428: Upper Realm Intelligence

Considering the information he had gleaned from the texts collected by Tianji Pavilion and his discussions with the Old Ancestor, Zhou Leren brought the octagonal disc, which had been shattered into eight pieces and barely reassembled, before him.

His mind was in turmoil.

He headed straight for the nine-story ancient pagoda, which was several hundred zhang tall.

These eight fragments were precisely what remained of the broken octagonal disc that he had shattered with a single strike from the Great Snow Mountain long sword, which had recovered its fifth-tier power, after hearing its call.

After his Old Ancestor informed him of the details of that day, and given the origin of this broken octagonal disc from Xutuo Ancient Realm, it was clear who these eight fragments belonged to.

Therefore, after initially organizing the various resources obtained from Tianji Pavilion, Zhou Leren came to Two Realms Mountain to investigate the ancient pagoda.

Before the nine-story ancient pagoda, several hundred zhang tall, Zhou Leren stopped.

At this moment, the octagonal disc, shattered into eight pieces, emitted a faint glow.

The pieces were barely reassembled, once again taking on their original broken appearance.

“You’ve come…” A weak voice emanated from the ancient pagoda as the fragments in Zhou Leren's hand reassembled.

Zhou Leren focused his gaze.

A three-inch-tall illusory figure of a boy with two hair buns appeared from within the ancient pagoda.

“Are you… Senior Pagoda Spirit?” Zhou Leren looked at him, then bowed and cupped his hands in greeting.

Among the Zhou Family, Zhou Xiutong had seen the Pagoda Spirit.

Therefore, Zhou Leren knew what the xumi pagoda’s Pagoda Spirit looked like, but seeing it for the first time still caused him some surprise.

“Indeed, I am the Pagoda Spirit of the xumi pagoda.” The three-inch illusory figure of the boy nodded, but his form was ethereal and his aura weak.

“It was you who shattered my pagoda base with your sword that day; I know you.” The boy scrutinized Zhou Leren for a few moments, then nodded and said.

“Senior Pagoda Spirit, I…” A hint of embarrassment appeared on Zhou Leren’s face.

“It’s fine; this was my intention all along.” The boy waved his hand.

“When I was in the sutuo Realm, my pagoda base was picked up by someone and taken out,” the boy continued.

“This was also done intentionally by me.”

At that time, when his pagoda base was picked up by that person, he knew that person must be special.

So, he wanted to leave a path for himself and didn't interfere.

Otherwise, if he had wanted to recall a part of himself at that time, Qi Dade, with his Mid Golden Core Stage cultivation, would not have been able to resist.

He just hadn't expected that not only was the person who picked up his pagoda base special, but the power behind that person was even more special.

When Old Man Tianji obtained him, he had once divined the Heavenly Secret, intending to find his pagoda base to complete the xumi pagoda.

This was to serve as the Formation core, to quickly open the Seal and connect with the Upper Realm powers.

However, he didn't expect that Tianji Pavilion, famous for divining the Heavenly Secret, was always unable to find the whereabouts of that pagoda base.

“So it was Senior Pagoda Spirit’s intention.” Zhou Leren nodded, but seemed unsurprised.

After confirming that this was a part of the sixth-tier Divine Venerable Weapon, xumi pagoda, he knew it must have been intentional.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have fallen into the hands of Qi Dade, who was merely in the Golden Core Stage.

“Later, Old Man Tianji deduced the Formation to break the Seal from the remnants of Xutuo Heavenly Palace.”

“He suppressed me, using the spiritual Qi of an entire region to try and undo the Seal.”

“But at the last moment, the power suppressing me gradually weakened, allowing me to exert some power and transmit a message to you,” the boy continued.

This was again beyond his expectations.

The gradual weakening of the power suppressing him indicated that Old Man Tianji, who had applied the power, was in extremely poor condition.

And to be able to suppress or even obliterate Old Man Tianji, who had broken through to the Late Stage of Soul Transformation, was completely beyond his expectations.

What he hadn't expected even more was that the one who suppressed Old Man Tianji was the very family that had picked up his pagoda base.

The coincidences involved left him sighing with emotion.

“So that’s how it is.”

“Thanks to Senior Pagoda Spirit, Xuanming and Xuanyang Two Realms were spared a disaster.” Zhou Leren cupped his hands and bowed solemnly.

“No need for such formality.”

“I have remained until now precisely to guard the Seal and prevent the Xuanhuang Great World from repeating its past mistakes,” the boy said with a sigh, waving his hand.

At this point, Zhou Leren’s heart stirred.

It was the perfect time to state his purpose.

“Senior Pagoda Spirit, do you know what kind of power invaded the Xuanhuang Great World back then?” Zhou Leren asked, seizing the Opportunity.

Although he had already seen scattered mentions in the texts from Tianji Pavilion, having it directly from the xumi pagoda’s Pagoda Spirit, a survivor who had experienced that great war, would undoubtedly be more comprehensive.

The boy-like Pagoda Spirit glanced at Zhou Leren, then pondered for a moment.

“It’s no harm to tell you.” The boy slowly nodded.

Since Old Man Tianji had already been suppressed, he likely already knew many things.

There was no point in him concealing it further.

Moreover, only by informing him of the stakes involved could he dispel some people’s wishful thinking.

“Please enlighten me, Senior.” Zhou Leren bowed again.

“That was a Realm called Chaofeng Ancient Realm.”

“According to the understanding of Xutuo Heavenly Palace, Chaofeng Ancient Realm, whether in terms of territory or the Realm and number of its powerful Cultivators, far surpassed the Xuanhuang Great World.”

“In fact, the Xuanhuang Great World was not even qualified to be compared with it.”

“My master once said that it was a great world, a world close to Immortals.”

“If one could Ascend to this ancient Realm, they would certainly be able to advance further, and even achieve Immortal Ascension.”

“However, my master was unwilling to use billions of Cultivators and Mortals as bargaining chips for his own advancement.”

“That is why he fought against the Chaofeng Ancient Realm power that discovered the Xuanhuang Great World.”

At this point, the boy’s eyes showed sadness.

He paused.

“We once captured the Cultivators who came from the Lower Realm.”

“Through interrogation, we learned that the power was called Xi Wu (West Crow) Island, located within the Li Luan Sea Region outside the Eastern Wilderness of Chaofeng Ancient Realm.”

“It had about ten Void Refining Great Powers, possessing incredibly formidable strength.”

“At that time, just three Void Refining Great Powers crossing Realms forced my master to lead the entire Xuanhuang Great World in resistance.”

“Yet, he could only resort to self-sacrifice to repel those two, sever the passage, and Seal the fragmented Xuanhuang Great World.”

The boy’s tone was mournful.

That war was too tragic.

The Palace Master of Xutuo Heavenly Palace died in battle, the four Great Hall Masters died in battle, and more than ten Nascent Soul Venerables died in battle.

And countless other Cultivators all perished in that war.

It was also this war that completely made Xutuo Heavenly Palace a thing of the past.

“Xi Wu (West Crow) Island…” Zhou Leren murmured to himself.

This was indeed consistent with the information obtained from Tianji Pavilion.

“Chaofeng Ancient Realm, a world close to Immortals, is actually this powerful…”

The strength of just one island could rival an entire Great Realm, or even surpass it.

However, there was no need to be too pessimistic.

This Xi Wu (West Crow) Island was located in the Li Luan Sea Region.

It was likely a very powerful force.

If any random power in Chaofeng Ancient Realm possessed such capability, then what was the point of them Cultivating?

“Thank you for informing me, Senior.” Zhou Leren pondered for a moment, then thanked the boy-like Pagoda Spirit.

“Senior, there is still a Bloodline of Xutuo Heavenly Palace in the world.” Zhou Leren then said, his words startling the Pagoda Spirit.

“What?”

“Where is he?” the Pagoda Spirit asked eagerly.

Zhou Leren extended his hand, and an illusory figure condensed, none other than Mu Qingli’s appearance.

He then explained how Venerable Xingai had Sealed the Bloodline.

“So that’s it; no wonder I felt a sense of familiarity back then. I didn’t expect him to be a descendant of my Heavenly Palace…” Joy flickered in the boy’s eyes.

At that time, he had thought the young Cultivator most compatible with the void character scroll was merely exceptionally gifted, but he hadn't expected him to be a descendant of the Heavenly Palace.

A smile appeared on Zhou Leren’s face.

This was an act of reciprocation.