Zhang Yuanqing summoned Little Doubi and the Ghost Bride, instructing them, "You two guard this place. If anyone breaks in and tries to seize the key, notify me immediately."
This was a necessary precaution. In case someone truly attempted to take the jade plate while they were inside Takamagahara, Zhang Yuanqing could learn of it in advance through his spirit servants and use a teleportation jade talisman to return and stop them.
—Once the gates of Takamagahara closed, the teleportation jade talisman would cease to work.
Because the teleportation jade talisman was a Saint-tier item, whereas this space of Takamagahara was clearly on a tier above Saint.
The Ghost Bride scooped up the infant spirit and said gently, "Husband, please be careful. I will guard the portal for you."
*It's a good thing the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter can't understand spiritual communication, or you'd be in for a rough time, my lady...* Zhang Yuanqing glanced back at the slender, graceful Palace Mistress.
His heart had softened after all, choosing not to press her about Empress Wa or his father's relics.
During the flight to the island nation on the private jet, Zhang Yuanqing had originally intended to put on a cold face and give her the silent treatment. But the Palace Mistress was simply too skilled; with playful banter and teasing, sweet flirtations, she had coaxed the iron-hearted Zhang Yuanqing right out of his foul mood.
Zhang Yuanqing had resisted at first, saying coldly, "I know full well what a Musician is capable of. Spare me the act, Palace Mistress. You'd better save it for other men."
The Palace Mistress had rested her cheek in her hand, gazing at him with rapt devotion. "But I've only ever wanted to use it on you."
And just like that, Zhang Yuanqing had surrendered.
"Sweet Talk" was a passive unique to Musicians; with their soft, lilting voices, they could always melt a man's heart and steel will.
Xie Lingxi was very adept at this as well; her knack for acting like a pure, helpless little victim relied heavily on this Musician passive.
Zhang Yuanqing had half suspected whether the Palace Mistress had secretly tied a red string between them. Otherwise, with Lord Tianzun's decisive ruthlessness, how could he be so easily swayed by feminine charms? But he had no proof.
"Let's head in," he said.
Without waiting for her nod, he was the first to step through the gate of light.
The next second, he returned once again to that starless, moonless darkness—Takamagahara.
"This is a dead realm of grotto-heavens and blessed lands. No spiritual energy, no vitality, and even the oxygen is thin," the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter's voice came from behind him. She surveyed the silent darkness ahead with keen interest.
"I find it odd that Takamagahara was never claimed by the Spirit Realm," Zhang Yuanqing said.
The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter replied, "There are two possibilities. One, for some reason, the Spirit Realm deliberately avoided this space. Two, there is an item here of an unimaginably high grade that the Spirit Realm could not take away.
"I lean toward the former, because the Spirit Realm's might is beyond our imagination. Little paramour, light a fire!"
Zhang Yuanqing took out the Yin-Yang Robe, draped it over his shoulders, and raised both hands toward the sky.
*Whoosh!*
Flames surged up, piercing the darkness, as a fireball ten meters in diameter hovered above their heads.
The area within a hundred-meter radius was bathed in a trembling orange glow.
Dense crimson threads burst from behind the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter, like saffron tendrils, latching onto the fireball and hoisting it dozens of meters into the air.
Taking advantage of the moment, Zhang Yuanqing stepped back and looked behind her. He saw that those slender, packed red threads were extending from beneath her dress.
*As expected, this gorgeous, exquisite ancient gown is a magical artifact, and definitely of no low tier. No wonder she's always wearing it.* A question that had puzzled Zhang Yuanqing for a long time was finally answered.
"Let's go!"
Paying no attention to her paramour's little motions, the Palace Mistress walked straight up the stone stairs.
They did not run, climbing the mottled, cracked stone steps at a swift, steady pace.
Every few minutes, Zhang Yuanqing would look up at the dazzling fireball, a question forming in his mind:
*How can it burn for so long?*
A burning fireball required spiritual energy to sustain it. Once separated from the Yin-Yang Robe, who was fueling it?
Although the Palace Mistress was a Dominator, Musicians had no fire-controlling skills.
"For a Level 7 Arbiter of Fate, the core skill is Resurgence. It allows a deceased person, a damaged item, or even a dissipated skill to be brought back once more," the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter explained, noticing his confusion. "For a low-level skill like this, I can keep reviving it indefinitely, never letting it extinguish until my spiritual energy runs out."
*What a powerful ability. Musicians really are the ultimate support, bar none...* Zhang Yuanqing asked, "Are there any limitations?"
"Targets that exceed my level cannot be revived, and the resurgence is temporary—a single resurgence lasts only ten minutes." The Palace Mistress disclosed the skill's limits openly, smiling as she added, "See how much this palace master loves you? Baring my heart and soul to you."
*A woman's words are a devil's deceit!* Zhang Yuanqing scoffed silently.
Neither wasted any more words. Passing through the Qin dynasty architectural complex situated halfway up the mountain and climbing for another half hour, they finally reached the summit.
A Bronze Sacred Tree, standing like a pillar holding up the heavens, rose from the mountain peak. Compared to it, the ten-meter fireball was like a tiny firefly.
When the firelight traversed several hundred meters of darkness and fell upon the bronze trunk, only a faint, dim glow remained.
The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter stared blankly at the sacred tree before them. Beneath her mask, her eyes shimmered with excitement, joy, and other emotions—like a devout pilgrim finally laying eyes upon their god.
She made no attempt to hide these feelings, and Zhang Yuanqing took note of them all.
*She knows what the Bronze Sacred Tree symbolizes. She has a deep understanding of it... Before I told her about Takamagahara, she might not have known about Takamagahara and the Bronze Sacred Tree, but she knows a great deal about Empress Wa. When I told her there was a Bronze Sacred Tree left behind by Empress Wa here, she deduced what it symbolized.*
Zhang Yuanqing drew this conclusion in his mind.
"Give me the Twin Dragon Jade." The Palace Mistress extended a fair, delicate little hand.
Without hesitation, Zhang Yuanqing handed it over.
Taking the Twin Dragon Jade, she rode the wind and rose into the air, her skirts fluttering like a beautiful crimson butterfly as she drifted toward the Bronze Sacred Tree.
The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter stopped before the sacred tree. Applying a slight force with her fingertips, a soft pop sounded. The Twin Dragon Jade shattered, and the two lifelike five-clawed divine dragons crumbled to dust, leaving only the ruby at its center intact.
Pinching that crystal-clear ruby, she held it toward the pattern-carved trunk.
The moment the ruby touched the bark, it melted.
Dark red radiance coursed along the trunk's engravings, spreading rapidly like toppling dominoes—lighting up the trunk, lighting up the boughs, and finally illuminating the entire Bronze Sacred Tree.
This process took a full twenty minutes. It was simply too colossal; not even a third of it could be matched by the tallest building ever built in human history.
The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter dismissed the illuminating fireball. The crimson glow radiating from the Bronze Sacred Tree lit up all of Takamagahara, plating the world in a soft red hue.
It had come alive; the divine blood of Empress Wa had awakened this heaven-propping giant tree.
"Truly magnificent!" Zhang Yuanqing whispered.
As the words left his mouth, he heard a low, heavy rumble echoing from within the Bronze Sacred Tree.
Promptly, the trunk—thick as a fortress wall—slowly parted, revealing the interior.
The bronze tree was gargantuan, yet the space inside was remarkably small, resembling a secluded cave where a hermit would cultivate in isolation.
Inside, the hollow was a tender pinkish-red. The floor and walls were neither stone nor bronze, but pulsating flesh, with blood vessels faintly visible.
*This is pretty sanity-draining...* Standing at the entrance, Zhang Yuanqing warily scanned the interior.
His earlier guess had been correct. This Bronze Sacred Tree was no sculpture; it was alive. It really was a damn tree, yet had nothing to do with ordinary trees—bronze on the outside, flesh and blood on the inside.
The hollow was not large. Directly facing the entrance was a bronze bed, three meters long and one meter wide. There were no pillows or bedding, only a bronze pot mottled with verdigris.
The bronze pot lay tilted on its side, its curved spout gleaming with golden luster, a single drop of golden liquid hanging from the lip like dew.
The drips had formed a shallow depression in the ground, where the golden liquid had nearly dried up.
Aside from these, scattered beside the bronze bed were bronze plates, piled haphazardly.
Zhang Yuanqing suddenly thought of the pool outside the bronze tree. It was now certain that the Spring of Immortality in the pool had been formed by overflow from this pot.
Yet for some reason, the liquid in the pot had run out, causing the pool outside to run dry.
The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter's breath caught for a moment. She hurried into the hollow, skirted around the puddle, stopped by the bronze bed, and picked up the petite, delicate bronze pot.
Gazing down at the pot and stroking it with the pad of her finger, she murmured, "It really is here. This was where Empress Wa cultivated in ancient times."
Curious, Zhang Yuanqing asked, "What is it?"
The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter pondered for a moment before saying, "It has a name: the Demon Refining Pot. In myth and legend, it possesses unimaginable power, able to create life and also refine and dispel malevolent hostility.
"Yet its true nature is the most primordial source of the Musician profession's power, a supreme treasure that demigod-tier Musicians dream of obtaining."
*The most primordial power of the Musician profession?* Zhang Yuanqing was suddenly reminded of the Fragment of Taiyin Origin inside his character card.
Was this bronze pot before him a Human Immortal-tier power?
"A demigod-tier treasure?" he asked, studying it with curiosity. The bronze pot looked completely ordinary, lacking any divine aura.
"No, even higher than demigod." The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter's eyes shone brightly, a smile gracing her lips. "Only by possessing it can a demigod advance to an even higher stage. Unfortunately, it is dormant, and I cannot truly claim it yet. But at least I will never lack Life Essence again. If you need Life Essence in the future, just come to me. Once I decipher its other functions, I'll let you know."
"A higher stage... There are tiers above demigod?" Zhang Yuanqing paid no mind to the Life Essence or the Demon Refining Pot's other capabilities, pressing on, "What is this higher stage? How do you know all this?"
He had vaguely guessed there were further tiers within or above the demigod stage, but this information regarding the Demon Refining Pot and Empress Wa was something even the elders of the official organization might not know.
With the Palace Mistress's status as a Dominator, how could she possibly know such secrets?
Cradling the bronze pot, the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter looked up, her gaze glistening with watery emotion, and sighed. "Your father told me. The Xiaoyao Organization was far more formidable than you imagine. The four of them were the first to unravel the secrets of the Spirit Realm, and precisely because of that, none of the four met a good end.
"Yuanshi, I will tell you in the future, but not now. I don't want you following in his footsteps."
With that, the wistfulness and sorrow in her eyes vanished, replaced by an instant one-eighty shift in mood as she giggled cheerfully like a little girl, "So much divine fluid! Time to divide the spoils, time to divide the spoils~"
Uncapping the bronze pot, she tapped its side lightly. The Life Essence from the puddle surged backward, pouring into the pot.
"This doesn't seem like Life Essence?" Zhang Yuanqing noted.
He did not sense any surging vitality; the liquid's power was completely restrained, without the slightest leakage.
"Of course not. Life Essence is what comes from diluting this. Or rather, this fluid is the true Life Essence, the root with which Nüwa created life. A demigod-tier Musician can only condense barely a dozen liang each year. It can bring the dead back to life and revitalize corpses—even a yin corpse can be resurrected, though I mean the resurrection of the physical body. With this essence, I can heal my damaged spiritual body." She beamed happily. "Then I won't be crazy anymore! Once I heal my spirit, if there's any left over, I'll give it to you."
She seemed overjoyed, chattering on at length.
An inexplicable tenderness welled up in Zhang Yuanqing's heart. *Forget it,* he thought. *You can have it all.*
Then, he looked toward the depression. Although the golden Life Essence had been collected, a layer of pale gold flesh remained in the hollow—the tender pink flesh that had been dyed golden after prolonged immersion.
The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter retrieved a small silver knife, crouched down, rolled up her sleeves, and carefully scraped it off with her fair, delicate hand.
"Since I took the Demon Refining Pot, these treasures are yours," she said. "Don't look down on this stuff. It took countless years of accumulation under the Life Essence to form. In mythology, when Empress Wa molded clay to make humans, she used this very essence."
As she spoke, she scooped out the soft "golden mud" and deftly molded it into an ugly little clay figurine with her nimble fingers.
Looking up, she smiled. "Doesn't it look like you?"
*Both Nüwa and I are left speechless...* Zhang Yuanqing cut straight to the point: "What is it used for?"
The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter smiled radiantly. "If someone kills you one day, as long as you protect your spiritual body, this will be your substitute body. Well, right now it's not you yet. You just need to drip your blood onto it and throw it into the bronze pot to refine for seven times seven—forty-nine days."
Saying so, taking matters into her own hands, she grabbed Zhang Yuanqing's hand. The blade, coated in golden mud, slit open the pad of his finger, letting a bead of blood drop onto the figurine.
She then uncovered the bronze pot, stuffed the clay figurine inside, and beamed delightedly, "All done!"
*Equivalent to an extra life? That really is better than getting Life Essence. After all, Life Essence can only heal and can't fend off enemies, while the clay figurine lets me respawn back at base...* Zhang Yuanqing felt a surge of satisfaction, but then asked, "If I return to life, will the items in my inventory still be there?"
Zhang Yuanqing looked at her, and she looked back at Zhang Yuanqing. Neither said a word.
*Fine, so you don't know either.*
Walking toward the bronze bed, Zhang Yuanqing said, "I met the President of the Merchant Guild yesterday. He told me that among the Shadow Twins, one was a Night Walker, while the other is unclear.
"I plan to look into it through the official organization. What do you think?"
"Sounds fine," she nodded lightly. "If there's danger or difficulty, remember to come find me."
While speaking, Zhang Yuanqing drew out a bronze plate and looked closely. Engraved upon it was an illustration depicting ancient forebears worshipping a gentle, benevolent woman.
The woman's facial features were somewhat blurred, yet her divine aura was unmistakable, allowing Zhang Yuanqing to recognize her as Empress Wa at a glance.
"These were likely bronze plates used for record-keeping in ancient times, similar to our books. For Empress Wa to leave them inside this tree hollow, they might involve ancient secrets. Let's arrange the bronze plates and have a look," Zhang Yuanqing said.
Together, the two laid out the chaotically piled bronze plates flat on the ground. Focusing their attention, they saw scene after scene carved across the surfaces.
The content recorded on one of the bronze plates made Zhang Yuanqing's pupils contract.
—Beneath a sky of churning black clouds, countless meteors pierced the atmosphere, blazing with roaring flames as they crashed upon the earth.
Tattered forebears rushed toward the meteorites, retrieving them from craters and holding them high, erupting in roaring cheers.
From then on, they gained divine powers: learning to manipulate fire, harness rivers, haul mountains and rocks, command animals...
They were worshipped by humanity and became gods.
Chapter 450