CHAPTER 531: CHAPTER 317 THE ENTIRE CULTIVATION WORLD IS LIKE A CHOPSTICK

Cradling a teacup in his hands.

The middle-aged man now resumed his previous elegant demeanor.

His emotions were restrained, neither sad nor joyful, with a gentle smile on his face. The Junior Master treated him with a paternal intimacy, akin to a father with his children. All the other brothers and sisters were raised by the Junior Master, who taught them all their skills.

With his eyebrows slightly raised, the gentle smile revealed a touch of confidence, a trace of maturity. Even at his age, he still maintained the appearance of a middle-aged man, testament to his profound Taoist cultivation.

When he first returned from the East Sea, his thoughts appeared somewhat chaotic. His compassion for his fellow sect members made him feel uneasy, but this feeling quickly dissipated, replaced by calm composure, as he carefully analyzed what he saw and did along the way, contemplating how to resolve the current predicament.

"Yuan Shan, you still haven’t understood why I say it is a scale."

Sitting upright, he adopted a listening posture. He had always been very humble toward his elders, although... there was only one elder in the entire Purple Cloud Palace, the Junior Master.

Most others were a generation or even two generations younger than him. He vaguely remembered when he and his junior brothers and sisters were punished by their master, it was the Junior Master who led them out of the Purple Cloud Palace, and after wandering for two years, they finally dared to return home, nearly infuriating their master to the point of slapping him and Liu Jian to death.

The elder merely picked up an ordinary bamboo chopstick from the table and weighed it slightly in his hand.

"Although it is renowned as an object of greed, in reality, it has no power, no Taoist cultivation, no martial prowess, nor any law; it is ungoverned by the heavens, existing beyond the Three Realms, truly transcending the current world."

"It doesn’t even have a name, and we don’t even know whether it’s a living being, a human? A demon? Or a devil? We know nothing."

"Its purpose in existing in this world is merely to warn us."

The elder shook his head. With his age, he naturally could think of things ordinary people couldn’t, including the seven-hundred-year-old Master Gu, who listened very intently.

Since confirming his position as Sect Master, his master mentioned certain matters only known to sect heirs.

These were secrets belonging to the entire Cultivation World, and within the sect, only three and a half people knew about it.

The Junior Master, himself, Liu Jian, and Liu Tangxi.

The reason why Liu Tangxi is considered half is that this matter was never mentioned to her by anyone, including the Junior Master and the already deceased second junior brother, but...

This niece relied on her intellect and skills, personally investigating and surprisingly found Jijing Island within the East Sea, going up personally to explore, and in the end even fought with the island’s Guardian.

He did not know the outcome of the fight, but after that, he noticed something seemed different in the eyes of this niece.

So he immediately understood, even if Liu Tangxi hadn’t managed to uncover the truth, she likely saw things she shouldn’t have seen, though he wasn’t quite sure how much she understood, hence counting as a half.

He turned his head slightly to glance at the doorway, his expression conveying a bit of helplessness. It was evident that there were others outside; the entire Purple Cloud Palace, able to follow him directly across the Nine Peaks, with their immortal crane under his feet, without making any sound during the process, obviously, anyone could guess who it was.

The presence was not hidden, standing openly at the door waiting, resembling precisely her master’s mannerism, yet the elder didn’t even lift his eyelids. To him, no matter who visited, they were his juniors, youngsters; they were people he needed to take care of.

Then he continued saying, "This so-called object of greed, in my view, is not the active party."

"What occurs in the future is inevitable, as is the chaos within the Cultivation World; it merely guides you and me towards the forthcoming events, advising the entire Cultivation World to prepare adequately for this chaos."

"Yuan Shan, you have good talent, exceptional comprehension; although you fall slightly short compared to Liu Tangxi, still... your achievements should not be confined to this realm."

His heart suddenly chilled.

Yet his expression showed no change; since approximately two hundred and forty years ago, as the sect master of Purple Cloud Palace, Gu Yuanshan has been stagnant in his realm.

Many believed that at his age, stagnation was natural, as many masters were stuck before peeking into the Immortal Path, unable to progress even a step for years. Becoming an Immortal of the Human Clan was harder than ascending to heaven — in all of Gu Yuanshan’s seven hundred years of existence, he had never witnessed it nor heard of it.

However, he did not believe he was stuck here.

Not out of arrogance or pride, but because he possessed a clear self-awareness. If ordinary people with low cultivation believe they cannot break through due to bad luck or external factors, that’s normal.

But what was his realm?

He was only slightly lower than the realm of the Great Emperor, just under the Devil Immortal, Human Immortal. How could he lack a clear self-awareness?

Master Gu always believed he should be able to enter that rank, whether due to talent or the Tao he cultivated. But the truth was, over the past two hundred years, he tried countless times, comprehended countless times.

Every time he gained an insight, it would be shattered by an inexplicable odd feeling, scattering his hard-earned comprehension altogether.