Chapter 200 : Chapter 200
Chapter 200: Ten Years
After laying the Seven-Colored Heavenly Dao Deer's body to rest, Lu Qingyun cradled the fawn in her arms.
The little Seven-Colored Heavenly Dao Deer had already drifted off into a drowsy sleep.
"So, what do you plan to do with this Seven-Colored Heavenly Dao Deer?"
Lu Xiaoyao asked.
He personally had no designs on it. His talent already stood at the absolute pinnacle of the Immortal Realm — having it would serve no purpose. Better to let his sister keep it.
Lu Qingyun gazed down at the fawn in her arms and sighed helplessly.
"What else can I do? Adopt it, obviously."
"The Azure Heaven Secret Realm is extremely dangerous. If I don't take it in, I doubt it'd survive half a day."
"Fair enough. It's not like our family's short on pets."
Lu Xiaoyao couldn't help but think of Wangcai and the others back home.
By his count, the family already had four pets. One more Seven-Colored Heavenly Dao Deer wouldn't make much difference.
"Alright, let's split up then. Be careful out there."
Before entering, they had agreed to train separately within the secret realm rather than travel together.
Lu Xiaoyao had only intervened because he happened to be passing by.
With that, Lu Xiaoyao bid his sister farewell, then shot skyward and vanished from sight.
Lu Qingyun looked down at the little creature in her arms and sighed.
She'd be stuck carrying this little one for a hundred years — what a handful.
But she couldn't bring herself to abandon it, so she had no choice but to reluctantly keep it by her side.
At the same time, within the forbidden grounds of the Liuli Sect.
Inside the Liuli Tower restricted area stood a towering structure, seven tiers high, its levels clearly defined. Waves of oppressive pressure radiated from within.
Ordinary beings couldn't even approach it.
This was the Liuli Sect's sect-protecting supreme treasure — the Liuli Tower.
But at this moment, the luster radiating from the Liuli Tower had dimmed slightly.
"What?!"
"That aura... the avatar in Rong'er's hands has been destroyed!"
A middle-aged man sensed the disturbance and rushed over. Seeing the state of the Liuli Tower, his expression turned ugly.
His name was Ning Wangchuan. He was the Sect Master of the Liuli Sect — and also Ning Tianrong's father, a Late Immortal Emperor powerhouse.
The Liuli Tower in Ning Tianrong's possession had been a replica forged by extracting a portion of power from the original.
When the replica in Ning Tianrong's hands was destroyed, the original Liuli Tower naturally registered the feedback.
Upon learning this, Ning Wangchuan's eyes turned bloodshot. He roared in unbridled fury.
"Damn it! Damn it all! Who dared lay a hand on my son?! I will tear them to pieces!"
It was a universal truth — the more powerful a being, the harder it was to produce offspring. Immortal Emperors were no exception.
Ning Wangchuan and his several Dao Companions had labored for tens of thousands of years before finally producing Ning Tianrong, their sole heir. Now that he was gone, how could Ning Wangchuan not be consumed with rage?
"Someone! Pass down my orders — send forces to the Azure Heaven Secret Realm and stand watch. Whoever can provide information about my son's killer will be richly rewarded!"
At Ning Wangchuan's command, the entire Liuli Sect mobilized.
After all, Ning Tianrong was their Liuli Sect's Holy Son. If this grudge went unanswered, the only ones who'd lose face would be them.
Meanwhile, Lu Xunxian had already taken Zhu Qingyan back to the Vermilion Bird Race's Clan Territory.
Standing before Sun Mountain, Zhu Qingyan asked with some confusion.
"Xunxian, wasn't the problem with Sun Mountain already resolved?"
"No. It hasn't been resolved — only temporarily sealed. And I have a feeling that thing is going to come back."
Lu Xunxian shook his head, his expression grave as he studied the sealed anomaly.
After speaking, Lu Xunxian approached it. Even with a formation barrier in place, the instant he drew near, he could feel the horror contained within.
Zhu Qingyan felt it too. Her expression grew solemn.
"So, how do you plan to deal with it, Xunxian?"
"When the time comes, I'll pass through the Space Passage and go take a look at what's on the other side."
Lu Xunxian gave it some thought before answering.
He would go there eventually, but not now.
At present, he was only a Dao Practitioner. If he wanted to venture to the other side, he would need to at least reach the Dao Venerable Realm first.
Hearing this, Zhu Qingyan's face filled with worry. She tried to dissuade him at once.
"That's absolutely out of the question. Its aura alone can instantly kill a Mid Immortal Emperor. If you go over there, even a Peak Immortal Emperor would face certain death."
Back when they had first discovered it, Zhu Qingyan had also entertained the idea of investigating the other side. But after seeing that a mere wisp of leaked aura could effortlessly kill an Immortal Emperor, she had abandoned the notion entirely.
Whatever was on the other side had to be at least at the Dao Practitioner level — and most likely far above it.
"I'm well aware. We'll wait for the right time."
Lu Xunxian waved his hand, then changed the subject.
"I'll be staying in your Vermilion Bird Clan Territory for a while. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"Ahem, of course not." Zhu Qingyan's eyes lit up, and she agreed without a moment's hesitation.
She would have been thrilled if Lu Xunxian stayed in the Vermilion Bird Clan Territory forever.
And she was confident that even the race's elders would enthusiastically welcome the idea.
Before long, Lu Xunxian had settled into the Vermilion Bird Clan Territory.
Things went exactly as Zhu Qingyan had predicted. When the elders learned that Lu Xunxian intended to stay, every one of them was beside themselves with excitement.
The residence they prepared for Lu Xunxian was incomparably lavish — even surpassing that of Zhu Qingyan, the Clan Chief herself.
Zhu Qingyan had no complaints about this. It was no less than what Lu Xunxian deserved.
After settling in at the Vermilion Bird Clan Territory, Lu Xunxian gazed toward the Azure Heaven Secret Realm and couldn't help but sigh.
He wouldn't see the children for another hundred years. It left him feeling rather lonely.
But this was an inevitability. As cultivation realms climbed and Lifespans grew, a hundred years was nothing — to say nothing of ten thousand or a million years.
Time flew, and in the blink of an eye, ten years had passed.
Inside the Azure Heaven Secret Realm.
BANG!
Deep within a mountain, Lu Xiaoyao's eyes snapped open. He exhaled a long breath.
"Finally. I've broken through to the Late Immortal Stage."
Lu Xiaoyao opened his eyes and savored the sensation of his breakthrough, a hint of satisfaction on his face.
He wasn't even fifty years old and had already cultivated to the Late Immortal Stage. Given another hundred years, he was confident he could reach the True Immortal Realm.
A True Immortal before the age of a hundred — even across the entire Immortal Realm, only a handful could claim that.
Unfortunately, not long after his breakthrough to the Late Immortal Stage, the Azure Heaven Secret Realm's laws suppressed him back down to the Peak of the Saint King Realm.
During these ten years, Lu Xiaoyao had also discovered that within the Azure Heaven Secret Realm, one's realm only temporarily returned to its true level while actively cultivating.
The moment cultivation ceased, one's realm was immediately suppressed back to the Peak of the Saint King Realm.
"Still, this is useful information for someone in my position."
"If I ever run into something too powerful to beat, I can just sit down and start cultivating on the spot. The instant my realm restores, I can strike and deal with it then."
Lu Xiaoyao mused to himself, inwardly gleeful.
But before his excitement could last, a pillar of light erupted in the distance, shooting into the sky and spreading its aura across the entire Azure Heaven Secret Realm.