Chapter Sixty: Reunion on the Heavenly Mountain, Worries from Mount Shu

Our car returned to the small town at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains.

Guided by Ling Qingzhu, we arrived at a secluded resort. The place had been temporarily reserved by the Shushan Sect, its solemn atmosphere cut off from the clamor of tourists outside.

Ling Qingzhu was already waiting at the entrance, accompanied by an elderly man dressed in azure Daoist robes, his hair and beard as white as snow. The old man radiated an aura of sage-like elegance, his eyes clear, though a deep, unshakable worry was etched between his brows. He must be the current leader of Shushan, Master Qingxuan.

As soon as he saw our car come to a halt, Master Qingxuan strode swiftly forward, while Ling Qingzhu’s gaze fell with complicated emotion on Yuan Hao, who stepped out from the passenger seat.

Yuan Hao’s state of mind had changed greatly by now. He faced Master Qingxuan and Ling Qingzhu, offering a calm, respectful salute. “Yuan Hao greets Master Qingxuan and Fairy Ling.”

Master Qingxuan nodded slightly in return. Yet his attention was wholly fixed on me as I stepped from the driver’s seat. His searching gaze held both curiosity and a profound reverence. He could sense that the seemingly ordinary man before him possessed a depth and purity that was unfathomable—a kind of emptiness that transcended all, a return to simplicity.

“Junior Qingxuan of Shushan pays respects to Elder Jiang!” Without a hint of hesitation, he bowed deeply in deference.

“No need for formalities, Master.” I helped him up, getting straight to the point. “The situation is urgent. Let’s go see the swords.”

“Please, Elder,” Master Qingxuan said, stepping aside to lead the way. He guided us through the courtyard to a heavily guarded quiet chamber.

At the center of the chamber, on a stone pedestal, lay two ancient longswords. One scabbard was a pale violet, the other an azure blue. Though the blades remained sheathed, a fierce and chaotic aura already permeated the air, creating subtle distortions in the space around.

Yi Yi clung tightly to my hand, whispering, “Papa, these swords… are sick.”

I smiled; a child’s intuition often comes closest to the truth.

“Yes, they are ill, and seriously so.” I approached the stone platform, my gaze settling upon the pair of violet and azure swords.

I did not touch them; instead, I simply observed in silence. To Qingxuan, Ling Qingzhu, and Yuan Hao, it seemed I was merely examining the swords. Yet they could not see that my divine sense had already flowed silently into the swords, tracing their origins.

I saw.

I saw two streams of sword energy—meant to merge and nurture each other—now raging within the blades like two furious dragons, clashing and tearing at one another. Their chaos did not stem from themselves, but from their core: a mysterious crystal embedded at the junction by a Shushan ancestor.

My divine sense instantly focused on the small crystal, no larger than a fingernail, shining with the hues of a deep, starry sky.

In that instant, a vast, ancient, desolate aura pierced the barriers of time and space, flooding my mind!

This aura… it was so familiar!

It did not belong to this world of thin spiritual energy—it came from a broader cosmos, from a true civilization of cultivation! This was not some mysterious crystal; it was a standard mid-grade spirit stone, the energy core used to power large teleportation arrays and sustain the operation of blessed lands!

No wonder it had become unstable.

A spirit stone that requires abundant spiritual energy, trapped for millennia on this depleted planet, is like a whale confined to a tiny pond. The fact that it has not completely withered is a miracle. Now, it has become restless from “hunger,” instinctively absorbing all energy around it, leading to the imbalance of both the Violet-Azure Twin Swords and the “Ancient Shushan Ruins.”

It reminded me of a Daoist title.

“Penglai, the 3,700th Guardian of the Mountain, Guixu.”

The Star Track Array—the spirit stone was identical to those used in the Star Track Array!

Boom!

A tidal wave crashed through my consciousness.

So this spirit stone was one of the core stones used to activate the “Star Track Array”!

I slowly withdrew my divine sense, and the oppressive atmosphere in the chamber seemed to ease.

“Elder, what do you think?” Master Qingxuan asked urgently, his palms drenched in sweat.

I looked at him, then at Ling Qingzhu and Yuan Hao. Their faces were filled with inquiry and longing—they represented the highest inheritance and talent of today’s ancient martial world.

I decided to reveal a glimpse of the world’s true nature to them.

“Your ancestor of Shushan was an extraordinary figure,” I affirmed. “Though he did not understand the true art of refining, by intuition and talent, he managed to harness a trace of the ‘divine object’s’ power, blending it into the swords and creating the astonishing Violet-Azure Twin Swords.”

“Divine object?” Master Qingxuan pressed.

“It is not called a crystal; it is a ‘spirit stone,’” I said calmly, uttering a term they had never heard before. “It is an energy crystal more advanced and pure than all the power in your world combined. It comes… from beyond.”

“Beyond!” The three exclaimed in unison, their eyes full of shock.

“It lost control,” I continued, “because it is ‘hungry.’ The spiritual energy of this world can no longer sustain it. Like a dying man in his final struggle, your ‘Ancient Shushan Ruins’ was destabilized because it unconsciously drained all its spiritual energy.”

“Is there a way to save it?” Master Qingxuan asked urgently.

“Save it?” I shook my head. “You cannot save it, nor can I. To restore it, you would need to bring it back to a world rich in spiritual energy.”

Those words caused the hearts of the Shushan disciples to sink.

“However,” I turned, “though it cannot be cured, I can temporarily seal it and put it into a deep sleep. In that state, it will stop absorbing energy, and the twin swords and the Ancient Shushan Ruins will stabilize. But the swords will lose most of their mystical power—their might will be greatly diminished.”

“To preserve the foundation of Shushan is a blessing!” Master Qingxuan declared without hesitation. “If the swords lose power, our disciples can make up for it with their own cultivation. Elder, please take action!”

I nodded, for this was precisely the outcome I desired.

I extended my hand, my forefinger emitting a faint glow, gently touching the spirit stone. A gentle, pure force instantly enveloped it, constructing an intricate micro-sealing array that severed all its connections to the outside world.

Hum—

The Violet-Azure Twin Swords gave a soft chime, all anomalies vanished, and they reverted to two unremarkable ancient blades.

The crisis was resolved.

Master Qingxuan and the elders of Shushan thanked me profusely, but my heart was already elsewhere.

I gazed at the sealed spirit stone, a thought growing clearer and more resolute than ever.

The Elder of Guixu. The Star Track Array.

If he could depart, so can I—so can Yi Yi and I!

Perhaps it is time to return to the Celestial Palace; perhaps I can activate the Star Track Array, take Yi Yi, follow in the Elder’s footsteps, and leave this world to see the boundless sea of stars.

Once this thought took root, it could no longer be suppressed.