Outside.

At the moment all the teleportation jade slips shattered, the gatekeeper grandmaster of the Mystic God Daoist Sect sensed something was awry.

Although Mu Zhao left behind a "Dao Realm" that could cover the entire Pinggu Battlefield, isolating most investigations, as the controller of the jade slips, he instinctively sensed the failure of the teleportation array.

The grandmaster of the Mystic God Daoist Sect was named Ling Yazi, and his cultivated Dao was "balance and stability," which is why he was chosen to preside over the Pinggu Battlefield.

He suddenly opened his eyes and formed hand seals, attempting to re-establish a connection with the teleportation jade slips.

But after three attempts, it was still fruitless.

Ling Yazi’s actions also alerted the other grandmasters, who all looked at him, inquiring:

"What happened? What’s going on?"

Ling Yazi stood up, took a deep breath, and said:

"The teleportation jade slips... have failed!"

"What?!"

Everyone was shocked and stood up.

The failure of the teleportation jade slips was not a minor issue!

Although it didn’t mean that everyone who entered was doomed, without the teleportation jade slips, they would have to wait for seven days until the Pinggu Battlefield closed by itself to come out.

If they entered a battlefield involving upper three grades halfway, it would truly be a situation with no way out.

Except for Shen Xingzhu and Yan Hui, who are in the grandmaster realm, perhaps only Jiang Yunqing might manage to escape unscathed; others likely faced great peril!

"These jade slips were personally crafted by the Celestial Saint Daoist Monarch, how could they fail?"

"Is it a complete failure, or did only some people experience a failure?"

"If it was partial failure, Ling Yazi would surely have mentioned it; this situation must mean it’s complete failure."

"Is there no way to forcibly reopen the Pinggu Battlefield?"

"If it were possible, why would we need the teleportation jade slips?"

The others anxiously discussed amongst themselves.

Ling Yazi calmed his mind and tried several more times, discovering that not only was the connection lost, but he also couldn’t locate the fragmented remains of the jade slips.

This meant the jade slips were utterly and completely destroyed in an instant!

The teleportation jade slips were hand-crafted by the Celestial Saint Daoist Monarch; to achieve this must require someone of upper three grades!

Additionally, the jade slips were all destroyed simultaneously, but according to the rules of the Pinggu Battlefield, they should have been in different battlefields at this time.

Thus, the possibility of an insider among them can be basically eliminated.

Ling Yazi’s expression turned grim, pondering who could have done such a thing and who had the capability?

Before this, the teleportation jade slips were always in his possession, and he was certain that no one else had touched them.

There was no issue with the jade slips... could it be a problem with the Pinggu Battlefield?

Ling Yazi’s heart skipped a beat.

If there’s a problem with the Pinggu Battlefield, then someone has directly tampered with it.

And there’s one individual who both had contact with the Pinggu Battlefield and possessed such power!

Martial Saint... Mu Zhao!

As Ling Yazi thought, he turned to look at the grandmaster from the Martial Saint Pavilion present.

But the latter’s expression was equally puzzled and tense, seemingly clueless about this matter.

The grandmasters of the Zhou Kingdom Royal Family and the Three Tribulations Sect began to lose their temper.

A princess and a Supreme Elder’s adopted son—if they lost contact now, it wouldn’t be easy to explain.

The grandmaster of the Three Tribulations Sect glared at Ling Yazi, angrily questioning:

"The teleportation jade slips are under your care; any problem is your Mystic God Daoist Sect’s responsibility. If something truly happens, my Three Tribulations Sect will definitely demand an explanation from the Mystic God Daoist Sect!"

The grandmaster from the Zhou Kingdom Royal Family, a pale eunuch, squinted his eyes and said indifferently:

"How could perfectly fine jade slips fail? I think there must be some clues... with previous thoughts, only Freedom Mountain took action, perhaps trying to cover up something?"

He suddenly looked sinisterly at Xu Datong, who had stood up for Chen Kuang, implying heavily.

Xu Datong chuckled:

"As the saying goes, a gentleman hides his weapon and acts when the time is right; if someone dares to attack my Freedom Mountain disciple for no reason, of course, I will openly retaliate; this is called repaying grievance with straightforwardness."

"Unlike some people, who only talk in a saccharine way... no wonder they’re called yin-yang men!"

That eunuch’s expression twisted momentarily, then returned to an expressionless state, ignoring Xu Datong, instead looking at the others, raising his voice sharply:

"Everyone, I have already sent someone to investigate before—"

"Freedom Mountain has no disciple named Chen Ruogu at all!"

"Your Freedom Mountain uses a non-existent person to impersonate a disciple; what intentions do you have?"

At these words, the other people suddenly felt uncertain.

They of course trust the intelligence network of the Zhou Kingdom... and they had indeed not heard of any renowned Chen Ruogu from Freedom Mountain recently.

Especially since Chen Ruogu’s cultivation was extraordinarily low from the start.

Foreseeing Freedom Mountain’s usual reputation, no more thought was given, but now with the events happening, connections are inevitably drawn.

Ling Yazi hesitated for a moment and asked:

"Don’t rush to conclusions. Why not let Fellow Daoist Xu explain a bit first? Maybe he is the master’s undisclosed true disciple?"

Xu Datong felt everyone’s gaze, coldly snorted on the surface, but secretly lamented in his heart.

When Chen Kuang arrived, he knew that the senior brother might be stirring up trouble again. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Because Xu Datong did not recognize Chen Kuang either... But the other carried a righteous aura, indicating that the master had agreed to send him here.

Xu Datong, with his banditlike temperament, couldn’t stand for even a second seeing someone bully his people.

Unexpectedly, he had become the target of everyone’s focus.

He couldn’t refute... because he truly did not know who this Chen Ruogu was.

The eunuch grandmaster from the Zhou Kingdom sneered:

"What’s the matter, cat got your tongue?"

Before Xu Datong could retort, the grandmaster from the Three Tribulations Sect exclaimed in shock and terror:

"How... how is this possible?!"

Everyone turned to look and saw that he was holding a life token that had visibly cracked!

The name on that life token was... Yan Hui!

Instantly, everyone was astonished.

Yan Hui, at the peak of the grandmaster level, was a match for Shen Xingzhu in terms of strength, and was the least likely person to die!

Yet, ironically, the first person to die was him!

However, this was just the beginning.

Soon after, they heard another "crack" sound.

The grandmaster from the Martial Saint Pavilion stared wide-eyed as the life token belonging to Wen Yao split in half!

The only remaining true disciple of the Martial Saint, the son of the Pavilion Master of the Martial Saint Pavilion, had just died like that!

Everyone’s faces immediately changed drastically.

Previously, when Li Hongling died, even while in seclusion at Pinggu Battlefield, the Martial Saint didn’t hesitate to send a Divine General to kill the murderer. Now another true disciple had died, who knows how maddened he would become...

"This... this..."

Ling Yazi was also bewildered, not expecting things to develop this way.

He hurriedly said:

"Fellow Daoists, please calm down. I will first ask the Earth Spirit Daoist Monarch to investigate this jade slip and the abnormalities of the secret realm!"

The current situation was chaotic, and Ling Yazi couldn’t decide, so he had to ask for reinforcements.

Moreover, with Wen Yao and Yan Hui already dead, the next targets could be Shen Xingzhu and Jiang Yunqing.

The Mystic God Daoist Sect certainly couldn’t sit idly by either.

The Earth Spirit Daoist Monarch was Shen Xingzhu’s master and was nearby, making him the best candidate.

As for not seeking help from the Celestial Saint Daoist Monarch... it was well known that he never meddled in affairs.

...

On a hilltop a thousand miles away.

Though this place now seemed ordinary, no one knew that this was once the hometown of the "Music Saint" and was also the secluded place of the Earth Spirit Daoist Monarch shortly after he entered the path of cultivation.

At this moment, a beautiful Daoist nun in a dark robe was walking on this desolate hill, looking at the collapsed courtyard in front of her, she lowered her eyes and sighed.

A gentle breeze blew, turning the wild grass into green waves, and the Daoist nun’s feathered garment fluttered as if about to soar with the wind.

All around was silent.

She walked into the ruins and saw a broken wooden qin on the ground, unattended. She laughed at herself:

"Two thousand years have passed... what meaning is there in looking at it every year?"

He will not return, why don’t you understand?

Lv Zhexiong said this to herself in her heart.

Twenty years is etched into the bones, two hundred years is unwavering belief, two thousand years is wishful thinking.

The time spent with that person was only a brief year, a mere speck amid her long two thousand years.

She didn’t even know that person’s name or appearance.

Why does she always hold on?

Perhaps... it was just out of stubbornness?

Just like she clearly had the ability to completely preserve the courtyard before her, yet preferred to watch it gradually gather dust and rot, secretly hoping that one day, he would return and clean up the mess himself.

Yes, what you left behind, why won’t you come back to take a look?

Lv Zhexiong stood there for a long time, finally waved her hand expressionlessly.

The collapsed courtyard before her instantly turned to scattered ash, dispersed by the wind...

She exhaled deeply, as if letting go of a burden carried for two thousand years, and was about to leave, when she suddenly frowned, flipping her palm to take out a communication jade slip and sensed the information within.

Lv Zhexiong’s face changed dramatically, instantly transforming into a stream of light, rushing toward the Pinggu Battlefield.