Chapter 217 Forced
Several days had passed since Su Jingxing had handed the third stone tablet to Lu Wuchang. He had thought that soon, the three parties would join forces and enter the legacy ground.
In the end, he waited until now.
He wondered if it was because of Lu Wuchang?
Perhaps he spent a lot of time studying the stone tablet, which resulted in the wait.
Su Jingxing pondered and replied to the text.
Got it!
Since he had decided to go to the underground palace, he could not do without the necessary attire.
The alias “Li Jing’ used this time was a middle-aged man. Su Jingxing had specially bought a new human skin mask and disguised himself as an unkempt man with a beard.
On his way out the next day, he put on a new cloak and mask.
Green Cloud Mountain Range.
Yandang Peak.
The mountain wasn’t very tall, but the platform at the top was very spacious.
It was yet to be 11 a.m. but figures had already appeared on the mountaintop.
Su Jingxing landed on a mountain far away and looked at the peak of Yandang Peak from afar.
Yan Yuanfeng, and Sect Master Yuan Zhuojun of the Iron Thread Sect.
Xu Tailong of Tai Long Corporation, Elder Li Chunzhen of the Green Cloud Court, Third Elder Cao Feng of the Divine Fist Sect.
Li Lilai from the Li Family. Zhao Zhongyi from the Cross Alliance. Han Zong, the President of the Xuantian Institute of Martial Arts. Qi Conglai from the Qi Family and Zhou Youbing from the Zhou Family.
Every major faction in Qinghe City had sent one or two fourth-grade experts to the peak.
A long time after they arrived, close to noon, Pu Mingyue from the Hundred Flower Valley then arrived with Wang Tiedao.
They were followed by Bu Qing, with people from the Martial Suppression Office, including Li Linzhou.
Finally, Lu Wuchang arrived at Yandang Peak with people from the Prefecture Army, Gu Zhanlin, and a commander whom Su Jingxing had heard his voice before.
Apart from these public figures, there were also many other martial artists hidden in the woods around Yandang Peak.
These people were also in very high realms. They were either in the fourth-grade or fifth-grade. Of course, as they were too far away, Su Jingxing couldn’t tell if there was anyone in the third-grade or not.
In short, a large group of people arrived at Yandang Peak before noon. “Cough…” Seemingly having already discussed this beforehand, at noon, Lu Wuchang stepped into the air. He looked at everyone and said, “I believe everyone is here for the same purpose. To save time, let’s cut to the chase. I happen to have a legacy stone tablet, so I’ll contribute it first.”
As he spoke, he removed a long wooden chest from his back and took out the stone tablet inside. He wrapped it with his true energy and floated it in the air.
Swoosh!
Seeing this, without a word, Gu Zhanlin wrapped his true energy around the second stone tablet and floated it beside Lu Wuchang’s one.
The others focused their gazes on Bu Qing. The pale-faced Bu Qing waved his hand. Li Linzhou, who looked equally aloof, released his true energy and wrapped it around the third stone tablet. It floated up and stayed next to the two stone tablets.
After a thousand years, the three stone tablets had finally reunited.
Everyone’s gaze fell on the stone tablets.
“Alright.”
Lu Wuchang shouted, “Now that we have gathered all three stone tablets, the next step is to manifest the location of the legacy ground. This step is very simple. We just need to stimulate the legacy stone tablet with your true energy. I’m very honored to have the opportunity to stimulate the stone tablet. Of course, if anyone is willing to substitute me, you can come up here and do so.”
Lu Wuchang looked around as he spoke.
No one said anything. Everyone’s gaze remained fixed on the stone tablets.
At this point, all the leaders of the major factions in Qinghe City knew about the Martial Sage legacy. Above the first-grade was the Transcendent-grade, known as Martial Sage. Prior to this, this was the first time many people had heard this title and learned this information.
Then, before they could finish digesting it, they learned that the Martial Sage had left behind a legacy in the Green Cloud Mountain Range.
The shock that this news brought could be imagined Compared to the treasures in the Mausoleum of Prince Qin, the legacy of a Martial Sage was undoubtedly more attractive and desirable.
However, the main factions that had their eyes on the Martial Sage legacy this time were the Hundred Flower Valley, the Changyang Prefecture Army, Bu Qing from the Martial Suppression Office, the third-grade Lu Wuchang, and the Ghost Ride organization that very few people knew about.
These people leading the exploration of the legacy ground were all third-grade martial artists.
Seizing a legacy from third-grade martial artists?
That would be dreaming. This was not the way to seek death.
It was precisely because they knew that they did not have any hopes of obtaining the legacy that the major factions targeted the treasures in the legacy ground.
Since there was no hope for the legacy, they could at least pick up a few treasures, right?
Therefore, the major factions sent out representatives, ranging from one person to five people. The leaders were all fourth-grade without exception.
They knew their position very well. They just had to watch the show in the early stages. There was no need for them to get involved, nor could they afford to.
After Lu Wuchang called out, the crowd fell silent.
“Cough…”
Lu Wuchang wasn’t embarrassed. After a while, when no one responded, he said loudly again, “Since no one is coming up, I’ll get started.”
The three legacy stone tables were wrapped in true energy of three different attributes and floated motionlessly.
Now, to stimulate them for an effect, naturally, only one type of true energy could be used.
After Li Linzhou and Gu Zhanlin pulled back their true energies, Lu Wuchang immediately came in and placed the three stone tablets together, wrapping them in his true energy.
They were either pieced together, connected end to end, or made into a circle.
He tried a few methods, but the stone tablets still did not respond.
Suddenly, an idea struck Lu Wuchang. In front of everyone, he put the bottom ends of the three stone tablets together, creating a triangle in the middle.
Then, he washed them with his true energy.
Buzz!
The air suddenly trembled.
The three legacy stone tablets finally reacted.
The bottoms of the stone tablets set off one another. Under the stimulation of true energy, they suddenly emitted light, filling up the triangle.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
When the triangle was filled with light, the three legacy stone tablets connected completely and began to spin like disproportionate fan blades.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Winds howled and light shot out.
The legacy stone tablets spiraled and slowly floated into the sky.
Seeing this, Lu Wuchang quickly backed away.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The sound of the wind grew louder and faster.
After floating to a certain height, the legacy stone tablets that were pieced together suddenly flew towards the depths of the Green Cloud Mountain Range.
“Give chase!”
“Hurry up and follow!”
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The people who had gathered at the top of the mountain and were hiding around Yandang Peak immediately followed after seeing this.
Almost all of them flew up, stepping on the air or directly flying through the air.
They chased after the three legacy stone tablets, heading straight into the depths of the Green Cloud Mountain Range.
Even though Su Jingxing knew the destination of the stone tablets, he also followed the rest to head to the legacy ground.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The group drew a clear trajectory in the air.
After a while, they arrived at the depths of the center of the Green Cloud Mountain Range, where Su Jingxing had come to last time.
Buzz!
The air vibrated.
After the three legacy stone tablets arrived above this area, the light suddenly flared, forming a terrifying pressure that weighed down forcefully from above.
Dong!
An invisible sound echoed through the world.
The legacy ground that was filled with danger was stimulated. A circle of visible white light suddenly appeared and blocked the descent of the three legacy stone tablets.
Unfortunately, it only lasted for less than ten seconds before dissipating.
The three connected stone tablets were like a key that easily opened the entrance.
After the white light disappeared, a valley filled with strange jugged rocks and few plants came into sight.
Before everyone could take a closer look, the three legacy stone tablets continued to glow and flew southeast of the valley. In an instant, they separated and turned back into independent legacy stone tablets that scattered in three directions.
In every direction, there was a dent in the ground that allowed each stone tablet to sink into it.
Boom!
The three legacy stone steles had just fitted into their respective dents.
The ground suddenly trembled. An invisible but extremely repulsive force swept up from the ground and into the surroundings.
The crowd of people either scattered around the valley or floating in the air could feel the power of this force.
If one did not circulate their true energy to resist, they would only last for 15 seconds at most before being pushed away.
Before the underground palace was even seen, the strange array formation that enveloped the outside had already begun its screening.
Those who were not in the sixth-grade or above were not even qualified to see the underground palace!
Boom!
The ground shook, and the tremors grew stronger. The mountains around the valley began to shake.
Deep in the center, the tremors were the strongest.
Just as many people thought that it would cause a huge earthquake, a short mountain suddenly caved in at the center of the intersection of the three legacy stone tablets.
Boom!
Accompanied by a loud bang, a hole with a radius of 15 to 16 meters appeared before everyone.
The repulsion continued.
Less than 20 meters below, a silver door appeared in front of most people. “The legacy underground palace has appeared!” Lu Wuchang shouted happily and pointed at the silver door, signaling for everyone to look over.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The crowd first descended from the sky and surrounded the edge of the hole, gathering their sights to look down at the door below.
Stars and moons were engraved on the silver door.
Full moons, crescent moons, half moons, waning moons…
Among the various shapes of the moons, three moons slowly turned red. When the red color was saturated–
Crack!
Boom!
The tightly shut silver door automatically pulled to the sides.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Seeing this, the crowd around the hole immediately resisted the repulsive force and jumped down. Wrapped in true energy, they pushed their bodies and arrived at the silver door.
They watched as the door opened completely, revealing the interior. Without looking any further, they charged in one after another, afraid that the treasures would be snatched away by another person if they were half a step behind.
Su Jingxing was neither fast nor slow. He fell behind. Pu Mingyue was with him. “Brother Li, don’t forget our agreement.”
Pu Mingyue condensed her true energy and transmitted her voice to Su Jingxing.
“Don’t worry.” Su Jingxing also did the same and replied, “Isn’t Head Pu going to hurry
over?”
“There’s no hurry.” Pu Mingyue chuckled. “If it’s so easy to obtain the legacy of the Crimson Moon Martial Sage, I’ll willingly admit defeat and turn to leave right away!”
“Does Head Pu know what the agreement between Bu Qing and the others is?”
“Brother Li, are you asking why they joined forces to open the underground palace?” Pu Mingyue asked.
“Pretty much.”
“Ha, it’s not that they’re willing to, but they were forced to,” said Pu Mingyue with a smile. “Bu Qing and the Prefecture Army both want to keep the legacy stone tablet and slowly study it. However, Ghost Ride won’t agree!”
Pu Mingyue’s voice turned cold. “In order to obtain the legacy stone tablet, the people of Ghost Ride launched a sneak attack on the Prefecture Army and the Martial Suppression Office at the same time. They broke into their headquarters and attempted to seize the stone tablets!
“Even though in the end, the Prefecture Army and the Martial Suppression Office managed to beat back the people from the Ghost Ride, Bu Qing was injured. A commander of the Prefecture Army was also severely injured.
“It was precisely because of this that they had no choice but to work together to gather three stone tablets and open the underground palace. “Without Ghost Ride, we could still afford to wait!”
1111
So Ghost Ride had forced their hands.
Both the Prefecture Army and the Martial Suppression Office wanted to keep the stone tablets after getting them. They were in no hurry to open the underground palace.
The reason was unknown.
Perhaps they wanted to study the secrets of the stone tablets before having designs on each other’s stone tablets.
Simply put, they might have wanted to take all three legacy stone tablets for themselves!
Unfortunately, Ghost Ride couldn’t wait and directly broke into their headquarters.
Left with no choice, Bu Qing, Gu Zhanlin, and the rest approached Lu Wuchang.
No wonder Bu Qing’s face is so pale. Turns out he’s injured.
By the way, since the underground palace has opened, the people from Ghost Ride should be following behind, right? Su Jingxing thought inwardly. As the two of them chatted, they entered the underground palace.
“Ah!”
A scream suddenly came from inside.
“What happened?”
“Monster! It’s filled with monsters!”
“Be careful! Run!”
Shouts, cries, and angry yells sounded non-stop for a time.
When Su Jingxing heard this, he pushed off his toes. Following Pu Mingyue, he swiftly flew over.
Swish! Swish!
The people behind also quickly dashed into a spacious hall.
In the hall, the few people who entered first were being attacked by five two-meter-tall little giants in bronze armor. “This is…” Su Jingxing stared at them and raised his eyebrows.
“They’re Mechanical Bronze Men.”
Pu Mingyue continued, “This is the entrance. All the Bronze Men are guards. Every Bronze Man is invulnerable to swords and spears. The material of their armor is special, and can immune them to most true energy. To defeat them, one has to have at least 50 years of true energy cultivation.”
“Ha, as expected of the Head Mingyue.”
Not far away, Lu Wuchang heard this and replied with a smile, “That’s right, they’re the Bronze Guards! They have survived for a thousand years. As long as they are activated, they can fight again. When the entrance to the underground palace opened earlier, they were activated. The combat power of the Bronze Guards is not something these few people can defeat!”
He looked at Yan Yuanfeng, Yuan Zhuojun, Cao Feng, Qi Conglai, Zhou Youbing, and the others with disdain.
“50 years of true energy cultivation is only the beginning. That will allow them to resist the Bronze Guards. To truly defeat them, you’ll have to rely on actual capabilities.” “For example, this!”
With that, Lu Wuchang struck out with his palm. His true essence transformed into true energy and condensed into a palm imprint that struck a Bronze Guard.
Bang!
With a dull thud, the Bronze Guard was sent flying backward.
When it landed, its feet rubbed against the ground, producing sparks and leaving two pitch-black marks. A clear palm print appeared on the Bronze Guard’s chest.
But.
The Bronze Guard did not collapse or disintegrate.
Still brandishing its bronze saber, it charged towards the embarrassed Lu Wuchang.
“This… this is an accident!”
