Book 8: Chapter 7 – Gold man and Black Rat
In one of the Black Wind Deity Palace halls.
A person colored entirely gold, wrapped up in gray robes, was currently sitting atop the master throne. His eyes were glowing with a golden light. Even while sitting, an unseen pressure being emitted from him could be felt, as if there was a high and steep mountain in his place instead.
“Big brother.”
Four figures were standing beside him.
They were the ones whom Xue Ying had exchanged moves with previously—the gray-robed male, a handsome teenager colored in red, a seductive woman of unmatched beauty, and a cold, apathetic boy.
“We haved searched the entire perimeter of the Black Wind Deity Palace, but we could not find the one called Dong Bo Xue Ying!” said the handsome teenager colored in red.
“Fifth brother.” The seductive woman laughed lightly. It felt as if there were more color in existence in their surroundings. A single smile of hers would have been enough to move the hearts of Transcendents, however, the other four people in the room were all Deity warriors, so they were not affected. “Are you sure you aren’t mistaken? How high are the accomplishments of our masters in terms of arrays? Those powerful arrays he has set down, I’d believe if you said a powerful Transcendent could spend some time to break them! But if you say that he disappeared from mid-air, you must be joking!”
“He truly disappeared from mid-air without leaving any traces!” The gray-robed male was resentful.
“Second brother, have you not discovered anything either?” The gold man looked towards the cold, apathetic boy.
The boy lightly nodded. “I haven’t discovered anything! I went to the place guarded by fifth brother and thoroughly searched it, but I didn’t find anything!”
“Oh…”
The gold man was deep in thought.
Meanwhile.
In the Mirage, Xue Ying was looking at the five of them with interest. He had long since determined from their words that they should be the supposed ‘Five Shadows’. From the vague feeling of threat, he could sense that they were increasingly strong, especially the gold man! He emitted an unseen feeling of suppression that could even be felt by his green-armored protector.
Of course, that was only natural. The green-armored protector of the green-gray wristband was good at defending! As for the gold man, Xue Ying could naturally deduce that he was a Deity warrior that specialized in attacking!
The number of Deity warriors of my Xia Clan can be counted on one’s fingers, thought Xue Ying. Even so, they are similar in that their powers are all limited by the Laws of the World.
As for the Deity warriors inside this Black Wind Deity Palace… that weak gray-robed male from before could be easily sent flying by the green-armored protector. However, the other four Deity warriors have increasing strengths. Regardless of the fact that they’re somewhat weaker, there are still five Deity warriors here. Xue Ying was truly shocked. Deity warriors had to be refined by Deities, yet five of them could still be found here?
The gatekeeper of the cavern palace—the White Fog Ape—was most likely a Deity warrior as well, as Xue Ying had suspected. It was just that it was much weaker than the gray-robed man.
On top of that, another existence suspected to be a Deity warrior should be in the deepest part of the Black Wind Deity Palace.
Adding them up… there was a total of seven Deity warriors!
No wonder Palace Head Chen didn’t mention this, thought Xue Ying. There should be some deep secrets within.
Hua!
The gold man seated on the throne stood up before coldly saying, “Return to your places. I’ll find that water rat!”
“The water rat is the one master trusted the most. Every time it comes before us, it acts ostentatiously, destroying my mood,” complained the red-colored handsome teenager.
“Hmph, hmph, hmph, if we compare their combat powers, our big brother will still triumph over it! Logically, the Black Wind Deity Palace should be under our control, yet before he died, master actually asked that water rat to take control of the palace!” The gray-robed male snorted.
“That’s enough.”
The gold man frowned before walking off.
……
Inside the Mirage, Xue Ying continued following that gold man.
Very soon.
The gold man arrived at a courtyard within which there was a lake of pitch black water, several hundreds of meters large in radius. The ground beside this black lake was as smooth as a mirror. A black rat, about half a meter tall, was currently sitting cross-legged the way a human would normally do. The rat’s beard was drooping downwards as he was cultivating with his eyes closed.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
As the gold man walked, vague signs of the earth quaking and mountain shaking could be seen. The smooth surface of the entire courtyard even started vibrating, and the black lake started rolling.
“Eldest brother Ying, you rarely take the time to come and see me. Unless, you wish to fight again?” The black rat opened his eyes to reveal a pair of dull and glossy eyeballs, making him seem rather quick-witted. “I can defeat you, and you can’t stand me. Is there any meaning in continuing our fighting? Didn’t master trust me the most, passing everything to me and allowing me to take control over the palace?”
“I’m not here to fight,” the gold man coldly said. “We’re about to be freed. Since it seems that it won’t be long until we leave this Black Wind Deity Palace, there’s no need to fight any longer.”
“Do you mean that human, Dong Bo Xue Ying? Even with all your unique methods, you five shadows couldn’t find him?” The black rat was shocked. He managed all the arrays of the Black Wind Deity Palace, so when Xue Ying had disappeared without a trace, he was startled and took precautions against him.
“Nope. We can’t find him at all!” The gold man shook his head.
The black rat frowned in a relatively cute manner. Suddenly, he looked to the void at his side. “Dong Bo Xue Ying, you should be right here, am I right?”
“Mn?” The gold man’s expression slightly changed.
“Haha, your guess is right. I am indeed over here. However, you all can’t find me.” Xue Ying’s voice reverberated within this courtyard, causing the gold man and the black rat to be startled. He was truly here?
The black rat continued, “My master has also condensed a Deity Heart using a grade three True Meaning. Although he might have had some lucky encounters which allowed him to reach great levels in terms of understanding arrays, when faced with True Meanings of a higher grade, such as the legendary grade two True Meanings, or even the unfathomable grade one True Meanings, these arrays will not be of any use. You should be someone who grasped hold of some sort of strange grade two True Meaning, right?”
“Why can’t it be a grade one True Meaning?” teased Xue Ying.
“If you had truly grasped a grade one True Meaning, I’m afraid you’d have swept across everyone.” The black rat laughed. “You wouldn’t have been injured by the fifth shadow brother’s attacks.”
Hu.
In the peaceful courtyard, a black-robed teenager came walking out from the void. It was none other than Xue Ying.
The gold man and black rat looked curiously towards this black-robed teenager, carefully observing his appearance and figure.
“The two of you are…?” Xue Ying felt uneasy at their stares.
“For you to defeat the gatekeeper Lei Wu, and to have even survived under fifth brother’s attacks… you must have comprehended at least a grade two True Meaning,” said the black rat. “You also possess another strange and unpredictable grade two True Meaning. That is to say, you grasped hold of at least two grade two True Meanings! In the history of the Xia Clan, there is no other person more formidable than you are.”
“In other words, you must be the most heaven-shaking Transcendent in the entire history of the Xia Clan?” The black rat was amazed.
Xue Ying laughed. “I have already broken through the obstacles posed by the arrays and arrived into the deepest part of the Deity Palace. I would like to ask if this is considered as my success, and if I may obtain the treasures left behind by Ancestor Black Wind.”
The gold man and the black rat looked towards each other.
Was this considered a success?
“My master set the Black Dragon outside as the palace protector. That dragon is none other than a refiner organism my master refined all by himself,” said the black rat. “As for the gatekeeper, Lei Wu, he is a Deity warrior. The others—the ‘Five Shadows’—are increasingly strong, and they all have their own specialties, so breaking through them is indeed very difficult.
“Other than them, there are still the obstacles in the form of arrays! For instance, upon defeating the eldest brother, you must still forcibly break through an array. Usually, only those who have a combat power similar to master’s, in that they can match the might of Deity, could forcibly break through the arrays!
“Only after breaking through it could you reach my location!”
The black rat laughed, causing his beard to stick up. “You can’t even win against fifth shadow brother.”
“However—”
“I still say that you succeeded!” The black rat grinned. “Master only said that the person must depend on his own combat power to break through all of the obstacles. The Transcendent of the Xia Clan who can reach me will be given everything. You indeed depended on your own combat power in breaking through the obstacles.”
Xue Ying revealed an expression of joy.
He actually succeeded?
With his True Meaning of Mirage, those obstacles had no way of obstructing him. That was how he could arrive here. And now, he had succeeded? He had merely asked without harboring any great hope, since he could try again in the future when he became stronger!
“Dong Bo Xue Ying, if you, someone who has grasped hold of at least two different grade two True Meanings, don’t have the qualification to pass the trial, then who does?” said the gold man. “You have indeed depended on your own combat power to break through the obstacles!”