Only three seconds? He's already the Lord of All Realms, so it doesn't matter.

That thought still lingered in Ye Xuan's consciousness, his tone carrying an indescribable complexity.

"Oh? So we're kindred spirits. Tell me more."

Sensing that the thought was about to dissipate, Ye Xuan activated his azure and white energies and simply drew it out of his body.

With the support of power, that thought gradually transformed into its original human form, though it was merely an illusion.

"My name is Yu Chenzi. I was an inner disciple of the Holy Sect eight hundred years ago."

"Is it Shengzongqian's again?" Looking at the illusory image in mid-air, Yu Chenzi no longer had the vines of the Immortal Willow on his body.

"Back then, I glimpsed the Willow Immortal's legacy and thought I could find a new path, combining the sect's techniques with the Immortal Willow to forge an unprecedented path to immortality."

"The sect's cultivation technique you're referring to is the Nine Departing Heavenly Sun?"

"That's right."

Yu Chenzi's eyes were filled with memories at this moment, and then the scenery around the two of them suddenly began to slightly change—

Eight hundred years ago, a disciple of the Holy Sect, dressed in a green robe, sat alone on a cliff behind the mountain. After planting a willow tree, he began to contemplate the patterns on the willow tree in front of him day after day.

He abandoned his previous cultivation and gradually modified the operating route of the sect's "Nine Separations from the Heavenly Sun" in an attempt to integrate it into "Longevity Willow"... In the end, he created a strange technique that was neither an orthodox immortal method nor a complete Willow Immortal inheritance.

"I succeeded, and I failed."

Yu Chenzi's thoughts continued, "The new cultivation technique will allow my cultivation to advance by leaps and bounds in the future."

"One year to form the Core Formation, three years to reach the Nascent Soul stage... I became a genius that the Holy Sect has only seen once in a century."

But a century later, I found my body gradually turning to wood.

In the surrounding scene, fine wood grain began to appear on the fingertips of the disciple in the green robe, and the veins of willow catkins could be faintly seen under his skin.

The next scene shows the disciple in the green robe transforming into a strangely shaped "willow tree," no longer resembling a human.

"I finally left the sect and came to this wasteland, sealing myself in this bronze coffin to preserve my soul."

But at this moment, Ye Xuan had a question: "What is the relationship between the Holy Sect and Liu Xian?"

"The Holy Sect and the Willow Immortal? It is said that the Immortal Willow Immortal has some dealings with the immortals in the palace, but this has nothing to do with the Holy Sect..."

The Holy Sect has been searching for the Willow Immortal's inheritance for generations, humph, but they only know how to seek it externally, unaware that eight hundred years ago, someone within the sect had already glimpsed the path.

The remnant soul chuckled softly, though the laughter was as faint as a candle flickering in the wind.

"You're quite bold, aren't you afraid of being discovered deep in the wasteland, right under the nose of the Holy Sect?"

"The most dangerous place is often the safest place."

At this moment, Yu Chenzi's remnant soul floated in front of Ye Xuan, seemingly scrutinizing him closely.

"Rather than me, you are neither an immortal being, yet you have been able to ascend to the realm of immortality."

Possessing the Immortal Willow of Immortality, and daring to infiltrate the Holy Sect under an assumed name, that's quite audacious.

Upon hearing this, Ye Xuan frowned slightly: "You know my identity?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but from the moment you stepped into the wasteland, you've been frequently using the Longevity Willow technique."

Even though I'm inside this bronze coffin, I can still sense changes in the outside world.

Ye Xuan was silent for a moment, then asked:

"What is your purpose in maintaining a wisp of your soul for hundreds of years?"

The remnant soul dimmed slightly, and its tone became serious, "Seeking a successor."

"What a joke! With your crooked and distorted immortal techniques, you dare to dream of finding a successor?"

The atmosphere froze instantly, and Yu Chenzi was speechless for a moment.

"No, I exhausted my life for this Immortal Willow of Immortality, so naturally I want to see if my initial persistence was right."

"I don't mean for you to inherit it. I know you've also tried to cultivate the Nine Heavens Sun Technique, and perhaps my experience will offer you some inspiration."

As he spoke, Yu Chenzi's soul suddenly began to disintegrate, with pieces falling off to reveal a skeleton inside covered with tiny characters.

Those handwritings were not simply records of any particular martial arts technique, but rather a fragmented mix of "Nine Heavenly Suns" and "Longevity Willow".

"This is the essence of what I've been studying for a century..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yu Chenzi's remnant soul completely dissipated, leaving only his skeleton, covered in runes, suspended in mid-air, emitting a faint blue light.

Ye Xuan reached out and took the skeleton. The moment the runes touched his palm, a large amount of information flooded into his mind.

"That's really detailed."

He pondered the information flooding his mind, but even though his "Immortal Willow of Immortality" had achieved some success, he couldn't quite make sense of it all.

After putting the skeleton into his storage bag, Ye Xuan turned to look at Fang Zhengge's corpse.

This senior brother had now completely turned into a dried corpse, his face still frozen with the astonishment of when his golden core shattered.

Ye Xuan squatted down and moved Fang Zhengge's body into the bronze coffin.

Looking at the empty coffin, he closed the lid, which could be considered as making the best use of the coffin.

He stood up again and glanced around the palace. The four stone statues had long since turned into rubble, and the bronze coffin had a new "corpse owner." This place was no longer of any value.

"Looks like it's time to go back."

As he stepped back down the path he had come from, the runes on the steps lit up with each step, reflecting the red and white patterns on his Taoist robe.

When he stepped out of the crevice in the rock wall and returned to the desolate canyon, it was already close to dusk.

The sandstorm was still raging in the distance, but it was much smaller.

Ye Xuan took out the travel talisman left by Fang Zhengge, infused it with spiritual power, and the talisman immediately transformed into a stream of light that enveloped him.

"Let's go back to the sect to hand in the mission and see how the Holy Sect reacts to what happened in the back mountain."

A streak of light shot into the sky and sped toward the Holy Sect's mountain gate. Behind them, the golden patterns on the rock walls of the canyon slowly faded away, as if they had never been opened.

But what he gained from this trip was truly substantial.

A streak of light swept across the wasteland, and the outline of the Holy Sect's mountain gate gradually became clear in the distance. Ye Xuan did not use the Holy Sect's outer sect teleportation array, which required a formal disciple to activate.

As for Fang Zhengge, just like before, any excuse will do.

It would be an extremely common occurrence for an outer sect disciple to die while on a mission in the wilderness; no one would care or investigate.

Ye Xuan slowed down, concealed his aura, and suppressed his cultivation back to the fifth level of Foundation Establishment.

After entering the sect, he did not go directly to the Star-Picking Hall to submit the mission, but returned to the outer sect cave first.

Pushing open the door, Ye Xuan saw Zhao Wu's notes still spread out on the stone table. He picked up his pen and wrote on the latest page—

On the eighth day of the fourth month, I went to the wilderness with my senior brother Fang Zhengge to hunt earth dragons.

My senior brother tragically perished in an accident at the ancient cultivator's ruins, while I single-handedly retrieved the earth dragon's corpse and the golden crystal. Alas!

He paused for a moment, hesitated, and then decided to add a line.

"I found you in the ancient cultivator's residence. You have carefully stored it away. I will examine it carefully later."

Closing the notebook, I looked out the window at the deepening night, "It's time to go to the Star-Picking Hall."

He stood up, put Fang Zhengge's bronze mirror and the larger gold crystal into his bag, pushed open the door, and found that it was already pitch black outside, with only the lights of a few distant pavilions flickering in the night.