The Mount Da Lou, spanning sixty million li, encircled by thirty-three rivers of quicksand and eleven submerged waterways, is renowned as a sacred grotto-heaven in Fanjian Xuyan Heaven, yet it is simultaneously infamous as a perilous, deadly region. Annually, nearly ten thousand immortals meet their 'accidental' demise around Mount Da Lou, many suffering the fate of having their souls utterly shattered.

All the immortals of Fanjian Xuyan Heaven are well aware that Mount Da Lou is the dojo of three figures too formidable to provoke. Ordinary folk wouldn't dare venture near.

The Divine Lords Chiyue, Qingyang, and Baishui are the three Palace Masters of the Three Divine Palaces, the rulers of the domain extending a billion li around Mount Da Lou.

Although the three Palace Masters claim lineage from an ancient immortal, their conduct bears none of the noble bearing expected of true immortals. In fact, their daily actions lean closer to the demonic path, and their disciples are nothing but arrogant and overbearing brutes, striving for tyrannical dominance, which has left the vicinity of Mount Da Lou thoroughly polluted and chaotic.

At the core of the Mount Da Lou range, cradled by a vast, limpid blue lake, stands a mountain shaped remarkably like a dragon's head. This mountain mirrors a genuine dragon's head so closely that the gaping jaws facing the heavens, the dragon's eyes, horns, and whiskers are all clearly visible.

From the dragon's mouth juts a long tongue, which is actually a solitary peak soaring over ten li high. At the summit of this peak rests a magnificent palace—this is the main hall of the Three Divine Palaces, home to the three Divine Lords Chiyue, Qingyang, and Baishui, along with Chiyue’s only son, the young master Tianyuan.

Surrounding the Dragon Head Peak and its lake, nestled within the forests, are dozens of palaces and pavilions. Further out still are over a dozen cities and several hundred villages and small towns of varying sizes. The palaces and pavilions house the confidantes and favored subordinates of the three Divine Lords; the cities are populated by the direct descendants and sect members of these subordinates; and the villages and towns are inhabited by mixed communities of immortals who have pledged allegiance to the Three Divine Palaces, and ordinary cultivators serving as menial laborers.

For the past few days, a piece of gossip has been circulating among the core members and subordinates of the Three Divine Palaces: the Young Palace Master Tianyuan, who had led a large contingent of immortals down to the lower realms, has apparently encountered some extraordinary fortune and has rushed back with a few close retainers.

Immediately upon returning to the Three Divine Palaces, Tianyuan broke the prohibition issued by Divine Lord Chiyue. He disturbed the warding formations outside the seclusion caves of the three Divine Lords, summoning them from their meditation where they were striving to break through to the Pingyu Jiutian realm—the peak of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal stage.

After emerging, the three Divine Lords, along with Tianyuan, gathered in a top-secret cave within Dragon Head Peak, engaged in some unspecified, intense activity.

Regardless of what they were doing, all of the Three Divine Palaces' internal and external defensive formations have been fully activated these past few days. The mountain-guarding immortal generals have all been deployed, with hundreds of High Unity Golden Immortals leading one hundred thousand Golden Immortals, completely sealing off Dragon Head Peak—not even a fly could slip into the Three Divine Palaces.

The formidable immortals subservient to the Three Divine Palaces have also been mobilized, patrolling the areas around Mount Da Lou in waves. Any immortal, regardless of their origin, daring to approach Mount Da Lou is immediately attacked by the forces belonging to the Three Divine Palaces, invariably retiring in bitter defeat amidst the vast wilderness.

While the Three Divine Palaces were tensely scouring the surroundings, a group of uninvited guests had already arrived on a small peak west of Dragon Head Peak.

Having reached the High Unity Golden Immortal realm, Gu Xichen had re-refined the Seven Emotions and Six Desires Bewitching Talismans. Now, these talismans were potent enough to deceive the detection of any immortal below the Grand Unity Golden Immortal level. Unless he deliberately leaked his aura, tracking their movements would be exceedingly difficult even for ordinary High Unity Golden Immortals.

The group, utilizing the Bewitching Talismans, infiltrated Mount Da Lou and positioned themselves barely a water-separation away from Dragon Head Peak, less than a hundred li in a straight line. At this distance, it was not just Gu Xichen, Yang Zai, and the Monkey whose vision was abnormally sharp; even Juangua, Sirene, and Aredia could clearly discern the eyebrows of the two High Unity Golden Immortals standing guard on the gate tower of the Three Divine Palaces. “The defenses are tight,” Juangua noted.

Juangua squatted on the ground, using a dead branch to sketch various patterns haphazardly. All the external restrictions around the Three Divine Palaces were fully open. Juangua, who was extremely gifted in the Dao of Formations—having six out of seven spiritual apertures open to it—felt a headache coming on just looking at those formations.

The Ten Heavenly Lords stood beside Gu Xichen, squinting at the Three Divine Palaces, faint, shifting colors flickering in their eyes.

Gu Xichen also knitted his brow, dedicating his entire mind and spirit to studying the formations and restrictions of the Three Divine Palaces. His ten fingers rapidly wove through various hand seals, conjuring a phantom image of the Three Divine Palaces woven from light before him. Various spiritual glows would occasionally flash within it.

Every time a spiritual light shot out, it signified that Gu Xichen had successfully deciphered one of the outer restriction methods of the Three Divine Palaces.

After spending a full day and night in this manner, Gu Xichen suddenly gasped, “The three hundred and sixty layers of formations at the main gate—all unlocked.”

The Ten Heavenly Lords simultaneously announced the number of formations they had broken. The one thousand four hundred and forty layers of formations across the four cardinal directions—East, South, West, and North—of the Three Divine Palaces had all had their true nature revealed within a single day and night. Gu Xichen and the Ten Heavenly Lords exchanged a knowing smile, feeling a wave of exhilaration wash over them.

Mother Jinguang let out a mocking sneer. “It’s acceptable that they set up their own formations and restrictions, even possessing some clever ideas that cost this venerable one some effort. However, in their pursuit of maximizing the formations' power, they managed to procure dozens of ancient immortal formations from who knows where, hmph!” The Ten Heavenly Lords echoed the cold laughter, dismissing the protective formations of the Three Divine Palaces as utterly worthless.

If the entirety of the Three Divine Palaces’ protective formations had been devised solely through their own research, perhaps they could have caused a bit more trouble for Gu Xichen and his companions. But the fact that these formations repeatedly incorporated dozens of powerful ancient immortal formations played right into the hands of the Ten Heavenly Lords.

Considering the origins of the Ten Heavenly Lords, they hailed from the Jie Sect, acknowledged as the foremost authority in formations across the Three Realms, and they were among the most profoundly accomplished disciples in that art. These ancient immortal formations had been dissected inside out since the beginning of their cultivation; they held no mysteries for them whatsoever.

After a few cold laughs, Gu Xichen looked towards Dragon Head Peak and said coldly, “They have superior numbers and three High-Grade Grand Unity Golden Immortals seated at the core. Our strength is insufficient to contend with them head-on. Does anyone have a good plan to throw them into disarray?”

If it came to a direct confrontation, the current Ten Heavenly Lords, Yang Jian, and the Monkey were not strong enough to clash head-on with High-Grade Grand Unity Golden Immortals. But if it was about preparation—making the High-Grade Grand Unity Golden Immortals suffer a setback—Gu Xichen possessed numerous malicious techniques from the Great Wilderness Scripture. The Ten Heavenly Lords held countless secrets of the Jie Sect, and even the three Kongsang brothers controlled powerful secret divine abilities passed down from ancient divine lineages.

Even the Monkey, who usually preferred smashing things with his staff, had racked his brain, dredging up certain potent methods from the forgotten corners of his memory. These spells were techniques faintly hinted at by his extraordinary Master during the initial stages of his own training.

Once the group had settled on a plan, they immediately began setting up their preparations.

The Ten Heavenly Lords retreated far into the deep mountains of Mount Da Lou, selecting a small peak one hundred zhang high. Using their divine abilities, they sculpted the peak until it was virtually indistinguishable from Dragon Head Peak, even casting a miniature mountain identical to the Three Divine Palaces on the 'dragon's tongue' spire. They then stealthily gathered several hundred powerful exotic beasts deep within Mount Da Lou, extracting a droplet of hot blood from the core of each beast’s heart. Combining this with ten-thousand-year-old cinnabar, powder derived from ten-thousand-year-old thunder-struck peach wood, and the last traces of starlight residue from a fallen meteor, they concocted a strange ink called 'Myriad Heaven Ink.'

Using this deep red ink, imbued with the energies of heaven and earth, the Ten Heavenly Lords spent several hours working on the miniature Dragon Head Peak, inscribing countless runes densely across the mountain surface. Each time the small mountain was covered in runes, they cast spells to seal the runes into the mountain body, then proceeded to inscribe more runes on the surface.

After this process was repeated forty-nine times, the Ten Heavenly Lords produced large quantities of fist-sized Divine Crystals and inlaid one hundred and thirty thousand of them onto the small mountain, following a bizarre formation pattern. Following that, they used magic to levitate the small mountain and relocated it to a desolate, uninhabited area within Mount Da Lou, a place riddled with barren mountains and noxious waters, leading directly to a fierce energy aperture where the dark energies of the Nine Nethers seeped upward. There, they began the refinement process.

The three Kongsang brothers searched within Mount Da Lou for three thousand six hundred spiritual trees that were over ten thousand years old. They carefully stripped off the outermost layer of bark, the part richest in spiritual energy clinging closest to the trunk, and used their clan's secret divine abilities to transform it into tens of thousands of pieces of paper, thin as cicada wings, yet lovely jade-green in color.

Next, the Kongsang brothers borrowed the Netherworld Fan from Juangua and selected numerous strange and exotic plants from it. Using these, along with materials like the sap of the 'Soul-Hooking Wood,' the poisonous juice of the 'Soul-Guiding Vine,' and the dew condensed on the 'Shadow-Reflecting Divine Leaf,' they concocted the 'Shadow Body Fluid.'

It was hard to imagine that the three Kongsang brothers, known for their staggering combat prowess, possessed such delicate draftsmanship. Using the Shadow Body Fluid, they sketched human figures onto the jade-green spiritual wood paper. Any immortal they had glimpsed among the Three Divine Palaces or its vicinity in the past few days had their true likeness quickly captured on the foot-square sheets of paper.

Gu Xichen vaguely perceived that every time the three Kongsang brothers depicted an immortal's true form, a trace of strange energy was drawn out from that immortal’s body and merged into the portrait. This portrait then formed a miraculous connection with the actual immortal, allowing for a vast array of techniques to be deployed.

After privately praising the extraordinary skill of the three Kongsang brothers, the Monkey was already demonstrating a technique that left Gu Xichen utterly awestruck.

This Monkey was likely using this kind of spell to scheme against others for the first time in his life, which caused him to dash around excitedly, covering the entire area. When the sun was high, he raced to various geomantic spiritual nexus points across Mount Da Lou, using secret methods to extract a wisp of essence from the sunlight and integrate it into the spiritual nexus. When the moon was full, he likewise rushed to the sources of the spiritual veins throughout Mount Da Lou, merging the essence of moonlight into the veins.

The Monkey excitedly scurried back and forth for three days and three nights. Gu Xichen secretly calculated the places the Monkey had visited and was astonished to realize the Monkey had covered the entire Mount Da Lou range. What was the Monkey trying to achieve? Could he possibly be planning to destroy the entire Mount Da Lou? Given the immense scope covered by the divine spell he was setting up, this was certainly a possibility!

However, the mountain ranges of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths differed from the mortal realm; every mountain here was vastly more massive and stable than several stars in the lower realms. While easily destroying a few stars in the lower realm was a trivial matter, destroying a single mountain here required considerable effort. For the Monkey to intend to overturn the entire Mount Da Lou range in one go—what an audacious undertaking!

Yet, even though Gu Xichen had been closely monitoring the Monkey's every move, he could not grasp the purpose behind the Monkey’s arrangements. This type of divine technique was utterly different from any divine ability Gu Xichen was familiar with. It seemed to subtly incorporate a trace of the Monkey’s innate origin power while simultaneously aligning with the rules of the Heavenly Dao—it was profound, mysterious, and difficult to describe.

However, Gu Xichen decided to leave the Monkey to his own devices. Since they were on the enemy's turf, no one would shed tears if he broke a few pots. Gu Xichen himself had been overwhelmed with his own tasks over these past few days and simply did not have the mental energy to ponder the meaning behind the Monkey’s spell arrangement.

Although Gu Xichen and the others had theoretically deciphered all the formations and restrictions of the Three Divine Palaces, theoretical decryption did not mean they could enter and exit the formations at will.

Formations were not static entities. For the same ancient formation, the method of entry and exit would possess subtle variations depending on the purity of the materials used, the cultivation level of the person setting up the formation, and the strength of the magic treasure suppressing the formation's core.

It was much like the blueprint of a building: the final structure would always vary slightly due to differences in raw materials, the architect, and the construction tools used. Gu Xichen spent these past few days repeatedly infiltrating the defensive formations of the Three Divine Palaces, meticulously mapping out the paths of entry and exit for each formation. Furthermore, leveraging his familiarity with formations, he began connecting these arrays together.

The protective restrictions and formations of the Three Divine Palaces drew their primary power from the subterranean spiritual veins of Mount Da Lou. As long as the spiritual veins remained, the great arrays would persist.

Gu Xichen was no stranger to severing spiritual veins; he had done so more than once. To restore the power of the Grand Yin Profound Orb and the Grand Yang Profound Orb, he had plundered countless massive spiritual veins to fill the two treasures. This time, however, he did not steal Mount Da Lou’s spiritual veins. Instead, he minutely adjusted the flow direction of these veins, connecting all the great arrays into a single, incredibly potent 'explosive charge.'

All the great arrays were subtly modified to operate in an outward-radiating mode, instantly releasing the entire stored energy of the formation. Once a pre-placed talisman at the core of this newly nested grand array was triggered, and with the talisman’s suppression removed, these one thousand four hundred and forty great arrays would instantly merge into one singular, new formation, concentrating the energy of the entire subterranean spiritual network of Mount Da Lou into one point and erupting instantaneously.

The spiritual veins of Fanjian Xuyan Heaven were exceedingly rich in spiritual energy, and the quality of that energy was extremely high, incomparable to the spiritual veins of the mortal world. Naturally, the destructive power of this spiritual vein explosion would be terrifyingly immense. Gu Xichen was eager to see how powerful this spiritual vein eruption would be; he hoped it wouldn't be overshadowed by the preemptive traps set by the Monkey and the others!

The group spent half a month completing these preliminary moves. Afterward, the Monkey accompanied Gu Xichen as they infiltrated the Three Divine Palaces.

The main reason the Monkey was asked to accompany Gu Xichen into the Three Divine Palaces was due to Yang Jian’s strong recommendation. This recommendation was unanimously approved by the entire group: they all recalled the Monkey’s two dazzlingly white, completely bare legs! The Monkey’s Hair Clone technique was simply too useful!

Although Gu Xichen had also learned this divine ability from the Monkey, he simply did not possess the Monkey's luxuriant amount of body hair. It would be absurd for Gu Xichen to pluck his own head hair, chew it into paste, and use it to create clones.

Hunching his bent knees, the Monkey walked with a sullen face, muttering constant greetings directed at Yang Jian, pouting as he followed Gu Xichen into the Three Divine Palaces.

The Monkey was genuinely feeling annoyed and ashamed. His eyes narrowed the entire way, constantly fixing on the crown of the heads of the surrounding immortals of the Three Divine Palaces, carrying a clear urge to swing his staff and smash their skulls open. Fearing the Monkey might impulsively ruin things, Gu Xichen tightly gripped the Monkey’s wrist. The two crept forward stealthily, bypassing layers of formations and restrictions, finally entering the interior of the Three Divine Palaces.

There were no formations or restrictions within the core of the Three Divine Palaces. Any immortal with a sound mind would not set up too many barriers in their own living quarters; otherwise, stepping in or out even once would become too troublesome. Considering the large number of disciples and retainers, would they really need several hours just to enter or exit?

This conveniently aided the stealthy infiltration by Gu Xichen and the Monkey. They moved unimpeded, reaching the innermost depths of the Three Divine Palaces. After eavesdropping on the conversations of a few young attendants serving the Three Divine Lords, they smoothly arrived outside the seclusion cave of the three Divine Lords and Tianyuan.

The entire layout of the Three Divine Palaces carried strong vestiges of ancient immortal styles. This cave dwelling, deeply buried beneath Dragon Head Peak, had an entrance shaped like an open Taiji diagram. The Yin and Yang Taiji twin fish slowly rotated. In the eyes of the twin fish, a black pearl and a white pearl were embedded, within which a faint divine light shimmered—this was the mechanism for opening the door.

Gu Xichen frowned. His mastery over formations and restrictions was profound, but this array before him was like a combination lock: the principle was simple, yet it required inputting a specific fluctuation of immortal power to open the door, which left him momentarily stumped.

Just as Gu Xichen was contemplating whether to use the Pangu Banner to forcibly break open the cave door and charge in, the Monkey bounded over with a beaming smile.

Reaching out to grasp the two pearls, the Monkey squinted while carefully channeling immortal power inward, muttering under his breath, “Lao Jun’s elixir chamber used this type of door back then. After so many years, these immortals haven't made a single improvement?” Gu Xichen was momentarily astonished, then almost burst out laughing.

He had almost forgotten—the foremost thief of the Three Realms was this very bastard! His glorious achievements were still circulating throughout the Three Realms. How could he have forgotten this crucial detail?

This doorway was nearly impossible for others to open, but for the Monkey, it was as easy as taking a sip of water. He had managed to open the entrance to the Supreme Pure Grand Master Lao Jun’s elixir chamber in the past; opening the door to the Three Divine Palaces was hardly a challenge!

Watching the Monkey meticulously channeling his immortal power with focused intensity, Gu Xichen quietly asked, “Where did you learn this skill?”

The Monkey squinted, his expression deeply absorbed as he felt the feedback from the mana flowing through the two pearls. He subconsciously muttered, “Of course, from my Master…” Crack! A sharp sound, and the Monkey abruptly shut his mouth, his rapidly closing teeth nearly slicing his tongue.

Gu Xichen chuckled and nodded at the Monkey. The Monkey rolled his eyes, looking distressed, and forcefully pressed the two pearls inward toward the door.

The pearls silently sank into the doorway. The slowly rotating Taiji twin fish parted, transforming into two door panels that retreated into the surrounding cliff walls.

Gu Xichen raised his index finger to his lips, signaling the Monkey to remain silent. The two slipped inside stealthily, acting like thieves.

Inside the cave entrance, there were several more potent restrictions, including malevolent and wicked traps like the Yellow Springs Soul-Burning Black Flames. Fortunately, Gu Xichen possessed both the energies of Grand Yin and Grand Yang, his divine abilities and techniques were extraordinary, and he was protected by several supreme treasures. He easily evaded these restrictions, proceeding deep into the cave dwelling.

Turning past a glazed golden screen at the end of the forward corridor, the scene ahead erupted in a dazzling clear light. Sounds of surging pond water, fire, and wind rushed toward him.

Before him was a vast cave mansion, shaped like a circle above a square, spanning dozens of li in circumference. At the center, a green sphere of light floated indistinctly. Around it, four immortals, their bodies constantly churning with golden flowers and purple qi, sat rigidly on meditation cushions, teeth gritted. They were projecting the four elemental powers of water, fire, earth, and wind, continuously assaulting the green sphere of light.

Innumerable blue lotus blossoms continuously sprayed forth from the cyan light mass. Sharply edged like blades, the blue lotuses spun rapidly, their petals slicing the surrounding void, sparking large swathes of fire, and causing countless ripples in the space, though they failed to actually cleave the void open.

A voice, utterly arrogant and unrestrained, rang out: “Beauty, your supreme treasure does possess considerable power, but alas, you cannot wield its full might!”

“This is Fanjian Xuyan Heaven. Without cultivation at the peak of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, it is impossible to break the void here, or draw energy from the Chaos Space to protect yourself. Relying solely on the power of this Innate Banner, how many days can you last?”

“Be wise, release the banner, surrender all your innate magical treasures, and obey me obediently. I promise you, the position of Young Palace Mistress of the Three Divine Palaces will still be yours! My father and my two uncles are here as witnesses; can you truly not trust my word?” Inside the green sphere of light, compressed down to only a few dozen zhang in diameter, Fuya.Ming sat cross-legged.

No matter how Tianyuan raved, Fuya.Ming pretended not to hear him, focusing instead on closing her eyes to regulate her breathing, attempting to prolong her time as much as possible.

When Gu Xichen walked into the cave, even though the Seven Emotions and Six Desires Bewitching Talisman concealed all his aura, she instinctively knew Gu Xichen had arrived. Fuya.Ming instinctively opened her eyes and looked toward Gu Xichen’s direction. “You’ve come.” Fuya.Ming’s gaze was as tranquil as still water, as if she had known he would arrive at this exact moment. “Yes, I’ve come!” Gu Xichen looked at Fuya.Ming, understanding the message in her eyes. He knew she could sense his reply. A faint smile blossomed on Fuya.Ming’s face, like an evening primrose blooming quietly under the moonlight.

The captivating smile misled Tian Yuan Xiao Nan, causing him to misunderstand Fu Ya. Ming was already moved; he laughed ecstatically, "Beauty? You agreed?" Fu Ya, Ming said calmly, "Put away your techniques for a moment and listen to me."

Tian Yuan Xiao Nan pondered for a moment, then suddenly laughed, "Father, Uncles, stop for now. This beauty, she isn't getting away."

The other three inside the cavern simultaneously drew a deep breath, and the water, fire, and wind elemental powers they were constantly spewing suddenly solidified.

Gu Xie Chen clearly sensed the sudden relaxation in the moods of these three terrifyingly powerful beings, and the immortal energy within their bodies momentarily halted. "Kill!" Gu Wu Chen shook the Pangu Banner, slamming it fiercely toward Tian Yuan Xiao Nan, who was suddenly within striking distance.

The Monkey whipped up a sky full of staff shadows, smashing down like thunder toward the back of another Daoist elder with white hair, white beard, and blue eyes.

Fu Ya, Ming suddenly opened her mouth, and a ray of seven-colored divine light, carrying a bone-chilling coldness, shot out almost instantaneously to the chest of an elder completely enveloped in white water ripples. Along with the sword light erupted a cyan treasure bottle, about a foot high, and a hazy blue aura sprayed from the bottle's opening, enveloping the elder who was momentarily caught off guard.

A flash of purple light erupted beside Gu Xie Chen, and twelve slender golden figures burst forth, transforming into a golden torrent that jointly blasted down upon the last elder, whose eyes were wide with shock.

The Pangu Banner shuddered and had already slammed to within a foot of Tian Yuan Xiao Nan's chest.