Chapter 754: The Jade Virtual Palace Appears
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
In the Golden Light Cave on Mount Wudang.
King Zhuang of Chu stroked his black beard and played with the jade Ruyi Sceptre that he always had with him. Glittering with myriad golden rays, the crystal Ruyi Sceptre felt solemn and peaceful. Billions of shining light roared up into the sky.
A moment later, a lad brought two guests into the cave. Both of them had singular appearances which deeply impressed King Zhuang of Chu.
The man in front was extremely huge and had brawny muscles under his earthly yellow robe. He looked as if he was a giant from the legends. His dark and lusterless skin made him look like a weathered rock.
Beside the giant stood a slim, beautiful and tall girl. By comparison, however, she looked rather dainty and cute.
“Finally, I sensed the Jade Virtual Palace again,” said King Zhuang of Chu, gazing directly at them.
The giant was too dull to reply. The beautiful girl answered with a smile, “My Master knew that you always had the greatest chance to sense the Jade Virtual Palace.”
“Your clans have been reclusive for years, isolating yourselves in Grotto. None of you interfered even when the Jade Virtual Palace revealed itself last time. Why did come here this time?” asked King Zhuang of Chu flatly with a dignified look. Meanwhile, he focused mostly on the jade Ruyi Sceptre. Once he could sense it more clearly, he would dash for the Jade Virtual Palace.
The beautiful girl replied seriously, “As my Master put it, a disaster is approaching. It might be the last one in this era or it might even be the doomsday. Food is vital to birds, so is dignity to humans. We have to do something to survive. Anyway, the Jade Virtual Palace was open normally last time without any change.”
She did not finish her words but King Zhuang of Chu managed to understand. The opening of the Jade Virtual Palace this time was abnormal. There might be some big misfortune.
Regardless of his solemn look, King Zhuang of Chu asked in confusion, “In that case, why didn’t your Master himself come? I met him only once, but I believe that he must be at least a Human Immortal if not stronger.”
“My Master was cursed and his guts were badly hurt. He is too weak to leave Wuchao. Other grandmasters are busy preparing for the disaster with something important to attend to. Most of our contemporaries failed to be grandmasters. My Senior Brother and I had to come alone.”
King Zhuang of Chu ended the topic and asked again, “You’ve exterminated many impartations of Jade Virtual and collected a lot of skills. However, have you practiced any of it? There are many weird and horrible places in the Jade Virtual Palace. You can’t move a single step without the impartation of Jade Virtual. I can’t get too much further even though I minor in the impartation of Tuxing Sun collected in the Golden Light Cave over centuries. How would you manage there?”
The beautiful girl replied with a slight smile, “I’m Yang Xizhi, majoring in the Divine Disciplines of Virtue. He’s my Senior Brother Gu Heng who has practiced the Guangcheng Designs.”
The former was the impartation of Lord of Purity and Virtue while the latter was a skill of Primogenitor Guangcheng.
King Zhuang of Chu remained calm. He pretended to ask unintentionally, “Then how is it going on with the Seven Blades of Assassination and the Flying Blade of Carnage?”
Yang Xizhi lowered her eyes and answered calmly, “We have only enjoyed a middling success. Besides, our Master granted us a treasure.”
King Zhuang of Chu nodded at last and said, “You know many secrets and major in the skills of Kunlun. Chances are that you can reach the depths of the Jade Virtual Palace. I’ll be protecting you then. We can share whatever we get.”
“That would be brilliant,” answered Yang Xizhi with a gentle smile.
Just then, the glittering Ruyi Sceptre slightly quivered. Instead of shining, its light roared up directly.
King Zhuang of Chu said in a deep voice:
“It’s open.”
He rolled his tunic, wrapping up Yang Xizhi and her Senior Brother. With the help of Ruyi Sceptre, he dashed into the Place of Unknown which was higher than the heaven but also visible in the void around every corner.
The second step of the Celestial Ladder was within reach. Meng Qi was almost turning into a grandmaster. Inexplicably, he subtly felt a magnificent palace looking down at him from high above. This was a more distinct sense as if he could reach the gate of the palace simply with a thought flashing into his mind.
Suddenly, the figure of the Old Taoist Duke Huan was engraved in his clear mind. Surrounded by Golden Lotuses, Duke Huan was full of the strength of Wuji.
“Go. Opportunity knocks only once,” Duke Huan said through Secret Voice-sending. He grabbed Meng Qi.
Each Golden Lotus around him began to glow with billions of massive light beams. Wrapped in the light, they flew into the void.
Meng Qi found that his body and Vital Spirit were subtly enhanced as if he could look down at everything in the world. He could see anything and go anywhere. The feeling was similar to when he stepped into the first three layers of the Ninth Heaven but much clearer this time, unlike that in a broken place.
“Well, no one could control everything in a traits’ world...” Meng Qi sighed. He had expected to be a grandmaster before he explored the Jade Virtual Palace with some helpers. Unexpectedly, he wasn’t a grandmaster yet. To make it worse, he was heading directly for the Jade Virtual Palace with no helpers except Duke Huan.
Luckily, he had been practicing for eight or nine months. With the help of the second volume of Muscle-bone Strengthening Scripture, he had gained purer Vital Spirit in the Interior along with a much stronger body. His level had improved, approaching the realm of Grandmaster. Also, most of his own skills had greatly enhanced. Supernatural Power of Shaking Heaven and Hitting Earth, the Immortal Pressing Art and some other skills could finally match his level.
More importantly, many problems with his self-created movements had been solved and his level got promoted. Universal Demise, Trio Combination of Yin and Yang, which is Yin and which is Yang and The Big Bang Technique were all movements close to Dharmakaya which he could make better use of. He also grew stronger with much progress in mastering other movements of Dharmakaya.
Before, he could hardly fight a grandmaster without the Law Phenomenon. Now, he could manage to resist a grandmaster with existing movements.
In the midst of his thoughts, he landed on the ground. An earthly yellow palace in the distance greeted his eyes. With airflow falling from the eaves just like True Dragons, the palace gave a feeling of honor and magnificence. Its vermilion gate, with 365 gold nails on it, was closed to cover its ancient secrets. A horizontal board was put upright, on which there were abstruse words he couldn’t read.
However, he could easily understand what it meant.
“Jade Virtual Palace!”
Three sides around the Jade Virtual Palace were visible. Meng Qi could see nine ancient wells on each side. Each bottomless well was surrounded by jade railings as if to keep people off.
“Don’t try to pry into any well. Wild beasts in various legends hide in them. Once you fall in, you may get killed or lost in Devaloka without knowing where you’re trapped,” said Duke Huan, to remind him. “There are thirty-six wells in total, leading to changing realms such as the Nine Serenities, other universes, ancient remnants, mysterious places or the depths of times. Even I don’t dare to try.”
As he spoke, he carried Meng Qi past the wells and flew to the Jade Virtual Palace.
As soon as they reached the vermilion gate with gold nails, Duke Huan suddenly stepped backward. A one-meter stick with 21 segments appeared in his right hand. Four spells were attached to each segment, making it mysterious.
“My God! The Immortal-slaying Whip Truncheon?” Meng Qi was taken aback. This was his first time seeing a treasure of the Apotheosized World.
“Does this mean Jiang Ziya still had the treasure because of the change in the Apotheosis War and passed it on to his subsequent generations?”
Three persons showed up in the direction Duke Huan guarded against, headed by a man wearing an emperor’s robe and a heavenly crown. He had a golden face and long black beard. It was King Zhuang of Chu who Meng Qi had met. Behind him stood a man and a girl. The man with dark skin was as tall as a giant while the beautiful girl was wearing a crimson robe.
King Zhuang of Chu held the glittering jade Ruyi Sceptre in his hand and said to Duke Huan with a smile, “You can sense such a tiny change. You’re really the successor of the Jade Virtual Palace.”
Duke Huan returned the smile. “We would have been here alone if you didn’t have the Ruyi Sceptre...”
Before his voice faded away, his left tunic opened and swelled quickly. The heaven became dark with the Chaos, the Sleeve Cosmos!
Meanwhile, King Zhuang of Chu held the Ruyi Sceptre in his left hand and punched his right fist. Universes appeared layer by layer.
Both of them were talking lively and jovially but in an instant tried to kill each other, shocking Meng Qi.
“Kaboom!”
The heaven revolved and the earth turned. With invisible metaphysical light around him as protection, Meng Qi still felt dizzy as if his body was being torn apart.
They truly deserved to be called Dharmakaya masters. Though Uncle Master stood in front of him, the aftershock was still horrible! Meng Qi resisted with his strong body, blazing slightly.
After breathing, Meng Qi felt light headed as his body swayed. A terrifying coldness came sharply from all directions as it tried to freeze his Vital Spirit and body. Meanwhile, he had to resist evil curses and attacks. If metaphysical light hadn’t blocked most of them, Meng Qi would have suffered heavily.
Even so, some curses couldn’t be blocked and directly hit Meng Qi. Luckily, they were not powerful enough. He lost some flesh and blood but managed to regenerate them, leaving no lasting effects.
Meng Qi did not have enough time to think about it. Owing to the coldness and curses, the Interior of Meng Qi changed with a Grand Sun arising from the east. Flames burned inside and out with exploding rays of light. He turned into a Grand Sun!
It was only then that Meng Qi managed to adapt to the environment and resisted the coldness and curses.
As he took a panoramic view, he found the void all around him. Blazing stars fringed the depths. In the distance, a huge ball floated, covered in color of earthly yellow.
“A planet?” Meng Qi looked at it with a dull expression. Considering the weightlessness he felt, he realized that he might be in the universe.
He was sent into space just because of the aftershock from a punch of King Zhuang of Chu?
“What kind of bladesmanship is this?”
The “Grand Sun” grew and stretched out his hands and feet. Meng Qi stood there with folded arms and remained silent for quite a while.
Just then, a tall and plain immortal came from a long way off. He looked respectable and sacred with a feeling of the Primeval. With propitious clouds above his head and Golden Lotuses around him, glimmering with billions of light.
The immortal held the “Immortal-slaying Whip Truncheon” and a yellowish flag. Meng Qi was suddenly enlightened. This must be the Dharmakaya of Duke Huan. He uttered, “Form of the Primordial Purity!”
“Uncle Master, what happened?” asked Meng Qi as he flew toward Duke Huan in flames.
Duke Huan looked serious and replied, “I didn’t expect King Zhuang of Chu to have mastered Fists of the Shifting Planes. Even so, he has been trapped by my Sleeve Cosmos.”
He raised his tunic.