by <unknown>
If one walked within this mountain, no matter how quickly they traveled, there was no way of getting out of the mountain, because when they walked, the mountain transformed. When you stood on the surface of the mountain, the other parts of the mountain would be hidden in a complicated dimension. With every step one walked, the person was actually randomly entering a dimension through another dimension, hence, seeing the mountain differently each time!
What a strange Dao and a strange Dao Mountain!
Zhong Yue was awestruck, he opened up his divine third eye, his Three Eyes Heavenly Pupils looked around, searching through the mountain before he located the strange palace again.
Through the Three Eyes Heavenly Pupils, he identified a path leading straight to the palace, moved his ship towards it and the ship started moving around cluelessly; flying from the left to the right, flipping up and down, diving in and out from the dimensions, flying around like a headless fly.
After a few days, the ancient ship finally reached the palace hidden in the Dao Mountain.
The Three Eyes Heavenly Pupils closed upon reaching the palace, the prolonged usage of the pupils had strained Zhong Yue heavily, even when he was in the Deity Emperor level.
The transformations of the Dao Mountain are even more than I expected, the Innate Mountain Dao really is something different! It’s not weaker than the other Daos!
He arrived before the palace and he caught a sweet scent that boosted his spirit.
“Scent of a saint herb!”
The sweet woke Xin Huo and he shouted happily, “Zhong Yue, there is more than just one saint herb here! Let me sniff around, 1,2,3,4…. There are at least 8 saint herbs hidden in this place!”
“At least 8?”
The surprised Zhong Yue pushed the gates and intruded into the palace as he burst out laughing, “Yuan Ya Deity King is indeed an ancient one from the Dark Age that is still standing right now! There are actually that many treasures here! Ooof—”
A second after he entered the palace, Zhong Yue flew out with a speed ten times quicker, slamming into the mountain beside the palace. His bones creaked under the impact before he slowly slid down from the mountain, still subdued from the shock he received.
“Did I just got slapped by a saint herb….”
Blood dripped down from his mouth, he happily entered the saint palace and what welcomed him was a herb with seven leaves and seven flowers, its leaves curled into the shape of a fist and slammed onto his face, with extraordinary strength that knocked him out for a second!
Zheng—
11 arms grew out from his armpits, totaling 13 arms that each yielded innate divine weapons made from 13 innate Daos. He walked into the palace again, this time with killing instinct and a grave expression.
The notorious and famed King Yi was slammed on the face by a saint herb, no one would believe to be true if told!
“If you dice it up, the saint herb will lose its efficacy.” Xin Huo reminded after seeing the killing intent in Zhong Yue.
The speechless Zhong Yue then kept the 13 sabers away and charged into the palace once more. Again, he was welcomed by the same saint herb, far away stood a massive green vine, twining around on a saint tree. Beside the tree was a pond filled with spiritual water, floating on the water was a white lotus and a red fish could be seen leaping out of the water from time to time.
There was also another white crane, the top of its red was red and its vision locked onto that red fish, seemingly wanting to eat him. On top of this crane was a little child, standing only about 3 inches tall, and hanging right above the child’s head was the branch of the saint tree and a golden snake slithering around that particular branch, flickering its tongue as it looked at the child like a prey.
Zhong Yue charged forward without giving a damn and grabbed towards the saint herb with seven leaves and nine flowers. But just as he revealed his hostility, the little child charged right at Zhong Yue. Riding on the white crane, the red fish flew up with the white lotus in its mouth, and the saint tree unrooted itself as the golden snake slithered towards Zhong Yue!
Beng—
To Zhong Yue’s dismay and embarrassment, he was sent flying out again, slamming back onto the mountain. This time, he was covered in bruises all over his face and his torso.
“Xin Huo, give me your promise that the future inheritors will never know about this!” begged Zhong Yue suddenly as he wiped away the blood on his face.
Xin Huo nodded repeatedly and promised, “Don’t worry, no one will know about this. There will only be you and I who know about this!”
Zhong Yue, however, wasn’t convinced, no matter how he tried to believe Xin Huo’s trustworthiness, he still found Xin Huo to be unreliable as he thought, This unreliable Xin Huo will definitely expose this and my image in the future generations’ eyes will be tainted….”
“The saint herb with seven leaves and nine flowers must be the Nine Daos Flower, in each and the flower and leaf are an innate Dao. The tree should be the Dao Attainment Tree, which is also a saint herb. They say that the Dao Attainment Fruits it produces can increase in the affinity in one person. That white crane is also another type of saint herb, it looks like a crane but in truth, it is called the Red Top Wood Scent Flesh Ling Zhi, one that could prolong lifespan. It is in the league right below the ancient Tree of Life. That golden snake over there, is the Dao fruit grew from the Long Green Dao Teng, that red fish is Red Pellet Saint Herb and that white lotus is Feathering Spirit Lotus!”
Like an encyclopedia, Xin Huo had already revealed the information of these saint herbs to Zhong Yue, “That child riding on the crane is most likely Xuan Yellow Dao Spirit. Hmmm, strange, I smell 8 types of saint herbs but there are only seven here? There must be another one hidden right here, this scent… so familiar… I must have smelled it somewhere….”
Zhong Yue revealed his Fuxi True Form, the seven light wheels lit up behind his head, seven secret realms opened up entirely and with raging battle intent, he charged back into the saint palace. Previously, he was defenseless before the saint herbs and it was a tremendous humiliation to the famous King Yi. This time, he no longer came unprepared, the Seven Paths Reincarnation wide open, him in his strongest form and determined to obtain the seven saint herbs.
Yet this time, before he could do anything, the seven saint herbs had already started running, diving deep into the saint palace and in an instant, they all disappeared.
This left Zhong Yue in confusion and he did not know how to react.
These saint herbs were not to be underestimated, upon realizing the rapid growth in Zhong Yue’s strength, they knew they were no longer his match and they cunningly escaped.
That red fish even drank the spiritual water in the fond dry, not leaving even a drip of water for him!
“There is the smell of the eighth saint herb, its scent….”
Xin Huo mumbled, “I’ve definitely seen it once… definitely! It’s just so familiar… That’s right! That Wall Painting Flower! Hey baby-maker, look around for something like a painting!”
“Xin Huo, can you stop calling me baby-maker?”
Zhong Yue grunted and looked around, only to find empty walls everywhere, there was no drawing and no carvings. He looked at his feet and the ground was also clean, except that there were a few potholes, supposedly formed when the saint herbs rooted themselves on the ground.
He looked into the skies, where there was only the sky, star streams, long star rivers, lightning that spanned million miles, starry clouds, it was a beautiful scene of the galaxy.
“From here I can even see the galaxy…. Wait up! When I was outside, I clearly saw a roof on this palace!”
Zhong Yue ascended into the air, the seven light wheels whirled around, shrouding the galaxy and right away, the beautiful galaxy, the stars, star rivers, lightning all disappeared, leaving only a huge flower on the top of the ceiling.
This flower had two huge leaves, billions of roots like legs and it ran, just like a
human!
“You are not trying to run, are you? After entering my Seven Paths Reincarnation!”
Zhong Yue burst out laughing and shockingly discovered the Wall Painting Flower’s roots pierced through his reincarnations before started to expand outside, attempting to escape!
“Stop dreaming!”
The Seven Paths Reincarnation’s strength was pushed to the peak, spreading out like a spider web, with that, no matter how hard the flower tried to run, it merely entered a reincarnation secret realm to another, and the cycle continued.
“An ultimate saint herb!”
Xin Huo shouted excitedly, “I’ve seen it before, right in the chaotic years in between Fire Order Era and Earth Order Era! I saw it at Yuan Ya Deity King’s! Wall Painting Flower is Yuan Ya Deity King’s symbiotic flower!”
Chapter 1124: The 27th Corpse |
With everything he had, Zhong Yue squeezed out every last bit of strength he had, pulling the Seven Paths Reincarnation back to him.
Weng—
It slammed back into Zhong Yue’s body and Yuan Shen and along with the Seven Paths Reincarnation was the Wall Painting Flower itself.
“Baby-maker! Don’t let it escape!” shouted the happy Xin Huo.
To which Zhong Yue frowned greatly, “Xin Huo, stop calling me baby-maker! As long as it is in my secret realm, there is no way….”
Before his words could be finished, roots started crawling out from his nose and ears, growing longer and thicker every second. Soon, they burst out of his skin, forming an awful sight.
“This Wall Painting Flower of Yuan Ya Deity King really is something!”
After some effort, Zhong Yue finally suppressed the Wall Painting Flower into a corner inside the Dao Yi Secret Realm and had the Pan Gu Celestial Being sit on it so that the Wall Painting Flower wouldn’t cause any more trouble.
“Xin Huo, what use is this saint herb?” he asked.
“No idea. Once, I only saw it once so I really don’t know what can it do, But, given the fact that this is an innate saint herb, it will not be anywhere far behind the three great spiritual roots, definitely much better than the other saint herbs!”
Zhong Yue nodded in agreement. The three great spiritual roots were innate spiritual roots, Great Si Ming’s Tree of Life symbolized life, Lei Zhe’s Innate Fruit Tree symbolized Daos and Great Sui’s Fusang Divine Tree symbolized secret realms, they all had different powers and were all amazing.
As an innate Deity King, Yuan Ya Deity King may not be as strong as Great Si Ming and Lei Zhe but the symbiotic innate saint herb of his was sure to be more than just astonishing.
“Well, we can find out Wall Painting Flower’s use later. For now, let’s go get the other seven saint herbs, shall we?”
With a smirk, Zhong Yue started advancing deep into the saint palace before sensing the monarch’s presence coming from afar.
That air intensified, his heart beat quicker than usual and without him knowing, his speed slowed down, trying his best to walk without making much noise.
Where is this monarch presence coming from? Could it be that there is a monarch stationed here? Right in the Yuan Ya Deity King’s innate sacred ground?
Zhong Yue’s thought flickered and the ancient ship right outside the palace started lifting into the air as its wings flapped silently, waiting for the signal to ram into the palace just in case things went sour.
Zhong Yue recollected his thoughts and continued moving forward. Some time later, he traced the seven saint herbs’ scent to a side palace, where the monarch presence intensified.
Becoming even more cautious, Zhong Yue reached his head out slowly and he was stunned by what he saw.
“This is….”
Sitting right at the center in this side hall was a massive coffin with the length of a few hundred feet long, looking like it was made from divine gold vein that was cut in half. With chains all over the coffin, it was hung in the air and on the ground were coffin covers everywhere, scattering around, adding even more eerieness to the surroundings, amplifying the ghostly and uneasy feeling in the side hall.
Zhong Yue calmed himself down, his innate Dao turned into a mirror and when he looked around through the light emitted by the mirror, he discovered that the coffin had a total of nine layers.
“A monarch tomb!”
His heart started pumping quickly. He looked towards the nine layered coffin, whose cover was shoved aside, revealing a white skeleton, appearing majestic even when it was just lying down.
It was accepted that the monarchs’ flesh was not something that would dissolve nor disintegrate over time, but right in this nine layered coffin, there was no flesh, no skin, no nothing. All it had left was just a skeleton and the Dao patterns supposedly imprinted on the skeleton were gone!
Generally, existences like the monarchs, their cultivation level was not something to be meddled with, when they became the monarch, the Daos from over the world would surge into their body. When this process occurred, the Dao they cultivated would slowly brand itself onto every corner in their body, which included their bones as well!
And because of this, though their bones were not on the same level as innate Dao bones like Shi Long’s, their bones were still astounding.
The innate Dao bone was only achievable by ancient Deity Kings and they were the only ones who knew the way, hence, not even monarchs could pull it off.
Yet again, the bones of a monarch were impossibly weak as the one lying in this monarch tomb. The spiritual energy of the one right here was mostly gone, what remained to tell the world that it was once a monarch was its monarch presence.
Could it be a disciple of Yuan Ya Deity King became a monarch and later on passed away? But if it’s his disciple, then it makes no sense to have so many chains attached to this coffin just to lock it away. Besides, he wouldn’t be so cruel so as to expose his disciple’s body just like that….
Zhong Yue was confused but decided to walk away, trying not to stir more trouble for himself and the saint herbs were nowhere in sight as well. He located the side palace’s exit and when he got out from this side palace, he arrived at another side palace, also surging with monarch presence.
Right in this second side palace, there was also another monarch coffin, also chained up with its cover open.
He looked through the mirror and found a skeleton with no flesh and devoid of the spiritual element and Dao patterns on it, just like the one he encountered before.
He frowned at what he saw but again, he decided to walk away. But soon enough, he ran into the third side palace, with the exact same arrangement.
And again, he walked away, tracking the saint herbs before finding himself before the fourth side palace, then the fifth, sixth and seventh….
He kept going and after entering a total of 26 side palaces, he horridly discovered nothing but empty skeletons in every coffin located in every side palace.
This is the twenty-seventh side palace… There should also be another monarch tomb here….
After clearing his throat, he walked into the next side palace, finding himself the seven saint herbs, all hiding behind the coffin located right in this side palace, also hanging in the air, only this time, the monarch presence emitting from this coffin was few times stronger.
Is the monarch corpse right here a perfect one?
However, just when he was about to check with the mirror again, a knocking came from the monarch tomb and this terrorized him greatly!
Knock knock—
Knockings came from the tomb again and Zhong Yue started sweating coldly.
Without a second of thought, Zhong Yue backed off without making a noise while the knocks continued to come from the coffin still, making him uneasy.
The monarch corpse is still alive?
When he arrived at the exit, he silently spread out his innate wings, preparing to leave any time soon but not before he second guessed his decision about running away without checking on the corpse.
&n
bsp; He raised the mirror up and shone it towards the monarch coffin right at the center of the side palace.
His vision landed onto that mutilated body of the monarch, whose face could vaguely be recognized.
Boom—
Upon recognizing that face, Zhong Yue’s mind exploded at the shock he received and he almost shouted in surprise.
Heavenly Monarch Tian Yuan!
That corpse in the coffin was the previous Heavenly Monarch, the corpse of Heavenly Monarch Tian Yuan!
He recognized Heavenly Monarch Tian Yuan’s looks, there were also his portraits in many of the ruins out there, not to mention that his statue was still being worshipped by the Tian Yuan Clan. But, the Heavenly Monarch was supposed to be buried in Tian Yuan Clan’s monarch tomb, why was it here?
How did it appear right here?
Why was the body mutilated? As if it was chomped down by some beast!
A chill snuck into Zhong Yue’s limbs and that was when the knocking came again. Hearing the knocking, Zhong Yue quickly moved the mirror, facing it towards that thing creating the knocking — it was a black crow!
That black crow was standing right on the corpse’s chest, biting off its flesh every time and swallowing it!
The knockings were formed when that black crow’s beak hit the corpse’s body!
To be able to become a Heavenly Monarch, these existences were all someone extraordinary, standing high in their league and now, this black crow was capable of tearing Heavenly Monarch Tian Yuan’s flesh and eating his meat!
Apart from that, he even saw Heavenly Monarch Tian Yuan’s essence and Daos were all flowing into the black crow’s nostrils as it breathed.
This black crow, it was clearly siphoning the energy in the corpse!
And this explained why there weren’t any spiritual elements in the previous monarch corpses!
Is this black crow Yuan Ya Deity King himself?
Zhong Yue’s entire body went numb right away, all frozen up and he quickly shut down all his secret realms, dare not sweat a single sweat, afraid of leaking his presence and he slowly walked out.
Goddess Shen Hou will not lie to me, so Yuan Ya Deity King is definitely not here, which means that this black crow is Yuan Ya Deity King’s incarnation, left behind by Yuan Ya Deity King to consume Heavenly Monarch Tian Yuan’s flesh in order to absorb every power he cultivated when he was still alive.
