Jade Smoke Pavilion

In the center of the Mist Mountain Range stood a majestic palace—or rather, it was more like a colossal fortress.

The palace stretched tens of millions of kilometers in length and width, its main body a three-story pavilion with protruding side towers on each flank.

Between the pavilions lay a broad plaza, fronted by a city wall. Every surface—walls, pavilions, even doors and windows—fit together seamlessly, without a single gap.

The entire structure was made of jade-white material, crystalline and translucent, with countless secret scripts flickering within like shifting clouds and smoke.

A thin layer of mist shrouded the plaza, and the surrounding ground was occasionally dotted with countless carvings. Four Mist Shadow Puppets drifted across the square.

On a hill outside the palace, a figure stood with eyes gleaming—it was Chen Qing, who had traveled for years.

"Damn, that was far. Finally found it!"

Chen Qing cursed under his breath, though inwardly he breathed a sigh of relief.

"I thought I had plenty of time. Guess I was being naive."

Green Lotus would emerge in less than a thousand years. Given how the Primal Universe had been acting, who knew what chaos it would stir up then.

How long the fifth layer would take, Chen Qing had no idea.

Whether the secret realm would surface after Green Lotus appeared, he also didn't know.

Along the way, he had been constantly studying the laws of space. Though he hadn't fully comprehended any of the three major branches—especially teleportation, which hadn't even shown a trace—

At least the five lower-order laws of space had acknowledged him. Now only time, wind, and light remained.

"For now, let's deal with the problem in front of me!"

Chen Qing looked back at the treasure and pondered. If it could patrol the plaza, it was certainly stronger than what was outside.

Based on Original Ancestor's judgment, a Venerable was unlikely!

"But no matter how much I prepare, I'll only know after trying."

After muttering to himself, Chen Qing took out an iron ball the size of an egg. It was black and covered in secret patterns.

As he infused it with World Lord power, the ball grew larger and began to spin.

"Crack!"

The iron ball suddenly shuddered, its surface splitting open like a lotus blossom—72 petals in three layers.

The outermost layer had 36 petals, decreasing inward. Each petal could split into 100 small swords, and 7200 small swords could combine into one long blade.

This was a hybrid weapon Chen Qing had designed for himself, inspired by soul techniques.

It was inscribed with secret scripts of water and space, with a large amount of Creation Secret Script mixed in.

After all, when it came to mastery of techniques, water and space were what Chen Qing excelled at.

Once prepared, he quietly crept to the edge of the treasure and gently pressed a strand of World Lord power onto it.

The power met no resistance—it simply merged directly into the treasure.

A flash of light rippled across the front wall, and a gate materialized out of nowhere. The four puppets all turned to look.

Chen Qing quickly received the basic information about the treasure. To claim ownership of this "Jade Smoke Pavilion," he had to fully saturate it with his power.

With his willpower, he could withstand the treasure's pressure—that wasn't an issue, just a matter of time.

The problem was that once the treasure sensed his presence without completing the binding, the puppets would attack.

Although the treasure could only manifest a limited number of puppets with its own power—just the four King-Rank here and eight Marquis-Rank in other directions—

That meant from now until the treasure was fully bound, twelve strong opponents would besiege Chen Qing. And they were soulless energy puppets.

Killing them was useless. The secret scripts around the plaza could regenerate them endlessly. Here in the Origin Land, twelve was the minimum.

And to complete the binding, he had to continuously supply World Lord power. That meant Chen Qing couldn't run—if he did, he'd have to start over. So the best battlefield was the plaza in front of the palace.

"Tch. Knew it wouldn't be that simple!"

Left with no choice, Chen Qing charged into the Jade Smoke Pavilion. But the moment he entered, a tremendous force slammed him to the ground.

"Is there no end to this?"

Chen Qing pushed himself up with his hands, straining to lift his head, and growled at the Mist Shadow Puppets rushing toward him.

"Quake Seal!"

With his roar, the Creation Domain instantly expanded, canceling out part of the pressure.

Chen Qing felt like an ordinary person underwater. The four puppets' movements visibly shuddered, their speed slowing noticeably.

"So that's why there's a plaza. Waiting for me here. Well, now we're evenly matched again. No one gets an advantage."

On the outskirts of the mist battlefield, Yao Rao wore a look of satisfaction. Lightning flickered along her sword as she continuously pierced the giant black hands rising up.

Countless sword shadows flashed like lightning, as if striking all at once.

Jiang Fang stood behind her, her blade like a hurricane mixed with crashing waves.

Like a mad demon, anything that entered her blade light was shredded into pieces.

Clearly, their training over the past few years had begun to bear fruit. Neither was far from gaining law acknowledgment.

But the two had already been fighting for a long time. Though their auras hadn't weakened, they were noticeably more disordered.

Just then, the black shadow suddenly scattered and reformed into a massive black mountain, enveloping the two who had charged forward.

"Careful! Ah—!"

Before Yao Rao could finish her warning, a tremendous force struck her head, and her body was sent flying.

"Damn it! Kill!"

Jiang Fang's eyes were bloodshot, her teeth grinding nearly to dust. Her blade spun like a maelstrom, trying to suck all the surrounding mist into it.

With Jiang Fang's distraction, Yao Rao stood on the ground, shaking her head, forcing herself to stay conscious.

"Sister Fang, retreat first! Don't worry about me!"

"Don't even think about it!"

Watching the "mountain peak" pressing down, just as Jiang Fang prepared to strike again—

The black shadow suddenly let out a roar, abandoned the two of them outright, and turned to fly back the way it came.

The two exchanged a glance, still shaken. Before they could feel relieved, Jiang Fang suddenly realized something.

"Damn it—it must be Chen Qing! Chase it!"

She shouted hastily to Yao Rao and took off after the black shadow herself.

Yao Rao rubbed her head, shook it hard again, and gritted her teeth as she followed.

"No, Sister Fang—too fast!"

Two days later, the two women leaned against a large tree. Yao Rao bent over, complaining.

"No wonder it's the darling of the Law of Feng Shui. Not only is it fast, it leaves not even a ripple."

In truth, they had long lost sight of the puppet and found no trace of it at all.

They could only chase by instinct for a while, and after the recent battle, they were barely holding on.

"Chen Qing didn't upload a map or log in. He definitely doesn't want us to risk ourselves."

Jiang Fang took a couple of deep breaths, steadying her breathing. "That brat said his life is tough. For now, we have to trust him."

"Fine. At least the two of us can hold one off. Next time I see him, I'm giving him a good scolding—not even a single message."

Yao Rao leaned against the tree, her voice tired but laced with worry.

"Let's hurry."

At Jade Smoke Pavilion's plaza, this time it was Chen Qing's turn to be the punching bag. A King-Rank expert's base strength was ten thousand times that of a World Lord, but these puppets had three times that base.

The Void Nether Armor could block nine-tenths of it, leaving three thousand times the force. Little Cloud was still too weak—she could only hold out a few times before wilting. Most of the hits, Chen Qing had to take himself.

The force was manageable, but the suppression from the supreme treasure was brutal. And these Mist Shadow Puppets were naturally fast. Even knowing their weaknesses, Chen Qing's sword couldn't land a hit.