Lu Yun and Qing Yu were no closer to an answer even after prolonged joint deduction. Unbidden, Lu Yun thought of the gigantic shadow he’d seen in the river of time, the one that’d obscured all glimpses of the truth.

It didn’t matter anymore how the Dao Tree had supported that shadow. The tree had only been a chess piece in the grand scheme of things.

There were forty-some more years until the World Gates opened, but Lu Yun had yet to reach dao immortal realm. He’d determined how to proceed in his cultivation, yet couldn’t find the last dao palace to complete his plans.

He searched for ten years without coming across any hint of it. Whether the world of immortals or the lower realms, it seemed to have vanished...