In a secluded garden within the Qiluo Celestial Realm.

Several young girls held up the hems of their skirts as they chased butterflies among the flower beds. In the distance, a few young musicians practiced a piece together.

A window on an upper pavilion was pushed open. Lishang stood before it with a cup of hot tea, quietly admiring the courtyard's elegant view.

As the outside world had grown unstable, the once lively Qiluo Celestial Realm had entered full vigilance. The defensive array around this small courtyard was kept active at all times.

From the pavilion, looking past the outer walls, one could see layers of arrays rising across the island like clusters of colorful mushrooms scattered across this isolated land.

The Qiluo Celestial Realm nurtured its "talent" in this place. It was relatively hidden, and outsiders rarely visited it, making it a suitable place for Lishang to remain in seclusion temporarily. She had been cultivating here for quite some time already.

Unfortunately, Hostess Su had still not managed to find any trace of Wang Sheng.

In truth, that was a good sign. Someone like Hostess Su, who specialized in gathering intelligence and had been doing it for hundreds of thousands of years, could not find even the slightest clue about Wang Sheng. That could only mean he was safe for now.

The Xinghai Sect was also unharmed, and Earth's cultivators, whom he cared about most, continued to grow steadily.

Lishang wished she could go to him at once and have the three great treasures of her race protect him. However, she did not even know where to begin searching for him, much less take that first step.

A white cloud drifted in from the sea to the courtyard, passing through several layers of array light without obstruction.

The moment Lishang saw the figure standing upon the cloud, her spirits lifted. She immediately flew out of the window and stepped onto the cloud to greet her.

"Hostess Su, could it be—"

Hostess Su, dressed lightly and alluring as always, raised a finger to silence her. "Shh."

She took Lishang back into the pavilion and quickly set up more than ten layers of arrays. From within her flowing sleeve, she then took out a jade pendant.

With a light tap of her slender finger, the jade pendant trembled slightly, and a blurry scene appeared on it.

"It's him!" Lishang exclaimed, her eyes fixed on the pendant.

It showed a small, dark room that was meant to conceal the surroundings, preventing powerful beings from deducing his location.

Threads of starlight soon bloomed, within which a man slowly appeared. A sword phantasm emerged before him, which he reached out and grasped. The starlight grew ever brighter, as if a brilliant galaxy had formed within the small space.

His looks, build, and sword technique were more than enough to confirm that it was indeed Wang Sheng.

He did fourteen sword moves. Sword phantasms arranged in the pattern of the Big Dipper's seven stars burst into light. Wang Sheng then sat within the sea of starlight, forming several hand signs unique to the Pure Yang Immortal Mantra.

A faint light, seemingly from a candle, appeared on one side. With his face illuminated, he spoke with a serious expression.

"What is he saying?"

"I do not know," Hostess Su replied with a helpless gesture. "I only just obtained this recording. Great Divine Guardian Wang's forces released it simultaneously across the four great sky regions."

Lishang could not help but smile. Seeing Wang Sheng speak so solemnly while the scene remained completely silent made the scene strangely amusing.

After watching for a while, Hostess Su deduced, "Judging by his lip movements, he seems to be searching for a powerful being related to his cultivation. He wants to establish contact as soon as possible. Moreover... there isn't a way to contact him yet? And he can't disclose his location either due to certain well-known reasons? How exactly is the person he's looking for supposed to find him, then?!"

Hostess Su was momentarily speechless. Lishang, who stood nearby, laughed. This really was something he would do.

"Honestly," Hostess Su said as she sat down and poured herself a cup of tea, holding the porcelain cup with quiet elegance, "Fei Yu handles things just like his forefather; they're equally unreliable."

Lishang shook her head slightly. "He has already explained how to make contact with him."

"Oh?" Hostess Su smiled. "Sister Li, have you figured something out? Tell me quickly. I am not good at thinking through these things." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"He is forcing the person he seeks to reveal themselves. Great Divine Guardian Wang Shan, who excels in the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, can then go and receive them. That would keep him hidden."

Hostess Su blinked, then covered her mouth as she laughed softly. "That does make sense."

Lishang stood and paced back and forth.

She usually charged into battle the moment a disagreement arose, her divine ability making her glow golden. Yet now, because of Wang Sheng, she found herself considering things repeatedly.

Right now, she only had two thoughts in mind.

"Who is he trying to find? How can we help him?" she asked.

Hostess Su said gently, "Do not worry. I will have trusted subordinates spread this recording. The endless space may be vast, but countless people are monitoring this matter. It will spread quickly. However, what comes next is beyond our control. Though the Qiluo Celestial Realm has influence across the Three Realms, it focuses on gathering information, not raising armies."

Lishang nodded softly. She understood that quite well. "Please inform me as soon as there is any news about him. I would like to cultivate here for a while longer."

"You are too polite." Hostess Su laughed lightly. "Stay here as long as you wish. The moment I receive any news, I will come and tell you."

Hostess Su seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if she wanted to say something more. However, she kept quiet in the end. After a short while, she took her leave.

In truth, she had long wanted to ask about how Zhi Bing was related to Wang Sheng. However, she had been constantly on the move and never found the right moment or setting to bring it up.

As long as Lishang held on to her deep karmic ties with Wang Sheng, Hostess Su didn't have to worry about not seeing him again in the future anyway.

***

Half a year after Wang Sheng released the recording.

In a somewhat remote mountain range within the Immortal Saint Realm, four celestial gates crowded together among the peaks.

Though they were all quite small, establishing a sect in the Immortal Saint Realm, a place where every inch of land and primal qi was precious, required at least two or three Golden Immortals to hold the fort. Otherwise, they simply would not be able to hold their ground.

Humans, immortals, devils, fiends, spirits, and all manner of beings now inhabited the Immortal Saint Realm.

The order of the Three Realms had shattered after the fall of the Heavenly Palace. The Immortal Saint Realm, the origin of the Immortal Dao, had also been divided among various factions. Moreover, with the destruction of the Lingxiao Temple, the coalition of the Heavenly Court's enemies broke apart.

The reason so many former immortals and gods of the Heavenly Court managed to escape was directly tied to the resulting chaos. The scattered groups fought madly over treasures everywhere.

After the Heavenly Palace fell, all sides clashed fiercely over lands and precious treasures, causing the Immortal Saint Realm to bleed endlessly for tens of thousands of years. That chaos shaped the current state of the Immortal Saint Realm.

Within the narrow gaps between the defensive arrays of these celestial gates was a small temple, perched quietly atop an unremarkable hill. Each day, chants echoed from within. An old, a young, and a small monk lived there.

Cultivators who trained nearby often saw the small monk going down the hill to fetch water. They also occasionally saw the old monk riding the clouds to leave. However, no one had ever seen the young monk step outside the temple grounds.

In the Immortal Saint Realm, places like this, where nothing could be clearly understood, were the ones people dared not provoke. It could well be the secluded dwelling of some great being from the Primal Era, after all.

The nearby celestial gates had an unspoken rule. From the moment disciples entered the sect, their seniors would warn them that the small temple on the hill should never be approached.

Some disciples could not resist extending their immortal perception, but all they saw was a blank white haze, preventing them from seeing anything within.

Anyone who stayed near it for a single day would surely notice many strange things. For one, there was not a single Buddha statue in the temple. When scriptures were chanted, the small monk and the old monk simply sat facing each other as they recited.

Another example was the young monk, who had not shaved his head or taken vows. His small room was filled with handwritten scriptures. Every few months, he would burn them all, then write them again from the start.

There was also the small monk, whose forehead often emitted a golden glow. At times after chanting, a Radiant Nine-Colored Wheel would appear behind him, a phenomenon said to manifest only in true Buddhas of ancient times.

On this day, the young monk walked out of his room in monk's robes, carrying stacks of freshly written scriptures. However, he did not burn them this time. He instead brought them into the main hall, which required several trips. The scriptures filled nearly half the space.

The small monk and the old monk just kept chanting. Once they were done, they turned to the young monk.

"I am leaving." The young monk smiled as he patted the pile of scriptures beside him. "Consider this my payment for staying here. We owe each other nothing now."

The small monk smiled and nodded, his delicate features filled with warmth. However, he did not speak.

The old monk frowned slightly. "The outside world is in turmoil. The eastern star remains veiled in dust. This is not the time for you to leave the mountain."

The young monk shook his head. "I cannot wait any longer. The heavenly secrets are unsettled, and the Heaven-Scouring Grand Array has disturbed the Eastern Star Region’s fate. It has even shaken part of Nuwa's arrangement. Besides, His Imperial Majesty has chosen the kid as his successor. I should go."

The old monk sighed. "The road ahead will surely be dangerous."

The young monk smiled faintly. "In all of my years cultivating, the days I spent under the same roof with you two have been the most peaceful."

The old monk shook his head. Gently, he said, "In the west is a Star Emperor, in the east a Star Deity. Why do you turn from the west to attend to the east?"

The young monk raised an eyebrow. "You two have already chosen to go west? That one is formidable as well, but something about him feels off."

"No. This time, we've chosen neither." The old monk sighed softly. "Chaos has its fortune; order has its suffering. All of it is nothing but an illusion."

The small monk slowly said, "Go."

The young monk stopped smiling and grew solemn. He gave the small monk a respectful Daoist salute. Afterward, he removed his robe, changed into a gray cloth gown, and then carefully folded the robe.

"I, your disciple, will take my leave, then. Thank you for taking care of me all this time."

The old monk rose and returned the salute, while the small monk just remained unmovingly seated.

The old monk formed a Buddhist sign with his wrinkled hands as he said, "I will escort you part of the way."

A faint projection of a temple filled with incense appeared behind the young monk. Within it, a group of monks chanted in unison.

"Thank you. This saves me quite a bit of trouble."

The young monk smiled, then glanced at the gentle-faced small monk once more. Finally, he turned and entered the projection.

It was as if he had stepped into a painting. His physique wavered slightly, then vanished together with the projection.

In the next instant, within a temple suffused with Buddhist light in the Northern Sky Region, a man leaped out of a great golden Buddha statue, startling the monks who were in the middle of chanting.