After leaving the remains and bidding farewell to Cao Jie, Yan Zhaoge and the others descended Golden Court Mountain before heading west, returning to the Broad Creed Mountain Range of the central plains.
Entering the Broad Creed Mountain Range, passing by a place, Yan Zhaoge’s group all slowed somewhat.
Between the mountains, the clouds and mist lingered, and the accumulated snow did not disperse all year round, as if it was winter.
The thick fog seemed to have solidified, causing the precipitous mountain peak to look like it was frozen in a layer of ice.
Gazing over there, Yan Zhaoge sighed softly.
The Jade Sky Peak, where the Exalted Water Luminary, Chen Xuanzong’s lineage, was located.
In the past, after Chen Xuanzong went missing in the World beyond Worlds, Female Emperor Jie Mingkong took over. After that, Jie Mingkong left the World beyond Worlds, and Chen Xuanzong returned to the human world. After the World beyond Worlds was separated, the Jade Sky Peak, Jade Capital Crag, Ingenious Flying Peak, and other places entered the Pill Hall. In the end, it became a part of the Broad Creed Mountain Range of the Sky beyond Skies.
Today, there were still some disciples of the Cold Wave Monastery living there.
Within the ice cave beneath the Jade Sky Peak, Chen Xuanzong and his two disciples, who were sealed in ice, were buried within. No one knew when they would be able to see the light of day again.
Whenever Yan Zhaoge thought of the lineage of Jade Sky Peak’s Cold Tide Locale, he would also feel rather frustrated.
His grandfather, Yan Xintang, was a close friend of Chen Xuanzong. For the sake of his old friend, Chen Xuanzong did not hesitate to help the Broad Creed Mountain.
It was a pity that the battle with the Water Demon ended like this.
Although there was still hope, no one knew when they would be liberated.
“Back then, Astro Sovereign was only one step away from the Five Qis Collecting Qi.”
Brocade Emperor Fu Yunchi sighed, “If Fellow Daoist Jie can untie the knot in his heart, I’m afraid that he will also have a great chance of passing the Pure Profound Tribulation.”
Yan Zhaoge nodded silently, “Senior Chen once said that if there is no devilish worry, there is hope for him to pass the Profound Origin Tribulation within a hundred years.”
Xue Fei, Gao Xuebo, Wang Pu, and the others also felt it was a pity.
When one cultivated to the Immortal Realm, every increase in cultivation realm was like crossing a natural chasm, and there was a decisive gap between them.
Correspondingly, the time, experience, and resources needed to cross the natural chasm were also greater.
After close to fifty years had passed, the Sky beyond Heavens had gained three True Immortals and many high-level Martial Saints. The number of Human Exalts had almost recovered to the peak of the World beyond Worlds in the past, while the number of Ninth Level Martial Saints was even more than the World beyond Worlds in the past.
Other than the Broad Creed Mountain, the Golden Court Mountain, the Wutong Slope, and the other traditional powerhouses, the other forces of the Sky beyond Skies had also benefited from the development and changes of the past few years. Experts had continuously broken through their bottlenecks and rose to prominence along with the entire Sky beyond Skies.
The further they looked into the future, the more solid the foundation of the Realm Beyond Avalon became. As time passed, the number of powerhouses would increase, and the speed at which they emerged would also increase.
The same situation was happening in the Roving Jade Heavens. The number of Martial Sages and even high-level Martial Sages had increased significantly.
The people of the Jade Spring World moved to the Awakened Sky Cosmos. With the help of Daoism’s Grand Heavenly Realm experts, they successfully established a new world and settled down in it. It was called the Jade Spring Heaven.
Now, the Jade Spring Heaven was also bustling with activity. It was far from being at the end of the road like in the past, where it was restless and uneasy.
This time, when Cao Jie ascended to immortality, there were also fellow Daoists from the Jade Fountain Heaven who came to congratulate him.
However, be it the Roving Jade Heavens or the Jade Spring Heaven, the situation was similar to the Realm Beyond Avalon. There weren’t many new Immortal Realm experts emerging.
These two inheritances mainly focused on sword cultivation, and it wasn’t easy for them to make breakthroughs. Over the years, they each produced a True Immortal.
The Jade Spring Heaven originally had a True Immortal called Daoist Fen Yu. He was an experienced True Immortal and had long achieved the Leakless Realm. Back in the Jade Spring World, he was just a step away from challenging the Pure Profound Tribulation. Unfortunately, he was trapped in the Jade Spring World and couldn’t leave. He lacked opportunities and could only hesitate.
After the Jade Spring World was unsealed, Daoist Fen Yu traveled through the void’s boundless outskirts in search of some treasures. He then returned to the Awakened Sky Cosmos’ Jade Spring Heaven and successfully passed the Pure Profound Tribulation. The Jade Spring Heaven gained a new Tranquil Profound Immortal.
In recent years, there were rumors in the Roving Jade Heavens that a Human Exalt was in seclusion and was challenging the Immortal Mortal Tribulation. He had a high chance of succeeding and was only slightly slower than Cao Jie.
However, other than them, there weren’t any major changes among the Immortal Realm experts.
In the Jade Spring Heaven, Tong Xinlin, Guang Tongzi, and the others were still quietly cultivating.
In the Roving Jade Heavens, Long Xingquan and Daoist Cloud Conquest were both at the Profound Immortal Pinnacle Realm.
Both of them were geniuses. However, it was difficult for sword cultivators to improve. Although they had nurtured their swords in the past, they were still far away from the Virtual Immortal Realm of Five Qis Unification.
At this moment, it wasn’t something that could be created by martial arts, treasures, or pills. Instead, it depended on one’s enlightenment and opportunities.
Perhaps one could achieve it anytime, or it might take a long time.
As for the Roving Jade Heavens’ True Immortal experts, Long Xueji, Gao Xuebo, the Tranquil Emperor, and the Liberal Emperor, they had yet to see through the Pure Profound Tribulation. They still needed more training.
In the Sky beyond Skies, the Brocade Emperor – Fu Yunchi had been studying the art of severing his emotions and parasitism with Yan Zhaoge’s help. His previously blurry path had started becoming clearer, giving him hope to climb to a higher realm. However, he still needed time to accumulate if he wanted to succeed.
The Astro Sovereign – Chen Xuanzong, the Female Emperor – Jie Mingkong, and the True Immortal Chu Lili were all frozen beneath the Jade Sky Peak. The Sword Sovereign – Yue Zhenbei was at the Profound Immortal Pinnacle Realm of Four Qis Fused Aura. However, he was still far away from Five Qis Unification.
From this, one could see how difficult it was to improve in the Immortal Realm.
This was a normal phenomenon. Even if one had the potential and motivation to continue improving, the higher the realm, the more time and energy needed to breakthrough.
The closer one was to the Dao Realm, the harder it would be. No matter how peerless a genius was, after pushing open the Immortal Door, he could only try to shorten the time needed or save some steps. However, it was impossible to make it completely non-existent.
Some necessary painstaking work still needed time to slowly accumulate.
After passing through the Jade Sky Peak, everyone’s speed increased again.
Fu Yunchi brought Meng Wan and the others back to the Ingenious Flying Peak’s Red Lotus Cliff, while Wang Pu and the others returned to the Jade Capital Crag.
Yan Zhaoge and the others returned to the Broad Creed Mountain’s main peak located in the center of the mountain range.
After returning to the mountain, they entered the mountain gate. On the mountain road, a group of Broad Creed Mountain martial art practitioners passed by. When they saw Yan Zhaoge, Xu Fei, and the others, they immediately bowed.
“Chief, senior apprentice-brother Yan.”
The leader was a young man who looked to be in his thirties. He had a calm demeanor and a smile on his face.
“How have you been, junior apprentice-brother Lan? We haven’t seen each other for some time,” said Yan Zhaoge with a smile.
He was no stranger to the person in front of him. It was his junior apprentice-brother Lan Wenyan whom he had gotten acquainted with back in the Eight Extremities World.
“Thank you for your concern, senior apprentice-brother Yan.” Lan Wenyan smiled as he answered.
“The next Grand Tournament is approaching. We need to set up a rule. Other than following the old rules, there should be some changes this time. More emphasis should be placed on actual combat,” said Xu Fei after returning the greeting.
Lan Wenyan nodded, “As you command, Chief.”