Gu Qing Shan peeked his head out from below the clouds.
A large rock stood within his vision.
This rock was a familiar one.
This place was the Feeding Ground.
Gu Qing Shan had already gone far past where the Golden Dragon was, plus he was quite close to where the foot of the mountain and the palace structures were.
He leapt out from the layer of clouds and turned into a blurred figure that flew towards the faraway mountain.
About half an incense’s stick of time later, he gradually saw the appearance of a pavilion.
The Mountain Protector Pavilion.
The Kirin was currently leaning on the pavilion, sleeping.
It was giving off incredible pressure.
To deal with Gu Qing Shan, all it needed to do was look at him.
How unimaginable, for this to be nothing a lingering strand of its soul.
Gu Qing Shan took out the jade disk that the Spirit Tortoise gave him and held it.
Sure enough, as he approached the pavilion, the Kirin didn’t bother to look up, only turning to sleep a bit more comfortably.
Gu Qing Shan landed inside the pavilion.
As he clasped his fist, about to say something, the Kirin reached out with its claw and tapped the floor.
Countless strands of silver strings appeared from the ground, manifesting as mystical runes.
A formation was formed.
The entire pavilion glowed brightly.
Pah!
In an instant, a pillar of light was formed, swallowing Gu Qing Shan up, leaving no trace behind.
…
Darkness.
Gu Qing Shan opened his eyes and glanced around.
Good, the dark figure of light isn’t here.
That means I’m at least not dead yet.
There was no wind.
The air was silent and fragrant as if someone had lit quite a stick of calming incense or something of similar nature.
Faint spirit energy drifted from the ground, silently filling this entire space.
This was a Spirit Funnel formation.
Together with the mind-calming effect of the incense, it made for a great place to rest.
The feeling this place gave off was similar to that of a cultivator’s personal cave manor.
Gu Qing Shan formed a simple hand seal.
A light came from the tip of his finger to illuminate the place.
A cushion made of spirit silk was placed next to a formation with a few white jade tags.
A spirit spring was silently flowing from the deepest part of the cave.
A jade bed was placed across from the spirit spring.
Gu Qing Shan pulled his gaze back, confirming his conjecture.
This place really was a cultivator’s cave manor.
He suddenly noticed something out of place.
My cultivation seems to be unbelievably high.
He changed his hand seal.
The light gathered to form a mirror.
As Gu Qing Shan looked at himself in the mirror, he appeared shocked.
This isn’t my face!
A sudden headache came, striking Gu Qing Shan so hard that he almost stumbled to the ground.
The pain came and left quickly.
In an instant, the pain completely went away, as if it never appeared in the first place.
Gu Qing Shan found new pieces of knowledge in his mind.
Shen Yang.
Martial cultivator.
Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace, sect master’s disciple, ranked 3rd.
Ever since he joined the sect, he had shown exceptional martial art prowess that were praised by all.
He spent day after day thinking about nothing but martial arts, even during his meal and his sleep. Whenever he practiced martial arts, he would go on for several days in a row, only stopping once his stamina reached its end.
Being this obsessed with martial arts, he naturally earned the title of [Martial Crazed].
Shen Yang went through countless trials to become the youngest and most excellent martial arts seed within the younger generation of the sect.
He was then inducted as a direct disciple under the sect master of Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace, becoming his last disciple.
Henceforth, the title [Martial Crazed] became famous throughout the lands.
Information about Shen Yang appeared in his mind little by little.
It didn’t only include the most notable moments of Shen Yang’s life or the people he was the closest with.
Every single last detail about him, down to his daily life, all appeared in Gu Qing Shan’s mind.
Even his understanding and comprehension of martial arts were present.
Having this bit of Shen Yang’s memories, Gu Qing Shan now had the same level of mastery and experience with martial arts that Shen Yang had.
If he returned right now, these memories would no doubt become the most precious possession he has.
But now, I should focus on how to pass this trial.
If I can’t pass this trial, I won’t be able to enter the Heavenly Palace.
While Gu Qing Shan was thinking about his situation, a soft light slowly formed in the air.
As Gu Qing Shan glanced at the light, a piece of memory stood out in his mind.
He instantly understood.
He had a visitor.
Gu Qing Shan took a deep breath and made his expression turn calm.
From this point onwards, I will have to act like Shen Yang.
I won’t leave any opening or make any mistakes.
One breathe.
Two breaths.
Gu Qing Shan had completely calmed down and formed a hand seal according to Shen Yang’s memories.
The light turned into a gate that opened in front of Gu Qing Shan.
A man with a sword on his back came out of the gate.
He spoke: “Junior brother, Master has issued an emergency summon”
Following Shen Yang’s memories, Gu Qing Shan appeared doubtful: “First brother, didn’t Master say he would participate in this year’s banquet of the Divinities?”
Indeed, the man standing in front of him was the first disciple of the sect master, sword cultivator Zhao Kuan.
As Gu Qing Shan looked at him, he was a bit regretful that he didn’t obtain his memories instead.
Just the thought of possibly learning sword techniques from the Age of Old was making him ecstatic.
Zhao Kuan replied: “I’m not sure, something seemed to have happened, Master is urging us to go quickly”
“Yes” Gu Qing Shan replied.
He walked together with Zhao Kuan out of his cave manor as both flew towards the top mountain of the Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace.
During their flight, Gu Qing Shan couldn’t help himself from looking below.
The entire mountain range was covered in various silent lights, cultivators were flying in various directions, all of them appeared to be excited and assured.
Because it was currently the end of the year.
Everyone could temporarily stop their cultivation and worries to enjoy new year’s eve.
During this time, the Divinities would also organize a grand banquet and invite the most excellent cultivators to participate.
Gu Qing Shan looked afar.
There was light illuminating every path, as crowds of people were walking to one place or another.
Right outside the sect, Gu Qing Shan could even see some bustling market places.
Streaks of light occasionally flew across the night sky.
They were airships.
Additionally, there were also several large ships abundant with light that floated in the sky.
Many cultivators were gathered there, drinking, eating, dancing, singing, debating about Dao, or competing against one another.
Men and women walking together could be seen everywhere, some even flying above the clouds to enjoy themselves.
A very lively scene!
Gu Qing Shan silently praised before pulling his gaze back.
They have arrived at the palace on the highest mountain.
This was the manor of the Heavenly Palace’s master.
A cultivator with a short Blade was already waiting for them here.
This was Shen Yang’s second brother, spell user, Huang Zhan.
The Blade he had wasn’t something to fight in close combat with, but rather a medium for his spells.
“First brother, third brother, you’ve come” Huang Zhan spoke.
“Hm” Gu Qing Shan replied.
“Let’s go in, Master is waiting for us” Zhao Kuan urged them.
The three of them went in.
In the hall of the palace, a black-robed, white-haired cultivator was standing with his back to the three of them, his hands behind his back.
An undecorated ancient-styled sword was silently floating in front of him.
When Gu Qing Shan saw that sword, he felt his heart almost jumping from his throat.
The Earth sword!
That’s the Earth sword!
“Master!” the other two disciples both bowed and greeted him.
Gu Qing Shan also followed suit.
The Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace’s master deeply sighed, apparently a bit sorrowful, but still hadn’t said anything.
The three disciples exchanged glances.
They all had the same puzzled expression on their faces.
Master has always been a confident, outstanding, and high-spirited person, why is he so melancholic today?
Silence.
The atmosphere of the hall was becoming more and more eerie.
Finally, the first brother Zhao Kuan couldn’t help himself anymore and asked: “Master, didn’t you leave to participate in the banquet? Why did you return so soon? And why did you sigh?”
The Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace’s master pointed at the Earth sword and spoke: “It was injured”
Zhao Kuan was surprised: “This sword was a Divine Armament that Shifu had spent countless resources on, even asking for the help of the 9 Venerable Smiths of the Heavenly Realm and took 81 days to complete, who could have damaged it?”
The Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace’s master spoke simply: “Assessment God”
Assessment God was one of many Divinities, one who assesses the variables and future of all living beings and all things.
Huang Zhan wondered: “The Divinities have always been merciful and kind to all things, why did they injure Master’s sword?”
The Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace’s master replied: “During today’s banquet, I was in a duel with Assessment God, using this sword, I won against him by half an exchange. But I didn’t expect it to anger him, causing him to exert his full power to injure this sword”
The Palace’s master suddenly turned around and told his three disciples: “This was all due to a moment of my arrogance, bringing this calamity upon us. The destruction of the sect is already imminent”
“Zhao Kuan, Huang Zhan, Shen Yang, the three of you are my direct disciples, I hereby order you to flee from Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace, hide your identities and escape to the lower realms and maintain a seed of our sect’s heritage”
“The other Elders are also working on this”
“You will leave tonight!”
The three disciples all appeared unprepared.
“Master, the Divinities wouldn’t go that far”
“That’s not possible!”
“It was only a duel, why would our sect be—–”
They were all trying to persuade their Master.
The Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace’s master sternly shouted: “Quiet, all three of you!”
The three of them all went silent.
The Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace’s master spoke: “Zhao Kuan!”
“Your disciple is here!” Zhao Kuan knelt down.
The Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace’s master spoke: “You were the earliest to join, but your swordsmanship still hasn’t achieved Great Attainment, I now leave all of our sect’s scriptures with you. When you reach the lower realms, you must never be distracted, study our sect’s swordsmanship, reform our sect on the lower realms and light a new fire”
“Understood!” Zhao Kuan responded.
The Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace’s master spoke: “Huang Zhan, among you three, your expertise with spell and magic is the greatest. I want you to protect the Earth sword, lead it to the lower realms and hide it away, survive through this turmoil and wait for the next opportunity”
Huang Zhan couldn’t help asking: “But Master, this is your personal sword, if I bring it away, what will you use?”
The Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace’s master sternly spoke: “I can use any sword, but nothing must ever happen to the Earth sword. It carries the secret of humanity’s fate, the last hope of mankind as a whole, you must make sure to protect it well”
“Yes, Master” Huang Zhan solemnly said.
The Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace’s master then turned to Gu Qing Shan: “Shen Yang, you are the purest among you three, so Master has a something personal I want to entrust to you”
Gu Qing Shan spoke: “Please give your order, Master”
The Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace’s master explained: “The Divinities claim that my daughter is naturally insufficient, so her natural life span wouldn’t go past 7 years. But I only found out later on that she was born with a golden lotus following her, capable of taking the essence of heaven and earth, causing the envy and hatred of Divinities, so they had placed a curse upon her”
“Together with the greatest cultivators of the Heaven realm, we exhausted every solution to finally find a certain method that would allow her to escape the curse and extend her life”
“Unfortunately, our method would take several hundred thousand years to completely negate the curse of Divinities, allowing her to awaken from the ice crystal”
He slightly raised his hand and summoned a large piece of ice crystal.
Gu Qing Shan looked at the ice crystal.
Inside the crystal, hundreds of thousands of Spirit Jade Flowers were bound together, surrounding a golden lotus.
On top of the lotus sat a little girl with an innocent and immature expression, currently deep in slumber.
Gu Qing Shan glanced at the Spirit Jade Flowers.
There were two types of flowers here, one was the actual jade flowers, while the other was a spirit jade carved to look like flowers.
According to Shen Yang’s memories, even in the Heaven realm, each jade flower was a rare, nearly unattainable treasure.
While the flowers made from spirit jade were carved with countless runes, obviously forming some sort of extremely intricate and complicated formation.
Inside the crystal, tiny strands of light were coming off the artificial spirit jade flower, mixing with a 5-colored light coming from the real spirit jade flowers as they got absorbed into the little girl’s body at an extremely slow pace.
“This is my daughter, perhaps she wouldn’t wake up for another few hundred thousand years, so most likely I wouldn’t see her within my lifetime”
“Shen Yang, bring her to the lower realms, shelter her, and take good care of her for me”
The Barren Cloud Heavenly Palace’s master glanced at the little girl inside the ice crystal.
His gaze became gentle and attached.
“If one day she does wake up, pass on her name for me. She is… Xie Dao Ling”
