A towering celestial palace, magnificent immortal halls — all seated upon white clouds, wreathed in rolling mist and glowing with splendid color, breathtaking to behold. Everyone was stunned. This ultimate mysterious world already had a master — the meaning of fighting over it had been lost!

The battlefield fell completely silent. In the sky, only that commanding voice continued to echo — like an ancient Great Emperor who had come back to life, once again presiding over all the world.

One by one, the chaotic mountains shifted aside with a deep, resonant rumble, standing at the edge of heaven and earth while the lightning transformed into a golden sea of the forbidden, surging and vast.

Nine heavenly suns tilted westward. The palace halls were bathed in the golden and crimson light of dusk, making every tile look sacred and pure, with auspicious radiance flowing across all.

Below, the golden forbidden sea churned. Occasionally, thunder erupted from it like the wrath of heaven itself, capable of evolving into a heavenly tribulation that awed and chilled the heart.

The great bell tolled on, its resonance shaking through the ages.

“It is indeed the Heavenly Court — to think it was not entirely destroyed, and had been resting here all along!” After some time had passed, a powerful elder among the cultivators sighed softly.

Many people remained in a daze, not knowing what to say, though inwardly they were already roiling like waves crashing against the sky. How could this be? Was this truly the person who had once clashed head-on with the Undying Celestial Empress?

The Black Emperor fixed its gaze upon that expanse of palace halls, especially upon the area where a corner was missing, and said, “It truly is the Heavenly Court — look, the Southern Heavenly Gate is no longer there. It fell into the Divine Ruins!”

In truth, it was not alone in noticing this. Many powerful cultivators made significant discoveries. Some pointed out that the architectural style matched ruins found in certain ancient regions.

“Do you see that? That is the Dragon Transformation Pool — half of it has collapsed. The other half is on our ancient star.”

“The Tower of Ten Thousand Demons is broken too — we have one fragment of its remains; it aligns perfectly with this place.”

People marveled. This was truly the former site of the Heavenly Court. Though it was not entirely intact, it could be connected to and corroborated against known ruins — each lending context to the other.

Pang Bo stared ahead and could not suppress his look of surprise either. He sighed, “So that is it — the pavilion district for pill-refining and artifact-forging is half destroyed, with one half having fallen outside a primordial forbidden land.”

He thought of the immortal palace in the Northern Dipper region — its style was identical to this place, and connections between the two could be found. It had once been part of the Ancient Heavenly Court, a thought that filled the heart with feeling.

Ye Fan also felt a jolt inwardly. Some of his classmates had vanished at that place and had never been seen again since. Where were they now?

A great crash — within the palace complex, a massive white jade staircase descended, extending all the way down to before the people gathered below, spanning across the golden sea of thunder beneath.

And certain palace halls let out a thunderous hum, releasing boundless divine sound that made the entire place feel even more solemn and reverent, causing every person present to involuntarily hold their breath.

The vast celestial palace was far too empty — no celestial soldiers or divine generals, no palace maids or servants. It was cold and deserted within, with only a kind of gravity and oppressive force emanating outward.

“Ha ha ha…”

A bold, resounding laugh rang out. On the white jade staircase appeared a large man with a thick, full beard covering his face. He appeared rough-hewn and rugged, his aura overwhelming.

Aboard the Black Pearl, Li Tian and Yan Yixi immediately goggled their eyes and gaped open-mouthed. It was that big-bearded man again — could he be the one who had taken up residence here? No, that couldn’t be right — his voice was not aged.

The big beard was a Quasi-Emperor — that had already been confirmed. Clearly, when they had first encountered him in the Purple Subtlety Star Domain, he had been wandering through the mortal world.

Despite the curling, abundant beard and his commanding manner, when his eyes moved and caught sight of Li Tian and the others, that flicker of shameless delight that he failed to suppress entirely did not escape the two men’s notice.

This made both brothers feel goosebumps rising all over their bodies. This fellow who roamed the mortal world was absolutely not the kind of upright, venerable senior figure of sterling reputation that he might appear.

In the next moment, before the ruins of the Southern Heavenly Gate, another figure appeared — an old man with a mouthful of yellowed teeth, not even all of them present, giving him a somewhat gappy smile, leading a round-faced, fierce-looking little boy as he walked out.

“It is him!”

Pang Bo and the others were taken aback. Earlier they had sensed something — when they had turned to look, they had noticed the old man and the young boy watching everyone aboard their ship. In that moment they had already known he was a peerless master.

Now that the old man stepped forward, he caused a sensation. His appearance was very rustic, but he had to be an unrivaled expert — otherwise, how could he be residing within the Heavenly Court?

“Is this the person who is a match for the Undying Celestial Empress?”

“How powerful is he, that he speaks of ending the bloodshed and pacifying the ten directions of the universe?”

Everyone looked up at him. This old man was very mysterious. Had it been him who had delivered that snow-bright slash just moments ago? Yet that kind of power was at odds with the aura he was giving off now.

“Do not look at this old man like that. I am just here doing odd jobs, leading my grandson for a stroll.” The ragged old man revealed his mouthful of yellowed teeth, looking stranger the longer one stared.

He was carrying a broken wooden bucket. He walked down the white jade staircase step by step, came before the golden sea of thunder, and with a thud pressed it in, pulling up a bucket full of golden liquid — chaotic energy billowing from it in abundance.

Everyone was stunned. That was the chaotic sea of divine thunder — a golden liquid formed from condensed lightning. And he was using it like ordinary water to fetch.

Many people estimated that a Great Sage touching those golden lightning elements would be incinerated to ash. Even a Quasi-Emperor cultivator would not be entirely comfortable in an environment that dense with energy.

The ragged old man was perfectly calm. Holding his grandson’s hand, he walked back up the stairs, and poured the entire bucket of golden liquid condensed from lightning elements beneath a single withered ancient tree.

Quite a few people were startled. Every set of eyes locked onto that withered ancient tree, not so much as blinking.

Was this the legendary immortal tree? When the sacred emperor died and the Heavenly Court collapsed, there was said to be a supremely divine ancient tree whose life had dried up as a result, never recovering — was this the one?

According to accounts, when the Sacred Emperor had extended the peak Emperor’s lifespan of the Longevity Heavenly Venerate by two thousand years, it was through refining a great medicine, one of whose principal ingredients had come from this ancient tree’s fruit, combined with the Sacred Emperor’s supreme celestial arts to create an impossibly heaven-defying medicine.

It must be understood that those were no ordinary two thousand years — they were two thousand years of genuine peak “Emperor’s lifespan,” and by that time, the Longevity Heavenly Venerate had already tried every other method available: ancient medicines, divine marrow, and the like. He had consumed them all, and consuming more had no further effect. No ordinary lifespan could be compared to these two thousand years of Emperor’s lifespan!

“Is this old one watering the immortal tree with golden lightning liquid, hoping it will come back to life?”

Everyone’s eyes gleamed. The Heavenly Court ruins truly did contain extraordinary things! This ancient tree still existed in the world, and many had speculated about it — it was said to surpass any other immortality medicine in its effects.

It was not towering or shade-giving — only about the height of a person — but its branches were vigorous and ancient, as though it had taken tens of hundreds of thousands of years to reach this size. Its trunk was cracked and dry, without the slightest sign of life.

“It looks a bit like a person…”

Many people were startled. This tree was peculiar — close to human in shape, though it seemed to have been beaten and broken, now twisted and bent.

“What a treasure this tree would be — even dead, if you dug it up and carved imperial runes into it, it would surely become a great weapon. Perhaps just holding it would allow one to comprehend the Dao. Its effect would not be poor.” The Black Emperor’s eyes blazed with light.

Many people were swallowing quietly. Everyone knew this was a supreme immortal medicine tree — even dried up, it surely retained some power.

Boom!

The central gates of the Heavenly Palace opened. Somehow, without anyone noticing, a figure now stood there — as though it had existed since before the beginning of time, ethereal and intangible, yet at the same time exuding a formless, inescapable authority.

“Please, everyone, come in,” it said, speaking to all.

Many felt something sharp in that voice — it seemed like a portion of the Dao order of heaven itself had taken human form and stood there, leaving people puzzled.

This person was extraordinary!

“He is a weapon spirit,” someone whispered, having guessed that he was the divine being born within a supreme weapon!

The current master of the Heavenly Court had to be of astonishing power — otherwise, how could such a divine weapon choose to follow him? He was undoubtedly peerless in his generation. Could the snow-bright blade light from moments ago have originated from this weapon spirit?

“Come — let us go inside and have a look!”

Everyone was deeply curious, and many bold souls naturally wished to explore the legendary Heavenly Court and see for themselves.

Once someone led the way, others followed. The crowd flowed inward in a great tide, and they were confident that with the power of this place’s master, killing them all would be effortless — there would be no luring enemies into a trap.

Ye Fan, Pang Bo, the Black Emperor, the Sacred Emperor’s son, and the others regrouped and also entered the palace complex, intending to see just what kind of person this was.

The crowd surged inward. The moment they drew near, everyone detected an atmosphere of the Great Dao — this place was truly extraordinary, with the Dao resonating all around!

Within the central Heavenly Palace, every great pillar was carved with azure dragons, zhuque, and Kun-Peng — not as decoration, but as Dao imprints seared into their very substance.

One could see small dragons flying out from the pillars, flickering with azure light. Several zhuque had also broken free of their constraints and were spitting fire in the void, trailing arcs of crimson flame.

“This was once the place where the Sacred Emperor dwelled — truly unlike any ordinary place!” The thought arose in every heart.

Everyone’s heart grew solemn. They gave these strange and extraordinary totemic shadows a wide berth, not daring to collide with them, afraid of provoking something untoward.

“It is of no concern. These are opportunities. If someone can truly merge with them, they can receive their Dao and their inheritance.” An aged voice came from the center of the Heavenly Palace.

Everyone was taken aback — then their eyes lit up with astonishment. Were these left behind by the Sacred Emperor? What a defiance of heaven’s order — what supreme Dao fruits!

With a soft chime, the little creature that Ji Ziyue had raised — golden-yellow all over, a fire phoenix — collided with a phantom phoenix. A blazing light erupted. The two merged together, the Great Dao resounding between them!

It was real! Everyone stared in a daze — then erupted into frenzy, all of them wanting to merge with those imprints.

But alas, this was a kind of fate that could not be forced. Even when one bumped into those phantom shadows, they immediately disappeared — they had not truly entered anyone’s body. It left people feeling utterly helpless.

This place was a world unto itself. No matter how many people entered, the great hall could accommodate them all. White mist drifted around everyone’s feet as though they were treading upon clouds.

Many people looked forward, wanting to see — what kind of person was truly within?

At the center of the great hall, there was no extravagant or lavish décor. There was only a simple Yin-Yang fish Dao platform, shrouded in chaotic energy. Upon it sat an old Daoist in meditation, merged with the void.

Ye Fan and Pang Bo’s expressions changed violently. They opened their mouths but could say nothing. They had seen two familiar silhouettes — figures they had not laid eyes on for hundreds of years.

Behind the old Daoist stood a man and a woman, standing calmly. They were clearly the two disciples of the old days — though by now they had long since grown into adults.

The man was refined and elegant, wearing a purple-gold Daoist crown and a moon-white Daoist robe — his transcendence was impossible to put into words, his bearing exceptional.

The woman was lively and graceful — ethereal, clear, and serene, like an immortal exiled to the mortal world, standing there in quiet stillness.

“Zhou Yi!”

“Lin Jia!”

Ye Fan and Pang Bo had never imagined they would encounter former classmates within the Ancient Heavenly Court. This outcome astonished them deeply. After parting for hundreds of years, they had actually appeared here.

The chaotic energy dispersed. On the crumbling Yin-Yang fish Dao platform, the old Daoist revealed his true appearance — gaunt of face, his Daoist robe worn with age. His features and bearing were not particularly striking, and he appeared very ordinary.

“It is him!”

“Of all people — it is him!”

Ye Fan and Pang Bo were more stunned this time than ever, both of them deeply shaken.