On the mountain peak towering over eight thousand three hundred zhang, the sky stretched for ten thousand li without a single cloud, an expanse of vast, clear blue.

Yet within that azure firmament, a black scar stretching hundreds of li stood out all the more conspicuously.

It even made the white jade palace suspended above Du Cang Mountain seem all the more insignificant.

Today, Du Cang Mountain was, as always, quiet.

At a side courtyard located on the eastern side of Du Cang Mountain, a door was pulled open from within, and a young man clad in pale gold daoist robes slowly stepped out.

His gaze fell upon the middle-aged man seated at the stone table in the courtyard, dressed in the pure white daoist robe of Kongshan Sect.

One black sword and one white sword stood side by side beside the stone table.

"Long time no see, Elder Li."

The Lingxiao Temple disciple clad in pale gold daoist robes said with a faint smile.

The daoist robes of Lingxiao Temple cultivators used gold and red as their primary colors, with gold representing thunder and red representing fire.

This "young man" dressed in pale gold daoist robes was none other than Bai Jinye, the Thunder Pavilion Elder of the Nine Heavens Platform at Lingxiao Temple.

He was also a Guardian of the Dao on Du Cang Mountain.

"If this Li's memory serves correctly, I believe I came to visit Elder Bai seven days ago."

Li Haowen said flatly.

Upon hearing this, Bai Jinye smiled and shook his head:

"Is that so? To me, seven days feels like seven years."

Each day felt like a year.

For Bai Jinye in his current state, that was indeed the case.

Because he could not cultivate.

Although Bai Jinye had narrowly escaped with his life from that assassination three years ago,

both his Martial Spring and his meridians had suffered severe damage.

After three years of recuperation, his meridians had recovered to the point where there was no longer any major problem.

However, his Martial Spring still could not support him in continuing to cultivate.

From the Martial Spring Realm at the lowest, to the Dao Union Realm at the highest.

Before forging the Immortal Platform atop the Dao Basis, the Martial Spring was the most important foundation for any cultivator.

The Martial Spring was the source that allowed cultivators to continuously produce true qi or spiritual energy.

And the Qi Sea was the "vessel" that contained the true qi or spiritual energy produced by the Martial Spring.

A Grand Elder of Lingxiao Temple had examined Bai Jinye's injuries and concluded that he would need at least another five years of recuperation before he could resume cultivation.

In other words, Bai Jinye's cultivation level would remain stagnant for a full eight years.

Of the so-called Three Heroes of Spirit Connection, only Chu Xiyao remained.

Chu Xiyao and Li Haowen had both already reached the peak of the Spirit Connection Realm, and it was highly likely that they would cultivate their innate true energy and step into the Myriad Transformations Realm within the next two or three months. Yet Bai Jinye was still stuck at the late stage of the Spirit Connection Realm.

As for Qin Qingyu, she had already achieved Myriad Transformations merging into Unity three years ago, becoming a true cultivator of the upper three realms.

At just over fifty years old, the youngest Grand Elder in the history of Star Heaven Sect had already left far behind those cultivators whose names had once been mentioned alongside hers.

And this gap would only continue to widen.

Over the past three years, Li Haowen had frequently come to this side courtyard to visit Bai Jinye.

Because Bai Jinye was one of Li Haowen's few "friends."

Thirty years ago, after the Heavenly Summit Mountain Cataclysm, Wei Mian, the Sword Master Elder of Yuanhua Mountain, was pushed forward as a scapegoat. This also caused Li Haowen to fall from being a celebrated, high-spirited heaven-chosen talent surrounded by thousands, to becoming a rejected, withdrawn stray dog without a home.

If not for the Grand Elder who had been transferred from the Supreme Surveillance Court of Kongshan Sect to Yuanhua Mountain to temporarily assume the position of Sword Master Elder, and who had overridden all dissenting opinions to protect him, whether Li Haowen would be alive or dead today might very well be an unknown.

After the revival of the immortal path, when Patriarch Kong ordered the purging of all petty villains and began clearing away every obstacle to Kongshan Sect's dominance in the northwest region of Chenping Continent, Li Haowen gradually began to be valued once more.

Especially during the Coiling Dragon Sect campaign.

After the final decisive battle, Kongshan Sect slaughtered all the disciples of Coiling Dragon Sect who had already surrendered. This act was indeed rather unseemly.

It was at this moment that the elder in charge of the External Affairs Hall of Yunyin Peak had a flash of inspiration. If they openly stated that Elder Yue Chi had killed the prisoners, it would truly damage Elder Yue's reputation.

But conveniently, Coiling Dragon Sect happened to have a Li Haowen whose reputation was already thoroughly ruined...

Everything fell into place naturally.

From that point onward, Li Haowen, who had already become withdrawn due to the Heavenly Summit Mountain Cataclysm, found himself burdened with the title of "Li Godslayer."

Moreover, Kongshan Sect began deliberately and unintentionally assigning some of the more troublesome dirty work to Li Haowen.

To this day, Li Haowen's hands were indeed stained with blood.

It was not until after the Great Chaos of the Immortals that Realman Du Cang began rebuilding the order of the cultivation world on Chenping Continent, renamed Heavenly Summit Mountain to Du Cang Mountain, and hosted the Du Cang Mountain Dao Discussion.

Li Haowen, having become a Guardian of the Dao on Du Cang Mountain, came to know Bai Jinye, the Thunder Techniques Pavilion Elder of the Nine Heavens Platform at Lingxiao Temple.

This was the second and final confidant Li Haowen had made in his entire life so far.

As for the other confidant, he had already fallen on Heavenly Summit Mountain thirty years ago.

"There's still half a year before the Du Cang Mountain Dao Discussion is held again."

Bai Jinye said.

Unlike the former Chenping Continent Dao Discussion Conference, which was held once every ten years, the current Du Cang Mountain Dao Discussion was held once every five years.

In fact, given the cultivation resources Du Cang Mountain currently possessed, it could even support hosting the Du Cang Mountain Dao Discussion once every year.

But there was simply no need for that.

Because the cultivation world of Chenping Continent did not have that many promising talents.

"Yes."

Li Haowen nodded.

"So, how is it? Do you have any promising juniors in Kongshan Sect that you have your eye on?"

Bai Jinye continued to ask.

"None that I'm familiar with."

Upon hearing this, Li Haowen spoke while gently shaking his head.

"That's true, I suppose."

Hearing this, Bai Jinye simply let out a chuckle, then continued:

"I do have my eye on a junior from Lingxiao Temple. He's the chief disciple of the Nine Heavens Platform who succeeded me. Five years ago, he had just entered the Spirit Connection Realm, so he was hastily eliminated after only two rounds at the Dao Discussion. Though it was deeply regrettable, there was truly nothing to be done...

"During these three years of my injury, I've maintained some correspondence with him from time to time, so I have some understanding of his current situation. This time at the Du Cang Mountain Dao Discussion..."

At this point in his speech, Bai Jinye's voice suddenly came to an abrupt halt.

His gaze landed in the direction of the courtyard gate behind Li Haowen, his eyes filled with astonishment and shock. Then he stumbled to his feet, hastily smoothed out the wrinkles in his daoist robe, and bowed respectfully with clasped hands:

"Your junior, Bai Jinye of Lingxiao Temple, pays respects to Realman Du Cang!"

Upon hearing this, Li Haowen was slightly startled. Although he had not sensed any aura approaching, he quickly rose to his feet and turned around.

There stood a handsome young man in plain white daoist robes, hands clasped behind his back, smiling gently at the two people in the courtyard.

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