Chapter 81: The Jade Plate Transference Technique

The magnificent staircase before him exuded an overwhelming pressure, instantly forcing Jiajia, who had intended to scamper over to Chen Hongxu and act cute, to flatten itself against the ground. As for Qi Hui, who was watching from the side, apart from bleeding from her seven facial orifices, there was a trace of covert delight in her eyes.

After all, the fact that Chen Hongxu could subdue an immortal master from the immortal mountain without a fight was proof of his strength. Although she could not comprehend the purpose of the illusory staircase before her, she knew that anything capable of making an immortal master flee without a fight had to be far more formidable than she could possibly imagine.

Chen Hongxu stood beside the staircase, tilting his head back with mixed emotions. It seemed that all responsibilities and troubles had begun from the moment he participated in that Black List mission, and this illusory staircase had, to a greater or lesser extent, played a certain role in shaping the subsequent development of events.

This world, that world—Chen Hongxu always felt as though something was stringing everything together, yet he could never truly make sense of it. As he experienced more and more worlds, the doubts in his heart grew heavier, as if an invisible giant hand was constantly manipulating all of this.

Narrowing his eyes to gaze at the unfinished giant gate at the top of the staircase, Chen Hongxu sighed and stepped onto the stairs.

"Rumble!!!"

The moment Chen Hongxu set foot on the first step, Jiajia and Qi Hui, who was lying on the ground, swayed with shock.

Sensing something, Chen Hongxu took another step up while waving his hand. Two golden thread runes that made up the first step instantly flew toward Jiajia and Qi Hui.

The tiny runes were naturally insignificant to the massive Jiajia, but the magical part was that the moment the runes touched Jiajia, they melted away like flowing water, transforming into an endless stream that orbited around Jiajia's body. Qi Hui was experiencing the exact same thing nearby.

Man and beast instantly felt the pressure vanish entirely. Even the blood that had oozed from Qi Hui's seven orifices flowed backward into her body, guided by the golden liquid flowing over her.

Having done all this, Chen Hongxu said without looking back, "Do not wander around, wait for me right here!"

At this moment, his mind was entirely focused; his eyes saw only the staircase reaching up to the heavens. As for that immortal master who had already vanished without a trace...

Wang Liwang was a rather special immortal master on the immortal mountain. Although the immortal mountain was not the earthly paradise outsiders imagined, he was definitely an existence whom others dared not provoke on the mountain.

In a place where everything relied on strength, Wang Liwang's strength was not too shabby. One could even say that after pulling out all his stops, there were not many people on the immortal mountain who could fight him to the death.

And those few who did understand Wang Liwang's special status would not come looking for trouble with him for no reason. After all, he was the nephew of the master of the immortal mountain, the Heaven-Reaching Immortal, back when the latter lived in the mortal realm.

Wang Liwang had long since cultivated an arrogant and domineering temperament on the immortal mountain. Although his temper was not particularly good, as the only living relative of the Heaven-Reaching Immortal, he was still quite favored by everyone. One perk of this was that whenever various treasures appeared, everyone thought of him first, giving him a discerning eye that ranked among the top three on the immortal mountain.

Coming down this time to take Qi Hui, the Saintess, back directly was partly because he could not wait for Qi Hui's Ultimate Yin Constitution, but also partly out of a desire to travel the mortal world and revel in the vanity of being revered by thousands.

However, the outcome of this trip was utterly disastrous. Not only had the Ultimate Yin Constitution—which would have made his future cultivation twice as effective with half the effort—run off with someone else, but the two major treasures on his body had also been completely exhausted without a single gain to show for it.

Recalling Chen Hongxu's dull yet somewhat mocking gaze, Wang Liwang harbored secret resentment in his heart. However, asking him to turn back now was utterly out of the question. After all, someone who had mastered fifty or sixty golden thread runes was not an adversary he could contend with. In his mind, he fantasized about returning to the immortal mountain, having his uncle step forward to annihilate this foreign youth, and then perhaps being rewarded with a few magical treasures containing golden thread runes in recognition of his role as the informant. With those, once he returned, who in the entire world—save for his uncle who was forever in seclusion—would be his match?

As for studying them himself?

Wang Liwang smiled. Those ghostly runes made his head spin just by looking at them. Anyway, he was still young and had plenty of time to enjoy himself. Although immortal masters were not granted eternal life, as long as his uncle broke through to a higher realm by then, wouldn't he naturally reap some benefits?

After all, he was his uncle's only bloodline.

At the thought of this exciting prospect, Wang Liwang even laughed out loud.

Calculating carefully now, he had been fleeing from Chen Hongxu for seven or eight minutes. For experts like them, let alone seven or eight minutes, even if they ran for a minute or two, catching up would be difficult. After all, even if Chen Hongxu's strength completely crushed his own, their cultivation realms were still on the same level; it was impossible for the gap to be too wide.

Although he was somewhat puzzled as to why Chen Hongxu had not pursued him at the beginning, upon assuming that the opponent had just broken through and therefore lacked sufficient mastery over the golden thread runes, he cast aside his suspicions and lowered his guard.

"Ahead is the Nine-Quirks Manor. Once I reach this place, not to mention the elite forces stationed by the immortal mountain, I can also use the teleportation array to return directly to the immortal mountain. Even if that person chases after me now, I have nothing to fear. Besides, it's better not to let too many people know about someone possessing fifty or sixty golden thread runes."

Thinking to himself, Wang Liwang actually increased his speed a fraction.

Just as he leaped over a modest-looking peak, Wang Liwang, whose expression had been quite relaxed, suddenly experienced a drastic change in his complexion. His steadily flying body began to sway unsteadily, much like a drunken man, and in a split second, he lost his center of gravity and plunged straight toward the ground.

Wang Liwang was filled with terror. At that moment, he felt as though someone had disrupted the surrounding space.

As Chen Hongxu's mocking gaze flashed through his mind, Wang Liwang shook his head and cast the unrealistic thought aside. He simply could not believe that someone who had just broken through to become an immortal master could possess such terrifying strength.

Now was not the time for wild imaginations either. His cultivation realm had been forcibly elevated by his uncle, and his physical body had not been tempered through steady, solid steps. If he crashed down from such a height right now, even if he did not die, he would be severely injured.

Weighing the pros and cons, Wang Liwang gritted his teeth, reached into his bosom, and pulled out a Daoist yellow paper talisman resembling those used for expelling ghosts and warding off evil. Cryptic runes, incomprehensible to ordinary people, were inscribed on the paper in scarlet cinnabar.

Clutching the yellow paper, Wang Liwang rubbed his fingers together, and the talisman automatically burst into flames.

As the talisman gradually burned to ashes, Wang Liwang's body also began to blur, as if he might vanish at any second. With a vicious glare in his eyes toward the distance, Wang Liwang swore inwardly that once his uncle defeated that youth in beast skins, he must ask his uncle not to kill him outright, but to leave him alive so he could torture him for a few days.

After all, the losses from this outing were far too disastrous. Take the yellow paper he had just burned—this item was a one-of-a-kind Great Translocation Talisman unique to the immortal mountain!

Just as Wang Liwang's body had blurred to the point where even his phantom shadow was barely discernible, the air surrounding his phantom suddenly caved inward, and an air mass shaped precisely like a human footprint stepped down...

With a deafening "Bang!", the surrounding earth shook violently. Following that, a faint, abrupt scream was cut short instantly.

The sky returned to its original state, save for a few red droplets of water of unknown origin that were drawn by the earth and plummeted straight down.

...

In a pavilion beside the stairs of the immortal mountain, devoid of any shelter from wind and rain, with even the pillars supporting the roof appearing somewhat dilapidated due to years of neglect, lived an old man who welcomed guests. Normally, everyone was accustomed to flying about, and very few people ever passed by this place.

An old man whose face was covered in uncoordinated black Qi sat cross-legged on the ground. Before him lay an ancient jade plate. Suddenly, the old man's expression changed as the perfectly fine jade plate cracked right down the middle, splitting into two halves. The spirituality within the jade plate instantly dissipated, turning into two unsightly, ordinary pieces of broken stone.

The old man shifted his gaze away from the jade plate, let out a breath, and rejoiced: "Five hundred years ago, I calculated that I would face a major tribulation at this time, so I reluctantly practiced the jade plate transference technique, which was despised by others back then. Now that the jade plate has cracked, it must mean my dear nephew blocked this disaster in my stead. Splendid, truly splendid! However, to be able to kill a nephew protected by golden thread runes, what sort of peerless figure could it be?"

Suddenly, a figure flashed outside the pavilion, and a slender middle-aged man materialized. Looking panicked and not daring to raise his head, the middle-aged man knelt on the ground and stammered, "Heaven-Reaching Immortal, this lowly one did not mean to disturb you, it's just..."

"My nephew is dead?" The Heaven-Reaching Immortal smiled, his voice revealing a mood of great delight.

"Huh?" The middle-aged man was stunned. Not daring to second-guess the Heaven-Reaching Immortal's intentions, he trembled, "This lowly one deserves death."

"Get up, Wang Song. This matter has nothing to do with you; it was merely a tribulation for that child Liwang. Go attend to your duties." The Heaven-Reaching Immortal smiled benignly. There were only three or four people on the immortal mountain who knew he was temporarily residing in the Guest-Welcoming Pavilion, and without exception, they had all been granted the surname Wang, precisely so that the illusory jade plate transference technique would have a subsequent pool of candidates.

His direct bloodline was merely the first to die; the ones who would block disasters for him next would be chosen at random, and he would have to cultivate a new jade plate. The Heaven-Reaching Immortal smiled, then suddenly recalling something, he called out to Wang Song, who was backing away in preparation to leave: "Since Liwang is already dead, give him a proper burial and take his treasures for yourself."

Hearing this, Wang Song was startled. He fell to his knees once more, keeping his head lowered as he said, "Milord, there are no treasures left. When Liwang returned, he must have used the Great Translocation Talisman, but by the time he appeared on the immortal mountain, he had already been reduced to a puddle of flesh, and all forty-nine defensive treasures bestowed upon him by Milord were completely shattered!"

Hearing this, the Heaven-Reaching Immortal opened his eyes wide, stood up in shock, and muttered distractedly, "What kind of existence did this bastard provoke that even the Great Translocation Talisman couldn't save him?"

"Did he still have his ring on him?" The Heaven-Reaching Immortal's expression was fraught with uncertainty.

"No!"

The Heaven-Reaching Immortal exhaled, closed his eyes, and flicked his fingers in a dizzying sequence, constantly prying into the secrets of heaven.

Half a quarter of an hour passed. The Heaven-Reaching Immortal stopped his intricate hand seals, a trace of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. He said gloomily, "Someone from the upper realms has descended during this period, and you people didn't notify me?"

"Milord, no! How would we dare conceal such a major event?"

"Then that's strange. Untraceable, uncalculable—how can it not be someone from the upper realms?" Distraught, the Heaven-Reaching Immortal gritted his teeth and declared heavily, "These are troubled times. Tomorrow, summon all immortal masters currently outside to return to the mountain. Anyone who fails to return within a month will be treated as a rebel!"

"Understood!"

"Alright, you may withdraw." With a wave of his hand, the Heaven-Reaching Immortal dismissed Wang Song, then muttered to himself, "Although I cannot find out who it is, the operations of this heaven and earth follow their own laws. A great tribulation, a great opportunity—should I seal the mountain, or fight to the death..."