Chapter 345 – Visitors from Central Court, Boundary of Time and Seasons

The real world, Central Province, Luocheng.

It had been three months since the ‘Ancient Ruins’ appeared in Luocheng.

During these three months, the Immortal Alliance had dispatched numerous personnel to investigate.

They ultimately concluded that no immediate dangers had been detected from these ancient ruins so far.

Throughout this period, aside from being protected by a peculiar energy that isolated it from the outside world, the ancient ruins had remained largely inactive.

Although the Immortal Alliance had repeatedly attempted to send people into this Celestial Palace for exploration,

the formation barriers surrounding the Celestial Palace had thwarted their efforts every time.

On the ground, in the former central area of Luocheng.

The now deserted Luocheng had been temporarily converted by the Immortal Alliance into a makeshift base.

Preparations were made to guard against potentially dangerous creatures that might emerge from the Celestial Palace.

Fortunately, no such incidents had occurred up to this day.

This came as a great relief to the Immortal Alliance.

As time progressed, the Immortal Alliance gradually made some discoveries.

“How is the investigation of the Celestial Palace proceeding?”

A group of researchers tinkering with special equipment suddenly turned towards the entrance.

They saw a mysterious man dressed in a white robe, the upper half of his face concealed by a unique mask, entering the room.

By his side was a Deity Transformation Stage Guardian from the Shanhai Bureau.

The Guardian’s deferential attitude clearly indicated the white-robed man’s superior status.

Although everyone in the research facility belonged to the Immortal Alliance’s advanced research institution—the Heavenly Engineering Academy—and were privy to many Alliance matters,

most remained unaware of the white-robed mask-wearer’s background.

But while ordinary research staff might not know, someone in charge certainly did.

Upon seeing the mysterious man’s appearance, the facility’s supervisor immediately stepped forward.

“Reporting to Lord Tian Ji, we have made some progress in the matter.”

Tian Ji turned to him and said, “Report.”

“Yes.”

The supervisor produced a tablet and, without any visible action, a holographic projection quickly materialized from it.

The projection displayed the ancient ruins currently hovering above them—

the special location codenamed ‘Celestial Palace’.

“Lord Tian Ji, we have dispatched many Immortal Alliance Cultivators for investigation, including several Nascent Soul Stage masters. Lord Chen Xuzi of the Deity Transformation Stage personally conducted an exploration not long ago.”

“The valuable clues we’ve gathered primarily come from Lord Chen Xuzi.”

“Please observe, Lord Tian Ji…”

As he spoke, the supervisor began operating the tablet.

Soon, the Celestial Palace before them became partially transparent,

revealing distinctive scenes within.

The Celestial Palace not only covered an extensive area but also contained magnificently scaled palaces.

However, most of these structures had collapsed,

indicating the ferocity of battles that must have occurred within this Celestial Palace.

But the devastated environment was secondary in importance.

What mattered most were the objects found inside the Celestial Palace.

Under the supervisor’s demonstration, the Celestial Palace was shown to consist of two main sections: the Outer Palace and the Inner Palace.Due to special circumstances, even Chen Xuzi at the Transformation Soul Stage was unable to investigate the situation inside the inner hall.

He could only gather slight clues about the outer hall.

Within this outer hall, there were a large number of ancient cultivators and strange demons frozen in place.

Along with many wreckages suspended motionless in mid-air.

What was even more astonishing was that among these frozen remnants, there were even some spells and divine abilities.

Everything appeared as if time in the outer hall had been paused by something, creating an extremely eerie atmosphere.

With just one glance, Tian Ji understood what had happened in the outer hall of this Celestial Palace.

“It’s the Years and Time…”

The person in charge wasn’t surprised that Tian Ji could see through this at a glance.

Or rather, it would be strange if Tian Ji, as one of the Central Court’s Seven Stars, didn’t know about such things.

After all, the Central Court was jointly selected by the Immortal Alliance to represent its highest decision-making authority.

Although they originated from different sects,

once they entered the Central Court, they had to completely abandon their sect affiliations.

Every decision they made in the future had to consider the overall interests of the Immortal Alliance Nine Provinces, without personal emotions.

As one of the Central Court’s Seven Stars, who could rival the four regional leaders of the Shanhai Bureau and the sect leaders of the four major sects within the Immortal Alliance,

the information Tian Ji could access was already at the pinnacle of the entire Immortal Alliance.

If there was something even he didn’t know,

then it was likely that very few people knew about it.

The so-called ‘Years and Time’ was actually a specific ‘time ability’.

It’s said that there are three thousand major Daos, with minor Daos being infinite.

Theoretically, there’s no hierarchy among different Daos.

But considering the difficulty of cultivation for practitioners and the effectiveness of different Daos when wielded by cultivators,

even among the three thousand major Daos, there exists a hierarchy.

The ‘Time Dao’ stood unquestionably at the very top among all three thousand major Daos.

Tian Shu of the Central Court’s Seven Stars had inherited the ‘Years and Time Way’.

However, the position of Tian Shu hadn’t encountered a suitable successor for a long time,

resulting in the Central Court having only six stars instead of seven for an extended period.

Therefore, upon seeing the power of ‘Years and Time’ appearing in this Celestial Palace,

Tian Ji’s first reaction was to speculate whether this manifestation was related to the previous ‘Tian Shu’.

After all, the disappearance of the previous Tian Shu was quite mysterious, filled with unanswered questions.

Even now, the Central Court hadn’t investigated the true outcome,

making it the number one unsolved case within the Central Court.

It was precisely because this ‘Celestial Palace’ might be connected to the previous Tian Shu of the Central Court’s Seven Stars

that the Central Court immediately dispatched Tian Ji of the Seven Stars upon receiving the news.

Otherwise, unless there was truly a disaster capable of destroying the entire Central Province,

the Central Court’s Seven Stars rarely made public appearances.

“Has Chen Xuzi found any traces of the previous Tian Shu inside?”

Facing Tian Ji’s inquiry, the person in charge shook his head and said: “No connection with the previous Lord Tian Shu has been discovered here yet.”

“It’s just that since records began, aside from the Central Court’s Tian Shu, no one else has ever mastered the Years and Time power.”

“Therefore, we cannot rule out that this place might have been visited by Lord Tian Shu in the past.”

“You should understand better than I how mysterious the Years and Time Way is, Lord Tian Ji.”

“It wouldn’t be strange if Lord Tian Shu had entered some secret realms that have never appeared in the Immortal Alliance before.”

Tian Ji didn’t refute this.

Because what the person in charge said was indeed all true.Even among the Central Court’s Seven Stars, Tian Shu stood as the most unique.

While the other Seven Stars would only move when absolutely necessary, Tian Shu was different. He was the only one who rarely appeared in the Central Court.

The reason lay in the uniqueness of the Years and Time Way. As an Agent who could traverse the River of Time, Tian Shu could not intervene in events within it, but exceptions existed for things detached from the temporal flow.

The ancient ruins of the Celestial Palace before them, along with many other mysterious Secret Realms within the Immortal Alliance, fell into this category. They had been stripped from their original timelines due to special circumstances, becoming independent entities. Only when they reconnected with the River of Time would they reappear in the present world.

Many Legacies and unique Magic Treasures or Magical Artifacts within the Immortal Alliance were brought by successive Tian Shus from these Secret Realms beyond time. Thus, Tian Shu was deservedly the Alliance’s pioneer.

Yet navigating the River of Time was perilous. Even ordinary True Immortals below the Great Luo True Immortals—beings who could see through heavenly secrets and dominate realms—could exist beyond the Three Realms and Five Elements, achieving immortality. If Tian Shu drew the attention of any existence at or above the True Immortal level, the slightest move from them could doom him eternally. This was the gravest danger of his role.

However, the last Tian Shu once revealed that the current River of Time seemed to have been Sealed by some entity. Even True Immortals could no longer use it to escape fate or stray too far from their era. Otherwise, those ancient True Immortals and Great Luo beings might not have vanished completely from this age.

As for who Sealed the River of Time and why, Tian Shu did not know—nor had the right to know. The Dao of Time was too profound. Successive Tian Shus could only borrow this power briefly due to special circumstances, unable to cultivate it themselves.

Yet even through borrowing, Tian Shu remained the undisputed strongest among the Seven Stars and the entire Immortal Alliance. For before time, all beings below the True Immortal level were equal. Below the Immortal rank, Tian Shu—wielding the Dao of Time—was virtually invincible.

One manifestation of this power was the unique barrier around the ancient Celestial Palace: the Years-Time Barrier. Unlike ordinary barriers, it separated the time inside from the outside. Though seemingly in the same temporal dimension, the gap could span millennia. Without sharing a time dimension, one could not even touch—let alone harm—the other.

To dispel this barrier, the key was to pull the target back from their specific temporal dimension. Those without mastery over time would require special external power. This was precisely why Tian Ji had come.

Though he failed to get the answers he sought from the research head, the involvement of “Years and Time power” meant that even a one-in-ten-thousand chance of finding clues about the previous Tian Shu was enough for Tian Ji to never give up.After all, the Central Court without Tian Shu and the Central Court with Tian Shu were two entirely different concepts.

The former was an almost invincible existence.

While the latter remained powerful, it now contained vulnerabilities…

“I am aware of what you’ve reported. After returning to the Central Court, I will discuss with the others whether to activate the ‘Star Pivot’,” Tian Ji said.

“Continue your observations here. If you make any new discoveries, you may bypass others and contact the Central Court directly.”

With these words, Tian Ji turned and left.

The Guardian from the Shanhai Bureau naturally departed alongside him.

After the two had left, the research lab director, who had been tense throughout, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Though the Central Court rarely appeared in public view,

and ordinary people might go their entire lives unaware of its existence,

those who did know of the Central Court invariably felt awe toward it.

This was not only because of the authority the Central Court wielded

but also because of the personal strength of the Seven Stars of the Central Court themselves.

For every one of the Seven Stars, regardless of their cultivation level before joining the Central Court,

would quickly reach the Transformation Soul Stage after becoming one of the Seven Stars.

Yes, every one of the Seven Stars of the Central Court was a legendary Deity Transformation stage master possessing Great Divine Power.

Moreover, the Great Divine Powers they commanded were far from ordinary.

With terrifying personal strength and holding great authority,

offending others might leave you a slim chance of survival,

but offending them meant certain death with no escape.

After all, the Central Court represented the entire Immortal Alliance…

Having been steeped in such an environment of absolute power and status at its peak for so long,

the Aura they cultivated was beyond what ordinary people could imagine.

Although Tian Ji had shown no emotional fluctuations and had done nothing to those in the research lab,

his mere presence had exerted strong pressure on everyone.

It felt as if something had gripped their hearts, ready to crush them at any moment.

Now that Tian Ji was gone, everyone could finally catch their breath.

After composing himself, the director looked seriously at everyone in the research lab and said, “What happened today must not be casually disclosed to others, or else… be careful not to get burned.”

Everyone in the research lab nodded, indicating they understood the implications.

Soon, the entire research lab resumed its operations.

Though they currently couldn’t breach the Years-Time Barrier surrounding the Celestial Palace,

this didn’t mean they could do nothing.

In fact, what they were about to do next would determine how smoothly they could crack the Years-Time Barrier.

After all, determining the temporal dimension where the Years-Time Barrier existed was an extremely troublesome and challenging task.

Only after confirming this would it be possible to pull it back to reality.

Regarding this aspect, even the Central Court had no particularly good solutions.

They could only let the Heavenly Craft Institute slowly explore and test through trial and error.

Fortunately, the Heavenly Craft Institute was already quite familiar with this process,

as they had conducted numerous similar operations before.

Of course, there was actually a very simple method to bypass the Years-Time Barrier,

though few would employ it.

That was to ignore the Years-Time Barrier and enter directly.

However, doing so would expose the entrant to different time flows on either side, which could rapidly deplete their Lifespan.

As the saying goes, one day in heaven equals one year on earth.If one day truly equaled a year, then the Dao of Time would not be considered one of the strongest among the Three Thousand Great Daos.

After all, if a single day within the Years-Time Barrier were equivalent to ten thousand years across all realms, even a great power at the Deity Transformation Stage would instantly turn into a handful of withered bones upon stepping out, their soul flying away and spirit scattering.

The Immortal Alliance would never allow such precious Deity Transformation Stage experts to take such risks.

(End of Chapter)