Hidden Emperor Fortress

"Hehe, the Zhao Clan of the Divine Capital's World-Shocking Book is here too." Qi Xia seemed quite disgusted with the Zhao Clan of the Divine Capital, and her tone carried obvious gloating.

The Zhao Clan of the Divine Capital was one of the Fourteen Great Aristocratic Families and the current imperial family of Great Jin!

Meng Qi had heard Xuan Xin mention that after the Medieval Era, the aristocratic families had joined forces to resist the sects' oppression, establishing imperial dynasties and selecting the strongest family as the imperial family. For a time, all under heaven watched in awe; winds rose and clouds surged, and aristocratic families stood on equal footing with sects. But later, the family that became the imperial family seemed to gain some tremendous benefit from ascending the Supreme Emperor's throne. Coupled with the sects' instigation, the other aristocratic families grew greedy, causing the dynasties to change hands several times. At present, things had stabilized into the two great empires of Great Jin and Great Zhou (Northern Zhou).

Of them, Great Jin had nine great aristocratic families, whose strength was comparable to that of the sects, while Northern Zhou had only five and was heavily constrained by the religious orders.

"The Gao Clan of Changle's Chapter of Heart's Silence and External Detachment and 'Heaven-Replacing Divine Fist' are here too. Their exchange prices are similar to the World-Shocking Book, both around one hundred and fifty thousand Merit Points—fully two hundred and fifty thousand less than my sect's Heavenly Emperor Jade Book. Heh, and this is even the incomplete Heavenly Emperor Jade Book." Qing Jing's mood seemed to have improved considerably.

Being young, they temporarily forgot that they were trapped in a baffling environment and instinctively used "exchange prices" to compare the relative superiority of their sects' foundational arts. The result made Qing Jing extremely pleased and proud.

The Gao Clan of Changle was the imperial family of Northern Zhou.

"There are so many divine skills here that I've never even heard of..." Seeing that her own Supreme Sword Scripture could only be exchanged for two hundred and fifty thousand Merit Points, Jiang Zhiwei felt somewhat dejected and hurriedly changed the subject.

Meng Qi quietly nodded. Even someone as "well-informed" as him had never heard of more than half these techniques.

The Lord of Six Paths Samsara gave them no chance to keep looking. The light screen turned over, revealing its second page, inscribed with "Dharma Body level Divine Skill."

The light screen, more than ten meters tall, flipped rapidly. It took three full pages to display all the divine skills of this level. Though they flashed by in an instant, Meng Qi still saw the Great Dream Scripture, the Indestructible Vajra Divine Skill, each individual move of the dismantled Buddha's Palm and Heaven Severing Seven Swords, and more. Their exchange prices ranged from ten thousand to one hundred and thirty thousand Merit Points.

Afterward, the light screen displayed "Outer Scenery level Ultimate Skill," "Aperture Opening level Martial Art," "Qi Accumulation stage Martial Art," and "Foundation Establishment stage Basics." Meng Qi vaguely spotted the Ananda Breaking Precepts Saber Art, as well as the Nine Yang Divine Skill and Nine Yin Manual.

"Arhat Fist, exchange price: two Merit Points..." Meng Qi looked at the final few lines on the last page and suddenly felt terribly "impoverished."

"These are the prices for exchanging manuals. If you wish to directly gain entry-level mastery, the original price will be doubled, up to five times at most." The Lord of Six Paths Samsara's icy voice rang out again. Then, the golden light vanished, and a silver-white screen appeared.

"Compendium of Peerless Divine Weapons." Meng Qi narrowed his eyes and read the words at the top.

"Human Emperor Sword, forged by the Human Emperor, first in kingly path, missing, exchange price: nine hundred thousand Merit Points." Jiang Zhiwei followed along, then laughed. "So many on this page are missing."

There were only ten divine weapons on this page, yet six bore the word "missing."

Qing Jing laughed loudly. "Of course! Who doesn't know that the 'Time Saber' is in our Xuantian Sect? Time is like a blade; every stroke hastens men into old age!"

This was the peerless divine weapon listed on the third line: "Time Saber, suspected to have been forged by the Heavenly Emperor, first in unfathomability, missing, exchange price: nine hundred thousand Merit Points."

There were four items on this page without the word "missing": the Nether Sea Sword, marked first in slaughter; the Samsara Seal, first in mystery; the Demon Emperor's Claw, first in filth; and the Bodhi Wonderful Tree, which brushed away all things.

"These actually all exist..." Meng Qi once again felt as if he were dreaming. The Mythological Legends were all here!

In that state, Meng Qi barely looked at the Compendium of Divine Weapons and Magic Treasures, Compendium of Precious Weapons, Compendium of Sharp Weapons, Compendium of Hundred Refinements Weapons, and Compendium of Ordinary Weapons that followed. Only at the very end did he hear Qi Xia of the Great River Gang say in puzzled gravity, "I've never heard that the Ruan Family of Langya's 'Human Salvation Zither' was lost. Why doesn't the Compendium of Divine Weapons and Magic Treasures have the word 'missing' beside it?"

She seemed somewhat inclined to believe this inexplicable exchange compendium.

Jiang Zhiwei nodded. "My Sword Washing Pavilion's 'Self-Slaying Sword' does have the word 'missing.' Perhaps..."

She did not finish, but everyone thought alike. Perhaps the Ruan Family's divine weapon, which safeguarded their clan, had already been lost, but they had kept it secret.

The Ruan Family of Langya was one of Great Jin's nine great aristocratic families.

The light screen continued turning, changing from silver-white to verdant green, revealing exchange lists for Immortal Pills and Marvelous Medicines, Heavenly Treasures and Earthly Treasures, and all kinds of miscellaneous items.

Here, Meng Qi saw the "Great Luo Golden Elixir," which could bring the dead back to life and regenerate flesh from bare bones, priced at three hundred thousand Merit Points. He also saw ordinary Qi Invigorating Pills and silver taels—one Merit Point could be exchanged for fifty taels, but silver could not be exchanged for Merit Points.

At this moment, the light screen vanished, indicating that the items available for exchange had reached their end. Meng Qi felt slightly disappointed. Wasn't anything supposed to be exchangeable? Where was the promised Gundam? The Super Saiyan bloodline? Yang God? Great Accomplishment Sacred Body? Mystic Eyes of Death Perception?

"Looks like this is a Reincarnation World suited to this immortal martial world..." Meng Qi quietly exhaled.

"If we wish to leave the Reincarnation World, what must we do?" Zhang Yuanshan suddenly asked.

This question immediately drew everyone's attention. Although the things listed by the Lord of Six Paths Samsara were immensely tempting, the danger was surely just as great. No one was particularly willing to risk their lives chasing after them. After all, unlike Meng Qi, Zhang Yuanshan, Jiang Zhiwei, Qing Jing, and Qi Xia were all being cultivated by their respective sects as future pillars, with hopes of one day gaining access to the sect-suppressing divine skills.

Meng Qi himself had only just completed Hundred Days Foundation Establishment. He knew a little Arhat Fist, his martial arts were weak, and he truly did not wish to take risks now.

"Accumulate three hundred thousand Merit Points and exchange them for an 'Other Shore Talisman'; then you may leave samsara." The Lord of Six Paths Samsara's voice remained as cold and indifferent as ever. "Merit Points come from: mission rewards and item exchanges. If an item is not marked missing in the compendium, its price is only thirty to fifty percent of its listed value. If it is something missing from the compendium, its price will increase from the original value according to circumstances."

"Hmph, if I steal the middle volume of the Heavenly Emperor Jade Book and exchange it, can I obtain an 'Other Shore Talisman'?" Qing Jing shouted furiously. "So this is what your Shaolin Temple has been plotting!"

"It may be exchanged." The Lord of Six Paths Samsara's voice did not fluctuate in the slightest. "Any who attempt to reveal the existence of the Reincarnation World to outsiders shall be erased; any who kill companions of the same camp shall have twice the Merit Points awarded by the current Main Quest deducted, and those with insufficient Merit Points shall be erased; any who exchange manuals and trade them with one another shall be erased. Manuals obtained personally in mission worlds are not included..."

In a grand and solemn voice, he announced the rules one by one.

As soon as his voice fell, light and shadow shifted. Meng Qi and the others were completely swallowed by darkness. When a light source appeared ahead of them, Meng Qi discovered that they had gone from the White Jade Plaza to a corridor surrounded on all sides by stone walls.

"The Fortress Lord of 'Hidden Emperor Fortress,' seeking to seize the imperial throne, invented the 'Heart-Seizing Pill' and secretly controlled the sect masters of every faction. Great Hero Ma Lianghan accidentally saw through this conspiracy and invited three other great experts to storm 'Hidden Emperor Fortress.' But through a moment of carelessness, they were trapped within the fortress by its mechanisms."

"Main Quest: Within three hours, kill the Fortress Lord of 'Hidden Emperor Fortress.' Each participant in the joint completion shall receive fifty Merit Points. If the mission fails, all shall be erased!"

"Side Quest: Rescue the four great experts trapped in 'Hidden Emperor Fortress.' For every person rescued, each participant shall receive ten Merit Points. No penalty for mission failure."

Specks of verdant ghostfire burned rows of words into the stone floor. After several breaths, the ghostfire went out, and everything returned to normal.

"Hmph, this is definitely a Shaolin Temple conspiracy!" Qing Jing's face twisted with rage. "I absolutely will not carry out such a nonsensical mission! What exactly are you trying to do?"

He glared at Meng Qi, unable to understand how there really could be a mission!

Meng Qi spread his hands and kept silent, thinking, I can't possibly tell you an infinite-stream story the way I fooled Little Junior Brother, can I?

At this moment, Jiang Zhiwei drew her right hand, and her longsword left its sheath with the cry of a dragon and the gleam of autumn water.

She looked at everyone and said gravely, "I believe we should complete the mission. An expert who can casually shift our location in such a manner is at least a Dharma Body level Land Immortal. If he wanted to kill us, it would be exceedingly simple. So we should follow his instructions for now and see what happens."

As she spoke the last half of that sentence, she slightly lifted her chin again.

"Junior Sister Jiang speaks reasonably." Zhang Yuanshan nodded in agreement.

Qi Xia thought for a moment, then also drew a Water Dividing Thorn flowing with cyan light. "Since matters have reached this point, we cannot sit still and await death. According to the Lord of Six Paths Samsara, after completing a mission, we can return for a period of time. We can think of other ways then. For now, let's complete the mission first!"

She was tall and slender, her dress clinging tightly to her graceful figure. Though her skin was wheat-colored, it still looked tender as water to the naked eye. Paired with her delicate features, she carried something of the charm of a young woman from the water towns of Jiangnan.

"I-I'll listen to Third Miss!" Yan Wujiang said tremblingly.

Meng Qi glanced at him. No matter how he looked at it, he could not connect this burly, rough-looking yet timid-as-a-mouse man to Yan Wuwo, the "Flying Yaksha" and sect master of Zombie Fist whom Xuan Xin had said caused the disaster of "Hundred Miles of Scorched Earth." Both were of the Yan Clan's Wu Generation—how could the gap be so enormous?

Qi Zhengyan of the Flower Washing Sword Sect nodded slightly. "Though my experience and knowledge are shallow, I also feel that Miss Jiang's words make sense."

Qing Jing tightly pursed his lips, turning to look at the torch embedded in the nearby stone wall. Only after several breaths did he say with a stiff face, "I fear no mission. If you die here, do not blame me."

"Life and death rest in Heaven's hands." Seeing that everyone was united, Zhang Yuanshan revealed a faint smile.

Jiang Zhiwei instinctively said, "I shall use the sword in my hand to contend for Heaven's decree..."

At that, she smiled and did not continue. This was a difference in understanding between Sword Washing Pavilion and the True Martial Sect regarding the Heaven Severing Seven Swords, a clash of principles. There was no need to create internal strife at such a time.

She turned to Meng Qi and smiled. "Little Monk, will you come complete the mission with us?"

Meng Qi was deeply moved. The others had all instinctively ignored the opinion of a Sectarian Monk like him. Fortunately, someone still remembered. "Of course. I ask Miss Jiang to look after me."

At a time like this, Meng Qi was very clear that, with his weak martial arts, he could only cling closely to the strongest few.

Jiang Zhiwei burst out laughing. "You should call me Benefactor Jiang."

Meng Qi gently drew a breath and spoke before anyone else could. "I think we should rescue the four great experts first, then go surround and kill the Fortress Lord of 'Hidden Emperor Fortress.'"

"Isn't that wasting time?" Qing Jing still felt that everyone from Shaolin Temple was bad.

Meng Qi looked at Jiang Zhiwei, Zhang Yuanshan, and Qi Xia. "First, we do not know the strength of the Fortress Lord of 'Hidden Emperor Fortress.' Charging in rashly would be extremely dangerous. Second, I do not think a Side Quest that should only be issued once it is truly encountered would be announced from the very beginning. I suspect the true meaning of this Side Quest is that the Lord of Six Paths Samsara does not believe we can complete the Main Quest independently, so he wants us to seek helpers first."

Jiang Zhiwei, Zhang Yuanshan, and the others nodded lightly at his words. Having four additional helpers who understood the situation would naturally be better, but they feared wasting time and causing the mission to fail.

"Hmph, you make it sound as though you understand the Lord of Six Paths Samsara very well. Are you that experienced?" Qing Jing looked sidelong at Meng Qi.

Of course—experience from playing games and reading novels... Meng Qi silently said in his inner heart. He was no mastermind; he merely knew a little more about "missions" and similar "Reincarnation Worlds." He might be right, or he might be wrong.

Before his words had even faded, Meng Qi's eyes suddenly widened. A black shadow flew toward them from ahead. "He" never touched the ground, flying continuously in mid-air like a floating evil ghost!

PS: Two chapters updated. Official group number for the new book: 318755643