"Fellow Daoists, you arrived quite swiftly." Seeing their party of four appear, True Person Yuan Mu revealed a hint of surprise.
"Merely by luck," Venerable Wuming said with a smile. His gaze swept over those present, his white eyebrows twitching slightly as he asked, "Fellow Daoist Yuan Mu, what is the situation here?"
The three parties who had entered the Immortal Palace first were the six from the Jiuyan Sect, the four from the Yueshan Academy, and Demon Lord Guifang with his disciple. Now, two of the Jiuyan Sect's mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators seemed to be severely injured, sitting cross-legged in meditation to recover. The Yueshan Academy had even lost one early-stage cultivator, and even Demon Lord Guifang's expression was quite unpleasant—especially when he saw the four of them emerge unscathed from the passageway.
Hearing the question, Scholar Yu's face darkened a few shades, and True Person Yuan Mu's expression also became somewhat awkward. He said, "It is only because this old man underestimated the dangers within the passage and was too careless, causing my two junior brothers to be injured."
Upon hearing this, Mo Tiange exchanged a glance with Qin Xi. The tempests within the passage were indeed formidable; if one let their guard down, getting injured was quite normal. However, the Jiuyan Sect had dispatched two late-stage and three mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, yet two were already severely wounded on the way into the Immortal Palace. No wonder True Person Yuan Mu's expression was so grim.
As for the Yueshan Academy, that missing early-stage cultivator had likely perished in the passage, while the other early-stage cultivator seemed to be seriously injured. Scholar Yu had miscalculated this time. The Yueshan Academy was already not comparable to the Jiuyan Sect, only able to bring two early-stage Nascent Soul helpers. Now, with one dead and one injured, they were essentially rendered useless.
Hearing this, Venerable Wuming lowered his head, chanted a Buddhist invocation, and sighed, "A pity, a pity."
"I never imagined Fellow Daoist Wuming and Fellow Daoist Qin would join forces. The two of you, bringing along two juniors, yet passing through safely—truly a fortunate event!" Scholar Yu spoke up, his words sounding like relief but carrying a hint of gritted teeth.
Venerable Wuming naturally wouldn't take offense. He smiled slightly and said, "The power of our Huayan Temple's techniques is somewhat lacking, but fortunately, our body refinement arts are not bad."
"Hmph!" Scholar Yu knew Venerable Wuming spoke the truth. He was simply venting his bad mood, and now merely snorted coldly, saying no more.
True Person Yuan Mu, however, swept his gaze over Qin Xi and Mo Tiange with a complex expression. Although their strength was somewhat inferior, with Fuyaozi's divine sense by their side and early preparations, it was not strange for them to pass through safely.
"Fellow Daoists," True Person Yuan Mu quickly rallied his spirits and said, "We are only a step ahead. There are many fellow cultivators behind us. If we delay further, it will not be a good thing."
Scholar Yu quickly calmed down and nodded. "Correct. Since we hold the Sacred Objects, we must seize the initiative."
"In that case, in Scholar Yu's view, what should our next step be?"
Hearing this, Scholar Yu's face darkened somewhat. His gaze swept over the severely injured cultivators. "Fellow Daoist Yuan Mu, why ask a question you already know the answer to?"
True Person Yuan Mu sighed and said, "We can only ask the injured fellow Daoists to wait here. Time is pressing. I hope my junior brothers will understand."
The Jiuyan Sect had two severely injured, the Yueshan Academy had one dead and one injured, while the other three parties were all unscathed. Of course, they would not oppose True Person Yuan Mu's proposal. As for those three cultivators, although somewhat unwilling, they had no choice. They were all sect cultivators and understood that the greater good took precedence. Now, they would only be a burden to their sects and could only step back. However, within the Immortal Palace, opportunities likely would not be few. If they sought other paths, it was not necessarily without chance.
Thinking this, one of the Jiuyan Sect's mid-stage cultivators said with effort, "Senior Brother Yuan Mu is right. This matter is of great importance. We will wait here for your good news!"
His fellow disciple's understanding made True Person Yuan Mu's expression improve somewhat. He immediately said gently, "Junior brothers, do not be disheartened. Matters of immortal fate cannot be predetermined; it could fall upon anyone's head. Regardless, three days from now, we will regroup here and leave the Immortal Palace together."
"Yes, Senior Brother Yuan Mu."
The Yueshan Academy cultivator also nodded to Scholar Yu.
The three abandoned cultivators all showed despondent expressions on their faces. Although True Person Yuan Mu's consolation was not without reason, they all knew the likelihood was too small.
Once the decision was made, the group quickly reorganized. Having just entered the Immortal Palace, they were already down four cultivators. Now, the Jiuyan Sect had four, while the other four parties each had two, totaling only twelve people. Among them were five late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, two mid-stage, and five Core Formation cultivators.
Such a team, placed within the entire human world, possessed terrifying strength. In Yunzhong, there were only eleven Great Late-Stage Nascent Soul cultivators in total. Yet, each person's heart felt heavy. Being forced to abandon companions right after entering the Immortal Palace was truly a disgrace for these top Great Cultivators who had commanded the wind and rain in the human world for a thousand years. They couldn't help but think of the Five Sages from back then, whose strength had not yet reached its peak, yet they all retreated from the Immortal Palace unscathed. Their heaven-defying talent indeed was not merely about cultivation level.
"Little Friend Mo," True Person Yuan Mu looked at Mo Tiange. "You should know the route, correct?"
Mo Tiange nodded and said, "This Spirit Mountain is the mountain gate of an ancient major cultivation sect. This Immortal Palace is its sect headquarters. According to Senior Fuyaozi's guidance, there are three places of immortal opportunity: first, the alchemy room; second, the scripture repository; third, the treasury. The alchemy room naturally contains ancient immortal pills, but those pills have existed for too long and can no longer be consumed. If we go to the alchemy room, it would only be to witness the alchemy tools from ancient times. Of course, there are also some spirit treasures like cauldrons, but the valuable ones were all taken away by the Five Sage seniors back then."
"What about the scripture repository and the treasury?" Scholar Yu asked.
Mo Tiange curled the corner of her mouth. "The Five Sage seniors did not disturb the scripture repository much, but it is filled with layer upon layer of restrictions, and the danger is also extremely great. All of you seniors are already late-stage Nascent Soul Great Cultivators. Wanting to find techniques helpful to yourselves will likely be extremely difficult."
"Little Friend Mo need not worry about this point," True Person Yuan Mu said with a grave expression, speaking slowly. "We old fellows have been stuck at the late-stage Nascent Soul realm for at least several hundred years. If we cannot advance, no matter how high our cultivation is now, we will eventually become piles of white bones. Whether this risk is worth it, we understand in our hearts."
Mo Tiange nodded and was about to continue when the ever-silent Demon Lord Guifang spoke up: "Little Friend Mo, judging by the layout of this Immortal Palace, it should be a Daoist cultivation sect, correct? Wouldn't that be utterly useless for us demonic cultivators?"
A Daoist cultivation sect would naturally store Daoist scriptures. The Confucian and Buddhist paths shared some doctrinal commonalities with Daoism and could also study them. But for demonic cultivators, it was the opposite—they simply could not use them.
Mo Tiange said, "Senior Guifang, the Heavenly Radiance Demon Sovereign from back then could obtain opportunities from within. Senior naturally can as well. A truly great sect would not only preserve its own cultivation techniques. Of course, if Senior believes it unnecessary to take this risk, this junior has nothing more to say."
Entering this Immortal Palace was voluntary in the first place. If Demon Lord Guifang gave up, the others would be quite happy to have one less person sharing.
Sure enough, Demon Lord Guifang said, "This Lord was merely asking. Why is Little Friend Mo so anxious?"
Mo Tiange smiled slightly and continued, "As for the treasury, that is naturally the most crucial part of a sect. Senior Fuyaozi said that the highest cultivation level among this sect's cultivators was absolutely not merely at the Deity Transformation stage. Therefore, the restrictions in the treasury also far exceeded the Deity Transformation stage. With your seniors' cultivation levels, you can at most break restrictions corresponding to the Nascent Soul stage and obtain corresponding treasures."
Although they were only treasures corresponding to the Nascent Soul stage, how could ancient treasures compare to those of today? Hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up.
"Little Friend Mo," True Person Yuan Mu asked, "Could it be that the Five Sages from back then did not take away all the Nascent Soul stage treasures?"
Mo Tiange said, "When the Five Sages entered the Immortal Palace back then, they spent much effort just to reach the treasury. Their strength was insufficient, and they only took away some of the treasures. The several Fellow Daoists who inherited the Sacred Objects should know this."
Ling Yunhe was the first to nod. "Correct."
The divine sense left within the Sacred Objects they four had bonded with was not strong, so they only had a general idea of where the immortal opportunities lay. Unlike Mo Tiange, Fuyaozi's divine sense had not yet dissipated, so she even knew the route clearly. If Mo Tiange were not on this journey, they would likely expend most of their strength just finding the scripture repository or treasury. How many treasures they could take away then would be hard to say.
"Since that's the case, we should not delay. Let us set off now," True Person Yuan Mu said, glancing at the shimmering passage of the Immortal Palace.
During the short time they had delayed, more people were about to enter, though it was unknown whether any cultivators had perished in the passage.
No one was willing to waste time. Once the group was organized, they quickly set off.
The Immortal Palace was majestic and magnificent, with towering pavilions, grand in scale and exquisite in detail. Just from the architecture, one could tell that the sect to which this Immortal Palace belonged was certainly not some minor, insignificant faction.
Within the Immortal Palace, there were plazas, ceremonial arches, gardens, long streets, and grand halls. One could say it was almost a small city, with all the buildings one would expect. Mo Tiange judged that this Immortal Palace was almost ten times the size of the Xuanqing Sect's main peak. Presumably, all the cultivators of this sect back then lived within it, unlike the Xuanqing Sect, which was distributed across various peaks.
Entering from the palace gate, what met the eye was an enormous plaza capable of accommodating over ten thousand people. The entire Immortal Palace was constructed from high-grade ice-attribute spirit stones. The entire plaza was like a glacier or snowy plain, pure white as snow, with spiritual qi overflowing. As the twelve of them walked across the plaza, they all felt the dense, almost visible spiritual qi swirling around them.
Ling Yunhe looked around and blurted out, "Could it be this sect specialized in ice-attribute techniques? With so many high-grade ice-attribute spirit stones, if an ice spirit root cultivator practiced here..."
How could these Nascent Soul cultivators not have thought of this? Ling Shiyu sighed. "It's a pity none of us have ice spirit roots."
Demon Lord Guifang curled his lip, his tone icy. "That girl Yetian should be happy. She is precisely an ice spirit root cultivator." He was referring to Demon Lord Yetian, the City Lord of Night Owl City.
"Heh..." Scholar Yu chuckled lightly. "It's a pity the Immortal Palace passage can only be opened for three days. Otherwise, Fellow Daoist Yetian would find it excellent to cultivate here!"
While the several Nascent Soul cultivators made small talk, Mo Tiange thought of a question and asked Fuyaozi via divine sense: "Master, since this Immortal Palace is built from ice-attribute spirit stones, why is the sacrificial temple below dedicated to the Vermilion Bird?"
The Azure Dragon represented wood, the White Tiger metal, the Vermilion Bird fire, the Black Tortoise water, and the Qilin earth. This was an ice-attribute Immortal Palace. Why choose to build it atop a Vermilion Bird sacrificial temple, which belonged to fire?