Third Secret Vault

Sun Island, the main island of Zhongnan Dojo.

Xiong Renjie and the Spring-Autumn King stood facing each other, and the situation was somewhat out of control.

"I'll say it one more time. Lin Huang is extremely dangerous. He has already forced his way into Heaven Mending Pavilion and seized the Heaven Mending Secret Technique. He has now infiltrated Zhongnan Dojo to seek resources and achieve a Divine Body. He must be found immediately."

The Spring-Autumn King spoke each word deliberately, murderous intent chilling to the bone. He dearly wanted to cut down Xiong Renjie standing opposite him.

"I understand what the Spring-Autumn King means. But Zhongnan Dojo is not Heaven Mending Pavilion. We have the ability to resist any enemy." Xiong Renjie spoke unhurriedly. "Please return. Zhongnan Dojo will handle this matter ourselves."

"Summoned at will and dismissed at will. What do you take me for?!"

The veins on the Spring-Autumn King's forehead throbbed. He hated disciples of these great sects most of all. Every last one of them thought their hearts higher than the heavens, arrogantly full of themselves. He was clearly only a mere lower-stage Marquis-Sealing cultivator, yet he thought himself fit to stand on equal footing with him. He truly did not know whether he lived or died.

"The Spring-Autumn King is overthinking it. Cooperating with the Law Enforcement Department is an obligation every one of us must fulfill. We have already reported this matter to the Law Enforcement Department as required. I hope the Spring-Autumn King can understand: Zhongnan Dojo can defend its own Daoist Temple. No one—not even a Saint—can run wild in Zhongnan Dojo."

Xiong Renjie's tone was forceful, yielding not an inch. "The Twelve Secret Vaults are the lifeblood of Zhongnan Dojo. They absolutely cannot be opened to outsiders. Therefore, Spring-Autumn King, please return. Of course, if we capture Lin Huang, we will hand him over to the Law Enforcement Department."

"You seek death!"

The Spring-Autumn King was thoroughly enraged. The majesty of a king could not be provoked. Without even making a gesture, an overwhelming pressure that shook heaven and earth swept forth in an instant, crushing the world.

Under all heaven, is there any land that is not the king's soil? Along the borders of all land, is there any man who is not the king's subject?

So long as one could not rise as high as heaven or stretch as boundless as earth, then beneath a king's majesty, one could only submit—submit!

This was the majesty of a King-Sealing powerhouse. If he could not subdue all under heaven, how could he be crowned king?

As the kingly might poured forth, everyone in the hall groaned. Under the Spring-Autumn King's pressure, they could not straighten their backs.

"Spring-Autumn King! You have gone too far! This is Zhongnan Dojo, not your Law Enforcement Department!" Xiong Renjie roared. Light flashed in his hand, and a divine sword appeared. It was nine feet and nine inches long. One side of its blade bore the Twelve Floating Islands of Zhongnan Dojo, while the other bore the Seventy-Two Divine Spirit Statues. It was neither metal nor wood, yet it shone with an undying golden radiance. With a light sweep, ten thousand rays of rosy light burst forth, dispersing the Spring-Autumn King's pressure.

"The Zhongnan Divine Sword." The Spring-Autumn King's pupils contracted, and he withdrew his aura.

"That's right. Before Sect Leader left, he deliberately left behind the Zhongnan Divine Sword to suppress the Daoist Temple. With the reinforcement of the Twelve Heavens Divine Array, even if a Saint came, I could still fight him. So, Spring-Autumn King, please return."

Xiong Renjie was neither servile nor overbearing. Though there had been a grave blunder, just as Xiong Renjie had said, with the Zhongnan Divine Sword in hand and the Twelve Heavens Divine Array reinforcing him, he could still fight even if a Saint came attacking.

"Fine. It seems we meddled unnecessarily. Let's go!"

The Spring-Autumn King snorted coldly. Though Xiong Renjie's words contained some exaggeration, he also knew that with the Zhongnan Divine Sword in hand and the Twelve Heavens Divine Array reinforcing him, Xiong Renjie's combat strength would not be much weaker than his own.

Watching the Spring-Autumn King's group depart, Xiong Renjie's face darkened. "Still no sign of Second Senior Brother or that intruder?"

"No. Perhaps they really are in the Twelve Secret Vaults, just as the Spring-Autumn King said?"

Xiong Renjie shook his head. "How could that be possible? According to the Spring-Autumn King, although Lin Huang has achieved Saint Rank, he has not yet completed Six Paths in One. He could only bully Heaven Mending Pavilion. How could he possibly have the ability to infiltrate the Twelve Secret Vaults?"

"Eldest Senior Brother, don't forget. Second Senior Brother may very well have fallen into Lin Huang's hands, and Second Senior Brother has access to the Twelfth Secret Vault."

Xiong Renjie took a deep breath and nodded. "You're right. Let's go take a look at the Twelve Secret Vaults. Tell the other brothers to guard every entrance tightly. Not even a fly is allowed to fly out."

Elsewhere, the Spring-Autumn King's group, descending the mountain in fury, was also talking.

"Spring-Autumn King, are we just going back like this?"

"Wait. We'll wait at the foot of the mountain." The Spring-Autumn King seemed somewhat helpless and gave a bitter laugh. "That little bastard may be arrogant, but Zhongnan Dojo is ultimately that person's sect. It would naturally be best if they captured Lin Huang. If they fail, however, and we are not here, that person may well vent his anger on us. So we wait."

Through the Water Mirror's image, Second Senior Brother weakly watched this farce. He watched Xiong Renjie finally hurry toward the Twelve Secret Vaults in a fierce manner with the Zhongnan Divine Sword in hand, yet he could only smile bitterly as he looked at Lin Huang, who had already emerged from the Burning Heaven Earth Furnace. His heart was filled with bitterness.

"Finally, my Divine Body has reached minor completion."

Lin Huang laughed heartily and took deep breaths, feeling the strength of his Divine Body. His soul, once utterly incompatible with his flesh, now had the support of a Divine Body at minor completion and finally fused perfectly with his physical body. Every gesture carried vast and mighty power. His powerful Saint-level soul could finally truly display the abilities it was meant to possess.

Almost every time Lin Huang's eyes opened and closed, he could see the rules that existed everywhere in this world, fading into extinction and coming to life. It seemed that with a single thought, he could collapse the rules and utterly annihilate everything.

But Lin Huang knew that was only an illusion, because he still lacked the means—the means to control the rules.

Three Tribulations in One Body, Six Paths in One. Having come this far, Lin Huang lacked only control over the Six Paths.

"If my guess is correct, beginning with the Third Secret Vault, these should be the cultivation-seclusion grounds of Zhongnan Dojo's ancestors through the generations. Their Dao essence formed by heaven itself, leaving behind supreme laws and Dao. They will surely provide the reserves I need to control the Six Paths."

The Six Paths encompassed the rules of heaven and earth. The ultimate purpose of cultivating the Six Paths was to control the rules.

Even though Lin Huang could now truly be called a Saint, he still had to begin with the Six Paths if he wished to control the rules. Step by step, he needed to comprehend them, absorb them, and turn them into his own foundation. His previous reserves had been nearly exhausted after achieving Three Tribulations in One Body. Now, he had to learn from the myriad Daos before he could advance further.

And the cultivation-seclusion grounds of Zhongnan Dojo's ancestors were Lin Huang's finest source of reserves.

Lin Huang's strength had greatly increased now, and he had truly grasped the power belonging to Saint Rank. With only a glance, the Divine Array over the Third Secret Vault automatically disintegrated and collapsed, opening wide before Lin Huang.

Second Senior Brother hesitated briefly, then immediately followed him into the Third Secret Vault.

Just as Lin Huang had guessed, from the Third Secret Vault to the First Secret Vault were cultivation-seclusion grounds that only Zhongnan Dojo elders and above could enter. They contained all kinds of mysteries and also preserved the laws and Dao of generations of ancestors. To any cultivator, they were supreme treasure vaults.

The Third Secret Vault was unlike the earlier secret vaults, with their pearls, treasures, rosy radiance, and dazzling splendor. The entire Third Secret Vault was plain and simple: merely an ordinary stone grotto, divided into six stone chambers.

Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Yin, Yang.

"As expected of a sacred land. Its foundations truly run deep."

Lin Huang praised it. With his senses, he could feel that these six seemingly ancient and unremarkable stone chambers actually contained the mighty power of heaven and earth. They gathered Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Yin, and Yang—the pure power of Six Paths rules, without the slightest impurity. Each stone chamber corresponded to one rule.

"Kid, go take a look in the Fire Chamber. This can be considered your opportunity." Lin Huang gave him a pointer, then stepped into the first stone chamber.

What was earth?

The moment he entered the stone chamber, three ancient, simple characters met his eyes. Like a blow to the head, they instantly brought enlightenment.

Countless thoughts flashed through Lin Huang's mind, and he could not help wanting to sit cross-legged on the ground to ponder and comprehend their profound meaning. But he quickly came to his senses, forcibly breaking free from the enlightenment brought by those three characters. His expression changed. "So powerful. To actually seal the purest earth rules within three characters—only a True God could possess such strength."

After praising it, Lin Huang carefully examined the stone chamber.

The chamber was only nine feet square, barely large enough for one person to move about. A meditation cushion sat in the center. Lin Huang seemed to see countless Zhongnan Dojo sages of old sitting cross-legged upon it, facing the wall as they comprehended the Three-Character Mantra inscribed there.

Aside from the wall engraved with the supreme Earth Divine Charm, the other two walls were covered in axe marks, sword marks, fist imprints, and all manner of other traces.

Lin Huang raised a brow and looked closely. Suddenly, the sword mark on the wall burst with ten thousand rays of rosy light. A savage sword strike rose from the Nine Underworlds and buried itself in the azure heavens.

"Patient endurance without movement is earth. Take my sword, Piercing the Azure Underworld."

Lin Huang could not help being moved. He held his palm across his body. With a clang, the sword shadow dispersed, but a bloody mark was left on Lin Huang's palm. The instant a drop of golden blood fell, it flowed back into the wound as though time had reversed.

This was the Imperishable Body Lin Huang possessed after his Divine Body reached minor completion. His aura did not leak, and neither did his blood.

Though the blood did not fall, the wound on his palm did not immediately heal. Lin Huang could feel a sword intent raging within it—patiently enduring without movement like earth, yet once it moved, it would pierce the azure heavens with a single sword.

Lin Huang carefully savored the sword intent within that strike and gained a little insight. Only then did a thought stir in his mind, annihilating that sword intent, and the wound slowly healed.

"Undying sword intent? He was also someone who became a Saint." Only by passing the Heaven and Earth Two Tribulations, achieving Saint Rank, and gaining an undying soul could a single sword mark still kill an enemy with one stroke after hundreds or thousands of years.

"Unfortunately, most of the traces here were left by King-Sealing cultivators. Truly disappointing." Lin Huang sighed. After examining one wall, only that sword mark retained undying sword intent. The other fist imprints, axe marks, and palm prints were also filled with divine charm, but they lacked the meaning of immortality. In the end, they were inferior and did not catch Lin Huang's eye.

Having examined one wall, he had only just turned to the other when a fist and a palm suddenly struck out with a roar.

"Earth's power, Great Virtue Carries All Things!"

"Heaven-Turning becomes earth!"

The fist smashed forth as though it held a stretch of earth, a whole world, within its palm. It encompassed heaven and earth, heavy as the land itself.

The palm turned heaven over, reversing the universe. Turning heaven over was earth.

"Good, good, good! This is the bold spirit our kind should possess! The palm is earth, the back of the hand is heaven. One fist grasps earth, one palm turns heaven!" Lin Huang laughed loudly, utterly exhilarated, and did not resist.

One fist shattered his shoulder, and one palm caved in his chest.

Lin Huang carefully comprehended it, using his body to comprehend and his divine sense to connect with the divine, probing and grasping the divine Dao of these two Zhongnan Dojo Saints of old.

After a long while, Lin Huang finally sighed softly. His gaze shone as he looked at the three walls of the stone chamber. "I truly want to take these three walls with me as well. What a pity."

Lin Huang sighed and looked into the distance, as though peering through layer upon layer of Divine Arrays and stone walls to see Xiong Renjie and the others hurrying toward the Twelfth Secret Vault.

Lowering his head, Lin Huang silently withdrew from the stone chamber. With a turn of his steps, he entered the next stone chamber.