Li Qiye smiled and suggested: “Then let’s take a walk to enjoy the views of the Undying Gate.”
The gate master didn’t dare to show any slight and quickly volunteered as the guide.
In fact, this was not Li Qiye’s first time here. He was familiar with every mountain and river of this sect, so he didn’t need a tour guide, it was a casual stroll for him. On the contrary, Xiaoxiao was curious about everything, especially the mountain ranges hanging in the sky with bridges connecting them.
Many of these peaks towered to the clouds as well as very deep valleys and ravines. Both of these places had many buildings and temples. Despite being deserted at the moment, one could still see just how grand they used to be.
“It looks like your sect has many heavenly grottos.” Xiaoxiao spoke during her sight-seeing escapade.
The master replied: “According to our records, we had over a million disciples at our peak. They traveled around the nine worlds to see all the races. As for the sect itself, we had 80,000 temples and more than 100,000 disciples present at that time.”
He became a bit excited after recalling the past glory of the Undying Gate. After all, they were once extremely prestigious in Heaven Spirit.
This was especially true during Immortal Emperor Bu Si’s era. The nine worlds and the other races all paid their tributes. Just how prosperous and glorious was this? Unfortunately, the past was gone and everything has turned into smoke. He eventually sighed at the current state of the sect.
The group saw many broken mountains and buildings. It must have been done by others who came in the past to search for the legendary treasures.
“Rumor has it that your sect was completely excavated back then. It is really a miracle for it to survive until now.” Xiaoxiao was a talkative girl with no qualms about her words.
“It is thanks to the ancestors’ protection.” The gate master coughed awkwardly in response.
Li Qiye smiled and added: “That’s an imperial lineage for you. If the Undying Gate doesn’t provoke a truly powerful enemy, it won’t be that easy for it to be destroyed completely. After all, it still has some secret powers left, so experts will find it difficult to obliterate it in full. Even a monstrous Godking wouldn’t be so idle as to do something like destroying the Undying Gate.”
Xiaoxiao found some truth in this response. After all, this place was still protected and once blessed by an Immortal Emperor. Ordinary experts wouldn’t be able to flatten it completely. As for the Godkings who had the abilities to do so, they wouldn’t destroy an imperial lineage unless there was an unforgivable feud.
Ultimately, they could destroy an imperial lineage right now, but if there was a single cinder that could reignite, the revitalized sect could destroy them in retaliation. Thus, without a substantial vengeance, no one would try to destroy the fallen Undying Gate. Plus, it was located in the distant Godhalt Continent, the only thing valuable here was the art of immortality.
“That’s true, an ordinary Godking wouldn’t be able to shake an Immortal Emperor’s foundation.” Xiaoxiao nodded.
She curiously stared at the gate master and cutely smiled: “Everyone comes here to search for the artifact of immortality or the technique for eternal life, is this true?”
“Of course not, there is absolutely no such thing!” The gate master’s expression greatly shifted as he hurriedly replied: “These are only baseless assertions. How could we have an artifact or technique like that?”
These words scared him quite a bit. This was an earth-shattering matter, so if more rumors about them were to be spread, it would bring about great trouble to their sect again.
“Really?” Xiaoxiao looked at the gate master with skepticism.
“Absolutely true!” The master instantly swore: “For millions of years, countless treefathers and sea gods have visited the Undying Gate, and even Immortal Emperors have come before. If we had an artifact that relates to immortality, it would have been taken away long ago.”
Xiaoxiao agreed with these words as well. After all, how could this sect hide anything from those powerful existences, especially the emperors?
She inquisitively asked: “What about techniques and merit laws?”
The gate master smiled wryly and replied: “Another fake rumor, these don’t exist for sure. Back then, Immortal Emperor Wu Gou had checked all of our secrets and guaranteed that we do not have an art of immortality.”
“I did hear something about Immortal Emperor Wu Gou’s guarantee.” She pondered for a bit before smiling.
Back then, the news about the Undying Gate’s immortality art spread across all of Heaven Spirit. Many desired this mythical art, and some wouldn’t mind destroying the gate for it.
However, that was the era when Immortal Emperor Wu Gou ruled the nine worlds. During this perilous time, the Undying Gate invited the emperor to preside over the situation. In the end, he publicly presented a message to the world.
They gave every single merit law and ancient scroll to the emperor in order to prove the lack of a technique for immortality. After the emperor went through every single one, he truly didn’t find anything of the sort. In fact, the sect didn’t try to hide it at all, not to mention that it would be useless trying to trick an emperor in the first place. Because of his guarantee, these rumors quieted down for a good while.
Despite some still believing that this sect had an immortality technique, no one could prove otherwise.
The gate master hurriedly added: “Not just Immortal Emperor Wu Gou, later on, several other emperors took a look too. We really don’t have an art of immortality.”
Alas, it was a very sad thing for an imperial lineage to show other people their merit laws. Fortunately, invincible existences like emperors wouldn’t steal their techniques for they would look down on such despicable actions.
Xiaoxiao spoke with a smile: “That’s not necessarily true. People keep saying that your sect does have such an art, so either Immortal Emperor Bu Si didn’t pass it down or you have lost the inheritance.”
No one would doubt Immortal Emperor Wu Gou’s words. Even though some secretly believed that the sect had such a method or was once in possession of it, one thing was certain at the very least — the world indeed had a supreme technique for immortality.
It was not unreasonable to maintain this train of thought. Immortal Emperor Bu Si had died time and time again, but he was still able to revive — this was the best evidence. However, after the emperor, no one else from the Undying Gate had been able to replicate this deed.
Because of this, some people speculated that the emperor never passed down this art or the gate might have lost it. From then on, this technique was no more.
“Well, I don’t know about that.” The gate master cheerfully laughed: “Descendants like us have no way of knowing whether our ancestors had this art of immortality or not.”
The truth was that he didn’t want his sect to have anything to do with this art at all. Such a thing was tempting, but it could bring about a total catastrophe.
Regardless of the gate master’s responses, Xiaoxiao was still full of interest about the Undying Gate. She looked at the mountain ranges crossing the sky and said: “Even if your sect doesn’t have this art, it isn’t being suppressed by Godhalt.”
This was the second thing from the gate that was so desirable by others. Only the abyss and the gate were spared from this fate. The abyss’ case was a bit more clear cut while the gate’s reason remained a secret. A few believed that it was due to their art of immortality, but the most common speculation was that they had a treasure just like the abyss. However, no one has been able to find it.
The master smiled awkwardly before having no choice but to say something: “Well… Princess Ye, you might not be aware, but it isn’t the same as before. In the distant past, we were indeed freed from the suppression, but there are limitations now. Inside the Undying Gate, we are completely fine, but our disciples are will be suppressed in the other parts of Godhalt.”
“Really?” She was skeptical.
The gate master sincerely answered: “It’s completely true. A lot of people have tested this and we don’t need to lie about it. In addition to this, although we might not be suppressed in our sect, our cultivation speed is much slower compared to the past. We really don’t have any treasures since it would have been taken by the emperors already.”
He didn’t want anyone to misunderstand. It was one thing for the little sects to think this way, but a behemoth might destroy the sect completely if they thought there were treasures here.
“Then why was your sect not suppressed at all in the past? Why is it slowly starting to be suppressed now?” Xiaoxiao was unrelenting with her questions.