Chapter 722: The Greatest Secret

A few startled birds shot up from the woods below the cliff and flew toward the distant horizon.

The Eastern Domain of Chenping Continent was now far less affected by the collapse of the laws of heaven and earth than the other domains of Chenping Continent.

So much so that the Radiant Dynasty remained a place of peace and tranquility.

The so-called “enemies from beyond the heavens” were merely one of the consequences of the collapse of the laws of heaven and earth in Chenping Continent.

Even more likely than the Mystic Maiden Statues to bring Chenping Continent to complete ruin was the ongoing collapse of the laws of heaven and earth, which represented the world's origin.

When the laws of heaven and earth in Chenping Continent finally collapsed beyond what they could withstand, the domain heavens would be reduced to nothing in an instant.

When that day came, the tens of millions of people in the Radiant Dynasty would greet the end of the world without even realizing it. In a way, that might even be a blessing.

After Chu Xiyao left, nothing any longer restricted Fan Mowen's Martial Spring or meridians.

With only a little effort, he broke free of the ropes binding his hands and feet. As he stood up, he brushed the dirt and dust from his daoist robes.

“The Weaving Dreams Night Sky Observation Mirror...”

Fan Mowen muttered those words, as though he missed them dearly, and seemed to be reminiscing about something:

“Since Realman Chen knows about the Weaving Dreams Night Sky Observation Mirror, does he also know the absolute taboo of Weaving Dreams Tower's illusions?”

An image suddenly surfaced in Chen Yan's mind: a girl who looked no older than fourteen or fifteen, dressed in the daoist robes of Mirage Palace's Weaving Dreams Tower.

Zhou Jinyun.

Eight thousand years ago, Chen Yan had learned a great deal about Weaving Dreams Tower's illusions from this chief disciple of Mirage Palace's Weaving Dreams Tower.

“The Weaving Dreams Night Sky Observation Mirror must never be used to control anyone.”

Chen Yan replied.

“That's right. Because of this taboo, an internal conflict once erupted within Mirage Palace eight thousand years ago. It went unknown to the outside world, yet was fierce enough to alter the balance of power across the entire cultivation world of Chenping Continent.”

Fan Mowen said:

“As for the ultimate victors of that conflict, they were naturally the conservatives.”

That was only to be expected.

Had the victors of that internal conflict been the radicals, who approved of or even pushed for using the Weaving Dreams Night Sky Observation Mirror to control people, even cultivators, Mirage Palace could not have remained one of the Five Great Sects. Nor could it have maintained such amicable relations with the other sects.

Instead, it would have been regarded as the public enemy of the cultivation world of Chenping Continent, either dominating the entire continent or being besieged by its cultivators and vanishing into the river of history.

“But the radicals within Mirage Palace weren't losers, either.”

Fan Mowen continued:

“In the more than one hundred thousand years since Tian Su Realman founded Heavenly Summit Mountain, the Weaving Dreams Night Sky Observation Mirror underwent several pivotal stages of development and evolution. Each time, this foremost illusion art of Chenping Continent, regarded by Mirage Palace as its very foundation, was transformed as if reborn. The most recent turning point came eight thousand years ago.”

“And it was at that turning point, eight thousand years ago, that Weaving Dreams Tower finally crossed Mirage Palace's line and broke its taboo.”

Chen Yan said.

“That's right.”

Fan Mowen smiled. Though he was speaking with Realman Du Cang, the current Steward of Chenping Continent, he remained utterly calm and relaxed, entirely at ease:

“Does Realman know that, in the internal conflict eight thousand years ago, although Mirage Palace's conservatives won a complete victory in the end, the radicals were not the losers?”

“Do tell.”

Chen Yan's tone was calm.

“Because the greatest conservative within Mirage Palace was, in fact, the greatest radical.”

Fan Mowen said.

Chen Yan's thoughts suddenly carried him back eight thousand years, and he recalled the name of Mirage Palace's Supreme Imperial Law Elder.

Shang Ao.

“So the forbidden Secret Art of the Weaving Dreams Night Sky Observation Mirror, passed down orally among only a handful of Weaving Dreams Tower disciples in later generations and kept from the world, was able to survive and be handed down as a matter of course... That junior surnamed Xiao gave you quite a bit of trouble back then, didn't he, Realman Chen?”

Fan Mowen said with a smile.

At that, Chen Yan's heart stirred slightly.

He knew exactly who the junior surnamed Xiao whom Fan Mowen had just mentioned was. Or rather, he could never forget that name.

Xiao Bo'an.

“It seems Elder Fan knows a great deal about my past.”

Chen Yan said calmly.

“If I had to put it one way, you and I could be said to have quite a connection, Realman Chen.”

Fan Mowen said:

“Unfortunately, that junior surnamed Xiao was the last person to master the forbidden Secret Art of the Weaving Dreams Night Sky Observation Mirror. The Weaving Dreams Tower disciples in the Mirage Palace that was rebuilt in recent times all study the Night Sky Observation Mirror as taught by Immortal Venerable Fusheng, an outdated version from seventy thousand years ago.”

“Doesn't Elder Fan also know the forbidden Secret Art of the Weaving Dreams Night Sky Observation Mirror?”

Chen Yan said:

“So who are you, really?”

“I am the greatest illusionist in the history of Weaving Dreams Tower.”

Fan Mowen answered frankly:

“As for my name, what does it matter to you, Realman Chen?”

The greatest illusionist in the history of Weaving Dreams Tower.

It sounded like a grand boast, but judging from what this cultivator named “Fan Mowen” had shown so far, it did not seem as though he was exaggerating.

Many names surfaced in Chen Yan's mind.

Still, he could not determine the true identity of the “Fan Mowen” standing before him.

As an Immortal Ascension cultivator who had mastered the Emptiness Annihilation Art, Chen Yan could not see through the threads of cause and effect carried by Fan Mowen.

There seemed to be only one possibility.

The cause and effect Fan Mowen carried was an accumulation formed from the tangled, interwoven causes and effects of countless living beings.

Xiao Bo'an had been the same.

Back then, when Chen Yan had taken True Person Minghua's Dao Basis to Fusheng Island on the edge of the Southern Region of Chenping Continent, Qiu Siruo had intercepted him on the way and taken him back to Heavenly Summit Mountain. Chen Yan had seen Xiao Bo'an once then.

It had also been the last time Chen Yan saw Xiao Bo'an.

The mind of that Weaving Dreams Tower cultivator who had once given Chen Yan no end of headaches had already been on the verge of collapse.

But Fan Mowen was different.

And even more astonishing than Fan Mowen's ability to bear the weight of “cause and effect” was the information he possessed.

He knew not only the past of Chenping Continent, but also the cause and effect surrounding the Sage of Imperial Void.

More concerning still was...

“So, Elder Fan, please tell me something that matters to me.”

Chen Yan said frankly.

Fan Mowen clearly understood what Chen Yan meant.

“For instance, how do I know your greatest secret, Realman Chen?”

Fan Mowen said with a smile.