"Is this a gamble I am willing to take?" the Dao Elder thought.
"Although he has proven himself capable of surviving this cruel world, entrusting my life to a child at the Vessel Cleansing Stage is reckless. He is barely over four hundred years old," he continued pondering.
"There is a second option. It is relatively easier than the first," Lingtian said, pulling the Dao Elder from his deep thoughts.
"Is it another way to repair the core?" Ping 'An asked in disbelief. The first option was already a miraculous opportunity that could only be granted by a god-tier powerhouse, and here he was talking about a second.
"No," Lingtian replied, turning back to face him.
"Then what could this second option be?" the Dao Elder asked curiously.
"During my stay in the residential section of the Eclipsed Sun Sect, I came across an opportunity. A legacy left behind by an ancient being from before the Great Chaos," Lingtian replied, taking his seat opposite the table.
"An ancient being from before the Great Chaos," the Dao Elder gasped in utter shock.
"He passed his life's work to me, an ancient cultivation pathway he created," Lingtian said before he slowly leaned forward. "What I am about to tell you must never leave this courtyard."
Lingtian placed his finger on the Dao Elder's forehead, instantly pulling him into his sea of consciousness.
"What is this place?" the Dao Elder asked as his soul avatar dropped heavily onto the sandy shoreline within Lingtian's mind.
"My sea of consciousness," Lingtian replied, watching in mild confusion as the Dao Elder stared dumbfounded at the environment, acting as if it were something he had never seen before.
"The ocean, mountains, clouds, light, and this..." the Dao Elder stammered, stumbling backward as he laid eyes on the thousands of death phantoms. Dozens of commanding generals and the Chief Commander, with the two aides by her side, occupied more than a quarter of the entire expanse.
"What... what are these things?" the Dao Elder whispered, staring in disbelief. His spiritual probe could not decipher the type of energy they exuded, but based on their auras alone, the weakest among the commanding generals was no lesser than a Sovereign Immortal.
"These are some souvenirs I picked up from the death zone," Lingtian chuckled, watching the Chief Commander cast a sharp, bombastic side-eye in his direction.
"Is that right?" the Chief Commander asked flatly, staring intensely from where she sat cross-legged on a coastal rock. The three halos behind her burned brighter and more radiant than ever, signifying her rapid recovery.
"No, Senior. I was just joking," Lingtian laughed, awkwardly scratching his head.
"Hmph," the Chief Commander scoffed, closing her eyes and returning to her deep meditation.
"This is... this isn't possible," the Dao Elder muttered to himself, frantically scanning the environment.
"What is he dawdling about?" Si, one of the commanding generals, asked as he drifted down from the sky to land beside Lingtian.
"I do not know," Lingtian replied as they both watched the old man mutter to himself in confusion.
"Senior, about the second option..." Lingtian started, before being abruptly cut short.
"This is an inner world creation," the Dao Elder declared, his pupils dilating wildly.
"What do you mean?" Lingtian asked, furrowing his brow. "This is just my sea of consciousness."
The Chief Commander, whose eyes had been closed in meditation, suddenly snapped them open at the Dao Elder's words.
"Dao You, this is not just a sea of consciousness. This is an Inner World. It is a creation that only an Immortal in the Perfection Stage can master," the Dao Elder explained, his voice trembling as he revealed the reason why he reacted the way he did when he saw Mo Lingtian's sea of consciousness.
"Are you growing senile with age?" Si laughed loudly. "Well, I am technically older than you, but..." he continued roaring with laughter.
"I am not joking! What would I gain by lying to you?" the Dao Elder yelled angrily at the general who kept laughing.
"Lingtian, someone is approaching the courtyard," the Chief Commander suddenly said, raising her eyebrows.
"We will talk about this later," Lingtian said. He placed a hand on the Dao Elder, snapping them both out of the expanse and back into the physical courtyard.
"Sorry if I offended you, I was just..." the Dao Elder started, bowing his head slightly.
"Do not worry. I have had my own share of amazements," Lingtian replied, turning his attention toward the cultivator flying rapidly toward their location.
"It looks like we will not be seeing you for some time," Ping 'An noted, having also sensed the approaching aura.
"I will be taking my leave now," Lingtian said as the cultivator finally touched down at the entrance.
"Senior, the Patriarch is summoning you," the cultivator announced, bowing slightly to salute Lingtian.
"Alright. You may leave. I will be right there," Lingtian said, casually waving a hand as he turned toward his dragon beast, which was lying silently in the garden field.
"Senior, the Patriarch specifically instructed that I personally escort you to the designated meeting place," the cultivator insisted, remaining bowed.
Lingtian paused and turned around to take a good look at the disciple. The voice sounded incredibly familiar.
"Wang Ping?" Lingtian asked, taking a step toward him.
"You brat. I thought you were never going to greet me," the dragon beast grumbled, opening a massive eye at the mention of the name.
"Oh... Senior, you are mistaken. That is not me. Wang Ping is my junior brother," the cultivator replied, finally standing upright.
"Your junior brother? How do the two of you share such a striking resemblance?" Lingtian asked, halting his steps as he carefully analyzed the cultivator's face.
"We are twin brothers," the cultivator replied smoothly.
"I see. How is Wang Ping faring?" Lingtian asked.
"He is doing fine. Senior, the Patriarch is waiting," the cultivator deflected, abruptly cutting back to his main objective.
"Alright. Let us move then," Lingtian agreed, walking toward the entrance.
"As for you," Lingtian said to the dragon beast without looking back, "we will have a nice chat when I return."
The dragon beast simply grunted in reply as Lingtian shot into the sky, closely following the cultivator.
Something feels really fishy about him, Lingtian thought, watching the twin brother's back as they flew toward the main hall.
"Are we not stopping at the main hall?" Lingtian asked when the cultivator blatantly bypassed the central sect buildings.
"The Patriarch instructed that I bring you here instead," the cultivator replied, pointing toward an isolated, mountain peak in the distance, partially immersed in boiling lava.
"This is the place," the cultivator announced, coming to a dead halt several meters in the air, well away from the submerged mountain.
Lingtian stopped alongside him, wondering why they had halted mid-flight.
"Are you not supposed to lead me inside?" Lingtian asked, furrowing his brows and staring sternly at the guide.
"Senior, the lava submerging that mountain peak is saturated with extreme Yang energy. The heat is incredibly fatal to demonic cultivation. It would instantly incinerate me. I am merely a Qi Refining cultivator," the twin explained, bowing deeply as a faint, wry smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
Lingtian did not reply. He simply maintained his cold, piercing gaze, letting the heavy tension spike between them while the cultivator remained bowed.
"Senior," the cultivator prompted, bowing lower and instantly erasing the smirk from his face.
"Alright. I will go in and meet your Patriarch," Lingtian declared, drifting slowly down from the sky toward the boiling peak.