The Gem of Dreaming cracked aloud, and Xu Yangyi shook his head disappointedly and prepared to remove his spiritual sense. But suddenly, he saw Sheliyuemo open a passage and bring Che Fengchao farther and farther away⊠so far that they flew away from Earth!
And beyond Earth⊠was the Clearcloud Realm!
Hum!
The inside of Xu Yangyiâs mind brightened in a flash. He recalled many of his conversations with Enihilus and the Dream Walker!
âThis⊠is Journey to the West.â He intently watched the memory. âNot Tang Xuanzangâs Journey to the West! But Wukongâs Journey to the West!â
âBut⊠Enihilus once said back then that Journey to the West spanned through Lesser Thousand Realms! If thatâs how it really is⊠no wonder, itâs no surprise that mortals or the cultivation world canât find many of the nations recorded in Journey to the West no matter what!â
âSenior Che stepped into the YuenĂŒ Tribeâs domain back then and encountered Horseplague here. The Three Scriptures were rescued, and then he fulfilled his promise. He followed a Master of the Tripiáčaka in cultivation and traveled through Lesser Thousand Realms, and this was spread by a book into the worldâŠâ
CrackâŠ
The Gem of Dreaming in his hand completely transformed into flying ash. He stared for three seconds, somewhat lost in thought, and shook his head.
This wasnât the answer he had looked forward to.
If he hadnât entered Danxia Temple, then he wouldnât have had these expectations. But it was because he knew about Xiaoqing and Fahai, because he knew about Jiang Ziya, who had recultivated four lifetimes, that he had this belief now.
Perhaps this thought was planted in everyoneâs minds at the beginning of cultivation. But in the End of Days, this seed wasnât able to germinate. Only he, having seen much, much more than other cultivators, had thus quietly sprouted⊠This seed that shouldnât have sprouted in the End of Days!
Although it was young, its growth was incomparably fierce! To the extent that this seed didnât even need anyone to water it or spread fertilizer for it at all!
Power was such a concept that each man pursued it. Regardless of rights or authority⊠perhaps all there existed was the pure strength of the fleshly body.
His train of thought fell away somewhat, but his gaze suddenly brightened once several seconds passed.
The Gem of Dreaming⊠still hadnât dissipated! Instead, it was oddly arranging a paragraph in the air!
âIn the second year of the reign of Emperor Suzong of Tang, Shi Siming turned Fanyang into the Imperial Capital. He changed Fanyang into Yanjing. In the same year, an immortal fell at Tianshou Mountain on the outskirts of Yanjing. The cultivation world was shaken, and tens of thousands of cultivators gathered at Yanjing, but they found no trace. This poor monkâs destiny coincided, and I found a magik treasure that wrote of the Divine Sealock Needle. This treasure⊠hides a titanic secret. I suspect that it points to an immortalâs burial ground. Unless one is fortified by great destiny and fortune, and they are not Core Formation, it cannot be opened.â
[1]
Underneath was an expanse of strange hand seals.
Xu Yangyi was already up on his feet, his heart pounding wildly!
The vestige of an immortal!
If said, apart from Ming Guangzong of the past, no one else could be sure. To the extent that Ming Guangzong himself only had a speculation, a speculation that was based on a monarchâs heart and mind. But Che Fengchao had left his mark on history. Regardless of the past, right now, in all the information he was able to find, the sole trail of the mark of âimmortalâ had truly been mentioned!
âWaitâŠâ He snapped his head up and murmured, âTianshou Mountain⊠isnât thatâŠâ
The Thirteen Ming Tombs!
In his heart, a hair-raising guess suddenly arose!
âWhat if⊠the Ming court found the remains of an immortal?â He rubbed his chin, his gaze fiery. âTherefore, they constructed the Thirteen Ming Tombs on Tianshou Mountain?â
âAnd as the emperor whose dynasty esteemed Daoism the most, Ming Guangzong⊠he happened to find the thing underneath the Thirteen Ming Tombs⊠And it was because of this that Celestial Master Zhang compiled the Dao Scripture later? Why the Tianqi Explosion happened, and the Xuan-Yuan Swordâs pursuit?â
âIf he really did discover an immortalâs body⊠everything can be explained!â
It was the Thirteen Ming Tombs!
Xu Yangyi hadnât expected this. It seemed that heâd gone around in a loop. Ultimately, his journey still fell upon the Thirteen Ming Tombs!
The Vermilion Bird Fire was there, and the only trail related to immortals, written by Che Fengchao, was also there!
âI must go,â he confirmed to himself. âRegardless of the Eternal Alchemy Canonâs true activation or the trail of an immortal, I must go look.â
âFortunately, this place warned me that itâs a place I can only go as a Core Formation cultivator.â He rubbed his chin and memorized all the hand seals. Afterwards, he did a once over.
âThis might be the key related to an immortalâs trail⊠It should be the only thing that Senior Che comprehended from the Gold-Banded Staff.â
Sudden realization gave birth to clear enlightenment in his heart. The Gold-Banded Staff really wasnât Che Fengchaoâs. History stated that he was adept at using a long staff. So it turned out that he wasnât good at it, but rather because he simply couldnât relinquish it!
Was there any cultivator who didnât want to achieve the Dao and become an immortal?
With such destiny, how could Che Fengchao possibly let go?
Since he had the pill spirit that granted him an eidetic memory, Xu Yangyi wasnât afraid about forgetting the hand seals. Still, after performing four of the hand seals, his brows abruptly scrunched together.
âSomethingâs off! I was just rushing through. Thereâs a point in this that doesnât make sense!â
âIf⊠this immortal treasure landed during the Tang era, how could it be inscribed in Journey to the West?! That isnât Wukongâs Journey to the West, but Tang Xuanzangâs Journey to the West! The Journey to the West that Wu Chengâen wrote during the Ming era!
[2]
âThatâs right, I understand! After Senior Che gained the divine needle, he immediately followed the trail and started journeying west, so he entered a Lesser Thousand Realm! He began his own journey to the west!â
A riddle seemed to be solved, yet an even larger riddle appeared.
In the end, who did this staff belong to?
Could it be⊠it was that immortal body that fell during the Tang dynasty?
âForget it, nowâs not the time to think about these things. Senior Che explained it pretty clearly. If I want to comprehend the thing inside this staff, I canât do it unless Iâm Core Formation. Once I reach Core Formation,
then
itâll be my beginning.â
In his mind, heâd already finished going through the hand seals. However, at the same time he finished, the entire passage shook!
Moonless quickly raised his head. He felt something was coming.
Xu Yangyi also felt it. Something was charging straight where he was, from the entrance of the nightmare world!
Ten minutes⊠twenty minutes⊠From the path they had taken several hours to fly though, in less than half an hour, a staff smoldering with golden light stood before Xu Yangyi like a lightning bolt. It didnât give him time to react, immediately transforming into the size of a needle and flying to Xu Yangyiâs ear.
Moonless was stunned, and so was Xu Yangyi.
âThis⊠is the Gold-Banded Staff from outside?â Moonless said incredulously. âIt⊠It has⊠recognized you as its master?â
âWhat did you even do?â
Xu Yangyiâs gaze slightly flashed. It seemed that Moonless hadnât seen those characters just now.
This was indeed Che Fengchaoâs remnant. If such a great cultivator didnât want other people to see it, then that was just all too easy.
âNothing.â Xu Yangyi shook his head and spoke no further. He understood very well that he hadnât made the Gold-Banded Staff accept him as a master, but rather he could temporarily control it. It was barely this and nothing more.
Just as the staff flew to him, the nightmare space finally started to fracture apart inch after inch.
However, to say that it was fracturing still wasnât appropriate. On the contrary, space transformed into black fog, and wisps scattered away in the air. As all the black fog left, the surroundings turned to blue skies and white clouds, jade-green grass that looked like a mattress.
They were unexpectedly in the Garden of the Twin Sal-Trees.
Sure enough, Enihilus wasnât the Realm Spirit. His death didnât cause the Clearcloud Realm to collapse. On the nearby grass, everyone who they had previously entered with, apart from those who were already dead, were left behind in perfect condition, as when they had first entered.
At the center of the twin sal-trees, a golden formation was rippling in the eye. This was the formation leading to Earth.
âLetâs goâŠâ Moonless said, his voice deep with emotion. âEverythingâs been settled.â
Xu Yangyi saw Zhao Ziqi, who was in snoring in his sleep. He faintly smiled and waved his hand, and the youth transformed into flowing light and entered his spiritual sense. In the next moment, he lightly snorted and several white flashes shot into the state-magiâs and spirit-mastersâ minds.
âWhat are you doing?â Moonless raised a brow and said.
âTheyâll fulfill my deal with the Clearcloud Realm.â Xu Yangyi waved his hand, and his thoughts stirred again. These people all transformed into steaks of light and vanished from the Garden of the Twin Sal-Trees.
This was a test of his control of the Clearcloud Realm and also a show of strength to Moonless. Before he was sure who the other was in the end.
âHmph.â Moonlessâs complexion was somewhat unsightly. Oddly though, he only gritted his teeth and remained silent.
âLetâs go.â Xu Yangyi wore a small smile on his face, and entered the twin sal-trees.
As soon as he entered the formation, his vision slightly flashed. He saw, at the fringes of the formation, a golden awl inserted into the ground. If memory served, this⊠shouldâve been Clearcloudâs Realm Anchor.
He studied it for several seconds, turned around, and left. This was an item that he couldnât take away.
He wasnât certain how many Lesser Thousand Realms there were that Earth knew of, but if a missing Lesser Thousand Realm and Realm Anchor appeared on Earth again, everything would be over once he was discovered.
The current him simply didnât require the Realm Anchor to open the passage between the Clearcloud Realm and Earth. All he needed⊠was to return and prepare for several years. After buying a spatial ring with a massive storage, true planar trade would be conducted.
SwooshâŠ
The duo stepped into the Transference Formation. In an instant, a dizziness that was countless times stronger than an ordinary Transference Formation churned.
Xu Yangyi promptly closed his eyes. In this twinkling, he almost felt like he was being torn into smithereens.
Soon, darkness appeared before his eyes. He could sense, however, that this was a spinning darkness.
After roughly half an hour, a massive rumble rang out from the Clearcloud Realmâs great continent! A pillar of golden light rocketed straight into the sky!
Vaguely, two silhouettes could be seen in the gold light, seemingly there but not there.
âWhatâs this?â
âAscension? Someone is ascending?!
âFuck me, a grand master has appeared?! No way!!!â
All of the Clearcloud Realmâs denizens could see this pillar of light. From the sorrowful pain of the Clearcloud Realmâs near collapse, almost each person reacted, and ecstatic conversation about the pillar of light followed.
âItâs themâŠâ In the State of Shangchen, the chairman and the premier observed the pillar of light with deep feelings. âThey⊠left⊠Those upper-realm cultivatorsâŠâ
âIn that case⊠when they come next time, will they bring guns and cannons, or goods?â
Xu Yangyi and Moonless closed their eyes as they went higher and higher in the pillar of light. However, they didnât see that barely ten minutes after they left, a shiver-inducing spiritual pressure raced closer to the entire Clearcloud Realm, fast as lightning!
A golden coffin was gently drifting through space several hundred thousand kilometers away from the Clearcloud Realm. Golden light shimmered.
CrackâŠ
The coffin lid soundlessly opened, and a crystalline jade hand lifted it away. Afterwards, a woman that could be called a perfect beauty, dressed in ancient palace dress, trod into the void and stood there.
ââStarâ reporting.â Her voice held no modicum of humanity. On the contrary, it was fully saturated with the metallic feel of machinery. âTarget has vanished, the Clearcloud Realm has disappeared. I am incapable of scouting and survey. Requesting directive.â
1. Emperor Suzong of Tang (711-762 CE). Shi Siming (703-761 CE). Shi Siming conspired against the Tang Dynasty with An Lushan in what would become the An-Shi Rebellion. Yanjing is modern-day Beijing.
2. Tang dynasty (618-907 CE). Ming Chengâen (1500-1582 CE). Author of
Journey to the West
. These two dates give some relativity between the time periods here.
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