Chapter Seven: The Event That Shook the Abyssal Realm

Today marked the eighth day of classes, and Wen Yue went to her lessons as usual. She wasn’t sure if it was just her imagination, but Old Zhao seemed livelier than before. Previously, he only lectured and dutifully answered questions when asked, but rarely said anything beyond that.

After the lesson today, instead of having everyone cultivate as usual, he asked, “You’ve been cultivating for several days now. Have any of you sensed the spiritual energy?”

A couple of students responded, “Yes, we have.” Most remained silent—Wen Yue wasn’t sure how to answer, or rather, she didn’t want to. Some hadn’t sensed anything yet.

“You don’t have to answer aloud. Cultivation is your own journey; there’s no need to share with others,” Old Zhao quickly added.

This was unusual—Old Zhao was normally cautious with his words. Since this topic was off-limits, he moved on to another.

“Wen Yue, I see you listen attentively every day, but you never ask questions. Don’t you have any?”

This puzzled Old Zhao. If she had no questions, why was she so serious about the lessons? And if she did, why never speak up?

Wen Yue had many questions, but even if she asked, Old Zhao might not have the answers. Besides, some questions were taboo. It seemed that in this cultivation world, everyone kept secrets—this was no exaggeration.

Habit from her previous life kicked in: when the teacher asked, she immediately stood and replied, “Teacher Zhao, I definitely have questions, but my level isn’t high enough to even know how to ask. I think your lessons are very good, so I just listen and my questions get answered.”

This was the truth—nothing more, nothing less.

“Alright,” Old Zhao could only accept this answer.

“Teacher Zhao, I really enjoy the stories you tell about the cultivation world.”

Again, this was genuine. Wen Yue had lived in an age of information explosion in her past life. She watched the news daily, and if she didn’t check her phone for a few days, she felt completely out of touch.

Now transported to this cultivation realm, utterly clueless, she felt deeply unsettled and insecure.

“Well, since you like them, and I’m in the mood, I’ll tell you some stories from the ancient times. I don’t know if they’re true, so just take them as stories,” Old Zhao said.

Legend has it that during the golden age of cultivation in ancient times, many ascended to higher realms each year, leaving behind cultivation methods and magical treasures.

…

Wen Yue’s feeling was correct—Old Zhao was indeed more lively today. Why? Because the high-ranking elders of the Heavenly Demon Sect had all left. As for where they went, Wen Yue was completely in the dark; she had no information at all.

Now the entire Linyuan Realm was abuzz. Anyone involved in cultivation, except those isolated like Wen Yue, even commoners knew about it.

Mount Tianluo was emitting five-colored radiant light. Most speculated it was a rare heavenly treasure, but opinions varied wildly on its true nature.

In an obscure marketplace early in the morning, the lower-level cultivators were already busy, their cries filling the streets, but very few shoppers wandered between the stalls.

A young man surveyed the sparse crowd and felt worried—today, like many before, promised little gain.

“Brother, why is the market so empty? Where has everyone gone?” he asked a tall, thin man beside him.

“Don’t you know? Something happened at Mount Tianluo,” the tall man said.

“I know, but did all those Golden Core and Foundation Establishment cultivators really go there? Us Qi Refining practitioners—if we go, can we expect anything more than scraps?” the young man was pessimistic.

The tall man had a different view: “You can’t say that. No one knows exactly what the five-colored light is. How do you know we can’t get a share? Maybe it’s nothing to those Foundation and Golden Core types. Xiao Tian, why don’t we go together?”

“You might be right, but with so many people going, someone like me probably won’t even squeeze in,” the young man still doubted.

“I’m not coming to sell tomorrow anyway. I’ll go check it out. If I get lucky, great! I stayed today to wait for a few clan brothers—more people to watch each other’s backs,” the tall man had made up his mind.

“What luck? All I want is a cultivation method. If I had a fitting one, I’d have already reached Foundation Establishment. With a Golden Spirit root at seventy years old, I’m only at Qi Refining level five in my thirties. I don’t even know if I’ll make Foundation Establishment in this lifetime,” the young man lamented.

An old man near the stall said, “Xiao Tian, go for it! You’re young—you can take the risk. I’m going too.”

Without hesitation, Xiao Tian asked, “Old Bai, what are you going for?”

“They say it’s an ancient tomb. Maybe there’s a life-extending elixir inside. I want to try my luck,” Old Bai replied.

“I heard it’s an unparalleled divine weapon! Such weapons often choose their own masters, so I want to try,” the tall young man said, expressing a different opinion.

“You’re both wrong. The blind man Zhang in the front courtyard says that after the five-colored light, a path to the heavens appears. With this path, one wouldn’t need to cultivate to Divine Transformation to reach the higher realms,” an energetic old lady said.

“Really? Zhang the blind man? He’s quite something—his predictions are always accurate, though there’s always a price. I wonder what the cost will be this time?” At first, the nearly empty street suddenly filled with people at the mention of Zhang’s name.

“His eyes—this time he’s truly blind, so we should all go and see for ourselves,” the old lady said.

“If Zhang says so, we should all go,” another agreed.

“Definitely worth a trip,” came another voice.

Even the young man who had been uninterested earlier wavered. “Brother, why don’t you wait for me tomorrow? I’ll go with you.”

“Little brother, I told you! Take the chance while you’re young; you can’t go wrong,” the tall man said happily.

Many in the marketplace made plans to go together.

Similar scenes unfolded at cultivation gathering spots throughout the Linyuan Realm. The entire realm was stirred by the five-colored light of Mount Tianluo.

Lower-level cultivators like Xiao Tian and Old Bai had no flying devices of their own and couldn’t ride swords, so they had to rent flying vehicles, which were slow.

Those at Foundation Establishment could fly on swords or ride flying devices, and scrambled to reach Mount Tianluo as fast as possible.

Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators had already arrived, divided into opposing camps of righteous and demonic factions, never standing close to one another.

The demonic side was led by Sect Leader Zong Zhengze of the Heavenly Demon Sect, whose stern countenance resembled that of a grandmaster. Behind him stood numerous Golden Core disciples from the Heavenly Demon Sect, Blood Killing Sect, Ghost Spirit Gate, Pleasure Sect, and Rakshasa Gate.

Every time the unshakable Monk Zhiyuan saw this grand entrance, he couldn’t help but twitch at the corner of his eye. Having witnessed it so many times, it still caused him some physical discomfort.