Volume 1, Chapter 56 – Qingyun Sacred Land

Within a secluded chamber in Qingyun Sacred Land.

A refined-looking middle-aged man who appeared to be around forty sat upright on a meditation cushion. His eyes were half-closed, and spiritual power surged around him like mighty rivers.

This man was none other than Chu Tianchen, the current Sacred Lord of Qingyun Sacred Land.

His late-stage Body Integration cultivation placed him among the most powerful figures in the Southern Region.

Suddenly, hurried yet restrained footsteps sounded outside the chamber.

“Sacred Lord, there is urgent intelligence.”

A voice came from beyond the door, carrying a gravity that was difficult to conceal.

Chu Tianchen slowly opened his eyes. A sharp gleam flashed through them.

“Come in.”

The visitor pushed open the door. He was Lu Mingyuan, the elder specifically responsible for intelligence in Qingyun Sacred Land.

He quickly walked up to Chu Tianchen, bowed, and presented a jade slip containing the report with both hands.

“Sacred Lord, something major has happened over in the Great Yan Dynasty.”

“The Great Yan Dynasty?”

He remembered that the Great Yan Dynasty was merely a minor or mid-sized dynasty. There were more than a dozen similar dynasties under Qingyun Sacred Land’s jurisdiction.

Chu Tianchen frowned slightly and accepted the jade slip.

However, the instant his divine sense entered it, his expression changed dramatically!

In Qingyang City, within the Great Yan Dynasty, a faction called the “Yaochi Immortal Palace” had suddenly appeared and begun openly testing spiritual aptitude…

Grand Elder Yunhe of the Flying Cloud Sect and Third Elder Tiesong of the Green Mountain Sect, two Nascent Soul cultivators, had gone there to provoke them, only to be erased on the spot by a woman in white…

The Mountain-Covering Ape King, one of the three great demon kings of the Wanjue Mountain Range, had personally descended upon the mountain gates of the Flying Cloud Sect and Green Mountain Sect. He shattered their formations with a single punch, uprooted a mountain, and hurled its peak, all while declaring himself an elder of the Yaochi Immortal Palace’s Inspection Hall.

Xiao Minghai, the Retired Emperor of the Great Yan Dynasty, had personally traveled to Qingyang City and led the entire dynasty in pledging allegiance to the Yaochi Immortal Palace…

Yet what shook Chu Tianchen most deeply were the final few lines of the report:

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“Former Holy Maiden Gu Luoli has appeared in Qingyang City. Her complexion is rosy and her aura stable. Her Dao injury is suspected to have healed, and her cultivation has recovered to the peak of Foundation Establishment…”

“According to observations, a faint golden light can be seen within her double pupils. Their spiritual charm is deeply contained and far surpasses what they possessed in the past…”

“Gu Luoli performed the formal salute of a disciple toward the woman in white, addressing her as ‘Deputy Palace Master.’ She addressed Liu Ruyan, the eldest young lady of the Liu family, as ‘Second Senior Sister’…”

“Conclusion: Gu Luoli has joined the Yaochi Immortal Palace as a disciple and appears to hold a high status within it…”

Clack!

The jade slip slid from Chu Tianchen’s hand and struck the spirit-jade floor with a crisp sound.

The secluded chamber fell deathly silent.

Lu Mingyuan kept his head lowered, hardly daring to breathe.

He could understand the Sacred Lord’s shock.

When he had first received this intelligence, his own reaction had been even more uncontrolled.

Chu Tianchen stared blankly at the jade slip on the floor as though it were some terrifying beast.

A scene from three years ago surfaced uncontrollably in his mind.

A trial party from Qingyun Sacred Land had been ambushed and suffered devastating casualties.

When he arrived, all he saw was Gu Luoli, drenched in blood and barely clinging to life.

She had once shone with boundless brilliance and had been hailed as the greatest genius Qingyun Sacred Land had produced in a thousand years.

Her Dao foundation had been shattered, her double pupils had dimmed, and her cultivation had fallen from the Golden Core stage to the early stage of Foundation Establishment.

He had personally examined her. That Dao injury had been almost impossible to treat.

Even with Qingyun Sacred Land’s resources and heritage, they could barely prevent her injuries from worsening.

Cure her? It was as difficult as ascending to heaven!

From that moment onward, the Holy Maiden who had once been surrounded and adored by all gradually became a “burden” to the sacred land.

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The resources allocated to her dwindled. The elders’ attitudes changed. Her fellow disciples went from revering her to pitying her, and finally, even mocking her…

It was not as though he had never felt regret.

Gu Luoli was someone he had personally brought back all those years ago.

He had once placed tremendous hopes upon those double pupils, believing that she would one day lead Qingyun Sacred Land to glory.

But the fact remained that her Dao injury had no cure.

A genius with no future had no value to a sect.

Thus, when Gu Luoli lost all hope and voluntarily asked to leave, he remained silent.

He neither tried to keep her nor stopped her from going.

He had assumed that the disciple he had once been proudest of would quietly exhaust the last trace of her vitality in some unknown corner and die alone.

Just like the countless geniuses throughout history who had perished before reaching their full potential.

But now…

“Her Dao injury has healed… The spiritual charm of her double pupils far surpasses the past… Peak Foundation Establishment…”

Chu Tianchen muttered to himself. Every word struck his heart like a heavy hammer.

How was that possible?!

How could a Dao injury of that severity have healed in just three short years?

Even if those legendary sacred healing medicines had been used, there was no possibility of such a rapid recovery!

To say nothing of restoring the vitality of her double pupils and making them even stronger than before!

“Yaochi… Immortal Palace…”

Chu Tianchen slowly uttered those four words. A trace of apprehension, one that even he failed to notice, flashed through his eyes.

They could heal Gu Luoli’s Dao injury. They could subdue a Mahayana demon king and make him an elder. Their Deputy Palace Master could erase a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator with a flick of her finger…

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Just what was the origin of this faction that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere?

“Elder Lu.”

Chu Tianchen’s voice was slightly hoarse.

“Can this intelligence… be confirmed as accurate?”

Lu Mingyuan hurriedly replied, “Sacred Lord, the intelligence has been verified and is essentially accurate.”

“In addition, I have already sent people to discreetly make contact with the Flying Cloud Sect and Green Mountain Sect to confirm the situation.”

“Both sects have now sealed their mountains and shut their gates. Their disciples are strictly forbidden from leaving. Their attitude is… one of extreme terror.”

Chu Tianchen closed his eyes and drew a deep breath.

When he opened them again, his usual composure and depth had returned. Yet the turmoil hidden within them could not be suppressed no matter how hard he tried.

“Summon all the elders. We will convene in Qingyun Hall two hours from now.”

“Yes!”

Lu Mingyuan accepted the order, bowed, and withdrew.

Silence returned to the secluded chamber, but Chu Tianchen’s heart could no longer become calm.

He walked to the window and pushed it open, gazing at the cloud-shrouded mountains beyond the sacred land.

Three years ago, he had personally abandoned Gu Luoli.

It was not that he had never hesitated or struggled with the decision.

But when several Supreme Elders of the sacred land explicitly stated that “it was not worth wasting resources on a cripple,” he chose to compromise.

The master of a sacred land might appear infinitely glorious, but in truth, every step was taken as though walking on thin ice.

Every decision concerned the rise and fall of the sect and involved countless competing interests.

But now…

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“If I had overruled every objection and insisted on keeping her back then…”

Chu Tianchen murmured, then shook his head with a bitter smile.

“There are no ifs.”

Even if he could do it all over again, under the circumstances at the time, he would probably make the same choice.

That injury truly had been beyond anyone’s ability to heal.

At least, according to Qingyun Sacred Land’s understanding, no one could heal it.

Yet now, the Yaochi Immortal Palace had done exactly that.

Not only had they healed her, but they had also enabled her to recover her cultivation in such a short time. Her double pupils were even stronger than before!

What did that mean?

It meant that the Yaochi Immortal Palace possessed heritage and methods far beyond those of Qingyun Sacred Land!

It meant that he, Chu Tianchen, had allowed a genius to slip through his fingers!

“Luoli… my dear disciple…”

A complicated light flashed through Chu Tianchen’s eyes.

“You must hate your Master very much now, don’t you?”

She would hate his coldness, the sacred land’s injustice, and the fellow disciples who had kicked her while she was down.

If he were in her position, he would hate them too.

“Yaochi Immortal Palace…”

He spoke the name once more, his tone graver than ever before.

“Just where did they come from?”