Chapter 267: The Emperor’s Peak and the Firming of a Dao Heart

When Sect Master Huanglong saw that it was Elder Yu who had returned, his brow furrowed. He thought to himself, ‘For Elder Yu to return in such a hurry, even using a Sword-Riding Order to see me, could it be that there was a problem in the battle with the rogue cultivators? That group is just a disorderly mob; what kind of trouble could they stir up? Could it be that even with Elder Yu’s ability, he couldn’t suppress them?’

He asked with a puzzled expression, “Elder Yu, what has happened?”

Seeing the Sect Master, Elder Yu hurriedly bowed. “Reporting to the Sect Master, our sect’s disciple, Qin Haoxuan, discovered a formation in a prefect’s yamen that can open a spatial passage to the Netherworld, and it was set up by rogue cultivators.”

“Qin Haoxuan?” Huanglong’s brow furrowed slightly at the name. As the Sect Master, he theoretically shouldn’t have heard the name of a weak seed disciple for years, yet he had heard this name more than once.

On a personal level, he did not particularly like him. Because of his relationship, Xu Yu would not give the Qi-Circulating Pills to Zhang Kuang, and the relationship between the Purple Seeds was not very good. But, from his position as Sect Master, he did not dislike him, because every disciple of the Taichu Sect was his child.

The thought of Qin Haoxuan flashed through his mind and was gone, because the matter of the Netherworld left a far deeper impression on him. The normally calm and steady Sect Master suddenly shot to his feet and asked, “A formation that can open a spatial passage to the Netherworld?”

“Yes, and it is a two-way passage, just like the one at the Netherworld Demon Abyss.”

Hearing his latter sentence, even the Sect Master, whose expression would not change even if the sky were to fall, was horrified. “Just like the Netherworld Demon Abyss?”

Elder Yu swallowed with difficulty, his face pale as he nodded. “Yes.”

A one-way spatial rift was something that even many ordinary disciples of the Taichu Sect could create, but these rifts could only be entered from the Netherworld, and they were all very small, only allowing the lowest-level demons, even Nether-Creatures that had not yet formed a demonic body, to pass through.

They would also automatically disappear after a certain period of time. But a two-way passage was different. It was like the Netherworld Demon Abyss; it required cultivators to repair it. If it was not repaired, it would exist forever.

‘A two-way passage to the Netherworld, set up by rogue cultivators…’ Many thoughts flashed through Huanglong’s mind. He instantly understood the purpose of the rogue cultivators in starting this war. He said in a deep voice, “Immediately summon the masters of the five great halls, and the elders of the Elder’s Council.”

As the Sect Master of the Taichu Sect, he knew better than anyone how terrifying the Netherworld Demon Abyss was. Back when he had been just a disciple, although he had been a dazzling talent, no one had thought he would become the Sect Master, because at that time, the sect had an even more astonishing disciple, his senior brother, Long Yixuan.

Even now, he still remembered how his senior brother had always worn a white robe, his sword-like eyebrows reaching his temples, handsome and dashing, a flying sword slung diagonally across his back. He had seen him practice.

When the flying sword was unsheathed, its qi covered the heavens and the earth, its light like a silver river that could tear through space and time at any moment. He and his sword were one, sharp and unstoppable.

When he had still been stuck at the Forty-Ninth-Leaf of the Spirit Sprout Realm, his senior brother had already reached the Spirit Tree Realm. He was not only the leader of the younger generation but was also an unparalleled figure compared to the disciples of other sects. Some even said he was the one who truly had a hope of becoming an immortal.

But such a perfect being, one who was destined to take the Sect Master’s throne without any opposition and could have led the Taichu Sect to an even more glorious future, had died in the Netherworld Demon Abyss. Along with him had died the Sect Master at the time, who had already reached the Dao Fruit Realm, his own Master. At the same time, his own cultivation partner had also been forever left behind in that abyss.

Not one in ten had survived that battle. Only four people had returned alive. He was one, and Elder Yu was another. With both the Sect Master and Long Yixuan fallen, he had taken over the position of Sect Master.

In the dead of night, he would still dream of his extremely kind Master, his caring Senior Brother, and his deeply beloved cultivation partner, as well as the many other disciples who had lost their lives there. Every time he thought of them, his heart felt as if it were being twisted by a knife.

Originally, he had had a lively personality. But after returning from the abyss, having experienced so much life and death, he, who had seen through it all, had undergone a great change in temperament. His original liveliness had turned into a mature and steady demeanor, as if he had become a different person.

Elder Yu bowed slightly. “Sect Master, shall I summon Qin Haoxuan to come in and explain clearly?”

“Let him in,” Huanglong said, jolted from his memories. At this moment, his face, which normally would not change even if the heavens fell, was a mixture of terror and rage. If what Elder Yu had said was true, then these rogue cultivators were far too audacious.

With Huanglong’s permission, the attendant, who had always been his trusted confidant, walked out of the main hall and invited Qin Haoxuan, who was waiting at the bottom of the ninety-nine white jade steps, to enter.

The Taichu Grand Hall, standing atop the white jade steps, was magnificent and majestic, faintly exuding the aura of an orthodox Daoist sect.

The sky above the hall was like a mirror. Standing before it, anyone would feel as insignificant as an ant.

Even Qin Haoxuan, who had entered the desolate and terrifying Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley and had experienced hundreds of deaths in the sea of consciousness, couldn’t help but feel an impulse to prostrate himself in worship.

When he stepped onto the first white jade step, the main door of the hall boomed open, and a vast, ancient immortal righteous qi washed over him, so thick that it pushed him back two steps before he could steady himself.

The hall was silent, but when the door opened, he faintly heard the sound of bells and drums, and immortal music playing. With every step he took up the ninety-nine steps, the pressure that washed over him grew stronger and stronger.

He was certain that if he were to release the two fierce ghosts sealed in his arms here, they, who were at the Twenty-Fifth-Leaf of the Spirit Sprout Realm, would be instantly crushed to dust by the vast and righteous qi. This was the accumulated might of a thousand-year-old great sect.

When he reached the top, he looked up at the towering, majestic Taichu Grand Hall, and his heart was filled with an incomparable shock. Was this really a man-made building?

In his eyes, the open doors of the hall radiated a righteous and awe-inspiring pressure. To say it was a majestic building was less accurate than to say it was a building-type magical artifact.

No wonder Xing had told him that the Grand Hall was the core of the sect’s great mountain array, and more like a powerful artifact. With his demonic power, the moment he walked up to it, he would be dispersed by its righteous qi. He still remembered the look of terror in Xing’s eyes when he had said that.

He had had his doubts before, but now he no longer did.

The Taichu Grand Hall was majestic and grand, but in his eyes, it was more like the open mouth of an ancient giant beast. Fortunately, his Dao Heart was firm, and this illusion quickly returned to normal, but his back was already drenched in cold sweat.

He stepped over the threshold and his gaze swept over the murals and the giant pillars, feeling its ancient vicissitudes and the pressure it brought upon him, as well as the extremely high concentration of spiritual energy within.

All of this made him secretly dumbfounded. The pressure the Grand Hall alone brought upon him was even greater than that of the Spirit Tree Realm’s Master Chi Lian.

But at this moment, he had no time to care about anything else. The Sect Master was sitting on the throne, majestic and tall, his treasured appearance dignified and solemn. A rainbow-like aura emanated from him. In Qin Haoxuan’s eyes, he was a high mountain, making one look up in admiration.

“Disciple Qin Haoxuan pays his respects to the Sect Master,” he said, performing a grand salute, kneeling and prostrating himself on the ground.

When Huanglong saw him, a complex look flashed through his eyes, but his expression was calm. He sent out a strand of spiritual energy and lifted him up. “Tell me what you saw.”

“Yes!” After receiving the order, he once again recounted what he had seen and heard in the prefect’s secret room without any impatience, and he roughly described the appearance of the formation, at the same time insisting that it was an array that could open a two-way spatial passage to the Netherworld.

After hearing his account and his description of the formation, Huanglong’s brow furrowed tightly. He had originally been somewhat suspicious, but now he was certain that the array diagram was indeed a formation that could open a two-way passage.

As for whether this formation was fabricated by Qin Haoxuan, he was not worried. This kind of formation was quite rare; even he had never seen one. If one had not seen it with their own eyes, and had some attainment in the art of arrays, it would not be easy to even describe it in appropriate language, let alone as vividly as he had.