Just as the old patriarch forced me to my death, I achieved the unity of Dao and fruition.

Silence remained in the hall for a long time.

Gu Qingxiao and Gu Xiaolou sat in the same spot, both looking somewhat lost and dejected.

Gu Xiaolou, in particular, opened her mouth as if she wanted to refute something.

"How is this possible? Back then..."

But she couldn't continue speaking after only getting halfway through her sentence.

What happened back then?

Upon closer reflection, they realized that they hadn't spent nearly as much time with their ancestor as they had imagined.

After the Crimson Abyss Secret Realm completely collapsed, the brother and sister were swept away by the spatial turbulence and miraculously survived, landing on the edge of the Great Luo Heaven Domain.

When they saw the ancestor again, he had transformed into the Flame-Suppressing Immortal Official of the Immortal Palace.

That meeting wasn't even something the ancestor specifically sought out for them.

It was just a coincidence that we met during the Celestial Palace's grand selection.

Afterwards, the ancestor took them back to the Fire Virtue Immortal Palace, arranged for someone to register them in the immortal register, and then said that he had other things to do and let them leave on their own.

Later, after the ancestor achieved true immortality and entered the main hall of the Fire Virtue Immortal Palace, he remained silent for 300 years.

Gu Xiaolou had never thought about these details in the past.

In her memory, the patriarch was always the kind, protective, and supportive Gu family patriarch who was willing to mentor the younger generation.

But now, after Ye Qingyao peeled away the layers, she discovered that there was an indescribable sense of separation between the ancestor in her memory and the ancestor she actually spent time with.

There's also the matter of Ye Chen.

Ye Chen had traveled with the siblings all the way, and after arriving at the Immortal Palace, he was determined to seek justice for Linhai City.

As a result, the immortal filed lawsuits all over the place, and eventually the lawsuits were brought against the ancestor.

Then, the cause and effect reversed, and the ancestor took out a celestial mirror, revealing the "truth" about Ye Chen's sacrifice of Linhai City and his cultivation of the bloodline evil technique.

Indeed, a remnant soul of a Blood Dao True Immortal burst forth from Ye Chen's body.

All the evidence fits together perfectly.

Gu Xiaolou still remembers to this day the despair and disbelief Ye Chen felt before his death.

I also remember that the ancestor initially praised Ye Chen's extraordinary immortal lineage, but in the blink of an eye, it was as if he already knew the whole truth and completely nailed him down.

At that time, she only felt that the methods of immortals were mysterious.

Looking back now, I always feel that the whole thing went a little too smoothly.

"Could it be that the ancestor really...?"

Gu Xiaolou murmured unconsciously.

"shut up!"

Gu Qingxiao's expression changed drastically, and he abruptly interrupted her.

Then, he looked at Ye Qingyao, his expression having returned to calm.

"I don't know what Fengxianzi is talking about."

"Ancestor is indeed an ancestor, and the Immortal Palace has also done great favors for my brother and me."

"Let's pretend that what we said today never happened."

Ye Qingyao was slightly taken aback, then realized what was happening.

Gu Qingxiao did not disbelieve.

He was afraid.

This is, after all, a celestial palace!

They sat in the palace of the Celestial Palace, discussing the high-ranking officials of the Celestial Palace, and even speculating that a powerful figure from the Celestial Palace had possessed the body of the Southern Ming Celestial Official.

Who knows if there's a pair of eyes watching them from above?

"rest assured."

Ye Qingyao smiled gently.

A golden-red flame lit up between her brows, and then, illusory phoenix feathers appeared all around the hall.

The phoenix feathers overlapped, reflecting all the sounds, divine thoughts, and even the causal fluctuations that had just arisen between the group back into the hall.

From the outside, everything here seems normal, and even their lips are still uttering trivial matters about being appointed as celestial officials.

"I am confident that I dared to discuss this matter with you and your brother. Unless the higher-ups of the Celestial Palace personally pay attention to us, ordinary investigators will not be able to hear what we are saying."

Gu Qingxiao finally breathed a sigh of relief, but his voice was still somewhat hoarse.

"Is the truth really as you say?"

"After the battle of Xuandu, the Ancestor was possessed by a powerful figure from the Immortal Palace?"

"Then the true ancestor must already be...?"

"It may not be a complete possession."

Ye Qingyao shook her head.

"If the consciousness belonging to Gu Changjin within him has completely disappeared, why would he still bring you into the Immortal Palace?"

"And why, more than three hundred years later, suddenly issue a decree to promote the two of you?"

"You have nothing that is worth coveting by a powerful being from the Celestial Palace."

"So the most likely scenario is that Grandpa's original consciousness is still intact, but it has been suppressed by another consciousness, or the two have become entangled."

Upon hearing this, Gu Xiaolou abruptly raised his head.

A glimmer of light returned to Gu Qingxiao's eyes.

Yes, for the past three hundred years, they have been able to stay in the Immortal Palace peacefully, and have been able to cultivate from the initial Nascent Soul stage to the current Body Integration stage, all thanks to themselves.

The lingering power left by the Immortal Official of Suppressing Flames shielded them from too many open and covert attacks.

And what can the ancestor gain from them?

In their view, there was nothing.

What else could this kind of unconditional care be but blood ties and family affection?

Gu Xiaolou's tense shoulders gradually relaxed.

She preferred to believe that the real ancestor was still trapped somewhere in that body, rather than believe that person had completely disappeared.

Gu Qingxiao didn't speak, but his clenched hand slowly loosened.

At least, they still have a chance. As long as the ancestor's consciousness remains, he may be able to save him in the future.

"However, the problem with Grandpa may only be part of the secret of the Celestial Palace."

Ye Qingyao changed the subject.

"Have you ever wondered why Asgard suddenly launched that war ten years ago?"

"Although there had been conflicts between humans, demons, and other races, a balance had always been maintained."

"But when the first immortal of the human race awoke, all nine palaces appeared, and the immortal palace launched a war of annihilation without warning."

"I've been going through files from before and after the war for the past ten years."

"That war progressed too quickly and too smoothly."

"What's even stranger is that, in every most dangerous battlefield, there always seems to be a few young cultivators appearing at just the right time."

"They seize opportunities in dire straits, accumulate prestige in great battles, and after the wars end, they naturally enter the celestial palace to become candidates for celestial officials or wield power in a region."

Gu Qingxiao's gaze sharpened.

"You mean, Asgard is deliberately grooming them?"

"Just a guess."

Ye Qingyao said slowly.

"But during the great battle, many old immortal officials who had never appeared before showed up, and the nine palace masters of the Five Elements and the Four Directions appeared in the world at the same time."

"Grandpa was the only one who never appeared."

"But ten years after the war ended, he was suddenly transferred to the Southern Heavenly Palace."

"Therefore, I suspect that there must be some kind of very deep connection between him and that Lord of the Celestial Palace."

Gu Xiaolou's expression changed slightly.

"Could it be that the one who possessed the ancestor is the Lord of the Immortal Palace?"

"have no idea."

Ye Qingyao shook her head again.

"It's too early to draw conclusions."

"The only thing we can be sure of is that Asgard is doing something huge, and Grandpa is very likely at the heart of it."

"The only way to find out the truth is to keep getting stronger."

"Strong enough to qualify to enter the Southern Heavenly Palace, and even to stand before the Central Heavenly Palace and see for yourself what is hidden inside."

Gu Qingxiao and Gu Xiaolou remained silent for a long time before finally nodding.

"Okay! Let's investigate together."

"It's not just us."

Ye Qingyao's eyes gradually brightened.

"I am not the only prodigy who has risen in this war. They come from different pioneering realms, do not have established immortal clans behind them, and may not be truly willing to hand everything over to the Immortal Palace."

"We don't need to tell them the whole truth. We just need to bring together truly trustworthy people in the name of mutual help and discussion."

"While cultivating, we also need to investigate the war ten years ago and find out what the Immortal Palace wants from us."

"This alliance cannot openly oppose Asgard."

"At least until there is evidence, we cannot even let anyone know that it actually exists."

"On the surface, we are just new generation cultivators exchanging information about the expansion of different realms."

"Secretly, each person organizes their own experiences of the battlefields they encountered, the opportunities they gained, and the orders that the Celestial Palace issued at crucial moments."

"You might not see a problem in one file, but if you put ten or a hundred files together, the problems will eventually show."

The first image that popped into Gu Xiaolou's mind was a figure in green robes.

"Xu Chang'an?"

Ye Qingyao smiled slightly.

"He could be the first."

That night, the lights in the Siyan Palace stayed on for a long time.

No one expected that at the height of humanity's glory and the peak of the Immortal Palace's prestige, a secret alliance composed of a new generation of geniuses quietly began to take shape.

They call it the "Spark Alliance".

Initially, they simply wanted to dispel the shadows beneath the glorious human immortal palace and see what was hidden within that high-hanging Zhongtian Immortal Palace.