Many people thought that Jing Jiu had died in the fire in the Royal Palace of the Chu Kingdom, but Bai Zao didn't think so.
Yet, she didn't know where Jing Jiu had gone either, like everybody else in the Illusionary Realm of the Green Sky Mirror.
Yet, she thought that the people in the real world would know where Jing Jiu was through the Blue Bird. Unexpectedly, even the Blue Bird had lost track of Jing Jiu.
Seeing the expression on Tong Yan's face, she knew what he was worried about, feeling uneasy as well.
What she was worried about was not Jing Jiu, but Bai Qianjun.
Though their Cultivation methods were different, they were nonetheless of the same sect.
In the end, in the study room of the Manor House of the Jing Of Silla in Cangzhou, Bai Qianjun asked everybody else to leave. He left all of his remaining pride to Zhao Layue. He didn't want her to look down on him, so he gave her a chance to fight against him. Bai Zao chose to give up because he didn't want both of them to be wounded, which would affect the ownership of the Fairy Book.
She was a disciple of the Zhongzhou School, so she would try her best to keep the Fairy Book on the Cloud-Dream Mountain, even though she knew that her opponent was Jing Jiu.
Tong Yan and Bai Qianjun had the same thought, though Bai Zhenren had never asked them to do so.
"I don't understand why the Blue Bird, as a mirror spirit, doesn't know where Jing Jiu is hiding."
Tong Yan furrowed her eyebrows slightly.
"Where is He Zhan? Nobody in the Illusionary Realm knows where he is. Can't the Blue Bird find him? "
Bai Zao suddenly thought of a possibility: Maybe something had gone wrong with the Green Sky Mirror.
"He Zhan is over there," said Tong Yan while pointing to the sky.
Bai Zao followed his finger to look at the sky, and saw a patch of blue.
What she saw was not the color of the sky.
The patch of blue was obviously different from the color of the surrounding sky. It was more serene, giving off a feeling that it was bottomless.
It was the scene projected by the Heavenly Retrieval Orb.
It was the ocean.
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…
On the incomparably vast blue sea, there was a very small black dot.
As the Blue Bird flew towards the sea from a high altitude, the black dot got closer and closer until it could be seen clearly. It turned out to be a person.
The man was wearing the clothes of a eunuch and had his hands behind his back as he walked slowly on the calm sea.
His face was slightly tanned by the sun and was no longer as pale as before. The gloominess between his brows had been dispersed by the sunlight, and he seemed much more cheerful.
He sensed the approach of the Blue Bird and looked up at the sky. There was no extra emotion in his eyes.
The Blue Bird flew up again, and the image was quickly pulled away. The blue sea still occupied the entire image, and then countless extremely thin white lines gradually appeared.
Each white line was a huge ship.
There were at least a hundred white lines, which meant that there were more than a hundred giant ships.
That person seemed to be walking slowly on the surface of the sea, but he was actually moving faster than these giant ships.
More than a hundred giant ships formed a fleet, following him into the depths of the sea.
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Seeing the scene in the sky, the Cultivation practitioners outside the Huiyin Valley were stunned speechless. Sensei was the only one who was shouting something cheerfully while holding the hand of the young girl Shui Yue Nunnery.
That person in the Illusionary Realm should be in the initial state of the Yuanying State.
The Cultivation practitioners had seen many such swordsmen, but they had rarely seen such a scene.
In such a Cultivation state, why did he choose to walk on the surface of the sea instead of riding a sword or flying in the air?
Bai Zao was puzzled as well, asking, "What is he doing?"
"He is carefree."
Looking at the ocean in the sky, Tong Yan revealed a gratified smile on his face.
He knew that his friend had finally been freed from Su Ziye's betrayal and Pei Baifa's death. In the words of the Guocheng Temple, his mental barrier had been removed.
The smile on his face faded away, and he was even more puzzled. Since the Blue Bird could find He Zhan, there was no reason that it couldn't find Jing Jiu. What was going on?
Tong Yan shot a glance at Bai Zao.
Bai Zao didn't say anything.
Back in the Illusionary Realm, Tong Yan had already guessed what Jing Jiu was going to do, and so had she.
But judging from the course of history, Jing Jiu's attempt had no chance of success.
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More than ten days later, the sky above the Cloud-Dream Mountain was still clear, but a deeper blue appeared in the clear blue sky. It was the ocean in the Illusionary Realm. The seemingly monotonous ocean was actually quite complicated. If one observed it carefully, he would find that the ocean was divided into many layers, with different shades, colors, and textures.
When the wind blew, the ocean would become naughty and violent; but when it was quiet, it would look like a transparent mirror, making people shudder.
Moreover, there were all kinds of strange fishes and birds in the ocean, as well as the sea monsters that ate the fishes and birds. There were also many islands and even other continents.
He Zhan's fleet arrived at the two Alien Continents, so he didn't go deep for exploration for the time being. And it had been twenty years since he left the State of Zhao.
One evening, he was a bit bored, so he dove into the bottom of the sea and caught a huge sea turtle. He gave some turtle meat to each ship.
The turtle meat was coarse and hard to chew no matter how it was cooked, but it had a special flavor if it was roasted, like raw beef that had been air-dried for a few days.
He Zhan was lying on the bamboo chair, drinking wine and chewing the turtle meat. He was enjoying the sea breeze with his eyes closed, feeling very happy.
A firework suddenly lit up on the surface of the sea in the distance.
He squinted slightly.
The sea merchants brought the latest news to him.
The Empress Dowager Zhao had died of illness.
In fact, it had happened seventy days ago.
He Zhan was silent for a while, and then he spat out the turtle meat in his mouth onto the deck, saying, "It's disgusting."
Then he carried the wine pot to the back of the deck, where it was covered by the shadow of the cabin.
He Zhan stood in the shadow for a whole night.
It was unclear whether he had drunk the wine pot himself or spilled it into the sea.
The next day, the officials of the Intelligence Bureau and the rulers of the various regions of the sea arrived at this patch of the ocean.
They had only one question: "Master, are we going back?"
He Zhan said calmly while looking at the other side of the ocean, "Almost all the people we know are dead; why should we go back?"
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Nothing unexpected happened.
The Zhao State was conquered by the Qin Kingdom less than three years after the death of the Dowager Zhao, and the Emperor of Zhao was conferred the title of King of Hejian.
Many people guessed that the Qin Emperor did it on purpose because he wanted to provoke the Elder He who had disappeared a long time ago and draw him out.
Like what people said about the Chu Emperor, people started to miss the Elder He after the conquest of the State of Zhao; but it was too late.
Soon after, the Qin Kingdom conquered the Qi Kingdom in one year, and it took them another four years to exterminate all the barbarian tribes that had fled to the barren north.
The world was unified, and the Qin Emperor became the final winner.
His line of sight was fixed on a mountain one hundred miles away in the southeast.
Though the Qin Emperor had forgotten many things, he didn't forget the first sentence he heard in this world.
"Regardless of the method, if you can unify the land and become the ruler of the world, you will be recognized by the godly commissioner and obtain the Bronze Tripod and the Fairy Book of Longevity."
That mountain was called Buzhou Mountain.
There was a temple on the mountain.
It was said that the godly commissioner lived in that temple.
But nobody had ever seen it; it was because nobody could get close to that temple.
Over the years, the Qin Emperor had sent many people to Buzhou Mountain in secret, but none of them had come back.
This further strengthened his confidence.
He decided to worship the Buzhou Mountain.
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There were many mountains between Xianyang and Buzhou Mountain, where the roads were difficult to travel and the dense forests were difficult to defend.
Since the day the Qin Emperor decided to worship the Buzhou Mountain, the Qin Kingdom had recruited millions of laborers to break down the mountains, destroy the forests, and transport the rocks to build a broad road. The road was named the Heavenly Road. It was three miles wide, with the mud as the foundation and the crushed stones as the surface. The land within ten miles on both sides of the road had been cleared. It was an unimaginably large project.
In order to build this road, the Qin Kingdom had levied taxes and treated the populace like slaves. The brutal rule had caused many uprisings, but they were all suppressed by the armored cavalry of the Qin Kingdom in the end. Hundreds of thousands of laborers and the same number of rebels were buried in the mud on both sides of the road.
In the autumn of the second year, the Heavenly Road was finished. The Qin Emperor didn't wait one more day before announcing the commencement of the Grand Ceremony of Ascension.
Tens of thousands of armored cavalrymen and even more soldiers and attendants surrounded and protected the huge black sedan, which left Xianyang City slowly and got on the Heavenly Road.
It took only nine days for such a large contingent to arrive at the foot of Buzhou Mountain. It was evident how anxious the Qin Emperor was.
It was the late autumn. The red leaves on Buzhou Mountain looked like the burning clouds, looking very beautiful.
The Qin Emperor took a bath and changed his clothes, and then he walked up the stone steps after burning the incense sticks and praying.
He was very old, with a head full of white hair. The expression in his eyes was as cold as before, and the domineering aura exuding from his black robe was almost tangible.
Hundreds of thousands of people knelt down behind him like the tide.
Before Bai Zao left, he had reminded him that he might forget many things, like a certain name.
The Qin Emperor had indeed forgotten the name, but he felt that someone would appear.
It was a bad feeling. As such, he restrained his temper and waited for almost two years to finish building this Heavenly Road.
He intended to kill all those who opposed him first and clear all the mountains and fields on both sides of the Heavenly Road to make sure that nobody would disturb the Grand Ceremony of Ascension.
Since no assassins appeared on the Heavenly Road, he didn't have to worry anymore.
There were tens of thousands of armored cavalrymen and countless highly achieved swordsmen here. Even ten Qin Emperors like Duke Mo couldn't break through the encirclement and come up to the top of the mountain.
The Qin Emperor was getting closer and closer to the top of the mountain, and a small temple could be vaguely seen.
Dozens of swordsmen in black followed behind him, watching the surroundings vigilantly.
These swordsmen had been selected carefully and were extremely loyal to the Qin Emperor, and they were also powerful and brave.
The Qin Emperor was still wary of that temple and the legend of the godly commissioner, just like he was wary of anyone or anything that he couldn't control.
The fact that those men of sacrifice hadn't returned made him feel uneasy.
Nothing unexpected had happened.
A small temple appeared at the end of the road.
The Qin Emperor's breathing grew hasty.
It was unclear when the Blue Bird flew over from afar and landed on a tree branch, looking at the scene in Silence.
The Cultivation practitioners outside the Huiyin Valley were also looking at the scene.
The Qin Emperor would obtain the final victory, and the Fairy Book would remain on the Cloud-Dream Mountain.
This was what many people had thought of before the Dao Competition began. Yet, they couldn't understand why He Zhan would suddenly give up the favorable situation of Zhao Zhao and go out to sea on the boat, ignoring the affairs of the world. More importantly, where was Jing Jiu hiding? Was he going to watch the Qin Emperor obtain the Tripod without doing anything?
Sensei was quite anxious, wondering if that beautiful idiot had made a mistake in the rules. The winner of the Illusionary Realm was not the one who survived to the end. If the Qin Emperor obtained the approval of the godly commissioner and succeeded in obtaining the Tripod, the Dao Competition would end immediately, and all the participants would be sent out.
Everybody was looking at the sky, including Tong Yan and Bai Zao, and so was Bai Zhenren.
Standing on the peak top, she looked at the scene in the sky in Silence. For some reason, she didn't show any hint of happiness on her face.
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…
The Qin Emperor turned around and looked at the path he had come from. Looking at the stone steps that looked like a jade belt and the populace at the foot of the mountain like the black tide and the beautiful rivers and mountains, he felt sentimental.
He had experienced many hardships along the way. He had given up many things and forgotten many things. Now he had finally come to this place, and nobody could stop him anymore.
But he would soon give up all these things.
He turned around and walked to the front of the temple, and saw the bronze tripod.
He was a bit surprised. The bronze tripod was much smaller than he had imagined, and it looked like he could hold it with one hand.
A person stood by the bronze tripod, his back facing the outside of the temple.
That person wore a white robe, his black hair hanging down to the ground like a waterfall, exuding a fairy aura. He must be the godly commissioner.
The Qin Emperor untied the crown and put it on the ground. He pulled up the front of his robe and stepped over the doorsill. He knelt down on the ground and said humbly, "The Emperor Zhou greets the Master Godly Commissioner."
The person in white turned around. His black hair parted with the wind, exposing his face.
That face was desolate and exceedingly beautiful, not something that could be found in the mortal world. He was indeed a fairy man.
The Qin Emperor lifted his head and was about to praise the godly commissioner; but he suddenly felt the face looked familiar, and he was taken aback.
"You are not the godly commissioner?"
The Qin Emperor suddenly remembered many things, and yelled in extreme shock, "No! You are Jing Jiu! "
Jing Jiu looked at him in Silence, saying nothing.
The Qin Emperor felt it was ridiculous, yelling with a pale face, "It's impossible! How could you be here?! "
You were on the other side of the mountain range. You abandoned the box and the horse, cut off the rope, and carried the insults and curses on your back. You had finally reached the peak top.
But you suddenly found that this was merely a small hill in the vast heaven and earth.
Most importantly, your opponent had been waiting here for a long time.
This was indeed the most ridiculous thing.
And also the most painful thing.
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