The spiritual perception of an Immortal Ascension cultivator was incredibly powerful.

It could be said that any trace of activity happening around Du Cang Mountain at this moment would absolutely not escape Chen Yan's spiritual sense.

The middle-aged man currently standing before Du Cang Hall was undoubtedly Li Haowen.

And yet, there was no heartbeat, and no breathing.

It was as if he were a dead man.

Chen Yan simply gazed at Li Haowen standing before the hall entrance, and suddenly, it seemed as though something had come to mind-

He remembered that when he had returned to eight thousand years ago, the world he had experienced when the Heavenly Summit Mirror had sent him to the Tianji Continent of countless ages past.

At the final doomsday of the Tianji Continent, the Ultimate Sage of Imperial Void, Bai Chen, had appeared before him, and just as Chen Yan's consciousness was about to dissipate, right before his complete death, the Sage of Imperial Void had spoken three words-

Death Not Permitted.

The Li Haowen before him now looked exactly the same as Chen Yan's own state back then.

In other words...

"True Person, I encountered a person within the cavern at the bottom of the lake, and he had a matter he wished for me to relay to you."

Li Haowen said.

"Who?"

Chen Yan asked.

"The Sage of Imperial Void, Bai Chen. That is what he called himself."

Li Haowen said.

Upon hearing this, a trace of extremely subtle dark light flickered deep within Chen Yan's eyes.

It was exactly as Chen Yan had speculated before.

If the Sage of Imperial Void, Bai Chen, could use his karmic threads to "incarnate" as Yan Yunhe and move about in this world, then there was no way he lacked other means to leave traces in the current world.

It was precisely for this reason that eleven years ago, when True Person Caiyun, Kong Yang, had fallen, Chen Yan had traveled to the Kongshan Sect to pay his respects to his old friend, and at the same time, had inquired of Yun Yichen, the disciple of Ruan Tingzhu, who was the reincarnated body of Yan Yunhe back then, about past matters concerning Ruan Tingzhu, hoping to catch some traces.

He never expected that it would come about in this way...

"What does Sage Bai wish for you to relay to me?"

Chen Yan asked.

"He hopes that you, True Person, will go see him in person."

Li Haowen answered.

......

Du Cang Mountain, Imperial Immortal Platform.

Hundreds of cultivators dressed in various daoist robes were all gathered on the Imperial Immortal Platform, silently watching the dozen or so "corpses" lying at the very center of the platform, covered with white cloth.

Were these truly the cultivators who had tragically met their end after venturing into the cavern at the bottom of South Yu Lake?

Some couldn't help but wonder this in their hearts.

Because in their eyes, even though most of the corpses were completely concealed beneath white cloth, judging from the contours outlined by the cloth, it was hard to say that these "corpses" currently lying on the Imperial Immortal Platform bore any resemblance to "people" at all.

Among these dozen or so corpses, only one appeared to be relatively intact-

That was the corpse of Bai Jinye, the Offering Elder of Nine Heavens Platform of the Lingxiao Temple, renowned as one of the Three Heroes of Du Cang Mountain.

It was said that Bai Jinye's remains had been carried up from the cavern at the bottom of South Yu Lake by Li Haowen himself.

Li Haowen was the only survivor of this expedition to the cavern at the bottom of South Yu Lake, aside from those two Qi Sea Realm cultivators from the Mirage Palace who had been left at the mouth of the cavern and had not gone down.

The one who survived just happened to be Li Haowen.

This caused the cultivators currently gathered on the Imperial Immortal Platform to begin whispering among themselves:

"What a pity, Senior Bai."

"Who's to say otherwise?"

"I recall that a few years ago, Senior Bai had been attacked by villains. He barely managed to survive by luck, but his Martial Spring had suffered quite severe damage, and it was only in recent years that he finally recovered his vitality."

"Who's to say otherwise? Just when everything seemed to be getting better, something like this happens again. Now, of the Three Heroes of Spirit Connection on Du Cang Mountain, only Chu Xiyao remains... Sigh!"

On the Imperial Immortal Platform, a cultivator lamented so.

"But Li Haowen survived. Don't you all find that strange?"

"What's strange about it?"

"No, it's not that Li Haowen survived, it should be said that he was the only one who survived. I'm wondering, could there be something wrong with him?"

Among those few who were discussing, there was a brief moment of silence, and it was only after a while that someone finally continued:

"You mean to say, the deaths of these people might have been caused by Li Haowen?"

"Who can guarantee that's not a possibility?"

One of the cultivators said, and the cultivators beside him all chimed in agreement.

The Three Heroes of Spirit Connection of Du Cang Mountain were famous far and wide. Senior Bai had been unable to cultivate due to his injuries, which was why Li Haowen had managed to surpass him in cultivation realm. Had Senior Bai been given a bit more time, he surely would have overtaken Li Haowen once again.

Moreover-

"With a despicable petty person like Li Haowen, what wouldn't he do?"

"Well said."

"He's nothing but a stray dog without a home. Truly a petty person who gets carried away too easily."

"Sigh, Li Dog."

The voices of these people discussing were completely heard by a young woman standing nearby, dressed in the daoist robes of the Xuan Sheng Sect, with a green long sword at her waist.

He Qingling.

Now, He Qingling's cultivation had also already broken through to the early stage of the Myriad Transformations Realm, and from her outward appearance alone, she still looked like a young girl.

When she heard the content of what the cultivators beside her were muttering about, He Qingling immediately found it somewhat hard to tolerate.

She first tightly clenched her fist, then took a few steps closer to those cultivators.

Those few cultivators who were discussing suddenly felt a chill at their side, as a pressure that was not fierce, yet exceptionally heavy and condensed, descended silently.

It caused the circulation of true qi within the meridians of these cultivators to become quite sluggish.

Those cultivators all turned their heads toward the direction from which the pressure emanated, and saw a young woman in the daoist robes of the Xuan Sheng Sect standing a few steps away, her features fair and delicate, yet a thin layer of frost condensed between her brows and eyes.

"Fellow Daoists."

He Qingling slowly spoke:

"The deceased's bodies are not yet cold, and Li Haowen is also currently one of the Guardians of the Dao of our Du Cang Mountain. To make reckless speculations, spread rumors as truth, and even speak malicious words, wouldn't that be rather inappropriate?"

"He, He, Senior He!"

One of the cultivators hastily bowed respectfully in He Qingling's direction:

"It's not reckless speculation, it's because Li... Senior Li's personality truly makes it easy for him to do such things."

This cultivator had almost directly blurted out "Li Dog" just now.

He Qingling's gaze turned even colder by several degrees.

Although she appeared to be nothing more than a young maiden in her prime from the outside, He Qingling's current cultivation realm was genuinely at the early stage of the Myriad Transformations Realm.

Among the few cultivators who had just been whispering, the highest cultivation among them was only at the peak of the Martial Spring Realm.

Thus, being stared down by He Qingling like this, they didn't even dare to breathe heavily.

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