Shen Lian quietly looked at Ruoxi while Ruoxi stared back at him with her clear eyes.

　　Gu Caiwei leisurely asked, “What are you two doing?”

　　Ruoxi held on to Gu Caiwei’s hand and jokingly said, “Nothing much.”

　　Shen Lian kept a solemn face and did not say a word.

　　Next up were Choushi and Jia Yili’s battle of mana. Jia Yili who bears the burden of the Shenxiao True Technique has mastered the Thunder Method, and felt that Choushi was not a worthy opponent. But as they both appeared at the venue of the battle, Jia Yili realized that he was terribly wrong.

　　All Choushi did was standing there and a dash of overwhelming Qi dynamics charged towards Jia Yili, making it difficult for him to summon his mana.

　　If Choushi was not a class above him, it would not have ended in such manner.

　　Shen Lian was not focused on their exchange of Dao methods and instead looked up towards the sky. The heavenly gates appeared in the sky without anyone noticing. It looked stunning with rosy clouds surrounding it.

　　The heavenly gates gradually became more and more obvious and took up half of the sky. However, he was the only person from Qing Xuan who noticed it.

　　Gu Caiwei curiously asked, “What are you looking at?”

　　Shen Lian smiled, “Nothing. I’m not too interested in the battle between the younger juniors. Senior apprentice-sister, I’ll go and meditate for a bit.”

　　Gu Caiwei nodded her head. Considering Shen Lian’s level, she knew that he was probably not interested to watch her fight, let alone these junior disciples. Things would be in order as long as she is watching them.

　　( B oxnovel.c om )   Shen Lian meditated on the cushion and not long later, a cloud of smoke that was invisible to others including Gu Caiwei, emerged from his head. It gradually condensed in the air and morphed into a transparent version of Shen Lian. Ruoxi was the only one who looked towards his direction but it seemed like she didn’t realize anything.

　　Shen Lian did not want to alarm others and decided used the astral projection of the Primordial Spirit

　　Leaving his physical body behind, Shen Lian felt a lot lighter and he could actually travel as fast as his Thunder shifting method.

　　Not long later, he flew really close by to the heavenly gates and his spirit started to quiver a little. It was as if he belonged to somewhere beyond the heavenly gates, the place where every being who has attained immortality longed for. It has something they need, something that could help them avoid the trials of Dao.

　　The closer he was to the heavenly gates, the more he could feel the soul cleansing Qi.

　　Shen Lian may be a Primordial Spirit, but he could feel that the soul cleansing Qi was greatly beneficial for him. It felt like he was inhaling the fresh air after the rain, refreshing and energizing.

　　There was a plaque with three letters on it at the heavenly gates. It was covered by clouds earlier but now it was visible. It was undetermined what font the three letters were written in but any living creatures who looked at the three letters would understand its meaning – the Southern Heavenly Gates.

　　Legend has it that the Southern Heavenly Gates was a place of trade between mankind and the Heaven Courtyard. Whether it was the current world or the world where Shen Lian once belonged, there were much existing literature about the Southern Heavenly Gates, ranging from humans, gods, to demons, and even the devil.

　　The front gate of the Heaven Courtyard that countless living creatures longed for appeared out of a sudden. It was mysterious, unfathomable, majestic and not everyone could see it.

　　Of course, Shen Lian was not the only person who could see it. But that did not matter.

　　From time to time, the Southern Heavenly Gates would release the soul cleansing Qi that made Shen Lian felt as heavy as a heroic poem that silently trespassed his heart of Dao. In fact, he felt like he saw ten or more unsmiling heavenly marshals, tall as the roofbeams, standing next to the pillars, holding metal-tipped bows and banners. All around stood gods in golden armor, brandishing their club and halberds, wielding their cutlasses and swords.

　　They glared at him and yelled, “Trespassers of the Southern Heavenly Gate will be summarily executed.”

　　Summarily executed, summarily executed, summarily executed…

　　The thunderous chant was ringing in his ears as their vast killing vibes came crushing on his heart of Dao like the flowing stream of water of the milky way. Most cultivators who were in the nine states of cultivation would have fallen from the sky and smashed into pieces.

　　But Shen Lian remained composed and was not distracted by the deities. His mind was like a sword, it cut through whims and the voices of deities started to fade away from his ears.

　　He then arrived outside of the Southern Heavenly Gates. The gates were wrapped by the clouds but the solemn-looking pillars were visible. It was so majestically huge that a human would look like an ant next to it.

　　He observed the inside of the Heavenly Gates but all he saw was vast emptiness. It was an unknown territory, yet it was also the place where many celestial beings have come and gone.

　　( B oxnovel.c om )   The plaque with the three characters of the ‘Southern Heavenly Gates’ carved on was, in fact, thousands of miles away from him. But as he looked up, it was just right in front of his eyes. His divine thoughts alighted on the plague, giving him the point of view of the plague. Overlooking the world from that point of view was way above the secular mortal world.

　　It was as if he could see the joys and sorrow, the birth and the death of mankind.

　　He could see the birth of a bird in the forest and at at the same time, saw a cicada who died in its own sad song. He also saw a bedridden man who was being nursed by his wife. He could not swallow the medicine and be coughing blood.

　　The joy and sorrow of the mortal world had nothing to do with him but he could see every one of it.

　　All of a sudden, his hand was caught by another hand.

　　A Primordial Spirit who wandered between whims and reality would still be able to feel sensations. In fact, as a primordial spirit was directly related to the soul, they could feel any slightest sensation with a great deal of sensitivity.

　　He could feel the softness of the hand that held on to him, it was the warmest and most comforting jade-like hand. He saw Ziling’s beautiful face as she took his hand and said, “Let’s go.”

　　Mount Taicang, inside Lingxiao Hall.

　　Yuming the Honored Celestial kept a nice beard. Whenever he encountered an important incident, he would caress his beard. The golden crown on his head would then radiate light. He looked so majestic and profound that living creatures would easily surrender to him.

　　Four people then entered the hall, one after another. The first person was a man in a purple Dao robe with the embroidery of the eight trigrams. He had a head of long hair and long beard, and was oozing the vibes of a celestial being. His name was Daoqing and he was one of the five celestials of Guangqing. He had the longest history with Dao but his cultivation experience was not as deep as Yuming the Honored Celestial.

　　Yuming the Honored Celestial was already standing, he walked towards Daoqing and said, “Senior Apprentice-Brother Daoqing, after so many years, the Heavenly Gates resurfaced once more.”

　　Daoqing was followed by an ultimately beautiful nun who was dressed in a green outfit. The hall lighted up as she walked in.

　　Daoqing responded, “Dengfeng and Shaowei have left for the Yin mountain. I believe they won’t be able to come back anytime soon. The three of us should depart first and this time around, we must find the Jinque Jade Book.”

　　The nun whose name was Lingguang smiled, “Senior Apprentice-Brother Daoqing is right. We have just mastered the Lingxiao Hall and then the Southern Heavenly Gates resurfaced. Looks like we Guangqing are fated with the Heaven Courtyard. Just like the saying goes, ‘if we don’t accept the gifts of heaven, we would be punished.’ Chief, let’s start immediately.”

　　Yuming the Honored Celestial smiled and responded, “I totally agree with Senior Apprentice-Brother Daoqing and Junior Apprentice-Sister Lingguang. Without further ado, let’s go!”