David now knows many secrets of the Heavenly Realm, and no matter how deeply they are hidden, it’s useless.
The entire celestial realm is a huge makeshift operation, a reconstructed makeshift operation, no longer the celestial realm of antiquity.
The five continued their journey through the sea of clouds, passing by seven or eight sacred mountains along the way, each one prosperous, peaceful, and orderly.
However, David noticed that the cultivators working in the spiritual fields and medicinal gardens at the foot of those immortal mountains would occasionally reveal a very faint trace of fear.
The fear was deeply hidden, mostly concealed by the daily calm, but David’s perception far surpassed that of any cultivator in this world. Even the slightest emotional fluctuation could not escape his notice.
What are they afraid of?
David didn’t have an answer yet, but he knew the answer lay ahead.
After traveling for several thousand miles, a patrol team suddenly appeared in the sea of clouds ahead.
The cultivators were dressed in silver-white divine armor, their auras were refined, their faces solemn, and their orderliness was impeccable.
There were twelve people in total, led by a middle-aged cultivator with a cold face, eagle-like eyes, and a calm and imposing aura of a fourth-grade Immortal Lord.
The eleven silver-armored cultivators behind him were between the first and third ranks of Immortal Lord. Their steps were neat, their breaths were uniform, and even their breathing rhythms were almost synchronized.
“A cultivator who ascended from the lower realm?”
The silver-armored cultivator at the head of the group swept his gaze over David and his companions like a knife, his tone cold and formulaic, each word like a repeatedly used template: “Show your lineage certificate.”
The Twenty-Sixth Heaven is the orthodox Heaven; all foreign cultivators must have their lineage verified by the Border Patrol Division before they can enter.
David remained calm and slightly cupped his hands in greeting: “Senior, we have just ascended from the lower realm and have no credentials of lineage.”
The silver-armored monk frowned slightly, a hint of impatience at being interrupted from his routine.
He raised his hand and waved, and a silver-white divine mirror flew out from his sleeve, hovering above the heads of David and the other four.
The surface of the Divine Mirror was covered with extremely complex ancient Dao patterns, which were completely different from any array David had seen in the Twenty-Five Heavens.
They are older, more subtle, and more complete.
A layer of fine light curtain descended from the Dao pattern, like countless extremely fine silver threads, slowly probing into the meridians, dantian, and souls of the five people, beginning a meticulous “verification”.
David allowed the silver threads to penetrate his body.
He could clearly sense that the silver thread paused for a moment when it touched the outer edge of his dantian, as if judging some vague fluctuation.
In that instant, the chaotic origin deep within his dantian almost instinctively surged up, but it was firmly suppressed by the Wanxi Heart Seal, remaining completely still.
The aura of the Dao’s origin gently swirled on the outer layer, disguising that faint fluctuation as the residual aura left behind by cultivating some unorthodox technique.
The silver thread did not penetrate any further.
It bypassed the outer perimeter of the Chaos Origin, scanned the meridians, and finally collected a set of data from David’s spiritual energy flow trajectory before returning it to the Divine Mirror.
The entire process lasted for about ten breaths. David remained calm on the surface, but he had already made a precise judgment on the detection methods of the Twenty-Sixth Heaven.
This method of investigation is a hundred times more sophisticated than that of the Twenty-Five Heavens Clan, but it still cannot penetrate the triple disguise of the Origin, the Myriad Tide Heart Seal, and the Spirit Pivot Fragment.
As long as he doesn’t reveal himself, the Border Patrol Division cannot confirm his true identity.
A moment later, the silver-armored cultivator withdrew his divine mirror, his expression softening slightly, but his gaze remained icy: “The lineage is roughly acceptable, but there are a few unorthodox spiritual energy fluctuations that need to be recorded and noted.”
The five of you have been temporarily designated as ‘cultivators awaiting inspection’ and will need to register yourselves as disciples of the outer sect of the Tian Shu Sect for a month of orthodox Daoist training.
During this period, they are not allowed to leave the territory without permission, to privately transmit Taoist teachings, or to contact disciples of sects outside the outer sect.
Report to the outer gate of the Taoist temple at Chenshi (7-9 AM) daily to receive Taoist guidance, and return to the observation area before Youshi (5-7 PM). Do not linger outside.
He paused, his tone suddenly turning cold: “If the orthodox lineage correction is successful within a month, one can become a formal disciple and enjoy the benefits of a formal disciple. If not—”
The silver-armored cultivator’s gaze swept across the five faces like two cold blades. “The Border Patrol Division will send someone to review this. Those who fail the review will be treated as heretics.”