Chapter 280: Junlin

The Seven Arts of Immortal Cultivation corresponded to the Seven Institutes of the Tai Xu Sect.

These institutes were teeming with Masters, and their disciples possessed extraordinary talent. They were home to the Tai Xu Sect’s most important Dharma Gates, Magical Treasures, and all its Immortal Cultivation Resources. It could even be said that any one of them, if taken on its own, could establish itself as an independent sect in Cyan Nether State.

The two Chen Qingyang was most familiar with were the Tai Hao Sword Institute and the Separation Dragon Pill Institute. He knew of Tai Hao because Li Qianxue had once been there, and he had visited a few times because of her.

As for the Separation Dragon Pill Institute, his connection was even deeper. He was a Pill Master there, had taken a Separation Fire Dragon Pearl from the premises, and in doing so, had offended a Foundation Establishment Master—a Steward with considerable power, no less.

After he joined Cyan Bamboo Peak, his enemy’s methods of dealing with him had become rather feeble, amounting to little more than sending scoundrels like Tian Jingzhao to annoy him.

Later, they had used the Separation Dragon Assembly to set up an elaborate scheme against him, someone who was only in the Qi Refining Realm.

Fortunately, he had the protection of Master Liu Pei—and by extension, Cyan Bamboo Peak. By a strange twist of fate involving his Conscious Fish, he had also managed to use the True Dragon to severely injure a Half-Step Foundation Establishment Disciple under Lu Jinzhang, reaping a great number of Immortal Seedlings in the process.

His later entanglements with the Seven Immortals of Peach Valley, and even Xu Wuji, were also instigated by this Lu Jinzhang. Although Chen Qingyang was a Pill Master in the Pill Institute and his acquaintance, Liu Tao, was one of the seven Chief Stewards of the Four Golden Peaks Branch, he still felt no goodwill toward the place.

Perhaps Lu Jinzhang was now at his wit’s end, because the matter had gradually faded. For the past two or three years, at least, he hadn’t been affected by him.

‘But the Immortal Path is long; why rush things? They won’t let go of a grudge over a blocked Immortal Path so easily.’

Before him, set against a backdrop of breathtaking beauty, was the palace complex of the Separation Dragon Pill Institute.

Dark, inky mountains surrounded a lake as clear as a mirror. The water’s surface was perfectly calm, reflecting the vast, pale gray sky. Then, the bright moonlight shattered across it, creating a million shimmering silver ripples.

Along the lakeshore, a sprawling complex of palaces was built by the water, reaching out over its surface, living by it, and blending with it.

The upturned eaves and vermilion pillars cast vivid black reflections that danced with the gentle waves.

A tall pagoda gleamed with golden light, and brilliant lamps shone all around. The scene was like something transcendent, untouched by the mortal world, yet also like an emperor’s secluded palace, suddenly appearing far from the clamor of men.

The scenery of the Pill Institute was as stunning as ever.

Dressed in his Vermilion and Purple Attire, Chen Qingyang strolled brazenly down a path where senior brothers, junior sisters, and numerous Miscellaneous Task disciples were coming and going.

No one who saw him found it strange. Everyone went about their own business. The place felt more like a grand academy.

Chen Qingyang walked on, sensing the Array in the area. He looked up at the sky and saw the vast Star Map above.

He first needed to confirm that this place was also part of the Circulation of Stars Demon Suppression Array.

His Conscious Fish circled around, gradually getting a feel for the Array. He began to form a rough idea of where its Array Buildings were located and how its Qi Mechanism flowed.

He walked all the way to the lakeshore. He recalled seeing everyone gather here on the day of the Separation Dragon Assembly, before sixteen Masters stepped into the air and jointly summoned the Void Bridge.

According to what the Masters had said at the time, the Void Bridge was to prevent those entering from touching the lake water. This implied that the True Dragon Cave was located beneath this very lake.

‘But it surely isn’t as simple as just diving into the water to reach the True Dragon Cave,’ he reasoned. ‘They’ve likely used some kind of Array to turn the Dragon Cave into a Sumeru Illusion Realm.’

‘And that Void Bridge is the only entrance to the Void Illusion Realm.’

As Chen Qingyang walked, he focused on sensing the faint Qi Mechanism of the Array. Using his Conscious Fish, combined with the techniques from his Array True Understanding, he finally felt it: countless streams of Star Power were converging on this spot.

‘In other words, a node has formed here. If I can decipher it, I should be able to find the entrance to the Sumeru Illusion Realm amidst this dense web of Arrays.’

Now that he had reached the third scroll of the Great Soul Scripture, his Divine Sense was stronger than ever. Before long, he locked onto a location, and his Conscious Fish plunged into the water.

After swimming for a while, it spotted a White Jade Tower, standing like a Stabilizing Needle amidst the reefs at the bottom of the lake.

This had to be one of the Array Buildings, and a breakthrough point Chen Qingyang could exploit. The Conscious Fish pressed against it, and Chen Qingyang, standing on the lakeshore, closed his eyes. A faint starlight shimmered within his body as he began to trace the pathways of the Qi Mechanism.

This kind of work was extremely time-consuming, like untangling a knotted mess of string—meticulously finding a loose end, then figuring out why the mess had formed in the first place.

He stood there until dawn. Although people passed by in twos and threes, no one paid him any mind.

After all, it wasn’t uncommon for someone to stand by the lake, seeking Enlightenment. For long stretches of time, his thoughts were completely immersed in the Conscious Fish, sensing the subtlest changes, as if he were both deducing and integrating with the Array.

Because of this, he couldn’t move too far from the spot.

“Senior Brother, can one achieve Enlightenment just by looking at the lake?”

Chen Qingyang turned to see a young man standing beside him. Like him, the man wore Vermilion and Purple Attire. His Cultivation was at the Essence Condensation Second Realm, higher than Chen Qingyang’s, yet he still addressed him as “Senior Brother.” ‘How overly polite,’ he thought.

“It’s hard to say,” Chen Qingyang replied. “Sometimes you want to enter a meditative state, but you just can’t quiet your mind. I just feel that if I wait a little longer, I might gain something.”

The young man nodded lightly and also turned his gaze to the lake. “Hmm, what Senior Brother says makes sense.”

Chen Qingyang ignored him and went back to what he was doing. After a moment, the man still hadn’t left and spoke to him again. “My surname is Lu, and I have a name I feel I don’t deserve: Junlin. I’m currently cultivating here in the Pill Institute. Might I ask for Senior Brother’s name?”