On the stairs within the black palace sealing the demon god on West Mountain, a fair-faced youth ran, tireless.
After an unknown duration of winding paths, Xu Mu's upper body was slick with sweat, his leg lifts becoming mechanical.
Then, the next time he lifted his leg, it found no purchase.
"Ouch!"
The youth cried out, nearly falling face-first. Fortunately, he managed to grab something.
It was then the youth was jolted awake. He raised his head and realized the endless, sky-reaching stairs had finally come to an end.
He had reached the second level platform.
"Quite the illusion. From this distance, no wonder I couldn't see anything looking up from below!"
Xu Mu leaned on his waist, standing in an empty space, drenched in sweat.
By conservative estimate, he had been moving at full speed for over half an hour, without a single pause, to finally ascend to the second level.
If converted to flat ground distance, his current stamina would have allowed him to run back and forth between Fengqing Village and West Mountain countless times in half an hour. Yet, he had only climbed one flight of stairs.
How tall was this palace?
"Teleportation array."
Before Xu Mu could ponder further, he spotted a white portal of light in the void.
It seemed akin to the anglerfish in the deep sea, using its luminous body to lure prey.
Xu Mu's eyebrows twitched, and he stepped into the portal without hesitation.
Much like his experience in the Heavenly Palace.
"What will happen if I enter?"
With prior experience, he felt no fear. Xu Mu stepped one foot through the portal.
He had intended to test the waters, to hop back and forth and gauge the situation.
But unexpectedly, the moment he crossed the threshold, an irresistible force dragged him in.
Buzz!
Just like when he switched souls, his vision blurred.
Xu Mu's eyes widened. In an instant, countless indistinct fragments flashed before him, a cacophony of sounds, overlapping images, and voices.
A thousand flowers bloomed in an instant.
Xu Mu's ears nearly went deaf.
"Damn it!"
With a curse, the youth covered his ears with both hands and squatted on the ground. He even felt a coolness in his ear canals. It felt like blood. When he opened his eyes again, the bizarre, dazzling sights were gone.
He stood in a space filled with mountains and waterfalls, shrouded in wisps of white mist.
He had arrived at the true second level.
"Having seen the grand Heavenly Palaces, such simple architecture is quite pleasing to the eye now."
Xu Mu looked around, seeing no sign of any ability users.
Before him lay a cliff no more than a hundred meters high, from which a waterfall cascaded to the ground, creating a mist of white.
In front of the waterfall stood a pavilion with double eaves and hip-and-gable roofs. Two faded, green-blue stone turtles were placed on either side, their bodies seemingly inscribed with text.
Xu Mu approached the stone turtles, his hand stroking the weathered stone, examining them for a long time before discerning the eight characters.
"Kai Wu Cheng Wu."
"Xian Tian Jing Yun."
"I feel like I've seen this somewhere," Xu Mu mumbled with some confusion, then dismissed it, as he couldn't understand it anyway.
He took a deep breath of the air here, feeling refreshed and invigorated.
"After so much fighting, it's good to cultivate oneself in a place like this."
"This is no simple architecture, nor is it a place for you to cultivate yourself."
Just as Xu Mu felt relaxed, Charles, in the guise of an old man, emerged from his body.
"This is Fuxi, the Human Emperor's pavilion for drawing hexagrams. The Eight Trigrams of Early Heaven were born here."
"The stone platform beneath the cliff is called Fenglei. Legend has it that Fuxi attained enlightenment here, drawing the convergence of wind and thunder, hence its name, Fengleijie."
"Also, what's inscribed on the stone turtles before you is related to the ancient lost scriptures of the Taoist sect, Lianshan and Guizang..."
Charles rambled on, covering every detail of this space, talking for over twenty minutes, leaving Xu Mu stunned in place.
"And this inkstone platform, Fuxi brought it from the Jade Stone Mountain of the Immortal of Joy. The purpose of forging this object is... Stop, stop, stop!"
Xu Mu's ears were ringing. He quickly interrupted Charles.
"How do you know so much?"
"Don't tell me this Fuxi is actually the same person as the Fuxi from our Blue Star!"
Xu Mu said sheepishly, unable to help but wonder, given how comprehensive Charles's knowledge was.
Like... a tour guide from Blue Star?
"Whether it's the same person, I don't know, but my database does contain this information."
Charles scratched his head, his voice calm.
He was merely reciting from existing memories.
On Blue Star, Fuxi was revered as the Creator Human Emperor. Even Nuwa and Pangu were his creations. He also created the Eight Trigrams of Early Heaven, which have been passed down through the ages.
Charles shook his head slightly. Even if future generations didn't believe in ghosts or gods, they acknowledged Fuxi's status. His "miracles" were, of course, meticulously recorded in encyclopedias.
And this space was identical to Fuxi's Fenglei Huagua Terrace described in the encyclopedia!
"Uh, alright. You don't know anything anyway when I ask."
Xu Mu shrugged indifferently. It seemed the civilization of Blue Star was not simple either, perhaps with some connection to their Tai Chu Realm.
Charles did not refute, but his gaze grew increasingly solemn as he looked at the rectangular fine lines on the ground that clashed with the white marble floor tiles. Clearly, a heavy object had once pressed down there, creating such patterns.
"Everywhere here aligns almost perfectly with what I know."
"But this part is different."
Charles pointed to the two stone turtles, his voice heavy.
"'Kai Wu Cheng Wu' and 'Xian Tian Jing Yun' are actually just small headings."
"What they truly record seem to be the long-lost secrets of Blue Star, like Lianshan and Guizang."
"That world, no matter how advanced its technology became, never found those two lost Taoist scriptures. Legend has it that whoever possesses one of them gains dominion over the world, though whether that's true is unknown."
"Uh..."
Listening to Charles, Xu Mu shook his head silently.
Thinking about these superfluous things was meaningless. There were too many things they didn't know.
They shouldn't be so serious about it.
"Why rack your brain so much? Things like Lianshan and Guizang, where possessing one grants dominion over the world, there are many such things. Viritan's Heavenly Book also had such a reputation, and it's still stuck up there, isn't it?"
Xu Mu said with a grin, pointing upwards.
Although this place was shrouded in mist and was no longer the octagonal hall from before, he felt as if a pair of eyes were watching them from somewhere.
That would be Viritan at the very top.
Their world might be a mere illusion, which was why there were no other ability users.
"So, Charles, since you know this place so well, how do we get out?"
In the center of the Huagua Pavilion was a large platform made of granite, three meters square. Xu Mu stood before it, gazing at the mottled marks on its surface. They seemed to be residual edges from when Emperor Fuxi carved inscriptions here, splashing outwards.
Xu Mu narrowed his eyes and reached out, attempting to touch the patterns.
Swish!
As if an incredibly sharp knife had landed on a cutting board, and coincidentally snapped a hair fine as a bull's whisker nearby, the moment Xu Mu's fingers brushed against the stone mark, a clear, blood-red drop of liquid fell from his fingertip.
His pupils contracted. He then brought his index finger to his mouth and sucked it carefully, saying in a deep voice,
"Whether it was left by Fuxi, I don't know."
"Even a mere edge carving can easily slice through my current physique, and it even bypasses my Dao Origin. The realm of the owner of this stone platform is too exaggerated."
"According to historical records, Fuxi finally set up a calculating abacus made of bluestone on a stone table in this Huagua Terrace and played a game of chess against himself, attracting many followers to watch."
"By the time they finished watching Fuxi's game, the onlookers had all turned to dry bones. Who knows how many years, or even millions of years, had passed. Having watched the game for too long, they absorbed the mysteries within and became ghost immortals, guarding Fuxi day and night."
Hearing this, Xu Mu's body instantly froze.
Because as Charles spoke, a chessboard actually appeared on the table before him, and there were bowls of black and white pieces on both his left and right sides.
The youth's face turned pale. Most importantly, behind him, he sensed two terrifying presences.
Eerie, powerful, and cold, like the dead.
"Ghost immortals?"
Xu Mu dared not turn around, trembling, he transmitted a message to Charles. What in the world was going on? How did it suddenly become like this!
"They seem to be illusions, yet they don't seem to be," Charles floated near the two skeleton frames, each taller than a person, observing them carefully from all sides.
"These bones are different from the ghosts or souls I usually encounter."
"The most common souls of humans have spirit but no form, capable of separating from the cultivator's original body. Therefore, they lack the abilities of physical entities, such as using powers, yet they are in a soul state, but I can perceive fluctuations of abilities..."
The more Charles spoke, the more puzzled he became. He had only encountered such a situation once, and that was Viritan.
His current state, perhaps by some method from the Heavenly Book, was very similar to this.
"Ghost immortals do not require a physical form."
Just as Charles was lost in thought, the skeleton standing beside him moved its jaw and suddenly spoke.
Charles's gaze was strange. Who was it talking to?
He turned his head and saw the skeleton had also turned its head.
Its eye sockets were yellowed, and it was staring directly into Charles's eyes!
...
...