Mirage Palace.
This most ancient cultivation sect on Chenping Continent was located in the southwest corner of the Western Region.
Beyond the vast outer palace grounds, the true core of this ancient sect—the Six Towers of Mirage Palace—were scattered along the terrain of Mirror Moon Cliff, forming six major building complexes.
They were Mirror Ruins Tower, Return-Into-Emptiness Pavilion, Illusion Time Tower, Time-Stealing Tower, Ten Directions Tower, and the Weaving Dreams Tower that towered above all five.
The Six Towers of Mirage Palace varied in shape and form. The shortest among them, Time-Stealing Tower, still reached over two hundred zhang in height. From afar, it resembled a massive, thick ruler, firmly anchoring itself to the mountainside.
The tallest, Ten Directions Tower, stood four hundred zhang high, its entire body a dark, verdant gray, like a sky-piercing stele overlooking all living beings.
And at the true pinnacle of Mirror Moon Cliff stood Mirage Palace’s ultimate symbol of power—
The Mirage Pavilion.
The Four Supreme Courts, the supreme authority of Mirage Palace, were all housed within this ancient pavilion atop the cloud-wreathed cliff.
Observation Sea Terrace was situated at the very peak of the Mirage Pavilion.
From here, one could gaze upon a thousand li of rolling clouds and ten thousand li of azure sea.
An old man, clad in deep green daoist robes, with an extremely mysterious aura swirling around him and three thousand strands of white hair cascading down his back, slowly opened his eyes.
The flowing clouds around him, the surging waves below the cliff, and even the gentle breeze brushing past the pavilion’s peak all abruptly froze for an instant.
It was no illusion—the flow of time around the Mirage Pavilion had indeed halted briefly before resuming, catching up to the ceaseless currents of the outside world.
Shang Ao, the master of Mirage Palace’s Supreme Imperial Law Court.
The technique of time stasis was Shang Ao’s natal divine ability.
Though it could only halt time for at most a tenth of a breath, that was more than enough for Shang Ao to calmly execute any illusion technique he had mastered.
Between the shifts of speed and slowness, even if an enemy was on full guard, they could hardly avoid losing their composure in that gap of temporal dislocation, giving Shang Ao the opening he needed.
It could be said that the current Shang Ao was unquestionably the strongest below the Dao Union Realm.
Just moments ago, Supreme Imperial Law Elder Shang had received an urgent message from Yang Fan of the Supreme Surveillance Court.
In fact, even without the communication, Shang Ao had sensed several unusual yet familiar fluctuations moments earlier.
These fluctuations were exactly the same as those carried by the Abyssal Tower and the Thousand Clouds Blade—
The lingering resonance of the immortal path.
This meant that from several thousand li away from Mirage Palace, immortal artifacts had appeared.
Not just one, but three.
The immortal artifacts known to the public on Chenping Continent numbered no more than the fingers on a hand.
Mirage Palace possessed two.
Lingxiao Temple, Star Heaven Sect, and Wind Ravine Valley—each of these three great sects held one.
Could it be that the other great sects of Chenping Continent had brought their immortal artifacts to attack Mirage Palace?
No, that was absolutely impossible.
The balance among the Five Great Sects of Chenping Continent had persisted ever since the fall of Heavenly Summit Mountain.
Given the current stable environment of the cultivation world, no one would want to break that balance.
So where did these three immortal artifacts come from?
Could it be... "that one"?
Unlikely. No more than ten people on Chenping Continent knew that "that one" was still alive.
In Mirage Palace, only he and Du Sui, the Supreme Pivot Elder and a mid-stage Dao Union Realm great power, were aware.
No one knew just how deep "that one’s" reserves ran, after all, Immortal Venerable, that old man, was an existence beyond Ascending to Immortality.
It was entirely possible that "that one" carried three immortal artifacts.
But "that one" had always acted with extreme discretion, hiding their identity and fearing that the world would learn of their existence, as if planning something monumental.
If it hadn’t been for some days ago, when "that one" personally visited Mirage Palace to borrow a fragment of the Heavenly Summit Mirror from him and Supreme Pivot Elder Du, Shang Ao would never have imagined that the Immortal Venerable, who had roamed heaven and earth since the age of Heavenly Summit Mountain, was still alive today.
Yet since "that one" was currently so low-key, why would they flaunt immortal artifacts so ostentatiously and invite trouble?
If it wasn’t the other great sects, and it wasn’t "that one," then who could it be?
Whatever had happened, he had to go to the scene and investigate.
The Supreme Imperial Law Elder, seated atop the Mirage Pavilion, saw the space around him begin to warp, reality and illusion intertwining.
Then, in an instant, Supreme Imperial Law Elder Shang’s figure vanished from Observation Sea Terrace.
The surrounding clouds froze again for a moment before suddenly resuming, racing to catch up with the flow of time outside.
...
Chen Yan wasn’t gambling.
As long as he could manifest immortal artifacts out of thin air, the two Divine Ability Realm grand elders of Mirage Palace floating in the air would naturally give up the idea of fighting him.
As for why Grand Elder Jing had dared to take the risk, it was because he had only one path left.
Accepting the negotiation terms meant exposing himself voluntarily.
Possession was an absolute taboo of Mirage Palace. If he were exposed, his only fate would be execution by the Supreme Imperial Law Court.
Only by fighting to the death could there be a glimmer of hope for survival.
After Yang Fan infused his spiritual energy into the communication jade talisman and shattered it, only two breaths had passed.
Chen Yan’s expression instantly turned serious.
Because he had just sensed that the flow of time around him seemed to slow for a moment, then suddenly accelerate.
"Looking for me?"
An imposing, resonant old man’s voice came from all directions in the air, making it impossible to pinpoint his exact location.
"Supreme Imperial Law Elder Shang."
Since he couldn’t determine the opponent’s position, Chen Yan stopped searching and simply looked straight ahead as if nothing had happened.
Holding the rusted iron ancient lamp in his hand, with two immortal artifacts swirling beside him, Chen Yan slowly spoke:
"This little one beside me says that in all of Mirage Palace, she only trusts you."
Then Chen Yan paused briefly, a smile spreading across his face:
"So I will only negotiate with you."
Immediately after, the space about seven or eight zhang in front of Chen Yan began to ripple. Countless phantom images flickered, finally coalescing into a white-haired old man clad in deep green daoist robes, with a pitch-black token hanging from his waist engraved with the words: "Mirage Palace Imperial Law, Supreme Authority."
Shang Ao.
This Supreme Imperial Law Elder of Mirage Palace first fixed his gaze on the "young man" before him who had just spoken to him, the lingering resonance of the immortal path swirling around him.
He couldn’t see through this "young man’s" cultivation.
But this peak Divine Ability Realm grand elder remained completely composed.
Or rather, ever since Shang Ao had learned some days ago that Immortal Venerable Fusheng was still alive, even if he were to learn that the few Ascending to Immortality great powers whom the world had long believed dead were still living, he wouldn’t be the least bit surprised.
Then Shang Ao shifted his gaze to the gray-clad young woman behind Chen Yan.
Of course, he recognized this proud disciple he had personally taught, now the chief disciple of Weaving Dreams Tower, Zhou Jinyun.
But currently, in all of Mirage Palace, only four people knew of her existence.
