Chapter 85: The Heavenly Gate Opens

A fierce gust of wind suddenly swept through the darkness, shaking the entire massive tree violently. Leaves scattered down like rain.

It was Wang Ye and his group making their move.

They didn’t know the exact location of the Place of Dragon Playing Pearl, so they each cast spells to stir up the gale, hoping it might trigger some kind of reaction.

It was merely a casual experiment, but Su Xiaoyu’s gaze sharpened as she watched this scene.

She knew something was about to change.

At the crown of the ancient tree, a point of light suddenly flared to life, drawing everyone’s attention.

The Wind Chant Art Wang Ye and the others had cast carried their spiritual power. As it blew across various parts of the ancient tree, it inevitably touched the Place of Dragon Playing Pearl—the nexus point in the crown.

As the leaves fell like rain, Su Xiaoyu spotted two especially thick branches growing there. From a distance, they looked like two flood dragons entwined, their heads framing an empty, circular area.

“So this is the place of twin dragons playing with a pearl?”

Understanding dawned on Su Xiaoyu.

The glow was radiating precisely from that circular area!

Shortly after the light appeared, the void in that spot began to warp, then tore itself open before everyone’s eyes, transforming into a dark, deep passageway suspended in mid-air.

“The Grotto-Heaven’s door has opened! Let’s hurry inside!”

Seeing this, the delight on Wang Ye and the others’ faces was almost impossible to hide.

The immortal destiny they had pursued their whole lives had finally appeared before them. They couldn’t wait to move, rushing headlong into the passageway.

Su Xiaoyu stirred as well, but ultimately, out of caution, she chose not to charge directly into the passage. Instead, she used her Heavenly Vision spell to watch Wang Ye and the others travel through it.

After leaping from the tree crown into the Grotto-Heaven, their feet met solid ground as they proceeded through the cave-like passage.

They hadn’t gone far when an ancient bronze door loomed before them, blocking their path.

Wang Ye and the others immediately stepped forward, trying to push open the door and enter the Carefree Grotto-Heaven. But no matter how hard they pushed, the great door remained as immovable as a mountain. They couldn’t budge it at all.

At that moment, Chu Yongjun spoke up. “It’s useless. The door to the Carefree Grotto-Heaven requires a specific incantation to open. Brute force won’t work.”

She was tall and graceful, clearly a successful person in the real world.

As a cultivator at the Qi Refining 2nd Layer, she could indeed thrive effortlessly in reality.

Hearing her words, Wang Ye and the others looked her way.

“How do you know?” Wang Ye asked.

Chu Yongjun didn’t answer. She simply gazed at the door and murmured softly, “Drunken Universe’s Sun and Moon Endure, Immortal Points the Way to Boundless Expanse.”

As soon as her words fell, the bronze door shuddered, emitting grinding sounds as if it were about to swing open.

Seeing this, Wang Ye and the others’ eyes widened in disbelief. They stared at Chu Yongjun, stunned.

“Y-you… you…”

Wang Ye pointed at her, momentarily at a loss for words.

Su Xiaoyu, watching from outside, also showed a look of surprise.

Facing their astonished gazes, Chu Yongjun explained, “Don’t be too shocked. My roots are in the Carefree Grotto-Heaven. It’s not strange that I would know something about it.”

Wang Ye’s eyes widened even further. “You come from the Carefree Grotto-Heaven?”

Chu Yongjun replied, “To be precise, my ancestor came from the Carefree Grotto-Heaven. I don’t know why he left for the mortal world. Perhaps he was content with a simple life, or perhaps he was expelled. But whatever the reason, once I became a cultivator and stepped onto this path, I was meant to return to this place. It’s just a pity that the information my ancestor left behind was so vague. I had no way of determining the Grotto-Heaven’s location. Fortunately, I met all of you.”

As she spoke, Chu Yongjun glanced at Wang Ye.

Though she said she was fortunate to have met everyone, the only one who could have truly helped her find the Carefree Grotto-Heaven was Wang Ye.

This flood of information hit them all hard, leaving them momentarily unable to process it.

Even in his shock, Wang Ye experienced a flicker of understanding. He recalled past events—during his search for the Carefree Grotto-Heaven, Chu Yongjun had given him quite a bit of information. Now, it all seemed intentional.

Chu Yongjun addressed the group. “None of that matters now. We’ve found the Carefree Grotto-Heaven. Let’s just go inside first.”

Their expressions were complex. They had countless questions for Chu Yongjun, but with the door about to open, they had to suppress their inquiries for the time being.

Li Ru then asked, “What if the master of the Carefree Grotto-Heaven doesn’t welcome us?”

This question stopped them all in their tracks.

While searching for the Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land, they had certainly considered this possibility. What if they found their immortal destiny, only for the inhabitants to refuse them entry?

But no one had brought it up before. After all, if they couldn’t even find the place, worrying about what came after was pointless. Now that they had finally located it, the subsequent problems seemed unavoidable.

Thinking about this, everyone couldn’t help but glance at Chu Yongjun.

Since she had a connection to the Carefree Grotto-Heaven, perhaps she could resolve this issue.

Chu Yongjun understood what they were thinking. But even though her ancestor hailed from the Carefree Grotto-Heaven, generations had passed by her time. She knew very little about the place.

And she had no idea why her ancestor had left in the first place. If it had been on bad terms…

Ultimately, she couldn’t make any promises. All she could say was, “Let’s go inside and see first. Whatever happens, we’ll figure it out after we understand the situation.”

Gazing ahead, Chu Yongjun’s heart was in turmoil.

Ever since she had learned that her ancestor came from a place called the Carefree Grotto-Heaven, she had yearned to return. Now, her wish was finally fulfilled.

What awaited her ahead?

With a thunderous rumble, the bronze door finally swung fully open, revealing the sight behind it.

But as they all looked upon the Carefree Grotto-Heaven with hearts full of expectation, their faces couldn’t help but reveal shock and disbelief. They almost thought their eyes were playing tricks on them.

Su Xiaoyu, observing this through her Heavenly Vision, was also taken aback.

What lay before everyone was a world that had become utterly desolate.

A dark sky, blood-red earth.

Heaps of ruins were strewn across the ground, with bare, barren trees standing in lonely solitude.

The remains of many structures could be seen in the ruins, but they had all become part of the wreckage over the passage of time. The vast world looked as if it had been completely abandoned.