Chapter 723: Chaos Comes from the Immortal Realm

In the space of the Celestial Profound Mirror, Xu Bai listened to the mirror's slightly metallic, mechanical voice, his mind churning with thoughts.

"Even if the Celestial Profound Mirror is not the original Profound Heaven Treasure Mirror, there must be a very close connection between them. If the Celestial Profound Mirror originated from the Profound Heaven Sect, does that imply the Dharma Transmission Celestial Venerable also did? Was it to avenge the destruction of the sect by the Ten Immortal Dao Sects?"

Xu Bai suddenly recalled that for thousands of years, the Celestial Profound Mirror had continuously been generating secondary entities.

"Even though the Profound Heaven Sect was destroyed long ago, its connection to the Celestial Profound Mirror can still be sensed using the Profound Extermination Secret Art. Does this indicate that the Celestial Profound Mirror has not fully escaped the Profound Heaven Sect's control? Therefore, the Myriad Immortal Alliance went to great lengths to locate the Profound Heaven Sect's Dharma King, buried within the Purple Cloud Sect, in order to gain ultimate control over the Celestial Profound Mirror. The origin of all this was the prophecy I made while disguised as a Heavenly Secret Sect cultivator: 'Celestial Profound locks spirits, Profound Yellow reunites.'"

The events unfolding in this world instantly connected in his mind, allowing Xu Bai to see the deeper reasons hidden beneath the surface of these events.

"Now, the Immortal Alliance is actively ushering in the Great Exploration Era, seemingly to facilitate a further transformation of the Celestial Profound Mirror. Does this imply that the Myriad Immortal Alliance has successfully gained control of this supreme treasure left by the Dharma Transmission Celestial Venerable?"

Xu Bai's eyes flickered.

He had once speculated that the true power behind the Myriad Immortal Alliance was not a cultivator, but the Celestial Profound Mirror itself. However, by chance, he later learned of the Dharma Transmitters' existence. This led him to deduce that the Dharma Transmitters and the Celestial Profound Mirror mutually constrained each other, jointly guiding and leading the Myriad Immortal Alliance. It now appeared that the cultivators had ultimately triumphed in this struggle.

Shuofeng and Lu Xichan's figures suddenly flashed through Xu Bai's mind.

"The Xuan family..." A sentence Lu Xuejing had spoken when she saw his true form earlier echoed in his ears: "Which family do you belong to? You seem very unfamiliar to me! You're not a Five Elders' Society spy, intentionally getting close to Brother Shuo to inquire about the Celestial Profound Mirror's location, are you?! You don't look like a good person at all; Brother Shuo has never lied to me before..."

It was like a bolt of lightning, cutting through the fog.

"So that's it," Xu Bai thought, understanding dawning in his eyes.

As the saying goes, 'No parties outside the party leads to imperial thought; no factions within the party creates endless oddities.' Not all cultivators sided with the Dharma Transmitters. At least based on the current information, the Chief of the Strategy Hall, Immortal Venerable Scarlet Snow, and the cultivator with the surname Xuan were aligned with the Celestial Profound Mirror.

The Dharma Transmitters attempted to fully control the Celestial Profound Mirror using Profound Heaven Sect methods. The cultivators who pledged allegiance to the Celestial Profound Mirror naturally sought a countermeasure. Perhaps unable to directly stop the Dharma Transmitters, they pursued an alternative path: promoting the Celestial Profound Mirror's transformation and upgrade to resist the Profound Heaven Sect's secret art control.

However, to launch such an extensive campaign, almost leveraging the entire Myriad Immortal Alliance's power to encourage cultivators to explore the white mist, Xu Bai utterly refused to believe this could happen without the highest ruling class of the Myriad Immortal Alliance – the Dharma Transmitters – giving their approval. "Unless, the widespread search of the mist was a decision from a higher will, one that even the Dharma Transmitters could not defy. The Celestial Profound Mirror's desire to ascend through this was merely leveraging an opportune moment. And in this Profound Yellow Realm, the only one who could make the Dharma Transmitters bow their heads was..."

After this analysis, Xu Bai's heart trembled.

"The Dharma Transmission Celestial Venerable! She didn't leave? She's still in the Profound Yellow Realm?"

An immense sense of pressure instantly washed over him. Xu Bai suddenly remembered that even before the advent of the Great Exploration Era, Liu San had already observed numerous Immortal Alliance cultivators venturing deep into the mist. At the time, he speculated that the Immortal Alliance might have acted this way to search for clues related to the 'Disorder Art.' Connecting all the pieces, he realized something chilling: "The immense divine consciousness that detected and descended after I used the Disorder Art that day—was that the Dharma Transmission Celestial Venerable?"

But quickly, Xu Bai frowned slightly, dismissing the idea. Although his performance that day had been excellent, he didn't believe it could have deceived the Dharma Transmission Celestial Venerable's perception. Furthermore, the time elapsed between using the Disorder Art and the divine consciousness descending was too long. That duration was too long. If it truly were the Dharma Transmission Celestial Venerable, given her cultivation, her reaction speed would never be so slow. "It must have been the Disorder Art, re-ignited during the confrontation with Mo Sha, that finally captured her attention."

Xu Bai's thoughts suddenly stopped.

"Or perhaps, the Dharma Transmission Celestial Venerable was not within the Profound Yellow Realm at that moment. It was only his use of the Disorder Art that drew her back..." As this thought emerged, Xu Bai was instantly startled again. After long and repeated consideration, he still couldn't rule out this possibility. "It seems that powerful as the Disorder Art is, it cannot be used indiscriminately. One time was a fluke; if there's a next time..."

Even against the Heavenly Physician, the consequences would be significant. If the Dharma Transmission Celestial Venerable, who had reigned supreme over the Profound Yellow Realm for thousands of years, were to appear in person, Xu Bai had no confidence in being able to use Truth Manifestation in her presence. "It's best not to use it unless absolutely necessary," Xu Bai muttered inwardly.

Xu Bai then considered that if his previous conjectures were true, then the Dharma Transmission Celestial Venerable, having already achieved immortality and transcended worldly concerns, was still remarkably fixated on the 'Disorder Art'... Was 'Disorder' also a true Immortal legacy? Xu Bai's heart jolted; this was the first possibility that came to mind.

Scenes he had witnessed in the Anti-Fold Mystic Realm quickly replayed in his mind: the ground covered with bizarre and terrifying corpses, and the stone tablet engraved with the character 'Disorder' in the center of the mystic realm. A new theory couldn't help but surface in his mind: "That cultivation world within the mystic realm suffered a catastrophic disaster precisely because it was affected by the 'Disorder' character. And that 'Disorder' character came from... The Immortal Realm!"

As for why the Anti-Fold monster, after mistaking me for the elder Heavenly Absolute Fisherman, stated that the Heavenly Physician was the culprit... Xu Bai suddenly recalled what Emperor Sanmo had once told Lu Ya: "Sometimes, even what you see with your own eyes may not be the truth." "Under the influence of the 'Disorder' character, the possibility of mistaken identity cannot be ruled out. During the confrontation at the Cloudwater Celestial Palace, when Heavenly Absolute, Heavenly Physician, and Heavenly Oracle faced off, Heavenly Absolute himself admitted to slaughtering everyone in the Cloudwater Celestial Palace. Perhaps the Anti-Fold Mystic Realm was similar."

The Soul-Devouring White Mist is filled with various strange and abnormal phenomena. It's difficult to claim that the 'Disorder' character had no influence there. The Disorder Art, it seems, is not confined to the Profound Yellow Realm. It might have appeared in other cultivation worlds as well, perhaps even causing immeasurable calamities. This is likely why the Dharma Transmission Celestial Venerable, the current Myriad Immortal Alliance, and the Five Elders' Society are all so deeply concerned about it.

As Xu Bai was lost in thought, in the Valley of Longevity, Li Fan, who had been staring blankly, was roused by Liu San.

"Young Master, is the Celestial Profound Mirror related to the Profound Heaven Sect?"