339: Chapter 339 Heavenly Palace

"Exiled Immortal!?"

Shen Xingchen remembered his senior brother saying that if one were to find a realm capable of rivaling an "Emperor," the corresponding level should be an Exiled Immortal.

Ever since the demons descended upon this planet, no one had ever been able to reach the realm of the Exiled Immortal. Was it because... the path was wrong?

When the First Emperor of Qin once said that he had walked the wrong path, was he referring to the path of martial arts?

That made sense. Martial arts had only been developed for a little over three hundred years, and all aspects of it were still imperfect. For those who had reached the King tier, it could be considered a dead end, because no one had ever managed to walk the path of martial arts to divinity to its completion.

Qiyuan gave a faint smile. "Did you remember? Imperial Father once said that your natural talent is exceptional, and those words were not false."

Doubt lingered in Shen Xingchen's eyes. "What do you mean?"

He had always been aware of his own aptitude; compared to ordinary people, he was even inferior, and his cultivation speed was extremely slow. Had it not been for the accumulation of enlightenment time from the system, it would have been utterly impossible for him to reach this step today.

How could he possibly be considered to have exceptional natural talent?

Qiyuan supported her chin with her jade-like hand and carefully looked Shen Xingchen up and down. "The meridians all over your body are tough, and your spiritual roots are pure. You are a born seed of the immortal dao. Even back in my era, you could be considered as having 'Superior Grade A' aptitude."

Shen Xingchen blushed a little from the praise and rubbed the back of his head. Was he really that outstanding?

A look of puzzlement appeared in Qiyuan's eyes. "However, you went against the grain by walking the path of martial arts, which fundamentally runs counter to the path of the immortal dao. Logically speaking, it should have been very, very difficult for you to practice martial arts, and it would be hard for you to achieve anything in this lifetime. But why are you still able to cultivate so quickly?"

Shen Xingchen's body froze slightly, leaving him speechless.

There was no way he could tell her that he had a system...

Shen Xingchen glossed over it evasively. "Could it also be that I am uniquely gifted, and that both paths are very suitable for me?"

Qiyuan clearly didn't dwell on this issue too much and continued, "The path you are going to take next is completely different from the people of this world, but it is truly a path that can lead to the peak. Have you considered it?"

Shen Xingchen countered, "In the ancient cultivation system, which realm corresponds to the King tier?"

Qiyuan answered briefly, "The Ascension Realm."

Shen Xingchen nodded. "Very well, I will walk this immortal path and see what level I can reach!"

Youyue listened to the conversation between the two from the side. She always felt that Shen Xingchen's choice this time would bring a devastating blow to the demons.

...

The next day.

Shen Xingchen bade farewell to his family and friends, and accompanied Qiyuan to a cultivation ground.

The two sat on the edge of the battle boat, just like sitting on the edge of the clouds.

Qiyuan said, "Actually, the complete version of the Ancestral Dragon Scripture that Imperial Father gave you is the most suitable immortal cultivation technique. He had long anticipated that such a day would come and gave it to you in advance."

Shen Xingchen looked at the technique inside the system that flickered with chaotic aura, falling into deep thought.

Initially, he had also wanted to try practicing the complete version of the Ancestral Dragon Scripture, but the answer given by the system was that if he wanted to cultivate the complete Ancestral Dragon Scripture, he needed to dissipate his cultivation and start over from scratch.

His head had been spinning with a headache at that time; with the demons eyeing them covetously, where would they give him the time to recultivate? With no other choice, he could only give up.

He hadn't expected that the root of the problem lay right here.

Qiyuan continued, "Previously, you couldn't cultivate the Ancestral Dragon Scripture because you lacked the guiding technique of our era. Now, paired with the guiding technique I taught you, the complete version of the Ancestral Dragon Scripture is the strongest technique in the human realm. You won't go wrong cultivating it."

Shen Xingchen looked at the mountain range below and said solemnly, "Qiyuan, thank you."

Qiyuan only gave a very faint smile and didn't say much else.

...

Three hours later.

The battle boat stopped above a mountain range.

Qiyuan stood suspended in mid-air, stepped out of the battle boat, and introduced, "This mountain is called Mount Kunxu. Back in our era, it was revered as the Ancestor of All Mountains and enjoyed the reputation of being a fairyland on earth."

Shen Xingchen asked curiously, "Will I be cultivating in the mountains next?"

Qiyuan shook her head.

She walked to the edge of the sky, bit her finger, and gently pressed it against a patch of empty space. "This is the cultivation ground I spoke of."

As her voice fell,

ripple-like patterns undulated around Qiyuan, resembling the entrance to a legendary "Blessed Land".

Qiyuan introduced, "The Dao Palace was a holy land pursued by countless people in our era, and every prominent practitioner has a certain connection to it. It's just that as the spiritual Qi of the planet dried up, the Dao Palace also became dormant. In the years that followed, the predecessors and mighty figures were unwilling to let the Dao Palace slowly decay, so they hid the entire Dao Palace within a grotto-heaven."

Qiyuan took the lead and stepped across the entrance of the grotto-heaven. "Follow me."

Shen Xingchen followed closely behind, stepping with one foot into the rippling water-like entrance.

At this moment, the scene before his eyes suddenly opened up. Seven mountain peaks were suspended upside down between heaven and earth, forming the main body of the grotto-heaven's interior scenery.

On top of the mountain peaks, palaces stood tall. The foundation of the palaces was not ordinary soil, but was refined from entire blocks of emerald jade, shimmering with a gentle silver-white radiance like moonlight under the light, as if the Milky Way had been crushed and paved.

The only path leading to the immortal palaces was the rainbow bridges extending from the seven mountain peaks.

Shen Xingchen and Qiyuan walked upon the rainbow bridges, surrounded by dense immortal Qi and misty clouds.

Qiyuan sighed emotionally, "This bridge was once called the Immortal Ascension Bridge. Only by crossing the Immortal Ascension Bridge could one be considered to have taken the first step toward becoming a practitioner. It can be said that this was the path to becoming an immortal that countless people dreamed of, yet you and I are walking on it casually now. Truly, heaven likes to play tricks on people."

Shen Xingchen was speechless.

He could feel the heaviness of history from this Dao Palace, but he couldn't empathize with it the way a true ancient person like Qiyuan could.

Perhaps in Qiyuan's heart, this place was the brand of the old era and her true home.

Qiyuan led Shen Xingchen to the front of a grand hall.

That grand hall was magnificent and spectacular, being pure white like jade throughout. At the very center hung a large plaque, upon which the calligraphy was powerful and forceful—Zixiao Pavilion.

Acting like a tour guide, Qiyuan said, "This is where the Dao Palace stores its collection of books. You will cultivate inside here from now on. As for what level you can ultimately reach, it depends on your own ability."

Shen Xingchen stepped past the hall door and looked at the bookshelves filled with books that were so tall they seemed endless. "Are there no restrictions on the scriptures and classics here?"

Qiyuan shook her head. "No restrictions!"

Shen Xingchen said uncertainly, "Freely browse them!?"

Qiyuan smiled and nodded. "Freely browse them!"

Shen Xingchen had the illusion of dreaming. "This is simply... too invincible."

With so many book collections, and meticulously selected from a former immortal holy land at that, what kind of extremely precious treasures were these!

Qiyuan smiled and said, "This can be considered finding a breakthrough when things looked bleak, right?"

Shen Xingchen nodded like a chick pecking at rice.

Qiyuan walked out of Zixiao Pavilion and said to Shen Xingchen inside, "You must grow up quickly. I will help you guard Snowfield Dragon City for a year. Within a year, you must reach a strength sufficient to overturn the battlefield!"

Shen Xingchen said solemnly, "I will!"

Qiyuan smiled with satisfaction. "Then... please make yourself at home. I'm heading back to the Northern Territory!"

Shen Xingchen took one last look at her. "Be careful."

The European battlefield was out of control, and the North America battlefield had fallen. Right now, China only had two King-tier experts, but the demon side had a full seven King-tier experts, and three of them held supreme authority.

If the demons finished dealing with the other two battlefields, Snowfield Dragon City would face the assault of the entire demon race, and the tragedy of it could well be imagined.

Qiyuan smiled with dimples. "I will!"