“Yes, Fourth Senior Sister,” Qin Meran nodded, answering Shi Siling’s inquiry. “I saw my former teacher, Yin Wenshu, standing right here. He seemed intent on entering, but stopped when I called out to him.”

“Then he likely doesn’t reside here,” Shi Siling replied, shaking her head. “And even if he did, he has almost certainly fled by now.”

“I have to try. If I don’t, my heart will never be at ease,” Qin Meran said, her brow furrowed in distress. “Besides, he still owes me something. I must retrieve it.”

Shi Siling found this strange. She knew little of Qin Meran’s specific situation, only that the mysterious helper was Yin Wenshu. As for why he helped or what he owed, Shi Siling was in the dark. However, seeing Qin Meran’s reluctance to elaborate, she didn’t press the issue.

They stepped toward the entrance, intending to knock.

Whoosh!

Several figures materialized from the shadows, blocking their path.

“Greetings, Fairy Shi. Greetings, Fairy Qin,” the lead guard said, his tone respectful but his posture unyielding. “This pavilion is the private residence of a Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion Elder. We respectfully ask the two Fairies to halt.”

A Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion Elder?

Shi Siling and Qin Meran exchanged a surprised glance. The group blocking them consisted entirely of cultivators at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment. The leader, shockingly, was a Golden Core cultivator.

While such cultivation was nothing to the two Peak Masters, using a Golden Core expert as a mere doorman suggested the resident of this pavilion was no ordinary individual.

Curiosity piqued, Shi Siling spoke with her usual authority. “Since it is an Elder of your pavilion, call him out. This Venerable One wishes to meet him.”

“My apologies, Fairy Shi,” the guard replied without flinching. “Elder Feng has entered closed-door cultivation. He left strict orders: he is receiving no guests.”

Shi Siling frowned, her voice dropping a degree. “Not even this Venerable One?”

“This…” The guard hesitated for a split second before shaking his head firmly. “Even if our Pavilion Master came personally, the answer would remain the same.”

“Your Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion certainly puts on quite the air these days,” Qin Meran snapped, her frustration boiling over. “We aren’t even qualified to meet one of your minor Elders?”

Qin Meran’s mood had been foul ever since arriving in Cloud Firmament City. She had faced repeated polite rebuffs from the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion regarding her talismans, failed to uncover any information about the Homage of Ten Thousand Rhymes, and had been forced into an awkward conversation about Gu Xiu with Wan Xiaobei.

Facing her interrogation, cold sweat beaded on the guard’s back, but he held his ground. “My deepest apologies, Fairies. The Listening-to-Rain Pavilion accepts no visitors today!”

“Are you sure you want to stand in my way?” Qin Meran’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

The Golden Core guard felt a mountain of pressure descend upon him. Just as his resolve began to crack, a cheerful voice rang out from the street.

“Oh! Sister Qin, you’re back in Cloud Firmament City?”

They turned to see Wan Xiaobei skipping toward them. The Pavilion Master was oblivious to Qin Meran’s recent failures, assuming she had returned to the Sacred Land and come back. Her eyes sparkled with anticipation.

“How did it go, Fairy Qin? Did you deliver the letter? Did Immortal Venerable Gu Xiu write back? It’s fine if he didn’t write anything, but… did he say anything? Did he have any reaction?”

The barrage of questions made Qin Meran’s headache throb. She replied coldly, “I gave him the letter. Gu Xiu said nothing.”

“Ah…” Wan Xiaobei’s shoulders slumped, but she bounced back instantly. “What about the portrait? Last time, I asked you to bring a portrait of the Immortal Venerable…”

Portrait?

Qin Meran froze. During their last meeting, Wan Xiaobei had talked her into a daze, and she had vaguely agreed to a request just to make it stop.

“You didn’t bring that either?” Wan Xiaobei looked at her with puppy-dog eyes, radiating disappointment. “I promised I wouldn’t spread it around…”

Her admiration for Gu Xiu was built on legends and stories. The Azure Mystic Sacred Land had purged all images of Gu Xiu from the world years ago, so even as the master of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, she had never seen his face.

Wan Xiaobei’s innocent, pitiful expression was a powerful weapon. Even the icy Qin Meran felt a twinge of guilt.

Fortunately, Shi Siling interjected, raising an eyebrow. “You are the Pavilion Master?”

“Yes, yes!” Wan Xiaobei nodded, then tilted her head. “And you are?”

“I am Shi Siling.”

“Shi Siling…” Wan Xiaobei murmured, thinking. Then, her eyes widened in realization. “The one on the Origin Saint Ranking?”

“Precisely,” Shi Siling nodded, straightening her back with pride.

But before she could enjoy the reverence, Wan Xiaobei clapped her hands together. “Rumor has it that you only embarked on the path of Origin Arts with Immortal Venerable Gu Xiu’s help. That is a favor as heavy as the heavens! Your relationship with him must be extremely good, right?”

The smile on Shi Siling’s face froze solid.

“It has to be!” Wan Xiaobei continued, oblivious to the sudden chill in the air. “Helping someone re-establish their Dao… that is the greatest kindness a cultivator can offer. How could your bond be anything less than profound?”

Shi Siling stood there, mouth slightly open, unable to utter a single word. The irony choked her.

Sensing the conversation veering into dangerous territory, Qin Meran quickly interrupted. “Pavilion Master Wan, does your Elder live in this building?”

“That’s right,” Wan Xiaobei nodded. “This is the residence of our newly appointed Elder. Why? Do you two sisters know him?”

“Is his surname Yin?”

“Yin?” Wan Xiaobei shook her head vigorously. “Of course not. Our new Elder is Fellow Daoist Feng Bugui.”

Feng Bugui?

“Is this Elder a Talisman Master?”

“No.”

“Are you certain?”

“Absolutely. Elder Feng is very powerful, but he has absolutely no talent for talismans.”

“Can we ask him to come out?”

“Definitely not.”

“Why?”

“Elder Feng is at a critical juncture in his cultivation. He wishes to be undisturbed. If you want to meet him, you’ll have to wait until he emerges from seclusion.”

The two women exchanged a frown. Qin Meran pressed, “When will his seclusion end?”

“That’s uncertain,” Wan Xiaobei said, looking solemn. “Peak Master Qin, you know how it is. When cultivators enter seclusion, three to five months can pass in the blink of an eye. No one can say for sure.”

The guard standing by the door cast a strange glance at his Pavilion Master. Didn’t Elder Feng say he was only closing up for three days? But he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut and nodded along. “Correct. Elder Feng prepared resources for five months of seclusion.”

That sealed it. Shi Siling and Qin Meran abandoned the idea of waiting. Based on Wan Xiaobei’s answers, the resident was clearly not Yin Wenshu. Perhaps seeing him that day had been a trick of the light, or a coincidence.

They couldn’t afford to wait months. Their Junior Brother’s Dao Sword was nearing completion.

As the two Peak Masters walked away, Su Rumei, who had remained silent in the background, finally spoke. “I thought you admired Gu Xiu so much that you’d tell the Azure Mystic Sacred Land everything you knew.”

“You’re wrong. I admire Immortal Venerable Gu Xiu, not the Azure Mystic Sacred Land,” Wan Xiaobei said, her bubbly demeanor fading slightly.

“Why? Are they not one and the same?”

“Don’t you think the people from that sect are a bit… off?”

“Off? How so?”

“Every time I mention Immortal Venerable Gu Xiu, their reactions are strange.” Wan Xiaobei frowned, looking at the retreating figures. “They don’t look like they’re hearing the name of a hero who saved their sect. It looks more like…”

She paused, searching for the right words.

“…Like they are hearing the name of a loathed nemesis.”

Three days passed in a flash.

Gu Xiu remained unaware of the drama outside his door, and even if he knew, he wouldn’t have cared. For a cultivator, power was the only truth.

Over the past three days, Gu Xiu had burned through an ocean of resources. The results were terrifying.

If anyone could peer into his Dantian now, they would be paralyzed by shock.

The landscape of his Dantian Qi Sea had undergone a cataclysmic transformation. The centerpiece of this change was the perfect Eight Trigrams Auspicious Cloud Dao Platform.

When first condensed, the platform had been the size of a small house. Now? It had expanded to the scale of a mountain range, stretching as far as the mind’s eye could see. This was the absolute limit of a Dao Platform. No matter how many materials or how much spiritual energy he poured in, it would not grow another inch.

Such a boundless, indestructible foundation would make even the Immortals of the upper realms gasp in disbelief.

As the platform reached its zenith, the countless Immortal Scripts and seals carved upon it blazed with light. Dao rhythms pulsed from the structure, exuding an aura that was both mysterious and ancient. Just sitting before his own Dao Platform gave Gu Xiu the faint sensation of enlightenment.

But the true value of this Indestructible Dao Platform wasn’t just in potential comprehension.

Its greatest function was purification.

Gu Xiu’s spiritual power was already terrifyingly pure. But now, cycled through this colossal platform, it was refined to an impossible degree. In terms of sheer intensity, his Qi was already on par with a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. Combined with the limitless volume of his Qi Sea, he could easily crush an ordinary late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

And that was purely a contest of raw energy.

Even if Gu Xiu were reduced to a toddler with no combat experience, he could drown a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator with brute force alone.

This was the dominance of a Perfect Dao Platform.

To be called a genius, one must be able to fight across cultivation realms. The Foundation Establishment stage, centered on the Dao Platform, was the prime stage for establishing that gap. The stronger the platform, the wider the chasm between the genius and the mediocre.

With this foundation, combined with five hundred years of combat experience from his past life, Gu Xiu was not just a genius—he was a monster.

“I underestimated the limit of the first Dao Platform. I won’t have time to condense the second one before the valley opens,” Gu Xiu murmured, shaking his head with a hint of regret.

Condensing subsequent Dao Platforms required more than just resources; it required opportunities and specific insights from his Heaven-grade cultivation technique. He could do it, but he needed time.

However, time was up. Today was the day the Falling Rain Valley opened.

Gu Xiu stood up, checking his preparations. The Carefree Jade Pendant hung at his waist. The Bone-Discarding Yin Ape was ready in his storage bag, alongside fifty combat puppets. He was armed to the teeth.

Finally, the Three-Body Mask activated, subtly altering his facial features. He ran his thumb over a small finger bone in his hand, his eyes turning cold.

He stepped out of the courtyard gate.

As the leader of the Five Sects and Three Clans, the Azure Mystic Sacred Land would undoubtedly send a delegation to the Falling Rain Valley.

Gu Xiu had not forgotten his vow. He had sworn to kill a person from the Azure Mystic Sacred Land.

If fate placed them in his path during this expedition… he would not hesitate to collect the debt.