A few days later, in a cave garden on the mountainside of Chuyun Peak.

A palace-dressed girl with skin like snow and a beautiful face was following half a step behind a tall, white-clothed beauty, walking slowly.

They were none other than Yu Menghan and Gu Yunyue, master and disciple.

"Now that I think back to what you said, the identity of this Elder Han is truly a mystery. When we traveled together, I observed his actions and words and made the greatest possible prediction, but I never expected to underestimate him so much." Gu Yunyue said with a bitter smile.

"I wonder when I will be able to reach his level." Yu Menghan sighed softly, a look of longing in her eyes.

"The path of humanity is faint, the path of immortality is vast. To seek the path of immortality with a limited lifespan is itself an act against heaven. It requires not only aptitude but also luck and opportunity. This is why many people spend their entire lives without being able to achieve even the Foundation Establishment stage, let alone the subsequent Core Formation. I have cultivated for more than five hundred years and have been in the mid-Nascent Soul stage for more than a hundred years. There may be a glimmer of hope to advance to the Transformation Spirit Realm in the future, but the Void Refinement stage is extremely distant. As for the Grand Ascension Realm, which is only one step away from immortality, I naturally dare not even think about it." Gu Yunyue stopped walking, looked up at the sky, and said with a slightly lost expression.

Hearing this, Yu Menghan's mind was also a little agitated, and a touch of sadness appeared in her eyes.

The beautiful woman retracted her gaze and looked at the palace-dressed girl, shaking her head and smiling:

"Master is limited by her aptitude, and without special opportunities, her achievements will mostly be like this. But you, Menghan, possess a Spiritual Body constitution and have extremely high comprehension. You successfully established your foundation only two years after entering the sect. If there are no accidents, your future achievements will definitely be above Master's, and you may even reach the Void Refinement level or higher."

"I am deeply grateful for Master's careful guidance and the generous gift of many precious pills." Yu Menghan said sincerely.

"Thanks to Elder Han, you won't have to worry about pill resources for a long time to come." Gu Yunyue waved her hand and continued.

Yu Menghan's beautiful eyes lit up upon hearing this.

"Speaking of which, Master visited Elder Han once in the past two years, but now his cave area has been designated as a forbidden area of the sect. I'm afraid it will be impossible to visit him again." Gu Yunyue said, sighing, with some regret in her expression.

...

Not long after, the Cold Flame Sect on Chuyun Peak suddenly accepted a rogue cultivator as an outer disciple. His aptitude was mediocre, and he was not young, yet he was only at the Core Formation stage, which did not meet the recruitment conditions at all. Therefore, it caused quite a stir among the disciples for a while.

It wasn't until later that everyone learned that this person was named Bai Shi and had some old acquaintance with that Elder Han. Only then did the matter gradually subside, and people began to show goodwill towards him, even elders from other peaks whose cultivation far surpassed his.

Of course, that's a story for later.

Another month or so passed quickly.

Behind Jingyuan Temple's main peak, Jing Tian Peak, there was an oval-shaped pool as green as jade. The spiritual energy in the pool was rich, exuding a layer of dense white mist that floated on the surface of the water. From time to time, golden, plump carp leaped out of the water.

On the rocks and grass by the pool, there were a dozen energetic red-crowned cranes playing and pecking at the spiritual herbs that grew randomly on the ground, occasionally raising their heads and chirping happily.

"Whoosh!"

A purple light suddenly flashed from the sky and landed by the pool.

The light faded, revealing a tall man wearing a golden crown and a purple-bottomed, gold-patterned Taoist robe. He looked to be in his forties or fifties, with three strands of black beard on his face, giving him the air of an immortal.

As soon as he landed, he glanced at the flock of cranes beside him and then turned his gaze to the green-black stone wall covered in moss on the other side of the pool.

He turned his palm in his sleeve, and a sound transmission talisman shot out of his sleeve with a "whoosh" and flew into the stone wall, disappearing from sight.

After a moment, a layer of faint golden light curtain slowly emerged from the stone wall, revealing a doorway as tall as a person.

The purple-robed Taoist did not hesitate, his figure flashed, and he flew into the doorway.

Inside the stone wall was a very spacious stone room.

In the center of the room was a three-tiered platform, each level of which was covered with mysterious patterns. On top of it were densely packed strangely shaped yellow lamps, which together formed a strange array, from which came bursts of astonishing spiritual power fluctuations.

In the center of the highest level of the platform, a fat man wearing a golden wide robe and exposing his chest sat cross-legged on a futon, looking like a small mountain of flesh from afar.

"Supreme Grand Elder, news came from the Cold Flame Sect today, saying that Elder Han wants to borrow our temple's Star Gathering Platform for cultivation and promised to repay it with great benefits. Should we..." The purple-robed Taoist bowed to the "mountain of flesh" and said respectfully.

The face of the golden-robed man, who looked like a mountain of flesh, trembled, but he did not answer. Instead, he slowly and methodically said, "What about the matter of investigating this person's identity and background that I asked you to arrange before?"

His voice was unusually loud, echoing "嗡嗡" in the stone room.

"We only know that this person suddenly appeared in Feng Country two years ago, and not long after, he entered the Cold Flame Sect and became an outer elder. However, he has always been quite low-key during this time, and no abnormalities have been reported. As a result, our secret agents buried in the Cold Flame Sect only learned about this person after the Heavenly Ghost Sect incident," the purple-robed Taoist pondered and replied.

"Forget it, if I were Si Ma Jingming, that old fox, I would definitely strictly block the news about this person. What's the latest news from the Heavenly Ghost Sect?" the golden-robed man asked again.

"After this incident, the disciples of the entire Heavenly Ghost Sect have become very low-key in their actions and have not revealed any dissatisfaction or desire for revenge," the purple-robed Taoist thought for a moment and said.

"Don't I know the temperament of those two old ghosts? They are all people who hold grudges and will never swallow their anger like this. We'll just wait and see," the golden-robed man scoffed, obviously not believing it.

"Then the matter of borrowing the Star Gathering Platform..." the purple-robed Taoist asked hesitantly.

"Since the other party has the strength of the Grand Ascension level, it is naturally not convenient to offend them. Let's just agree to it for now," the golden-robed man said after a moment of silence.

The purple-robed Taoist frowned and said after a moment of hesitation:

"To be honest, Grand Elder, several Supreme Elders in the temple are a little worried, fearing that this person's strength will be improved after entering the Star Gathering Platform for cultivation. At that time, our Jingyuan Temple will be suppressed by the Cold Flame Sect as well. In addition, opening the Star Gathering Platform consumes a lot of Star Cleansing Stones. We need to carefully plan for the cultivation of the elite disciples in the temple. It would be a pity to waste it on outsiders..."

"What a joke, how easy is it to improve one's strength at the Grand Ascension level? However, since he wants to use it, the consumption required should naturally not be borne by us. The Cold Flame Sect should compensate us twice as much," the golden-robed man said with a faint smile, not taking it seriously.

"Yes!" the purple-robed Taoist replied respectfully.

...

Two months later, Jingyuan Temple.

Among the verdant mountains with continuous peaks, thousands of peaks competed in beauty, and clouds floated in the air. From time to time, immortal cranes and spiritual birds flew across the sky, presenting an imposing atmosphere of an immortal mountain paradise.

In the very center of the peaks, there was a towering giant peak that soared into the clouds, far surpassing the surrounding mountains.

On the top of the peak, huge rocks were piled up, and spiritual energy permeated the air, but there was not much vegetation covering it. In the very center, there was a nine-story high platform, shaped like a circular tower, all white and flawless, as if carved from beautiful jade.

Around the high platform, there was a brown-robed old man with his eyes closed, sitting cross-legged.

As evening approached, the afterglow of the setting sun slanted down, directly illuminating the rocks on the top of the mountain, emitting a soft orange light, reflecting on the white jade platform, refracting a breathtakingly beautiful and strange glow.

At this moment, two rainbows suddenly rushed from the distant sky and landed below the white jade platform, revealing two figures, one fat and one thin.

The brown-robed old men who were originally sitting cross-legged around the high platform stood up one after another, came to the two, bowed to the golden-robed man who looked like a mountain of flesh, and said in unison with a respectful expression:

"Greetings, Supreme Grand Elder."

Having said that, the eyes of several people shifted slightly, and they sized up the strange youth beside the golden-robed man.

This man was tall and had an ordinary appearance. He was naturally Han Li, who had come to borrow the Star Gathering Platform.

The golden-robed man waved his large fan-like hand and did not speak.

The four immediately understood, retreated without saying a word, and returned to their original positions.

"Fellow Daoist Han, these four are the guards of the Star Gathering Platform. Although there is only one Integration cultivator and the other three are Void Refinement, they have cooperated with each other for many years and are telepathic. With them protecting you, Fellow Daoist, you can ensure that there will be no mistakes," the golden-robed man said with a loud voice and a smile.

Han Li naturally did not want to have someone from Jingyuan Temple protecting him, but he also knew that this was something he could not refuse. The smile on his face did not diminish, and he said, "Then thank you, Fellow Daoist He Shan."

"Night is approaching, so I won't delay Fellow Daoist Han's cultivation. If you have any other needs, just ask those people," the golden-robed man said, glancing at the sky.

Having said that, he cupped his hands slightly towards Han Li, then turned around and transformed into a flying rainbow, disappearing in an instant.

After watching the other party leave, Han Li glanced around and then turned to the stairs of the Star Gathering Platform, not rushing to climb up.

The people around the high platform had already quickly pinched the magic seal, and chants also came from their mouths.

As a circle of hidden runes lit up under the four, a golden light curtain covering the entire Star Gathering Platform appeared out of thin air.

At the same time, a narrow entrance as tall as a person also appeared in front of Han Li.

A flash of blue light flashed in his eyes, and after realizing that the spiritual power fluctuations of the light curtain in front of him were not weak, but it was only a protective array, he strode forward and walked in.

As soon as Han Li entered, the light curtain entrance immediately closed, and then merged into the air, disappearing from sight.

Stepping onto the steps, a strange wave of spiritual power immediately transmitted from all directions.

Han Li's heart was slightly different, and he looked around.

He saw that the stone steps under his feet and the surrounding ground were densely covered with tiny pits. If he didn't look carefully, he wouldn't notice them at all.

He stared at it with his spiritual eyes for a moment and found that there was a faint silver light flashing at the bottom of those pits, which were actually traces left by bathing in the power of stars for many years.

On the ground of the Star Gathering Platform, there were also many patterns engraved with circles and lines linked together. Some of them were connected by three or five, extremely simple, while others were connected by a dozen or so, with complex shapes, and some were connected to form a "well" character...

Han Li walked upwards all the way, looking at one engraved picture after another, and gradually understood that these patterns were all star maps corresponding to the stars in the sky.