My little sect, which disappeared a thousand years ago, has become a sacred site!

After seeing Dugu Shiling off, only Gu Changyuan, Bai Ling'er, and Gu Xing'er remained in the courtyard.

Gu Changyuan glanced at the sky and said calmly:

"Let's go check on Fifth Brother and the others first. They've been in seclusion, so I'll lend them a hand and speed up their cultivation."

His ten disciples secluded themselves in two different places.

One was on the mountain peak they each controlled, and the other was built on the summit of Tianyuan Mountain, surrounding his former residence, so that they could look after each other.

With a sweep of his divine sense, Gu Changyuan sensed the presence of Xiao Yi, Yun Tianhe, and Han Feng, who were currently in seclusion at the Tianyuan Mountain retreat.

Outside the quiet room, each area is protected by a powerful barrier.

Gu Changyuan didn't break the barrier; he simply formed a hand seal with one hand, his movements so fast that even Bai Ling'er, who possessed a refined Dao Heart, could only catch a blurry trace of it.

He flicked his finger and sent three miniature arrays, each with a distinct color and aura, silently disappearing into the vicinity of the three quiet rooms.

These three formations were custom-made by Gu Changyuan based on the three individuals' physiques and cultivation paths, and were designed to accelerate their comprehension.

Bai Ling'er was mesmerized by what she saw. With her mastery of formations and her keen Daoist mind, she could instantly grasp the general effects of these formations.

These were all tailor-made for the three of them, supreme auxiliary cultivation arrays that directly targeted the core bottlenecks in their cultivation, but the laws and runes contained within them were profound and unpredictable, far beyond her current understanding.

It made her feel that even if she spent several months, she might not be able to grasp its essence.

After doing all this, Gu Changyuan led Bai Ling'er and Gu Xing'er back to the main house of the courtyard on the mountaintop.

The interior furnishings are almost identical to those from a thousand years ago, with shiny tables and chairs, clearly indicating that they have been carefully cleaned over the years.

Gu Changyuan and Bai Ling'er sat facing each other. Gu Xing'er wanted to break free from Bai Ling'er's embrace and run to Gu Changyuan's side, but Bai Ling'er gently held her down and continued to hold her in her arms.

Bai Ling'er raised her head, looked at Gu Changyuan, and asked cautiously:

"Master...where have you been for the past thousand years?"

Gu Changyuan had no intention of hiding anything. He picked up the spiritual tea that had been prepared on the table at some unknown time and calmly recounted how he had been swept into the spatial rift.

The story is briefly recounted: the protagonist is stranded in a chaotic wasteland called "Ruins of Chaos," and the bloody battles that have raged there for thousands of years as they struggle for survival and to find their way home.

Although his narration was plain, Bai Ling'er could imagine how desperate and cruel the environment was—there was no spiritual energy, only chaos and slaughter, and her master was all alone, struggling to survive from the Void Refinement Realm until he earned a fearsome reputation.

As she listened, her eyes reddened again. The tiny resentment that had arisen in her heart due to the long wait, which she herself was unwilling to admit, had long since vanished, leaving only endless heartache.

Compared to their master's thousand-year struggle on the edge of life and death, they, though laborious and mentally taxing in the holy land, at least enjoyed peace and companionship with fellow disciples, a world of difference.

Gu Changyuan naturally sensed Bai Ling'er's fluctuating emotions. He put down his teacup and gently comforted her:

"Don't be sad. Look on the bright side, didn't I return unharmed? And I will never leave without saying goodbye again."

This sentence is like the most effective reassurance.

Bai Ling'er sniffed hard, a bright and reassuring smile blooming on her face, her eyes glistening with tears. She nodded emphatically:

"Um!"

After that, Gu Changyuan learned in detail about the current overall situation of the Nine Heavens Realm from Bai Ling'er.

Nowadays, cultivators in the Nine Heavens Realm, once they reach the peak of the Tribulation Transcending Realm, have their greatest obsession in finding a way to break through to the next level.

In fact, a thousand years ago, there was a clear path of cultivation above the Tribulation Transcending Realm in the Nine Heavens Realm, which was the Immortal Realm.

That is the true path to immortality, where spiritual energy is purer, laws are more manifest, longevity is within reach, and the path is boundless.

But just 1,111 years ago, the immortal path connecting the Nine Heavens Realm and the Myriad Luo Immortal Realm was suddenly forcibly sealed and completely severed.

The Celestial Sacred Land learned the specific reasons for the severance of the Immortal Path from the Zhuge family in Central Continent.

Beneath the Myriad Realms of Immortals lies not only the Nine Heavens Realm, but also hundreds and thousands of smaller lower realms.

The cultivators of these worlds all ultimately ascend to the Myriad Luo Immortal Realm.

The Nine Heavens Realm is considered one of the most powerful realms among all the lower realms.

In the Central Continent of the Immortal Realm, stand the five immortal families: Zhuge, Shangguan, Dugu, Xuanyuan, and Gongsun.

These five families are among the top families in the entire Wanluo Immortal Realm, with profound foundations and countless powerful individuals.

Coincidentally, their bloodlines in the lower realms are all in the Nine Heavens Realm, which also happens to be gathered in the Central Continent.

The Zhuge, Shangguan, and Xuanyuan families occupy the central region of the Central Continent, while the Dugu and Gongsun families dominate the southern region.

The upheaval stemmed from the sudden rise of a new power in the Immortal Realm—the Imperial Court.

This force acts with unparalleled tyranny and harbors boundless ambition.

Moreover, they are extremely powerful, with numerous strong warriors under their command. In just a few hundred years, they have swept through many domains of the Wanluo Immortal Realm, and their power has expanded extremely rapidly.

More than a thousand years ago, they chose to target the Five Immortals. The first thing they did was to join forces to set up a great formation, sealing the immortal path from the Nine Heavens Realm to the Myriad Luo Immortal Realm.

Cutting off the path to ascension is tantamount to severing the direct connection between the bloodline of the lower realm and the immortal realm, thus weakening its foundation.

With the Immortal Path sealed off, the Imperial Court launched a war against the Five Immortals.

That battle... ended tragically.

The Dugu Immortal family... was completely wiped out, and their lineage was severed.

The Shangguan family suffered heavy casualties, and their foundation was shaken.

Even the Zhuge, Xuanyuan, and Gongsun families suffered considerable losses under the overwhelming offensive of the imperial court, and were ultimately forced to join forces to withdraw from the core territory of the Central Continent, which they had cultivated for thousands of years, to temporarily avoid the brunt of the attack and plan for the future.

From then on, the landscape of the Wanluo Immortal Realm underwent a dramatic change. The name of the Imperial Court became a powerful force in all directions, and it had become a dominant force in the Immortal Realm.

Because the main family in the Immortal Realm suffered such a great calamity, the five families in the Nine Heavens Realm were also severely damaged.

The Dugu family, in particular, lost its biggest backer after its main family in the Immortal Realm was destroyed. In recent years, their situation in the Southern Region of the Central Continent has become increasingly difficult, and the other four families have also suffered heavy losses.

The reason why the Imperial Court chose to seal the Immortal Path instead of directly sending the Immortal Army down to the mortal realm to annihilate it was not out of mercy, but because it was bound by the most fundamental rules of heaven and earth.

If a cultivator from the Immortal Realm were to forcibly descend to a lower plane like the Nine Heavens Realm, their extraordinary cultivation would be forcibly suppressed by the laws of heaven and earth to the limit that the realm could accommodate—the Perfect Tribulation Realm (half-immortal).

Moreover, it suppresses not only cultivation level, but also weaponry.

In this way, the advantage is greatly reduced. If they are besieged by cultivators from the lower realms with their numbers and terrain advantage, or even perish, the cost will be high and the losses will outweigh the gains.

If one were to directly unleash a powerful divine attack on the mortal realm from the celestial realm, it would trigger a backlash from the Heavenly Dao. At best, one's cultivation would be damaged; at worst, one's foundation of Dao would be shaken, requiring a long period of quiet recuperation to recover.

Moreover, each immortal family has protective measures for its branches in the lower realms and will not stand idly by.

Of course, nothing is absolute.

If the lower realm branch truly faces annihilation and its fate is threatened, the main celestial family may well suffer a backlash and intervene forcefully.

The Imperial Court chose to seal the Immortal Path, sever ties, and then launch a war in the Immortal Realm. Although this was slower, it was more secure and less costly.