Twelve Secret Vaults [Part 1]

Zhongnan Dojo, foremost among the twelve daoist temples of Zhongnan Prefecture, bore the name Zhongnan. One could well imagine its standing within Zhongnan Prefecture.

Unlike Heaven Mending Pavilion, where peaks stood shoulder to shoulder, Zhongnan Dojo dominated Zhongnan Mountain. Successive sages had displayed their divine powers, creating things from nothing and raising twelve floating islands above Zhongnan Mountain. Shrouded in clouds and mist, linked by iron chains, it was a famed sacred Daoist Temple.

Only the Zhongnan Mountain below was open to visitors throughout Zhongnan Dojo. The twelve floating islands above were the true Zhongnan Dojo.

Lin Huang now stood before Golden Light Island. Iron chains hung in the air, stretching into the clouds and mist, their ends nowhere in sight. Without hesitation, he took a step across the void, trod the iron chains, and arrived before Golden Light Island.

Two Zhongnan disciples in black daoist robes and yellow belts stood guard before Golden Light Island. They stopped Lin Huang. "Halt. This is an important inner sanctum and is not open to outsiders. Please leave."

Lin Huang glanced at the two and nodded. "Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple. Yellow means Scholar Rank? Upper tier?"

Zhongnan Dojo had long enjoyed a great reputation. Its disciples all wore black robes, with only belts of seven colors—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple—distinguishing their strength.

With a casual remark, Lin Huang pointed a finger. Without the slightest trace of worldly air, the two guards suddenly felt their vision blur, their eyes turning dazed. "Did I just fall asleep?"

"Ahem. I got distracted. Stop babbling and keep watch." The two whispered to each other, utterly forgetting Lin Huang's existence.

Without slowing, Lin Huang clasped his hands behind his back and strolled onto Golden Light Island.

These twelve floating islands were Primordial Magnetic Mountains that Zhongnan Dojo's sages had moved from the starry sky beyond the domain. Each possessed wondrous uses. Pavilions, terraces, waterside gazebos, birds and beasts, exotic flowers and strange grasses covered them, and Lin Huang nodded repeatedly as he looked around. He walked with idle ease, as though he were wandering through his own backyard.

"This Zhongnan Dojo truly deserves its place among the Ten Great Sacred Lands of the Human Realm today. Most of its disciples are at General Rank. Compared to it, Heaven Mending Pavilion is simply not in the same league." As Lin Huang walked and paused, he found that most of the disciples he encountered wore green belts. This gave him a more direct sense of Zhongnan Dojo's strength.

Soldier, Scholar, General, Marquis, King, Sage. Reaching General Rank already surpassed the graduation standards of many advanced academies.

"But where exactly are Zhongnan Dojo's secret vaults?" Lin Huang sighed. There were twelve floating islands, and he had moved through them as if entering an unguarded realm, yet he still had not found Zhongnan Dojo's legendary Twelve Secret Vaults.

"Looks like I can only find someone to show me the way."

With that thought in mind, Lin Huang tapped off the ground and headed toward a place where shouts shook the heavens.

"...All of you, watch carefully. These Zhongnan Seven Swords are the essence of our Daoist Temple. Back then, our patriarch comprehended the Dao through these Zhongnan Seven Swords and became a True God..."

On the martial practice grounds, a handsome young man held a longsword and demonstrated sword arts. Every move was filled with divine charm, his sword intent awe-inspiring. When he swung his sword, it seemed to carry the weight of an entire world. Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind lay within it. One sword opened heaven and earth; one sword divided Yin and Yang.

"Second Senior Brother's swordsmanship is getting sharper and sharper. The Zhongnan Seven Swords aren't even his strongest sword art. I heard his Blazing Fire Sword Art has already reached great mastery. Who knows how formidable it will be when he uses it?"

"Second Senior Brother is the coolest. He'll definitely make the top ten in the First Martial Arts Tournament a month from now."

"The top ten might be a stretch. But making the top thirty-two shouldn't be a problem."

"He'll definitely make the top ten. Like Eldest Senior Brother, Second Senior Brother is one of the five seeded contestants from Zhongnan Prefecture. I just wonder which of them is stronger."

"Eldest Senior Brother must be a little stronger. At least, Eldest Senior Brother won in last year's competition. Although Second Senior Brother has now mastered the Blazing Fire Sword Art, Eldest Senior Brother has surely improved as well."

"You few, come up here. Practice the Zhongnan Seven Swords I just demonstrated."

Second Senior Brother's expression darkened as he pointed at the few who had been whispering among themselves.

"Second Senior Brother, we were wrong. It was all because... because that person over there distracted us."

"Have you idiots become so stupid that you can't even lie? Where would any other person come from here?" Second Senior Brother was both angry and amused, but seeing their expressions, his heart tightened, and he quickly turned around.

"A cyan belt, Marquis-Sealing cultivation? You'll do." Lin Huang muttered. His figure flickered, and he was already before Second Senior Brother.

"Who are you? How dare you trespass into Zhongnan Dojo?!" Seeing that the intruder was merely a young man about his own age, Second Senior Brother relaxed slightly. He raised his longsword and demanded an answer.

Lin Huang flicked a finger. He made no visible move, yet Second Senior Brother suddenly felt his vision blur and his mind grow hazy. But he was, after all, one of Zhongnan Dojo's finest. He inwardly cried out in alarm, raised his sword, and blazing fire surged upward. Sword light flashed, and it was as if he had lifted a blazing sun upon the sword tip, blasting toward Lin Huang.

"A disciple of a great sect? You do have some skill. But I don't have time to play with you." Lin Huang sighed. His hands shifted, forming the Treasure Vase Seal, then the Fetal Seal, before changing slightly into the Heart Seal, which descended upon Second Senior Brother's brow.

Second Senior Brother only felt his head lighten. After a brief daze, he sheathed his sword and stood before Lin Huang.

The exchange had been as swift as a rabbit rising and a falcon falling. Before the Zhongnan disciples below could react, Lin Huang had already used the Great Dream Heart Sutra to control Second Senior Brother.

"Thousands of autumns in a great dream—what year is tonight?" Lin Huang called out. He formed the Heart Seal again and turned his palm downward. The Zhongnan disciples below immediately looked dazed, forgetting what had just happened.

"So sleepy. I really want to go back and sleep."

"Yeah, let's go, let's go. Go back and sleep."

"I'm exhausted today."

After silently wiping away these Zhongnan disciples' memories and giving them the command to return and sleep, Lin Huang finally turned back to look at Second Senior Brother, whom he had controlled with the Great Dream Heart Sutra.

"Come. Take me to the secret vault."

Second Senior Brother nodded woodenly and led the way.

With his hands behind his back, Lin Huang followed. They twisted and turned through countless bends, while Lin Huang used the Great Dream Heart Sutra to conceal his tracks along the way. Before long, under Second Senior Brother's guidance, Lin Huang arrived at Zhongnan Dojo's Twelve Secret Vaults.

"This is it? How do we get in?"

"My authority only allows entry into the Twelfth Secret Vault."

"Take me inside." The moment Lin Huang spoke, he immediately sensed something was wrong. "Stop."

Second Senior Brother halted woodenly and looked at Lin Huang.

"Interesting. You nearly led me around by the nose." Lin Huang smiled faintly and gave Second Senior Brother an interested glance. "You put on quite a convincing act. Let me guess: the moment you use your authority to open it, it will trigger the Divine Array and alert your Sect Leader all the way in White Jade Capital. Am I right?"

Second Senior Brother remained expressionless, as though he could not understand Lin Huang's words.

"Let me guess again. With your strength, it would be impossible for you to resist my Great Dream Heart Sutra. So this must be the effect of some divine artifact. Great sects truly have deep pockets." Lin Huang rubbed his brow. He had nearly capsized in a gutter, having treated a great sect like one of the impoverished common folk.

As Zhongnan Dojo's Second Senior Brother, how could he possibly lack a defensive divine artifact for his soul?

The blankness vanished from Second Senior Brother's face. He sneered. "You're clever enough. Unfortunately, you're still too stupid. All that pointless talk—no wonder villains in books, no matter how powerful, only ever end up dying at the protagonist's hands."

As soon as the words fell, Second Senior Brother retreated sharply, holding his longsword level before him. "I've already activated the Divine Array and sent out the message. You can't escape."

"Do you think you're the only one buying time?" Lin Huang sighed. He pointed a finger, forming the Vajra Seal and the Earth-Touching Seal. Second Senior Brother felt the ground beneath him tremble, while his limbs went weak and numb. He instantly collapsed unconscious.

Crack.

The secret vault's great doors slowly opened. A smile touched Lin Huang's lips as he clenched his right hand. The message emitted by the Divine Array, though plainly nothing more than a wave of light, burned away in Lin Huang's grasp as though it possessed substance.

"Now, the Twelve Secret Vaults are mine."

Muttering softly, Lin Huang picked up the unconscious Second Senior Brother and stepped into Zhongnan Dojo's Twelve Secret Vaults. He had used Second Senior Brother to activate the Divine Array and open the vault, then silently intercepted the message Second Senior Brother had sent out.

It was not that Second Senior Brother was too foolish. He was simply too self-assured, unable to understand why a Sage could be called a Sage.