Chapter 565 – Eastward Crossing! Father and Son - Part 1

Because of the

messenger crow

, Sheng'er, Li Yuan finally turned his attention toward the neighboring Immortal Domain.

Every day, he listened carefully to the messages Sheng'er sent back.

The Human Seed Fruit, Netherglow Grass, and Luminous Bloom were the three legendary treasures hidden within the Hall of Life, Solar Yang, and Lunar Yin.

Obtaining even one of them would grant extraordinary fortune, allowing a person to progress in Human, Heaven, or Earth Soul cultivation without the slightest resistance.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call such a person a god.

At first, Li Yuan thought his

divine gift

was the power of the Human Seed Fruit. The resemblance was too uncanny to ignore.

But the more he listened, the less that explanation fit. He couldn’t help but feel that his own divine gift was a bit

underpowered

.

According to Sheng'er’s information, someone who consumed the Human Seed Fruit could gain a hundred insights in a single day. Just lifting a hand or taking a step could spark the comprehension of overwhelming power.

And once they grasped it, they’d master it entirely.

For a mortal, cultivation was like climbing to the heavens. But for someone who had consumed the Human Seed Fruit, it was a broad, paved avenue stretching straight ahead without obstacle.

That didn’t line up at all with Li Yuan’s own experience.

Sure, his cultivation path had been smoother than most, but it was nowhere near the level of

raise your hand and boom, enlightenment!

Not even close.

That left two possibilities. Either the ancient texts were puffed up with legend. If so, he’d need to trace who wrote them and when, a tall order after so many ages. Or his so-called

divine gift

wasn’t the Human Seed Fruit at all.

The latter felt far more honest to his experience.

After all, he’d only even heard of the three great ancient halls from Sheng'er. And those halls hadn’t appeared in over 30,000 years. How could a transmigrator like him possibly have eaten a treasure hidden in the Hall of Life?

But then again, could two abilities in this world be so similar in effect?

That thought left Li Yuan puzzled once more.

Suddenly, his mind drifted back to what he’d seen in Yan Yu’s Mirror of Sin that day. And he fell into a long, silent contemplation.

Meanwhile, the hottest topic in the Eastern Sea’s Immortal Domain became the exploration of that newly-emerged ancient hall.

Thanks to a quirk of his abilities, Ping’an could split off clones that each counted as an independent third rank. Overnight he became the darling of the Arcane Supreme Sect.

While they scoured the land for the hidden god of the Western Extremes, the Arcane Supreme Sect showered Ping’an with rare resources, hoping he’d send out more clones to probe the ancient hall’s secrets.

The Five Spirits Institute didn’t have a freak like Ping’an, someone born with a blatant cheat that bent the rules. But they had their own answer, high rank puppets crafted by the Puppet Spirit Faculty. The inner workings of these constructs remained a mystery, but they possessed power nearing the third rank. With their special modifications, they were perfectly suited for dangerous exploration.

Because of Ping’an’s newfound importance, the outsider forces aligned with him began to benefit too.

Even the inner precincts of the spirit towns began, slowly, to admit a handful of outsiders.

The reason the Arcane Supreme Sect and Five Spirits Institute dared to conduct prolonged probing rather than rush headlong into the mysterious ancient hall was simple: the structure had become increasingly stable.

Surrounding the entrance of the hall was a ring of darkness, like tears in space itself, gaping black holes that seemed to confirm what the ancient texts had long suggested. The world had both an

outer

and an

inner

layer.

The outer world was the one they all knew.

The inner world, on the other hand, was fractured and broken. But that was to be expected. It fit neatly with their understanding of cosmic creation.

From chaos came Yin and Yang. From the interplay of Yin and Yang, all things were born.

Should Yin and Yang collapse back into one, it would be a forced reversal, everything would be annihilated. And yet, the closer one came to that original chaos, the more one could witness traces of ancient, peerless power...and the greater the opportunities that awaited.

The ancient halls were exactly that, remnants of chaos, brimming with unimaginable fortune.

That was why the powers of the Eastern Sea’s Immortal Domain had gone to such lengths to push the ancestral lands toward a Grand Unity of Yin and Yang. It was all for this.

In that sense, this so-called

inner world

was essentially dormant chaos itself.

When the heavens and earth took shape, some chaotic remnants managed to survive, never drawn into the balance of Yin and Yang, never transformed into the myriad things of the world. The three ancient halls were among these survivors.

So this sudden reappearance, this unearthing, was less a miraculous emergence and more a reawakening of forgotten relics. Like digging through time itself and dragging out some monstrous antique best left buried.

The fractured void surrounding the hall was terrifying. The gravitational pull alone was enough to crush even a fourth rank cultivator.

Flying over it was suicide. Just passing through the sky above would get a person sucked in and obliterated, body and soul.

But the growing

stability

of the hall was visible in how that broken void had started to mend.

The black void had shrunk dramatically in size, yet the ancient hall hadn’t receded back into the inner world. Quite the opposite, it was slowly anchoring itself in the outer world, as if it were growing out of the hidden realm into the visible one.

And the cost of this stabilization? An insane amount of spiritual energy.

The more the void healed, the more spiritual energy was devoured.

At a certain density, spiritual energy took on a violet hue.

That’s why cultivators in the Eastern Sea’s Immortal Domain, and even commoners in its fringe mortal kingdoms, could sometimes see bands of violet light stretching across the eastern sky, only to fade just as quickly.

The drain was enormous. In the past, it would’ve been catastrophic.

But now? Now it didn’t matter.

Because the spiritual energy across the Eastern Sea’s Immortal Domain was skyrocketing to absurd levels.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

December of the following year,

Within the imperial palace of the Central Capital, the Crown Prince Ji Yong and Second Prince Ji He were walking side by side along the palace path, its walls painted imperial yellow, on their way to greet the Emperor.

Unlike their father, the Human Emperor, neither of them possessed terrifying power. They were merely decent martial cultivators with above-average talent.

Now both 19 years old, they had just reached fifth rank. It was an impressive feat on paper, but one achieved under the relentless nurturing of the imperial family’s top resources.

They both practiced cultivation techniques passed down through the Ji Clan bloodline. After all, the Human Emperor still bore the Ji Clan’s blood; he’d never allow his children to train in some other lineage’s technique.

At one point, Empress Ying and Concubine He had cautiously asked the Emperor what should be done if the princes failed to break through the fourth rank.

The Emperor gave only three words in reply: “They won’t fail.”

And that was that. No further explanation.

In a different era, fifth rank at 19 years old would’ve caused a sensation across the realm. Even now, it still marked them as geniuses.

But given the resources funneled into their growth, Ji Yong and Ji He didn’t seem all that remarkable.

Ji Yong was steady and earnest; Ji He, dashing and carefree. Standing side by side, their contrasting personalities were plain to see.

Yet as they walked together, there was one thing they shared, which was unease. They were both walking on eggshells.

Along the imperial avenue, they passed the aftermath of a purge. An entire official’s family had been executed, blood soaking into the cracks of the marketplace stone.

It was the first time something like this had happened.

The image haunted them as they reached the palace gates.

Inside the great hall, the light was dim. The Human Emperor sat upon the nine dragon throne, chin resting on his hand in silent contemplation, still as a statue carved from shadow and divinity.

At 36 years old, even to the Crown Prince and Second Prince, he was still considered in his

early years

. Their lifespans now extended to 300 years, just a tenth of their journey complete. Once they reached fourth rank of cultivation, their lifespans would stretch to 500 years or more.

And yet...the Emperor looked inexplicably old.

They quickly stepped forward to offer their greetings.

“Your son Ji Yong greets the Emperor.”

“Your son Ji He greets the Emperor.”

Each of them then pulled out a scroll and respectfully held it out. These were their recent assignments, essays the Emperor had personally instructed them to complete and present.

But Eunuch Feng Yun at the side didn’t dare take the scrolls directly. Instead, he glanced nervously at the Emperor, who sat as if lost in sleep.

The atmosphere was suffocating.

Even the air seemed frozen in place.

The Crown Prince and Second Prince maintained their posture, arms extended and scrolls in hand, not daring to twitch a finger.

Then suddenly, the tense silence was torn apart by a burst of wind and a bright voice calling from outside the hall.

“Big Brother, Big Brother!”

A lively young girl came running in, her voice as clear as a bell.

Her presence shattered the frozen air.

Feng Yun let out a quiet breath of relief.

And the Human Emperor finally opened his eyes. He looked past his sons and toward the girl with a faint smile.

“Ah, it’s Zhen’er.”