Chapter 242: Ruling the World (11) - Discussion of the Upper Realm

Jiuyou and Bai Xuanyi walked shoulder to shoulder, stepping into the magnificent immortal hall.

The instant he crossed the threshold, Jiuyou's Divine Sense rippled outward, silently sweeping the entire hall until every detail lay bare to his perception.

The hall's layout was strange. Five jade seats were arranged in five directions, four of them already occupied. The moment Jiuyou stepped inside, a sixth seat rose slowly from the center of the floor. Brilliant golden light flowed across it, casting a radiant glow over the walls.

Four gazes instantly converged on Jiuyou. Most were distant and indifferent, tinged with an appraising curiosity—the typical manner of supreme Deity Transformation experts evaluating a newly advanced peer. One gaze, however, stood out, piercing him with faint hostility.

Jiuyou followed that line of sight to a figure shrouded in black mist. Noticing his return stare, the figure quickly looked away, pretending nothing had happened.

The others noticed this fleeting clash, but no one said a word. The assembled Divine Lords were shrewd and unreadable; none of them wished to be the first to break the silence.

Jiuyou withdrew his gaze, his expression placid. Beside him, Bai Xuanyi offered a slight nod before his figure blurred and dropped into his own designated seat. Jiuyou glanced at the newly surfaced golden chair and calmly sat down.

As soon as he settled in, another gaze fell upon him. It carried a hint of doubt at first, which quickly shifted into a trace of surprise. Jiuyou looked up to see a black-haired old man draped in a heavy cloak, surrounded by faint, lingering wisps of starlight. 'This must be the Fellow Daoist Hong that Bai Xuanyi mentioned, the one skilled in celestial divination—Hongce,' Jiuyou thought.

Judging by the old man's expression, he actually seemed to recognize him. Jiuyou's mind raced. He had definitely never met this man before. Had the old man caught a glimpse of his fate while divining the heavens?

The thought flashed by, swiftly followed by a memory. Six or seven hundred years ago, when he was only at the Middle Nascent Soul Stage in Blood-Demon Valley, a sweep of Divine Sense far beyond the Nascent Soul Realm had descended from the sky and washed over him. Could that Divine Sense have belonged to this man?

Jiuyou subtly appraised the others in the hall, reaching a quick conclusion. Of the six people present, only Bai Xuanyi, Hongce, and himself had come in their true bodies. With a single glance, he saw through the remaining three—they were merely avatars. As for what schemes they harbored in their hearts, that was known only to them.

With that thought in mind, Jiuyou offered the cloaked old man a slight nod.

A flash of understanding crossed Hongce's eyes. He smiled faintly and looked away.

At that moment, a middle-aged man in purple robes seated at the lower left spoke up, breaking the solemn silence of the hall.

"This must be the Fellow Daoist Jiuyou that Fellow Daoist Bai mentioned."

Bai Xuanyi gave a slight nod. He provided the group with a brief introduction of Jiuyou's background, then turned and introduced the others in the hall to Jiuyou one by one. The group kept their greetings brief, stopping at formal acknowledgments without digging any deeper into Jiuyou's identity. Jiuyou himself remained silent.

Just as he had guessed, the cloaked old man was Hongce. The figure in the black mist who had directed that faint hostility toward him was Sacred Venerable Yuan Huang. The middle-aged man in purple who had just spoken was known as Old Monster Myriad Manifestations. And the figure in blue sitting quietly in the left corner of the hall, remaining completely silent, was named Zheng Buzheng, titled Divine Lord Xichen.

With that, Jiuyou had officially met the supreme Deity Transformation experts lying dormant in this place.

The hall fell into a brief, dead silence. You could have heard a pin drop.

After a moment, Bai Xuanyi finally spoke, his voice echoing through the vast hall.

"Since all fellow Daoists have gathered here, our goals must be the same. If we cannot find a path to higher ground, every one of us will end up like the ancient sages. We will be trapped, doomed to die beneath the barrier of the Peak Initial Deity Transformation Stage, forever denied the chance to glimpse the scenery further along the Great Dao."

His tone was flat, yet it carried the undeniable weight of a Deity Transformation Dao Lord. Every word rang clear in their ears.

"I will say it again: if any of you harbor private grievances, I ask that you set them aside. In the face of our future on the Great Dao, past slights are truly not worth mentioning. Working together to find a path to the Upper Realm is our most pressing priority."

His words were concise. On the surface, it sounded like a warning to everyone present, but in reality, it was mostly meant for Jiuyou. As he spoke, his gaze drifted slightly, sweeping over the humanoid black mist nearby.

The black mist that was Sacred Venerable Yuan Huang sat completely motionless. Like a dead statue, he offered no word or response at all.

Jiuyou remained silent. Since the other party hadn't spoken, he had no intention of sparking a verbal spat. He sat securely in his seat, his expression impassive, while his mind rapidly weighed the situation.

Bai Xuanyi's words suddenly cleared up a great deal of confusion. No wonder a group of supreme Deity Transformation experts had gathered here. No wonder that, from ancient times until now, this Cultivation World had never seen a powerhouse emerge above the Deity Transformation realm. There truly was an Upper Realm.

In the past, while leafing through Ganzhou's Ancient Records, he had glimpsed a few scattered lines mentioning the Upper Realm. At the time, he had dismissed them as absurd myths spun by the ancients and paid them no mind. Thinking back on it now, those Deity Transformation Cultivators who had inexplicably vanished in ancient times—could they have found an opportunity and departed for the Upper Realm?

But according to Bai Xuanyi, the path between the two realms was now severed. This was the root cause of the Divine Lords being trapped in this world. They had gathered here in the Outer Realm Heavenly Palace, banding together to pool their strength and forge a new path to transcend this world.

Everything clicked into place. Jiuyou finally understood why Bai Xuanyi had sought him out so urgently, right on the heels of his breakthrough to Deity Transformation.

For a search this desperately slim, the power of a newly advanced Deity Transformation expert was a boost they couldn't afford to ignore.

"Relax, Brother Bai, you're preaching to the choir," Old Monster Myriad Manifestations said, waving a hand with a touch of impatience. "With the Great Dao on the line, nothing else matters. We wouldn't have cultivated to this realm if we didn't understand something that simple. But endless years have passed—have any of you managed to find even a trace of a clue about the Upper Realm?"

Silence fell over the immortal hall once more.

The assembled experts shook their heads, faint traces of melancholy showing in their expressions. After countless years of exhaustive divination and searching, they had turned up absolutely nothing. If this continued, they really would repeat the tragedy of the ancient sages and die trapped beneath the barrier of Deity Transformation.

Amidst the stifling gloom, Hongce suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence.

"Everyone, this old man might have a method."

The moment he spoke, every gaze in the hall snapped toward him. The atmosphere instantly grew heavy.

Hongce didn't elaborate immediately.

"However, it is only a guess," he added slowly.

Even a mere guess was enough to hook the interest of these old Deity Transformation monsters. Everyone restrained their expressions, waiting in silence for him to continue.

"When there were only five of us Deity Transformation experts in this world, the risks were far too great. I didn't dare attempt it," Hongce said, his gaze sweeping slowly across the hall before finally landing on Jiuyou. "But now that Fellow Daoist Jiuyou has arrived, with his added Deity Transformation combat power... it might just be worth the risk."