Although the three Fusion ancestors were somewhat skeptical about the Immortal-dao classics self-destructing, they weren’t willing to take any chances. So, they quickly gave orders for the three clans to urgently summon all their formation masters.
With an order personally given by the ancestors, no one in the three clans dared to disobey. So, in just one day, all their formation masters were gathered—a total of more than sixty.
"Let’s move!"
With a single order from the three ancestors, several treasure ships quietly left the provincial capital, heading straight for the Immortal Estate Ruins.
At the Battlefront Branch Altar, Terry Xie had already received news that the three clans were sending out all their elites. He couldn’t help but wonder: could an Immortal Estate Ruins really have appeared?
Thinking of this, he ordered Elder Feng and Elder Ouyang to continue tailing them and report back if anything happened.
The Immortal Estate Ruins were located in the Qilian Mountains of Dongcang Commandery, within Battlefront Province. Battlefront Province was already barren, and Dongcang Commandery was even more impoverished. As for the Qilian range, it was a small, spiritually depleted mountain range.
Cultivation sects love to claim mountains, but because the Qilian range was so lacking in spiritual qi, even grass and trees were scarce. No sect ever bothered with such a desolate place.
Earlier, when the three Fusion ancestors followed the map to the Qilian Mountains and saw the barren peaks, they were very skeptical—how could an Immortal Estate Ruins possibly be in such a bleak place?
Fortunately, after thorough investigation, they confirmed the location of the Immortal Estate and sensed the surging spiritual qi within. Only then did they believe it was genuine.
This time, aside from the outsider Ian Song and the formation masters, all the other participants were high-level members of the three clans: thirty-nine late Soul-Split, fifty-four mid Soul-Split, and one hundred twenty early Soul-Split experts.
Moments later, several treasure ships descended from the sky, landing before a valley where not even a blade of grass grew.
Then everyone flew down from the treasure ships.
The three clan heads stared at the barren valley for a while but couldn’t see anything unusual.
"Young Master Song, is the Immortal Estate Ruins really here?"
Unable to question his own ancestor, Jason Chen could only ask Ian Song.
Ian Song smiled and said, "Senior Chen, the entire valley is shrouded in an extremely powerful Illusion Trial Formation. What you’re seeing is just a false image."
"Is that so?"
Jason Chen released his divine sense to investigate but still couldn’t find anything unusual.
"Stop messing around!"
The Chen clan’s ancestor shot him a glare. "If the three of us hadn’t come here following the map, we wouldn’t have found anything either. With your cultivation, how could you possibly see through the illusion? Otherwise, the Immortal Estate would’ve been dug up long ago."
"You’re right, Ancestor." Jason Chen gave an awkward smile and withdrew his divine sense, feeling a bit frustrated.
The other two clan heads, meanwhile, looked on with schadenfreude.
Next, the three clans’ formation masters got to work, probing the valley from all sides.
Unfortunately, the strongest among them were only entry-level Mystic-grade. Even knowing the valley was an illusion formation, they couldn’t figure out its secrets.
In no time, several hours had passed, and dusk was approaching.
The three Fusion ancestors grew restless. After all, there’s no such thing as a secret that never leaks. If they couldn’t open the Immortal Estate quickly, other factions would find out and demand a share—which was the last thing they wanted.
"Old Ning, Old Jin, do you think what that kid said earlier about the Immortal-dao classics self-destructing is true?"
The Chen clan’s ancestor quietly sent a sound transmission to the other two.
"He has no reason to lie to us!" said the Jin clan’s ancestor.
"That makes sense," agreed the Ning clan’s ancestor.
"But dragging this out isn’t working either. If we rely on these useless formation masters, who knows how many years it’ll take to break the array!" the Chen ancestor complained.
At that, the other two ancestors fell silent, their faces growing dark.
After a long pause, the Ning ancestor said, "Why don’t we try brute force first? If that fails, we’ll invite someone from the Heaven-Array Sect."
After some thought, the Chen and Jin ancestors agreed.
The next moment, the Chen ancestor ordered all the useless formation masters to withdraw. Then he raised his hand and struck toward the valley—a giant palm print appeared above, covering the entire valley.
"Boom!"
The palm print descended like a massive mountain, pressing down slowly. Fierce winds howled, and everyone felt an overwhelming pressure.
Finally, when the palm print was only a few meters above the valley floor, the barren valley began to change.
A fist-sized point of light appeared.
Then a second, then a third—within just a few breaths, more and more points of light appeared in the valley. Seeing this, the Chen ancestor hurriedly held the palm print suspended above the valley, not daring to press any further.
In just a few breaths, these light clusters suddenly converged, finally merging into a beam of radiance that shot skyward.
Then, a golden light-screen appeared in the sky, and rows of golden ancient characters began flashing across it.
Instinctively, everyone’s eyes locked onto the light-screen.
"Heavens, it’s a cultivation general outline!" someone exclaimed.
There weren’t many characters on the screen—just a few hundred—but it was clearly the condensed general outline of a cultivation technique.
"How mysterious!" Jason Chen said gravely. After just one reading, he already felt enlightened, his true essence stirring as if on the verge of breakthrough.
The three Fusion ancestors’ eyes went wide. After reading it once, their faces showed extreme excitement.
They’d been stuck at early Fusion for years, unable to advance for lack of follow-up techniques. But after reading this general outline, they gained profound insight. Given a hundred years, they were sure they could use it to create their own mid-Fusion cultivation method.
Meanwhile, on a small hill several kilometers away, a man and a woman watched the light-screen above the valley in excitement.
These two were Elder Feng and Elder Ouyang, sent by Terry Xie to keep watch.
After a while, the light-screen faded, and the valley returned to calm.
The three Fusion ancestors snapped out of their trance, exchanged glances, and their faces grew grim. The light-screen had been so conspicuous that many people likely saw it. They guessed it wouldn’t be long before others came to investigate.
"You three, take your teams and guard the perimeter. Don’t let anyone into the mountains!"
After a brief discussion, the three ancestors issued orders to the three clan heads.
"Yes!"
The three clan heads took their orders and left.
What they didn’t know was that, at the very moment the light-screen faded, one of the two Fusion experts sent by Terry Xie had quietly slipped away.
In just half an incense stick, that Fusion expert returned to the Battlefront Branch Altar.
"Branch Altar, it looks like the Chen, Jin, and Ning clans really have found the Immortal Estate!" As soon as he saw Terry Xie, he quickly reported everything, even reciting the general outline.
Hearing the general outline, Terry Xie pondered it for a moment and sensed its endless subtlety. He was certain it was an extremely advanced cultivation method, far superior to his own. He was overjoyed:
"Elder Feng, you did well. Once we get the Immortal Estate, I won’t treat you poorly!"