Volume Six: The Return of the Sovereign God to the Shattered Continent Chapter Seventeen: On the Path Beyond the Stele

Passing through a long, dim corridor, the group arrived before a stone gate. Zhuohua walked up to the gate and reached out to press the lifelike stone lotus flower carved into its surface.

"As the most formidable master artisan of the Xuanhuang clan, did you really not bother to modify this ancient mechanism?" Yu Qingshu asked, her tone laced with mockery.

Yu Changsheng, hearing this, stepped forward to examine the locking mechanism closely. He looked up at Zhuohua and said, "Yuanjun, press it already! I want to see if the inner workings are as I imagined."

Zhuohua exerted force with his right hand, pushing the stone lotus completely into the wall, then rotated it half a turn from left to right. With a series of grinding clicks, the stone gate slid aside.

The gate was open.

"This mechanism is quite ordinary indeed! I could have made it myself," Yu Changsheng boasted.

"Oh? Is that so?" Zhuohua replied. "Opening this gate requires the Xuanhuang Heart Technique. Using brute force would only snap the stone lotus without opening the door. Do you have any better methods to achieve this?"

Yu Changsheng was puzzled. "Why do it this way? Doesn't this just increase the difficulty of the mechanism for no reason?"

"For no reason? It is designed this way precisely to prevent outsiders from trespassing into forbidden grounds and to ensure the security of the Cloud-Top Celestial Palace."

Yu Changsheng pursed his lips and muttered a few words before falling silent.

Seeing them argue, Yu Qingshu felt amused. She smiled and stepped through the gateway. Su Mengling looked at Zhuohua and Yu Changsheng, then at Yu Qingshu, who had already entered; sticking her tongue out, she followed her in.

"Wow! Good heavens! It’s so majestic! So magnificent!" Su Mengling’s exclamation echoed from within, prompting Yu Changsheng to crane his neck, desperate to see what lay inside.

Zhuohua, his hand still resting on the stone lotus, stared at Yu Changsheng with a blank expression. Seeming to feel the weight of that burning gaze, Yu Changsheng shrank back, offered an embarrassed smile, and scurried through the stone gate.

"Ancestor! Ancestor! Come look! There’s a statue of you here!" Su Mengling’s voice rang out joyfully.

Yu Qingshu walked slowly toward the row of statues. She looked up, studying them intently, her cheerful expression gradually deepening into solemnity.

"Ancestor! You were so beautiful back then! If I were a man, I would certainly have fallen at your feet," Su Mengling offered, her praise heartfelt and unreserved.

"And am I not beautiful now?" Yu Qingshu asked in mock indignation, though she was secretly delighted.

"You are absolutely beautiful now, too! But the beauty is different. The beauty on the statue is enough to topple kingdoms, while your current beauty is peerless and transcendent." As she spoke, the excitement on Su Mengling's face suddenly faded into an inexplicable sadness. "I truly envy you of the Immortal Descendant clan. You can live forever, eternally youthful. We Pu people only have a few short decades of life; to this eternal void, it is but a single breath."

"Why, that is easily mended! I shall teach you the Xuanhuang Heart Technique. Though, living forever and staying young is not necessarily a blessing. If you are willing to learn, I will teach you," Yu Qingshu said, dismissing the gravity of the matter with a light wave of her hand.

"Really? I can learn the Xuanhuang Heart Technique?" Su Mengling cried out in disbelief, her voice shrill enough to draw the attention of Zhuohua and Yu Changsheng.

"I, Yu Qingshu, always keep my word."

"Before, I begged Big Brother to teach me, but he said that the meridians of us Pu people cannot cultivate the Xuanhuang Heart Technique. He said that if forced, it would lead to a chaotic mind and paralysis." Recalling what Zhuohua had told her, the spark of hope in Su Mengling’s eyes dimmed once more.

Yu Qingshu waved her hand dismissively. "Meridians are not a big issue. Can’t they simply be severed and reconnected according to the structure of the Xuanhuang clan?"

"If the meridians were severed, wouldn't the person die?" Yu Changsheng, having just recovered from the awe of the grand Hall of the Seven Sages and Seven Virtues, was shocked by Yu Qingshu’s suggestion.

Yu Qingshu pointed at Zhuohua behind her. "He possesses the Xuanhuang Mirror and the Thousand-Mechanism Urn. What kind of life can he not create?"

Zhuohua looked displeased. "Ancestor, these are clan secrets, accessible only to the Yuanjun. How could you tell them this?"

Yu Qingshu shot him a sidelong glance. "You are too calculating, always plotting this and that. In the end, how many people do you have left that you can truly trust?"

"Big Brother!" Su Mengling approached Zhuohua and tugged at his sleeve. "Big Brother, Ling’er wants to learn the Xuanhuang Heart Technique, too, so that I can stay by your side forever."

Zhuohua sighed softly. "Very well. I promise to reshape your meridians. However, this process is extremely dangerous. Let me devise a foolproof plan before we proceed. Our immediate priority is to take down the traitors and reclaim the Cloud-Top Celestial Palace."

Su Mengling was overjoyed, nodding like a chick pecking at grain, tears glistening in the corners of her eyes. She thought to herself, "I finally have a chance to be with Big Brother forever."

"Let us go," Zhuohua’s deep voice echoed through the hall.

Yu Qingshu pulled herself back from her memories and hurried out of the Hall of the Seven Sages and Seven Virtues. Su Mengling grabbed Yu Changsheng, who was still entranced by every detail of the sanctuary, and urged, "Hurry up! Haven’t you seen enough?"

"Never enough! Truly never enough! Such exquisite statues, such a grand hall—look at that vast dome; it makes one feel as if they are standing in the middle of an infinite void, as small as a grain of sand."

Ignoring his endless poetic musings, Su Mengling dragged him out of the hall. Beyond it lay another long corridor.

As Yu Qingshu walked ahead, she suddenly stopped and turned to Zhuohua. "Did you go to the armory to retrieve your artifacts earlier?"

Zhuohua also stopped and nodded. "Before I was stranded in the Xiqi Continent, I lost my Qiankun Infinite Bag. Although my powers have been restored, I feel uneasy without my artifacts."

"Did you find it? Let me see!" Yu Qingshu held out her hand.

Zhuohua reached into his sleeve and pulled out a pitch-black dagger. It looked unremarkable, with the word "Liuyun" (Flowing Cloud) engraved upon it.

"This Liuyun is actually here!" Yu Qingshu snatched the dagger from his hand, crying out in pleasant surprise.

Yu Changsheng, having caught up, craned his neck and glanced at the blade. "It doesn't look like anything special!"

Ignoring him, Yu Qingshu looked up at Zhuohua. "Boy, give the Liuyun dagger to me."

Zhuohua looked at her, knowing that once the dagger was in her hands, there was no chance of retrieving it. "It was originally your personal weapon, Ancestor; it is only right that it returns to its owner. I shall return to the armory to find another suitable weapon."

As he turned to head back to the hall, she called out, "Wait, why go to such trouble?" Yu Qingshu tossed her own Qinghe Sword to him. "Use this."

Zhuohua caught it, bewildered. "Ancestor, how could I possess the worthiness to wield the Valkyrie’s sword? This must not be."

Yu Qingshu waved her hand. "Enough with the empty formalities. Take it. Ever since I was injured, I have been unable to truly wield Qinghe. Rather than letting it mourn by my side, it is better that it be of use to you." She gazed at the black Liuyun dagger with an expression of pure happiness. "Besides, I prefer this Liuyun he gave me."

"Enough! It is decided. Let us go!" A cheerful Yu Qingshu began to hum a tune, skipping ahead as if she had returned to her youth.

The group emerged from the corridor, and the view suddenly opened up. A gentle breeze brushed against their faces, and the sound of birds in the distant valleys and the murmuring of mountain streams reached their ears, leaving Yu Changsheng and Su Mengling, who had never visited the Cloud-Top Celestial Palace before, completely spellbound.

"Big Brother, is this the earthly paradise people talk about—the Cloud-Top Celestial Palace?"

Zhuohua nodded with a smile.

Yu Changsheng hopped with excitement, pointing at the mountains in the distance. "Yuanjun, look! That long stretch of white clouds near the mountains looks just like a belt!"

"That is Mount Cuiwei, and the tallest peak is called Cuiwei Peak," Yu Qingshu explained as she descended the stairs.

"Mengling, look at the birds in the forest, and those white wind-horses! There are so many! It is truly a spectacular sight!" Yu Changsheng was overwhelmed, his praise pouring out in an endless stream as he danced with joy.

At this moment, Zhuohua walked over and said, "It is a pity that such a beautiful landscape has fallen into the hands of traitors."

The words seemed to sting Yu Changsheng. He jumped up, eyes burning with rage. "Our Xuanhuang clan will not coexist with those treacherous pythons!"

Zhuohua smiled, patted Yu Changsheng on the shoulder, and continued downward.

Yu Changsheng hurried to catch up. "Yuanjun, why is there such a magnificent landscape within the Cloud-Sky Stele? Tell me more."

Zhuohua smiled and replied, "Legend has it that the Creator of heaven and earth—our First Master—created a unique void for himself. He encompassed all the beautiful scenery he could imagine within it and built a grand complex of palaces. He sealed all this beauty inside the Cloud-Sky Stele and decreed that only the Yuanjun of each generation of the Xuanhuang clan may possess it. Our First Master was the greatest master artisan since the dawn of time; not only does the Cloud-Sky Stele contain a hidden world within, but it is also indestructible and can..."

Yu Qingshu interrupted him. "He knows enough as it is; there is no need to mention the rest to others."

Zhuohua bowed in acknowledgment. He then stood tall and shouted toward the mountains ahead: "Let us go! It is time to settle the score with those thieves."