The Tianyao Sacred Land is not within the borders of the Dagan Kingdom, but on an overseas immortal mountain.

Besides glaciers, which may conceal many ancient secrets, there are two other vast regions that have not been extensively explored and developed by humanity: deserts and oceans.

Among these, the ocean is far more extensive.

The ancestors of the Tianyao Sacred Land occupied the ocean, thus securing a vast future. They also controlled the comings and goings of numerous overseas immortal sects. Therefore, for thousands of years, the Tianyao Sacred Land has produced an abundance of talents, firmly maintaining its position as the foremost immortal sect in the human world.

At least, it is recognized as the foremost immortal sect within the seas.

The title of “Sacred Land” was not boasted by Dagan; it is truly a sacred place in the hearts of countless cultivators. If one could join it, even as an outer disciple, countless people would likely be willing to sacrifice everything for the opportunity.

People truly believe that the Sacred Land holds the path to immortality, and they all think that many seniors from the Sacred Land have likely ascended, and that the Tianyao Sacred Land possesses the true method of achieving immortality.

As for whether there truly are ascensions, to be honest, even the Sect Master, Ye Tinglan, is not entirely sure. Her life has only spanned a few decades, and from what she has personally witnessed, she has never seen an ascension.

Whether the records in ancient texts and the boastful testimonies of elders are true or false is hard to say, as she has never witnessed them firsthand… But Ye Tinglan also firmly believes in them, perhaps only harboring some vague doubts about the destination after ascension.

Regardless of her doubts, her life’s goal is ascension; it is the ultimate pursuit of all cultivators.

After being with Lu Xingzhou, Ye Tinglan felt that many mental blocks had been cleared, and she viewed many things with more detachment and a greater sense of liberation. The bottleneck to breakthrough indeed showed signs of loosening. Ye Tinglan didn’t know if this counted as a premonition of ascension; perhaps it did, but it might not be the right time yet.

Returning to the outside of the Sacred Land, she looked at the celestial mountain, enveloped in a purplish-blue mist, its contours like faint ink washes, appearing and disappearing along the horizon stained with twilight. The main peak was cut off at the waist by flowing clouds, its summit still reflecting the morning sun with snow, like a divine sword obliquely inserted into a sea of clouds. Two or three red-crowned cranes soared over the ridge; occasionally, a crane’s cry would sound, intertwining with the ethereal music of sheng and xiao drifting from the mountains, harmonizing with the surrounding ocean waves, creating a vast and profound artistic ambiance.

This was a scene of immortal grace that could never be witnessed in Dagan. Even those sects that claimed to have retreated to the mountains were still utterly vulgar compared to the Tianyao Sacred Land.

The desire for ascension in Ye Tinglan’s heart grew even stronger; that sense of detachment, that longing for spiritual transformation, almost made her forget the man beside her.

Similarly, Lu Xingzhou was also gazing at this scene in a trance. There was no need to enter any secret realm; his Third-Grade bottleneck already showed faint signs of loosening.

Yuan Muyu grew up in such a place… and yet she developed the personality of a Yama King. That’s quite something.

However, this “mister’s” personality can be understood. The environment had a great influence, covering up some of her minor negative traits. If she hadn’t shed many masks by now, who would have known that this “mister” was like this…

After her return, her expression became much more solemn and dignified, and she had put on her veil. Her dharma robe… huh, why isn’t she wearing her dharma robe yet?

“I’m bringing you back as a mentor of the Alchemy Academy,” Ye Tinglan stated succinctly, lowering the small boat.

Although both parties had long known who she was, even Anu, who was by their side, was now perfectly aware. But Ye Tinglan still did not want to openly be with a man in her capacity as the Sacred Master of Tianyao. She had to delude herself by wearing a disguise to preserve the sect’s reputation. Perhaps this was why Ye Tinglan ultimately lacked the confidence to contend with Shen Tang to the end.

This journey to the East Sea had also taken many days. The two had shared a bed and lodging like a married couple, but the intense, cloying intimacy of before had greatly diminished.

That wasn’t just because of the added “big lantern” that was Anu.

To put it nicely, they were more like an old married couple. In reality, Lu Xingzhou knew full well that her impending return home had created an obstacle in her heart. After all, it was no longer the exotic feeling of being far away in Tianshuang, unrecognized by anyone. Thus, the shackles had returned.

It was completely understandable, and Lu Xingzhou did not insist. Being able to act like an old married couple instead of feigning aloofness was already quite good.

Ye Tinglan did not lead him and Anu through the main entrance, parading them, but instead directly passed through the formation and headed straight for the internal Scripture Repository.

The magnificent and beautiful sights of other internal areas were unknown for now, but the peak where the Scripture Repository was located remained elegant.

A waterfall on the mountainside cascaded like a silver chain, and a rainbow bridge formed from water vapor appeared and disappeared. Jade-green bamboo forests spread across the entire mountain, and the sea breeze swept over, lifting a corner of a distant flying eave. Glazed dragons coiled around the flying eaves, and as the morning light shifted, the dragons’ eyes seemed to come alive.

That was the Scripture Repository.

Anu sighed softly, “Master, this place is so beautiful.”

Ye Tinglan said, “Do you want to join the Tianyao Sacred Land? I’ll make you a direct disciple.”

Anu shook her head, “I have a master.”

Ye Tinglan ground her teeth, “I’ll take your master too. Where will you run off to?”

Lu Xingzhou chuckled in amusement.

Ye Tinglan glanced at him but did not force him to join. After all, she still harbored thoughts of intimacy with her young man, and couldn’t truly solidify the master-disciple relationship.

Seeing that the Scripture Repository had been reached, Ye Tinglan stopped the topic and instead introduced, “There are two buildings here. The one on the left contains various records and ancient texts, vast as the ocean. You were right earlier; even I couldn’t read them all. If you search with a specific goal, you might indeed find something unexpected. I’ll have the supervisor and disciples of the Scripture Repository assist you. The building on the right contains cultivation texts, and its interior has restrictions. What level of cultivation you reach, as long as you can go up, you can choose the texts freely.”

Lu Xingzhou smiled, “I can choose too?”

“Yes,” Ye Tinglan looked left and right, lowering her voice, “For other records, I can even have the supervisor assist you, which is much better than the treatment ordinary disciples receive. How could it be that what ordinary disciples can choose, you cannot?”

“Aren’t you afraid of being talked about?” Lu Xingzhou secretly held her hand.

“Let, let go…” Last night in the cabin, she had been sleeping with his hand on her, but now even touching a hand made Ye Tinglan’s heart pound in fright, and she quickly pulled away.

Immediately after she pulled away, someone approached from afar. Ye Tinglan quickly pulled Lu Xingzhou and his disciple into the right-hand building, the cultivation text repository, “I’ve already transmitted a message for the guards to temporarily withdraw, but there will still be others coming and going; it’s not deserted… Don’t go making trouble.”

Since the guards had been told to leave in advance, the Scripture Repository was empty for now. Lu Xingzhou looked at the surrounding bookshelves and the somewhat flustered “mister” in front of him, recalling many classic scenes from “small movies.”

So he deliberately took a step forward. Ye Tinglan immediately recoiled, almost bumping into a bookshelf. “You… Anu is here! What are you doing?”

Lu Xingzhou chuckled, reaching out to brush a stray strand of hair from her forehead, and shook his head, “You… put your veil back on again.”

Ye Tinglan retorted angrily, “Are you saying that only being shameless with you counts as letting go?”

Lu Xingzhou whispered, “You know I didn’t mean that.”

Ye Tinglan pursed her lips and said nothing.

He certainly didn’t mean that. With Anu present, Lu Xingzhou couldn’t possibly do anything untoward.

But he was clearly teasing her, and Ye Tinglan felt a little vexed. Why was it like an uncle flirting with a young girl… Who was whose mentor, anyway!

Lu Xingzhou said, “Since it’s about seeing which floor one can reach, you don’t need to accompany us. I’m sure you have a lot of things to do now that you’re back at the sect. Anu and I will go up and have a look ourselves… Hmm, if we try to force our way to the third floor, will there be any danger?”

Ye Tinglan exhaled, seemingly afraid to look at him, and turned her head to answer, “It’s our sect’s own place, there won’t be any danger. It’s just to prevent disciples from prematurely practicing techniques beyond their capacity, so there are slight restrictions. You’re at the Third-Grade threshold, so you can try. Your cultivation technique is strong, and your cultivation quality is high, so the third floor shouldn’t be a problem. Anu’s physique is special, so it shouldn’t be a problem for her either.”

Lu Xingzhou nodded, took Anu’s hand, and began to ascend the stairs.

Ye Tinglan looked up as their clothing disappeared around the stairwell corner. She stood in silence for a long time before quickly leaving.

Having been away from the sect for so long, she naturally had a pile of affairs to attend to upon her return and found it very difficult to stay by their side.

Lu Xingzhou and his disciple ascended to the fourth floor without any hindrance, and then directly to the stairs of the third floor.

—To correspond with the Nine Grades, the Scripture Repository’s ground floor was designated as nine, and the higher floors as one. Therefore, they were ascending to the third floor.

During their ascent to the fourth floor, Lu Xingzhou noticed that the obstacles set there were merely a form of pressure. The higher they went, the greater the pressure, especially on the stairs. On the previous floors, the master and disciple had walked with ease, but on the stairs to the third floor, they found it difficult to take steps; their legs felt too heavy to lift.

“Anu, why are you…” Lu Xingzhou turned to ask Anu, only to see Anu scamper up the stairs, slowing down only on the last few steps, but still ascending smoothly.

Lu Xingzhou: “…”

Anu turned around, “Huh, Master, why aren’t you walking?”

Lu Xingzhou huffed, activated his cultivation in his legs, instantly feeling much lighter, and also scrambled up.

On the last few steps, he realized it wasn’t that his steps couldn’t move, but that his body was under severe pressure, like being at the bottom of a deep sea, experiencing immense pressure from all directions, making it difficult to breathe.

But with the circulation of the Yinyang Jiyi, he also ascended with ease, though he still had to bear the pressure at the top, constantly needing to circulate his cultivation technique.

The master and disciple exchanged glances and said in unison, “Shall we go up higher?”

Then, they simultaneously grinned and headed straight for the second floor.

On the top floor, an old man put down his book and looked up in surprise, “These two brought by the Sect Master… are quite interesting.”

It was not uncommon for Fourth-Grade cultivators to reach the third floor throughout history, as these internal facilities were relatively gentle, and there were indeed some who found it as easy as they did.

But in terms of human nature, having already stepped onto a floor beyond one’s grade, and having crossed the significant threshold of the Upper Three Grades, most people would already be ecstatic. They would quickly search for suitable items on the third floor while they could still bear the pressure.

Those who would overcome this human inclination to continue to the second floor, besides being exceptionally strong, were invariably those with extremely high expectations of themselves, commonly known as narcissism.

At least in the past hundred years, only two people in the Tianyao Sacred Land had done so.

One was Ye Tinglan, and the other… well, now known as Yuan Muyu.