Stop pretending, the fake heiress is actually a master of metaphysics.

Afterwards, Shen Nian led them around the underground palace as if they were walking in their own backyard.

Gu Yuncheng was completely disoriented and was about to say something when he heard Shen Nian say:

"Someone is following us."

Xiao Bai said, "Those people started following us as soon as we entered the underground palace."

Gu Yuncheng was startled: "Who are they? What do they want?"

"A person who is about to die."

Shen Nian curled her lips and said coldly.

"They didn't follow us into the underground palace; they were already lurking here before us."

Who could it be?

Everyone in this world who still knows of her existence is dead.

Apart from……

That group of people.

As for the purpose...

If it's not her, then it must be some kind of mysterious book, or perhaps both.

The Heavenly Book is the only remaining divine artifact in the world.

Over the years, she didn't believe those people hadn't tried to contact her.

However, since it is a divine artifact, it is impossible for anyone other than Shen Nian to find it.

Following her, perhaps it was to witness the moment the Heavenly Book appeared in the world—

The oriole is unaware of the bird behind, while the fisherman reaps the benefits.

Shen Nian chuckled coldly twice and led the other two into another secret passage.

What appeared before the three of them again seemed to be the garden that the dragon had set up in its palace.

The flowers, trees, and shrubs in the garden were not real plants, but rather inlaid with precious pearls, red coral, gold, silver, and other valuable materials.

Among them, the most eye-catching is a hibiscus tree in the center of the garden.

The tree trunk was entirely gilded, and hanging from its branches were luminous pearls larger than fists, with golden and red threads hidden among them, like a rosy cloud. The entire tree was adorned with gold and silver, and was exceptionally radiant.

Shen Nian: ...

This dragon's aesthetic sense is truly vulgar, both inside and out.

She raised her hand—

The aura of the celestial book is hidden within this divine tree.

At the same time, the role of this divine tree is somewhat similar to that of the divine needle in mythology that held the Dragon Palace of the East Sea in place.

It is the pillar that isolates the entire underground palace from the seawater.

If she were to remove the Heavenly Book, and without the black dragon supporting it, the palace would likely collapse and be destroyed instantly under the weight of billions of tons of seawater.

And they might also perish in this underground palace.

"Master, something has come out!"

Shen Nian suddenly stopped moving.

She looked up and saw a jet-black dragon coiled above the magnificent garden.

If it weren't for the fact that he didn't have dragon horns on his head, Shen Nian would almost have thought that this was the black dragon trapped in the Mountain and Sea Prison.

However, this dragon's cultivation level was clearly inferior to the one in the Mountain and Sea Prison.

It lowered its head, looking down at Shen Nian and the other two, its vertical pupils cold and eerie.

Gu Yuncheng's hand touched the long sword behind him, and Xiaobai's face also darkened.

The black dragon let out a low sigh, and a cold, fishy scent swept across the faces of the three.

Shen Nian raised her eyelids slightly and met his gaze.

Just when Shen Nian thought he was going to make trouble for them in order to protect the sacred tree.

The black dragon suddenly lowered its head, as if kneeling in submission to Shen Nian.

"...I will not stop you from taking the Heavenly Book."

Xiao Bai and Gu Yuncheng couldn't understand what it was saying, but Shen Nian heard it very clearly.

"He asked me to tell you something."

The black dragon continued, as black blood began to gush from its body.

"Be careful..."

What should we be careful of?

"careful……"

However, he was never able to finish the second half of his sentence.

It was as if something invisible was stopping him.

In the end, the black dragon was almost reduced to a pool of flesh and blood, lying across a magnificent and opulent garden, its vertical pupils fixedly staring at the unknown sky above.

He ultimately didn't say the second half of his sentence.

Shen Nian frowned.

Just as she was about to step forward to examine the black dragon's corpse, several figures in snow-blue robes suddenly rushed out from all around and surrounded the three of them.

Shen Nian looked up and sized up the group of people.

Their attire was the typical disciple's uniform that was common during Shen Niansheng's time.

He wore a light blue disciple's robe, his long hair was tied up, he carried a long sword, and his appearance was exceptionally ethereal and otherworldly.

what……

It really brings back fond memories.

After all, if the Guili Sect hadn't been wiped out, her junior brothers and sisters would probably also be dressed as Daoist priests and immortals.

Shen Nian did not see any familiar faces in that massacre of her family—

However, it is to be expected that no one here has ascended to immortality in the past thousand years. Since they cannot ascend, even the longest lifespan will eventually come to an end.

Could these people be reincarnations of those from back then?

Or their disciples and their descendants?

They looked to be around the same age as Gu Yuncheng. Or were they disciples of that sect in the modern world?

In the female ghost's statement, besides the fact that some people were forced to join the sect, there were also some who voluntarily followed the sect elders to join.

However, if the disciple is someone taken in during the modern world, their spiritual root aptitude is perhaps a bit... unusually good.

Shen Nian currently only has Gu Yuncheng as her disciple, but she also knows that with the spiritual energy depleted, there are very few people with spiritual roots, and even fewer who can embark on the path of cultivation.

What secret method did this sect use to cultivate so many extraordinary talents in the world?

In this case, the Xuanmen Guild might not have the strength to fight against them.

But now is not the time to think about these things.

The leader clasped his hands in a fist salute to Shen Nian: "Fellow Daoist, hand over the Heavenly Book, and we can be at peace."

Shen Nian curved her lips: "But you're just a few Golden Core cultivators... I'm quite curious, what makes you think you can get away with nothing from me?"

She had only kept her cultivation at the Golden Core stage to avoid harming ordinary people when she walked in the mortal world.

But she wasn't actually a Golden Core cultivator.

Shen Nian was a prodigy in the path of cultivation, successfully forming his core at the age of eighteen. A thousand years later, he had already become a fully-fledged cultivator.

He was nearly two major realms above this group of cultivators.

Shen Nian slowly said, "Didn't the person who sent you tell you who I am?"

The leader sneered, "Fellow Daoist, you're only at the Golden Core stage. Do you really think that having a flying zombie and a Foundation Establishment cultivator by your side will give you any advantage over so many of us?"

...It seems the other party doesn't know who she is.

Then he shouldn't be the reincarnation of the murderer who wiped out the whole family.

Once a cultivator reaches a certain level, they will no longer fear the death of their physical body.

When the soul is reincarnated and the physical body is reshaped, cultivation can begin again.

Not only do they possess some of the cultivation from their previous life, but they also carry most of their memories with them.

These Golden Core cultivators were merely pawns they released, whose deaths were not worth regretting.

To test her current cultivation level, or perhaps for some other reason.

If the Phoenix Destiny truly dies at their hands, the punishment from Heaven will only fall upon these few disciples.

Using someone else to do the dirty work... the other party truly mastered this technique.

After realizing that the person who came was not the real murderer who wiped out the family back then, Shen Nian's expression turned cold.

"Since that's the case, you can play along with them. Perfect, it'll be a good opportunity for me to test the results of my training these past few days."

Shen Nian waved her hand, gesturing for Gu Yuncheng and the other person to step forward. Then, she sat down on a branch of the divine tree with great interest, ready to watch the show.