The location of Mount Shu felt, frankly, like a localized netherworld, the topography reminding Ye Wen of the place where Mount Shu stood on Earth—also a basin.

In the center lay a basin, encircled by towering, jagged mountains—truly a position easily defended and difficult to assault, a veritable paradise isolated from the mundane world.

However, in the Immortal Realm, things were quite different. For cultivators who could simply fly anywhere, the sheer height of the mountains offered little real defense. While it was an excellent barrier against mortals, the site chosen for the Shu Sect ensured that its disciples would not be troubled by the concerns of the secular world.

Furthermore, this area was not as vast as the Shu region; the space wasn't huge. Calling it a basin might be an exaggeration, yet labeling it merely a valley seemed inappropriate.

In short, if Ye Wen truly wished it, he could circle the entire area in a very short amount of time.

To the north stood mountains that pierced the clouds, their peaks perpetually capped with snow. Ye Wen gazed for only a moment before sensing that few, if any, would dwell up there, and the sheer steepness made passage impossible for ordinary folk.

After examining it closely with Xu Xian, they discovered that this mountain range was sheer not just on the side facing Mount Shu, but on the opposite side as well. It felt as if a massive wall had been erected to the north of their location; it was clear that no mere mortal could enter the basin where Mount Shu was situated from that direction.

Under normal circumstances, no one would choose to inhabit such an environment, but Ye Wen was concerned about whether cultivators or perhaps some demons were residing there, so he activated his Glazed Pupils and scrutinized every detail.

As he practiced over time, his divine pupils had become increasingly fluid to command. Now, when not in use, they barely differed from ordinary human eyes. While a keen observer might still catch the faint, multicolored, glassy luminescence swirling within, who truly stops to scrutinize another person’s pupils?

Simultaneously, Ye Wen was using the not-yet-fully-purified Nine Heavens Demonic Blood God Sword to practice precise control over his dual pupils. He suspected that once he completely purified that demonic blade, these divine eyes would be entirely subservient to his will, allowing him to utilize all their associated profound abilities and elevating his power to yet another tier.

At that point, he estimated, he should be able to smoothly cross the threshold before him and step into the Celestial Immortal realm.

“Well… still, thinking about Earthly Immortals and Celestial Immortals doesn't hold much meaning, does it? After all, Yuan Hong, a Celestial Immortal, couldn't defeat me!”

Ye Wen felt a surge of pride in this regard, akin to an amateur racing enthusiast beating a professional racer on the track; anyone would feel immensely pleased in such a situation.

“Senior Brother, how is it?”

Xu Xian, unable to offer much practical help, merely watched as a brilliant light shone from Ye Wen’s eyes. After peering in all directions, he let his own eyes return to normal. “Did your searchlights find anything?”

Ye Wen shook his head. “There isn't just no sign of cultivators here; I can’t find a single trace of life force! I was hoping a place this remote would hold some heavenly treasures, but now I suppose I don't need to bother thinking about it!”

Only then did Xu Xian realize that his Senior Brother wasn't just looking for people, but also for valuables! He was completely unaware that Ye Wen had been stung by embarrassment earlier in Yang Jian’s command tent, failing to recognize the treasures growing right outside his own doorstep—it was quite humiliating.

“However, there might be some unique minerals. After all, forging magical artifacts requires top-grade metallic ores!”

That diagram for the purple sword mentioned several types of metals. Of course, it didn't mandate collecting every single one; it also detailed which metals were best, which were secondary, and which were essential versus optional. This classification reminded Ye Wen of the reference sheets when buying a car back on Earth: Luxury trim, Standard trim, and Basic trim!

But given Ye Wen’s personality, he preferred to build according to the highest standard. After all, these were life-saving artifacts; one shouldn't be stingy.

The two then descended from their sword light and circled the foot of the mountains once more, finding nothing rewarding. Afterward, they turned east, the direction where the terrain was most gently sloping—almost the polar opposite of the north.

The north was completely impassable except by high-altitude flight, whereas the east of Mount Shu was the only direction suitable for entry or exit. Although this area was still a region of towering peaks and sheer drops for most mortals, making human passage difficult, it was at least traversable.

This direction would likely be the only path ordinary people could use to find Mount Shu. Ye Wen hadn't considered this when deciding to place the main gate of Mount Shu facing this way without reason.

He figured that as the Shu Sect's prestige grew, word of their renown would surely spread among mortals, attracting many who sought immortality and the Dao. Ye Wen needed to offer these people a glimmer of hope.

Yes, he was planning to cultivate an air of aloof mastery, letting those common folk seek out his Shu Sect. Then, he could stage a series of moving sagas of immortal-seeking journeys, or perhaps other melodramatic tales!

And this path, nearly impassable to humans, would serve as a test. If someone managed to traverse it and locate Mount Shu, he wouldn't mind offering them a chance to join the sect.

Now that the Shu Sect was established as an immortal lineage, Ye Wen no longer needed to obsess over sectarian succession. He himself could live for an immensely long time; if his cultivation continued to rise, he might even attain the state of eternal indestructibility—the Celestial Immortal realm was infinitely close to immortality, and upon reaching the Golden Immortal stage, one's lifespan would truly become endless.

Of course, even a Golden Immortal could still be killed; it wasn't absolute invulnerability. They wouldn't suffer illness or die naturally, but with the terrifying power of a Golden Immortal, how many people could actually kill them? Even if they encountered someone stronger, they could usually flee and save their lives. In a certain sense, they were indeed beings beyond death.

Without worrying about successors, and knowing his disciples would also have long lives, the Shu Sect had no need to endlessly increase its numbers, as it wasn't aiming to become a military force.

Simply put, future discipleship recruitment would become much stricter. In a few centuries, the Outer Sect might cease to exist entirely, as any disciple capable of cultivating for hundreds of years would essentially become a core lineage disciple, finding their established place within the sect. If after all that time, their cultivation still hadn't reached a level satisfying to Ye Wen, that disciple would likely have little lifespan left, even if not formally expelled.

Poor cultivation meant a short lifespan. Over time, those with poor aptitude or insufficient diligence would simply vanish from Mount Shu. The disciples remaining would all be the elite of the Shu Sect, and an elite-focused Shu Sect would not be a place just anyone could join. Strict selection of disciples was therefore entirely appropriate.

Weaving through the eastern mountains a few times, Ye Wen and Xu Xian personally descended to test the terrain. They eventually found that only two or three paths were actually passable, all eventually leading to the narrow track directly facing the front of Mount Shu—a path hidden within a thicket of bushes...

"If we were in the mortal world, we could establish our own nation here, and no one would even know! Even if news leaked out, no army could march in!"

Xu Xian made this assessment after observing the area, and Ye Wen heartily agreed. But setting aside the fact that they were in the Immortal Realm, neither of them had any interest in starting a nation-building game. This comment was just banter between them.

Turning south from the east, the mountains here became even steeper, layered one upon another with almost no discernible path. Of course, passage wasn't entirely impossible, but for an ordinary person to enter the basin where Mount Shu lay... for example, if the east allowed three or four out of ten people to find Mount Shu, this southern route might only allow one.

Naturally, these estimations were based on mortal standards. If someone possessed inherent abilities, the outcome might differ.

Ye Wen and Xu Xian searched around again. This time, Ye Wen was not entirely without reward. He found some rather peculiar fruits on a few ridges and also discovered a piece of ore protruding from a mountainside. Its faint golden light was an immediate indicator that it was no ordinary object, and Ye Wen certainly didn't pass it up, cleanly slicing the entire chunk off with sword qi.

He then used sword qi to dig a few larger pits, apparently hoping to see if a mineral vein had formed within the mountain. Unfortunately, after two or three attempts, they only struck ordinary rock, and he gave up.

Tucking away the fruits and the ore, Ye Wen led Xu Xian to continue surveying the surroundings. As the sky began to darken, they arrived at the western face of Mount Shu.

"Once we finish scouting this side, we can head back!"

That day, they had only conducted a general reconnaissance, which allowed them to cover three sides in a single day. If they had searched meticulously, it might have taken a month. It was fortunate Ye Wen possessed the Glazed Pupils to proceed so quickly.

Xu Xian was starting to feel bored. He had expected something eventful to happen, but all he’d done was fly back and forth accompanying his Senior Brother.

“I don’t know why, but I have a feeling something’s going to happen,” Xu Xian commented casually, perhaps due to the tedium.

Ye Wen cautioned him, “Don't jinx us. This western face borders Mount Olympus and the Western Buddhist Kingdom. If trouble arises here, it’ll be a massive headache!” This consideration was precisely why the west was left for last.

If conflicts were to arise in the future between Mount Shu and either Mount Olympus or the Western Buddhist Kingdom, this western region would undoubtedly become the primary battlefield, making prior topographical scouting essential.

Ye Wen planned only to get a broad overview today and return for a detailed inspection in a few days. But just then, his heart jolted, and his Glazed Pupils actually flickered violently. A sense of profound unease washed over him.

“Jinxer!”

Xu Xian was bewildered, wondering why his Senior Brother repeated that phrase, but he quickly noticed Ye Wen’s wry smile and instantly understood. “Did I speak true? Is there a powerful demon or rogue cultivator on this side?”

Ye Wen shook his head. He wasn't certain what was happening, but ever since acquiring these Glazed Pupils, such incidents had been nonexistent. The fact that they were reacting now meant whatever was coming would be a serious matter.

He urged his divine sight forward, peering intently into the mountain range before them. The west was slightly easier to navigate than the south, but compared to the east, it was still difficult terrain. Dense thickets obscured any clear paths.

This environment, at a quick glance, might seem even more daunting than the south, precisely because visibility was so poor; any slightly flatter path was overgrown with bizarre, strange vegetation.

Yet, within this very setting, a solitary figure was moving forward with grim determination, swinging an arm constantly, sending dazzling arcs of blade light flashing out. Wherever the blade light swept, large swathes of brush and grass were instantly sheared away, making the path incrementally easier to navigate. The figure would advance a few steps, and then another slash would follow. The blade light resembled a crescent moon in the sky; when it momentarily paused, the residual glow looked like an incomplete sickle. Ye Wen focused his gaze and immediately recognized it: a scimitar.

“A scimitar? That shouldn’t be the weapon used by people from the Eastern Immortal Continent, right?”

He phrased it as a question because he wasn't entirely clear on the specifics of the mortal world in the Eastern Immortal Continent. Although he vaguely recalled that scimitars were generally associated with ancient Persian regions, who knew how things were in the Immortal Realm?

“Oh? That doesn’t look like someone from the Eastern Immortal Continent!”

At this point, Xu Xian also spotted the moon-like curve of the blade light. Unlike Ye Wen, Xu Xian focused on the wielder’s attire and instantly recognized them as non-Eastern.

Ye Wen then remembered that when he was secluded in the Cauldron, Xu Xian and the others had been wandering outside for quite some time, gaining a far more direct understanding of the customs and culture of the Eastern Immortal Continent than he had.

“Do we have weapons like that in the Eastern Immortal Continent?”

Xu Xian glanced over and immediately replied, “No, but I did see merchants selling them. They said they were blades used by people from some place in the West, claiming they made chopping very effortless!” Ye Wen simply hummed an 'oh' without replying, as he felt the power surging within his body. He wasn't sure why, until he realized that the fluctuation in his internal power grew more pronounced the closer that distant figure moved toward them. He immediately understood that his internal power shift was somehow connected to that person.

“Who in the world is that, to cause this reaction?”

Ye Wen could only make out that the figure was quite slender, wearing loose, baggy clothes, with their head tightly wrapped, revealing only a pair of large, piercingly bright eyes that gazed toward Ye Wen’s position with an expression of confusion.

“Did this person spot us?”

Xu Xian noticed the figure's gaze and asked Ye Wen in surprise! He had assumed the person was a mere mortal, given how laboriously they were moving forward, but how could a mortal spot them from this distance?

Ye Wen shook his head. “It shouldn't be that they saw us; their eyes carried a trace of confusion. If they had spotted us, they wouldn't look like that!” The current situation made Ye Wen suspect that the fluctuation of his internal power had caused the other person to become suspicious—otherwise, how could such a coincidence occur?

Just as he intended to examine the situation closely, Ye Wen felt his Ring of Joséphine suddenly vibrate, as if something inside desperately wanted to break free. Upon careful investigation, he found that the Buddhist Wheel he had stored within the ring was radiating intense light, struggling and surging inside the ring, seemingly trying to escape confinement.

Witnessing this anomaly, a sudden enlightenment dawned in Ye Wen’s mind. He raised his hand and released the Buddhist Wheel. In an instant, it was like a second sun appeared beside him, bathing the world in brilliant light. Moreover, the radiance emanating from the Wheel carried an incredibly abundant Buddha Power. This force, when it touched living beings, imparted a warming sensation and a comfort so deep, from the inside out, that one instinctively wanted to drop all tasks and simply stand there, bathing in its power.

However, neither Ye Wen nor Xu Xian were the type to be so easily swayed. Upon discovering this bizarre phenomenon, their internal alarms blared loudly.

If previously they only felt that something might happen, now both were almost certain that something was about to happen—and it would be something difficult to handle.

At that moment, the Buddhist Wheel circled Ye Wen once. He then observed that the Buddha Power he had acquired from Wu Zhen within his body was also fluctuating wildly. Subsequently, it seemed to leave his body, with the majority of the Buddha Power transferring into the Wheel—Ye Wen, keenly aware of his own strength, noticed that this departing power was precisely the portion he had been unable to assimilate. The power he had already refined remained calm within him, completely undisturbed.

“Could it be…?”

Sensing that the entire anomaly stemmed from the Buddha Power within him, Ye Wen immediately grasped a possibility.

“Is Wu Zhen nearby?”

Before the thought had fully solidified, the Buddhist Wheel shot out with a swoosh, heading directly toward the distant figure. The person, having already sensed the anomaly in this direction, was now watching the approaching Wheel with full vigilance, holding the scimitar defensively before them.

“Could this person be Wu Zhen’s reincarnation?” Ye Wen felt he had divined the truth of the matter. “If so, he should quickly lower his guard upon seeing the Buddhist Wheel, right?”

But to Ye Wen’s surprise, far from relaxing, the figure became even more cautious. The only visible eyes betrayed a glimmer of utter despair—a look suggesting the realization that death was inevitable.

“Eh? What’s going on here? Maybe it’s not Wu Zhen’s reincarnation, but Wu Zhen’s enemy?”

While Ye Wen was pondering this, his vision blurred, and a new figure materialized out of thin air, hovering directly in front of the brilliant Buddhist Wheel. This newcomer stared at the radiant Wheel with surprise. “Huh? Did a fellow disciple arrive before me?” He raised his hand slightly; though no motion was visible, a stream of five-colored light erupted instantly, flicking the Buddhist Wheel aside.

Ye Wen, however, saw clearly: the newcomer held a single feather clenched between his fingers—and he had deflected the Buddhist Wheel with nothing more than this inconspicuous feather!