"Just as I thought. Inside the Bronze Gate beneath Changbai Mountain, there's not only Meteorite Jade, but ancient people sleeping within it."
"They sensed the disturbance and are waking up to wipe out the intruders?"
"Too bad..."
At this, Cao Ya broke into a brilliant smile.
"Whether he comes out or not, he's headed down a dead-end road."
Cao Ya, what are you talking about? Why can't we understand a word of it? There are people in this place? Like the Nine-Dragon Corpse-Lifting Coffin in the Rift Valley outside, where King Wannu of Eastern Xia was buried, still alive after hundreds of years...
Wu Xie, Fatty, and the others were utterly baffled. The blue mist obscured their view, preventing them from seeing what Cao Ya saw, so they couldn't understand why he would say such things.
Only Poker-Face's expression shifted, as though he had realized something.
Noticing everyone's bewildered faces, Cao Ya paused, then slapped his forehead in realization.
"Oh, you can't see."
Everyone rolled their eyes. So you've only just noticed?
"Close your eyes."
Cao Ya formed seals with both hands. Golden light suddenly burst forth, driving away all the pale blue mist. Then the light withdrew, revealing the scene inside the Bronze Gate to everyone.
They all stared at the empty cavern. There were only a few murals and that enormous chunk of Meteorite Jade.
"That thing's ugly," Fatty muttered.
The Meteorite Jade's surface was riddled with pits and holes. It certainly wasn't much to look at.
That was unavoidable. When the Meteorite Jade entered Earth from outer space thousands of years ago, it had already sustained damage. Later, it had been put to all sorts of uses. Ancient people had hollowed out its interior to bury themselves inside, making its surface uglier still.
Wu Xie was more interested in the murals. Suddenly, he gave a startled exclamation.
"What is it, Third Young Master? Is there some secret in these murals?" Pan Zi asked.
Wu Xie replied that these murals seemed to record how a ruler of an ancient Central Plains dynasty had crossed mountains and rivers, traveling thousands of miles to build the enormous Bronze Gate outside and bury himself here in pursuit of immortality.
Fatty paused.
"A Central Plains dynasty? Didn't this place belong to the Eastern Xia Kingdom?"
Wu Xie shook his head, indicating that he wasn't sure either. He speculated that perhaps the Eastern Xia Kingdom had come later, and that some Central Plains dynasty had originally discovered this place.
Poker-Face, who had barely spoken throughout their journey, suddenly said:
"King Mu of Zhou."
"Huh?"
Wu Xie froze for a moment, then immediately caught on.
"You mean that ruler was King Mu of Zhou?"
Poker-Face nodded without explaining where he had learned this information. The others were used to this habit of his, having grown accustomed to it even before they had grown used to Cao Ya.
"Hey, wasn't King Mu of Zhou from the Western Zhou? What was he doing all the way out on Changbai Mountain? Back then, they could have reached Liaodong at most," Fatty asked. During the pre-Qin era, the Central Plains dynasties hadn't actually exercised highly centralized rule. That had only come about after the First Emperor of Qin appeared.
Logically speaking, King Mu of Zhou couldn't have traveled thousands of miles to Changbai Mountain, built a gigantic bronze gate, and buried himself here.
More importantly, how had he known there was a cavern beneath Changbai Mountain?
"The Queen Mother of the West told him."
Cao Ya was also examining the murals as he spoke in a seemingly casual tone.
"The Queen Mother of the West's Kingdom had the same stuff, called Meteorite Jade, with all these miraculous properties. King Mu of Zhou traveled west and met the Queen Mother of the West. She told him about this piece of Meteorite Jade on Changbai Mountain, which led to the events depicted in the murals."
Fatty was still puzzled and asked:
"Then how did the Queen Mother of the West know about it?"
Cao Ya spread his hands with a smile.
"Maybe the different pieces of Meteorite Jade are connected. Who knows? It's been nearly three thousand years."
Everyone gazed at the murals, their minds full of questions and confusion, as well as curiosity about that ancient age.
Back in the pre-Qin era, when productive capacity had been so limited,
how exactly had they built a bronze gate like this, along with all these structures? And what on earth was Meteorite Jade?
Cao Ya suddenly sighed.
"Ah, I'm a little disappointed. What's beneath Changbai Mountain doesn't quite live up to my expectations. Such a tiny piece of Meteorite Jade."
"..."
The others were speechless.
That huge chunk of Meteorite Jade, and you're calling it tiny?
Are we using different units of measurement, or do we just see things differently?
It's three or four stories tall, and that's still tiny???
"Huh? There's something inside the Meteorite Jade... Holy shit, it's a person!" Sharp-eyed Pan Zi spotted movement in one of the holes. He shone his flashlight over and immediately cried out.
Everyone's heart jolted. There were still living beings here? With absolutely no food, what had kept them alive?
Poker-Face furrowed his brows and said gravely:
"King Mu of Zhou!"
They exchanged looks, astonishment written on every face.
What kind of joke was this? King Mu of Zhou was a Western Zhou ruler from over two thousand years ago. How could he still be alive?
But then they remembered King Wannu of Eastern Xia, who had awakened earlier, and suddenly they weren't so sure.
Cao Ya took two steps forward and raised a hand. An enormous golden hand materialized out of thin air, even larger than the Meteorite Jade.
With a boom, the giant hand closed around the Meteorite Jade. Endless light flooded into it. A layer of pale blue mist churned, accompanied by faint howls. The Meteorite Jade shook, as though something inside were desperately resisting.
But a few seconds later, everything fell silent. The pale blue mist vanished, and golden light completely enveloped the Meteorite Jade.
As the golden radiance seeped into it, the Meteorite Jade actually began shrinking, bit by bit.
Everyone stared at the sight, their eyes glazed over.
Good heavens, what was this?
Now they would never believe Cao Ya again. You still claim you're a martial artist? You call this fucking martial arts??
Cao Ya refined the Meteorite Jade, discarding the dross and keeping the essence. The chunk that had stood three or four stories tall was ultimately reduced to a fist-sized lump, which he held in his hand.
As for King Mu of Zhou, who had slept within the Meteorite Jade, and the many ghost soldiers, Cao Ya destroyed them without giving them the slightest chance to resist.
Fatty eyed the thing covetously and wanted to take it for a try, but Cao Ya refused. Not because he couldn't bear to part with it, or because he feared Fatty would pocket it-Fatty wasn't that stupid.
It was simply too heavy. The condensed essence of a small mountain of Meteorite Jade weighed over ten thousand jin. Never mind Fatty; even if everyone else tried together, they would only end up crushed to death.
At first, Fatty didn't believe him. He tried lifting it with all his might, but sure enough, it didn't budge.
Wu Xie joked that this trip to Changbai Mountain really had been nothing but sightseeing. They hadn't encountered a single danger like those in the Seven-Star Lu Palace or the Xisha Undersea Tomb.
Fatty corrected him. It wasn't that they hadn't encountered any, but that Cao Ya had made short work of every danger they came across.
They developed an enormous interest in what Cao Ya called martial arts... Fine, they would call it martial arts. They couldn't be bothered to correct him anymore.
The group had originally decided to return the way they had come, but Wu Xie and Pan Zi still needed to find Wu Sansheng. After some discussion, they decided to wait here. A Ning's team would definitely make it this far.
That old fox Wu Sansheng certainly wouldn't die so easily, either.
Fatty suddenly spoke in a peculiar tone.
"Those people will make it here after escaping death by the skin of their teeth, only to discover that everything's been destroyed and there's nothing left. Think they'll have a mental breakdown?"
Before you continue