Jade Smoke Pavilion

In the center of the Mist Mountain Range stood a magnificent palace. Rather than a palace, it looked more like a massive castle.

The palace stretched for tens of millions of kilometers in both length and width. Its main structure was a three-story pavilion, with a projecting side building on either side.

A wide plaza lay between the buildings, with a city wall in front. The wall and pavilion fit together seamlessly, down to the doors and windows, without a single gap.

The entire palace was made of a material resembling white jade, crystalline and translucent. Countless secret scripts glimmered within it, shifting unpredictably like clouds and smoke.

A thin layer of mist shrouded the plaza. Countless carvings could occasionally be seen on the surrounding ground, while four Mist Shadow Puppets drifted across the plaza.

On a hill outside the palace, a figure stood with eyes shining. It was Chen Qing, who had spent years making his way here.

"Damn, that was far. I finally found it!"

Chen Qing cursed under his breath, though he felt relieved.

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

Green Lotus would emerge in less than a thousand years. Judging by the Primal Universe's behavior, who knew what trouble it would stir up by then?

Chen Qing had no idea how long it would take to reach the fifth level.

He also didn't know whether the secret realm would emerge after Green Lotus did.

He had spent the entire journey studying the laws of space. Though he hadn't fully grasped any of the three major branches—in particular, he hadn't even gotten a glimpse of teleportation—at least the five lower laws of space had all acknowledged him. That left time, wind, and light.

"First, I'll deal with what's right in front of me!"

Chen Qing looked at the Supreme Treasure again, pondering. Anything patrolling the plaza had to be stronger than what was outside.

Judging by the Original Ancestor's assessment, there was probably no chance it was a Venerable!

"But no matter how well I prepare, I won't know until I try."

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

As he channeled World Power into it, the ball grew larger and began spinning.

"Crack!"

The ball suddenly shuddered. Its surface split open on its own, unfolding like a lotus into seventy-two petals arranged in three layers.

The outermost layer had thirty-six petals, with each inner layer having fewer. Each petal could split into a hundred small swords, and the 7,200 swords could combine into a single long sword.

Inspired by the Soul Secret Technique, Chen Qing had prepared this hybrid weapon for himself.

It was engraved with secret scripts of the Water Space attributes, with numerous Creation Secret Scripts mixed in as well.

After all, when it came to familiarity with secret techniques, Water Space was Chen Qing's strongest.

Once he was ready, he quietly approached the Supreme Treasure and gently pressed a strand of World Power against it.

His World Power met no resistance, contrary to his expectations. Instead, it flowed directly into the treasure.

A flash of light passed across the city wall ahead, and a gate appeared out of thin air. The four puppets all turned to look at him.

Chen Qing quickly learned the Supreme Treasure's basic information. To claim the Jade Smoke Pavilion, he had to completely saturate it with his power.

With Chen Qing's willpower, withstanding the treasure's pressure wouldn't be a problem. It would just take some time.

The problem was that the treasure had sensed his presence, but he hadn't completed the claiming process. During that time, the puppets would attack him of their own accord.

The treasure could only rely on its own power, so it couldn't manifest many puppets: the four King-Rank puppets before him, plus Marquis-Rank puppets in eight other directions.

In other words, from then until he finished claiming the treasure, twelve powerful foes would attack Chen Qing. They were energy puppets without souls, too, so killing them would do no good. The secret scripts around the plaza could keep supplying them, and here in the Origin Land, there was no way to reduce their number.

Moreover, claiming the treasure required him to keep supplying World Lord Power. He couldn't run away, or he'd have to start over. So the best battlefield was the plaza in front of the palace.

"Damn, I knew it wouldn't be that simple!"

With no other choice, Chen Qing charged into the Jade Smoke Pavilion. The moment he entered, an immense force pressed him flat against the ground.

"Is this ever going to end?"

Bracing himself with both hands, Chen Qing strained to lift his head. Seeing the Mist Shadow Puppets about to charge, he let out a low growl.

"Quake Seal!"

At Chen Qing's shout, the Creation Domain spread out instantly, offsetting some of the pressure.

Chen Qing felt as if he were an ordinary person in water. The four puppets shuddered noticeably, and their speed dropped.

"So that's why there's a plaza. They were waiting for me here. Well, now we're evenly matched. Neither side gets an easy win."

At the outer edge of the battlefield, Yao Rao's face was alight with excitement. Lightning flickered along her sword as she repeatedly stabbed through the enormous hands reaching out from the black shadow.

Countless sword images flashed as fast as lightning, seeming to strike all at once.

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

She fought like a madwoman, shredding anything that entered the range of her blade.

The years of training were clearly paying off. She was already close to earning the laws' acknowledgment.

But both women had been fighting for a long time. Their auras hadn't weakened, but had grown noticeably ragged.

Just then, the black shadow suddenly scattered and reformed into a massive Black Mountain, swallowing the two women as they pushed forward.

"Watch out! Ah..."

Yao Rao didn't have time to warn Jiang Fang before a tremendous force struck her in the head, sending her flying.

"Damn it! Die!"

Jiang Fang's eyes were bloodshot, and she gritted her teeth so hard they nearly cracked. Her blade spun like a maelstrom, trying to suck in all the surrounding mist.

With Jiang Fang holding it back, Yao Rao stood on the ground and shook her head, struggling to clear it.

"Sister Fang, let's retreat. Don't worry about me!"

"Not a chance!"

As the "mountain peak" came crashing down, Jiang Fang prepared to strike again.

Suddenly, the black shadow let out a roar, abandoned them, and turned to fly away.

The two women exchanged a wary look. Before they could feel relieved, Jiang Fang suddenly realized what was going on.

"Damn it, it has to be Chen Qing! Hurry, follow it!"

She shouted to Yao Rao before rushing after the black shadow.

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

"I can't keep up, Sister Fang! It's too fast!"

Two days later, the two women leaned against a large tree. Yao Rao bent over, catching her breath as she complained.

"No wonder it's favored by the Law of Feng Shui. It's not only fast, it doesn't even stir the slightest ripple."

They had actually lost sight of the puppet long ago and hadn't found a single trace of it.

All they could do was follow their instincts and keep going for a while. They had just finished a battle, and now they were struggling to keep going.

"Chen Qing didn't upload the map or log in. He clearly didn't want us to put ourselves in danger.

"Let's recover first. The concentration should help us find the place."

Jiang Fang took a couple of deep breaths, then her breathing steadied. "That brat said he's tough as nails. All we can do now is trust him."

"Fine. The two of us can at least hold one of them off. When we see him again, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind. He didn't even send us a message."

Yao Rao leaned against the tree, her voice weary, with a hint of worry.

"Let's hurry."

On the Jade Smoke Pavilion plaza, Chen Qing had become a punching bag this time. A King-Rank powerhouse's base strength was ten thousand times World Lord Power, but these puppets each had three times that.

The Void Nether Armor could block ninety percent of the force, leaving three thousand times World Lord Power. Little Cloud was still too weak to hold up for long before wilting, so Chen Qing had to bear most of the attacks himself.

The force itself wasn't too bad. The treasure's suppression was the real problem. The Mist Shadow Puppets were already fast, and even though Chen Qing knew their weaknesses, his sword couldn't land a hit.