Yu Yanhua stepped to the cliff's edge to stand beside the Sect Master, his residence behind them.

“You should introduce yourself to Wei Liang, Sect Master,” Yu Yanhua broke the silence, “There’s no need to hold back since the Grand Elder has already taken the initiative.”

“That’s even more of a reason not to do so. You are enough for now.”

Yu Yanhua frowned but understood why he preferred it to stay this way. Still, it didn’t sit right with her. There was a drastic difference in respect between an ordinary elder and a grand elder, even with her promotion to be an elder in the Inner Court.

“Is it worth the risk?” Yu Yanhua prodded, “The Grand Elder has already shown too much favor to Wei Liang.”

“And?” Guan Feng turned to her, “You will be his teacher, a master in everything but name. Paltry gifts will not be able to overshadow that. This will not be accomplished in a few days, and you know this. I’m surprised that you show such impatience.”

Yu Yanhua sighed, knowing that he was right. It was unlike her to be so anxious, but it was hard to stay calm when she could visibly see the Grand Elder influence Wei Liang into forming a good opinion about him.

Then again, it was natural with how the Grand Elder’s outward persona was. Perhaps it rankled her more than usual since it was a disciple that she was invested in who was falling for it.

“I apologize, Sect Master,” Yu Yanhua bowed, “I wasn’t seeing things clearly.”

“Stop with that,” Guan Feng said with a wave of his hand, “I feel the same, but there’s nothing we can do. Wei Liang is too young and inexperienced to know about the factions among the elders. Perhaps we can inform him after he settles himself in the Inner Court.”

“That is something I’m worried about even more. Wei Liang is close to Princess Jin. She will be named Imperial Princess Rong Jin if she survives her tribulation. What if he seeks to connect with the imperial faction in the Inner Court?”

“That is something you will have to dissuade him from doing,” Guan Feng commented, “Thankfully, you will have a few months before he is allowed to formally join a group.”

That caused the frown on Yu Yanhua’s lips to deepen. It would be a balancing act to do so without seeming like she was taking away his choice.

“I’ll do my best, Sect Master.”

“Let’s hope your best means success.”

Yu Yanhua stayed silent. That wasn’t something she could guarantee. Thankfully, he didn’t intend to stay on the topic.

“The Grand Elder left for the capital to check on Princess Jin.”

She stared at him, waiting for more.

“It seems that there has been a mishap with the heavenly tribulation. Unfortunately, I don’t have any more information on her.”

“So that’s why the Grand Elder was in such a hurry,” Yu Yanhua commented, “I assume the chance for the princess living isn’t too high.”

“You’re right,” Guan Feng nodded, “A heavenly tribulation while only in the Nascent Soul Realm is almost unheard of. I wonder what she encountered in the Shard for the heavens to decide she must be tested.”

“It’s understandable, Sect Master. Anything that can cause such a change is unnatural. If anything, I’m surprised that it wasn’t heavenly punishment that was called by the princess.”

“Are you really?” Guan Feng asked with a raised brow, “This isn’t the most surprising thing that resulted from a trip to a Shard. It has already been theorized that the heavens will never reject anything gained from the Shard.”

“… The Empress still holds the world in her palm.”

“Indeed,” Guan Feng chuckled, “As she should. There have been Dao Seekers that have ascended, but none have dared to try and rewrite the laws of heaven.”

“I don’t think that will ever change,” Yu Yanhua shivered, “Nobody will dare after knowing of the Desolate Land... thank you for making me visit it.”

“Every cultivator needs to see that place before they test the Spirit Severing Realm,” Guan Feng had a similar expression. One of fear.

The Desolate Land was the place the Empress had chosen to be when she wrenched some control away from the heavens.

The legend says it was the last bastion of resistance, where most of the Dao Seekers gathered to oppose the Empress’s crusade. Instead of having a drawn-out battle, the Empress ended it without any casualties on her side. She rewrote the laws over the territory of the resisting force, drawing all the rage the heavens possessed onto the land, eradicating all signs of life other than herself.

Of course, none of it was confirmed, but with how quickly the rest of the world folded to the Empress’s demands, Yu Yanhua suspected that it had some truth to it. The title ‘Dread Empress’ also became common in texts after this time, leading to the legend being more fact than fiction.

This was all ancient history. No matter what happened at that time, the Desolate land was what remained.

A barren wasteland where the ground was blackened from the strikes of heavenly punishment, with cracks emitting a faint glow of residual energy even after the millennia that had passed. The sky was always dark and stormy, with flashes of golden lightning and thunder that could kill weaker cultivators. The air was thin and suffocating, poisonous miasma roiling across the Desolate Land over the course of a day.

And most importantly for Yu Yanhua, the chaotic fluctuations which distort the space within the wasteland, creating spatial rifts and anomalies that can randomly swallow unprepared cultivators.

While it may seem insane for anyone to even think of approaching the hellish place, it was a known land of opportunity and temptation for cultivators in the Nascent Soul Realm. The heavenly punishment that destroyed the land also left behind traces of the Dao, the essence of the natural laws and principles that governed the world.

Cultivators who dare to meet the trials of the Desolate Realm and survive are often gifted with insights that are unmatched.

“Do you think it’s possible to bring Wei Liang there?” Yu Yanhua asked suddenly.

Guan Feng stared at her incredulously. “Do you want to erase his soul?”

“Not now,” she shook her head quickly, “When he advances to the next realm.” The look she was being given didn’t change.

There was no hard rule that stopped cultivators from approaching the Desolate Land, but anyone with sense wouldn’t dare to knowingly approach before the Nascent Soul Realm. It was the stage where the cultivator formed a soul that was independent of the physical body, the threshold where one transcended the mortal realm into the pseudo-immortal realm.

It allowed a cultivator to withstand the pressure of the Desolate and not perish instantly.

“My question still stands, Elder Yu,” Guan Feng frowned, “What brought this into your thoughts?”

“We both know that if someone in the Core Formation Realm could gain insights from the Desolate Realm, they would become an unmatched monster. One that might touch the Empress’s shadow,” Yu Yanhua said thoughtfully, “If you give me permission to use some of the discretionary funds, I can attempt to gather the artifacts needed to attempt this.”

Guan Feng closed his eyes and sighed, trying not to wince at the future depletion of the treasury. Especially when this wasn’t guaranteed to be a success even if all the artifacts were gathered.

“Do it.”