Chapter 1022: Closed For Three Thousand Years Everybody was stunned after hearing You Long’s bold statement. Did he just ask an Ascendant State expert to apologize to a Star State junior? The Ascendants of the Loulan family looked at each other in bewilderment, not expecting You Long to be so protective of Su Ping. In the distance—Mei Gui was dazed; her eyes widened with disbelief when she snapped out of it. “What did you say? You want me to apologize to him?” You Long said indifferently, “What’s the matter? You didn’t hear what I said?” Mei Gui’s expression quickly changed to show fury. She said angrily, “You Long, I respect you as a Heavenly Lord, but this is still beyond outrageous. Even if your master is Lord Supreme, the Federation is still a lawful place; no matter how talented he is, he’s just a Star State warrior. Is he even qualified to accept my apology? Why must I apologize to him? Just because he may grow and become another Heavenly Lord? Who knows what will happen in the future?” With disdain in his eyes, You Long said, “Because he has a tier-7 identity just like you do! And because he is my junior brother! You took advantage of him because of your identity. Now, I’m commanding you with my identity. Are you going to disobey?” “You!” Mei Gui looked rather awful as she glanced at Su Ping; for the latter to have a tier-7 identity came completely out of the blue, as it was a privilege mainly enjoyed by Ascendants. All of a sudden, an Ascendant State middle-aged man flew out. “Heavenly Lord You Long!” He was concealing his aura; no one could tell what was on his mind. “Mei Gui never meant to offend Mr. Su; it was just a minor misunderstanding. I hope you can forgive her lack of manners for the sake of the Polaris Palace.” You Long glanced at him. “Let the master of your palace talk to me. Who might you be?” The middle-aged man slightly changed his expression, then said in a low voice, “I am Tian Ji.” “So, one of the Seven Polaris Gods.” You Long chuckled and then stared at Mei Gui again. “Are you dead set on not apologizing?” Mei Gui’s cheeks shivered ever so slightly; she could tell from You Long’s eyes that he was determined to defend his junior brother. Also, it was obvious that she couldn’t back off anymore without losing face. Furthermore, Tian Ji had stepped up and offered an excuse, yet You Long simply ignored it. “Even if he becomes a Heavenly Lord in the future, at least I’m not wrong right now. I am an Ascendant…” Mei Gui gnashed her teeth. Then, she changed her expression, as You Long straight off threw a punch at her, unleashing an infinite golden brilliance that shattered the surrounding space. A stream of magnificent divine power leaked from his fist aura, shadowing all the laws in the universe. Mei Gui hurriedly took action. A golden leaf surfaced on her forehead as she activated her Divine Mark. She waved her hand, and countless flowers began flying in the void like butterflies, all of them trying to hold up the golden fist aura. But the next moment… The golden fist aura pressed down heartlessly, making all the flower butterflies collapse. Mei Gui grunted as the attack connected and she was flung back, ending pale-faced. “That punch was a lesson for you.” You Long stood indifferently. “Don’t try to retaliate. If anything happens to my junior brother, I won’t care who’s to blame. I’ll go straight to you!” Divine power was surging inside Mei Gui’s body; her Divine Mark was shivering and moaning. That punch seemed soft, but her body had almost been squished. She felt both angry and grieved after hearing what You Long said. The man was too domineering and unreasonable! Was he that fearless and unrestrained as a Heavenly Lord? The answer was yes. She suddenly realized that it would be impossible for her to retaliate. He was a Heavenly Lord. Who would dare retaliate against him? As for the kid next to him, he was like the spoiled son of a family. He even escaped from the Dark Tide in the Sea of Illusions; who knew how many lifesaving treasures Lord Supreme had given him? Mei Gui was so infuriated she almost gritted her teeth into pieces, but she remained silent. The nearby Tian Ji looked rather gloomy too. It was obvious that You Long had shown zero respect for the Polaris Palace. However, things had already happened, and their own palace lord—although a Heavenly Lord—he wasn’t a Lord Supreme anyway. Everybody wore an assortment of different expressions as they watched the scene. You Long’s unreasonable attitude was well unknown. Truth be told, very few Heavenly Lords had a good temper; even so, it was still surprising for one of them to be as defensive of a junior brother. Did he think that his junior brother would surely rise to the Ascendant State and become his equal? You Long turned around and ignored them. He didn’t consider a normal Ascendant State cultivator a big deal, at all; he would have done the same even if the master of the Polaris Palace were present. After all, Heavenly Lords feared no one, except Celestials! Actually, Celestials would have a hard time subduing a strong Heavenly Lord such as Su Ping’s first senior brother. “The Loulan family was really close to causing great trouble!” said You Long as he looked at the Ascendants of the Loulan family, “The Sea of Illusions hasn’t been very tranquil as of late, and the universe is going through fetal movements. These are troubled times. Master asked me to inform you that the Sea of Illusions must be closed for three thousand years. Relay this message to your family leader. I won’t be meeting him.” All the Ascendants of the Loulan family were all stunned. The Sea of Illusions had to be closed? It seemed that something important had happened back there. “We will relay the message,” said one of the host Ascendants. You Long nodded and then smiled at Su Ping. “Junior brother, do you want to return to the Celestial Court with me, or would you rather stay here?” Su Ping looked at Mei Gui in the distance; given You Long’s threat, she probably wouldn’t try anything. Even if she did, he still had plenty of secret treasures to save his life. “Thank you, senior brother. I’m planning to return to the Celestial Court later. Please send my regards to Master if you’re going back,” said Su Ping with a smile. You Long chuckled and replied, “Okay, but try not to get too wild; the universe hasn’t been very peaceful. It’s best to avoid certain mysterious realms; try to break through to the Ascendant State sooner, so that you’ll be able to protect yourself.” Su Ping understood what he was implying. He nodded and said, “Got it, senior brother.” “Since you’re fine, I’m going back. See you later.” You Long left in a rush; he waved at Su Ping and disappeared into the horizon leaving a long streak of light. Then, he glittered like a star and vanished. Su Ping felt that his senior brother was currently busy with something, seeing how quick the latter had arrived and then left.?All my senior brothers and sisters are running errands for Master; it seems that the universe is truly restless. The pervading pressure abated after You Long left, making the remaining Ascendants feel a bit more at ease. It wasn’t until that moment that Mei Gui finally raised her head, giving Su Ping a cold glare. She didn’t say anything, simply returning to a place where an unconscious Star Lord floated in the void, and continued to wait. Tian Ji also glanced at Su Ping, then slightly shook his head. Things had already happened; he didn’t want to further infuriate the man. After all, Su Ping and You Long were backed by a Celestial State expert! He was greeted by the Ascendants of the Loulan family who were next to Su Ping. Then, some of them left to relay You Long’s message to the family leader. Lord Supreme’s command was not to be ignored; the news that the Sea of Illusions would be closed for three thousand years would cause quite the fuss. That was one of the greatest forbidden lands in the universe, one that only the most powerful forces had access to. It was also a practice field for top geniuses. If they strengthened their willpower there, they would be able to go beyond their limits. If the place was to be sealed for three thousand years… The geniuses to be born during that time would never compare to their predecessors in terms of willpower. “The Sea of Illusions will be closed. Something huge seems to have happened in the universe.” “I’ve heard some mysterious noises in the deep spaces recently. They sound like whispers from ancient times; I would have gotten lost in them if my pet hadn’t dispersed them.” “Yes; there’s been talk that a lot of weird things have been happening. I didn’t know they were true.” “I heard that the Lord Supreme of the Flying Cloud Star Zone has closed multiple mysterious realms too!” The Ascendant State cultivators around Su Ping started talking and stopped paying attention to him. The closing of their mysterious realm left them distracted; after all, they barely knew Su Ping, even though he had the potential to become a Heavenly Lord. On the other hand, the closure of the Sea of Illusions was a big thing. They were reminded of weird things happening in recent times; all of them had a bad feeling about what was going to happen. Su Ping frowned as he heard the whispers around and also felt gloomy. He looked at the nearby gate. There was still nothing but a void beyond it. He waited. Very soon, a few Ascendants of the Loulan family returned. One of them was clearly unlike the others; it was one of their Heavenly Lords. The latter looked around and saw that Su Ping was fine right after arriving. So, he shifted his attention and looked at the descendants of the Loulan family who were laying in space. The expert’s face was grim as he saw many of the family’s descendants still unconscious. He quietly stared at the gate for a moment, then suddenly extended his hand into the gate. He withdrew it a few seconds later, with a mass of black mist in his hand. “The Dark Tide is reaching the gate.” The old man became even grimmer. He looked around at other Ascendant State experts and said solemnly, “We’ll be closing the gate, in light of Lord Supreme’s order and the special circumstances in the Sea of Illusions. The consciousnesses lingering inside the Sea of Illusions will probably not return. Our family will try to make up for your loss. Please understand us!” Everybody changed their expressions. An Ascendant cultivator quickly said, “Heavenly Lord Sheng Shi, there are too many consciousnesses that have yet to return. They’ll be doomed if the gate is closed!” “Indeed. They represent the new blood of the Federation. Some of them are even geniuses listed on the Divine Lord Rank who may grow to become Heavenly Lords in the future!” “Isn’t it too hasty if we close the gate right now?” “There hasn’t been such a genius in my family for a thousand years; I don’t want him to die here. Heavenly Lord Sheng Shi, can’t we wait a bit longer?” Many Ascendants spoke and begged the old man. The latter was gloomy as he replied at a slow pace, “Nobody expected such an accident to happen. None of the detectors showed any reaction; it is truly an unforeseen occurrence. I understand your feelings; however, the Dark Tide has already approached the gate. You should know how dangerous it is; many Class A spirits will appear, even some Class S spirits too. “If we close the gate, some of the top geniuses of my family will die too, but there’s nothing we can do. It’s just their fate. We are as grieved as you!” All the experts looked awful. Some tried and begged the old man again, but he simply gave the order to close the gate. The old man then turned around and left the group of distraught Ascendants, giving one last command to his companions, to bring their junior’s bodies back to the family estate. The space was overwhelmed with grief once the elder left. Su Ping saw a few familiar faces in the crowd. Both Six Lives Buddha and Lilian were watching everything in silence next to the Ascendants that came with them. Elsewhere—Loulan Lin was pale-faced and pained, standing next to a middle-aged man. She seemed to be close to the Loulan descendants lying in front of her. I probably wouldn’t have made it back if those illusions hadn’t pushed me…?Su Ping’s eyes glittered. So far, he was unable to confirm how his subconscious mind had found the right gate. Or, were the voices and things that pushed him in the mist not illusions? Su Ping shook his head, unable to figure out a reason. He chose not to linger, so he simply asked Loulan Feng to take him to the Loulans’ training holy land. He didn’t return to the Celestial Court with You Long because he wanted to condense the seventh Astral Painting there. Loulan Feng was stunned after hearing that Su Ping was about to cultivate. He couldn’t help but suggest, “Why don’t I take you to have a body exam, in case you suffered any unknown injuries back there.” “Okay.” Su Ping wasn’t stubborn. He nodded and accepted the arrangement. He followed Loulan Feng to have his body checked. After going through scans with the best equipment, Su Ping’s body produced various abnormal readings. However, such readings weren’t abnormal because they were wrong, but because they exceeded the limits of the Star State by a large margin! “Mental power waves… 36,289 p-points?” “Well…” Not only Loulan Feng, the scientists of the Loulan family were also shocked. They stared at the equipment in a daze, only snapping out of it until a long time later. “The mental power readings for a normal Star State cultivator ranges between 50 and 100 points. Star Lords range between 500 and 1,000 points. And yet, his reading is… 36 times the maximum of a Star Lord’s?” said a scientist, stunned. “I checked Princess Lin before. She’s on the Divine Lord Rank, but her mental wave is only slightly over 9,000 points. This is four times greater…” A female scientist was stupefied.