Chapter 462 - 61: Heavenly Mirror

In the Bright Void Sect, just before dawn, the sky was painted with the colors of sunrise, though the sun had yet to appear.

Zhu Ju, dressed in a long grey robe, sat cross-legged beneath a tree. Facing the nascent dawn, he breathed slowly, attuning himself to the changes within his body.

Thanks to the Formless Seal, the Alien Bloodline within him was tricked into believing it was the primary entity, temporarily halting any conflict.

But the bloodlines were ultimately different. There was an unavoidable lack of smoothness whenever he channeled his power, a problem far beyond what his current mastery of the Formless Seal could solve.

If this went on,

a clash between the bloodlines would be inevitable.

Thankfully!

His spine had fused with the Venerable Immortal Bone. By harnessing the power of the Immortal Bone, he was able to suppress the Alien Bloodline.

Hooo...

Zhu Ju exhaled a long, turbid breath.

’The Immortal Bone can strengthen my own bloodline. Even without a proper method, in two or three hundred years, it should be able to purge the impure blood from my body and return it to a unified state. This ordeal was incredibly dangerous, but at least the problem is finally solved.’

’Yun Zhongzi...’

During the fusion of the Immortal Bone with his body, Zhu Ju had "seen" a portion of Yun Zhongzi’s memories.

As a result, he had come to understand a little about him.

Yun Zhongzi!

An Ancient Celestial Immortal!

One of the Immortal Venerables of Jade Void Palace.

He once possessed the power to command the starry rivers and the Six Paths, to overturn the cycle of life and death. Even in the Immortal Realm, he was a renowned and powerful figure.

Alas.

When the calamity descended, the higher one’s Cultivation, the faster one died.

By the time Yun Zhongzi realized something was wrong, it was already too late. He could not escape his doom, even by hiding in the river of time and space as the other immortals had.

Fortunately, he possessed a Venerable Immortal Bone.

To him, the Immortal Bone was not particularly powerful, but it was just enough to evade the disaster, allowing him to leave behind a wisp of his consciousness in a vain attempt at Resurrection.

In truth, Yun Zhongzi himself knew that he had already perished, his body and Dao destroyed. Even if his plan succeeded, the one resurrected would not truly be him,

but rather another "Yun Zhongzi" who merely possessed some of his memories.

As for Zhu Ju...

He hadn’t inherited Yun Zhongzi’s memories at all. Instead, the Venerable Immortal Bone had shattered and fused with his body.

’To roam the sea of stars and time, to traverse the All Heavens and Myriad Realms... even an existence of that caliber couldn’t escape his fate.’

With a soft sigh, Zhu Ju turned his "gaze" inward, toward the depths of his Sea of Consciousness.

There,

a mirror covered in cracks floated silently.

This was the very object that had foiled Yun Zhongzi’s plans and had nearly caused the Venerable Immortal Bone to shatter completely.

’The Heavenly Mirror?’

He had been back in this world for a while now, and during that time, Zhu Ju had borrowed and read numerous ancient texts.

With his Cultivation and strength placing him at the pinnacle of the current era, he could easily obtain even the rarest tomes and Secret Manuals.

After some searching, he did indeed find records pertaining to the "Heavenly Mirror."

The treasure originated from the ancient Celestial Court.

The Celestial Court!

An organization even more ancient than the Immortal Realm.

This organization was composed of various powerful Divine Spirits who established the celestial rules and Celestial Laws. Even the Immortal Realm was built by Them, used to rule over the All Heavens and Myriad Realms and all sentient life.

Later,

the high and mighty Celestial Court became tyrannical. Its laws were harsh, and it exploited all living beings. The All Gods feasted on the livers of dragons and the galls of phoenixes, and they blocked every path to Cultivation save for becoming an Immortal Official. This provoked a united assault from the Immortal Group and legions of demons.

The Celestial Court collapsed, and the All Gods fell.

And the "Heavenly Mirror," as the Celestial Court’s supreme treasure for observing the Ten Thousand Realms, was supposedly destroyed in the slaughter.

But clearly,

the Heavenly Mirror had not been destroyed.

Zhu Ju guessed,

The Heavenly Mirror must have fallen into the hands of some Immortal. Later, that Immortal perished in the Great Catastrophe, and the Heavenly Mirror drifted through the void until, for some unknown reason, it appeared in his Sea of Consciousness—or perhaps, his Primordial Spirit.

’The distant past, the ancient era...’

Shaking his head, Zhu Ju sighed softly.

’It is all too remote, and no longer exists.’

The power of the Celestial Court was undeniable. After all, even in the Immortal Realm, there were places the Immortal Group could not influence.

The Celestial Court,

had claimed to be the Lord of Ten Thousand Realms!

But whether it was the Celestial Court or the Immortal Realm, they were both relics of the past. Not only did they no longer exist, but even their former Cultivation Methods had become a lethal poison.

With a flicker of his thoughts,

the surface of the Heavenly Mirror began to shimmer with a faint light.

Subconsciously,

Zhu Ju’s consciousness felt as if it had arrived in a boundless river of stars, where every point of light represented a different world.

The brightness of each star signified the strength of its corresponding world.

’Every time my Cultivation advances and my Primordial Spirit grows stronger, it stimulates the Heavenly Mirror, triggering a transmigration.’

’Now...’

’I can choose which world to travel to, and as long as the conditions are met, I can return whenever I wish.’

Zhu Ju stroked his chin, a faint smile playing on his lips, but it was quickly followed by a helpless sigh.

’A pity!’

’Under the great calamity of the Dao, Cultivation has become a dead end. This world possesses the core legacies of the three greatest powers of the Immortal Realm and even the Cave Mansions of Immortals, yet it has still fallen into such decline. Other worlds are even worse off; visiting them would be pointless.’

In fact, some worlds did still possess powerful beings.

For instance,

there was the world of Evil Gods adjacent to the Apocalypse World.

Unfortunately, the moment Zhu Ju’s consciousness drew near it, the Heavenly Mirror issued a warning of extreme danger.

Evil Gods!

Bizarre existences that drew power from faith, similar to the All Gods of the Celestial Court, but far more extreme.

If he were to go to such a world, failing to offer up his faith would mean making an enemy of their gods.

That was clearly not a wise path to take.

Besides, there was nothing to be gained by going there.

SWISH!

A streak of light shot through the air and landed before Zhu Ju. It was a Flying Sword, from which a voice emerged:

"Fellow Daoist Zhu, Senior Star-Picking Master wishes to see you."

Star-Picking Master!

The Pavilion Master of Star-Picking Tower, one of this world’s three great Nascent Soul True Men.

*

*

*

Profound Clarity Sect.

Shii Xuan walked respectfully into the grand hall and bowed deeply to the Daoist seated cross-legged in the center.

"Disciple pays his respects to Grandmaster!"

"Mm."

Daoist Qingyuan opened his eyes, his clear, penetrating gaze reflecting the young man’s image.

"There is anger in your heart."

"..." Shii Xuan pressed his lips together, saying nothing.

"Your union with Qin Zhiruo as Daoist partners was forced from the start. There were no true feelings involved," Daoist Qingyuan said slowly.

"This time..."

"The compensation they offered is more than generous."

"Grandmaster!" Shii Xuan looked up, his expression stiff. "Even if Qin Zhiruo and I had no feelings for each other, she was still my wife! For her to get involved with another man before we even separated, and then to humiliate me by returning the betrothal gifts—how can this disciple endure it?"

And moreover...

That man was Yuan Zanfeng!

"Wuliang Celestial Venerable," Daoist Qingyuan sighed.

"Anger and obsession will only disrupt your state of mind."

"Qin Zhiruo feels nothing for you, and Yuan Zanfeng is your friend. If you can let go of this obsession, wouldn’t that solve multiple problems at once?"

Shii Xuan stared intently and said,

"Grandmaster, I know that the Jade Void Cave Heaven is important to the Immortal Alliance, but must this junior be humiliated?"

"..." Daoist Qingyuan shook his head.

"What do you want to do?"

"I..." A look of bewilderment crossed Shii Xuan’s eyes.

He hadn’t figured out what to do, either. After all, he and Qin Zhiruo truly had no feelings for each other. Logically, the best outcome would be to wish Qin Zhiruo and Yuan Zanfeng well and move on.

Besides,

the compensation was more than enough.

As for revenge...

Qin Zhiruo was already at the Mid-Stage Golden Core, and Yuan Zanfeng had the potential to become a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

Even with his own exceptional Talent, he was simply no match for either of them.

And now,

even his own Sect wouldn’t support his desire for revenge.

"Grandmaster."

With a soft sigh, Shii Xuan cupped his hands.

"This disciple understands."

...

Using the Wind Escape Technique, a part of the Five Elements Escape Technique, Shii Xuan returned to his Cave Mansion, his face grim.

"Young friend."

A middle-aged man in blood-red robes was reclining on a bed-like stone platform. He turned his head at the sound.

"Is it over?"

"Senior," Shii Xuan said, cupping his hands.

"It is just as you guessed. The Sect has ordered me to give up on revenge and do my best to get along with those two."

"That is the way of the Righteous Dao. They see only benefits, nothing else," the middle-aged man said with a faint smile.

"I hear they’re preparing to deal with me?"

"Yes."

Shii Xuan nodded.

"Star-Picking Master has already invited several Late-Stage Golden Core Cultivators who possess Spiritual Artifacts to discuss how to deal with you."

"Hmph..." The middle-aged man’s expression remained unchanged.

"Back then, three Nascent Soul experts laid an ambush and still couldn’t kill me. Do they think adding one more Yuan Zanfeng will make a difference?"

"Young friend!"

He looked at Shii Xuan and spoke slowly,

"If you help me, the Profound Clarity Sect will belong to you, and the Jade Void Cave Heaven will belong to me."

"..." Shii Xuan stared at the man, his heart pounding in his chest as a seed of ambition began to sprout within him.

The Six Paths Demon Monarch!

Though this man was the world’s number one Demon, he was known to be a man of his word; in all these years, he had never once broken a promise.

As his thoughts raced, he clenched his jaw, a flicker of hatred appearing in his eyes.

"Alright!"

"In three days, as a newly advanced Golden Core of the Sect, I will be assisting in anchoring the core of the Profound Clarity Sect’s Grand Array. At that time..."

Shii Xuan took a deep breath.

"I can help you!"