The River Gazing Sect’s sect leader was an old man draped in black robes. He had black hair and a white beard. At that moment, he was sitting on the leader’s seat in the great hall.

He was a cultivator, and a strong one at that, but he still had a look of defeat on his face. Gray mist would occasionally appear in his eyes, and his body constantly shuddered. Various things indicated that he had absorbed the gray mist and was fighting against the gray mist in his body.

He took a deep breath as he said in a stiff tone, “What happened to the gray mist explosion in the Southern Star Region?”

An old man spoke, “Leader, the gray mist over there has already completely disappeared. The people that went over there have all perished, including six disciples from our sect. The nearby cultivators said that the only ones to leave were the Heavenly Palace.”

“The Heavenly Palace?”

The sect leader’s eyes froze slightly as he immediately went deep in thought.

He had failed to hold back against the allure of the gray mist and used the gray mist to cultivate. Even though he managed to stop his cultivation when he felt the corrosion of the gray mist, he had still been contaminated. It seemed impossible to get rid of it, so they were at a standstill.

The gray mist had exploded in the Southern Star Region. He had naturally not dared to go forth himself, and instead, sent some disciples to mix within them. He also sent his people to constantly monitor the situation. He had been trying to figure out the best way forward.

Yet…

He never expected that the eruption at the Southern Star Region would disappear so completely despite how impressive it was at the start. He had thought that it would invite a slaughter. Yet, nothing seemed to happen.

The old man continued, “I hear that the Heavenly Palace has been collecting the gray mist. If they know of your condition, I’m worried that…”

The sect leader furrowed his eyebrows as he let out a cold smile. “The Heavenly Palace has been really active. What kind of a force are they? They always surprise everyone. It feels like there’s a lot more to them than meets the eye. However, we’re not afraid of them at all. I feel like they must have a secret behind them, so I’m actually quite interested in them.”

“Sect leader, a great secret! It’s a great secret!”

At that moment, a frantic shout could be heard from outside. Elder Jin Yuan hurried over with a reddened face. He had been moving as fast as he could and almost fell flat on the ground after failing to stop properly.

Other than excitement, there was also a hint of nervousness on his face. He had been worried that someone would try to kill him on the way back, but he had thankfully been safe.

The sect leader looked at Elder Jin Yuan and raised an eyebrow. “What happened? What was that battle earlier?”

Elder Jin Yuan took a deep breath before he exclaimed, “Sect leader, the location of the battle was actually the headquarters of the Heaven Plundering Alliance. By the time I arrived, the Heaven Plundering Alliance…was annihilated!”

“What?!”

Everyone in the hall had expressions of shock as they exclaimed in disbelief.

Even the sect leader hurriedly said, “Are you sure? The Heaven Plundering Alliance disappeared just like that?!”

The Heaven Plundering Alliance’s reputation in the Origins Realm was known by everyone. Even though the River Gazing Sect thought they were strong and that they were no match for the Heaven Plundering Alliance. Every time the Heaven Plundering Alliance started something, their sect could only shudder and hide.

Yet, in just a night, the alliance had been eradicated?

How was that possible? Who had that skill?

Elder Jin Yuan said seriously, “I’m incredibly certain. I wasn’t the only one who saw it.”

One of the elders said, “Surely only a supreme being that’s above a Wisdom Dictator can destroy the Heaven Plundering Alliance so easily? Who would make such a move with the current flaws in Wisdom?”

Another elder said, “The gray mist was suppressed so quickly and the Heaven Plundering Alliance was destroyed. Those two things aren’t something an ordinary person can do. It’s too terrifying. Which great warrior is making his move?”

The sect leader shook his head and said, “It’s not someone we can touch, so let’s ignore it. All we can say is that the Heaven Plundering Alliance offended someone they shouldn’t have!”

After that, Elder Jin Yuan said, “Sect leader, that’s not the main thing I wanted to say.”

“Oh?”

The leader was stunned, and so was everyone else.

The Heaven Plundering Alliance’s destruction was not the main point?

The leader urged, “Hurry up and tell me!”

“We found a piece of paper at the ruins of the Heaven Plundering Alliance’s headquarters. Written on the paper was how to cleanse the gray mist!”

“What!”

The sect leader immediately stood up from his seat as he stared at Elder Jin Yuan. “Continue speaking!”

He had absorbed the gray mist, so no one was more anxious than he was. Most importantly, if he mastered the method, he would be able to absorb the gray mist with reckless abandon. That would practically be cheating but he might be able to scale to great heights!

Elder Jin Yuan did not delay matters as he said immediately, “The contents stated were, ‘The gray mist reveals the future. Heaven and earth are overturned. The golden lake reveals itself, cleansing the mist!”

The sect leader’s eyes glinted as he said excitedly, “Sure enough, the gray mist represents the future. Only, what do they mean by heaven and earth being overturned and what’s the golden lake?

An elder said, “From the words, it must mean that we need heaven and earth to be overturned, and the golden lake to reveal itself to cleanse the gray mist. However, how do we overturn heaven and earth? What is the golden lake?”

The sect leader ordered, “The golden lake is either the name of a place or it’s a gold-colored lake. I don’t care which one it is. Send out our disciples, look through every single one!”

…

At the same time, similar things happened in all the sects that knew the secret.

Deep in the Celestial Demon Forest in the Southern Star Region, there was a deep valley. The outside of the demon cave was covered in the light of the night. It looked like a massive, ghastly face was etched onto the ground.

The Celestial Demon King sat on a stone chair as his eyes glowed with a terrifying light. He stared at a cultivator with a half-crying, half-laughing mask on.

That cultivator was Left Messenger.

After splitting up with Big Lord Demon, she had immediately been captured by the demons. She somehow felt like she had been struck by misfortune by being near Big Lord Demon.

The Lion Demon that had captured Left Messenger said, “Demon King, by your orders, we did not dare to venture close to the gray mist. We merely kept watch around it. In the end, only a few cultivators were able to leave the place. Among them was this person who we managed to capture.”

“It went as I predicted. The gray mist is something incredibly profound. Going into it would’ve just been courting death. We also have instructions from the ancient demon to not get contaminated by the gray mist so easily. The time is still not here.”

The Celestial Demon King let out a small smile, not surprised at all.

The only thing that surprised him was the fact that the cultivator in front of him managed to survive.

The Celestial Demon King could easily see through Left Messenger’s cultivation level. She had just broken through to the Chaos Daluo Golden Immortal Realm. How did she manage to survive among so many strong cultivators in the gray mist?

Tens of thousands of cultivators that were stronger than her were all dead, but she was fine. How did she do that?

Was she…a tremendously lucky person?