I Contracted All Ancient Divine Artifacts

The Jasper Pool is the primary venue for the Flat Peach Banquet.

Here, the pool water is crystal clear, with colorful immortal flowers floating on the surface, emitting a faint fragrance.

When Han Zhan and his companions entered the Jasper Pool, celestial music wafted through the air, the melody graceful and uplifting, bringing immeasurable joy.

There were also fairies dressed in splendid rainbow garments, dancing gracefully. Their movements were as light as the wind, beautifully captivating.

The flat peaches were placed on exquisite jade plates, each peach plump and full, with vibrant colors, exuding a mouthwatering aroma.

Everything was so full of immortal aura, the atmosphere was celebratory.

If it weren’t for the prior information from Emperor Chong’en about the upcoming events here, Han Zhan and his companions might still have remained in the dark.

As time passed, immortals arrived gradually from all over the four seas and eight regions, whether familiar or unfamiliar they nodded in greeting, laughed, and conversed, making the Jasper Pool progressively livelier.

Han Zhan saw Taishang Laojun and approached him.

”Laojun, it’s been a few days, how goes your understanding of the Golden Core Dao?”

”Oh, it’s you.” Taishang Laojun turned his head, and upon realizing it was Han Zhan, his smile grew even broader, ”The Golden Core Dao isn’t completed in a day; it can’t be achieved overnight, but I’ve already figured out the direction.”

”Once you see the path of the Dao clearly, the rest just needs time to settle.”

Taishang Laojun’s tone revealed a touch of ease as he spoke.

Han Zhan pursed his lips but still refrained from disclosing the truth about the Jasper Pool’s Flat Peach Banquet that he knew.

”Laojun, why are you so set on breaking through to ascension?” Han Zhan changed the topic and continued asking.

”Naturally, it’s to protect this world.” Taishang Laojun gave a reply that Han Zhan did not expect.

”Beyond the world lies the shadow of extinction bugs; only by becoming a Saint can one break through the barriers of the Fruit World, to seek means to protect the Fruit World.”

Is that so?

Han Zhan asked in surprise, ”Then after the Empress became a Saint and successfully left the Fruit World for the outside world, didn’t she find a way to solve the extinction bug shadow and protect the Fruit World?”

”The Empress... the Empress never left the Fruit World.” Taishang Laojun shook his head, answering without hesitation.

Never left?

Did Taishang Laojun mean that the Queen Mother of the West never left the Kunlun Twin Fruit World?

Then why did the information from Emperor Chong’en say that the Queen Mother of the West once left the Fruit World to go to the outside world.

After hearing Taishang Laojun’s answer, this conflicting information made Han Zhan’s heart skip a beat.

He vaguely felt as if he was about to grasp something, but it slipped through his fingers.

After a brief exchange, Taishang Laojun went elsewhere.

Afterwards, the Beidou Star Monarch, Southern Dipper Star Monarch, Barefoot Immortal, Yellow-Horned Immortal, Taibai Jinxing, and other immortals with whom they had connections also entered the Jasper Pool for the Flat Peach Banquet.

They all nodded to Han Zhan’s group, exchanging a few words.

As for the other immortals, none spoke to them.

There are different ranks among immortals, and their current status, merely as maids by the Queen Mother’s side, was clearly not enough to stand out at the Jasper Pool Flat Peach Banquet.

Thus, Han Zhan and his companions didn’t have seats and could only stand further from the center of the Jasper Pool, watching as Jade Pool Fairies swiftly moved through the crowd with drinks.

Some Jade Pool Fairies offered the Jade Dew to Han Zhan, but he declined with a wave of his hand.

It’s not a matter of desire, but of caution.

Who knows if the Queen Mother of the West had done something to the Flat Peaches or the Jade Dew.

If they drank it rashly, they might end up deceased.

At that moment, the crowd stirred again.

Following the source of the commotion, Han Zhan also saw who had arrived.

It was Emperor Chong’en.

Being from the Fangcun Immortal Mountain, it was reasonable for Emperor Chong’en to arrive later than the other immortals.

The immortals who were proud in front of Han Zhan and his group, upon seeing Emperor Chong’en, all became humbled again.

Emperor Chong’en wasn’t overly prideful and nodded in greeting.

He was still as Shang Siteng had seen him that day: a gentle and elegant middle-aged man with an air of scholarly culture.

When Emperor Chong’en passed by Han Zhan’s direction, Shang Siteng greeted him, but Emperor Chong’en only nodded briefly and passed by quickly.

Emperor Chong’en’s reaction surprised Shang Siteng.

”It’s like... he doesn’t recognize me?” Shang Siteng said.

”Could it be that something happened after entering the Bronze Gate, like Emperor Chong’en’s memory being reset?”

”It’s a possibility.” Han Zhan, witnessing the scene, also added, ”Don’t forget, if it’s the Queen Mother of the West, memory reset or time reversal are all possible.”

Emperor Chong’en’s unusual behavior made everyone’s already tense hearts even more anxious.

After a while, with the divine beings and immortals dressed in their finery gathering from all directions, the Flat Peach Banquet officially began.

The Queen Mother of the West, the Celestial Emperor, Emperor Chong’en, and other Celestial Venerables sat high, accepting the homage of all immortals.

Other immortals engaged in conversation, laughter, enjoying the food, or watching performances, creating a lively scene.

”Fellow immortals, let us drink this cup together.”

At the Queen Mother of the West’s invitation, all the immortals raised their cups simultaneously, drinking the Jade Dew.

Then came the most important part: tasting the Flat Peaches.

When fully ripe, the Flat Peaches, once cut, released a fragrance of peaches, filling the entire Jasper Pool with its enticing aroma.

Even merely smelling it bestowed a sense of ultimate refreshment and renewal.

It was as if consuming it could lead to a transformation.

Many immortals, upon consuming the Flat Peach, found themselves enveloped in celestial energy, wrapped in a faint starlight, feeling as if they were ascending anew.

Immortals with lower realms, after eating the Flat Peach, achieved clarity of mind, directly attaining an epiphany and breaking through their cultivation realm.

Those at the level of celestial supremes ate the rare nine-thousand-year Flat Peach, and after consuming them, they all closed their eyes simultaneously, quietly comprehending its mysteries and exploring the Dao.

The once-lively Jasper Pool suddenly grew quiet again.

Only the gentle immortal music continued to play, each immortal maintaining the action of having eaten the Flat Peach, standing still.

At this moment, the Queen Mother of the West moved.

She gracefully walked to the center of the Jasper Pool, and with the forming of a mudra in her hands, a familiar light and shadow coalesced on the altar in the Jasper Pool’s center.

It was—the Kunlun Mirror!

”Esteemed immortals, let us together complete the final ceremony, to pray to the Original Dao Soldiers, for heaven’s blessing and the peace of all beings.”

As her words fell, all the seated immortals arose simultaneously, bowing towards the Queen Mother of the West and the Kunlun Mirror.

However, the Queen Mother’s gaze seemed to pass through the immortals, landing on the transparent Han Zhan at the edge of the Jasper Pool.

Her tone was calm, indiscernible of joy or anger:

”Why do you not bow?”