Gates of the Myriad Realms Chapter 425
by“The jade slip’s content wasn’t written by humans.”
Shen Ye said.
“Are you sure?” asked the Lord of Penglai.
“I just used the terms and saw that using the Three Arts outside the seal wouldn’t have any effect,” Shen Ye said.
“This information comes from ancient times and has been passed down for many years. We’ve verified it with various spells, and there’s no problem,” the Lord of Penglai said.
“The terms on me are mythical destiny terms,” Shen Ye said.
He directly displayed two terms above his head.
—Heaven-Reaching Art exclusive term: “Lord of Penglai”;
—Destiny-sided mythical term: “Tool of Destiny.”
The Lord of Penglai looked at the identical title above Shen Ye’s head and felt the spiritual energy fluctuations around him, then sighed:
“Humans cannot obtain destiny-sided terms – the original view was that humans are always caught up in destiny, drifting along, wandering between life and death. Only cosmic demons are favored by the laws of destiny.”
“But you, in later generations, can obtain destiny terms.”
“It seems the Immortal Kingdom has long been tampered with.”
Shen Ye nodded.
At this moment, the Lord of Penglai gazed at him, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke:
“Your spiritual energy… I’ve never seen it before, but I remember you also cultivated the Grand Purity’s Emotion-Forgetting Ascendance Scripture.”
“Yes,” Shen Ye said, “This is indeed purified spiritual energy.”
“To what extent?” the Lord of Penglai asked.
Shen Ye slightly chanted a spell, and his body was immediately enveloped in a layer of bright purple spiritual light.
At this instant.
An indescribable tremor arose, instantly spreading throughout his body.
A scene suddenly appeared in his mind:
The Lord of Penglai stood there, looking at him in a daze, and said a series of words:
“Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Light… I didn’t expect it to truly appear. What are you here for this time?”
“…I must tell you the secret of the Three Arts.”
All the scenes flashed away.
Shen Ye’s pores stood on end.
What was that just now?
Why did he see something that hadn’t happened yet?
He looked at the opposite side, only to see the Lord of Penglai looking at him in a daze, softly saying:
“Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Light… I didn’t expect it to truly appear. What are you here for this time?”
Shen Ye was stunned.
—This was exactly the same as the scene that had appeared in his mind earlier!
Lines of faint text quietly emerged:
“At this extremely important historical moment, the Heaven-Reaching Art released an ‘unowned activation’.”
“—The next time it releases an ‘unowned activation’, it must accumulate power for another thirty thousand years.”
“Now, it has entered the fray, ready to witness humanity’s final struggle.”
“It demands that you cherish this opportunity.”
In other words—
This was the only chance.
The Heaven-Reaching Art had given him this opportunity!
But what exactly did it do?
What was its principle?
“I need to compete with that monster for the Earth-Shaking Art.”
Shen Ye said, while thinking.
“You can’t defeat it. No one can defeat it – even if it’s just a thousandth of its power manifested,” the Lord of Penglai said.
“Only by obtaining the inheritance of the Earth-Shaking Art will the Heaven-Reaching Art communicate with me,” Shen Ye said truthfully.
The Lord of Penglai looked at him, not speaking for a long time.
Shen Ye met her gaze without flinching and continued, “In later generations, the successor of the Earth-Shaking Art was captured by it within the seal, but I must become the second successor; otherwise, the Heaven-Reaching Art will still not descend.”
“—I swear what I’m saying is true.”
The Lord of Penglai remained silent for a few breaths, then suddenly formed a hand seal.
Instantly.
All the gems and demonized gems Shen Ye had ever used flew out of him and landed in front of the Lord of Penglai.
They simultaneously emitted light and shadows, displaying a series of images in the void.
—These were the scenes of Shen Ye acting on Penglai Mountain, using his current era’s identity.
Nothing was missed.
The Lord of Penglai watched quietly for a while, as if she had made up her mind, and said, “Since that monster has gone to the Haoyang Heavenly Palace, there’s no other way… I must tell you the secret of the Three Arts.”
That was the line!
This scene had also happened in his mind earlier.
Shen Ye inexplicably felt a sense of finality.
The Lord of Penglai slowly continued:
“The initial epoch had no sentient beings and no myriad things. In the endless chaos and primordial void, there were only the slumbering Creator and Constructor.”
“This was the First Epoch.”
“When the First Epoch ended, there was no great calamity.”
“—So, at the beginning of the Second Epoch, the Creator and Constructors awoke and began to create the heavens, earth, stars, myriad things, and all sentient beings.”
“The Second Epoch—”
“It existed for four billion and eight hundred years, and then it ushered in an annihilating calamity.”
“Because it possessed the most primitive and powerful creative force, when this epoch was destroyed, the most precious treasure was passed down to the next epoch.”
“—The Art of Shaking Heaven!”
“The Third Epoch was not as powerful as the Second Epoch, but its civilization developed prosperously and brightly, creating countless laws that gathered all forces into the Dharma Realm, producing various unprecedented treasures.”
“At the time of the Third Epoch’s destruction, the strongest civilization in that epoch poured out all its strength to create an Art, using this Art to preserve all the achievements of civilization.”
“That Art might not be very powerful, but it was extremely special, and it also had a name—”
“The Art of Primordial Chaos!”
“When the Fourth Epoch began, all sentient beings had been extinguished, and only a few Creator and Constructor remained.”
“These remaining few Lords of the Universe all realized that the end of an epoch was the most dangerous thing.”
“From this epoch onwards, the Creator and Constructor no longer held anything back.”
“They bestowed everything inherited from the Second and Third Epochs upon the universe, hoping that this epoch would be stronger than before and even be able to resist the end of the epoch.”
“Under their almost frantic full efforts, the Supreme Immortal Kingdom was born.”
“Our civilization, guarded by the Art of Shaking Heaven and the Art of Primordial Chaos, fully deduced methods to resist the end of the epoch, and finally obtained an Art.”
“—The Heaven-Reaching Art!”
Shen Ye was thrilled to hear this and couldn’t help but say, “The Fourth Epoch… it must have been destroyed too, I remember you said we are now in the Fifth Epoch.”
The Lord of Penglai said:
“All the Creators died in battle, all planetary civilizations and cosmic life forms were annihilated. Only the Supreme Immortal Kingdom survived the destruction of the Fourth Epoch, standing proudly in the Fifth Epoch as it is now.”
Her gaze finally rested on Shen Ye again, and she said solemnly, “After this battle, the inheritors of the Three Arts gradually dwindled, especially the most important Heaven-Reaching Art. Although it always existed, a suitable inheritor could not be found.”
“—You are the first person in this epoch to cultivate the ‘Heaven-Reaching Spiritual Light’.”
“Therefore…”
“I want to try.”
The Lord of Penglai pulled out a new gem from her sleeve and presented it to Shen Ye with great care.
“You’ve used many such gems, do you know what this is?” she asked.
“This is an identity gem produced by your art,” Shen Ye said.
“This is a chess piece from the Supreme Saint King’s Shifting Shape and Transformed Spirit Chess Art,” the Lord of Penglai said.
“Chess piece? I haven’t heard of it,” Shen Ye said.
He looked at the gem and saw a misty aura emanating from it, as if special laws permeated it, blocking all prying.
“Do you think these gems that can travel through time are from my art? No, this is our Immortal Kingdom’s ultimate self-salvation method.”
The Lord of Penglai placed the gem in his hand, her eyes fixed on him, and softly said, “Only those who master the Three Arts, or the Lords of the Haoyang Heavenly Palace, Guanghan Palace, or Penglai Immortal Mountain, can place a chess piece in the spacetime of the Immortal Kingdom.”
Place… a piece?
Shen Ye looked at the gem in his hand, a thought flashing through his mind.
No.
It couldn’t be.
His arrival from the future to the present was actually due to receiving a chess piece from the predecessors of the Immortal Kingdom?
—Supreme Saint King’s Shifting Form and Transforming Spirit Chess Art.
The Immortal Kingdom had actually created such a magnificent and incredible art, using it to protect the fate of the entire civilization?
He suppressed his disbelief and couldn’t help but say, “You mean—this gem can take me, give me an identity, and let me—”
“—Let you appear in a more distant past era of the Immortal Kingdom, with this moment as a marker,” the Lord of Penglai finished his sentence.
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s start immediately! If I can return to the past of the Immortal Kingdom from this moment, I will surely obtain the Earth-Shaking Art,” Shen Ye said excitedly.
“No, you didn’t understand my words.” The Lord of Penglai looked at him with a profound expression.
Shen Ye was stunned, quickly calmed down, thought for a moment, and said, “I understand…”
“What do you understand?” the Lord of Penglai asked.
“Those who master the Three Arts, or the Lords of the Haoyang Heavenly Palace, Guanghan Palace, or Penglai Immortal Mountain, can all place a piece in the spacetime of the Immortal Kingdom—”
“Once you place a piece, the other party will also place a piece, is that right?” Shen Ye asked.
“Exactly,” the Lord of Penglai said.
“That monster went to the Haoyang Heavenly Palace. It might have already controlled the Lord of the Haoyang Heavenly Palace, or the person who possesses the Earth-Shaking Art,” Shen Ye said.
The Lord of Penglai calmly said, “The Palace Lord of the Guanghan Palace died in battle; the Art of Primordial Chaos disappeared without a trace; the Heaven-Reaching Art is not manifesting; fifteen minutes ago, I lost contact with the Haoyang Heavenly Palace.”
Shen Ye fell silent.
—Supreme Saint King’s Shifting Shape and Transformed Spirit Chess Art.
Once the Lord of Penglai places a piece, the monster will immediately detect it and place a piece in response.
This is a game of chess.
A game of chess concerning the fate of the Immortal Kingdom and all humanity!
And he must master the inheritance of the Earth-Shaking Art to gain the protection of the Heaven-Reaching Art—
Then he can only fight for it!
The Lord of Penglai said: “My strength is inferior to theirs. Once you use this gem, it’s very likely that they will place seven or eight pieces before I can place one.”
“What kind of situation would that be?” Shen Ye asked.
“I don’t know, we’ve never fought among ourselves.”
“This gem is called ‘Child of the Past’, and it’s the most important piece among all the chess pieces.”
“It’s the Immortal Kingdom’s last resort, originally intended to send the strongest person back to the past to find hope—this is the first time it’s been activated,” the Lord of Penglai said.
“After I go, can you still place pieces? What will happen?” Shen Ye asked.
The Lord of Penglai formed a hand seal with one hand.
Suddenly, a series of gems of various sizes and colors appeared in the void.
—All of them were chess pieces!
“Subsequent moves will provide you with favorable conditions, or reinforcements, and so on,” the Lord of Penglai said.
“—Come on, there’s no other way. Send me back to the past,” Shen Ye said.
WWW¸ тt kΛn¸ ￠ 〇
The Lord of Penglai stepped forward and pressed down on the gem in his hand, saying,
“Have you thought it through? The enemy will place pieces much faster than I can, easily creating many obstacles and mortal dangers for you. You will have to face everything on your own; I can only help you once in a long while.”
Shen Ye, however, said, “But we have the first move in this game—strike first, you can certainly set up a favorable condition for me first, can’t you?”
“Yes, right now that monster doesn’t know what we’re doing, so I can calmly and carefully set up a condition for you once,” the Lord of Penglai said.
She suddenly caught on and asked, “You’ve already thought of the first move condition?”
Shen Ye nodded and said,
“My desired condition is this: ‘No matter the circumstances, remind me to ‘excel’, and once I successfully ‘excel’, I will receive tangible benefits’.”
He subtly sensed the void.
After he finished speaking, the void even emitted a strange joy.
The Heaven-Reaching Art was still there!
It had personally entered the fray and had already expended one ‘autonomous activation’, and now it absolutely refused to remain silent.
—It seemed that if he ‘excelled’, it could deepen his resonance with it!
As Shen Ye was thinking, a line of small text popped out from the void:
“Using your ‘Gate’ ability, the Heaven-Reaching Art conveyed two words:”
“Well done.”
“What is ‘excel’?” the Lord of Penglai asked.
“It means doing the same thing as others, but doing it better than them,” Shen Ye said.
“—That’s not difficult. Have you thought it through carefully? The advantage of the first move is only once,” the Lord of Penglai said.
“I’ve thought it through. Send me off,” Shen Ye said.
The Lord of Penglai nodded, extended a fair and slender finger, and flicked the gem in his hand forcefully.
Crack.
The gem shattered.
The void suddenly transformed into a massive vortex, instantly sucking Shen Ye in.
Darkness.
Endless darkness streaked past him.
Shen Ye felt his speed was at its absolute limit.
He could see countless streaks of light and shadow lurking around.
Those were the decisive historical events and figures in spacetime.
He was going against the current—
Rushing full speed towards the past era of the Immortal Kingdom!
At one moment.
The anxious voice of the Lord of Penglai echoed in his ears:
“It has noticed!”
“As expected, it lays pieces quickly, but remember, the condition you requested has been set. You must not lose faith—”
Before she finished speaking, the voice abruptly ceased.
Lines of faint text appeared before Shen Ye’s eyes:
“In this Supreme Saint King’s Shifting Shape and Transformed Spirit Chess Art, your enemy is continuously placing pieces.”
“The opponent has sensed your intentions, and instantly placed 4 pieces, forming 4 layers of attack against you:”
“1. Although you have traveled to that flourishing era of the Immortal Kingdom, you are only three years old, and possess all attributes of a three-year-old;”
“2. You have temporarily forgotten everything;”
“3. All your accompanying pets and contractors are age-restricted to your three-year-old level and are sealed from being summoned.”
“4. You will encounter an assassination attempt in fifteen minutes.”
Shen Ye’s vision went dark.
Bastard.
How cruel!
The next second.
He began to forget everything and arrived at a certain era and scene within the Immortal Kingdom.
…
Immortal Kingdom.
A small fishing village.
In a fisherman’s wattle-and-daub courtyard.
A three-year-old child, who was curled up on a reclining chair, suddenly opened his eyes and sat bolt upright.
A baffled expression appeared on the child’s face.
Who am I?
What am I doing?
What is this place?
Suddenly.
A flood of unfamiliar memories surged into his mind, causing intense pain.
The child cried out, clutching his head, rolling onto the ground, groaning incessantly.
After a long while.
He finally recovered.
—So, I am a little boy named Xu Qingfeng, three years old this year.
The plague had passed through, my father and mother had died.
The house was bare.
I had died too, originally.
Wait.
That’s not right.
If I’m a three-year-old child, why does my head hurt when I recall my past?
Shen Ye—
Or rather, Xu Qingfeng, climbed out of the reclining chair and immediately saw his dog peeing on the roots of a tree in the courtyard.
“You need to excel…”
In the void, a female voice quietly echoed, somewhat anxious, even revealing a hint of despair.
Excel?
“Excel… what is that?” Xu Qingfeng asked loudly.
“It means doing the same thing as others, but doing it better than them,” the female voice in the void replied.
Excel, huh?
Excel, indeed.
Why do I accept this so naturally?
—It’s like something I’m unwilling but instinctively accustomed to.
Wait.
Am I really three years old?
Xu Qingfeng was going crazy, but he instinctively jumped off the reclining chair, charged towards his dog, and standing next to it, pulled down his pants and peed on the tree with the dog.
Urinate!
Urine like a gush!
Lines of faint text suddenly appeared:
“Congratulations.”
“Peeing side-by-side, your pee lasted longer than the dog’s, went further, and was louder.”
“You out-performed it!”
“The Heaven-Reaching Art is speechless about this, but applauds your attitude.”
“Given this victory of excellence, and the Heaven-Reaching Art’s appreciation, the ‘seal against summoning companions’ has been broken.”
“You can now summon a companion who traveled with you!”
What is the Heaven-Reaching Art…
What is summoning…
“Summon!”
Xu Qingfeng shouted.
Bang—
A small skeleton, as tall as he was, appeared from the void.
—Like a dead child’s size.
“Ghost!”
Xu Qingfeng ran away as fast as he could.
“Wait, it’s me, it’s me!” The small skeleton made a childish sound, chasing after him in a hurry.
A few minutes later.
A child and a dead child’s skeleton were both panting in the courtyard.
“Buddy, let me tell you—you’re actually—called Shen Ye.”
The dead child skeleton gasped for breath.
“I’m Xu Qingfeng, who is Shen Ye?” The child also panted.
“You were trapped by the enemy’s continuous moves, one of which was memory loss,” the dead child’s skeleton said.
“And you? Who are you?” the child Xu Qingfeng asked.
“I am Failun, your good buddy—due to the seal, my age is suppressed to your level of three years old,” the dead child skeleton said.
Xu Qingfeng looked at him, and an inexplicable sense of familiarity rose in his heart.
Perhaps it’s true?
Otherwise, why would I feel so familiar?
“There might be danger soon. I’ll dig a pit for you, you hide in it, and I’ll hold them off,” the dead child skeleton said.
It squatted on the ground, using its sharp bony claws to start digging.
Digging a pit?
This is just digging a pit for his father.
Xu Qingfeng glanced at it, then ran into the room, found the cellar in the kitchen, patted the wooden board on the cellar, and shouted,
“Stop digging! Come help me move this board!”
The dead child skeleton ran in and helped him move the wooden board aside.
Shen Ye jumped in.
“Hey, you’re only three years old too. What if there’s an enemy, how will you fight?” he shouted.
“I’ll revive, dammit!” the little skeleton yelled.
It seemed to remember something and hurriedly reminded, “My tombstone is in your Dharmakaya. Once you sense it, you must release me!”
“How do I release you?”
“Chant silently ‘We shall meet under the moon at Yao Terrace’, and I will be able to come forth with the power of this incantation.”
“I have such power?” Xu Qingfeng was surprised.
“I’m not bad either; I can transform into various animals!” said the little skeleton.
“Really?”
Xu Qingfeng kicked the little skeleton into the cellar.
“What are you doing? This is where you hide! I’m going to fight!” the little skeleton said.
“When we used to do things together, who usually came up with the ideas?” Xu Qingfeng asked.
“You were in charge of all the shady stuff,” the little skeleton blurted out.
“Say it again,” Xu Qingfeng stared at the dead child skeleton.
“You’re good at commanding on the battlefield,” the little skeleton rephrased.
“Then listen to me,” Xu Qingfeng said.
—Strange, he seemed to have a lot of inspiration when it came to commanding on the battlefield.
A few minutes later.
A commotion was heard outside.
“Kill them all! Kill every last one!”
A murderous voice echoed throughout the village.
Immediately after.
Horse hooves split up, heading to various parts of the village.
A clatter of horse hooves also arrived at this courtyard, and then the door was kicked open with a “bang.”
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Someone looked around the room and said angrily,
“Damn it, this place is too poor.”
The sound of horse hooves faded into the distance.
A few minutes later.
A sound of footsteps.
“An important figure has already been here; there seems to be nothing left here.”
“Hmph, if there were any benefits, would they even be our turn?”
“Then what are we doing here?”
“Rest! We’ve been running behind the big shots’ horses for so long, aren’t you tired?”
“Indeed, let’s slack off for a bit.”
Two sets of footsteps gradually approached.
They still followed their routine of first inspecting the house.
Sometimes.
The important figures wouldn’t notice the small details, occasionally overlooking some copper coins or grain.
Although the important figures wouldn’t care, for the common thugs, it was still considered a harvest.
Thump.
A sound came from the cellar.
“Someone’s here!”
“Haha, quickly see if it’s a man or a woman! If it’s a man, kill him directly!”
“If by luck it’s a woman… hehe!”
The footsteps quickened, mixed with the sound of weapons being drawn.
The next second.
The two entered the kitchen, squatted in front of the cellar, and looked down.
“Can you see clearly?”
“It’s too dark down there… but I can see it’s a tortoise, not a person.”
“I see it too, it’s definitely a tortoise.”
The two exchanged glances, their killing intent dissipated.
—In these famine years, eating stewed tortoise was unimaginable!
“Don’t tell anyone,” one whispered.
“Of course, there’s salt and firewood in the kitchen. We need to go down and catch this tortoise quickly, and stew it before noon, otherwise, it’ll be too late when it’s time to gather,” the other said, licking his lips.
“I’ll go down and catch it, you be on alert.”
“What’s there to be on alert for, honestly.”
“If anyone else comes, just shout and say we’re searching here, and tell them to go somewhere else.”
“Alright, I’ll watch outside.”
The cellar’s wooden board was moved.
One person stood by the door, craning his neck to look outside.
The other jumped down.
He couldn’t see clearly from above, and it was even darker and less visible once he descended.
The tortoise on the ground was splashing and scrambling around.
The man, however, chuckled and shouted up,
“This tortoise isn’t small, it’s the size of a two or three-year-old child. I’m in for a treat today.”
He pounced.
Pfft.
Sharp bone spikes suddenly emerged from the tortoise’s back, piercing through the man’s body.
The man twitched uncontrollably, wanting to speak but unable to.
The tortoise turned its head, stared at him coldly, and spoke in human tongue:
“Your mom, who were you calling a tortoise just now?”
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