Chapter 565: Heavenly Honored Unites Dao

After Rong Chi, two more Foundation Establishment cultivators flew over.

They were from the nearby Yuya Market City: one was the Old Ancestor of the Wang family, and the other was an honored guest elder of Qunyu Tower. When they saw Mount Guiyuan completely split open, their faces also showed shock.

"This..."

They had originally thought that some secret treasure or ancient ruin had appeared. After all, Golden Core cultivators were few and far between in the Eastern Desolation, so it was impossible for one to appear here at Mount Guiyuan.

"Fellow Daoist Rong, could it be that one of your sect's Grand Elders made a move?" the two Foundation Establishment cultivators who arrived later asked, as they also knew Rong Chi.

"Please help keep this matter a secret, both of you. I need to return to the Immortal City to report to the Sect Master."

After giving his instructions, Rong Chi took out a formation array from his storage bag. Upon activation, it transformed into a cloud of yellow smoke that enveloped Mount Guiyuan. He then used an escape technique and headed towards Hunyuan Immortal City.

***

"Master, you can just drop me off ten li before the market city."

Liu Wenbo, carried by Chen Mobai using the Scarlet Cloud Smoke Silk, pointed to a market city built on a cliff not far away.

"Alright, inform the others in the sect that once they've finished collecting seeds like spirit rice and spirit plants, they can evacuate towards the Rain Kingdom."

Chen Mobai's main purpose in coming to Ming Kingdom this time was to find traces of Luo Yixuan. Now that he had a result, there was naturally no need to waste time here.

"Yes, Master!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Wenbo immediately went to carry out the task.

After dropping off his disciple, Chen Mobai set his course in one direction and flew continuously.

He didn't know how long passed, but he finally arrived before a mountain range. Following the guidance, he flew in, and amidst the endless peaks, he found a seemingly inconspicuous one and descended.

"Is this the place?"

After landing, Chen Mobai took out the section of Soul Nurturing Wood. A dim, silver-gray figure immediately emerged, looked around to orient itself, and nodded.

"Saint Son, at midnight today, when yin and yang intersect, a part of the Yellow Spring Road will project itself here. Your disciple is hidden by me in the void between the yin and yang fissures."

Old Woman Ming dared not conceal anything and revealed Luo Yixuan's hiding place.

"Still have to wait until midnight..."

Chen Mobai's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.

It had been nearly ten years since Luo Yixuan's disappearance. Although he showed nothing on the surface, he was more worried than anyone deep down.

However, the closer he got to success, the more nervous he became.

But he couldn't let others see it.

Chen Mobai calmly surveyed the surrounding continuous mountain range. There was also mid-grade first-tier spiritual energy here. If this were in the Immortal Sect's territory, it would have surely been occupied and developed long ago.

But in the Eastern Desolation, because the mountains were high and spiritual energy thin, no cultivators came here.

After all, even for Qi Condensation cultivators, it wasn't easy to reach these high mountains without the ability to fly.

And Foundation Establishment cultivators, who could easily come, didn't care for such sparse spiritual energy.

Chen Mobai, however, found the scenery here quite beautiful. Standing on the mountaintop, he looked out, and the distant mountains seemed to stretch from the horizon to the very edge of the sky.

Between the mountain ranges, like thousands of screens, the sky was cut into various patterns. White clouds drifted over the peaks, like the skirts of roaming celestial maidens, light and graceful.

Beneath the white clouds was a vast expanse of lush green, forests and streams intertwined into a natural landscape. With his Cavernous Spirit Eyes activated, he could see ant-sized figures climbing and walking in the mountains, carrying medicine baskets.

No one would have imagined that a fissure between the Yin and Yang realms existed on this mountaintop.

***

"How did you recognize the Flame Light Escape from the Earth?"

Since there was still some time until midnight, Chen Mobai conversed with Old Woman Ming.

"Saint Son, can you spare my life?"

Old Woman Ming asked cautiously. Although she had revealed Luo Yixuan's whereabouts, she hadn't yet explained how to enter the yin-yang fissure. Therefore, she wanted to obtain a guarantee before she would fully reveal everything.

"I'm always a man of my word..."

Chen Mobai said righteously, but Old Woman Ming only trusted Dao Heart Vows.

Cultivators here are just too wary.

Chen Mobai thought this to himself, then pondered for a moment, weighed his options, and nodded.

"I can swear, but you must also swear to tell me everything you know without any concealment."

"Saint Son, after the Yellow Spring's revival, I cultivated for over three hundred years, and after my reincarnation, another two hundred-plus years. Adding in the fragmented memories of my past life, it amounts to over a thousand years. I know quite a lot. If I were to tell you everything in meticulous detail, it might take several years, or even more than a decade, of non-stop speaking."

Old Woman Ming's words surprised Chen Mobai.

"You have such a significant background?"

"Oh no, compared to you, Saint Son, it's truly nothing worth mentioning."

Old Woman Ming's words made Chen Mobai even more curious. After thinking for a moment, he changed the content of the vow.

"I swear to spare your life, but you must truthfully answer any question I ask without any concealment."

"Saint Son, you must also ensure that no one else besides you kills me."

Old Woman Ming was meticulous. Cultivators who'd survived in the Eastern Desolation understood these things too well. She added several loopholes Chen Mobai hadn't even considered, ensuring she wouldn't be utterly annihilated due to various accidents.

"Alright!"

After weighing everything, Chen Mobai confirmed that Luo Yixuan's safety, plus the answers he would gain from Old Woman Ming, outweighed her life, and thus reached an agreement with her.

"You can speak now, right?"

"Where would Saint Son like me to begin?"

"Let's start with the Flame Light Escape from the Earth. No one in the Eastern Desolation should know about this escape technique."

Chen Mobai hadn't forgotten his initial doubts and brought the conversation back to the beginning.

"Reporting to Saint Son, in my previous life, I was actually a follower of the Lifespan Cult, a candidate for the sixth generation Saintess. It's just a pity that my cultivation and talent were ordinary. I was eliminated in the third round and ultimately only cultivated to the perfected Golden Core stage. I failed to form a Nascent Soul and passed away when my lifespan ended.

"Before my passing, I used the sect's secret method of corpse disintegration, turning into an unconscious lone soul entering the netherworld. After wandering the Yellow Springs for an unknown period, I finally recovered some fragmented memories of my previous life and then slowly began to cultivate, improving myself while retrieving my memories.

"Over two hundred years ago, a mysterious cultivator broke into the netherworld, disturbing the Ghost Emperor slumbering in its deepest reaches. Both sides fought fiercely, tearing through the barrier between yin and yang, creating a Yellow Spring Road that connected the netherworld and the mortal realm, which should originally not have intersected.

"It was then that I took the opportunity to come to the Eastern Desolation. I then used the Yellow Spring Reincarnation Technique to cultivate a female cultivator on Mount Guiyuan into a ghost child primordial embryo, and I have remained hidden until now."

Old Woman Ming's candid words greatly astonished Chen Mobai.

She was actually a member of the Lifespan Cult in her previous life?

But what shocked him even more was the origin of the Yellow Spring Road revealed in her words.

It was actually created by a mysterious cultivator forcing their way into the netherworld and fighting the Ghost Emperor.

Was it the Hunyuan Old Ancestor?

The timeline doesn't quite match!

Chen Mobai pondered, temporarily pushed this question to the back of his mind, and began to ask Old Woman Ming his second question.

"Since you were a member of the Lifespan Cult and have been in the Eastern Desolation for over two hundred years, you should know that the Lifespan Cult has disappeared into the river of history. Do you know why such a vast sect suddenly vanished without a trace?"

Among the three divine trees in the Divine Tree Secret Realm, the heritage and treasures of the Lifespan Cult are contained. If he could make all of these his own, Chen Mobai was confident that he could strengthen the Divine Wood Sect's power and develop it quickly within a short period, and his grand plan to unify the Eastern Desolation could be implemented earlier.

But the key to utilizing these lies in how to deal with the most mysterious Grand Dao Tree!

And does the Heavenly Venerate's spiritual consciousness within it still exist?

It was rare to encounter a true member of the Lifespan Cult, so Chen Mobai naturally had to ask for some guidance.

"As the Saint Son, do you not know about this matter?"

However, Old Woman Ming, after hearing him, asked back.

"I became the Saint Son simply because the sect still retained the Divine Tree Secret Realm that One-Yuan True Monarch had modified. After I reached Foundation Establishment, I easily took twelve steps before the Grand Dao Tree..."

Chen Mobai had not made a Dao Heart Vow to tell Old Woman Ming the complete truth. He slightly simplified the process of becoming a Saint Son before the Grand Dao Tree.

"To be able to take twelve steps before the Grand Dao Tree right after Foundation Establishment, Saint Son, your talent ranks among the top three in our sect's ten-thousand-year history."

Old Woman Ming didn't know that Chen Mobai had tried many times after Foundation Establishment to achieve this result; she thought he had done it in one go. Knowing full well the difficulty of the Lifespan Trial, her words involuntarily expressed admiration.

"Only third?"

Chen Mobai was a bit surprised. He had fully expected this embellished achievement of his to be enough to claim the title of the Lifespan Cult's greatest ever.

Who would have thought there was someone even more heaven-defying than him!

Thirteen steps directly after Foundation Establishment?

Possessed by the Heavenly Venerate's spiritual consciousness on the spot?

"In my memories before my passing, besides the First Generation Saint Son and the Fourth Generation Saintess, your achievement, Saint Son, is the best."

When Old Woman Ming joined the Lifespan Cult, the sect was at its peak. However, after her passing, all information related to the Lifespan Cult, along with all the high-level cultivators within the sect, vanished overnight, so she didn't know much after that.

"Understood. So, as Saint Son, I merely obtained a secret realm and heritage left behind by the Lifespan Cult. My understanding of this ancient grand sect is definitely not as deep as yours."

Chen Mobai did not hide this, speaking truthfully.

"Regarding the matter of our sect's high-level cultivators all disappearing overnight, I have a vague guess in my heart, but I dare not guarantee its accuracy."

"Oh, what is your guess?"

To save her life, Old Woman Ming had signed a Dao Heart Contract. Facing Chen Mobai's question, she could only reveal a thought she had harbored for hundreds of years.

"It's likely that... the Heavenly Venerate achieved Dao Fusion!"

As soon as she said this, Chen Mobai's face was filled with confusion.

"Heavenly Venerate Dao Fusion? What does that mean?"

He knew about Heavenly Venerate, the supreme being worshipped by the Lifespan Cult.

But Dao Fusion...

"It's like this, Saint Son," Old Woman Ming could only explain everything she knew in response to Chen Mobai's question. "The Heavenly River Realm is currently experiencing some spiritual energy depletion, so cultivators can only reach the perfected Spirit Transformation stage at most, and then they must ascend to progress further. However, during its initial creation, it was possible to cultivate to the Dao Fusion realm. The Heavenly Venerate is one of the oldest beings in the Heavenly River Realm, and when worshipped by the Lifespan Cult, he was the closest existence to Dao Fusion in this realm. The Lifespan Cult's founding doctrine was to worship the Heavenly Venerate to achieve Dao Fusion, and then, after achieving Dao Fusion, the Lifespan Heavenly Venerate would lead everyone in the sect to ascend."

After listening to Old Woman Ming's explanation, Chen Mobai's expression remained unchanged, but his heart was already shocked.

One must know that in the Immortal Sect, the highest realm was only Spirit Transformation.

Although he had heard Zhongli Tianyu mention levels and realms beyond Spirit Transformation, as far as he knew, no one in the Immortal Sect could achieve them.

Yet in this Heavenly River Realm, not only were there ascended cultivators beyond Spirit Transformation, but in ancient times, there was even the unimaginable realm of Dao Fusion.

And to be able to lead an entire sect of people to ascend to the upper realm.

Such power far exceeded Chen Mobai's imagination.

"So, the Heavenly Venerate achieved Dao Fusion and took all the worshiping members of the Lifespan Cult with him to the upper realm!"

As Chen Mobai spoke, he pointed to the sky. Old Woman Ming nodded; besides this reason, she truly couldn't think of another.

After all, in ancient times, the Lifespan Cult could be said to be one of the most powerful forces in the Heavenly River Realm, and with a powerhouse like the Heavenly Venerate, who was close to Dao Fusion, no cultivator or entity could make such a grand force completely vanish without a trace.

If that's truly the case, then it's good news!

Chen Mobai instantly realized that if the Heavenly Venerate had achieved Dao Fusion and ascended, then the most terrifying spiritual consciousness of the Heavenly Venerate in the Grand Dao Tree would certainly no longer exist.

No wonder One-Yuan True Monarch could cultivate to the Ascension realm using the Lifespan Cult's heritage.

He must have obtained some things left behind by the Heavenly Venerate within the Grand Dao Tree.

It was a pity he came to the Eastern Desolation too late; otherwise, perhaps it wouldn't have been One-Yuan True Monarch who ascended, but him.

Chen Mobai felt a pang of regret.

He was already thinking that after returning to Giant Wood Ridge, he would go to the Divine Tree Secret Realm again to 'exploit' the Grand Dao Tree, to see if he could upgrade some of his third-tier techniques to fourth-tier through it.

His demands weren't high: a fourth-tier Sword Dao realm, or a fourth-tier lightning spell. If not that, even a fourth-tier Extreme Yang Slash would be fine.

Thinking this, Chen Mobai saw that the sky was gradually darkening, and midnight was approaching, and so he asked Old Woman Ming one last question.

"Since the netherworld and the mortal realm have been breached, and there's a Yellow Spring Road connecting yin and yang, why don't your ghost cultivators come to the mortal realm in large numbers?"

Old Woman Ming shook her head and smiled wryly upon hearing this.

"It's not that we don't want to, it's that we simply can't."