Qin Yun believed it was in the bag when Ancestral Master Zhang mentioned that he was eighty percent confident.

"It was not easy for me to lure him out of his nest. I had also made adequate preparations." Ancestral Master Zhang shook his head. "I never expected him to have a rare life-preservation item just for fleeing. I failed to restrain him too. But in fact, killing him has little influence over the Great Chang world. What"s most important of all is my wish to know… why he wants to conquer our Great Chang world."

"Does our Great Chang world have some senior"s cave abode? Some treasure? Or does the Great Chang world hold some secret of the fiendish way?" asked Qin Yun.

"I have traversed every spot in the Great Chang world the past few years. I have thoroughly checked the land and sea. East Sea Skydragon and Brother Bai have both searched meticulously as well." Ancestral Master Zhang shook his head. "We have not discovered anything special about our Great Chang world."

Qin Yun nodded. "Back when Yi Xiao was abducted, I searched the world and did so very meticulously. I even used the Eye of Lightning to seek treasures but failed to find anything special."

"The more it can"t be found, the more uneasy I become," said Ancestral Master Zhang.

"Senior Brother, the Great Chang world is a Small World. Golden Immortals and Buddha mighty figures are unable to descend into our world. Our homeworld"s Heavenly Dao is on our side as well, repressing the fiendcelestials. As long as you, with your strength, are here, I believe any schemes the fiendcelestials concoct are little more than wishful thinking," said Qin Yun.

"The fiendcelestials can forget about succeeding as long as I"m in the Great Chang world," said Ancestral Master Zhang. Following that, he looked at Qin Yun. "Junior Brother Qin Yun, I attained such strength by using the Myriad Dharma Pool. Improving further will be difficult. Your talent and perceptivity are probably above mine… You have to quickly improve yourself to join forces with me and increase our chances."

"I understand." Qin Yun nodded.

Ancestral Master Zhang felt a little more relieved. All these years, he had been quite alone in the Great Chang world. It was because all the Skyimmortals and Skydemons were weaker than him.

Now, he finally saw someone that had a chance of chasing up to him.

…

Moments later, Ancestral Master Zhang left.

Qin Yun sat cross-legged by the side of the mirror lake when Yi Xiao came over.

"Brother Yun, didn"t Ancestral Master Zhang mention that he entered the Star Cl.u.s.ter Hall?" asked Yi Xiao. "Why do I feel that he lacks confidence?"

"He truly went all-out, exposing his true strength. If the fiendcelestials were to take action again, they would definitely be fully prepared," said Qin Yun. "And most importantly of all, he has reached a bottleneck. It"s going be difficult for him to raise his strength any further for quite a while; thus, he is naturally worried."

Yi Xiao nodded gently.

"I plan on heading to Green Touring Palace after finis.h.i.+ng my meal today," said Qin Yun.

"How long will you be gone this time?" asked Yi Xiao.

"No idea, but it shouldn"t be long."

"Alright."

Yi Xiao nodded and said with a smile, "Then, I"ll personally cook for you today." With that said, she left.

Qin Yun smiled as he watched his wife leave before closing his eyes.

"Chi!"

Endless starlight emitted from Qin Yun"s body that washed over the surroundings. Instantly, his surroundings were covered in a gorgeous starry scene.

From a distant stellar s.p.a.ce, limitless stellar forces tore through and descended upon his surroundings. They each gathered into stellar phantoms the size of a fist and made 360 stellar phantoms total. There was stellar light swirling amid them, making the entire area form a world of its own.

Qin Yun commanded with his mind. "Change."

Each of the stellar phantoms condensed from stellar forces slowly transformed into a Sword of Stellar Light.

Soon, there were 360 Swords of Stellar Light that drove the stellar forces.

"After I gathered enough treasures, I only took a year to get a basic grasp of these two great divine powers. However, making any further improvements would be a lot more difficult." Qin Yun thought nothing much of it in the past since simply grasping the great divine powers was very difficult to begin with. Qin Yun had only taken a year to gain a basic grasp because his Sword Dao happened to complement the two divine powers well and because his Sword Dao realm was quite high.

It was only normal that the subsequent cultivation would go slowly.

However, Qin Yun felt that he should try to improve himself and breakthrough as soon as possible.

"Engaging in the painstaking work of slowly improving and chasing a breakthrough is just too difficult. I"d probably spend thousands of years if I did that," thought Qin Yun. "It"s better if I cultivate my Sword Dao. Once it"s realm is high, the cultivation of a divine power becomes faster as well."

The Dao was fundamental.

At a high realm, divine powers, Dharmic powers, Dharma spells, and a self-created Dharmic formulation would all come relatively easier.

"Having been back in my homeworld for three years now, I have learned plenty from the Hundred Great White Yang Metal Sword Art and the other four sword manuals. I"m beginning to enter a bottleneck. I hope I can make a breakthrough by using the special grounds in Green Touring Palace," thought Qin Yun.

******

That day, he had lunch with his wife and daughter before he departed the Great Chang world for the Green Touring Palace.

"Whoosh—"

Qin Yun appeared in Green Touring Palace.

Green Touring Palace"s temperature was much colder than his homeworld"s. Absorbing the Heaven and Earth spiritual energies into his body seemed to lighten his body. As the Dao residence of Heavenly Lord of Numinous Treasure, even an ordinary yard in Green Touring Palace had much better cultivation effects than a specially constructed chamber in his homeworld, to say nothing of the palace"s actual cultivation grounds.

"Why is there such a bustle?" Qin Yun saw a group of senior brothers and sisters gathered in the distance.

"Junior Brother Qin Yun." A azure-robed female cultivator took one step forward when she saw him. Phasing away, she appeared beside him.

"Senior Sister Lan," greeted Qin Yun with a smile.

"Junior Brother, seriously! You were gone for more than three years and never came back once." The female cultivator smiled as she leaned close to him.

Qin Yun slightly dodged her and smiled immediately, "Senior Sister, what"s happening up ahead? Is someone sparring? Why are so many fellow disciples gathered?"

"No, it"s Senior Brother Feng. He"s declared he"ll be giving pointers to his junior brothers and sisters. Therefore, a bunch of fellow disciples have rushed over." Only then did the female cultivator stand up straight.

"Senior Brother Feng?" Qin Yun was puzzled.

"Skyimmortal Feng Li." The female cultivator said wistfully, "Senior Brother Feng"s wind-riding divine power is very impressive. Typical ninth firmament Skyimmortals can be blown to a b.l.o.o.d.y mush by his wind. He is even able to escape mighty figure with it. The people gathered there to seek Senior Brother Feng"s help are likely skilled in wind-riding techniques."

"I see." Qin Yun nodded.

"It"s the same with Green Touring Palace. The stronger one is, the more you are extolled." The female cultivator sighed before changing topics. "By the way, did you know that Master took in a disciple one year ago?"

"Isn"t it normal for Master to take in disciples?" asked Qin Yun with a smile.

"It"s different."

She shook her head gently. "This disciple has been summoned by Master three times over the span of a year."

"What, he was summoned three times?" Qin Yun was astonished.

Under normal circ.u.mstances, Numinous Treasure Dao Ancestor would only give a disciple guidance once before they became a Golden Immortal.

"This junior brother"s name is Yu Gui," whispered the female cultivator. "I heard that he was quite dimwitted from a young age and had never cultivated at all. At fifteen, he saw a monolith surface in a river. After seeing the patterns on the monolith, he stood watching it in a daze for three days and was directly enlightened in the Dao, reaching the Skyimmortal realm instantly."

"What?" Qin Yun was stunned. "He had never cultivated before but suddenly reached the Skyimmortal realm after three days of Dao enlightenment?"

"Then, Master appeared before him and brought him to Green Touring Palace." The female cultivator sighed. "He was guided very carefully and was summoned thrice in a year. Junior Brother Yu is presently a sixth firmament Skyimmortal."

Qin Yun felt a little lost for words.

"Many of our fellow disciples are envious of him. Master is indeed biased towards our junior brother but envy amounts to nothing," said the female cultivator helplessly.

"We already owe Master for teaching us once. Why should we harp on such matters?" Qin Yun shook his head.

"We are guessing that Junior Brother Yu… might have some serious background." The female cultivator whispered, "Perhaps he"s the reincarnation of some important figure."

…

On the way, he had a series of simple exchanges with the senior brothers and sisters he was familiar with.

An hour later, he came to the periphery of Green Touring Palace. There was a tiny trail that led deep into the clouds.

Qin Yun stepped into it.

"Broken Sword Valley should be very suitable for my Sword Dao cultivation." Qin Yun continued proceeding.

"Whoosh~" The wind inside began to turn increasingly forceful.

He arrived at a mountain valley after a few minutes of walking. There were swords embedded in the valley. Some were intact or in damaged states. At a glance, he saw more than ten thousand swords as Sword Qi filled the valley.

There were mountain peaks surrounding the valley. Many Green Touring Palace disciples were cultivating at these mountaintops, the mountainside, and even the cliffs of the numerous mountains.

"There are more than two hundred disciples cultivating here in seclusion? Some of them have probably been cultivating for a very long time." Qin Yun sighed inwardly as he swept his surroundings with his gaze. He chose a spot on the mountainside and, with a step forward, whistled over.

When he landed on the mountainside, he waved his hand, carving out a spot about ten feet across.

Following that, he sat cross-legged.

He closed his eyes and could clearly sense a terrifying sword intent permeate the surrounding void.