Gu Qingfeng had come to the Liúshā Small Secret Realm this time precisely to understand why he had undergone Nirvana Rebirth in this place, and why he felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity with it. Hearing that the elders of Zijin and Ziqing had come here ten thousand years ago, his interest was immediately piqued. He asked, "You just said you came here to find your master and the other elders from Yunhua Cave. Are they the ones from ten thousand years ago?"
Seeing Zijin and Ziqing nod, Gu Qingfeng then looked at Horse King and asked, "Didn't you say, kid, that everyone who risked coming to the Liúshā Small Secret Realm back then died?"
"Great Lord," Horse King replied, looking as if he wanted to cry but had no tears. "I only heard it from others! And isn't that what everyone says?"
Horse King looked at Zijin and Ziqing and asked, "Two Immortals, could it be that the elders of your Yunhua Cave didn't die back then?"
"At first, we also thought our master and the others had perished in the Liúshā Small Secret Realm," Zijin said. "But just over twenty years ago, we suddenly received a Formation Message Talisman transmitted by our master."
Message Talismans were generally divided into three types.
One was the Consciousness Message Talisman, also known as the Image Message Talisman, and then there was the Formation Message Talisman.
The so-called Consciousness Message Talisman usually contained someone's divine consciousness. Once the talisman was activated, the recipient's mind would sense it.
The so-called Image Message Talisman, when activated, would form an image in the sky. Generally, families, immortal realms, and forces large and small all had their own specific images. Whenever they saw an image talisman in the sky, they would rush over immediately. Usually, it could be seen anywhere within the same world, of course. If they were not in the same world, then it couldn't be seen.
As for the Formation Message Talisman, this type of talisman was usually only used for major events because, unlike the Consciousness or Image Message Talismans which only required throwing out a talisman to send information, this talisman required a formation for transmission. Setting it up was quite difficult. Precisely because it was transmitted through a formation, it could be received even if the sender and recipient were not in the same world.
Gu Qingfeng asked, "What did the talisman say?"
"My master said in the talisman that they were trapped inside an ancient cave mansion in the Liúshā Small Secret Realm."
"And then?"
"That's all. That's all my master said in the transmitted talisman."
"You only received one talisman?"
"Yes, we only received one."
"Only one talisman in ten thousand years?"
Gu Qingfeng felt this matter was somewhat strange. "If the elders of your Yunhua Cave are truly trapped in the Liúshā Small Secret Realm, it shouldn't be that they only transmitted one talisman in ten thousand years, right? Although setting up a Formation Message Talisman once is a bit difficult, it shouldn't take this long to only send one. Taking a step back, even if they only set up one talisman, they wouldn't wait ten thousand years to send you a message, would they?"
Horse King said, "Great Lord, how could you forget? Although the Liúshā Small Secret Realm appeared in the world ten thousand years ago, it disappeared again soon after. It only reappeared in our Dual-Pole Heavenly Domain a thousand years ago."
"That still doesn't make sense. Even if the Liúshā Small Secret Realm disappeared for a long time, as you just said, kid, it reappeared a thousand years ago. Since it's been in the world for a thousand years, the people from Yunhua Cave shouldn't have waited this long to send word, right?"
"We also find it strange," Zijin said. "But master indeed only transmitted one talisman. And..." Zijin continued, "And from the voice in the talisman, I could tell that master was already extremely, extremely weak. As for why master waited ten thousand years to transmit the talisman, we don't know. But after master transmitted the talisman over twenty years ago, there has been no further message. He should have already reached the point where the oil is exhausted and the lamp is about to go out."
Mentioning the experiences of these years, both Zijin and Ziqing's moods could only be described as utterly despondent.
To be precise, it wasn't just these years, but the entire ten thousand years had been like this.
Yunhua Cave was an immortal realm passed down since ancient times.
Although it didn't have many disciples, each one was a genius meticulously selected from ten thousand.
Being able to become disciples of Yunhua Cave, Zijin and Ziqing felt immensely honored. Unfortunately, ten thousand years ago, with the elders of Yunhua Cave meeting disaster in the Liúshā Small Secret Realm, the remaining disciples of Yunhua Cave left one after another, some fleeing. The once prestigious Yunhua Cave declined from then on.
Unlike the other disciples, Ziqing and Zijin did not leave but chose to remain in Yunhua Cave. To prevent Yunhua Cave from falling into decline, the two of them, for decades as if it were a single day, went into seclusion and cultivated frantically. Finally, their efforts were rewarded, and both were honored with the title of Immortal conferred by the Nine Heavens. They managed to shoulder the banner of Yunhua Cave. Although they couldn't restore Yunhua Cave to its glorious heights of the ancient era, at least they could continue its legacy and prevent it from completely fading away.
However.
Just over twenty years ago, Yunhua Cave's formation suddenly received a talisman transmitted by their master. The two of them were shocked, overjoyed, and worried all at once.
Shocked because they never expected that their master and the other elders of Yunhua Cave were still alive.
Overjoyed because as long as their master and the others returned, Yunhua Cave would have hope of regaining its glory.
Worried because, from the talisman transmitted by their master, they could tell that he was extremely weak, already at the point where the oil was exhausted and the lamp was about to go out.
Therefore.
Over these years, they had searched the Liúshā Small Secret Realm desperately for traces of their master and the others. Unfortunately, after searching for so many years, they still hadn't found them. Moreover, in the process of searching for their master and the others, many of Yunhua Cave's already few remaining disciples had died or been injured. Now, the entire Yunhua Cave only had the two of them with any capability left. The others had either died in the Liúshā Small Secret Realm or were severely wounded...
After hearing about Zijin and Ziqing's experiences over these years, Gu Qingfeng nodded in understanding and asked, "You've been searching this place for over twenty years. Have you really found no trace of your master at all?"
Both Zijin and Ziqing shook their heads with immense sorrow.
"Have you tried activating Yunhua Cave's Image Message Talisman?"
"We've tried every method we could think of. None of them worked."
"Now that is a rare thing."
Gu Qingfeng drank wine while pondering, analyzing as he spoke. "The elders of your Yunhua Cave came to the Liúshā Small Secret Realm ten thousand years ago, waited this long to transmit a talisman, and in the transmitted talisman only said they were trapped in an ancient cave mansion, and were weak, with the oil exhausted and the lamp about to go out? What exactly happened to them over these ten thousand years?"
Horse King speculated, "Great Lord, do you think the elders of Yunhua Cave might have been captured by those old monsters in the Liúshā Small Secret Realm? Not transmitting a message for so long, could it be that those old monsters were guarding them too tightly, and they had no opportunity? Only over twenty years ago did they seize a chance and hurriedly transmitted a talisman?"
"Your imagination is quite good, kid, but... this possibility is really too low."
Gu Qingfeng shook his head. "Do you think those old monsters have nothing better to do? If they caught an Immortal, they'd eat them on the spot. What would they keep them for? Breeding? And imprison them for ten thousand years? Moreover, if the people from Yunhua Cave were really captured by old monsters, when they sent the message, they wouldn't have said they were trapped in an ancient cave mansion."