Chapter 177: Wanshi Hall, Xia Huang Chuzu

Two people held up the True God tablet and walked to Qin Jiang's front. Behind them, another person walked out, holding a wooden tray in their hands, upon which were placed a writing brush and a dish of vermilion pigment.

"King Qin, please." Ye Yuanling stood up and bowed with his hands clasped.

Qin Jiang stood up, picked up the writing brush from the tray, dipped it into the vermilion pigment, and wrote his name on the True God tablet.

After putting down the brush, the two people holding the True God tablet walked to Xia Huang's front.

Xia Huang took out a large seal from his bosom and pressed it into the air; the golden seal was then stamped onto the True God tablet.

Almost the moment the seal was stamped, an invisible spatial fluctuation dissipated. The True God tablet rose on its own, and a spatial rift appeared, revealing not black, but a dazzling, brilliant golden color.

Behind that rift was not the void, but a pavilion. On the plaque were written the three characters "True God Pavilion," vigorous and powerful, carrying a will that dominated the world.

The True God tablet turned into a stream of light and flew into the rift. The gates of the True God Pavilion swung wide open, and the True God tablet flew directly inside.

The spatial rift slowly dissipated, and the brilliant golden radiance gradually dimmed. The Cheng Tian Hall returned to normal.

"Haha! A great joy today! Start the banquet!" Xia Huang waved his hand and laughed, and the court music began to play.

Near evening, in the core area at the center of the Imperial Palace, two figures walked through a small alley.

"King Qin, the Immortal Ancestor is in the small courtyard ahead."

Xia Huang spoke, raising his hand to point ahead at a dilapidated courtyard.

Qin Jiang was somewhat surprised; he had not expected there to be such a dilapidated place within the Imperial Palace, but he did not ask further.

Walking into the courtyard, a white-haired old man was sitting under a bare black tree, boiling tea.

Yet what caught Qin Jiang's gaze was a giant black cauldron sitting in the courtyard. In terms of sheer size, it was even larger than the Hanhai Mysterious Cauldron, though it possessed not a shred of imposing power.

However, anything placed here could not possibly be an ordinary giant cauldron; it ought to be some kind of special commemorative object.

Behind him, the moment Xia Huang saw the giant black cauldron, his pupils contracted sharply.

The Overlord Cauldron! Why had the Immortal Ancestor brought this thing out? Ever since Xia Huang Chuzu had ascended, this Overlord Cauldron had been put away by the Immortal Ancestor. Even he had not seen this black cauldron for hundreds of years.

"King Qin, I have long admired you. Please, sit." The old man invited Qin Jiang to sit.

After Qin Jiang sat down, Xia Huang bowed slightly and then left directly. Only Qin Jiang and the old man remained in the courtyard.

Qin Jiang looked at the white-haired old man before him, feeling an indescribable sense of strangeness, as if his instincts were telling him that this old man's strength was peerless, enough to threaten his own life.

But in reality, he could perceive absolutely nothing, regarding him only as an ordinary old man.

"Senior, I have come on this trip for the sake of the Immortal Method." He spoke, without a shred of pleasantries.

The Immortal Ancestor nodded and poured the tea. "Naturally. But before that, I would like to ask you: what is an Immortal?"

Qin Jiang was stunned, then pondered. At his current realm, he could already be considered to have surpassed the scope of a True God, and he had his own insights regarding the Immortal Dao.

"Above the mortal, that is an Immortal," he said.

The Immortal Ancestor's brows lifted slightly, as if he had not expected Qin Jiang's answer to be so simple.

Taking a light sip of tea, he spoke, "Correct. Those who stand above all living beings are Immortals; it is for the Immortal to be far from the mortal dust.

Are you truly prepared to step onto the Immortal Dao? Like me, when the Immortal Dao was first achieved, I only felt that the heavens and earth were small, and all living beings were like ants.

Later, I felt more and more that the Immortal Dao was ethereal. What I had realized was but a corner of it. Before the vast Immortal Dao, how was I any different from the mortal? I was merely an ant as well."

"What does Senior mean?" Qin Jiang asked.

The Immortal Ancestor shook his head gently. "I mean nothing by it; it is just that your natural talent is too monstrous, something I have never heard of.

To achieve the peak of True God at the age of twenty, and even to be on the verge of stepping onto the Immortal Dao—it is truly too fast."

"Is Senior worried that my state of mind is unstable?" Qin Jiang said.

"That is one thing. The second is that the Immortal Dao is truly difficult to cultivate. I fear you will not be able to endure the loneliness of being unable to make an inch of progress for decades, or even centuries," the Immortal Ancestor said.

What he did not say was that he worried that one day in the future, when all the old friends around him had passed away, leaving only himself, that kind of isolation could torture a person until they wished they were dead.

Nowadays, the True Immortals of the various kingdoms in Shenzhou are almost all over five thousand years old.

Rather than saying he is guarding the kingdom he founded, it would be better to say he is searching for a rational anchor for himself. Hearing this, Qin Jiang could not help but laugh. "The Immortal Ancestor's worries are a bit too early. The True Immortal realm is difficult to cultivate, but I can suppress the seventeen kingdoms of Shenzhou within ten years. Before that, there is no need to worry about this.

As for what comes after, we shall speak of it then!"

To worry now about things hundreds or thousands of years from now was simply unnecessary.

Moreover, why would it take so long? In at most a hundred years, he would be able to break through the True Immortal realm and see that higher scenery.

The Immortal Ancestor's arm, holding the teacup, hung in mid-air. Only after a moment did he laugh. "You are truly like him."

Sipping the tea lightly, his gaze filled with memories.

"Him? Xia Huang Chuzu?" Qin Jiang asked.

The Immortal Ancestor nodded gently. "Yes, but back then, he was still the Overlord. After becoming Xia Huang, he seemed like a completely different person compared to when he was conquering Shenzhou. Perhaps, this is responsibility."

He felt a sense of emotion. Back then, the Overlord had conquered the world without a single defeat, seizing the best piece of territory in this land of Shenzhou.

At that time, the Overlord was an invincible God of War; no matter what he did, it was with the force of a thunderbolt, and in the end, he could always prove that he was right.

Yet later, after settling the Nine Provinces and becoming Xia Huang, although he remained wise and martial, he lacked that bit of dominance.

"Hehe, alright, let us not speak of this anymore. These are all things from long ago."

Saying this, he stood up. "Follow me. His Immortal Dao is inside."

Qin Jiang's eyes brightened slightly, and he stood up to follow.

Arriving before the only small hut, the Immortal Ancestor gently pushed open the door. "Go. What you want is inside. As for what you can obtain, that depends on yourself."

Qin Jiang nodded slightly and stepped into the room. The dim room suddenly became bright, and the surrounding environment changed; he had actually arrived on the roof ridge of a great hall.

'Is this Wanshi Hall?'

Wanshi Hall was recorded as the tallest building in the Imperial Capital. Legend had it that Xia Huang Chuzu often came here, but later, following Xia Huang Chuzu's ascension, this palace also collapsed with a roar.

"Hey! Stop standing up there, come down!" A young voice came from under the eaves of the great hall.

Qin Jiang leaped down and arrived inside the railing outside Wanshi Hall. A young man dressed in a yellow robe with nine dragons looked at him with a smile.

"You have come," the young man laughed.

"Who are you?" Qin Jiang asked.

"Xia Yu," the young man said.

Hearing this, Qin Jiang's expression changed slightly. Xia Yu, Xia Huang Chuzu!

"Are you a phantom body, or a lingering obsession?" Qin Jiang asked.

Xia Yu smiled upon hearing this. "Neither. I attempted to break through the True Immortal realm and ultimately failed, ascending. But before ascending, I realized a trace of the mystery of time.

At this moment, I am standing within history, speaking with you."

Qin Jiang's pupils contracted. The power of time? Xia Huang Chuzu back then had actually been strong to this extent? Perhaps, if it were not for the fact that he was assaulting a higher realm, there would be no such thing as seventeen kingdoms in Shenzhou today.

"Why have you come to see me?" he asked.

"Nothing, just to see you. Everything about you is shrouded in mist; even I cannot see through it, so I wanted to take a look."

As he spoke, Wanshi Hall burned with a layer of pure white flame. That flame light possessed a power that purified everything; the drifting sparks were not formless, but appeared in the shape of transparent feathers.

"Tsk." Xia Yu shook his head with some regret. "In the end, I never broke through the True Immortal realm. Time is running out.

My 'Wanshi Taiping Lu' might be very strong, but it may not necessarily be suitable for you. Moreover, if you harbor the intention to break through beyond the True Immortal, then you can only use my 'Wanshi Taiping Lu' as a reference.

Otherwise, in your entire life, it will be difficult to jump out of my Dao."

Having said this, he raised his hand and tapped lightly, and a stream of light instantly merged into the center of Qin Jiang's brows.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 178 =====