Longevity starts with learning.

Chapter 967 Cage
No one knows when, until the Heavenly Palace completely collapsed, the powerful people of the Heavenly Palace who once suppressed the Heavenly Palace era after era, except for a very few who struggled to support the existence of the Heavenly Palace, the vast majority of them disappeared without a trace.

When the clues become apparent, it is natural that the Heavenly Palace has lost its deer, and the whole world will chase it.

In just a few decades, the Heavenly Palace that once ruled the world of immortal cultivation for countless years completely collapsed.

What is left behind are numerous doubts that cannot be explained even after countless years.

And...the world of immortal cultivation that is like a cage.

For countless years, no matter how incredibly talented one is, one can only sit and wait for death for thousands of years.

Chu Mu looked across the sea of ​​stars, even reaching its deepest point, but he could not find any record of such a strange change in the Heavenly Palace.

"Is it... that I don't have enough authority?"

Chu Mu hesitated and looked around. At this moment, he was already in the deepest part of the sea of ​​stars.

Going further, there is nothingness everywhere, without any trace of existence.

The era in which these marks existed just ended when the Heavenly Palace collapsed.

The marks of more ancient times do not seem to exist in this sea of ​​stars.

All kinds of speculations emerged in Chu Mu's mind. He looked down at the imprint on his palm, pondered for a moment, took a step forward, and headed towards the seemingly vast and boundless dark void.

The starry sky is neither real nor completely illusory.

This dark void seems to be different.

Illusion and reality are intertwined, but it seems to be more inclined towards the real level.

Or...

The truth of refining the false into the true, after countless years of accumulation, has already taken some shape...

Chu Mu continued to move forward. The void was dark and endless. It was difficult to distinguish up from down, left from right, and even more difficult to tell the existence of time.

He took one step after another, and each step was like shrinking the distance into an inch, spanning hundreds of feet.

The deeper you go into this dark void, the weaker the perception that comes from authority becomes.

It was as if this endless dark void was beyond his authority and was a place he should not have touched.

It is difficult to tell exactly how.

Chu Mu continued to move forward steadily.

One day, two days, three days...

January, February, March...

By the second year, the last trace of his sense of authority had disappeared, indicating that he had completely stepped into an unknown place.

This unknown place might still fall within the realm of Tianxin's ability to refine the false into the true, but it is also not within the scope of authority granted by Henghuang.

His two-year journey was beyond the scope of Afghanistan's authority.

Daheng has held this authority for countless years, and it is impossible for him not to have access to this unknown land.

Since Emperor Heng did not dissuade him, it meant that he at least did not violate his taboos.

The third year.

Chu Mu finally stopped.

The edge of the sea of ​​stars has been passed.

This is the edge of this dark void.

Looking around, it is no longer endless darkness.

Instead, it is an endless stream of brilliant light surging like the tide.

At first glance, it seems as if countless worlds are destroyed and reborn in this splendor.

Chu Mu stared at the scene in a daze for a long time before he came to his senses.

He raised his hand and saw a seed of a destroyed and reborn world hanging in his palm. Looking closely, he seemed to be able to glimpse the endless creation of the world and heaven. It seemed that there were countless mysteries, all before his eyes.

But the next moment, he suddenly clasped his hands together, and the new creation of the world was destroyed in an instant.

He looked forward again, rolled up his sleeves, and a tremendous force rolled up, and the scene of the splendid world being destroyed and reborn, which seemed like the vast starry sky, was also shattered in an instant.

Illusions are, after all, just illusions.

He once controlled a small world, built a small world, and even witnessed the collapse and destruction of a small world with his own eyes.

Everything that just happened was simulated quite realistically, but it is still a bit far from being truly real.

For ordinary people, if they can reach this point, it would be a great opportunity.

After all, even if the secret world collapsed and was destroyed, how many people in this world could witness it with their own eyes?

When the last trace of splendor faded away, the end of the dark void fell into complete silence.

It is difficult to determine the direction and to distinguish between day and night.

An irregular boulder seemed to be suspended in the dark void as if it existed forever. The boulder was cone-shaped, grayish white all over, covered with holes, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, and at the very bottom, it looked like a hanging stalactite.

When his eyes were fixed on the huge rock, a message suddenly emerged in his mind, as if it were a revelation.

“Tian Xin…”

Chu Mu murmured softly, his eyes flashing slightly, and the next moment, a vast spiritual sense surged out like a tide, covering the group of irregular boulders.

When everything is revealed in detail, the flaws will naturally be revealed.

Is this heart of heaven also an illusion?

"This is a projection of Tianxin's power. Daoist friends can also regard it as the embodiment of Tianxin's authority that Daheng holds."

At this moment, a voice sounded in the void. A man in a dragon robe came out from nowhere.

The aura of his cultivation was extremely restrained, and even with Chu Mu's current spiritual sense, it was difficult to detect the slightest clue.

Chu Mu asked: "Is the real Tianxin still in the ruins of the Heavenly Palace?"

"Correct."

Chu Mu: "Where does the authority come from?"

Emperor Heng: "When you purified your soul from the ruins of the Heavenly Palace, you must have mastered certain authority over the Heavenly Palace, right?"

Chu Mu frowned and asked tentatively:
"Will there be any hidden dangers after the mark is planted?"

"The mark will subtly influence people's minds, making them more loyal to the order of the Heavenly Palace. It will also repel negative emotions and raise people's moral standards..."

"If necessary, the mark can also become a restraint to suppress rebellion."

"After a living being dies, the mark will carry the information of the living being's life and return to the Heart of Heaven, turning into the Heart of Heaven's nourishment..."

Chu Mu: "In other words, if I choose to accept the so-called mark, I will be able to master certain authority in the Heavenly Palace?"

"The authority of the Heavenly Palace is divided into four levels and twelve grades. Based on the merits of purifying the soul that year, according to the rules of purifying the soul issued by the Heavenly Palace, if you obtain the authority of the Heavenly Palace, you should be able to leap to the upper grade of the Xuan level in one step."

"If you complete the Heavenly Palace mission and receive Heavenly Palace merits, you can achieve Earth-level authority and even descend to the Heavenly Palace to protect the area."

"Back then, in the land of ice and snow in Da Chu, there was an earth-level authority that appeared and descended to the Heavenly Palace field..."

"But the Heavenly Palace has long since collapsed. Even though I have the highest authority, I can only reach the upper level of the Earth Grade. To go any higher, unless I have made great contributions and am promoted as an exception, I need to follow the rules of the Heavenly Heart and get the approval of the Palace Master of the Heavenly Palace..."

Chu Mu asked: "Does Daheng's authority belong to Tiandeng?"

Emperor Heng nodded: "It is of the highest quality."

After the words fell, Emperor Heng was silent for a while, and then said: "If you want to wear the crown, you must bear its weight. Daheng was born because of this authority, but it is also bound by this authority and it is difficult to break free."

Chu Mu couldn't deny that it was because of this authority that Daheng was able to pass on for such a long time. As for what it lost because of this...

There are countless cultivators in the world of immortal cultivation, and who has not experienced the experience of making choices?
What I am afraid of is not the cruel choice, but the lack of opportunity to make a choice.

Even though everyone in Daheng is a puppet of Tianxin and needs to devote all their strength to Tianxin's existence, it is undeniable that as a result of this dedication, the benefits gained by everyone in Daheng, from top to bottom, must be unimaginable.

Especially... the Daheng royal family!
Every generation is a great cultivator of the Nascent Soul stage. They travel around the world and suppress it.

So long lasting, so overwhelming...

After a while, Chu Mu asked again: "There should be more authority above the Heavenly Grade Upper Grade, right?"

Emperor Heng: "I still have the authority of the Palace Master and the authority of the Creator."

"The Heavenly Palace has collapsed for a long time. The possibility of obtaining these two levels of authority within the rules is very small."

"We, Daheng, have obtained the authority of the Heavenly Heart for hundreds of thousands of years. We have laid out the Heavenly Domain and planted countless marks. We have also inherited the will of the Heavenly Palace and sent countless cultivators to step into the ruins of the Heavenly Palace to purify souls."

"But until now, the authority is still only of the highest level..."

Chu Mu: "Fellow Daoist, do you know why the order in the Heavenly Palace suddenly disappeared and the strong men disappeared?"

Heng Huang: "It should be... related to the upper realm."

Chu Mu: "Why?"

Emperor Heng shook his head: "Fellow Daoist, do you think that a treasure like Tianxin can be refined by the world of immortal cultivation?"

After the words fell, Emperor Heng sighed sadly: "Perhaps they all took advantage of the last chance to escape from this cage..."

Chu Mu's eyes moved slightly, and then he looked at Heng Huang.

Emperor Heng: "The ascension channel exists in the heart of the sky. Back then, the heart of the sky was silent and there was no order. This means that even if the Heavenly Palace still existed, the ascension channel had actually been closed."

"In this case, it is not difficult to speculate the reasons why those powerful people in the Heavenly Palace mysteriously disappeared back then."

"Presumably, some kind of drastic change must have occurred that year, causing Tianxin to fall silent and the ascension channel to be closed."

"Those powerful men in the Heavenly Palace should have taken advantage of their last chance to ascend to the upper realm..."

Chu Mu's heart trembled, and he asked anxiously: "Now that Tianxin has revived, the Ascension Channel is..."

Henghuang was silent. He looked at the huge rock, and the projection of Tianxin appeared.

He raised his finger and the originally grayish-white body of the boulder suddenly began to flow like liquid, with crisscrossing lines and evolving into countless patterns.

In the end, this huge stone materialized by Tianxin's projection turned into a diamond-shaped translucent jade stone.

In the center of the diamond, there is a point of light, as bright as the sun.

In this point of light, a strange aura also emerged.

When Chu Mu sensed this strange breath, his breathing became faster.

Is this... the breath of another world?

Chu Mu's face flushed, and he looked fiercely at Heng Huang, the heat in his eyes almost impossible to conceal.

But Heng Huang's next words were like pouring a basin of cold water on Chu Mu's head, making him sober instantly.

"it's useless."

“Although the coordinates of the upper realm still exist in the heart of the sky, according to the research of our ancestors, the closure of the ascension channel is not in the heart of the sky, but in the upper realm.”

"It was the upper realm that unilaterally closed the ascension channel."

“Even if we have the highest authority as creators of the Heart of Heaven, it is impossible for us to connect to the ascension channel and ascend to the upper realm…”

……

(End of this chapter)