Steward Huang was there, along with several attendants. Zhu Yuxuan, however, was not among them. It was unclear if she was investigating elsewhere or if she hadn’t come at all.

"What brings you here?" Yi Tianyun asked as he walked out, looking at them calmly.

Steward Huang and his men frowned. He was a dignified steward of the Star Pavilion, yet a mere boy had come out to greet them. ’Why is a teenager receiving me?’ he thought. But this was their territory, so Steward Huang couldn’t lash out. He forced a smile and said, "Are your elders in? I’m a steward from the Star Pavilion, and I’d like to ask a few things."

Yi Tianyun had reverted to his original appearance, so they had no way of recognizing him as the young man from before.

From his question, it was clear they were just probing; they weren’t certain that Zhu Yuwei was here. After all, Zhu Yuwei was living under an alias and generally kept a low profile, making her difficult to track down.

After all, countless people had the exact same name, to say nothing of names that were merely similar.

"You can ask me whatever you need. I am an elder here," Yi Tianyun said in a low voice.

"You’re an elder here?" Steward Huang was taken aback. ’An elder this young? Is Merak Palace doing okay?’

"That’s right. Is there a problem?" Yi Tianyun replied calmly.

"You, an elder? You’ve got to be kidding! We’re from the Star Pavilion—do you have any idea what that means?" an attendant at his side said, clearly displeased. He was already annoyed that they hadn’t been invited inside.

"Who’s lying to you? He is our Elder Yi!" one of the nearby guards retorted, glaring at them.

"This..."

They were all stunned. Steward Huang quickly held up a hand, signaling his man to be quiet. Whatever the case, this was the other party’s territory. Moreover, they had just annihilated Cyan Profound Mansion, so they were brimming with confidence. His attendants were accustomed to being overbearing; they didn’t know how to be deferential to a mere first-grade faction.

"My apologies. You look so young that it was hard to believe you’re an elder... In any case, I wonder if you know of a person named Zhu Yuwei?" Steward Huang said politely. "We’ve come from the Celestial Realm Continent to find someone. We mean no harm."

"We have no such person in our Merak Sect." What Yi Tianyun said was technically true. Zhu Yuwei was living under an alias; anyone who didn’t know the real situation called her Zi Yuwei.

Since Zhu Yuwei’s sister had warned him not to let her return, he had no intention of handing her over.

"Merak Sect?" Steward Huang was startled. Everyone knew it as Merak Palace, so a name change implied they had reached a corresponding level of power. A faction was generally free to choose its own name—calling yourself a "Mansion" was technically allowed—but if someone attracted by that reputation discovered you were a fraud, it would invite their wrath.

Once word spread, such a self-proclaimed "Mansion" would inevitably be scorned, and might even provoke a powerful expert to come and suppress them.

Across the continent, no official body determined a faction’s grade. It was like choosing a personal name; you could call yourself whatever you wanted. The consequences, however, were far more severe than simply sharing a name with someone. Being exposed as an imposter would lead to your faction being crushed.

Steward Huang quickly snapped out of it and smiled. "Well, if she isn’t here, I won’t disturb you any further. If you happen to hear anything, please contact the Star Pavilion. We will reward you handsomely!"

Of course, Yi Tianyun felt nothing at the mention of a handsome reward. Whatever they offered couldn’t possibly be as fast as simply looting a clan’s entire estate.

As they were leaving, Yi Tianyun turned to head back inside, only to see Zhu Yuwei standing there.

"Elder Yi, were those people from the Star Pavilion?" There was a hint of worry in Zhu Yuwei’s eyes. "Did... did my sister come?"

"She didn’t come. It was just that Steward Huang." Yi Tianyun looked at her and asked, "Do you want to go back and take a look?"

Zhu Yuwei fell silent, but the worry in her eyes betrayed her. She hadn’t seen her sister or her relatives for so long; how could she not be worried?

"I shouldn’t... We’ve only just found some stability here, and there’s still so much to do." Zhu Yuwei shook her head, choosing to remain at the Merak Sect.

Yi Tianyun gave her a long, hard look before saying, "If you want to go back for a visit, I’ll go with you. As a matter of fact, I have to make a trip to the Celestial Realm Continent in a few days anyway. If you want to come along, just let me know."

With that, he went inside, leaving Zhu Yuwei standing there, lost in thought. He definitely had to make a trip. He still had to complete his main quest and planned to tackle it from several angles, starting with cultivating his Divine Rune Mastery. After all, he was stuck on the very first step and, embarrassingly, was the only one who could perform the repairs.

Main Quest Part One was to repair the entire Celestial Sinking Ruins. ’Why do I have to repair this place?’ he wondered. ’We’re eventually moving to the Celestial Realm Continent, and it’s not like we can take the Celestial Sinking Ruins with us, no matter how great they are.’

His other goal was to visit the Celestial Extreme Mansion. Now that the mansion was in decline, merging the two factions seemed like one of the best possible options.

"Elder Xuan, besides the Defense Array, are there any other arrays here that still need repairing? Specifically, the ones that require a Divine Rune Master," Yi Tianyun asked, getting straight to the point.

"Yes, there is a Flying Array that hasn’t been repaired," Elder Xuan said. "It’s severely damaged. It broke when the previous master was flying the ruins over here, so the Celestial Sinking Ruins can no longer be piloted."

"What? There’s a Flying Array? You’re saying the Celestial Sinking Ruins can fly?" Yi Tianyun’s eyes widened. ’Isn’t that the same as a flying Divine Hall?’

"Yes. But the Flying Array is extremely difficult to repair; an ordinary Divine Rune Master won’t be enough," Elder Xuan explained. "My former master was unable to fix it, so he could only leave it here. Over time, it was buried under mounds of earth."

’So that’s the story...’ Yi Tianyun fell silent. He now understood that the System hadn’t just assigned a task at random. The true meaning of the main quest was that he was supposed to move the entire Celestial Sinking Ruins!

He could just fly the Celestial Sinking Ruins over there directly. That way, he wouldn’t need to build a new mansion or anything; he could use the ruins themselves! ’An indestructible, mobile fortress... this is absolutely a first-rate Treasure.’ 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

’In that case,’ Yi Tianyun thought, ’contacting the Celestial Extreme Mansion is more important than ever...’

The Celestial Sinking Ruins were the Divine Hall of the Profound Celestial Spirit King, and the Profound Celestial Spirit King had been a member of the Celestial Extreme Mansion. It was clear he had to contact them. This aligned with his earlier thoughts: if he could get the Celestial Extreme Mansion to join him, the Merak Sect’s power would instantly double!

The Celestial Extreme Mansion’s power had diminished, but it still had a deep foundation. Winning them over would be perfect. If the mansion were as powerful as it used to be, he would have no hope of swaying them.