Feng Zikang was utterly astonished. He had absolutely not expected to encounter anyone else in this Ancient Immortal’s Cave Mansion!

Moreover, this person had approached him so silently that he hadn't sensed a thing!

If this individual harbored ill intent, wouldn't he be in grave danger!

He instinctively kicked away the hand gripping his ankle and sprang back. Fortunately, he was within the radius of the Ding Feng Zhu (Wind Calming Pearl), saving him from the scouring wind and sand!

Within this Ancient Immortal’s Cave Mansion, the spiritual energy was chaotic, causing his normally sharp and cautious senses to falter!

"Oh dear, friend! Please don't be so heavy-footed with your kick."

A figure scrambled out of the quicksand. He was disheveled, his face pale and frightened, covered head to toe in white powder, clutching a wooden staff. His clothes remained tattered and decayed.

"Who are you?"

Feng Zikang drew his iron sword, retreating a step.

In a place like this, encountering a strange person out of nowhere, he certainly wouldn't let down his guard. Although this fellow seemed harmless, one should never judge a book by its cover!

The man also seemed startled, quickly explaining, "Friend! Please don't misunderstand. I was merely following my master's orders to deliver a message to True Man Yuding. I took shelter beneath the sand for a time because of the sandstorm, and I owe you a great debt for saving me—my gratitude knows no bounds!"

"What?"

Feng Zikang’s expression shifted. "What did you just say? You said what you were here for?"

The man paused, then chuckled, "I was sent to deliver a message to True Man Yuding of Jinxia Cave on Yuquan Mountain. What? Have I come to the wrong place?"

He patted his head, looking around.

"I also think I've come to the wrong place. How could the Cave Mansion of True Man Yuding look like this?"

Hearing the man repeatedly claim he was delivering a message to the master of Jinxia Cave on Yuquan Mountain, Feng Zikang's face darkened, filled with immense doubt.

Whether this cave mansion's previous owner was indeed called True Man Yuding, he didn't know, but for at least a thousand years, this dwelling had been abandoned. This was true for all Ancient Immortal’s Cave Mansions.

Was this messenger simply ill-informed, or had he traveled too slowly?

With this thought, Feng Zikang sheathed his iron sword and offered the man a respectful bow. "Greetings, friend. I am Feng Zikang of the Small Bamboo Grove, associated with the Military Strategists of Longhu Mountain. May I ask your esteemed name?"

Seeing his courtesy, the man hastily returned the gesture. "I dare not presume. I am merely a humble Daoist acolyte under Qingjing Sanren of Qingyun Island in the East Sea, known as Gui Tongzi (Turtle Boy). May I ask how you know True Man Yuding? Could you take me to meet him?"

"Gui Tongzi?"

Feng Zikang frowned. "Brother Gui, what business do you have with True Man Yuding? When did you arrive? True Man Yuding has long since departed from this place."

"Long since departed?"

Gui Tongzi slapped his forehead, lamenting, "It’s all my fault for crawling too slowly! It took me a full three months to travel from the East Sea here. I never imagined True Man Yuding would have moved. This is my fault!"

"Three months?"

Feng Zikang shook his head. "Brother Gui, do you realize that True Man Yuding has not been here for at least a thousand years!"

Gui Tongzi froze for a moment, then erupted into loud laughter. "Friend Feng, you jest! Only half a year ago, True Man Yuding visited our Qingyun Island as a guest. Later, when Sanren learned of the Great Tribulation sweeping the world, he specifically sent me to deliver word. How could it have been a thousand years? Even I, old turtle, crawling slowly, wouldn't take a thousand years!"

"Half a year ago?" Feng Zikang grew more confused the more he listened. "Brother Gui, then do you know what year it is now, and what major events are happening in the world?"

Gui Tongzi knitted his brows. "I, old turtle, have lived on the island and know little of worldly affairs. However, I do know that King Wu overthrew Zhou last year, and Jiang Ziya conferred the Investiture of the Gods this year."

"Ah!"

Feng Zikang’s face changed drastically. He stared suspiciously at Gui Tongzi, shaking his head and sighing, "Brother Gui, the events of King Wu overthrowing Zhou and Jiang Ziya conferring the gods are matters from two thousand years ago!"

"What?" Gui Tongzi refused to believe it. Only after Feng Zikang explained for a long time did he finally understand that he had unwittingly arrived two thousand years into the future, all by himself.

"How... how is that possible?"

Tears welled up in Gui Tongzi's eyes. "No matter how slow I crawled, it shouldn't have taken two thousand years to get here!"

Feng Zikang glanced at the quicksand from which the turtle had emerged and asked, "Brother Gui, how long have you been hiding beneath this sandstorm?"

Gui Tongzi slapped his head and cried out in pain.

Upon reaching Jinxia Cave on Yuquan Mountain, he was immediately caught in the boundless sandstorm, utterly disoriented. Having no choice, he burrowed underground to hide. Relying on his Turtle Breath divine ability, he remained in deep slumber.

Only when Feng Zikang used the Ding Feng Zhu to disperse the violent sandstorm did he seize the opportunity to awaken.

In that instant, two millennia had slipped by!

※

"You mean to say that in the current world, it is the Three Teachings and Nine Schools that hold sway, and there are no more Immortals?"

Gui Tongzi squatted pitifully to the side. Darkness had fallen, and Feng Zikang had lit a bonfire, sitting cross-legged, explaining the current world to the turtle boy.

Likewise, he had many questions he needed to ask Gui Tongzi.

"Precisely. In the current world, there are no longer..."

Qingyun Island in the East Sea was merely the ruins of an Ancient Immortal's Cave Mansion; no one resided there anymore, Feng Zikang shook his head.

Gui Tongzi burst into loud sobs, which only subsided after a long while, his face etched with grief.

He was merely a Daoist acolyte with a Foundation Establishment cultivation, transformed from a giant turtle of the East Sea. He had grown accustomed to living under the protection of his master. Now that the world had drastically changed, where was he supposed to go?

Feng Zikang knew this fellow was a living fossil from two millennia past. Despite his low status, he was a survivor from that era and thus a veritable treasure trove. Enduring patiently, Feng Zikang began to interrogate him slowly.

Two thousand years ago, the Three Teachings and Nine Schools had not yet risen to prominence. It would take another century before the Hundred Schools of Thought contended.

In that age, humans and Immortals coexisted. Although the Great Desolation had shattered, quite a few Immortals still remained in the world. That period coincided with King Wu’s campaign against Zhou.

"Although I dwelt secluded in the East Sea, I heard quite a bit,"

Gui Tongzi nervously recounted the events of that time to Feng Zikang.

When King Wu attacked Zhou, many Immortals and cultivators became entangled in the war. Qingjing Sanren confined his disciples to the mountain, strictly forbidding them from descending, thus narrowly avoiding the catastrophe.

After this Heavenly Tribulation, the already fractured world could no longer maintain separate planes for Heaven and Earth. Thus, the Immortals, who had been planning for this, invited Jiang Ziya to ascend the stage for the Investiture of the Gods, splitting the single, complete world into two halves: one Heaven, and one Earth!

"What?"

Feng Zikang was startled. He had always assumed that the so-called Heavenly Court was a profound realm created by beings of great divine power, never suspecting that this profound realm was actually cleaved from the world itself.

"That is essentially correct!" Gui Tongzi nodded. "The Heavenly Court is a profound realm, but it was split off from this world. In essence, isn't that the same thing? All profound realms are split off from an existing world. Can anyone conjure a profound realm from thin air? Unless that person is Pangu!"

Feng Zikang felt a flash of realization. He knew this must be the critical juncture he had long struggled to grasp. But he wasn't ready to dwell on it yet; Gui Tongzi possessed too much valuable information. He couldn't help but press on with his questions.

After the division of Heaven and Earth, the clear essence ascended, and the turbid essence descended. The Immortals remaining in the terrestrial realm immediately felt an overwhelming pressure.

They faced a painful choice: either remain on Earth and struggle against the vile worldly Qi, or enter the Heavenly Court, where, although not directly commanded, they would still be subject to constraints.

Most were unwilling to accept this fate. They either found ways to ascend to the Upper Realm or attempted to create their own profound realms to hide within.

In fact, the majority of Immortals did not go to the Heavenly Court.

"My master left rather late,"

Those who saw the writing on the wall had already figured out a way to depart shortly after King Wu overthrew Zhou, but before Jiang Ziya performed the Investiture. After the Investiture, conditions on the ground worsened, and Immortals fled one after another. Qingjing Sanren was on good terms with True Man Yuding, and they discussed remaining in the mortal world temporarily.

However, after a few months, Qingjing Sanren found the situation escalating dangerously, so he dispatched Gui Tongzi to True Man Yuding to urge him to meet and discuss further.

Unfortunately, Gui Tongzi dallied, and his crawl was slow. By the time he reached Jinxia Cave on Yuquan Mountain, it had already become what it was now—or perhaps even more violent and chaotic.

Therefore, Gui Tongzi could not resist and had to flee underground.

"So that's what happened..."

Feng Zikang finally let out a breath. He never imagined that the mystery of the Immortals' departure in those days would be revealed to him by sheer coincidence at this very moment. The Great Heavenly Tribulation of that time had forced the world to collapse, something even Immortals could not sustain.

What would the outcome of today's Great Heavenly Tribulation be?

He suddenly recalled something as he pondered.

"The Heavenly Court is a profound realm, so isn't our mortal world also a profound realm?"

Gui Tongzi glanced sideways at him, shaking his head. "You only realize that now? Never mind this mortal world being a profound realm; even when Heaven and Earth were unified, it was still a profound realm."

"What?"

Feng Zikang was enlightened, finally connecting all the pieces.

"This Heaven and Earth were originally just a fragment of the Great Desolation. In the past, the ancient Immortals and Sages possessed boundless divine power, and the true Universe World was shattered, forming countless profound realms."

"What we occupy, this Heaven and Earth, is merely one of the more complete ones."

But to claim this profound realm is the entire cosmos would be excessively arrogant!

Feng Zikang recalled that the place where he existed when he was an ordinary person was also just a profound realm.

As for the realm of the Formless Heavenly Demons beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, its location remained unknown. If you wish to know what happens next, please log on to Jué Zhāng Jié for more chapters. Support the author, support genuine reading!

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