Chapter 977: Opening Heaven and Earth in a Single Leaf

An invitation, a unique invitation.

Its uniqueness does not lie in the words written upon it, which are plain and straightforward, merely stating the time and location of the Golden Turtle Banquet. Its uniqueness lies in the invitation itself.

In the hand of Master Lu, this invitation resembles a leaf casually plucked from the roadside, still damp with morning dew. Many of its veins darken in color, forming tiny characters.

When one’s gaze truly touches this leaf, a loud “boom” resounds, and the vision shifts. Master Lu beholds a vast world: a blue sky adorned with white clouds, the sun hanging at its zenith, the ground carpeted in lush green grass, trees of various species flourishing, and in the distance, a lake as smooth as a mirror, reflecting a dreamlike scenery.

The sun sets in the west, the moon rises in the east. Predators crawl stealthily through the grass, locking their gazes onto prey. Everything feels so real, happening in every corner of this world.

Suddenly, the world shatters, turning into flowing light that dissipates. Master Lu calmly watches as the invitation in his hand burns to ashes, vanishing without a trace, showing no excessive reaction.

“Concealing Mount Meru within a mustard seed, opening a world within a single leaf…” Master Lu murmured.

One invitation, one world!

For Master Lu, who has touched the threshold of a Celestial Immortal, this is not unfamiliar—it is a technique only a Celestial Immortal could possess.

There are still several months until the winter solstice, yet the invitation from Golden Ao Island arrives early. It makes no attempt to conceal its location, exuding an air of fearlessness toward scrutiny and indifference to whether one attends or not.

Inside the Sword-Washing Pavilion, Su Wuming places his sword across his lap, his right hand half-clenched. The invitation quietly ignites, and a world silently meets its end.

Every Law Body expert whose whereabouts are known and who is worthy of invitation receives such an invitation.

Thus, Golden Ao Island suddenly emerges into the world, its distant end veiled in mist and clouds, as if heralding the long-awaited “return”!

…

Tianyi Island, the Golden Crow Sect.

Following the list, Meng Qi has sorted out the corresponding items from the Night Emperor’s treasure vault. For those unavailable, he exchanged them for equivalent substitutes from the Golden Crow Sect, who excel in forging and possess various peculiar objects in small quantities.

At this moment, Meng Qi is within the “Hall of Sacred Flame” of the Golden Crow Sect. Surrounding him are layers of forbidden spells. Before him stands an ancient tripod cauldron with three legs, its body dark golden in color, carved with a swirling, dancing golden crow basking in the sun. Just gazing at it evokes a terrifying sensation of one’s Law Body melting, as if it contains incomparable heat and burning power, vast and mighty.

Thanks to the knowledge imparted by the Night Emperor’s four concubines, Meng Qi recognizes this as the “Golden Crow Pilgrimage Cauldron,” a Celestial Immortal-grade treasure passed down through countless years in the Golden Crow Sect. However, it is mainly used for forging, with few offensive or defensive capabilities. The Golden Crow Sect has maintained good relations with all sides, avoiding offending anyone, which is why no one seized it even after its decline—unless a powerful figure capable of overpowering all Seven Seas and Twenty-Eight Realms emerges, plundering the “Golden Crow Pilgrimage Cauldron” and the sect’s generations of sword-forging experience remains a taboo act. Even though gathering the materials is difficult and failure rates hover around fifty percent, with time, such an advantage could easily lead to dominance. Thus, Law Body experts tacitly prevent such developments, maintaining the status quo.

Fan Li Shuang and eight other elders of the Golden Crow Sect sit in different directions around the ancient cauldron, each corresponding to a Golden Crow. He solemnly says, “Night Emperor, please send these three broken divine weapons deep into the Golden Crow Pilgrimage Cauldron. Each possesses its own inner world and laws. Once they pass the melting stage, the forging will be relatively simple. However, to melt fragments of Celestial Immortal-grade divine weapons, the closer one gets to the core of the cauldron’s Solar Flame, the easier success becomes. Otherwise, one must rely on time to gradually wear them down, increasing variables and failure risks.”

Meng Qi nods slightly, holding the fragments of the Xuan Ming Sword, Vermilion Bird Flame Sword, and Dong Ji Yi Wood Sword in his hand, enveloping them with his divine consciousness and layering his Dao Power, transformed from true energy. After Fan Li Shuang opens the ancient cauldron’s seal, he slowly inserts them inside.

Boom!

Meng Qi’s vision darkens as he finds himself in another world—a boundless night sky, with fierce red flames burning all around.

Deep within this night sky, a dark golden near-black sun grows increasingly hotter as he approaches. The flame’s color changes, sending chills through his heart.

“That should be the core of the Solar Flame…” Meng Qi’s Dao Power-formed avatar, wrapped around the divine weapon fragments, flies toward it. As the distance closes, the dark golden sun’s form becomes fully visible.

It is a towering, three-legged monstrous bird, its feathers dark golden near-black, each engraved with strange inscriptions, spewing infinite flames. No ordinary matter exists nearby, only flames of indescribable colors—azure, purple, golden, yellow—swaying gently. Within each flame burns a sun, a star, seemingly providing gravity and light to different universes and star systems.

This is the corpse of a legendary Golden Crow!

Legends never fade into obscurity—who was this ancient Celestial Sage or Immortal Lord?

Meng Qi’s knowledge far surpasses that of the cultivators here. Having encountered and seen many legendary items, he instantly recognizes the Golden Crow’s uniqueness.

Yet even a legendary Golden Crow corpse can only be forged into a Celestial Immortal-grade cauldron…

Meng Qi’s avatar transforms into a blade of light, cleaving through layers of flame with primordial sharpness, like a meteor streaking across the sky, rapidly approaching the terrifying three-legged Golden Crow.

Whoosh!

As he draws closer, the Dao Power composing the avatar begins burning, the searing heat invading his consciousness, turning his vision crimson. Yet there’s still a considerable distance to the core flame.

The avatar transforms again, becoming a swirling mass of chaos, absorbing the burning flames, emitting no light.

This chaos continuously absorbs and assimilates everything around it, unstoppable, passing through the previous layers of fire, reaching a place where purple, white, azure, and golden flames burn fiercely.

At this point, crackling sounds erupt, the chaotic mass seems to dry up, developing cracks everywhere, unable to deliver the divine weapon fragments into the flame layer where stars begin to appear.

Outside the cauldron, Meng Qi suddenly clenches his right hand, using karmic connection to confuse cause and effect, swapping places with his avatar. Above his head, a blessed cloud rises, and chaotic dark light descends, holding the divine weapon fragments as he forcefully plunges into that bizarre, flame-wreathed realm.

The Supreme Infinite Primordial Blessing Cloud can withstand a strike from the core fragment of the Heaven-Reflecting Mirror; even the Celestial Immortal-grade body of the Blood Sea Rakshasa is no more formidable!

Then, with his left hand, he exerts the Power of Returning All Things to Emptiness, sending the three divine weapon fragments deep into the cauldron.

A flash of light, and Meng Qi’s true self and avatar switch places again, his consciousness and Dao Power completely burned away.

Cough, cough… Meng Qi coughs a few times, rubbing his eyes, feeling the sting of being burned to tears. Finally calming down, he looks at Fan Li Shuang and others: “Alright, I’ve delivered them near the Solar Flame.”

Fan Li Shuang and the others stare at Meng Qi as if seeing an impossible monster. After a long while, they regain their senses: “Actually, actually, there was no need to go that deep.”

Stopping just outside the final flame layer would have sufficed; burning for forty-nine days would have melted them. Did he really think he was a true Celestial Immortal?

Yet he truly delivered the fragments into the final flame layer!

This… is he even still a human cultivator?

Is this the legendary “Great Brahma Night”?

“Was that not right?” Meng Qi asks, puzzled. Could it affect the forging?

Fan Li Shuang, stunned, slowly shakes his head: “Right, very right. Seven days will suffice to melt them…”

Their focuses are entirely different…

“That’s a relief,” Meng Qi secretly exhales.

…

Upon learning that the “Taiyi Heavenly Venerable” had incurred the wrath of a Celestial Immortal in such a short time, Huo Lishang stands at the dock, his thoughts surging like tides, unable to calm for a long while.

Such a knack for trouble is truly unparalleled in my life!

Now, reverting to the Night Emperor’s identity is extremely dangerous. A Celestial Immortal-level figure’s pursuit is no laughing matter. If I make contact with anyone associated with the Night Emperor, he might detect it and uncover the truth. Then, would he even listen if I explain that a mix-up occurred during the identity switch? Moreover, the mysterious messenger mentioned by Yin Feilong and the sudden appearance of a Celestial Immortal-level figure on the Ten-Peril Island may not be unrelated. Clarifying things hastily might only increase the danger…

I must not seek out the steward anymore! Huo Lishang decisively resolves, without hesitation.

From now on, I shall strive forward with the strength of a novice entering the Outer Scenery realm, gradually accumulating wealth to exchange for high-grade healing pills and slowly recovering. Though difficult and winding, this path is relatively safer.

Such a life experience is also quite intriguing!

Having made his decision, he strides forward, embarking on a new journey.

…

“Yin Ancestor” Xu Bei once again meets the envoy from Golden Turtle Island.

“Plans have changed; there’s no need to pursue the Night Emperor anymore,” the envoy, clad in feathered robes and a star-adorned crown, solemnly says.

Xu Bei frowns: “What change has occurred?”

“The Island Master has invited all Seven Seas Law Body experts to attend the winter solstice banquet, including the Night Emperor.” The Celestial Immortal envoy concisely replies.

A chill breeze blows. On the Ten-Peril Island, Huo Lishang suddenly shivers, inwardly sighing at his damaged Law Body, now sensitive to heat and cold.