552: Chapter 552 A Secret Letter from Tianlong

Tianqi Royal Capital, the Forbidden Ground in the back mountains of the Imperial Palace.

This place was shrouded year-round by layers of Formations. Mist swirled and Spiritual Qi stagnated. Let alone stepping inside, ordinary Cultivators would be completely strangled by the power of the Formations if they even approached within a hundred feet. It was the most secretive and solemn location in the entire Tianqi Dynasty.

The morning light of spring penetrated the heavy mist of the Formations, filtering out the heat and leaving only a soft, golden glow that sprinkled finely onto the bluish-gray flagstone ground.

Mottled Dao patterns were carved into the stone surface. The interplay of light and shadow reflected variegated lines, adding a touch of ancient desolation.

Mysterious Clarity Master sat cross-legged on a cloud-patterned prayer mat, his plain Daoist robe unstained by a speck of dust, and his long, grizzled beard hanging down to his chest.

His fingertips repeatedly rubbed a warm, green Jade Slip. As his thumb brushed over the faint spiritual light flowing across the surface of the Jade Slip, the deep furrow between his brows seemed carved into his very marrow by time, congealing into an insoluble sorrow that appeared even more somber than usual.

This Jade Slip was a top-secret message sent urgently across ten thousand miles by the Qintian Division of the Heavenly Dragon Dynasty.

He had been sitting cross-legged here, studying it three times over. Every word in the Jade Slip was like a thousand-pound boulder weighing heavily on his heart, causing a massive wave that was difficult to calm in his Dao Heart, which had Cultivated for a thousand years and was long since unflappable.

The contents of the secret message were shocking—the Seal on the Ascension Realm passage, which had spanned the Heavenly Dragon Dynasty for a thousand years, had already begun to show faint but clear energy fluctuations.

After the Elders of the Heavenly Dragon Dynasty's Qintian Division observed the stars at night and performed repeated deductions, they finally reached a conclusion: this Seal, which had guarded the continent for a millennium and separated the Immortal and mortal Realms, would completely dissipate within three to five months.

When the Seal broke and the passage opened, all Cultivators at the Middle Stage Soul Transformation and above within the territory of the Heavenly Dragon Dynasty would be forcibly drawn by the invisible power of the Heavenly Dao. They would gather at the sacrificial altar of the Heavenly Dragon Dynasty's Qintian Division and then fall into that extra-dimensional space leading to the supreme Immortal Realm, never to return.

This matter concerned the power structure and future direction of the entire Heavenly Dragon Dynasty. The Heavenly Dragon Dynasty immediately issued an Imperial Decree, sending it urgently to all subordinate Dynasties, ordering the State Preceptors of every country to set out immediately and gather at the Tianlong Imperial Capital to discuss these major affairs.

The decree specified three core topics:

First, to verify and confirm the list of Soul Transformation Cultivators from each Dynasty heading to the Ascension Realm one by one, to prevent any concealment or failure to report, with violators being treated as rebels. Second, to jointly discuss the maintenance of order, the division of power, and subsequent follow-up matters among the various forces on the continent after the Ascension Realm passage is sealed again. Third, to re-determine the share of Cultivation resources each subordinate Dynasty must tribute to the Heavenly Dragon Dynasty based on each country's strength and the depth of its Cultivators' foundations.

Mysterious Clarity Master slowly raised his hand and gently placed the Jade Slip on his lap.

He looked up, his gaze passing through the lingering mist of the Formations toward the distant horizon. He could vaguely see the rows upon rows of upturned eaves in the Tianqi Royal Capital, their ancient silhouettes outlined in the spring light.

A thousand years.

Time had passed in a flash; it had already been a thousand years.

A thousand years ago, the ancestor of the Li family—the Old Ancestor who founded the Tianqi Dynasty—encountered the lifting of the Ascension Realm Seal. He was drawn by the Law of Heaven and Earth from his place of seclusion and went from the Heavenly Dragon Dynasty to the Ascension Realm.

On the night before his departure, the Old Ancestor specifically sought out Mysterious Clarity Master's master, who was then only a minor Cultivator in the Qi Refinement Stage. Grasping his hand tightly, his eyes full of reluctance and entrustment, he handed over the vast Tianqi Dynasty, the ten thousand miles of territory, and the Li Clan entirely to him, earnestly pleading for him to guard the Li Family's Realm and protect the stability of the millions of people on this land.

Eight hundred years passed, and his master grew old. Mysterious Clarity Master solemnly took over the position of State Preceptor from his master's hands, accepting this heavy responsibility of protection. This watch had lasted for a full two hundred years.

Over the millennium, he had progressed from an ignorant Qi Refining Cultivator to his current Middle Stage Nascent Soul. He had gone from the high-spirited, sharp-eyed young Daoist of those years to the white-haired, steady-hearted elderly man of today.

He had personally witnessed the Tianqi Dynasty go from its peak through the twists and turns of its middle period to its current stable preservation, watching the Li descendants change through generation after generation of life, aging, sickness, and death.

This land, this territory, and every plant and tree here were no longer just a place of responsibility he needed to guard, but the home of his Dao Heart, the place where he belonged.

Now, the once-in-a-millennium opening of the Ascension Realm passage was imminent, like a giant boulder thrown into a calm lake, creating ripples in his heart that spread in layers and refused to dissipate for a long time.

What truly made Mysterious Clarity Master anxious, kept him awake at night, and even made it difficult for him to decide, was not the matter of going to the Heavenly Dragon Dynasty for the meeting itself, but that list of Soul Transformation Cultivators that had to be reported truthfully without any falsehood.

Because on that list, one name had to be written—Situ Jun.

Situ Jun, the City Lord of the Northern Frontier, was a top Cultivator who had been lying low in the Tianqi Dynasty for years, deliberately concealing his Cultivation. His true Cultivation had already quietly reached the Middle Stage Soul Transformation, far exceeding the perception of ordinary Cultivators.

Once his name was entered into the Qintian Division's list, his true Realm, hidden for many years, would be completely exposed to the world, with no further possibility of concealment.

At that time, given the domineering and strict nature of the Heavenly Dragon Dynasty, they would certainly hold the Tianqi Dynasty heavily accountable on charges of regulatory failure and failing to report a top Cultivator.

A great Cultivator of the Middle Stage Soul Transformation had been Cultivating diligently within the borders of the Tianqi Dynasty, his Cultivation soaring all the way to this point, yet he had never been noticed by the Dynasty nor reported to the Imperial Dynasty. This was no longer a simple crime of poor supervision or dereliction of duty, but a blatant crime of disregarding the Imperial Dynasty's Laws and openly challenging its majesty.

When that time came, as the State Preceptor of Tianqi, Mysterious Clarity Master would be the first to be blamed and would certainly receive a severe punishment.

The entire Tianqi Dynasty would also be implicated, paying an extremely painful price—perhaps doubled tribute resources, perhaps a reduction in fiefdoms, or even facing suppression and liquidation by the Imperial Dynasty. The state itself would fall into crisis.

He could not sit and wait for death; he had to break the deadlock in advance!

Mysterious Clarity Master took a deep breath. The spiritual power in his Dantian slowly circulated, forcibly suppressing the churning anxiety and worry in his heart.

He reached into his robe and took out an entirely translucent white sound transmission talisman with restrained spiritual light. The body of the talisman was carved with fine transmission runes; it was an exclusive transmission Magical Artifact between him and Situ Jun.

Spiritual power slowly surged from his fingertips, and the sound transmission talisman instantly became slightly hot, a faint spiritual light appearing on its surface.

His fingertips paused slightly, and his fingers holding the sound transmission talisman tightened involuntarily as a flash of hesitation crossed his mind.

After all, this matter was of great importance. Once brought into the open, it would cause a terrifying storm.

But this hesitation lasted only for an instant. The current situation was urgent and allowed for no delay.

Mysterious Clarity Master eventually closed his eyes and injected all the spiritual power in his body into the sound transmission talisman.

In the next second, the sound transmission talisman suddenly lit up with a deep, ghostly blue light. As the light flowed, a man's voice, steady as a rock and carrying an innate pressure, immediately came from the other end. His tone was flat, yet it possessed an unquestionable power:

"Mysterious Clarity Master, what is the matter?"