Lingyuan Immortal

Chapter 928 The Ancestral Relics
The three streams of energy collided violently on the distant shore, creating a thousand waves.

Gong Qinghe's wide sleeves billowed, and thousands of jade vines instantly sprouted from the sea surface, with dark green water droplets rolling between the veins of the leaves. In the blink of an eye, they transformed into a hundred-foot-long azure dragon that rushed straight at Chen Mu's face.

The blue-robed youth was even a step ahead of him. A cold light surged from between his fingers, and nine ice shards fell from the sky, each reflecting the location of Chen Mu's true form, completely sealing off both the real and illusory locations.

As the saying goes, a master displays his prowess in battle, and true skill is revealed in the smallest of moments.

The two of them displayed the true essence of their ancient clan in every gesture, far surpassing the likes of Li Dan whom Chen Mu had previously encountered.

Chen Mu finally had an idea, and the waves beneath his feet suddenly condensed into the patterns of a bronze cauldron, with the illusory image of the cauldron appearing and disappearing behind him.

His eyes rippled with a watery light, and his left hand formed the "Mirror Flower Technique," the first level of immortal arts, causing twelve illusory bodies to appear simultaneously between the ice crystals.

The instant the icy light pierced through the illusory image, his true form had already risen into the air on the inverted moonlight, his right hand using the Moon Character Technique to forcefully turn the Azure Dragon's head around.

Although the young man in blue robes was greedy for merit and reckless, he was not stupid. On the contrary, he had a lot of experience in combat. Even though he could not understand the mystery of Chen Mu's magic, he could still glimpse three parts of its true meaning.

His eyes flashed with a sharp light, and a thunderous roar erupted from his throat: "How can such a mere illusion and delusion sway my Dao heart!"

Ice patterns spread across his palm, and a icy spring roared forth. As it surged, the moonlight in the sky was frozen into frosty white chains, forcibly pulling Chen Mu's true form out from the boundary between reality and illusion.

Meanwhile, Gong Qinghe seized the opportunity to form a sword with his fingers, and the azure dragon's scales exploded into countless green needles, carrying down the true essence of the sunflower water that could pierce through the primordial spirit.

Chen Mu remained expressionless, but some insights he had gained from his confrontation with Wu Songfu surfaced in his mind.

His eyes flickered, and the illusory image of the Ze Ding behind him solidified by three points. Suddenly, a great bell-like sound rang out from the vast sea, and the azure light gushing from the mouth of the cauldron instantly swallowed up all the green needles.

Then his robes billowed like waves, and a three-thousand-foot-long water mirror suddenly appeared beneath his feet, simultaneously reflecting the frost chains and the remains of the azure dragon into a double illusion.

The two deadly attacks entangled and tore at each other in the water mirror, and in the end, they both backfired on the Gong twins!
"What a magnificent mirror that can hold a thousand rivers!"

Gong Qinghe's brow suddenly lit up, and a phantom image of Qinghe appeared behind him, with verdant branches reaching into the void, channeling all the backlash power into an unknown realm.

The blue-robed youth transformed into his Xuanbing True Body, enduring seventy percent of his own cold energy, with dark blue blood seeping from the cracks in the ice crystals on his right arm.

Chen Mu continued his movements, taking the opportunity to form the Tide-Rising Seal, and the innate water essence flowing between his ten fingers condensed into eighty-one layers of waves.

Within each wave lay the projection of a moon's essence, the vast Daoist aura tilting like the northwest sky, pressing down so hard that dewdrops seeped from the temples of Gong Qinghe and the other man.

At the same time, thirty miles away, Yu Cheng spread his six-zhang snow wings in the air. Before the silver-white magic disc that Elder Gong had summoned could even get close, it was shredded into clouds by the flying feathers.

Just as the black-clad messenger's Nine Palaces Sword Formation was taking shape, Yu Chengkong lightly flapped his wings again, and his thirty-six fundamental life feathers transformed into streams of light, nailing the sword formation to the void.

The downy feathers falling from the sky seemed gentle, but when they touched the ground, they carved deep marks into the mountain rocks...

In an instant, six figures darted and weaved through the sea of ​​clouds, their magical treasures and immortal arts illuminating the night sky as if it were daytime.

Gong Qinghe grew increasingly alarmed as the battle progressed. The four of them, working together, were still unable to defeat two True Monarchs, let alone one of them who was only at the initial stage of the Profound Gate Realm...

"Young Master He, I fear that delay may lead to unforeseen changes. It would be best to send a message to the clan as soon as possible."

Old Gong also sensed something was wrong. With the combined strength of the four of them, they shouldn't be in such a passive position. The reason was that Chen Mu and the other two intended to delay, and even with an advantage, they didn't use any further tactics, which made it difficult for them to find a loophole to counterattack.

The delay must be for some reason, and with Hong Wuyai still not showing up, he knew he couldn't continue like this.

Without hesitation, Gong Qinghe immediately threw out the jade talisman to send a message.

He was only there to get some benefits, and he didn't want to put himself in danger. Compared to his own life, he could tell what was more important...

……

At a depth of 30,000 feet underwater, Hong Wuyai's dark robes fluttered in the heavy water.

In the thick, inky darkness, only the ceaseless surging of the tide seemed to wail in my ears, like the dying gasps of an ancient behemoth.

Two clusters of shimmering gold light rose from the depths of his pupils, piercing through the darkness in an instant and illuminating the barrier lurking a hundred feet away. That place should have been the entrance to the Abyss Cave Secret Realm, but now it was like a decapitated dragon, with only its broken scales flickering in the void.

Perhaps sensing his arrival, three thousand gossamer-like golden patterns appeared in the abyss, each pattern seemingly alive, emitting a faint light. Upon closer inspection, they turned out to be countless tadpole-like characters connected end to end, flowing about.

Hong Wuyai tapped the jade pendant at his waist with his fingers, and a bronze token shot out and landed on the pattern.

In an instant, the golden light surged.

The layers upon layers of runes resembled a swarm of startled dragons, swam outwards in all directions from the token as the center.

The undercurrent suddenly froze, and the immense pressure of the entire sea area collapsed towards this spot.

When the seventh ripple struck the bronze token, the ancient runes emitted a dragon-like roar, tearing open a massive vortex that shimmered with faint light in the void.

A sharp glint flashed in Hong Wuyai's eyes. Not daring to delay, he gathered up the remaining spiritual energy with his wide sleeves and stepped into the surging Yin and Yang energies.

In an instant, the world spun around and a bone-chilling cold swept over them. When they opened their eyes again, they found themselves standing in a desolate ravine cave.

Stalactites formed from millennia-old ice hang upside down like swords, the ground is covered with cracked array patterns, and broken bronze lamps still retain the posture of being tilted over a thousand years ago. A vast and ancient aura rushes over you, clearly indicating that this is the secret realm of the abyss that has existed for tens of thousands of years.

Hong Wuyai continued walking, his divine sense locking onto the lingering aura he had deliberately preserved from last time, his figure transforming into a streak of azure light that pierced the southeastern sky.

Before half a cup of tea had been brewed, he had already gracefully landed in front of a gnarled and cracked withered tree.

This ancient tree looks ordinary, but its cracked bark bears the marks of thousands of years of wind and frost. On this barren slope, there are countless other similar dead trees.

But this seemingly ordinary, decaying tree actually conceals a lost portal to a small, empty world, a technique that has been lost for millennia.

The reason he was able to decipher this secret was not because he possessed divine insight, but because the passage of time had eroded away the concealment and restrictions of this place.

If the Abyss Cave Secret Realm hadn't been abandoned long ago, it would probably have been discovered long ago, and he wouldn't have had the chance to reap such a great advantage...

Hong Wuyai took a deep breath, regulating his qi as he circulated his fingers to deduce the secrets of heaven.

The secret realm was shrouded in dark clouds, obscuring the stars and moon, while on the distant sea outside, the moon was at its full zenith, and the stars shone brightly.

Time passed quietly, and finally, the zenith arrived.

Under the pale gray night sky, not a cloud in sight, the moon hung high like a round disc, its silvery light spilling down like a ribbon, reflecting shimmering waves on the boundless sea.

Inside the secret realm, a sharp glint flashed in Hong Wuyai's eyes.

The moment he flipped his palm and unleashed the Yin-Yang Boundary Jade, his true essence poured into the jade like a celestial river flowing backward, instantly emitting thousands of auspicious rays.

"Click——"

The sound of the dead tree snapping was deafening, yet the gnarled branches remained intact, with only the void where it had been growing quietly cracked like a spiderweb.

The next moment, a gray, turbid gale erupted from the depths of the crevice, causing rocks to crumble, vegetation to turn to dust, and even the sunlight to be shredded into fragments.

Hong Wuyai's expression was solemn. He gently waved his hand and threw out the Knocking Boundary Jade, which slowly landed in the center of the crevice. Then, the Knocking Boundary Jade began to tremble violently, as if it could not withstand the erosion of the gray and turbid gale.

Several breaths passed, but the jade pendant showed no signs of collapsing. Moreover, as a clear and melodious sound pierced through the gale, the original inch-long crack was forcibly widened to three inches. Hong Wuyai was overjoyed and dared not stop. Dao patterns flowed around his body, and his abundant magical power poured out like a celestial river.

The jade pendant trembled more and more rapidly, and the edges of the crack shimmered with the light of broken glass, expanding to a radius of about ten feet in an instant.

Suddenly, all was silent again, even the raging gale seemed to freeze in mid-air. Then, a rumbling sound like muffled thunder came from the depths of the earth's veins, and the entire secret realm trembled violently as if a giant beast were turning over.

Bluish-gray smoke rose from the crack in the mountain ridge, while a dark blue pillar of light soared straight up, its color as deep and mysterious as an abyss.

The beam of light grew higher and higher, its momentum suggesting it was about to break through this secret realm and manifest itself in the outside world.

Hong Wuyai looked up, his expression quite complicated, his eyes flickering as if he were making a fierce decision in his heart.

In the end, he sighed softly and lowered his hand, which he had intended to use to stop him.

"Gonggong happened to catch up at this time; how can we say it wasn't fate?"

The beam of blue light traveled unimpeded, finally breaking through the abyss's secret realm and swimming in the deep sea, illuminating the eternally dark ocean floor with every detail...

Almost the instant the blue light appeared in this world, under the moonlight-shrouded battlefield, Gong Qinghe's body trembled violently as if struck by lightning. Then, she looked into the distance with a look of horror and exclaimed repeatedly, "What have you all done?!"

He clearly sensed a throbbing deep within his bloodline; that ancient energy, tracing its origins, came from the ancestral shrine and spirit tablets at least five generations ago.

Unexpectedly, Yu Chengkong was also surprised. When they discussed it earlier, they had not considered such fluctuations.

Moreover, he and Hong Wuyai had already been there once before and secretly deduced that because the small world was located in a secret realm, there was enough time to avoid such a situation from happening.

But right now...

"Could it be that Brother Hong has also encountered setbacks?"

Chen and Mu exchanged glances, knowing that this was not the time to delve into the matter.

They looked up at the sky, nodded, and simultaneously formed a hand seal with their fingers together. As their robes billowed, they transformed into two streaks of light that burst forth.

Gong Qinghe and the others were already in a state of high alert, and upon seeing this, their expressions changed drastically. The Gong twins, in particular, retreated a thousand miles away in the blink of an eye, seemingly not intending to approach again, at least not until they had figured out the situation...

Chen Mu and his companion knew when to stop, and as soon as the other party withdrew, they turned and left.

"Uncle, we..."

The black-clad messenger asked in a low voice, seemingly unsure whether to intervene.

Old Master Gong, however, was shrewd and experienced. Since the host had already left, what was the point of them going up there?
Seeing him shake his head inwardly, the black-clad messenger had no choice but to stop and watch helplessly as Chen Mu and his companion disappeared into the horizon...

……

The territory of the Gong clan.

Inside the deep cave, the old man in black robes, who was sitting cross-legged on the cloud platform, suddenly opened his eyes. His two frosty eyebrows were like swords, and his gaze, which could see through the void, pierced through layers of restrictions and reached the dark blue spiritual light surging above the sea.

"How could this be, given the legacy of our ancestors?"

With a light touch of his toes on the cloud pattern, the old man's figure transformed into a stream of light and disappeared into the void, while the dark floor tiles in the Xuan Shui Hall rippled, and when they solidified again, his majestic figure appeared.

Gong Daosheng, who was gazing at the water mirror, was startled. He turned around and saw the dark embroidered hem of the robe. Cold sweat instantly broke out on his back: "Father... why did you leave the seclusion ahead of schedule?"

The clan leader of the Gong clan snorted coldly, and without answering, asked directly, "What happened?"

Although Gong Daosheng had the courage to "act first and report later," he dared not evade the question when his father asked him directly.

Just then, Gong Qinghe's communication jade talisman flew over. He reached out and took it, looked at it for a moment, and his expression changed. His Adam's apple bobbed several times before he finally told the whole story about Hong Wuyai and Chen Mu.

"Now that person has appeared in Guixu, and you are in charge of the clan's affairs, why don't you summon Qingli back?"

The clan leader remained expressionless, yet his imposing presence still made Gong Daosheng almost unable to breathe.

"I think..."

Gong Daosheng's palms were covered in a fine layer of cold sweat: "We haven't yet confirmed that the person we're looking for is the one we're looking for, so to avoid affecting Qingli, we're not in a hurry. We're preparing... preparing to let her return after she confirms it herself..."

The clan leader remained silent, only coldly watching Gong Daosheng.

But it was precisely this silence that made Gong Daosheng break out in a cold sweat. Finally, unable to bear it any longer, he hurriedly said, "I will immediately send a message to Qingli."

As he spoke, he was about to leave the hall quickly, but after taking only two steps, the old man stopped him with a gesture of his hand: "No need, I have already ordered him to return."

Upon hearing this, Gong Daosheng's face suddenly darkened, but when he turned around, he put on a respectful expression again: "Yes."

However, the sudden tension in his cheekbones had already released all his resentment.

As the clan leader and biological father, how could the old man not see through the undercurrents surging in his eldest son's eyes?

Complaining and blaming others only increases one's karmic burden.

The old man shook his head and said in a deep voice, "Your natural talent is far inferior to Qingli's. At most, you will inherit my mantle and become a wandering immortal trapped in shackles."

"But Qingli is different. She is the most like our ancestor in ten thousand years and has the opportunity to become an unparalleled true immortal..."

Seeing that his father intended to make things clear, Gong Daosheng went all out, indignantly saying, "Gong Qingli was originally just a concubine. If it weren't for Father's abundant resources, how could she have achieved what she has today? You say there's a huge gap between me and her? But where exactly am I inferior to her? If we were to discuss the Hongwu Dao Fruit..."

"presumptuous!"

The old man frowned and spoke in a low voice, pausing before continuing, "Don't say I didn't give you a chance. This time, with the appearance of the Ancestral Realm, you can compete with Qingli. If you can seize the Ze Ding Dao Fruit from her, I won't be in such a hurry to make a judgment. But if..."

Before he could finish speaking, Gong Daosheng raised his eyes and shouted, "If you cannot, I will request to go into seclusion. I will not say another word..."

The old man nodded, but his heart was filled with mixed feelings.

After Gong Daosheng's surging emotions gradually subsided, he suddenly realized: "The ancestral realm, Father means..."

He also sensed the aura of his ancestors in the sea near the Abyss Cave. He had originally planned to investigate it himself, but his father had unexpectedly revealed the secret.

The old man nodded and said, "It's not quite accurate to call it the ancestral realm. This long-buried history dates back tens of thousands of years, and even the elders in the clan may not know about it now..."

It turns out that after the True Immortal Xuanming passed away and returned to the void, Gonggong, fearing the eyes and ears of the immortals, had long ago sealed this secret.

However, as time went by, even the descendants of the clan gradually forgot about it. Although some people were still determined to find that lost little world, they returned empty-handed, leaving future generations even more confused.

He knew this not because it was passed down from his elders, but because he saw some traces of it while sorting through the ancestral hall's remaining documents.

However, he didn't think that a mustard seed cave that kept blue duck spirit birds was particularly valuable. It might be a treasure to the Feathered People, but to his Gonggong bloodline, it was just one of the symbols of his ancestors being imprisoned in the Floating Cloud Realm...

……

(End of this chapter)