“...”

Inside the empty Du Cang Hall, Chen Yan slowly opened his eyes.

Eleven years had passed since the death of True Person Caiyun, Kong Yang.

He had merely thought of some events from the past, recalling how he had visited the Kongshan Sect eleven years ago, when True Person Caiyun, Kong Yang, had fallen.

At that time, Chen Yan had told Yun Yichen, the current Sect Leader of the Kongshan Sect, the truth about his master. His master was, in fact, Yan Yunhe, the first Ascended Steward in the history of the Kongshan Sect, reincarnated.

Through Yun Yichen, he had tried to obtain more valuable information.

However, Chen Yan had still kept some things back.

He had not told Yun Yichen or Lin Qifeng that Ruan Tingzhu’s true identity was not as simple as being merely Yan Yunhe’s reincarnated body.

There was actually an even deeper connection behind Ruan Tingzhu.

Yan Yunhe was none other than a strand of cause and effect left behind in this world by Bai Chen, the Ultimate Sage of Imperial Void.

That was also the true reason Chen Yan cared so much about this matter.

Through his visit to the Kongshan Sect eleven years ago, Chen Yan had gained a fairly detailed understanding of Ruan Tingzhu’s life.

Overall, for a cultivator in the upper three realms, it had been an exceptionally ordinary and uneventful life.

According to Yun Yichen, Ruan Tingzhu had been born in the northwest region of the Chenping Continent.

He had been born in a town belonging to an ordinary secular dynasty, approximately one hundred and seventy thousand li from the Kongshan Sect.

When Ruan Tingzhu was seven years old, the secular dynasty governing that town recognized his talent and sent him to the nearest immortal ferry crossing. He then crossed the distance of one hundred and seventy thousand li aboard a ferry to participate in the Kongshan Sect’s grand ceremony for accepting disciples.

Ruan Tingzhu’s performance at the disciple recruitment ceremony had been outstanding. He subsequently entered Kongyuan Mountain and became an inner disciple of the Kongshan Sect.

Although he had become an inner disciple, during the first several years after joining Kongyuan Mountain, Ruan Tingzhu had remained on the margins.

It was not until the sect competition, held once every five years, arrived in the fourth year after Ruan Tingzhu joined the Kongshan Sect that he began to distinguish himself.

He had taken first place in that sect competition.

That year, Ruan Tingzhu had been eleven years old and was still at the Body Forging Realm.

On the arena platforms for cultivators in the Body Forging Realm, age was a very important factor.

After all, Body Forging Realm cultivators relied more on their physical bodies than on true qi.

In fact, among Body Forging Realm cultivators, not many were capable of truly channeling true qi.

Under such circumstances, the physical strength of Body Forging Realm cultivators could often determine the outcome of a battle.

When facing opponents who appeared to be clearly older than him, Ruan Tingzhu’s situation had actually been quite unfavorable.

Yet he had still taken first place.

Once Ruan Tingzhu entered the field of vision of the elders of Kongyuan Mountain, many of them naturally hoped to take him under their command.

In the end, Ruan Tingzhu became a disciple of the Solemn Martial Elder of Kongyuan Mountain at the time.

At thirteen, he reached Energy Channeling. At seventeen, he reached Martial Spring. At twenty-two, he reached the Martial Spring within his sea of qi.

At thirty-one, he reached Spirit Connection. At fifty-seven, he reached Myriad Transformations. At the age of one hundred and seven, he officially entered the upper three realms.

Such speed was already quite rare on the Chenping Continent, but it still would not attract too much attention.

Which of the upper three realm greats on the Chenping Continent was not a dragon among men?

Before Ruan Tingzhu broke through to the Unity realm, he had successively served in the Kongshan Sect as a Supervisor of the External Affairs Hall, a Protector of the External Affairs Hall, and an elder of the Enforcement Hall.

Furthermore, after breaking through to the Myriad Transformations Realm, he had served as the Upholding Law Elder of Kongyuan Mountain for more than ten years.

The Hall of Prudent Discipline on Kongyuan Mountain had been established entirely by Ruan Tingzhu. It subsequently fell under the control of Yun Yichen, Zhong Yin, and Yue Chi, one after another.

After Ruan Tingzhu broke through to the Unity realm, he first entered the Supreme Imperial Law Court of the Kongshan Sect. After serving as a Grand Elder there for several years, he was sent to Kongyuan Mountain to assume the position of Sect Leader of the Kongshan Sect.

It was also during this period that Ruan Tingzhu accepted Yun Yichen as his disciple.

Afterward, Ruan Tingzhu remained in the position of Sect Leader of the Kongshan Sect for more than a century.

After stepping down, Ruan Tingzhu did not return to the Supreme Imperial Law Court of the Kongshan Sect. Instead, he went to the Supreme Pivot Court of the Kongshan Sect and became one of its Grand Elders.

Everyone knew that Li Haoran, the Supreme Pivot Elder of the Kongshan Sect, had withdrawn from public affairs and lived in seclusion after his Dao Basis was damaged from prying into cause and effect.

A considerable portion of the authority of the Supreme Pivot Court of the Kongshan Sect had fallen into the hands of Huo Mu, the Supreme Imperial Law Elder of the Kongshan Sect.

However, after Ruan Tingzhu entered the Supreme Pivot Court, Huo Mu’s days of controlling the authority of both courts alone seemed to have come to an end.

As Li Haoran’s subordinate, Ruan Tingzhu had achieved considerable success in the Supreme Pivot Court. He had gained enough prestige that even Huo Mu had not dared to act too arrogantly.

And just like that, four hundred years passed.

Ruan Tingzhu’s life also reached its final chapter.

A Unity realm cultivator could easily live for two thousand years. Why, then, had Ruan Tingzhu died at the age of four hundred?

The reason widely circulated within the Kongshan Sect was that, during Ruan Tingzhu’s tenure at the Supreme Pivot Court of the Kongshan Sect, he had personally hunted upper three realm Demonic Beasts several times.

Everyone believed that Ruan Tingzhu had died because those upper three realm Demonic Beasts had injured his origin.

But Chen Yan knew very clearly how Ruan Tingzhu had actually died.

To a certain extent, it could be said that he had “committed suicide.”

Ruan Tingzhu was the reincarnated body of Yan Yunhe, the first Ascended Steward of the Kongshan Sect.

And Yan Yunhe was merely an incarnation of a strand of cause and effect belonging to Bai Chen, the Sage of Imperial Void, who had changed the name of this domain heavens from “Tianji Continent” to “Chenping Continent” countless years ago.

Even now, Chen Yan still did not understand the reason the Ultimate Sage of Imperial Void had chosen to do this.

Was it to complete the closed loop of history, just like the mission he himself had once shouldered?

Perhaps that was possible.

As Chen Yan pondered, his spiritual sense detected a familiar aura approaching Du Cang Hall.

For some reason, however, this aura had become slightly strange.

Chen Yan turned his gaze toward the entrance of Du Cang Hall and looked at the figure of a middle-aged man. He was wearing somewhat disheveled daoist robes from Qingchan Peak, still stained with blood across the chest, and carried one black and one white long sword at his waist.

Then, Realman Lingxuan, Gu Jing, also appeared outside the hall entrance and cast a glance in Chen Yan’s direction.

There seemed to be some doubt mixed into Gu Jing’s gaze.

Chen Yan merely nodded lightly and waved his hand.

Realman Lingxuan then gave a slight bow in Chen Yan’s direction before his figure disappeared.

“We haven’t seen each other for long. How did you manage to turn yourself into this?”

Chen Yan asked.

“Two thousand seven hundred li west of Du Cang Mountain, there is a lake formed after the Great Chaos of the Immortals called South Yu Lake. It has now dried up completely.”

Li Haowen replied,

“And all of this was caused by the collapse of a cavern at the bottom of South Yu Lake.”

“I have no interest in that.”

Chen Yan merely shook his head lightly.

“What I want to know is, why do you have no heartbeat?”

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