years, desperately seeking a path forward but never finding one, the impact of this revelation was simply too great.

“And according to what I learned, the records of Xuanhuang Continent state that someone successfully ascended as recently as ninety thousand years ago.”

Empress Qingxuan’s voice still held its customary languor.

Yet the weight of those words seemed to turn the very air in Soaring Dragon Hall solid.

“Ninety thousand years ago… someone still managed to ascend?”

Demon Lord Wutian’s voice was dry and hoarse.

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That number held extraordinary significance for them.

Canglan Continent’s path to immortality had been severed eight hundred thousand years ago. After that, ascension had become nothing more than a legend.

Only scattered fragments of it remained in the oldest and most incomplete texts.

Eight hundred thousand long years were enough to erase far too many truths, turning even the very existence of the path to immortality into something vague and illusory.

But ninety thousand years…

To Immortal Ascension experts like them, ninety thousand years was still distant, but it was no longer an untraceable ancient era.

If someone on Xuanhuang Continent had successfully ascended ninety thousand years ago, it meant that, at the very least, the path there had still been open then.

“Qingxuan! Where is that void node?”

Wild delight, shock, and an indescribable urgency mingled on the Desolate God’s face.

“Please be patient, Fellow Daoist Desolate God.”

Empress Qingxuan gently rocked the Red Emperor Heaven-Scorching Lotus in her hand.

“As I just said, it was only through a fortunate coincidence that I reached that place, and I had to return in a hurry after running into trouble.”

“That void node was extremely unstable, and traversing it was fraught with peril. Even I barely escaped with my life back then.”

She paused, her gaze seemingly brushing past Sovereign Longteng by accident before moving to Sacred Lord Yaoguang’s slightly pale face.

Her voice softened, carrying the candor of a heartfelt confession.

“Xuanhuang Continent may be extraordinary, but it is by no means a safe place.”

“Sects abound there, cultivation clans hold sway, and powerful experts are everywhere. The conflicts there are several times more brutal than those on Canglan Continent.”

“To obtain this Red Emperor Heaven-Scorching Lotus, I provoked a faction known as the ancient Liyang clan. Two experts of my own realm pursued me, and I nearly failed to return.”

She spoke lightly of the terrifying fact that she had been pursued by two experts of her own realm.

The feverish excitement that had just begun to rise in the hall immediately cooled.

Two experts of her own realm meant two Immortal Ascension experts, both from the same cultivation clan.

Even if those present had never personally fought Empress Qingxuan, most had heard enough to form an assessment of her strength.

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If even she had found that faction troublesome enough to flee far away for her life, the depth of its foundations could easily be imagined.

“Opportunity and danger go hand in hand. That is only natural,” Venerable Baiyun said slowly.

He picked up his book again, but his fingertips rubbed unconsciously over its pages, betraying his inner turmoil.

“Does Fellow Daoist Qingxuan mean that even if a passage exists, rushing there recklessly may only bring disaster upon us?”

His question was tactfully phrased, but it voiced another concern lurking in everyone’s hearts.

If they truly went there, what would happen if Xuanhuang Continent’s experts discovered them?

Would they be besieged?

“That is difficult to say,” Empress Qingxuan admitted frankly.

“But compared to Fellow Daoist Longteng’s method of ‘mending the heavens,’ this path may at least carry somewhat less risk.”

She deftly placed the risks of mending the heavens and traveling to another world on opposite sides of the scale.

“Moreover…”

The Red Emperor Heaven-Scorching Lotus balanced upon her fingertips shimmered with flowing light. Its imperial pressure remained restrained, yet it still drew every eye.

“If we truly can reach Xuanhuang Continent, we may find a more reliable solution to Sacred Lord Yaoguang’s predicament.”

“The Great Dao of heaven and earth is complete there, and countless precious natural treasures can be found. There may well be something capable of extending her lifespan.”

Those words struck like a perfectly aimed arrow, piercing the softest and most stubborn place in Sovereign Longteng’s heart.

At last, distinct ripples appeared in Sovereign Longteng’s eyes, which had remained as calm as a deep pool.

He looked sharply at Empress Qingxuan, then swiftly turned to Sacred Lord Yaoguang beside him.

Surprise appeared on Sacred Lord Yaoguang’s gentle face as well, but it soon gave way to complex contemplation.

No one understood her condition better than she did. In this world, there was little hope of either extending her life or achieving a breakthrough, and the price would be impossible to predict.

But if another world truly existed where the Great Dao was complete, then even the faintest glimmer of hope would change everything.