by <unknown>
The Peaches of Immortality weren't that important to Zhong Yue, but it was a completely different story for the dying old gods, so much so that they would pour everything they had for just one of them!
"While other than the Peaches of Immortality, there are still many spirit herbs there, but the dangers in trying to procure them are proportional to their preciousness." Shang Qing laughed and said. "These Qi Practitioners Senior Martial Brother Zhong have defeated are just the weak and little figures. In fact, the disciples the gods have focused on mostly have the potential to become the gods themselves. But even so, there's no guarantee they can survive the Returning Ruins."
Zhong Yue nodded and asked, "What sort of cultivation do these Qi Practitioners have?"
Shang Qing then answered, "Inner Core at least as there is really no point for anyone with a lower cultivation base to enter Returning Ruins. The Heavenly Dharma and True Spirit cultivators are the main ones. As for Imminent Deity, they can go as well, but their near-god prowess will still partially trigger the curse. They won't die, but it's not that pleasant to have the cultivation base impaired and mortal body decomposed.
"Other than us in Kun Lun, the A'thoer demon Qi Practitioners will also enter Gui Xi. Thus, a bloody battle is inevitable with every appearance of the Returning Ruins. This time around, Tian Wu God has brought these eight little brothers over, it seems like he is also eyeing the Peaches of Immortality."
The eight little brothers he was referring to were clearly the eight Golden Hous.
These eight Golden Hous were not weak, they might not be as strong as the young potentiate gods, but eight of them together was more than enough to defeat the majority of Qi Practitioners.
“The eight one of them should be one too.”
Shang Qing gazed at the eight Golden Hous, he laughed and said, “Am I right? That the eight of you are also one Tian Wu.”
However, the eight Golden Hous winked their eyes and said in unison, “Bullshit!”
Shang Qing then sneered and said, "The Tian Wu's heads are that of tigers, or to be exact, Golden Hous; it also has eight heads, eight faces, eight legs, and eight tails. If the eight of you come together as one, you will form a Tian Wu! With the prowess of eight Golden Hous together, only a handful of opponents can defeat you! I suppose the only reason the eight of you have yet to come together is that Tian Wu God is trying to lower your opponents' guards so that when the eight of you combine in the Returning Ruins, the chances of acquiring the divine fruit are higher! Tian Wu God is really strong, to be able to separate the eight of you and to slide you eight under the radar of the other gods. But rest assured, I will not tell anyone."
Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er looked at the eight Golden Hous in shock.
The Golden Hous winked their eyes and smiled, they said, "Your words made so much sense that we almost believed you. However, how is it that, we didn't know about any of this?"
Suddenly, Zhong Yue activated his divine third eye, and he gazed at the eight Golden Hous. His heart stiffened up upon seeing the eight Golden Hous appearing to share the same kind of blood. Even their souls were identical, suggesting that they were, in fact, originally one entity. In addition to the cultivation technique they cultivated, Zhong Yue was even more convinced. The eight Golden Hous had cultivated eight different cultivation techniques, but the core totem patterns of the cultivation techniques were of the same kind, and this allowed the cultivation techniques to combine into a power far greater than the sum of their parts!
These gods are not as simple as they appear. It is most likely that every one of them has a disciple just like the Golden Hous, a trump card to acquire the Returning Ruins' Peaches of Immortality.
Zhong Yue praised in his heart, Tian Wu God appeared to be kind and honest, but who knew that he had such a calculating mind. I suppose even these eight little Golden Hous didn't know they are actually just one entity from the Tian Wu Celestial Race! The other gods should have similar means as well to protect their disciples while they fight for the Peaches of Immortality!
Shang Qing then laughed and said, "Senior Martial Brother Zhong's prowess is strong, but those gods have hidden their real cards in the dark. The true experts have yet to step out. Otherwise, you wouldn't be the one standing right now. It will be incredibly dangerous in Returning Ruins, other than guarding against the demon race, we still have to be wary of the other gods' disciples. In addition to the existing dangers in Returning Ruins, it will be a perilous journey. Thus, Shang Qing is asking to join hands with senior martial brother in exploring Returning Ruins together!"
Chapter 437: Teleportation Golden Tablet |
Zhong Yue smiled but didn't give an answer immediately. Instead, he said, "I'll consider it."
Shang Qing sighed. He hid his hands in the sleeves, and his clothes fluttered in the breeze, he said regretfully, "I really do not want to be Senior Martial Brother Zhong's enemy in the Returning Ruins."
Zhong Yue then laughed, his clothes also fluttered in the wind, and he said, "So do I. You can take your hands out from your sleeves already."
However, Shang Qing didn't listen, and he suddenly bowed, saying with a smile, "Since Senior Martial Brother Zhong doesn't want to, then I will not force you either."
Zhong Yue sidestepped over in front of Qiu Jin'er, he clasped his hands and replied, "Thank you for being considerate."
Krong——
A blast of rumbling thunder came from the two young men and shocked those on the Cloud Stage. The totem patterns surged out from Zhong Yue and Shang Qing's body, forming chains of totem patterns around them that collided over hundreds of times in just the blink of an eye!
A light flashed across Shang Qing's eyes, and just as he was going to take his hands out from the sleeves, Zhong Yue sneered and cast out the divine third eye.
Immediately, a surge of killing intent engulfed Shang Qing in the middle, causing his heart to skip a beat. Shang Qing then quickly retreated, but his hands were still in the sleeves. He smiled and said, "Senior Martial Brother Zhong, if we happen to meet in the Returning Ruins, please spare me a life."
“That can be done.” Zhong Yue put down his hands and disarmed his divine third eye, he answered politely.
Qiu Jin'er then asked, "Senior martial brother, why did he attack you?"
"He wanted to test my strength," Zhong Yue watched Shang Qing leave, and he then mumbled softly, "I didn't accept his request for an alliance, and so he wanted to check whether or not I am a threat to him. Another thing is that he was trying to take me down, he had hid his hands in the sleeves and prepared his skills and soul weapons. If I was inattentive for even a second, he would have gone all out. And his attacks were directed at you, if I became preoccupied with protecting you, then I would've fallen into his traps."
Qiu Jin'er was shocked while Zhong Yue continued, "This man is a sly and cunning one, we must keep our guard up against him. I did not accept his request because I realized that the gods are not as simple as we initially thought. With Shang Qing as the child of the Shang Zheng God, his intelligence and tactics should be above the others'. I didn't want to accept his offer before I got a better handle on who he is and where his capabilities lie. However, seeing that I did not accept his request, he tried to remove me from the equation just then."
Qiu Jin'er's heart thumped heavily as she mumbled, "We don't know him nor does he know us. Why does he want to do this to us?"
"Because I draw too much attention," Zhong Yue said apologetically to her, "I'm sorry that you have to be dragged you into this."
Qiu Jin'er nodded heavily, and she said in a serious tone, "Senior martial brother, I think that sometimes, you need to keep a low-profile. It's not too good to be overly outstanding, it's easy to attract hate from the others."
Zhong Yue then nodded and agreed, "I think so too. But oftentimes, that is easier said than done."
“Senior martial brother, how strong do you think Shang Qing is?” Qiu Jin’er then asked.
“Very st
rong, but still weaker than me.” Zhong Yue answered placidly.
“I think so too.” Qiu Jin’er also said.
The eight Golden Hous were looking at one another as they listened in on as the young junior martial sister praised the senior martial brother and the senior martial brother also praised himself. They were between laughter and tears as they thought, How are these two martial siblings even more shameless than us!
“Oh, I wonder how do the eight of you combine together?”
Qiu Jin'er then shifted her attention to the eight chubby little Golden Hous, and she said curiously, "Shang Qing said that you eight are actually a Tian Wu, so how do you all turn into a Tian Wu?"
The eight chubby tigers then exchanged a look and saw the same puzzled expression on each other's faces. Qiu Jin'er stepped forward and grabbed onto the little tigers, placing them together in a clump and watched expectantly. Nothing happened for the next few moments, and the young lady smirked happily, "This looks like a baozi!"
The young lady then placed the chubby tigers in a straight line, she couldn't hold her laughter and said, "Now it looks like a Tanghulu."
The eight of them were then placed in a circle, and she laughed again, "Now a pancake."
"Why are they all the names of foods?"
The eight Golden Hous were puzzled, and suddenly, Tian Er shouted in fear, "Please tell me you are not thinking about eating us!?"
Qiu Jin'er continued fooling around with the eight chubby tigers, testing out various arrangements to trigger a fusion, but it was to no avail. Zhong Yue stood aside and watched her have her fun, and he then laughed and said, "Jin'er, you can stop now. They have all cultivated different cultivation techniques, so combining the eight of them together will require another technique with the express purpose of fusing them together. Without this mainframe, these little Golden Hous won't combine into the Tian Wu either. My guess is that this mainframe is in the hands of Tian Wu God and that he would've only taught it to them just before entering the Returning Ruins. The only thing I'm interested in now is just how strong will the gods' strongest disciples be?"
Zhong Yue was filled with an intense desire for battle. Thousands of gods and thousands of years... the disciples that have been borne against this milieu would undoubtedly be exceptional, with the potential to become gods themselves. Seeing that he would soon have the opportunity to fight these strong opponents to learn more about his own strengths and weaknesses; Zhong Yue couldn't help tremble with excitement!
He couldn’t wait for the battles to come!
"Senior martial brother, we are not Kun Lun natives, how are we going to enter the Returning Ruins?" Suddenly, Qiu Jin'er threw out a knotty question.
Zhong Yue was startled at the question, and he frowned. The Peaches of Immortality that even the gods longed for wasn't that appealing to him at all. He had cultivated the sixth wheel and connected his mortal body and Yuan Shen together to link their lifespans together. Which means that after he had become a god in the future, he would have a total of 50,000 years of life to live, longer than the conventional gods.
However, if he could just acquire one of this Peach of Immortality, he would be able to sell it at a high price and change it into the medicinal pellets and materials, cultivation techniques and treasures that Swords Gate needed most!
Furthermore, there would be more than many precious items in the Returning Ruins, some might even be the divine herbs and godly treasures!
However, Qiu Jin'er had pointed out an obstacle in front of them — they weren't Kun Lun natives, how were they supposed to enter the Returning Ruins?
“Tian Yi, did your master say anything about how to enter Returning Ruins?” Zhong Yue then asked.
"Yes, he did say before. Just come onto the Cloud Stage, and you will be sent into the Returning Ruins." Tian Yi nodded and said.
Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er were overjoyed, and suddenly, Tian Yi continued saying, "However, you need the Teleportation Golden Tablet; otherwise, you will be left on the Cloud Stage. Also, master said that if you lose the Teleportation Golden Tablet in Returning Ruins, then you will not be able to come back! Some idiots had actually lost them before and died inside of Returning Ruins."
Zhong Yue's brow's furrowed deeper, and suddenly, a dashing young man walked over. He was donned in a feathery coat and had a long and narrow brow. He bowed at Zhong Yue and asked, "May I ask, are the two of you Senior Martial Brother Zhong Yue and Senior Martial Sister Qiu Jin'er?"
Zhong Yue nodded and asked puzzlingly, “And you are?”
"Qi Practitioner of the Phoenix clan, Feng Mingshan."
The handsome man took out two golden tablets, and he said, "Princess has asked these to be passed to the two of you personally."
Zhong Yue kept the two golden tablets, and he was even more puzzled, "Princess of the Phoenix clan? May I ask of her name?"
"Not the princess of the Phoenix clan, I meant the princess of the Western Mother Empire." Feng Mingshan then smiled, and he answered, "If you will excuse me, Mingshan will have to leave now."
Zhong Yue looked at the two golden tablets, and he asked the eight chubby tigers on the side, "Do you know who this princess of the Western Mother Empire is?"
The eight Golden Hous were playing on the ground when he asked, and one of them laughed and answered, "Princess Chi Xue, the next in line to the throne. She is an ungodly figure who's opened the sixth secret realm. How can you not know that?"
Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin'er were shocked. He thought of the mischievous young lady he had met in the South Barren and mumbled, "She is the princess? That doesn't quite add up.…"
Zhong Yue and Qiu Jin’er then strolled around the Cloud Stage. Soon, Zhong Yue could see many strong and powerful Qi Practitioners standing in the midst of the crowd, beyond the likes of Ma Zhengfeng and others. Clearly, they would be those potentiate disciples the gods have nurtured!
These young experts could really be said as the young potential gods!
During the battle between Zhong Yue and Ma Zhengfeng, these experts did not show up.
“Zhong Shan Clan member Zhong Yue, here you are!”
Suddenly, two surged of killing intent locked down on Zhong Yue. A familiar voice sounded in his ears, and Zhong Yue quickly looked over. His heart skipped a beat as he saw Peng Qianqiu and Peng Jinyi also standing on the Nacre Lake Cloud Stage, staring closely at him.
“Senior martial brothers, I hope you enjoyed yourselves here?” Zhong Yue returned a bright smile and answered.
Peng Jinyi, Peng Qianqiu sneered coldly, and they strode forward. Zhong Yue then said placidly, "I advise that the two of you try not to do anything here. This is the Nacre Lake in the Western Mother Empire. There are many gods here, and if you dare to start a murder here, then I don't think the gods would like it so much."
Peng Jinyi and Peng Qianqiu were shocked, they raised their heads up and stared at the flowing godly lights on the golden platform, filled their hearts with fear and turned incredibly vigilant.
Suddenly, Ma Zhengfeng walked over, and he said laughingly, "Ah, it's the senior martial brothers from the Kun Peng Celestial Race. I'm Ma Zhengfeng of the Tian Si Celestial Race. It's an honor to meet the venerable Kun Peng Celestial Race. My teacher, Ma Wang God, is inviting the two of you over for some talks, do you care to come over?"
“Your teacher is wanting to see us?”
Peng Qianqiu and Peng Jinyi startled, they exchanged a look and nodded slowly. They then followed Ma Zhengfeng and left.
Ma Zhengfeng led them to the golden platform, and they greeted Ma Wang King. Ma Wang King raised his hand and gestured them to spare the formalities while he laughed and said, "No need for that. I still thought that the Kun Lun doesn't have the Kun Pengs anymore. It's surprising to see the two of you here, where did you come from?"
The two Kun Peng magnates didn't dare to act rashly, and they bowed, answered the question in unison, "We are from the Ancestral Star."
“Ancestral Star?”
Ma Wang King was surprised, and he then laughed again, "So the two of you are from that place. Little friends, then how about this Zhong Shan Clan member?"
“He is also from the Ancestral Star, and he is a human.” Peng Jinyi quickly answered and said.
“A human?”
Ma Wang God squinted his eyes and mulled, he said, "How can a human Qi Practitioner be so strong? Even the Kun Lun humans can't reach such a stage … Little friends, is there anything between you and him?"
Peng Qianqiu gritted his teeth tight and said, "Hatred that can only be washed away by his blood!"
Ma Wang God then laughed loudly, he said, “Such a puny human, I can easily kill him with just the tip of my finger. Little friends, however, I have a request…”
***
Meanwhile, Shang Qing came to the side of Shang Zheng God. He bowed and greeted, “Mother.”
"That Zhong Shan Clan boy, what do you think?" Shang Zheng God asked.
"Strong, very strong... he is a formidable foe," Shang Qing answered. He smiled and said, "But there are many strong enemies like him in Kun Lun, for example, the Kua Fu expert. However, they are not my biggest enemy, the greatest obstacle in my path is only Princess Chi Xue."
Shang Zheng nodded, she smiled and said, "She has cultivated six secret realms, but you have reversed-open the five secret realms as well. You won't be anywhere far away from her. She is said to be the next in line for the throne, but I don't see it that way. In the Western Mother Empire, there are more royal members than you can imagine that hopes for her demise in the Returning Ruins. Our Western Mother Empress is dying, and if Princess Chi Xue dies in Returning Ruins, the empress won't have the Peaches of Immortality to extend her life any longer. Hehe, it’s still uncertain of who would be the next Western Mother Empress!”
