Chapter 789: The Three Qings' Enlightenment Grounds

In the Sieve of Heaven, by Xiao Nanfeng's residence, a man stood before Xiao Nanfeng.

"I invited you here today to inquire about something. I apologize for the trouble." Xiao Nanfeng poured the man a cup of tea.

The man shook his head, flustered. "Please don't say that, Eastern Aspect Xiao. You are the princess' consort, and I her subordinate. Please summon me whenever you need me."

"Don't be nervous," Xiao Nanfeng replied, smiling. "Let's chat casually."

Even so, the man remained somewhat anxious. "Please ask me whatever you'd like, Eastern Aspect Xiao."

"When I first headed to the Taiqing Immortal Sect as an apprentice, I saw the princess fighting against a spiritual cultivator. That was the first time I met her. Since the princess isn't here now, I can't ask her about the specifics of the event. I'm hoping you can shed some light on the hidden realm she had just emerged from."

The man nodded. "Of course, Eastern Aspect Xiao. It's not a big secret. My avatar followed the princess into the hidden realm, but in the end, only she and Donglin escaped alive. Everyone else perished within it."

"Oh?" Xiao Nanfeng replied curiously.

"At the time, the princess had obtained a treasure map leading to an incredible relic known as the superior yin pearl. According to the princess, it was an extraordinary item that she had to acquire at any cost. However, the hidden realm was disadvantageous to ordinary cultivators and particularly advantageous to spiritual ones. We decided to seek help from Donglin, a spiritual cultivator—who turned out to be treacherous and tried to harm the princess. Fortunately, she was able to escape."

"Did he not know of the princess' identity? What nerve," Xiao Nanfeng hissed coldly.

𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Though he had killed Donglin years ago, the thought of Zhang Lingjun almost dying at Donglin's hands still enraged him.

"At the time, the princess was in ignominy due to her mother's suspicions of treason. None took her seriously," the man explained.

"Very well. Let's put Donglin aside for the time being. Tell me more about that hidden realm," Xiao Nanfeng instructed.

Lu Yan had escaped into that realm, and Xiao Nanfeng was still figuring out how to follow him in. Fortunately, the princess had once ventured there.

"That hidden realm is known as the green knoll hidden realm," the man recalled.

"What? The green knoll hidden realm?" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

That was a name intimately familiar to him—it was from that hidden realm that Tu Jiuniang, Tu Feng, and plenty of Shenfeng's officials hailed.

"Precisely." The man nodded.

"As I recall, the green knoll hidden realm is located within the northern quadrant. How could there be an entrance near the Taiqing Immortal Sect?"

"Indeed. I don't know how an entrance came to be located near the Eastern Sea. Perhaps it's due to the unique nature of the hidden realm—just like how the Sieve of Heaven has its four heavenly gates that connect to the four quadrants of the world."

Xiao Nanfeng nodded seriously. He continued to question the man about the green knoll hidden realm.

Unfortunately, the man knew little beyond what he had already revealed. He had been lucky to find a superior yin pearl alongside the princess, but they had been continuously pursued thereafter. He hadn't had time to pick up on much.

"That's sufficient. Thank you for the information."

"Of course, Eastern Aspect Xiao. If there's nothing else, allow me to take my leave now."

"Very well. I'll see you out."

Xiao Nanfeng hummed contemplatively to himself, lost in his thoughts.

Now that he knew about the identity of the realm, he wasn't in a rush at all. He could ask Tu Feng and the followers of the Tu clan about the situation; they surely knew more.

Several days later, in Yu Fuli's study, Yu Fuli smiled at Xiao Nanfeng. "How does it feel to be a Cardinal Aspect?"

"Thank you for the great honor, Your Majesty," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

"Hardly. Ao Canghai was too much of a disappointment to me, after all."

"I'll ensure that the Martial Aspects of the east are properly managed."

Yu Fuli shook his head. "It doesn't much matter. I'll be fighting against the heavens before long. If I win, I'll be restructuring the world, including the Hall of Martial Aspects."

"Before long? How long?"

"A few months at the earliest, a few years at the latest."

"That soon?" Even Xiao Nanfeng was taken aback.

Yu Fuli nodded. "Now that Saint Chi Hai has fallen, the heavens will surely intervene."

Xiao Nanfeng frowned. "Is there anything I can do, Your Majesty?"

Yu Fuli gave him a faint smile. "There's nothing you can help me with. It would be convenient if you could help me find the whereabouts of the primordial altar, but I won't insist on it."

"Can't you summon the primordial altar at will, Your Majesty?"

"I can, but it only affords me a connection with the altar. I can't summon the altar itself."

"Your Majesty, do you intend to perform a grand ritual to exchange for a cursed effigy from the world away?"

"No. I have no such need," Yu Fuli replied.

"Why not? Wouldn't you become immortal that way? Even if you fell in battle against the heavens, you could revive in the future."

Yu Fuli shook his head. "That train of thought is precisely why the hegemons of past eras failed."

"Oh?"

"How can you fight the heavens without the conviction of being invincible? Leaving yourself an escape rope is tacit admission of the possibility of failure. Reaching the level of a primordial requires cultivation of the heart; invincible you must feel, and invincible you will be. Transforming into a cursed effigy as a safeguard—no, that would only create a flaw in your heart. The hegemons of the past failed as a result."

Xiao Nanfeng glanced at Yu Fuli in shock. Was he willing to risk his life just for this invincible heart?

"The heavens reap what the world has wrought every ten thousand years, growing stronger time after time. The hegemons of previous eras missed their opportunity. It's too late for them to start from scratch. Invincibility means never losing; losing once mars your record for good. I intend to nurture a heart of invincibility."

"I understand, Your Majesty," Xiao Nanfeng replied.

Then, he added, "Your Majesty, if the head of Snowborne knows the whereabouts of the primordial altar, why not pursue that lead?"

"The head of Snowborne? Ha! As if he would qualify to know. Ao Canghai was deceived."

Xiao Nanfeng: ...

"For what reason have you come to see me today?" Yu Fuli smiled.

"Your Majesty, I've acquired the third black coffin and the black blood cursed effigy from the other two ancestral zombies. I wanted to see if I would be in danger by merging the coffins and the ancestral zombies together."

Yu Fuli glanced at Xiao Nanfeng. "You really are cautious, aren't you?"

Xiao Nanfeng smiled wryly. "I've suffered quite a few losses, Your Majesty. It's clear I need to be more careful."

Yu Fuli scoffed at Xiao Nanfeng's 'humility'. "You're quite right. If you combine the three coffins and the three ancestral zombies, that hegemon of a previous era would be able to take advantage of the situation to awaken."

Xiao Nanfeng's expression turned serious. "A close call, then."

"Though he missed his chance to take on the heavens, I admire his resolve to oppose them. I won't deal with him on your behalf."

"Just knowing about the situation is good enough. Thank you, Your Majesty."

Yu Fuli nodded. He would treat all who intended to oppose the heavens the same way.

"Your Majesty, I have another question."

"Oh?"

"I'd like to learn more about the green knoll hidden realm."

"The green knoll hidden realm?" Yu Fuli frowned.

"Yes, Your Majesty. There are superior yin pearls within this realm, and the previous Taiqing sect master, Lu Yan, was effortlessly able to escape into it. Though Tu Feng and other subordinates of mine grew up there, they have but a faint impression of the realm and can't describe it well. The green knoll hidden realm is shrouded in mystery. I've made an enemy of the Taiqing guardians, and I wish to understand the realm better so that I may prepare myself."

"And how do you know that I have information for you?" Yu Fuli smiled.

"Such a mysterious realm known across the world—I'm sure your intelligence network is bound to have provided you with some insight, Your Majesty."

Yu Fuli nodded. "Well said. Few besides me know about the history of the green knoll hidden realm in the present day."

"Oh?" Xiao Nanfeng replied curiously.

"The green knoll hidden realm was where the Taiqing, Yuqing, and Shangqing Grandmasters went to seek enlightenment—the three Qings, if you will. It may even be considered a prison of sorts."

"Where the three Qing Grandmasters went to seek enlightenment?!" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

"Indeed. There are plenty of traces of their presence there, and three major entrances excavated by the three grandmasters: one in the north, close to the Shangqing holy land, the main entrance the world knows about today; one in the south, close to the Yuqing holy land; and, I suppose, one by Taiqing Island, where the Taiqing Grandmaster set up his 'farm'."

"I see..."

"The green knoll hidden realm isn't strictly a hidden realm, but rather an illusory realm, one that mirrors the physical world."

"Mirrors the physical world?"

"Are you aware of what an illusory realm is?"

"A mental world of sorts, a world constructed by one's mind."

"And what's a mental world?" Yu Fuli smiled.

Xiao Nanfeng hesitated for a moment.

"It's your heart. Your mental world is the world of your heart. In the end, everything is shaped by the heart."

"My heart?"

"An illusory realm is a world of the heart. Low-grade illusory realms admit only one's mind; mid-grade ones admit one's soul and spiritual treasures; high-grade ones admit even physical bodies and matter, an intersection between the real and the illusory. However, your cultivation is still too weak to detect such principles at play."

"Understood!"

"As for the green knoll hidden realm, the three grandmasters left countless traces of their presence within. It's particularly dangerous. It was where they conducted countless experiments. They had a large group of cultivators study Body of Yin within, and were able to manufacture a large number of superior yin pearls as a result. It was from one of those experiments that they intuited the Taiqing, Yuqing, and Shangqing Yin Body techniques. It was both an illusory realm and a prison, one they controlled. It harbors great danger," Yu Fuli warned.

Xiao Nanfeng grimaced as he nodded. "Thank you for your guidance, Your Majesty."