Lingyuan Immortal

Chapter 924 Secrets of the Feathered Clan
"For you to go to such lengths, that secret realm must be no ordinary paradise?"

Chen Mu remained calm and tentatively asked a question.

Yu Chengkong smiled, neither denying nor confirming, and simply said, "If Fellow Daoist Chen agrees to this matter, I will tell you the details of the secret realm..."

Perhaps fearing Chen Mu's outright rejection, he pondered for a moment and added, "I won't say much more, but I want you to know that since I've chosen you, it's naturally because you are extremely suitable for this trip..."

"I've heard that you've traveled far and wide in search of spirit pets, and now that the Blue Duck lineage is so close, are you really willing to miss out on this opportunity?"

Yu Chengkong's voice rose and fell like the gentle trembling of a zither string, yet it possessed a captivating rhythm.

Chen Mu was tempted, not because Yu Chengkong persuaded him, but because he secretly considered that the opportunity was fleeting.

His trip was originally for the purpose of forming a bond with a spirit pet. Settling the karmic debt with the Liang family was just a side effect. How could he easily back down just because the road ahead was unclear?
Moreover, as Yu Chengkong said, the Blue Duck lineage is indeed a rare spiritual seed containing the essence of immortality, which is no different from the golden key to knocking on the gates of heaven for someone like him who thirsts for the Dao...

Thinking of this, Chen Mu smiled and said, "I will take on this matter. If Fellow Daoist Yu has any concerns, please feel free to speak."

"Good!"

Yu Chengkong's eyes flashed with a sharp light. He suddenly rose from his seat and clapped his hands, his black feather cloak billowing like clouds: "If you want to fully explain the mysteries within, I need to introduce you to a fellow Daoist."

Having made his decision, Chen Mu didn't hesitate and stood up, asking, "Where are we going?"

"Fellow Daoist, please follow me."

Yu Chengkong was the first to leave the palace, then flapped his wings and took flight, instantly transforming into a streak of light and disappearing.

Chen Mu immediately summoned Yu Xin and whispered a few words of instruction before setting off to follow.

Both of them were incredibly fast, and before long, they had landed on the jade steps of Haixin City.

The eaves and corners cast faint shadows in the twilight. Chen Mu looked around at the carved eaves and embroidered railings, and a guess was already forming in his mind.

"please."

Yu Chengkong, mindful of etiquette, gestured and led Chen Mu into a pavilion.

The space inside the pavilion was not large. Apart from a few tables and cushions, there was only a gilded incense burner with a dragon design, which was emitting blue smoke.

The mist seemed to possess a spirit, swirling among the beams and pillars like a dragon, yet it contained not a trace of choking or foul air. Instead, it was like fine wine seeping into one's mind, making all the acupoints in the body feel refreshed.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, how have you been?"

A clear, melodious voice came from behind the mica screen, and a tall, bearded cultivator came into view. Who else could it be but Hong Wuyai?
"really……"

Chen Mu's heart skipped a beat, and he cupped his hands in greeting, saying, "So it's Elder Hong. I am honored to meet you."

Hong Wuyai bowed and smiled, "With Fellow Daoist Chen's help, our plan will surely succeed!"

The three took their seats. Chen Mu didn't need to say much; he only needed to adopt a listening posture, and the other two understood.

With their level of cultivation, they had long surpassed the level where they needed to swear an oath to heaven and earth to gain trust.

Just as a crane soaring to the heavens need not swear an oath with a sparrow, and the flowing rivers and seas never make a pact with a stream.

If you want to recruit people, just be upfront and explain it clearly.

Yu and Hong were well aware of the intricacies of the matter. As they exchanged glances, Yu suddenly let out a long sigh, the golden lines at the corners of his eyes flickering in the candlelight.

"If we're going to talk about the origins of this secret realm, we have to bring up some old stories... Fellow Daoist Chen, you've been lingering in the Ruins of Return for many days, have you heard of the origins of my Feather Clan?"

Chen Mu's mind cleared slightly, and he replied frankly, "I've heard a little about it. I've heard that your noble family was demoted to this place..."

"Exactly."

Yu Chengkong unconsciously stroked the rim of the teacup with his fingertips, a trace of indescribable desolation rising in his eyes.

“Our clan is not originally from the Floating Cloud Realm, but comes from the Lesser Thousand Worlds of the Mist Realm. Our ancestor was exceptionally talented and attained the True Immortal Dao Fruit in less than ten thousand years, leading the entire clan to ascend to the Immortal Realm.”

His voice deepened, as if traversing ten thousand years of clouds and mist: "In the beginning, the celestial palace was surrounded by auspicious clouds in thousands of layers. My clan has spread and grown for thousands of years, and outstanding talents have emerged like a galaxy of stars."

"Who would have thought that prosperity must eventually decline, and one day disaster struck from the sky... The ancestor somehow angered a certain immortal venerable, which led that being to personally take action to suppress and kill him!"

The candle wick on the jade table crackled and popped, casting flickering shadows on the faces of the three people.

"If it weren't for the joint plea of ​​our old friend, the Immortal Lord, my clan would have been wiped out long ago."

"Even so, the Immortal Venerable still planted the 'Return to the Void Contract' in our bloodline. Anyone who leaves the Void will suffer the calamity of bloodline depletion."

"Throughout the millennia, it remains like a cage..."

Chen Mu suddenly realized that it was no wonder the Feather Clan, despite possessing such a strong foundation, was content to remain confined to a small corner of the land; they were bound by these ancient restrictions.

Yu Chengkong seemed to see through his thoughts and couldn't help but laugh self-deprecatingly: "Tens of thousands of years have passed, and we have long been worn down by the years, willing to stay in this world to cultivate. But how can those ancestors who once soared through the nine heavens bear such a disgrace of having their wings clipped?"

His eyes gleamed, as if he held them in high esteem: "They carved their bones into boats and used their blood essence as torches. Even when their bloodlines were exhausted, they still broke free from the shackles of the Void. At the most tragic moment, all twelve direct descendants of the clan were reduced to wildfire..."

He paused abruptly, his knuckles striking the gilded table heavily: "But the Celestial Venerable could unleash heavenly punishment with a mere flick of his wrist. In just a hundred years, all the ancestors of my clan above the fifth realm have turned into a forest of stele snow feathers, withering away like autumn leaves."

"Since then, my Feather Clan has dared not dream of freedom again, especially since the Immortal Venerable sent someone to guard us..."

At this point, he chuckled softly, then sighed, "However, what no one expected was that this person who ostensibly extinguished the ambitions of our ancestors was actually the only way for our clan to plot again..."

Chen Mu frowned slightly, as if he couldn't quite figure out what was going on.

"Is that Immortal Venerable's disciple a variable?"

"Exactly!"

Yu Chengkong was clearly immersed in the situation, and even his tone was slightly excited.

Ironically, the guardian, whose Taoist name was Xuanming, was also a criminal who had been banished here.

"At first, Xuanming was dutiful and dutiful, and our clan lay dormant for a thousand years under his watchful gaze. However, as time went by, this banished immortal developed strange feelings in his solitude."

"When he peered through the layers of restrictions and saw the past of my people, when he stood atop the clouds and looked down upon the struggles of all living beings..."

“Resonance arises from adversity… After guarding for a thousand years, he finally conceived the idea of ​​helping my people escape this prison.”

"However, ideas are easy to come up with, but difficult to put into practice."

"If no one in my Feather Clan had taken the initiative, perhaps Xuanming would not have taken any action. But at that time, our clan's Holy Maiden Yu Nie was like the first ray of light breaking through the clouds. Her talent surpassed even that of our first ancestor, and she was determined to rebuild our clan's wings! The two met by chance and came up with a brilliant plan in the midst of a desperate situation."
"How could the schemes laid out by the Immortal Venerable be understood by mortals? Even though Xuanming has reached the realm of a True Immortal, he is like an ant trying to shake a tree in the face of the 'Return to the Void Contract' planted by his master." Yu Chengkong lowered his voice, as if sighing: "After a long period of time, the two of them quietly changed their direction, no longer fixated on breaking the restrictions, but instead began to deduce the mysteries of the fusion of the bloodlines of all races."

"This path, though seemingly smooth, is actually fraught with thorns. Bloodlines are a gift from Heaven; attempting to blend the essence of other races is like dancing on a knife's edge. At best, it will be futile; at worst, it will cause bloodline disorder, turning one into something neither human nor ghost, or even resulting in the complete annihilation of body and soul..."

"However, the will of Heaven ultimately granted them a glimmer of hope. After four thousand nine hundred years, thirty-six thousand deductions, and seven hundred bloodline puppets... they finally glimpsed the dawn amidst the feathers of the divine bird, the Blue Duck, at a time when the morning dew had not yet dried!"

His fists clenched involuntarily, and his breathing became rapid: "The Ruins of Return is the end of all rivers, and its annihilating power can corrode heaven and earth. In the past, when the Immortal Venerable punished our clan, he engraved this true meaning of annihilation into our bloodline, causing our clan's offspring to perish as soon as they left the abyss."

"According to the deduction of our clan's holy maiden, the Blue Duck is a divine bird transformed from the essence of the Dark Sea, and is born with the ability to 'build a nest in the vast ocean'."

"The bloodlines of these water-type divine beasts contain the mark of the Void Return. When they merge with the feather blood of our clan, they can actually evolve a 'pseudo-Void Return Realm' between the bloodlines."

"Although it did not completely break the shackles, this kind of daring and cunning method has already excited many of the clansmen."

"Afterwards, the Holy Maiden proved herself by fusing the essence of the Blue Duck with her own body, finally breaking free from the shackles of the Void. Although she is still trapped within the Floating Cloud Realm, she is already the first ray of dawn for our race..."

"However, the Blue Duck is one of the Five Divine Birds, and its bloodline is extremely rare. Having only one or two of them will not change the overall situation."

"To relieve the entire clan's predicament, the Holy Maiden and Xuanming devoted another thousand years of painstaking effort to create another small world in the Ruins of Return, intending to cultivate the bloodline of the divine bird with painstaking patience. When the accumulated streams form an abyss, that will be the day when our clan regains its freedom!"

At this point, Yu Chengkong's expression relaxed, a starlight flickering in his eyes. Chen Mu nodded silently, feeling a pang of sympathy, when he saw a sudden surge of turmoil in the other man's eyes: "Alas—"

His chest heaved violently, his breath ragged as if carrying a thousand pounds of weight: "Ten thousand years of imprisonment eroded their will, and at that time, the clan split in two, with half of them calling the Immortal Venerable's imprisonment a grace..."

His knuckles turned white from clenching his fists, and every word was tinged with bitterness: "While Xuanming was reminiscing with his fellow disciples, they exposed the Holy Maiden's scheme to the world!"

Chen Mu saw the other party's Adam's apple bob several times before continuing, "Although Xuanming has a very good relationship with his fellow disciples, how could they dare to hide such a thing for him? As expected, that Immortal Venerable knew about this matter."

"However, ten thousand years have passed, and it is not only my Feather Clan who have changed their minds. That Immortal Venerable must have realized that he had been too harsh in his punishment back then, so he was not too angry and only issued a decree to 'punish the chief culprit'."

"Our clan's holy maiden knew she was doomed to die, and at the same time, she was utterly disillusioned with her clan. Before the executioners arrived, she shattered her own spirit platform and departed..."

"Xuanming survived because of his master-disciple relationship, but his immortal bones were also knocked off, and he is eternally trapped in this floating cloud cage..."

At this point, Yu Chengkong sighed deeply, seemingly lamenting the fate of the two people tens of thousands of years ago.

Chen Mu's heart stirred slightly, and he extracted the key point: "The ringleader was executed... Now that the ringleader is gone, has the small world he created been preserved?"

A sharp glint flashed in Yu Chengkong's eyes, and he nodded in agreement: "Indeed, because the Holy Maiden dared not reveal the truth to her clan, that small realm has been forgotten ever since her fall..."

Chen Mu's heart skipped a beat, and he blurted out, "Could it be the secret realm you're looking for, fellow Daoist...?"

Yu Chengkong finally laughed loudly: "Yes and no."

"How to say?"

Seeing the puzzled look on Chen Mu's face, he composed himself and said seriously, "Actually, the secret realm I mentioned earlier was not discovered by me, but is hidden deep in the bottom of the Guixu Sea, 30,000 feet deep, under the jurisdiction of Gonggong, and has existed for tens of thousands of years."

"And the small realm established by our clan's holy maiden—"

He paused, his fingertip tracing an arc along the rim of the teacup: "It's deep within this secret realm."

Chen Mu frowned slightly. How could the cave opened up by the Holy Maiden of the Feather Clan be hidden in the secret realm of Gonggong?

In a flash of thought, his eyes gleamed—could it be…

Hong Wuyai spoke first: "Fellow Daoist Chen is right, the True Immortal Xuanming is indeed the ancestor of Gonggong from the Floating Cloud Realm..."

"After the Holy Maiden perished, the True Immortal also died in sorrow, never revealing the location of the Lesser Realm until his death."

"Gonggong is completely unaware of this. If I hadn't noticed the unusual activity within the secret realm and received confirmation from Fellow Daoist Yu, this secret would likely have been lost forever..."

Hearing this, Chen Mu's doubts only increased.

If this small world was built by the Feather Clan's Holy Maiden and Xuanming together, after tens of thousands of years, even if the Feather Clan were dull-witted, they should have thought of the possibility of Gonggong. How come they only found out now?
What's even more puzzling is that Hong Wuyai, who held the position of a vassal elder of the Gonggong clan, found the secret realm but did not report it to his master, instead secretly communicating with the Feather Clan. The intricacies of this situation are truly intriguing...

Yu Chengkong noticed Chen Mu's changing expression and immediately explained, "As I said before, as early as ten thousand years ago, some people in my Yu clan had already strayed from their original intentions."

"Nowadays, eight or nine out of ten clansmen have forgotten their true nature, so why would they go to great lengths to search for old traces?"

"Even if a few clear-headed individuals searched tirelessly in the depths of the secret realm to no avail, ultimately their strength was insufficient..."

"As for Fellow Daoist Hong not informing the master..."

He paused for a moment and looked at Hong Wuyai.

Hong Wuyai picked up the conversation, his voice low and deep, like grinding iron sand: "I have some unresolved grudges with Gonggong..."

Judging from his expression, Chen Mu didn't think he was faking it, so he nodded slowly.

"Fellow Daoist Chen."

Yu Chengkong suddenly rose into the air, his sleeves fluttering, the teacup on the table trembling slightly. His expression suddenly turned solemn and iron-like: "The discovery of this small world, which has been dormant for tens of thousands of years without revealing its traces, is truly a blessing from heaven!"

"Fellow Daoist Hong and I merely used our divine senses to probe the area, and we were able to extract several blue duck embryos. If we were to go there in person, we could probably unearth all the ancient treasures!"

Chen Mu understood perfectly. No wonder those embryos and eggs were incomplete; it turned out that these two had not actually broken through the boundary to enter, but had only used their divine sense to retrieve the items remotely.

The turbulent currents of the void are so violent; how could mere divine thoughts possibly protect the embryonic egg from harm?

Yu continued speaking into the air, his voice growing louder and louder: "I am by no means one of those short-sighted, self-sufficient people in my clan! I once swore to soar through the three thousand worlds like my ancestors and the Holy Maiden. How could I possibly emulate a frog at the bottom of a well, confined to a cage?!"

"If you are willing to lend your full assistance, all the gains from this small realm will belong to you and Fellow Daoist Hong!"

After speaking, he flicked his sleeves, breaking through layers of restrictions, and the howling wind outside the hall suddenly sounded like thunder.

Hong Wuyai suppressed his chaotic thoughts and asked in a deep voice, "Fellow Daoist Chen, have you said everything that needs to be said?"

His voice boomed like a deep bell, and his aura surged: "Where should we place our pieces in this game?"

Chen Mu's eyes were deep and unfathomable.

An unknown small world, a cause and effect of immense magnitude...

Choosing the right option is actually quite easy...

(End of this chapter)