Chapter 80 Temple of the West Barren
We’ve left the moon for half a month or more, they’ve probably already forgotten about us, Zhong Yue thought in an attempt to comfort himself.
The teleportation portal was in the palace itself, Xin Huo went in and activated it. Not long later, the energy from the sun gushed in and raised the temperature of the air in the palace.
Just right when Zhong Yue was thinking that he might be turned into roasted meat, a ray of light flashed, it wreathed around and launched him towards the moon far away from his previous position.
Zhong Yue turned and looked back, the moment he was flung out, the majestic palace on the surface of the sun started crumbling into pieces and was engulfed by the sun.
Xin Huo used up three god’s treasure in order to allow me to manifest this spirit and become a Qi Practitioner, I owe him a great deal….
The three teleportation portals and three treasures of god, they were meant for the next Xin Huo inheritor and yet, Xin Huo used it on Zhong Yue, who was not even the pure-blood inheritor Xin Huo was looking for. His heart grew heavy with debt and gratitude whenever he thought of the sacrifices Xin Huo made for him.
This round of teleportation took him fifteen minutes, where he ended up at the Moon Palace on the moon.
“The teleportation portal under the volcano was depleted of energy when we activated it, it has turned into a pile of useless rock, although it doesn’t function as a teleportation portal anymore, it can act as a beacon to guide our teleportation back!”
Xin Huo quickly hovered around the teleportation portal in front of the Moon Palace and said, “We will now commence the teleportation, but they might be able to locate your destination, hence, we will have to destroy this teleportation portal right after we’ve teleported away!”
Before the words finished exiting his mouth, the ground beneath Zhong Yue started quaking, the magnitude of the trembling magnified in vigor as if there were a humongous beast trying to crawl a way out of the ground!
Xin Huo quickly activated the stone tablets as the ground quaked even harder, Zhong Yue’s heart could not help but thump heavily; obviously, someone had awakened the godly totem spirit in the middle of the moon and it was trying to find a way out to him!
He can clearly tell that the godly totem spirit was getting closer the moon’s surface!
“Quick!”
Finally, Xin Huo activated all of the stone tablets, they proceeded to draw in the moonlight as they shimmered brightly. The stone tablets redirected the moonlight and illuminated the core of the array formation, forming a crystal clear mirror made of moonlight.
Zhong Yue stood on the middle of that mirror, he was on the verge of vanishing.
Right at this moment, the moon’s surface quaked violently and at almost the instant when he was teleported away, a huge fissure ruptured the floor of the the Moon Palace and a shaggy paw extruded out from the middle of the moon as it tried to grab on him!
The shaggy paw extruded out hundreds of thousands of feet away from the ground, it was like the highest and tallest mountain of the moon. The huge paw casted a shadow that darkened the entire stone tablet teleportation portal!
The final stratagem devised by Xin Huo was triggered, and the stone tablets teleportation portal started crumbling. The entire assembly of stone tablets that had hitherto scraped the sky at thousands of feet tall disintegrated into stone powder. While in the middle of the teleportation portal, Zhong Yue’s figure started to slowly fade away, finally disappearing into thin air.
“KRONG!!”
The paw’s owner was clearly enraged, the moon’s surface trembled in from the vibrations induced from its ferocious roar as the paw clenched tightly and crushed the stone tablets teleportation portal into pieces. The shaggy paw then retracted back into the moon; the ground quaked and the fissure closed, all traces of the paw were covered in dust as the moon fell back into an eerie silence.
The next moment, Zhong Yue appeared right in the teleportation portal under the volcano, his heart was still palpitating in fear.
That entity that stole the moon’s core, the godly spirit in the middle of the moon, he was still awakened by his descendants; if it was not for Zhong Yue having escaped quickly, he would have been dead by now!
On the ground, I suppose that no one will be able to notice what had just happened on the moon? Who would ever have thought that the moon’s core was stolen away and supplant by the spirit of a god?
Zhong Yue pressed down the shock in his mind, and as he thought to himself, From the shape of the paw, it didn’t look like that of a human’s, could it be a monster god? But if the monsters had a god with them, I’m afraid that Swords Gate would have long been obliterated? In addition, when my psyche went through the moon’s surface, the aura exuded by the god was saintly and holy, definitely not of the monster race … so it seems like Xin Huo was right, that god was one from the celestial race….
The celestial race!
The god hiding in the moon was from the celestial race, and his spirit wasn’t truly awakened by itself, but rather, it was his descendants that forcibly controlled it. The latency that would arise from that was most probably what allowed me the time and opportunity to escape.
Zhong Yue thought in his heart, Whoever controlled it, must be the ones worshipping it. That said, it appears that this planet isn’t the exclusive domain of the humans, demons and monsters – there is also the celestial race.
The array formations in the volcano were drained of its power and were petrified into stone. Zhong Yue flew all the way up to the vent of the volcano. As he flew up, he noticed that inside of the volcano was cold and windy, devoid of its previous infernal heat, signifying that the volcano had gone dormant. The monsters had also retrieved all the treasures used to crack the seals, and on the insides of the volcano were scrawled the marks of intense combat.
It was evident that this was the stage of a bone-rattling battle, which had concluded not too long ago as evidenced by the blood that was still fresh and glistening with a crimson glow against the light.
The Swords Gate’s four successors and the monster ace cultivators? I wonder how it went? Did they manage to kill the two island lords, and have they left Gu Xia City safely?
The opening of the volcano’s vent was once again sealed away by the monsters, just right when Zhong Yue was cracking his head in figuring a way out, a tunnel suddenly appeared in the corner of his eyes; he then walked into it.
Not long after, he was out of Gu Xia City. He pondered deeply, wondering curiously about who dug the tunnel. Little did he know that the Swords Gate four successors had trapped all of the Gu Xia City monsters in the volcano, leaving them at their mercy as they were almost completely annihilated by the four of them. Left with no other options, the monsters were forced to dig out a tunnel as they sought out an escape route.
Let’s go back to my territory, the Falcon Ridge, I’ll settle some matters and then return to Swords Gate! Zhong Yue strode forward and left, he headed back to his own territory in the monster land, the Falcon Ridge.
Somewhere in the West Barren, a deep sigh came out from a majestic and holy temple, “He has escaped….”
Another dominant voice followed, “Our ancestor had long noticed the Moon Palace and that ancient array formation. But even the great ancestor could not activate it, its function remained a mystery until today … It was activated twice, and whoever activated it, clearly knew of the secret of our race.”
Another pair of voices responded, “Whoever it was, death shall be bestowed upon that person.”
“That ancient array, who sensed where it was headed?”
“It seems to be somewhere between the East Barren and the Great Wilderness, the region inhabited by the monsters and humans.”
An old and hoarse voice said, “So it’s there? The region of monsters and humans … Leave it to our messenger who has infiltrated their defense, the messenger will investigate into this matter and find out who activated the array formation, and how much that person knows of the ancient gods. Then we shall grant that petty bug a glorious death. Other than that, the thing underneath Great Wilderness … is it time to be reaped?”
“We haven’t found it yet. The Swords Gate will be in our way in our quest to retrieve it. The messenger has secured a position among the Swords Gate higher ups, waiting for the right timing to claim it over. All is in our favor, it’ll not be long before the Swords Gate falls into our grasp.”
….
Falcon Ridge, the land within the radius of five hundred miles belonged exclusively to Zhong Yue, although it couldn’t even remotely be described as huge, the human population that was partitioned into a few dozens of tribes still collectively numbered in the tens of thousands.
In the over twenty days of Zhong Yue’s absence, the assiduous humans had refurbished the lord’s monastery, repaired the walls and the roofs.
When Zhong Yue arrived at the Falcon Ridge Monastery, there was already a new plaque affixed to its facade, the once ‘Sun Xiao Manor’ was replaced by his ‘Long Yue Manor’.
When he walked into the monastery, five human servants quickly came forward and welcomed him, they smiled and said, “Master is back! We welcome the great master’s return with our sincerest hearts!”
Zhong Yue casted his gaze over the five servants; one of them was a scrawny, senile man not a day younger than fifty; while the other four were pretty and lovely young ladies, they were purely prepossessing in appearance, exuding an air of elegance and grace. Zhong Yue was baffled and he asked, “These four are?”
“Master Sun’s medicinal herbs.”
The senile man responded, “If anytime Master Long is hungry, they will be served on the table immediately. Does the master prefer cooked or raw?”
Zhong Yue went speechless, he said, “I’ve told you, your master dislikes meats, I’m a vegan.”
The five servants all heaved a breath of relief, the senile man then took out a red coral, he smile and said in a servile manner, “Master, after Master Sun’s death, we buried him and managed to find this treasure.”
Zhong Yue took over the red coral and was startled; the red coral was shaped exactly like a tree, there were eighteen exquisite looking branches. He seeped his psyche into it and was shocked to find out that each and every branch contained a surge of Sword Qi in it!
This tiny Coral Tree had eighteen strands of Sword Qi hidden within it!
Even despite all his efforts and hardship, Zhong Yue had only managed gain himself two surges of Sword Qi!
What a tyrannical soul weapon this is! If Sun Xiao had the time to cast it, then I would be the one who dies!
Zhong Yue praised his luck, he had not practiced any form of defense skill; the time he had slain Sun Xiao, he had the element of surprise on his side along with the advantage of the higher ground. It was only due to these serendipitous factors that he was able to kill Sun Xiao in close-quarters combat!
But if Sun Xiao had unleashed the eighteen Sword Qis hidden within this red Coral Tree before Zhong Yue was able to engage, then Zhong Yue would surely be left in pieces by now!
What a strong soul weapon, this must be very precious, Sun Xiao had such an unfortunate death! Zhong Yue kept the Coral Tree as he thought in his heart.
The senile man stepped back and fawned over Zhong Yue, “Is the master getting tired? Your obsequious servant will leave now, Chun’er, Xia’er and the others will serve the great master to bed.”
The four young ladies shuddered as they stepped forward and their voices sounded out tremblingly, “Is the master taking a rest? Which of us does the master wish to partake in?”
“What partake with who?” Zhong Yue was playing around with the red Coral Tree, he heard their words and was baffled.
The four young ladies’ faces changed drastically, one of them answered in fear, “So the master is going with all four of us….”
A beginning of a migraine struck Zhong Yue upon hearing her words, he quickly said, “Who told you that the your master is going to cop- … the four of you?”
Among the ladies, Qiu’er was the most courageous one, she said, “That’s what Uncle Qiu said. He said that the dragons are … En, overly affectionate, and with their strong physical body, they love most to have sex with other races, even with a few of them together at a time. That’s why there are so many races having the dragon bloodline in them. For example, the Zhu Po Dragons, which are the descendants of the swines and dragons; the Jiao Dragons, which are the descendants of snakes and dragons; and more like the fish-dragons, ox-dragons … If the master dislikes us, we are also tasked to find out whether if master prefers the other races such as chicks, heifers or the anything like that….”
“Stop!”
Zhong Yue darkened his face, he never thought that simply designating the name of ‘dragon’ for his alter ego would give rise to such a misunderstanding, what were the chicks and heifers about? Just thinking about it would cause a shudder to run through his spine.
“Your master practices an art that strictly prohibits intercourse, without cultivating to the peak of my art, I will not copulate with anyone … Qiu’er what did you say? Little heifers … Not even little heifers, it’ll retard my cultivation!”
Xia’er, Dong’er and the other young ladies could finally set their minds to rest, they thought to themselves, It’s not so bad at all serving Master Long, he doesn’t eat people and he doesn’t ruin the ladies, not even the little heifers, serving him is better than any other monster master….
