Editor: Sahloknir
This blow transcended the mortal realm. It was a genuine confrontation between ‘Heaven’ and ‘Heaven’.
The beam of lightning stretched from the abyss into the sky. It then shattered from the bottom to the top, before completely bursting into countless dazzling branches which densely reached into the wilderness. The clouds which blanketed the sky were cleared in an instant, and as they dispersed, glorious light from the vault of heaven was faintly revealed through the gaps.
This was the legendary heavenly realm.
For centuries, there had been no detailed record of ascension, and no one had ever seen a true immortal. Even Xu Shuangtze couldn’t help staring. As he peered through the ever-changing clouds, he felt something in his heart, and the tip of his eyebrows twitched.
—The heavenly realm described in the scriptures was a pure, peaceful, nihilistic and blissful dimension…But at this moment, he could detect a faint aura of conquest and warfare leaking through the rolling clouds.
Were the gods of the heavenly realm in conflict?
But why?
The fissure closed instantly, and thick, black clouds quickly shrouded the sky again, cutting off Xu Shuangtze’s sight. Immediately afterwards, the third lightning tribulation struck down at a more alarming speed, and directly hit the double-sided mirror. However, the youth in the mirror did not show any sign of weakness. With another swing, he sent an even more brilliant sword glare back. The glare enveloped all the light in the sky and sent thunder scattering across the lands!
Some masters could no longer bear to be in the eye of the storm and were forced to retreat further into the wilderness. The lightning tribulation was increasingly vicious, each one being fiercer than the next. But the youth in the mirror also launched more powerful attacks to deflect each time.
Every strike was more formidable than the previous one. After eighty-one extremely evil tribulations, the abyss had been swallowed up in the waters of the inverted rivers and seas, and the plains were transformed into swamps. When the very last and most destructive tribulation collided ruthlessly with the breath-taking sword glare, a resonance between heaven and earth was triggered.
Everyone’s ears were temporarily deafened, and all they could see was white light.
No one knew how long it lasted. Time passed so slowly—as if several years had passed before the earth-shattering resonance at their feet gradually calmed down.
Everyone finally recovered their five senses. Mu Duozhu kneaded his temples in pain and said hoarsely, “What was that?”
Then, they saw the clouds fully disperse and light was shining across the land. The unprecedented mighty lightning tribulation had finally passed, but the dazzling double-sided mirror still hovered over the abyss.
Although there were fine cracks all over its surface, the mirror was not broken, and it slowly rotated as it emitted thousands of layers of gentle and gorgeous crimson light. The same light drifted in all directions, like a thin veil.
That was the manifestation of a powerful protective formation.
The last trace of spirit belonging to the grandmaster slowly ascended from the abyss under the protection of the formation. The other three souls and six spirits that had dispersed earlier between the heavens and the earth were also miraculously gathered together by the formation. The bright rays of light gathered and condensed into the physical form of the primordial spirit which had the appearance of the grandmaster.
He lay flat in mid-air and opened his eyes in confusion, and looked at the double-sided mirror in front of him. In the next moment, a scarlet shadow flashed in the mirror and the youth with blurred facial features stretched out his hand to the grandmaster in a friendly and unreserved manner.
When the mirror almost shattered just now, Xu Shuangtze felt an inexplicable and uncontrollable anxiety. He couldn’t stop himself from rushing forward to check it out. It wasn’t until the figure reappeared intact in the mirror again that his anxious mood was relieved. His heart, which had risen to his throat, fell back in place.
Immediately afterwards, a piercing anger rose in his mind.
That feeling came swiftly and without reason. Initially, Xu Shuangtze regarded it as a passing illusion, then he discovered that the involuntary and intense anger was neither directed at himself nor at the mirror—it turned out to be directed at the grandmaster who resurrected!
Why did he feel this way?
It was a passing feeling, too fast for him to distinguish it from reality. In the next moment, the grandmaster’s primordial spirit stepped into the mirror. Then a golden light shone and the heavenly gate opened. The double-sided mirror carried the primordial spirit, who had succeeded in crossing the tribulation, and soared towards the legendary heavenly realm.
A grandmaster whose golden core was completely destroyed, self-detonated his primordial spirit and had his souls and spirits scattered miraculously survived eighty-one evil calamities. In the last moment, he left his physical body behind and ascended to immortality. This was an unprecedented event.
Xu Shuangtze looked up, and watched as the mirror rose higher and higher, until it was about to reach the door filled with divine light that led to the heavenly realm. Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed from the other side of the door. Then, a figure in a black robe with silver embroidery rushed out, wielding a divine sword!
From his point of view, the face of the visitor in black could not be seen at all. However, Xu Shuangtze felt his heart race and an intense and indescribable sense of familiarity occupied every inch of his consciousness. In an instant, there was only one thought in his mind, I know him. Who is he? Why does he look so familiar?
No one noticed Xu Shuangtze’s frozen expression as that mysterious scene high in the sky was reflected in his constricted pupils. The black figure broke out with a divine oppression and his divine sword had a cyclone of heaven and earth twisted around the blade as it pierced into that mirror with rage.
Lf kjcafv ab glq jqjga atf qglwbgvlji rqlgla bo atja cfkis jrmfcvfv ugjcvwjrafg!
Ca atja wbwfca, j tegglmjcf rkfqa jmgbrr atf ijcvr ogbw atf tbglhbc, atf mlas mbiijqrfv, atf klivfgcfrr kjr bnfgaegcfv jcv atf kbgiv aegcfv eqrlvf vbkc ilxf j uljca qba. Snfgsatlcu jgbecv atfw kjr lcrajcais rkfqa jkjs ys atf lcnlrlyif abggfcalji obgmf.
—The consciousness supporting the vision had finally come to an end.
Everyone was sucked into the void at the same time, and with a thunderous bang!, the earth shattered into dust, submerging everything from top to bottom!
Xu Shuangtze opened his eyes abruptly.
He was back in the Golden Ship’s ice pavilion. In front of him was an unmoving corpse on the ice bed. Ying Kai, Changsun Chengfeng and others woke up one after another, staggering backward due to the gravity of the impact sustained by their five senses.
All primordial spirits were drawn back to reality.
Yuchi Rui felt the world was spinning, and held onto his forehead in agony, “Why are we back?”
Changsun Chengfeng held the ice bed with one hand to stabilise his stance, his condition was not much better than Yuchi Rui’s, “The consciousness that Du Kaixun implanted in the soldier silk ends there.”
Ying Kai kneaded his forehead and sighed, “Fortunately, that predecessor had his primordial spirit restored and ascended smoothly.”
“…” Xu Shuangtze turned his head slowly and asked, “Ascended smoothly?”
Only those who were familiar with him could detect that his tone implied something was amiss. Ying Kai raised his head and asked in surprise, “What’s wrong?”
Xu Shuangtze’s cold face was frozen at this moment. He stared straight at him and said hoarsely after a long while, “Did you not see the person who came out of the heavenly realm at the last moment?”
Ying Kai was stunned. “What? Didn’t that senior’s soul ascend directly to the Heavenly Gates?”
“…”
Xu Shuangtze looked around and glanced at everyone’s confused expression before repeating, “Did you guys see?”
Mu Duozhu, Yuchi Rui, and Changsun Chengfeng didn’t know how to answer him, and Ying Kai questioned, “Did you see something, Shuangtze? I only saw that magic weapon carrying the senior and soaring away. He should have successfully overcome the tribulations, right?”
“What about the person in the mirror?”
Ying Kai asked in amazement, “There was someone in the mirror?”
No one saw the figure in the mirror who blocked off the heavenly tribulation with his sword and no one noticed the last celestial being in a black robe with silver outer armour, charging towards the mirror with his blade.
Xu Shuangtze closed his eyes and his face turned ashen.
“Are you okay, Shuangtze,” Ying Kai became worried and added, “Did you see something?”
Why am I the only one to see it?
Where did the familiarity and resentment he felt deep within his primordial spirit of identical intensity come from?
The Cang Yang Sect Master’s usual detached and unchanging expression masked all the turbulent thoughts in his mind. After a while, he opened his eyes and answered flatly, “It’s nothing, I may have been wrong.”
“Was the scene we just saw real?” Mu Duozhu rubbed his temples with one hand, frowned and said, “And where did Du Kaixun get this scene? I have read the Immortal Alliance historical records many times over. How come I have never seen it before?”
Mu Duozhu was slightly older than Ying Kai and Xu Shuangtze. If he had never heard of this, then everyone else would be even more clueless.
Ying Kai answered, “In fact, for centuries, no predecessors in the hundreds of families practicing cultivation were bestowed with a heavenly tribulation. Those who successfully ascended only exist in the Dao classics, myths and legends. Sixteen years ago on the Ascension Platform…”
When Ying Kai said this, he said suddenly looked away, and continued, “According to the rules of the Immortal Alliance, the Alliance Master should ascend the high platform to pay respects to heaven and the earth, while the Cang Yang Sect Master descends to the Underground Palace to pay respects to the ghosts and gods.”
“However, Shuangtze and I temporarily changed positions because I wanted to take this opportunity to go to the Underground Palace and seek an audience with the ghosts and gods in person. I wanted to find out why all the predecessors had been unable to usher in the Heavenly Tribulations for so many years. Has the road to immortal ascension been blocked?”
It was true that since ancient times, the Alliance Master was the one to pay respects on the Ascension Platform. It was the first time that Ying Kai and Xu Shuangtze swapped roles sixteen years ago. But what he never expected was that before he had time to seek an audience with the gods, there was a shocking turn of events. The Lotus Immortal had attempted and failed to assassinate Lord Xu and was killed by No Way Out as a consequence.
Ying Kai was shocked and the ceremony was interrupted. When he rushed out of the Underground Palace and arrived at the Ascension Platform, he saw only the white jade platform stained in blood. Xu Shuangtze was holding Gong Wei’s corpse and had returned to the Cang Yang Sect on his sword.
The gap of sixteen years was insufficient to completely dispel Ying Kai’s knot regarding Gong Wei’s death. He did not want to mention the past, but said, “I couldn’t obtain an answer as to why for a hundred years, no one could ascend. But today, I witnessed a predecessor of the Artefact Sect Master ascending with my own eyes. This is too strange. Furthermore, the destructive giant mechanical soldier is beyond my understanding and totally unheard of. This really worries me very much…”
This apprehension was understandable. Although the frenzied mechanical soldier had been buried deep in the ground—it could be repaired. Or perhaps, another one could reappear. If that happened, then wouldn’t grandmasters like Ying Kai, Xu Shuangtze and Yuchi Rui have to line up to sacrifice themselves?
Changsun Chengfeng said, “Not necessarily.”
Ying Kai asked, “What do you mean?”
Changsun Chengfeng returned to his regular manner, tucking his hands in his sleeves and said, “The consciousness that was implanted into mechanical soldiers does not necessarily have to be the master’s own memory. It may well be a fantasy.”
“My wretched younger brother was only nineteen when he died, and it is absolutely impossible for him to witness that scene from anywhere. Even if he did become a ghost cultivator after death, it is still not very likely. So what everyone just saw, could have been an illusion created by Du Kaixun. How may we verify its authenticity? I, for one, have never seen such a capital city on the Central Plains as the one we saw earlier.”
Ying Kai nodded intently, then turned to ask, “How about Brother Mu?”
“The Golden Ship travels all year round, and I have never seen it before.” Mu Duozhu hesitated, and said with difficulty, “But…that apocalyptic scene and that immortal ascension was really too real, and it doesn’t seem like an illusion crafted by…”
The discussion hit a stalemate for a while. Ying Kai couldn’t help but glance at Yuchi Rui, only to see the man staring intently at the soles of his feet. It was as if he had taken a keen interest in the marbled floor under the ice bed, and turned a deaf ear to everything around.
Then, Ying Kai glanced at Xu Shuangtze again. That man carried an indifferent expression and had his eyes shut. Ying Kai couldn’t tell if he was listening at all.
Ying Kai became tired and sighed, “In this case, I have a way to verify the authenticity of it.”
Changsun Chengfeng immediately responded, “What way? ”
Ying Kai answered, “Find out the exact location of that scene.”
At this, Xu Shuangtze raised his eyelids and glanced over.
The remaining few were still puzzled, and Changsun Chengfeng asked, “How do we find this place?”
Ying Kai did not answer him directly, “I need an open space. Follow me.”
He turned and walked towards the exit of the Ice Pavilion. Despite the confusion, everyone quickly shuffled behind him. Only Yuchi Rui sheepishly remained by the ice bed. Ying Kai looked back when he crossed the threshold and asked in surprise, “Yuchi Rui? What’s wrong?”
Xu Shuangtze also stopped and turned around.
Yuchi Rui, “…”
Everyone glanced at each other. Then, Xu Shuangtze cast his calm gaze towards the bottom of the ice bed.
“Ahh!” Suddenly Yuchi Rui squatted down, blocking Xu Shuangtze’s sight, and grumbled as he seemed to search for something on the ground blankly, “I’ve dropped something!”
“…”
“…”
Ying Kai covered his face with a hand, and Mu Duozhu said with difficulty, “Peanuts again?”
Yuchi Rui stood composed and did not answer.
Mu Duozhu turned his head and couldn’t bear to look at the scene again, “…If that’s the case, quickly pick them up and come out, Sword Sect Master.”
Yuchi Rui calmly replied, “Yes.”
Xu Shuangtze retracted his gaze and without another word, he followed everyone and stepped across the threshold.
The door of the ice pavilion closed with a bang, and the huge space was quiet again.
The air seemed to freeze for a few breaths. Then, Yuchi Rui quickly turned back. He swooped in swiftly like a bird of prey, reached out into the bottom of the ice bed, and held Gong Wei like lightning,
“Who are you? ”
When the group emerged from the illusion world of the implanted consciousness, everyone’s primordial spirit was greatly shaken. Gong Wei, who was without a golden core, suffered the most. He was in a semi-comatose state and only just woke up. He laid on the ground weakly and answered, “… Don’t you recognize me?”
Yuchi Rui narrowed his eyes suspiciously, “I remember someone dragged me and Ying Kai out of Ding Xian Mausoleum. Was that you?”
When he mentioned this, Gong Wei was full of bitterness, “Is there anyone else?”
Yuchi Rui squeezed his hand even tighter, “You are clearly a disciple of the Cang Yang Sect. What is the purpose of you being here? What agenda are you hiding?”
“…”
Gong Wei maintained his position with his arm tightly gripped. He struggled to crawl out from under the ice bed, then turned over and grabbed Yuchi Rui’s lapels and cried angrily, “It has only been sixteen years and you can’t recognize me?”
Yuchi Rui felt a vague sense of a familiar and impending danger, but he could not stop it in time. The next moment, Gong Wei closed his eyes and sang a small tune with all his heart. That voice was like a little fox prying open Yuchi Rui’s skull, the shriek was painfully piercing. The first sentence was from the Yin Yang Chaos Mantra.
“!”
The blood in Yuchi Rui’s body rushed to the top of his head, and his eyeballs felt like they were cracking. He covered his ears and crawled back three feet, “Gong Wei?”
Sahl: FINALLY! Omg, it took long enough!
Editor: Sahloknir
This blow transcended the mortal realm. It was a genuine confrontation between ‘Heaven’ and ‘Heaven’.
The beam of lightning stretched from the abyss into the sky. It then shattered from the bottom to the top, before completely bursting into countless dazzling branches which densely reached into the wilderness. The clouds which blanketed the sky were cleared in an instant, and as they dispersed, glorious light from the vault of heaven was faintly revealed through the gaps.
This was the legendary heavenly realm.
For centuries, there had been no detailed record of ascension, and no one had ever seen a true immortal. Even Xu Shuangtze couldn’t help staring. As he peered through the ever-changing clouds, he felt something in his heart, and the tip of his eyebrows twitched.
—The heavenly realm described in the scriptures was a pure, peaceful, nihilistic and blissful dimension…But at this moment, he could detect a faint aura of conquest and warfare leaking through the rolling clouds.
Were the gods of the heavenly realm in conflict?
But why?
The fissure closed instantly, and thick, black clouds quickly shrouded the sky again, cutting off Xu Shuangtze’s sight. Immediately afterwards, the third lightning tribulation struck down at a more alarming speed, and directly hit the double-sided mirror. However, the youth in the mirror did not show any sign of weakness. With another swing, he sent an even more brilliant sword glare back. The glare enveloped all the light in the sky and sent thunder scattering across the lands!
Some masters could no longer bear to be in the eye of the storm and were forced to retreat further into the wilderness. The lightning tribulation was increasingly vicious, each one being fiercer than the next. But the youth in the mirror also launched more powerful attacks to deflect each time.
Every strike was more formidable than the previous one. After eighty-one extremely evil tribulations, the abyss had been swallowed up in the waters of the inverted rivers and seas, and the plains were transformed into swamps. When the very last and most destructive tribulation collided ruthlessly with the breath-taking sword glare, a resonance between heaven and earth was triggered.
Everyone’s ears were temporarily deafened, and all they could see was white light.
No one knew how long it lasted. Time passed so slowly—as if several years had passed before the earth-shattering resonance at their feet gradually calmed down.
Everyone finally recovered their five senses. Mu Duozhu kneaded his temples in pain and said hoarsely, “What was that?”
Then, they saw the clouds fully disperse and light was shining across the land. The unprecedented mighty lightning tribulation had finally passed, but the dazzling double-sided mirror still hovered over the abyss.
Although there were fine cracks all over its surface, the mirror was not broken, and it slowly rotated as it emitted thousands of layers of gentle and gorgeous crimson light. The same light drifted in all directions, like a thin veil.
That was the manifestation of a powerful protective formation.
The last trace of spirit belonging to the grandmaster slowly ascended from the abyss under the protection of the formation. The other three souls and six spirits that had dispersed earlier between the heavens and the earth were also miraculously gathered together by the formation. The bright rays of light gathered and condensed into the physical form of the primordial spirit which had the appearance of the grandmaster.
He lay flat in mid-air and opened his eyes in confusion, and looked at the double-sided mirror in front of him. In the next moment, a scarlet shadow flashed in the mirror and the youth with blurred facial features stretched out his hand to the grandmaster in a friendly and unreserved manner.
When the mirror almost shattered just now, Xu Shuangtze felt an inexplicable and uncontrollable anxiety. He couldn’t stop himself from rushing forward to check it out. It wasn’t until the figure reappeared intact in the mirror again that his anxious mood was relieved. His heart, which had risen to his throat, fell back in place.
Immediately afterwards, a piercing anger rose in his mind.
That feeling came swiftly and without reason. Initially, Xu Shuangtze regarded it as a passing illusion, then he discovered that the involuntary and intense anger was neither directed at himself nor at the mirror—it turned out to be directed at the grandmaster who resurrected!
Why did he feel this way?
It was a passing feeling, too fast for him to distinguish it from reality. In the next moment, the grandmaster’s primordial spirit stepped into the mirror. Then a golden light shone and the heavenly gate opened. The double-sided mirror carried the primordial spirit, who had succeeded in crossing the tribulation, and soared towards the legendary heavenly realm.
A grandmaster whose golden core was completely destroyed, self-detonated his primordial spirit and had his souls and spirits scattered miraculously survived eighty-one evil calamities. In the last moment, he left his physical body behind and ascended to immortality. This was an unprecedented event.
Xu Shuangtze looked up, and watched as the mirror rose higher and higher, until it was about to reach the door filled with divine light that led to the heavenly realm. Suddenly, a dark shadow flashed from the other side of the door. Then, a figure in a black robe with silver embroidery rushed out, wielding a divine sword!
From his point of view, the face of the visitor in black could not be seen at all. However, Xu Shuangtze felt his heart race and an intense and indescribable sense of familiarity occupied every inch of his consciousness. In an instant, there was only one thought in his mind, I know him. Who is he? Why does he look so familiar?
No one noticed Xu Shuangtze’s frozen expression as that mysterious scene high in the sky was reflected in his constricted pupils. The black figure broke out with a divine oppression and his divine sword had a cyclone of heaven and earth twisted around the blade as it pierced into that mirror with rage.
Lf kjcafv ab glq jqjga atf qglwbgvlji rqlgla bo atja cfkis jrmfcvfv ugjcvwjrafg!
Ca atja wbwfca, j tegglmjcf rkfqa jmgbrr atf ijcvr ogbw atf tbglhbc, atf mlas mbiijqrfv, atf klivfgcfrr kjr bnfgaegcfv jcv atf kbgiv aegcfv eqrlvf vbkc ilxf j uljca qba. Snfgsatlcu jgbecv atfw kjr lcrajcais rkfqa jkjs ys atf lcnlrlyif abggfcalji obgmf.
—The consciousness supporting the vision had finally come to an end.
Everyone was sucked into the void at the same time, and with a thunderous bang!, the earth shattered into dust, submerging everything from top to bottom!
Xu Shuangtze opened his eyes abruptly.
He was back in the Golden Ship’s ice pavilion. In front of him was an unmoving corpse on the ice bed. Ying Kai, Changsun Chengfeng and others woke up one after another, staggering backward due to the gravity of the impact sustained by their five senses.
All primordial spirits were drawn back to reality.
Yuchi Rui felt the world was spinning, and held onto his forehead in agony, “Why are we back?”
Changsun Chengfeng held the ice bed with one hand to stabilise his stance, his condition was not much better than Yuchi Rui’s, “The consciousness that Du Kaixun implanted in the soldier silk ends there.”
Ying Kai kneaded his forehead and sighed, “Fortunately, that predecessor had his primordial spirit restored and ascended smoothly.”
“…” Xu Shuangtze turned his head slowly and asked, “Ascended smoothly?”
Only those who were familiar with him could detect that his tone implied something was amiss. Ying Kai raised his head and asked in surprise, “What’s wrong?”
Xu Shuangtze’s cold face was frozen at this moment. He stared straight at him and said hoarsely after a long while, “Did you not see the person who came out of the heavenly realm at the last moment?”
Ying Kai was stunned. “What? Didn’t that senior’s soul ascend directly to the Heavenly Gates?”
“…”
Xu Shuangtze looked around and glanced at everyone’s confused expression before repeating, “Did you guys see?”
Mu Duozhu, Yuchi Rui, and Changsun Chengfeng didn’t know how to answer him, and Ying Kai questioned, “Did you see something, Shuangtze? I only saw that magic weapon carrying the senior and soaring away. He should have successfully overcome the tribulations, right?”
“What about the person in the mirror?”
Ying Kai asked in amazement, “There was someone in the mirror?”
No one saw the figure in the mirror who blocked off the heavenly tribulation with his sword and no one noticed the last celestial being in a black robe with silver outer armour, charging towards the mirror with his blade.
Xu Shuangtze closed his eyes and his face turned ashen.
“Are you okay, Shuangtze,” Ying Kai became worried and added, “Did you see something?”
Why am I the only one to see it?
Where did the familiarity and resentment he felt deep within his primordial spirit of identical intensity come from?
The Cang Yang Sect Master’s usual detached and unchanging expression masked all the turbulent thoughts in his mind. After a while, he opened his eyes and answered flatly, “It’s nothing, I may have been wrong.”
“Was the scene we just saw real?” Mu Duozhu rubbed his temples with one hand, frowned and said, “And where did Du Kaixun get this scene? I have read the Immortal Alliance historical records many times over. How come I have never seen it before?”
Mu Duozhu was slightly older than Ying Kai and Xu Shuangtze. If he had never heard of this, then everyone else would be even more clueless.
Ying Kai answered, “In fact, for centuries, no predecessors in the hundreds of families practicing cultivation were bestowed with a heavenly tribulation. Those who successfully ascended only exist in the Dao classics, myths and legends. Sixteen years ago on the Ascension Platform…”
When Ying Kai said this, he said suddenly looked away, and continued, “According to the rules of the Immortal Alliance, the Alliance Master should ascend the high platform to pay respects to heaven and the earth, while the Cang Yang Sect Master descends to the Underground Palace to pay respects to the ghosts and gods.”
“However, Shuangtze and I temporarily changed positions because I wanted to take this opportunity to go to the Underground Palace and seek an audience with the ghosts and gods in person. I wanted to find out why all the predecessors had been unable to usher in the Heavenly Tribulations for so many years. Has the road to immortal ascension been blocked?”
It was true that since ancient times, the Alliance Master was the one to pay respects on the Ascension Platform. It was the first time that Ying Kai and Xu Shuangtze swapped roles sixteen years ago. But what he never expected was that before he had time to seek an audience with the gods, there was a shocking turn of events. The Lotus Immortal had attempted and failed to assassinate Lord Xu and was killed by No Way Out as a consequence.
Ying Kai was shocked and the ceremony was interrupted. When he rushed out of the Underground Palace and arrived at the Ascension Platform, he saw only the white jade platform stained in blood. Xu Shuangtze was holding Gong Wei’s corpse and had returned to the Cang Yang Sect on his sword.
The gap of sixteen years was insufficient to completely dispel Ying Kai’s knot regarding Gong Wei’s death. He did not want to mention the past, but said, “I couldn’t obtain an answer as to why for a hundred years, no one could ascend. But today, I witnessed a predecessor of the Artefact Sect Master ascending with my own eyes. This is too strange. Furthermore, the destructive giant mechanical soldier is beyond my understanding and totally unheard of. This really worries me very much…”
This apprehension was understandable. Although the frenzied mechanical soldier had been buried deep in the ground—it could be repaired. Or perhaps, another one could reappear. If that happened, then wouldn’t grandmasters like Ying Kai, Xu Shuangtze and Yuchi Rui have to line up to sacrifice themselves?
Changsun Chengfeng said, “Not necessarily.”
Ying Kai asked, “What do you mean?”
Changsun Chengfeng returned to his regular manner, tucking his hands in his sleeves and said, “The consciousness that was implanted into mechanical soldiers does not necessarily have to be the master’s own memory. It may well be a fantasy.”
“My wretched younger brother was only nineteen when he died, and it is absolutely impossible for him to witness that scene from anywhere. Even if he did become a ghost cultivator after death, it is still not very likely. So what everyone just saw, could have been an illusion created by Du Kaixun. How may we verify its authenticity? I, for one, have never seen such a capital city on the Central Plains as the one we saw earlier.”
Ying Kai nodded intently, then turned to ask, “How about Brother Mu?”
“The Golden Ship travels all year round, and I have never seen it before.” Mu Duozhu hesitated, and said with difficulty, “But…that apocalyptic scene and that immortal ascension was really too real, and it doesn’t seem like an illusion crafted by…”
The discussion hit a stalemate for a while. Ying Kai couldn’t help but glance at Yuchi Rui, only to see the man staring intently at the soles of his feet. It was as if he had taken a keen interest in the marbled floor under the ice bed, and turned a deaf ear to everything around.
Then, Ying Kai glanced at Xu Shuangtze again. That man carried an indifferent expression and had his eyes shut. Ying Kai couldn’t tell if he was listening at all.
Ying Kai became tired and sighed, “In this case, I have a way to verify the authenticity of it.”
Changsun Chengfeng immediately responded, “What way? ”
Ying Kai answered, “Find out the exact location of that scene.”
At this, Xu Shuangtze raised his eyelids and glanced over.
The remaining few were still puzzled, and Changsun Chengfeng asked, “How do we find this place?”
Ying Kai did not answer him directly, “I need an open space. Follow me.”
He turned and walked towards the exit of the Ice Pavilion. Despite the confusion, everyone quickly shuffled behind him. Only Yuchi Rui sheepishly remained by the ice bed. Ying Kai looked back when he crossed the threshold and asked in surprise, “Yuchi Rui? What’s wrong?”
Xu Shuangtze also stopped and turned around.
Yuchi Rui, “…”
Everyone glanced at each other. Then, Xu Shuangtze cast his calm gaze towards the bottom of the ice bed.
“Ahh!” Suddenly Yuchi Rui squatted down, blocking Xu Shuangtze’s sight, and grumbled as he seemed to search for something on the ground blankly, “I’ve dropped something!”
“…”
“…”
Ying Kai covered his face with a hand, and Mu Duozhu said with difficulty, “Peanuts again?”
Yuchi Rui stood composed and did not answer.
Mu Duozhu turned his head and couldn’t bear to look at the scene again, “…If that’s the case, quickly pick them up and come out, Sword Sect Master.”
Yuchi Rui calmly replied, “Yes.”
Xu Shuangtze retracted his gaze and without another word, he followed everyone and stepped across the threshold.
The door of the ice pavilion closed with a bang, and the huge space was quiet again.
The air seemed to freeze for a few breaths. Then, Yuchi Rui quickly turned back. He swooped in swiftly like a bird of prey, reached out into the bottom of the ice bed, and held Gong Wei like lightning,
“Who are you? ”
When the group emerged from the illusion world of the implanted consciousness, everyone’s primordial spirit was greatly shaken. Gong Wei, who was without a golden core, suffered the most. He was in a semi-comatose state and only just woke up. He laid on the ground weakly and answered, “… Don’t you recognize me?”
Yuchi Rui narrowed his eyes suspiciously, “I remember someone dragged me and Ying Kai out of Ding Xian Mausoleum. Was that you?”
When he mentioned this, Gong Wei was full of bitterness, “Is there anyone else?”
Yuchi Rui squeezed his hand even tighter, “You are clearly a disciple of the Cang Yang Sect. What is the purpose of you being here? What agenda are you hiding?”
“…”
Gong Wei maintained his position with his arm tightly gripped. He struggled to crawl out from under the ice bed, then turned over and grabbed Yuchi Rui’s lapels and cried angrily, “It has only been sixteen years and you can’t recognize me?”
Yuchi Rui felt a vague sense of a familiar and impending danger, but he could not stop it in time. The next moment, Gong Wei closed his eyes and sang a small tune with all his heart. That voice was like a little fox prying open Yuchi Rui’s skull, the shriek was painfully piercing. The first sentence was from the Yin Yang Chaos Mantra.
“!”
The blood in Yuchi Rui’s body rushed to the top of his head, and his eyeballs felt like they were cracking. He covered his ears and crawled back three feet, “Gong Wei?”
Sahl: FINALLY! Omg, it took long enough!
