Chapter 587: Entering Zunwang Palace, Madam Jin Targeted

Because Wei Tu and Cao Mi had altered their appearances, making them look like strangers, the cultivators in the hall only glanced at them briefly before withdrawing their gazes, not paying much attention.

Wei Tu, however, secretly cast several more looks toward a few of the cultivators.

The reason was simple—among them were some "familiar faces."

Sect Master Lian Shourang of Shengya Mountain and the Zheng Kingdom rogue cultivator Venerable Master Jiuli were unsurprising.

What caught Wei Tu off guard was seeing Fu Linglong, with whom he’d once shared a fleeting affair, also here.

Her face was serene as she sat cross-legged, fingers sliding over a string of prayer beads while quietly reciting scripture with an elderly nun in the same robes.

Though Wei Tu had never met that nun, he could easily guess she was Fu Linglong’s master—Venerable Master Jinglian.

Next to the pair sat three monks, robed in kasayas with faces glowing with Buddhist light.

The three, two elderly and one young, were all above mid-Nascent Soul.

One white-browed monk’s cultivation Wei Tu couldn’t see through. He estimated the man was likely late Nascent Soul.

"They must be cultivators of Ten Thousand Buddha Temple."

Wei Tu guessed inwardly.

If Shengya Mountain was the foremost Daoist sect of the righteous path, then Ten Thousand Buddha Temple was the foremost Buddhist sect, the sacred land for Buddhist cultivators of every kingdom.

Though weaker than Shengya Mountain, they securely held second place among righteous forces.

After a quick look, Wei Tu exchanged glances with Cao Mi. The two moved toward the "rogue cultivator area," where Venerable Master Jiuli and others sat, then seated themselves cross-legged as well.

"Which kingdoms are the two Fellow Daoists from? Why have I never seen you before?"

Venerable Master Jiuli, dressed in Confucian robes, raised his brows when he saw Wei Tu and Cao Mi approach, and asked.

That one question immediately drew the attention of the surrounding cultivators, who sent their divine senses sweeping over.

At the Nascent Soul realm, one already stood at the peak of a region, rarely unknown to the world.

In the past, when Zunwang Palace’s secret realm opened, strangers did appear, but seeing two at once was enough to stir curiosity.

"Fellow Daoist Jiuli, it’s me."

Wei Tu wasn’t shaken. He had already guessed beforehand that he and Cao Mi’s unfamiliar appearances might draw unwanted attention.

He smiled faintly and sent a voice transmission, revealing his other identity—Daoist Fu.

With the cooperative spirit contract he had signed with Venerable Master Jiuli on the Heaven’s Nether True Page, he wasn’t worried about his real identity being exposed here.

"So it’s Fellow Daoist Fu."

Venerable Master Jiuli’s eyes widened in sudden realization, his expression softening into the look one gives an acquaintance.

Those nearby who had been probing immediately withdrew their divine sense, losing interest.

After all, to disguise one’s face and sneak into Zunwang Palace’s secret realm wasn’t rare.

Since Venerable Master Jiuli recognized them, it proved they weren’t some nameless wanderers, but cultivators with proper names and backgrounds.

That was enough to guarantee they wouldn’t encounter "unexpected trouble" inside.

After all, the strength of Nascent Soul cultivators across the Great Cang Immortal Realm was something roughly measurable.

"Which ones are the sea beast demon clan?"

Seated, Wei Tu now turned his attention to quietly searching the hall.

His most urgent task was to locate the sea beast demon clan cultivators who had entered through the same secret realm entrance as him.

"Could it be those two?"

Wei Tu skipped over the areas reserved for the great sects and focused on the rogue cultivator section.

Since there weren’t too many people gathered yet, it wasn’t hard to single out two suspicious figures.

One was a tall, broad-shouldered middle-aged man in black robes, exuding a violent aura with rare crimson hair. The other was a curvy, beautiful young woman whose eyes shimmered with tender spring-water charm.

But with other cultivators nearby, Wei Tu dared not openly employ his spirit-pupil techniques. Instead, he memorized their appearances and then withdrew his gaze.

Time passed.

After about half a day, another 30 cultivators filed into the hall. Most were of the demonic path, each radiating murderous intent and cold expressions.

Wei Tu didn’t know them, but with Ancestor Chilong’s reminders, he quickly identified them one by one.

He paid the most attention to two in particular: Sect Master Gongshu Chou of the Hehuan Sect and his vice sect master, Lady Yinlian.

Both were late Nascent Soul powerhouses—figures Wei Tu needed to stay wary of.

Fortunately, he had not used the "Joyous Nuo Mask" this time, relying only on his own disguise techniques. For now, he had little fear of being recognized by them.

"Madam Jin and Wang Sutai are here too?"

Not long after, as more Nascent Soul cultivators entered the hall, Wei Tu spotted Madam Jin and her daughter among the crowd.

Like Wei Tu, Venerable Master Jiuli was also surprised.

He had once inquired about Daoist Fu’s background and knew there was a marriage contract between Wei Tu and Wang Sutai, making them betrothed.

So, when he saw Wei Tu arrive with Cao Mi, he had always assumed Cao Mi was Wang Sutai.

'Didn’t think Daoist Fu was such a womanizer.' Venerable Master Jiuli clicked his tongue inwardly.

"Not good!"

Wei Tu quickly realized a serious problem.

Not long ago, when he killed Ji Wuyai, he had deliberately dumped the blame onto his false identity, Daoist Fu.

At the time, he hadn’t expected Madam Jin and her daughter to enter Zunwang Palace’s secret realm. He thought they were still secluded on Beiyuan Island, so he believed this matter wouldn’t implicate them.

But now… this unexpected change.

Madam Jin and her daughter would definitely be targeted by the Hehuan Sect inside Zunwang Palace.

Sure enough, just as the thought arose in Wei Tu’s mind, he saw Lady Yinlian’s cold gaze snap toward Madam Jin.

Madam Jin, catching that gaze, was startled. Her brows furrowed slightly as she looked back at Lady Yinlian.

"Good! Good! Good!"

"So, Wanyin Sect wants to challenge my Hehuan Sect for position? If my sect doesn’t respond, we’ll be mocked by the world."

Seeing that Madam Jin had no intention of backing down, even looking back at her in provocation, Lady Yinlian let out a cold laugh and openly mocked her in front of everyone.

In the demonic path, five sects stood supreme.

But the lineup wasn’t eternal. Ten thousand years ago, the Stone Demon Sect had been replaced by the Heavenly Maiden Sect, defectors from the righteous path.

The method for such a replacement was the "challenge for position," where a lower sect challenged an upper sect.

Lady Yinlian’s words now were clearly mocking Wanyin Sect and Madam Jin for overestimating themselves.

She knew full well that Madam Jin and her daughter had already been expelled by Duan Changjing, reduced to strays.

Seeing this situation, Wei Tu quickly sent a secret voice transmission to Madam Jin, explaining why the Hehuan Sect was targeting her and her daughter.

"What? You killed Daoist Liu Yu and Ji Wuyai?"

Madam Jin’s face didn’t change, but inside she was shocked.

She hadn’t expected that upon arriving at Zunwang Palace’s secret realm, her dear son-in-law would give her such a shocking "gift."

Though she felt some anger at Wei Tu’s trickery, in the end, he was family—and he had saved her life before. After her initial shock, she shifted to thinking of how to solve the problem together with him.

"Don’t worry! At Zunwang Palace’s entrance, Lady Yinlian will only mock me. With righteous cultivators present, she won’t dare attack.

After we enter… as long as I avoid whatever place she chooses to challenge, it’ll be fine."

Madam Jin tried to reassure Wei Tu not to worry too much.

She was, after all, mid-Nascent Soul. She couldn’t beat Lady Yinlian, but escaping with her life wasn’t impossible.

The gap between mid and late Nascent Soul was big, but few cultivators had Wei Tu’s overwhelming ability to crush those weaker than themselves.

One small realm difference wasn’t an insurmountable gulf.

Hearing this, Wei Tu nodded.

The Zunwang Palace secret realm wasn’t a natural place. Like the Great Void Realm, it was an artificial inheritance realm.

Its biggest feature was the series of unique trials, the "stages."

Conveniently, the first stage wasn’t fixed in one location. There were options.

So, as Madam Jin said, all she had to do was watch which trial Lady Yinlian chose, and then pick another one, avoiding direct conflict.

As for the possibility of Lady Yinlian deliberately waiting until the end to hunt Madam Jin and her daughter…

That was impossible.

For a late-Nascent Soul powerhouse like Lady Yinlian, the real prize inside Zunwang Palace lay deeper, in the inner hall.

If she wasted time and fell behind others, she might lose the chance at a treasure she valued most, regretting it forever.

Losing the greater for the lesser—neither Wei Tu nor Madam Jin believed she would be so foolish.

Madam Jin didn’t respond to Lady Yinlian’s mockery, so as not to escalate the situation further.

She wasn’t reckless.

Even if she wanted revenge, she would wait until she claimed the opportunity her father, the Ghost King Jin, had left behind, broke through to late Nascent Soul, and only then confront her.

Seeing Madam Jin back down, Lady Yinlian also didn’t press further. She sneered coldly, gave Madam Jin a contemptuous smile, then regrouped with the other demonic cultivators.

"Who’s that woman sitting with Fu’er?"

With the danger lifted, Madam Jin finally had time to glance toward Wei Tu’s side and examine his companions.

But as she looked, Madam Jin’s expression turned faintly displeased. After all, Wei Tu wasn’t only her lifesaver but also her son-in-law.

No matter who it was, seeing their son-in-law with another close female companion would hardly make them happy.

"Where’s that Red Dragon fellow?"

"Why didn’t he come here with Fu’er?"

Madam Jin furrowed her brows, her mind filled with many guesses.

But she didn’t ask Wei Tu. She kept those questions buried, planning to wait until she broke through to late Nascent Soul before bringing them up.

…

Several days later.

When the number of people in the hall reached over fifty, the stone wall at the far end suddenly emitted a burst of dazzling white light.

Then, three tokens about a foot long floated out of the wall, arranged in a row before everyone.

The inscriptions were ancient characters, but thanks to Ancestor Chìlóng’s teachings, Wei Tu wasn’t worried about not recognizing them.

"Lake of Evil Ghosts, Stiff Forest Mountain, Cave of the Giant Demon."

The information of the three tokens surfaced in Wei Tu’s mind.

These three tokens were the transmission tokens for the first trial of Zunwang Palace’s inheritance realm.

Just by touching one, one would be transported to the perilous place named on it.

The Zunwang Palace secret realm covered an area roughly circular in shape, and these three danger zones lay at its farthest edges.

From any of these, one could begin passing trial after trial, eventually reaching the core of Zunwang Palace—the inner hall.

Everything outside the inner hall was just the outer region.

'The Yuan Yang Treasure Grounds are on the first layer of the inner hall. For the first trial, I have to choose the direction that leads to the Cicada Divine Flower…'

Wei Tu considered the map, his gaze settling on the token marked "Cave of the Giant Demon."

According to the map, only by starting from the Cave of the Giant Demon could he and Cao Mi reach the place where the Cicada Divine Flower grew.

But he didn’t rush to choose. Instead, he stayed back, waiting for others to go first.

After a while, once the initial hesitation passed, the cultivators in the hall began selecting the trial paths most suited to themselves.

The first trial wasn’t impossible to clear, but a bad choice could waste too much energy and weaken one’s chances of winning treasures later.

For some, though, the choice was easy—those few who were already late Nascent Soul.

One figure after another disappeared, until only Wei Tu and the remaining mid and early Nascent Soul cultivators were left.

By then, Wei Tu no longer hesitated. Blending into the crowd, he and Cao Mi, one after the other, stepped into the Cave of the Giant Demon.

The world shifted.

When Wei Tu opened his eyes, he found himself inside a damp, shadowy cavern. It was silent all around, not a soul in sight.

He wasn’t surprised. He spread out his divine sense, locked onto a target, and immediately flew ahead.

"Single combat"—that was the rule of Zunwang Palace’s first trial.

That was why most who dared to enter were mid Nascent Soul cultivators.

Only they could pass this trial with absolute certainty.

But Wei Tu wasn’t worried about Cao Mi.

Though she hadn’t quite reached mid Nascent Soul, with her Yin Corpses supporting her, she could fight on par with that level, at least for a while.

Soon, after flying some distance, Wei Tu entered a larger cavern chamber. There, he saw a beast as black as ink, shaped like a rhinoceros.

Its aura was at least early fourth rank.

"These are demonic beasts from the Ancient Demon Realm. I wonder how Zunwang Palace managed to capture them and raise them here…" Ancestor Chìlóng sighed.

After all, with generations of cultivators cleansing the world, such beasts should’ve long been extinct.

Wei Tu didn’t respond. He strode straight toward the rhinoceros beast.

With one step, he flashed behind it.

The next moment, a streak of golden light cut through.

The rhinoceros beast’s head burst apart, and it fell dead on the spot.

"The power of a body cultivator’s spirit body really is handy." Ancestor Chìlóng clicked his tongue.

If a typical immortal cultivator faced this rhinoceros, even a late Nascent Soul would need to cast several divine abilities.

But Wei Tu, by pulling the beast into the domain of his fleshly body, killed it instantly with ease.

"This beast only died so easily because its mind was too dull to dodge. If it had been a proper yao clan cultivator, it wouldn’t have been so simple."

Wei Tu didn’t let arrogance rise in his heart. He stored the rhinoceros beast’s corpse into his storage bag, then walked forward again.

Ahead was a straight passage. He only had to step through the white light at the end to leave the Cave of the Giant Demon.

But just then, he seemed to recall something. He paused, standing before the white light for a while.

One breath, two breaths…

After more than ten breaths, the "white-browed old monk" he had seen earlier in the hall appeared outside the white glow.

After him came a string of others.

All those late Nascent Soul cultivators who had gone into the Cave of the Giant Demon earlier emerged one after another.

Among them, besides the Hehuan Sect master Gongshu Chou, was also a "Heavenly Maiden" from the Heavenly Maiden Sect.

The three late Nascent Soul cultivators exchanged glances, then instantly turned into rainbow streaks of light, rushing toward the inner hall region at full speed.

"Good thing I delayed leaving."

"If I had run into those three, it would’ve been hard to explain." Wei Tu shook his head.

He had no wish to expose his true strength before the treasures even appeared.

Half a quarter-hour later, some of the mid Nascent Soul cultivators who had entered earlier also came out slowly.

Only then did Wei Tu step out.

Passing through the white glow—

In an instant, he appeared on a barren plain. Behind him stood a massive cavern marked "Cave of the Giant Demon."

Roughly three hours later, Cao Mi staggered out, panting, her robes a little ragged.

The two of them gathered their light and flew toward the place where the Cicada Divine Flower grew.

Half a day later, they arrived.

Fortunately, Hu Yantu hadn’t lied to Wei Tu. The Cicada Divine Flower his ancestor Hu Yanpeng had discovered back then was indeed here, untouched.

'But by the next opening of Zunwang Palace, it may not remain,' Wei Tu thought.

Right now, everyone was racing toward the inner hall to seize greater treasures, leaving no time for outer herbs and ores.

But once the inner hall had been scoured, cultivators would sweep the outer areas thoroughly.

By then, even with a concealment formation, the Cicada Divine Flower would surely be found.

That explained why Hu Yantu had been so anxious, urging him to dig up the flower now, even providing the exact hiding spot.

The man simply had no time left to wait.

"With this Cicada Divine Flower, how long will it take you, Sister Cao, to break through?" Wei Tu asked, glancing at Cao Mi as she tested the flower’s medicinal properties.

The Zunwang Palace secret realm stayed open for 20 years.

When those years passed, every cultivator would be expelled by the realm’s formations, sent back to their original entrance.

In other words, Cao Mi’s breakthrough had to fit within that timeframe, or bringing her here would be pointless.

That would go against his plans and interests.

"At most 7 years," Cao Mi replied after finishing her examination.

"7 years?" Wei Tu let out a small sigh of relief.

He could wait that long.

According to Ancestor Chìlóng’s information, the key treasures of the inner hall required more than 10 years each just to break their restrictions.

"Then stay here for now, Sister Cao. Go into seclusion. I’ll head to the inner hall first." Wei Tu nodded.

The Cicada Divine Flower meant for her was secured.

But the Primordial Qi Ganoderma meant for him was still missing.

That treasure was tied to his chance to advance to late Nascent Soul.

And besides…

Bai Zhi’s resurrection also depended on the Yuan Yang Treasure Grounds.

…

From the Cave of the Giant Demon to the inner hall, there were still two more trials.

But for Wei Tu, they were no different from the cave—not worth mentioning.

In only five days, he reached the inner hall, just like the other late Nascent Soul cultivators.

The inner hall of Zunwang Palace was nothing like the outer regions. It was a vast complex of palaces rising from the desolate plain, numbering in the thousands.

Wei Tu’s destination, the Yuan Yang Treasure Grounds, was one of the larger halls here.

It was also called Yuan Yang Palace.

"I should’ve reached Yuan Yang Palace before the Tianyi Sect elders. But I wonder how they managed to take the Primordial Qi Ganoderma from here."

Inside Yuan Yang Palace, Wei Tu hid himself in a small chamber, set up a concealment array, and began driving out the demonic soul from Bai Zhi with Yuan Yang energy.

At the same time, he extended his divine sense outward, carefully watching for any cultivators approaching the palace.