437: Chapter 437 Nine Heavens Immortal City

[A moment later, the rift slowly healed.]

[Above the ruins, complete silence fell.]

[Only broken walls, debris, corpses scattered across the ground, and unextinguished flames crackling in the wind remained.]

[There were also two people.]

[Duan De and Luo Jing.]

[They stood where they were, staring at the healed rift, then looked at each other, and then at the empty ruins surrounding them.]

[As a cold wind blew past, Luo Jing finally snapped out of it and turned to look at Duan De: "What did he... just say his name was?"]

[Duan De swallowed hard, his voice dry: "Yun... Yun Xiaozi?"]

["..."]

[Duan De opened his mouth, but nothing came out.]

[Luo Jing also opened his mouth, equally speechless.]

[They had never heard the name Yun Xiaozi before.]

[They just stood there.]

[In the wind.]

[In the ruins.]

[Utterly bewildered.]

[However—]

[What no one knew was that the moment you left, a pair of eyes was quietly watching you from the depths of the starry sky.]

[That gaze pierced through the void, across a distance of hundreds of millions of miles, yet accurately locked onto the direction in which you disappeared.]

[Venerable Tianming.]

[He stood in the void with his hands behind his back, his body enveloped in a faint layer of starlight.]

[Behind him stood an old man in grey robes, his head bowed and eyes lowered like a shadow; this person was—Instructor Jimie.]

["Master," Ji Mie spoke, his voice raspy, "Is he... truly Yun Xiaozi?"]

[The corners of Venerable Tianming's mouth curled up slightly, his gaze still fixed on the direction where you had vanished:]

["Correct. He is Yun Xiaozi."]

[Having said that, he turned to look at Ji Mie: "You know what to do, right?"]

[Ji Mie nodded: "This old servant understands!"]

[Venerable Tianming naturally knew you weren't Yun Xiaozi.]

[As early as the moment the Liu Clan decided to annex Ziyang Star, he had deduced the outcome of this trip—]

[The Liu Clan was destined for a tribulation, and that tribulation lay on Ziyang Star.]

[He didn't tell the Liu Clan, but simply waited here quietly.]

[Waiting to see who exactly was the person who could make the Liu Clan suffer a setback.]

[He and the Flame Emperor were in a cooperative relationship.]

[The Flame Emperor helped him control the Kunlun Dao Academy, and in return, he handled matters for the Flame Emperor that were inconvenient for him to act upon personally.]

[As for the Liu Clan?]

[How many of them died, what did it have to do with him?]

[In fact, he was happy to see it happen.]

[In his eyes, only he himself was the sole player on this chessboard.]

[And today, you appeared in his vision again.]

[He raised his hand, closed his eyes, and began to operate the "Heavenly Fate Deduction".]

[The invisible Law of Destiny spread out from around him like countless invisible threads, extending into the void, attempting to entwine a certain target—you.]

[Deducing your past, your fate, your Karma.]

[However—]

[He was stunned.]

[When those threads of destiny touched the void where you were, they were like reaching into a patch of Chaos, a patch of nothingness.]

[There was nothing.]

[Nothing could be deduced.]

[He opened his eyes, his brow furrowing slightly.]

["Interesting..."]

[He didn't give up.]

[With a wave of his hand, an ancient bronze mirror appeared out of thin air, floating before him.]

[It was precisely his Lifebound Treasure—the sky-peering mirror.]

[The mirror's surface was only a foot square, its edges carved with complex stellar patterns; the mirror reflected the endless starry sky as if it contained the entire Universe.]

[His hands formed seals, and he gave a low shout:]

["Heaven-Peering Technique!"]

[In an instant, the sky-peering mirror shone with great brilliance!]

[Within the mirror's surface, countless images began to emerge—]

[The Luck of a world, the changes of a land, the rise and fall of a sect, the fate of a person...]

[Those invisible, unseen trajectories turned into streaks of light in the mirror, weaving into complex scrolls.]

[He controlled the mirror, constantly enlarging the image and focusing on the void where you had disappeared.]

[He wanted to see you clearly, to see your origins, your fate, and your everything.]

[The images in the mirror became clearer and clearer, closer and closer...]

[And then—]

["Buzz!"]

[The sky-peering mirror shook violently!]

[The images in the mirror suddenly turned into a patch of Chaos, a patch of nothingness.]

[Venerable Tianming stared at the empty mirror and remained silent for a long time.]

[With his cultivation and the power of the sky-peering mirror, he was actually unable to see the fate of a Void Refining Cultivator?]

[No, that's not right.]

[It's not that it can't be seen, it's... been obscured.]

[He suddenly smiled.]

[The smile was very faint, but it carried a hint of something elusive.]

["Interesting..."]

["Truly interesting!"]

[For such a situation to occur, it was either a Child of Luck favored by the Heavenly Dao, or their strength in the dao of heavenly fate was above his own.]

[But he was the number one person in the dao of heavenly fate in the Immortal Realm.]

[Then there was only one possibility—you were a Child of Luck.]

[Unfortunately, he guessed wrong.]

[You were not a Child of Luck.]

[He put away the sky-peering mirror and stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze cast into the depths of the void:]

["It would be a bit of a pity to give such a great talent to Venerable Yuqing."]

[Behind him, Ji Mie looked up, a flash of surprise in his eyes.]

[Venerable Tianming didn't look back, but simply said: "If he could be used by me..."]

[He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning in his words was already crystal clear.]

[On the other side,]

[Deep in the void.]

[You sat atop the Torch Dragon's head, letting it travel through the endless void.]

[Surrounding you was eternal silence and flowing light; occasionally, star fragments would streak past, left far behind in an instant.]

[You closed your eyes and performed several divinations in a row.]

[Gu Jing: Auspicious.]

[Qin Han: Auspicious.]

[Torch Dragon: Auspicious.]

[But all the divinations pointed in the same direction—]

[Nine Heavens Immortal City.]

[You stared at this result, rubbed your eyes, and divined once more.]

[Still Nine Heavens Immortal City.]

[You frowned.]

[Nine Heavens Immortal City?]

[What kind of place was that?]

[That was the home base of the Nine Heavens Heavenly Palace, one of the largest immortal cities in the Immortal Realm, the center of power for this Star Domain, where great experts gathered and Restrictions were heavy.]

[You, a person wanted by the Heavenly Palace, were going there?]

["What is the reason for this?" You looked up at the Torch Dragon beneath you, "Senior Torch Dragon, what do you think? Should we go to Nine Heavens Immortal City?"]

[The Torch Dragon was silent for a moment, then let out a low chuckle: "Perhaps... it's because your style of doing things matches the Heavenly Palace's temperament."]

[It had said it casually, but you took it to heart.]

[Your eyes suddenly widened.]

[The Heavenly Palace's temperament?]

[You immediately thought of a name—Liu Qing.]

[In the list Shura Demon Lord had mentioned, there was an Outer Deacon of the Nine Heavens Heavenly Palace named Liu Qing.]

[If you could sneak into Nine Heavens Immortal City, find Liu Qing, and then use the Heavenly Palace's Teleportation Array... perhaps you really could escape this blockaded Star Domain.]

[You murmured under your breath: "If I can escape through the Nine Heavens Heavenly Palace's Teleportation Array... it might actually be a way out."]

[The Torch Dragon did not respond.]

[You were silent for a long time.]

[Divinations would not lie.]

[The last two times you trusted the divinations, you had gambled correctly.]

[The first time, you obtained the Heavenly Fate Dao Embryo.]

[The second time, you not only achieved a Breakthrough to Void Refining but also made the Liu Clan Immortal Family suffer a great loss.]

[This was the third time.]

[You slowly raised your head, your gaze piercing through layers of void to land on that brilliant Star Domain in the distance—the direction of Nine Heavens Immortal City.]

[The starlight twinkled, flickering.]

[It was like the guidance of fate, yet also like... a giant trap.]

[You watched for a long time.]

[Then, the corners of your mouth curled up slightly.]

["Let's go." You patted the Torch Dragon's head, "To Nine Heavens Immortal City."]