Chapter 886 - 289: Gambit Within the Immortal Mansion_5

"That was close, almost missed it."

The radiance arrived and landed directly to Shen Yuan’s left.

The newcomer was none other than Chi Yuan Ascendant.

After sitting cross-legged, Chi Yuan Ascendant first cupped his hands in salute to Shen Yuan. As he was about to salute the elder on the right, he suddenly realized the person seemed not to be the Cang He he imagined and immediately asked in confusion, "Who might you be?"

"Fellow Daoist Cang He..."

Having learned from Shen Yuan’s earlier experience, the elder no longer displayed the previous arrogance and conceit when facing Chi Yuan Ascendant.

He cupped his hands toward Chi Yuan Ascendant and said, "I am Jin Xiao."

"Just arrived, I ask for guidance from both Fellow Daoists."

Upon hearing this, Chi Yuan Ascendant turned to Shen Yuan, "Fellow Daoist Shen, this..."

"Fellow Daoist Cang He was killed by him," Shen Yuan said indifferently.

Chi Yuan Ascendant sighed, and refrained from saying much.

His acquaintance with Cang He and Yu Jingzi was limited to seeing each other several times at the Nine Elements Exiled Immortal Temple; their camaraderie was truly shallow.

Yu Jingzi had been absent for the opening of the Immortal Temple multiple times, later replaced by Shen Yuan.

And Cang He had not appeared during the last Immortal Temple opening; Chi Yuan Ascendant had already guessed something might have happened to him.

After exchanging pleasantries, the elderly Jin Xiao hesitated for a moment before cupping his hands toward Shen Yuan, "Do you have anything else you need to know, Fellow Daoist?"

"If not, regarding the Nine Elements Exiled Immortal Temple..."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yuan contemplated for a moment before nodding, "Let’s leave it here for now. As for the Nine Elements Exiled Immortal Temple matters, Fellow Daoist, listen carefully."

His understanding of the Nine Elements Exiled Immortal Temple wasn’t extensive.

Before Chi Yuan Ascendant arrived, he was originally just going to bluff Jin Xiao casually.

But now that Chi Yuan Ascendant showed up in time, after a little guidance from Shen Yuan, the warm-hearted Chi Yuan Ascendant wasted no time in sharing many secrets of the Nine Elements Exiled Immortal Temple.

Shen Yuan also gained some insight from Jin Xiao unexpectedly, learning another secret about the Nine Elements Exiled Immortal Temple.

The Immortal Temple opens once every ten years.

The first-time cultivators at the Immortal Temple will receive a cultivation technique best suited for them amidst the Dao Bell’s chimes.

Every hundred years, the Immortal Temple conducts an assessment for these cultivators.

Those who pass the assessment seem to receive other rewards from the Immortal Temple.

According to Chi Yuan Ascendant, Yu Jingzi, the previous owner of the prayer mat beneath Shen Yuan, seemingly passed an Immortal Temple assessment once and received a certain reward.

Seventy years ago, he also participated in an assessment but failed to pass, thus not obtaining the Immortal Temple’s reward; naturally, he didn’t know what the reward was.

"Alas, counting this time, there will be two more times. This seat will partake in the assessment again. Whether I can luckily pass this time remains uncertain."

Chi Yuan Ascendant sighed.

He seemed to hold little confidence in passing the assessment.

Meanwhile, Shen Yuan pondered the Path of Great Derivation cultivation technique he acquired at the time—the "Divination and Storage Scripture."

Wondering how the Nine Elements Exiled Immortal Temple might assess him.

The Jin Xiao on his right was noticeably excited.

His mind calculated what kind of cultivation technique he might receive from the Nine Elements Exiled Immortal Temple this time.

As the two contemplated with different thoughts, a melodious chime suddenly rang out from deep within the clouds ahead!

Just like Shen Yuan’s first time, although Jin Xiao’s cultivation was far stronger than Shen Yuan’s back then, he could only withstand two bell chimes before his divine spirit could no longer endure.

Whereas Shen Yuan made distinct progress compared to the previous time.

The resounding Dao Bell rang a total of seven times before his divine spirit could no longer hold out and fell into a deep sleep.

When he awoke again, his divine soul avatar had returned to the grand hall of the Immortal Mansion.

Just as Shen Yuan was about to summon the red and white vortex and directly return, a low and resonant voice suddenly sounded.

"Fellow Daoist, hold for a moment!"

Hearing the voice, Shen Yuan immediately looked towards the shattered dome of the grand hall.

Through the opening in the dome, he once again saw those terrifying eyes.

"This seat has something to discuss with Fellow Daoist."

Outside the Immortal Mansion, Zhang Zeduan, missing half a face and an eyeball, spoke in a deep voice.

With his power as a Nascent Soul True Monarch, not to mention such minor injuries, even if his flesh was blasted apart leaving only bloody remnants, he could easily regenerate a complete body.

But it seemed the Golden Light emerging from the Immortal Mansion carried some peculiar power.

No matter how Zhang Zeduan tried, the half-face and eyeball burnt by the Golden Light could not regenerate.

The powerful regenerative capability of the Nascent Soul True Monarch allowed the flesh at his wound to continuously writhe, sprouting tender flesh buds.

But as soon as these buds emerged, they were instantly incinerated into ashes by an invisible force.

Therefore, Zhang Zeduan appeared very terrifying now.

This attempt to intercept Shen Yuan’s divine spirit had failed, not to mention experiencing such a calamity, making Zhang Zeduan quite furious.

Yet despite his anger, he had indeed realized.

With his current power, he was utterly incapable of dealing with Shen Yuan, who could freely come and go from the Immortal Mansion.

Now with the Yangnao Land’s Dao collapse imminent, Zhang Zeduan understood that before Xu Xiu began extracting the Dao Source of Yangnao Land, he would definitely try to reclaim Daying Immortal Mansion.

Before that, if he couldn’t eliminate Xu Xiu’s contingency left within the Immortal Mansion, not to mention the mansion being taken away, his entire Dao practice and life would be hard to preserve.

As Xu Xiu’s disciple, Zhang Zeduan was acutely aware of his master’s ruthlessness.

The reason Xu Xiu hadn’t yet invoked the Immortal Mansion’s means was mostly due to having absolute confidence, simply toying with him.