Chapter 277: He Must Have Been Really Rich
“Ahem… Umm, this beastie!” Zhu Yao’s hand was getting a little numb from the stroking, as she asked seriously. “We want to head up to the mountaintop, do you know the way?” Earlier, she was pulled along by Profiteer as they ran, and they had already lost their direction.
“I do, meow~” The Winged Windbeast turned around and stood in front of her. While it moved, it used its buttocks to squeeze the Profiteer away. Then, it slowly knelt down, hinting her to sit on its back. “Beastie will bring you there, meow~”
“Thank you.” Looking at the colour of the sky, it would indeed be too late if they were to walk up now. Zhu Yao climbed onto its back, and just as she was about to pull Profiteer up as well…
The Winged Windbeast kicked him away, and let out a threatening growl.
Zhu Yao had no choice but to spend some time to change the beastie’s mind. Only then did the Winged Windbeast unwillingly carried Profiteer with its claws, and with a flap of its wings, it flew towards the mountaintop.
Most likely because they came a little too late, they were the only ones there when they reached the mountaintop. Fortunately, the teleportation formation had yet to close.
Zhu Yao bade goodbye to the Winged Windbeast before heading into the teleportation formation with Profiteer, teleporting to the main hall in the floating mountain above them.
The Winged Windbeast stood at its original spot depressingly, as it looked at the floating mountain above it. It began to think about its life as a gatekeeping beast. Mn, it seemed like it could be understood even if it took an occasional absence.
Zhu Yao was instantly teleported onto a platform. All of the successful participants had all gathered here, no matter if they were wandering practitioners or mortal children. With a glance, there were actually more than a hundred people. It seemed like Ness Cesary Sect’s range of enrolment was pretty broad!
When they arrived, the disciples coming to lead the participants had just arrived as well. Expectedly, they were the two Foundation disciples at the foot of the mountain earlier.
Though, compared to the coldness they had earlier, they were presently filled with more zeal.
“Congratulations. From this day forth, you are all disciples of our Ness Cesary Sect. As long as you cross the Trueheart Door, you will be considered to have officially joined our sect.” He exchanged glances with the disciple next to him, and then waved his hand. In an instant, several hundreds of white jade tablets flew to the various participants. “These are Barrier Breaking Stones. Engraved inside are a few elementary grade heart techniques. When crossing the Trueheart Door later on, you will all enter an illusion. The illusion is birthed from your heart and cannot be controlled. If you can break through it, you will receive an enlightenment and henceforth use these heart techniques to raise your cultivation. If you do not have the strength to break through, do not forcefully break your way through, as you can use the Barrier Breaking Stone to leave the illusion.”
The crowd of people grasped onto the jade tablet tightly. The wandering practitioners seemed to have all heard about the Trueheart Door, as every single one of their faces carried a little excitement. The children who have yet to cultivate however, all had blank looks on their faces.
“Fellow junior-martial brothers and sisters, head on to take the final test then!” That person cast an art, and right after, the heavy fog behind him began to scatter. An ancient and majestic arched stone door appeared before their eyes. The crowd headed towards the stone door, and everything in their surroundings began to turn a little blurry.
Zhu Yao raised her head, wanting to discern the few words that were written above the arched door. But no how she looked at it, she was unable to clearly see it.
Just as she was about to ask Profiteer next to her, with a ‘poomf’ sound, he fell straight onto the ground.
“Profiteer!” She was shocked. An even weirder scene appeared. The squeezy crowd earlier, like bowling pins that were struck down, began to fall onto the ground one after another. Finally, she was the only remaining person standing. What was this situation!?
Zhu Yao hurriedly checked Profiteer’s pulse, only to realize that there was no abnormalities with his body. Rather… he seemed to be asleep?
Could it be because of the door’s influence?
She looked at the door in front of her seriously, only to realize that the dense fog that rose earlier was beginning to scatter. A gigantic figure faintly appeared behind the door, and the figure began to grow clearer, clearer, and finally…
“Meow~~”
“Beastie!” Wasn’t this that Winged Windbeast earlier? When did it come up as well?
“What’s going on?” A slightly furious voice resounded from the other side of the door. “Why is the Winged Windbeast which is supposed to protect the mountain here?”
“Sect Master, this… this disciple has no idea either.”
“Ridiculous! Hurry and bring it back down.”
Suddenly, five pillars of light appeared around the Winged Windbeast’s body, trapping it within. The Winged Windbeast began to struggle furiously.
Its furious roar pierced through the clouds. “Roooar… This beastie doesn’t want to go… This beastie wants its fur fur stroked… Roar…”
Unfortunately, it was of no use.
The boundary of the pillars of light began to grow smaller, finally turning it into a ray of light which flew into a person’s spiritual beast pouch.
Only then did Zhu Yao have a clear view. Behind the door sat a row of people. Looking at their demeanours, they seemed to be the higher-ups of Ness Cesary Sect, and Qu Qu was sitting at the top, looking at her with a dumbfounded look.
“Eh? There’s actually someone who gave up so quickly and got out of the illusion.” The middle-aged man sitting at the very center frowned, sighing. “Haah, yout- elderly these days!” He sized up Zhu Yao for a moment, and immediately changed his words.
Zhu Yao: “…”
“Nevermind!” He said with a wave of his hand. “Since she’s already up here, then she’s considered a disciple of our sect. Stand at the side!”
Qu Qu winked at her, and then stood up. “Senior-martial brother Sect Master, I wish to take her in…”
“Nonsense!” That man turned around and glared at him with an exasperated look. “As the lord of a Peak, how can you take in… such an elderly person as a disciple?”
“I don’t care, I want to take her in no matter what.” Qu Qu said shamelessly.
The corner of Sect Master Qu Jiang’s lips twitched, as he wished that he could open up his junior-martial brother’s brain and check if water had actually entered it. “Junior-martial brother, I can put aside your past nonsense, but taking in a disciple is a huge matter. Putting aside the fact that his person’s lifespan is diminishing, just from her activating the Barrier Breaking Stone in less than fifteen minutes after crossing the Trueheart Door…” His words paused again, as he stared dumbfoundedly at the completely undamaged Barrier Breaking Stone in Zhu Yao’s hand. He suddenly jolted to his feet. “Y-You… You didn’t use the Barrier Breaking Stone?”
Zhu Yao lowered her head and glanced at the rock in her hand. “You’re talking about this?” How do I use it?
With a twist of his palm, Qu Jiang had the Barrier Breaking Stone fly into his hand. He repeatedly checked it, and the longer he looked at it, the more shocked he became. This was impossible! No one had ever passed through the illusion so quickly. Just how long had it been? It had barely been three minutes, right!?
“You… How did you get across the illusion?”
“Illusion?” Zhu Yao was stunned for a moment. What’s that? Was there such a setting?
“This lord is asking you, how did you get here?”
“I walked in, of course!”
“…” Qu Jiang was speechless. Could it be that his eyes were mistaken, and that this person actually had extraordinary aptitude? Because of her pure heart and soul, she was able to cross the Trueheart Door so quickly? Unfortunately, she had started her cultivation path a little late.
She was too old!
“Senior-martial brother…” Qu Qu hurriedly squeezed in again.
“Fine then.” The Sect Master found a reasonable explanation, and was no longer as opposed as before. A miracle might actually happen as well? “If you want to take her in, do it then. However, she must not become your personal succeeding disciple.”
“Thank you, senior-martial brother. You sure are a good person.” Qu Qu gave his senior-martial brother the good person card. Facing Zhu Yao, he waved his hands at her and gave her a ‘you should know what to do’ expression. Little sister-in-law, come over here quickly.
The corner of Zhu Yao’s lips twitched. If she were to reject his invitation, she wouldn’t be bashed to death, right?
“Wait a minute.” The awe-inspiring senior-martial brother added. “Since she’s the first to get across the illusionary realm of the Trueheart Door, then she naturally has the privilege to solve the riddle. You…” He was stuck for words.
“I’m Zhu Yao.”
“Mn, Zhu Yao… On the right of the Trueheart Door, there’s a riddle. You can try solving it.” He continued. “It’s fine if you can’t solve it.”
Zhu Yao nodded. It should be the riddle Profiteer was talking about, right? Solving riddles or whatever really isn’t my specialty, but I will just see it.
Turning around, she looked at the door, and realized there were indeed words written on the door frame.
The first line wrote: Cheng Qingdiao
The second line wrote: Hell dragon’s lake, filled with gold.
The third line wrote: You who seek bitterness, in the middle of the sky.
The fourth line wrote: Beach of jade, overflowing with sadness.
The fifth line wrote: Good time to look back, but ever late.
The sixth line wrote: By eyes, unseen.
The last line wrote the name of the author: Daoist Wangshang, was here!
Ah, so it was Classical Chinese. As a Science student who did not take learning language classes seriously, she hated Classical Chinese to the very core. She was already very used to the various mathematical quizzes, and were also used to logical thinking. Something as sophistical as this was truly…
Eh, wait a minute! Speaking about logic… Why did the first word of every line look so familiar? If she were to link them all up…
She could not help but recite them.
“Cheng Qingdiao, hell, you bitch, goodbye!”
The hell, aren’t these just vulgarities?
When her voice fell, the entire stone door suddenly emitted out a blinding white light, instantly brightening up the horizon that had long turned dark. The words on the doorframe gradually faded as well, and what remained eres the first and fourth line. Finally, all of them disappeared!
“The riddle, was solved…” The Sect Master and his little companions were all dumbfounded, as they stood up one after another and looked at Zhu Yao with disbelieving eyes.
“Uh… This is an accident!” Please forgive this mathematical puppy’s logical OCD.
“Sect Master, hurry and look at the lake at the front mountain…” Someone shouted.
Everyone turned to look at the huge lake next to Ness Cesary Sect. The lake water looked as if it was boiling, as it began to surge wildly. An earthquake immediately followed after, and even the entire sect began to shake.
Zhu Yao instinctively grabbed onto the door frame next to her to prevent herself from falling.
The lake water surged even more incredibly than before, and it began to split towards the two sides. Something seemed to be rising from the center of the lake. Before its outline could be seen, an eye-piercing golden light shone, and its radiance grew even larger.
“It’s Skybond Peak!” Someone excitedly said. “The ascended ancestor’s Skybond Peak has surfaced!”
Zhu Yao squinted her eyes with all her might, before being able to see a golden palace rising from within the lake waters. In the beginning, it was just a corner. As it rose, she realized that it was a gigantic floating mountain. The size of its territory was seemingly close to the Main Peak she was present at. A palace that could not be described with just ‘luxurious’ took up the entirety of its mountaintop, revealing right before everyone’s eyes.
The owner of this mountain must have been really rich.
Zhu Yao secretly thought.
The mountain rose even higher, and had even surpassed the highest Main Peak. It went several thousand meters above it, before stopping in mid-air. The entire palace was like a lighthouse fervently making its presence known in the dark night sky.
What’s missing now were the few words: This old man has all the money, come rob me if you can.
Everyone presently on-site all had the same, dumbfounded look: ( ⊙ _ ⊙ )