Checking In for Sixty Years, From Puppet Emperor to Heavenly Emperor – Chapter 53

Ch 53: Ethereal Palace

Beneath the ice lake was a palace, but the surrounding water flow was bone-chillingly cold. Without Innate True Energy to protect the body, a Houtian Martial Artist who jumped down would be frozen in the blink of an eye.

This was still the right path; if it were another location, even an Innate Cultivator would be instantly frozen.

Zhou An followed the Six Oddities and swam to the palace at the bottom of the lake. It was protected by a barrier, preventing water from entering.

The Chess Sage flicked out a few chess pieces, shooting them into the concave holes on the seabed stones beside them. Then, a hole appeared in the barrier in front of them, and the seven people passed through the hole, standing in the square within the barrier.

“When we came in here, the warning Forbidden Spell was already triggered by me. Lord Longyang and Gambling Devil will definitely know, and they should be able to arrive soon,” the Chess Sage said.

“Once Lord Longyang and Gambling Devil arrive, the eight of us will set up the Eight Ethereal Sword Formation, which is enough to contend with the Crimson Sha Ten Thousand Serpent Formation,” the Painting Demon said.

“Gambling Devil should be in the gambling house in the nearby town. I don’t know where Lord Longyang went. I’m just worried that Gambling Devil will arrive first, and it will be dangerous if we are blocked by them,” the Drunken Taoist said.

“I’ll use the sound of the qin. Gambling Devil can hear it, and he will understand,” the Qin Fairy sat down in place and began to play the qin.

The sound was crisp, like a flowing spring. It was not very loud, but it could spread throughout the entire Ethereal Mountain.

These people’s abilities amazed Zhou An. Sure enough, the path of cultivating immortality was full of strange things, each with its own strengths. He secretly sighed that the trip was worthwhile, and he had a real understanding of the Righteous-Demonic War.

The Drunken Taoist said to Zhou An: “We will go out to fight later, you stay here. Unless you are sure it is safe, don’t leave. Also, you remember the way you came in, right? If you go out, you must follow the same path. One wrong step and you will be frozen.

Finally, you can only move around within the scope of the square. This palace must not be touched, not even approached, otherwise you will be turned into ice powder by the Mystic Ice Divine Light, remember that.”

“I understand, seniors. This junior can crack the formations here. Can I use the Eight Ethereal Swords to invite a few seniors to come out of the mountain to deal with the Demonic Path?” Zhou An suddenly asked.

The six were all surprised. The Painting Demon was astonished and stared, saying: “Little friend, you can’t make fun of me at this time. It’s okay to let you tease me for fun, but if you play with me at this time, I will be angry.”

The Divine Beggar was the person here who most urgently needed the Eight Ethereal Swords. He didn’t believe that Zhou An could crack it. If it came to the study of formations, few people in the world could compare with the Chess Sage. Even if Zhou An, a junior, started learning from his mother’s womb, no matter how heaven-defying his talent was, could he compare with the Chess Sage’s more than five hundred years of comprehension!

The Drunken Taoist did believe him. The more he came into contact with Zhou An, the more surprises this kid could bring him. Moreover, the Sect Leader had said that Zhou An could bring him a great opportunity.

“The Star River Twin Swords are with me. I’m sorry I’ve been hiding it all along. It’s just that this junior is afraid of attracting disaster,” Zhou An said at this time, seeing the opportunity here, and knowing the approximate strength of these people, he was confident enough to gain the upper hand.

Moreover, according to the Taiyi Divine Numbers and Six Ren Divination Arts of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Lady Records, he calculated that entering inside would bring great fortune. The faces of the Eight Oddities were not evil, especially the Chess Sage and the Book Immortal, who also had a sense of righteousness, so he could believe them a little.

“Really!” The Divine Beggar was the most excited. What he most urgently wanted was to obtain the Immortal Swords for his sect before his own tribulation, to make up for the regret of his master being killed and losing the Mirror of Heavenly Order back then.

Zhou An took out the Star River Twin Swords from the System Space. The six were overjoyed when they saw them. The Drunken Taoist slapped his thigh and happily shouted: “Haha, good, good, good, sure enough, Old Taoist’s opportunity is on you. You were right not to say it. You have just entered the Innate Realm, and a pair of Immortal Swords cannot be exposed. Old Taoist guarantees to teach you the Method of Body-Sword Fusion, so that you can control the twin swords. In the future, when the twin swords are cultivated, they will definitely shine brightly.”

“The Star River Twin Swords are lover’s swords. If you can find a Dao companion to cultivate together, the power of Shuang Jian He Bi will be so strong that even a senior in the Innate Tenth Level would not dare to lightly touch its edge,” the Qin Fairy said, unable to hide the joy in her heart.

“The Demonic Path has already come to our door this time. If we don’t take action, it will be difficult to have peace in the future. Little friend Zhou Nan, don’t worry, once we get the Eight Ethereal Swords, we will go to East King Village,” the Book Immortal said with a smile, stroking his beard.

As soon as he finished speaking, the twin swords in Zhou An’s hand flew out on their own, turning into purple and blue light and flying towards the palace.

“The Immortal Swords are leading the way, we must follow quickly,” the Divine Beggar shouted and was about to chase after them.

At this time, a long howl came from above, and the six were all surprised. The Drunken Taoist shouted: “Lord Longyang and Old Gambling Devil are here. We must go to support them, otherwise they are definitely no match for Qishan Old Demon.”

“Little friend Zhou Nan, we can only rely on you here. With the Star River Twin Swords leading the way, you can break the Forbidden Spell here. You must be careful, find the Eight Ethereal Swords and bring them up. With this, we can truly exert the Eight Ethereal Sword Formation,” the Drunken Taoist said.

“I understand, this junior will definitely live up to your expectations,” Zhou An said.

“Let’s go.” The Book Immortal took the lead and flew out of the barrier, and the others followed and flew out.

Zhou An used the Universe Steps to chase after them. When he approached the palace gate, he saw the Star River Twin Swords shoot out two rays of purple and blue light, landing on the formation carvings on the gate.

He saw the formation release two-colored lights, the Forbidden Spell on the surface of the gate disappeared, and the four characters “Ethereal Palace” appeared on the plaque on the gate. The gate opened automatically, and the two Flying Swords entered inside.

Entering inside was a hall with a cyan-white tone, seemingly built of some kind of jade stone, even the stone pillars were made of similar stone materials.

The entire palace gave people a clear and elegant feeling, as if the original owner here was a woman.

At this time, the system prompted that he had arrived at the Ethereal Palace, and checking in would give him the Ethereal Book, which belonged to the Immortal-Rank Cultivation Method, but could only be cultivated by women, which made him a little helpless.

After completing the check-in here, he was immediately prompted to complete the check-in for the entire Ethereal Snow Peak map, rewarding him with the Immortal Art Mystic Ice Divine Light.

Without bothering to look at it, he first checked the palace. There were eight doors around, each with a sword hanging above the door frame, each emitting a kind of colored Mystic Light.

Relying on the knowledge of The Mysterious Doors and Evasive Arts in the Nine Heavens Mysterious Lady Records, Zhou An discovered that these eight doors were extremely similar to the eight gates of opening, resting, life, injury, du, scene, alarm, and death on Earth.

But there were no reference objects here, and even the directions were not fixed, so it was impossible to calculate where the Gate of Life was located.

If he chose the wrong one, the eight swords would probably shoot out sword light and kill the person who came.

“Could this be the Eight Ethereal Swords! How do I get them?” Zhou An’s mind was racing, thinking about all the content of The Mysterious Doors and Evasive Arts and the Six Ren Arts, looking for a way to crack it.

While he was hesitating, suddenly eight swords shot out sword light at the same time. The Star River Twin Swords flew around Zhou An, blocking the eight sword lights. Then, the two Immortal Swords shot out purple and blue light, shining on the eight swords.

The eight sword lights immediately retracted, turning into ordinary sword blades. Zhou An was secretly delighted. No wonder the Drunken Taoist said that he could not enter without the Star River Twin Swords. This was the pass.

He waved his hand, and True Energy wrapped around the eight swords, taking them off and putting them into the System Space.

The system showed that the eight swords were only Supreme Spiritual Treasures, but when combined with the Eight Ethereal Sword Formation, they were enough to contend with Intermediate Magic Treasure.

At this time, the Star River Twin Swords flew towards one of the doors, and he immediately followed and ran into the door.

Passing through a corridor, he came to a side hall, which was a study. Next to it was an ancient qin, and in front was a desk with writing utensils on it.

On the innermost wall hung a blank painting, and on the ceiling was a square star map, with a circle in the middle, which seemed to be able to move.

The Star River Twin Swords arrived here, flew around the room twice, and then landed in front of Zhou An, without any further movement.

At this time, the disc on the ceiling turned, and then the ancient qin next to it automatically played a beautiful piece of music.

A picture of a hundred flowers appeared on the blank painting hanging on the front wall, with dozens of Immortal Maidens dancing gracefully.

Immediately afterwards, Zhou An saw a group of Immortal Maidens suddenly appear around him, dancing around him, and each of them took turns walking past him, teasing and joking with him. Some would even get close to his ear and whisper, their breath like orchids, their voices like orioles, full of teasing.

“It’s this trick again.” Zhou An remembered the first time he learned the Yin-Yang Chamber Arts in the Nine Heavens Mysterious Lady Records, and the corners of his mouth rose.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and controlled his emotions, but this illusion was too exquisite. Even if he didn’t look at it, he could still feel these Immortal Maidens teasing him. The sound of the qin seemed to have an aphrodisiac effect.

He opened his eyes, and the Ethereal Demon Eye was activated, his eyes shining with purple light. The surrounding Immortal Maidens immediately disappeared, and he saw that there were actually Four Ethereal Immortals here.

Sitting in front of the qin table was a woman in white, sitting in front of the chess table was a woman in black, sitting in front of the desk was a woman in ink-colored clothes, and standing next to her was a woman wearing clothes with a starry sky pattern.

The four women were also peerlessly beautiful. There were no more beautiful women in the world. It was a pleasure to the eye to see these beauties. Their beauty could overthrow countries and cities, and they could amaze the world. That was what the four people in front of him were like.

“Are you four weapon spirits?” Zhou An showed a curious look.