Chapter 560: The Abyss of Mirage Palace
First, his status as chief disciple of Weaving Dreams Tower was stripped, and all cultivation resources Shao Yuchen could currently access were halted, leaving him only the most basic daily resources afforded to an ordinary inner court disciple.
The consequences of this decision for Shao Yuchen were, of course, severe.
With his talent, if he could obtain cultivation resources that matched his aptitude, he would have a real chance of breaking into the upper three realms.
But without the corresponding cultivation resources, even if he managed to rely entirely on talent to cultivate to the Spirit Connection realm, the chance of progressing from Spirit Connection to the Myriad Transformations Realm would be exceedingly slim.
From a rational perspective, Shao Yuchen should never have forfeited his place in this Heavenly Summit Mountain Dao Inquiry and risked being mocked by all cultivators as a coward.
Yet that is exactly what he did.
Shao Yuchen’s talent was outstanding—whether it was his aptitude for illusion arts or his cultivation potential, he could rightly be called a genius.
But a cultivation sect of Mirage Palace’s scale has never lacked geniuses.
Only those with aptitude for Ascending to Immortality like Zhou Jinyun and Li Haoran, or someone unprecedented like Su Hongzhen, stand out.
“So, are you going to be satisfied with this?”
In the cramped storage room, the unremarkable middle-aged man standing before Shao Yuchen continued.
“Heh.”
Shao Yuchen let out a short, dry laugh at the words:
“Could it be that you have some solution?”
“Of course.”
The middle-aged man claiming to be Supervisor Zhang, wearing the Weaving Dreams Tower robes, stepped forward. His shadow completely covered Shao Yuchen sitting on the thin wooden bed in the storage room. He then reached into his robe and produced an ancient roll of sheepskin parchment.
“Perhaps this can change your fate.”
Shao Yuchen fixed his gaze on the parchment and slowly extended his right hand toward it.
He grasped the ancient sheepskin, and the former chief disciple of Weaving Dreams Tower slowly lifted his head and looked into Supervisor Zhang’s eyes.
In that plain-looking man’s eyes, Shao Yuchen seemed to perceive countless complex emotions, sinking into a bottomless black hole.
“Who exactly are you…?”
Shao Yuchen asked.
“That isn’t important.”
The person standing before him only smiled in reply.
...
Water Mirror Pavilion.
Zhou Jinyun sat on a nearby chair, watching Elder Lin pace back and forth across the hall.
This True Dharma Elder of Time-Stealing Tower had sent several letters to Mirage Palace in recent days, urgently requesting that the Supreme Imperial Law Court dispatch several upper three realms great powers to ensure Su Hongzhen’s safety and to persuade him to join Mirage Palace.
In his letters, he argued earnestly and clearly about the importance of Su Hongzhen to Mirage Palace’s future.
But his letters to Mirage Palace fell like stones into the sea—no response came.
Zhou Jinyun knew very well that the Grand Elder Council would not respond to Elder Lin, because many within Mirage Palace’s Supreme Imperial Law Court, including Imperial Law Elder Shang, already knew who stood behind Su Hongzhen.
Chen Yuan.
He was a high-level Above Immortality power capable of instantly creating three immortal artifacts out of thin air. His cultivation level far surpassed Ascending to Immortality practitioners and might even be of the same rank as Immortal Venerable Fusheng.
From Zhou Jinyun’s current understanding, the so-called Five Great Sects were merely puppets placed in the spotlight by those true great powers behind the scenes.
The reason Heavenly Summit Mountain was destroyed back then was likely because Heavenly Summit Mountain tried to break free from the control of those behind-the-scenes powers, and so suffered annihilation.
Elder Lin was, naturally, extremely anxious now.
He simply did not understand the situation.
Just then, his gaze fell upon the hall’s entrance. After a few breaths, an outer court disciple of Mirage Palace hurried in and bowed toward Elder Lin, announcing:
“Reporting to the Imperial Envoy Elder, the Heavenly Summit Mountain Dao Inquiry champion Su Hongzhen has just left the Heavenly Summit Palace. It is said he found no remaining Heavenly Summit Mountain inheritance inside the palace.”
Zhou Jinyun sitting nearby heard every word the outer court disciple reported.
Even Little Su hadn’t obtained any inheritance from the Heavenly Summit Palace?
Well, the palace’s inheritance had always been a legend. Whether the fallen Heavenly Summit Mountain had left any inheritance in that white jade palace suspended in the sky was still unknown.
But why had Qinghong Realman placed a sealing restriction on the Heavenly Summit Palace?
It was precisely because of Qinghong Realman’s restriction that countless people suspected the palace hid Heavenly Summit Mountain’s most important inheritance, yet no one had been able to confirm it.
“And then?”
Elder Lin asked the outer court disciple.
Surely the disciple’s report was not limited to those few words.
“Su Champion is currently outside Water Mirror Pavilion requesting an audience. Accompanying him is a young cultivator wearing plain white daoist robes!” the outer court disciple replied.
Elder Lin’s face brightened at once. He hadn’t expected Su Hongzhen—who, during the Dao Inquiry, had refused to rest in Water Mirror Pavilion and remained on Cang Luan Cliff—to now voluntarily visit Water Mirror Pavilion.
Could he finally be feeling enlightened?
“Please bring Su Champion in!”
Elder Lin called out.
“Yes!”
The outer court disciple who had just entered the hall answered, then turned and went outside.
He had barely gone a few steps when he suddenly stopped, turned back, and asked:
“Imperial Envoy Elder, the young cultivator accompanying Su Champion—should we…?”
“Invite him in together. Remember, do not be disrespectful,” Zhou Jinyun immediately ordered sternly before Elder Lin could speak.
The outer court disciple did not answer right away. He bowed toward Zhou Jinyun, but his eyes kept glancing covertly at Elder Lin.
Elder Lin nodded.
“Yes, Dao Traveler Zhou!”
Only then did the outer court disciple reply, and he hurried away.
Zhou Jinyun disliked that outer court disciple’s smug little cleverness.
Such trifles could have been handled by following orders, yet he had to wait for Elder Lin’s affirmation before acting. Who was he trying to curry favor with?
After thinking this, Zhou Jinyun looked toward the hall’s exterior.
Reuniting after four years made the Daomen Xingzou of Mirage Palace somewhat nervous.
Yet at the same time, Zhou Jinyun harbored certain hopes.
Because the internal situation within Mirage Palace had not improved; if anything, it had grown even more severe than four years ago.