Chapter 594: Strange Sights Behind the Gate

The Tiangong buildings further back were not as exaggerated as the Hall of Veneration; although the styling was still luxurious, the interior decoration was no longer plated with pure gold. These buildings each performed their own duties, and Old Ge introduced them one by one.

It should be almost time to reach the Star-Plucking Tower. He Lingchuan deliberately lagged behind to look around at the scenery, but in reality, he summoned the Eyeball Spider and whispered to it: "Are you sure the thing is on Ruin Mountain?"

The spider chirped a few times, meaning that Zhu Erniang's remains were definitely here, definitely within the territory of Ruin Mountain, but the specific location was unknown; its sensing was blocked by an extremely powerful barrier.

This statement was consistent with Dong Rui's.

Good, very good.

Being able to confirm that Zhu Erniang's remains were on Ruin Mountain meant he had completed half of his mission for climbing the mountain today.

Only after this matter was confirmed could he proceed with subsequent plans.

"A barrier?" There were barriers in the Tiangong, which was expected. He Lingchuan muttered to himself, "Xiang Yan clearly said that when Ruin Mountain was renovated more than ten years ago, no magic treasures or relics were hidden here. Hmm, unless what we are looking for is not a collection."

"There are so many arrays and barriers here; the magic treasures and spiritual objects needed must be quite numerous." He Lingchuan looked left and right, guarding against people coming. "Old Zhu's treasure seems very suitable to be used here, right?"

"Makes sense." The mirror sighed, "How to find its location?"

"The renovation of Ruin Mountain was a massive project, involving a staggering number of laborers and craftsmen, and it was completed less than twenty years ago; many of these people are still alive."

The mirror was disdainful: "What could laborers know?"

"No matter how complex the array is, it still needs people to build it." The arrays on Ruin Mountain couldn't just be set up with a few bricks and a few clusters of flowers; that must also be a serious project. "Don't underestimate them; the key is to find the right person."

He Lingchuan said again: "Old Xiang said that the Ruin Mountain Great Array corresponds to the stars in the sky, and exotic treasures are placed in the array eyes to take effect. At that time, I suspected that this item was Zhu Erniang's treasure."

He sighed when he said this; the only thing harder than sneaking into the Spirit Void City treasury to steal would probably be digging Zhu Erniang's remains out of the Ruin Mountain array, right?

Why did all the good jobs fall to him? The mirror simply asked: "How do you want to find it?"

"First, figure out if my speculation is correct." He Lingchuan had to be cautious. "If I get it wrong, I'll have to pay with my life."

"Also, where is that array eye?" He continued to ponder, "The array is said to have been consulted and created by the Heavenly God and the Emperor, but leaders usually only make requests and at most provide direction; the specific details, such as how to build the array and how to protect it, must be done by subordinates."

Then what he needed to do was find someone who knew and participated.

He had asked Xiang Yan at Bai Sha Jue, but the old man was tight-lipped and refused to say anything. However, after Cen Boqing was arrested, the Chi Yan officials at Bai Sha Jue felt particularly relieved and satisfied, and their favor for He Lingchuan increased greatly. Later, when he chatted with Xiang Yan several times, the latter let down his guard and finally let something slip one time, mentioning that he had made several good friends when he was supervising the project in Spirit Void City.

He didn't say the specific names, but one of them had the compound surname "Zaifu."

This surname was particularly rare.

Like Xiang Yan, this Lord Zaifu had already retired, but he seemed to still live in Spirit Void City.

"The array built for Ruin Mountain is a top-secret among top secrets; are you sure you can ask it out?" The mirror reminded him, "Be careful not to alert the enemy."

He Lingchuan smiled: "Who said I was going to ask face-to-face?"

In Spirit Void City, protecting oneself was the top priority.

Soon, Old Ge led the team to a long white jade staircase.

The long staircase was wide and straight, with eighty-one steps in total. The crowd stood at the bottom of the stairs looking up; the buildings above were sturdy and towering, entirely snow-white, but the roof was moon-white.

"That is the Star-Plucking Tower."

That was the Star-Plucking Tower, known as the Heavenly God's earthly residence, which even the Beijia Demon Emperor had to come to worship respectfully.

It perched on the mountaintop, almost indistinguishable from the clouds and mist, and was reflected into a golden-red by the slanting sun. Every visitor, including He Lingchuan, felt a sense of looking up at a high mountain and an impulse to kneel and worship.

On these white jade stairs, there were indeed many people kowtowing every step, so pious that they ignored everyone else.

He Lingchuan also intended to climb the stairs, but he had only taken two steps when the Divine Bone Necklace suddenly became extremely hot! Or rather, it should be said it was searing hot.

If the temperature were any higher, it could burn a hole in his lapel.

The meaning was clear and unmistakable:

It wanted it, it wanted it, it wanted it, it really wanted it!

This change instead made He Lingchuan pause and stop his steps. The Divine Bone Necklace loved to eat exotic treasures, but it had never been this urgent before.

There was a treasure on the Star-Plucking Tower, and it absolutely had to have it! A clear possessiveness.

But what kind of place was this? He Lingchuan had harbored ulterior motives from the beginning and was twelve points vigilant against the so-called "Heavenly God's residence." Now that there was such an anomaly, the next step he took instead shrank back.

At the same time, something suddenly appeared in his right palm.

He subconsciously looked at his wrist: Floating Life appeared on its own.

This blade was integrated with him and would only be summoned when facing an enemy.

At this moment, it came without being summoned, and the blade trembled slightly, the hilt ice-cold to the bone.

He Lingchuan felt the blade intent rippling in layers, as if at the end of the white jade stairs, in this Star-Plucking Tower before his eyes, hid an unspeakable great terror! "Hey, are you going or not?" The tourist behind him was dissatisfied, "If you're not going, don't block the way, standing there like a rock."

There were many people on the white jade stairs, and everyone was pushed upward by the crowd; He Lingchuan's stopping blocked the way for those behind.

He turned to the side, and the person was startled: "You even took out a blade, what do you mean!"

He Lingchuan bared his teeth at him and smiled: "Sorry."

The person was struck by the blade energy that hadn't faded and couldn't help but shiver.

Just at this moment, several palace guards rushed out of the tower on the side, blocking the crowd with staves: "Urgent business in the Tiangong, no passage for now!"

"Eh?" The crowd complained; seeing the Star-Plucking Tower right in front, why was it suddenly forbidden to enter? This was the most critical priority of the trip; there wasn't a guest who didn't want to go.

Jiang Tao also complained while asking Old Ge: "Is the Star-Plucking Tower often closed?"

Old Ge was squeezed and squeaked: "You're asking me? Why don't you ask the Star-Plucking Tower!"

Gao Jilin asked the palace guard: "Sir soldier, how long will this Star-Plucking Tower be closed?"

The palace guard didn't look sideways, meaning he didn't even look at him: "Don't know."

Amidst the complaints of the crowd, He Lingchuan also looked up at the Star-Plucking Tower; this main hall was magnificent, as if standing above all living beings, and the vast and majestic aura was pale in description.

What was the thing that made the Divine Bone covet so much? What was the thing that made Floating Life blade warn him frequently? The secrets of the Heavenly God, perhaps along with the secrets of the Demon Emperor and the secrets of Beijia, were all up there.

It was a pity he couldn't go up personally.

What could be asked by side-probing from others, how could it compare to seeing it with one's own eyes... Eh?

He Lingchuan suddenly patted his own head; why was he so confused?

He couldn't go up, but the Eyeball Spider could! Who would pay attention to this little spy in a place where everyone could go to worship?

Taking advantage of the palace guards not paying attention, he flicked his finger and flicked the little spy onto the back of a tourist, letting it hitch a ride.

This guest had already climbed the white jade stairs before the palace guards blocked the road, so he was lucky not to be stopped and could continue to the Star-Plucking Tower.

Just at this moment, more than ten people suddenly walked out of a two-story tower on the side of the white jade stairs.

The man in official uniform at the head looked familiar, and the two people following behind were probably his attendants, while the others were all Tiangong guards in golden armor.

These ten or so people hurried up the stairs.

With Tiangong guards clearing the way, everyone gave way to this man.

Soon, they disappeared at the top of the white jade stairs and entered the Star-Plucking Tower.

He Lingchuan then withdrew his gaze.

Not long ago, this person had been in the limelight at the Dun Garden auction. He Lingchuan had a deep impression of him because he had bought the half-broken sword tip of the First Shore True Immortal for the sky-high price of 870,000 taels of silver.

He might have acted on behalf of the Ke family, who "had mines at home"; no one knew whether they would extract the Boundless Gold from the sword tip or just treat it as a precious collection.

He Lingchuan remembered what Fu Shanyue had said: the Heavenly God would summon the Ke family regularly, which meant the Ke family followed the divine decree to go up the mountain at fixed times.

This was also the source of his family's infinite glory.

Today, he happened to encounter Ke Yanming going up the mountain? The tourist blocked by the palace guards asked: "Can we still not go up?"

The palace guard was expressionless.

That meant no, so Old Ge said: "Standing here isn't a solution either; let's go to the pavilion to rest our feet first, and see later!"

So the group of tourists slowly retreated and settled in the long pavilion beside the white jade stairs.

Perhaps knowing that good food wasn't afraid of being late, the Divine Bone Necklace also calmed down and was no longer searing hot.

He Lingchuan sat down facing the Star-Plucking Tower and opened the vision of the Eyeball Spider.

The guest it was riding was very young, with nimble legs and fast climbing, as if he had come purely to see the scenery, unlike others who worshipped every step.

He Lingchuan shared the vision with the Eyeball Spider and found that they soon climbed the white jade stairs, crossed the magnificent gate over three zhang high, and entered the Star-Plucking Tower.

The cold wind outside the tower was biting, and white snow covered the ground, but inside the tower, it was as warm as spring, with a breeze blowing on the face.

Looking down, the crowd was shocked: inside the gate of the Star-Plucking Tower, there was actually a huge lava pool hidden! Its diameter was a hundred zhang, with magma rolling, stirring up bursts of golden-red light.

No wonder it was warm here.

It seemed that even if an array was set up behind the gate, it was to prevent heat or poisonous smoke from forcing people away.

From behind the gate to the opposite side, they were connected by a stone beam, ten zhang wide, with a flat road surface; as long as one didn't court death, one usually wouldn't fall off.

Usually.

In fact, He Lingchuan had heard Old Ge say on the way that tourists fell off here every month.

The experience of walking in an active volcano was too special, rarely encountered by ordinary people. Tourists often poked their heads out at the edge of the stone beam, or children jumped around, running back and forth.

Of course, those who fell off were gone; at most, there was a "hiss" sound and a puff of white steam.

Who dared to claim compensation from the Tiangong? Anyway, there were no guardrails here.

The ride the Eyeball Spider was on—no, this person was very bold and also walked on the edge to look at the magma pool, making the Eyeball Spider a bit worried.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 595 =====