Chapter 114: A Strange Scene

March 6th, one quarter past the Hour of the Serpent.

Zhao Xing was running through the courtyard of the Eighteen Pagoda Trees.

Suddenly—

"Hum~"

A ball of flame burst forth from his body. The flame formed a mysterious pattern, and through it, Zhao Xing also saw a Golden Body within the fire.

"It's the Dao-Establishing Dharma Body of True Monarch Lihuo!"

Zhao Xing hurriedly cupped his hands in salute.

"Thank you, True Monarch, for lending the Dao."

"Twenty thousand and eighty-three li of road have been repaid; cause and effect are now cleared."

As the words fell, the flame vanished into thin air.

Zhao Xing also let out a long breath.

"Finally paid it all back."

Because he ran with a heavy load for at least four hours every day, the day of repayment came a little earlier than expected.

In just over six days, he had already repaid True Monarch Lihuo's Dao.

As for the process of repayment, Zhao Xing's feeling was that it was exhausting—extremely exhausting.

After all, this training pushed him close to his physical limits every day.

"But being tired also has its benefits."

"My progress in the fifteenth stage of Qi Gathering is now past halfway."

Before entering the Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven, Zhao Xing had only just reached the fifteenth stage of Qi Gathering, with a long way still to go, but now that distance had greatly shrunk.

Over six days of extreme training squeezed his physical potential more than ever before; these six days had followed a martial artist's training volume entirely.

Don't underestimate weighted running—the so-called Great Dao is simple, and this is a method that exercises the whole body and mobilizes its full strength.

"With sufficient Dao comprehension, every ten stages of Qi Gathering raises one rank. I've long had enough Dao comprehension; now at the fifteenth stage, I'm still five minor ranks from the Eighth Rank." Zhao Xing pondered.

Qi Gathering is the elevation of the physical body, the condensation of primal energy, and the process of developing the flesh.

For the vast majority of spell-casting professions, the body lags behind Dao comprehension.

Because they must devote large amounts of time each day to comprehending the Dao (cultivating spells), and this comprehension cannot enhance the body's Seven Souls.

But martial artists—their Wu Ji training itself exercises the Seven Souls.

"Martial artists are relatively weak early on, but later they find it easier to enter the Fourth Rank, the Soul of Origin Realm. However, by the Third Rank, they fall behind other professions again, because the Origin Soul Realm demands very high Dao comprehension."

"But the Military Agricultural Officials also place great importance on the physical body—I wonder if there are any physical training programs here."

Based on Zhao Xing's experience in his previous life, many Military Agricultural Officials began training their Seven Souls very early.

Because the environment of the Calamity Epoch was far too poor and far too extreme.

Many times, conditions became so extreme that Heaven-Timing Arts and Earth-Location Arts completely failed!

To preserve their lives and cope with such extremes, they all chose to train their body's Seven Souls early on.

At least when such extreme situations truly arose, they wouldn't be left without any combat ability. Carrying a large cleaver on their person, Military Agricultural Officials could also swing a blade at critical moments.

"Rolling Thunder has reached four revolutions, and True Monarch Lihuo's Dao has also been repaid."

"Basic training is over; I can begin advanced training."

Zhao Xing washed up briefly, pushed open the courtyard gate, stepped on auspicious clouds, and flew out.

Basic training: purchase inexpensive spell manuals from the Martial Repository and, relying on his own comprehension, cultivate them to the entry-level.

Advanced training, on the other hand, involves borrowing the treasured lands throughout the Agricultural Monitoring Bureau to comprehend the Dao within them and further improve.

The place Zhao Xing was heading to now was the Earth-Location Court.

"Within the Earth-Location Court there are three treasured lands available for free comprehension."

"The first is the Earth-Veins Hall, which contains nineteen Earth-Veins Maps depicting over ten thousand kinds of earth veins across the Nineteen Provinces."

"Comprehending them is equivalent to observing an infinitely repeatable Dao-Transmission painting."

"The second is called the Seventy-Two Earth Palaces."

"The seventy-two Earth Palaces are endlessly profound, built atop exposed earth veins; even observing them from afar offers a chance to comprehend the Dao."

"The third is the Mysterious Earth Prison."

"The Mysterious Earth Prison holds various subterranean creatures captured during the development of the Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven—strange beasts of all kinds."

"The formations of the Mysterious Earth Prison stimulate the strange beasts within to go mad every hour. Once maddened, they involuntarily perform their innate arts; observing these subterranean strange beasts perform their innate arts likewise aids in Dao comprehension."

The first place Zhao Xing went to was the Seventy-Two Earth Palaces.

Because the Seventy-Two Earth Palaces had relatively few visitors while other places were more crowded, he planned to wait until nightfall when fewer people were around before visiting the other two locations.

After flying for a stretch, Zhao Xing landed before a city wall.

The Seventy-Two Earth Palaces were enclosed by the city wall's formations.

For earth veins to be exposed on the surface—how dangerous would that be?

Take the Earthfire Plains, for example: because the earth veins rose too violently, any casual spell Zhao Xing cast caused the Earthfire Plains to reach a Level-Five Frenzy.

Therefore, the Seventy-Two Earth Palaces were all wrapped and protected by layer upon layer of formations.

There were also regulations for those visiting the Earth Palaces.

"To enter the Earth Palaces for comprehension, you must wear this Origin-Locking Ring. Apart from channeling a wisp of primal energy into your Cloud-Stepping Boots for travel, all other spells are forbidden." The guard at the gate was explaining the rules to those entering.

"No one may approach within a hundred meters of any Earth Palace; you may only observe from the outer perimeter. Anyone who violates this rule will have their visitation privileges permanently revoked."

"You are also not permitted to throw fruit pits, pills, or any objects above the Third Rank into the Earth Palaces. Violators will be dealt with by military law."

"Relieving oneself anywhere inside is prohibited."

"..."

The rules are very strict, some even outrageous.

But behind every outrageous rule, there is a real case.

For example, the one about throwing fruit pits into the Earth Palace — Zhao Xing guessed someone had actually done it before.

He was very familiar with this rule.

Because in his previous life, there were players who refused to believe the superstition and insisted on throwing things in, and even did it secretly.

Above the third tier, the fruit pits themselves possess vigorous vitality.

By sheer coincidence, a fruit pit sprouted a seedling, which began absorbing the power of the earth veins, causing the Earth Palace to erupt and resulting in extremely severe consequences.

The line moved quickly, and in no time it was Zhao Xing's turn.

"Please present your secret seal."

Zhao Xing handed over his personal secret seal.

"Please read the rules on the notice board and confirm that you understand the rules for comprehending the Earth Palace."

Zhao Xing took ten seconds, then nodded: "Confirmed."

The guard handed over a device resembling a pair of handcuffs: "Please put on the Essence-Locking Ring."

Zhao Xing expressionlessly extended his right hand.

Click~

The mechanism engaged, and nine needles extended from within the heavy handcuffs, piercing into Zhao Xing's skin.

He checked his panel — his Qi value was temporarily reduced to 1 point.

Apart from using the Cloud-Stepping Boots, he couldn't do anything else.

"Alright, go in."

"Thank you."

Passing through the city gate corridor, Zhao Xing immediately felt a wave of heat.

The first thing that caught his eye was an overall dark-red palace, its roof fully covered with glazed tiles, a flaming pearl finial at the center of the crown, and waterfalls flowing down from the flying eaves around the treasure top.

Zhao Xing looked closely — this was no waterfall at all, but fire-aspected earth vein power so dense it resembled a river!

"Old Chen's Fire Prison Earth Palace bears some resemblance to this palace."

"But his Fire Prison Earth Palace doesn't have one percent of the realism of this Earth Palace."

The more realistic the constructed Earth Palace method, the greater its power!

Zhao Xing looked at this Fire Prison Earth Palace, and apart from that waterfall, he couldn't tell at all which parts were illusory earth vein power.

"Every brick and tile seems real — impressive."

Zhao Xing didn't linger long before this Earth Palace.

The 【Boundless Earth Palace】 he had learned was completely different from this Earth Palace; drawing parallels by analogy required the general direction to align as well.

Following the auxiliary path for visitors, Zhao Xing observed the distant palaces one by one.

There were 【Fire Prison Earth Palaces】 entirely engulfed in flames, as if wrapped in a ball of fire; 【Crystal Earth Palaces】 composed almost entirely of water-aspected power, nearly fully transparent; 【Wind Thunder Earth Palaces】 with tornadoes and lightning flashing……

Seventy-two types of Earth Palaces, containing the profound mysteries of the five elements of the earth veins.

Zhao Xing kept walking, never stopping.

Until he turned a corner—

"Hm? This Earth Palace……"

After turning the corner, Zhao Xing felt a stirring in his heart, his gaze involuntarily drawn to a building ahead.

"Is this a traveling palace?"

Zhao Xing's footsteps didn't stop because he noticed this palace was very small — it couldn't even be called a palace, being only the size of a single room.

Its shape more resembled an octagonal cage, and it was constantly moving.

Zhao Xing quickened his pace.

Because the octagonal palace appeared to move only a short distance, but in fact its speed was very fast.

If not for the fact that this octagonal palace was circling the auxiliary path in a ring, and he was over a hundred meters away, Zhao Xing might not have been able to keep up.

"What kind of Earth Palace method is this? I've never seen it before — how strange……"

Zhao Xing observed while running.

Fortunately, he had also become familiar with this method of comprehension over the past few days; he activated his Bright Eyes and kept staring at the octagonal palace.

The pale-gold octagonal palace, after circling Zhao Xing once, suddenly sank into the ground.

"It disappeared?"

Zhao Xing was watching when suddenly he whipped his head around and saw that octagonal Earth Palace emerge again from another spot.

"Hm? This isn't an ordinary Earth Palace method — it's a Profound Earth method combined with an Earth Palace method?!"

Zhao Xing's eyes lit up.

He wished he could fly into the air, wished he could run near the Earth Palace to observe closely.

After being drawn in by this miraculous Earth Palace, he instinctively wanted to cast a spell to fly over, but the Cloud-Stepping Boots couldn't take off, and a stinging pain shot through his wrist instead.

"Hiss~"

Zhao Xing sucked in a cold breath.

"It actually made me unable to resist casting a spell — I was drawn in without thinking."

"I must seize this opportunity!"

Zhao Xing didn't know the origins of this Earth Palace, but among the seventy-two Earth Palaces, he had never seen this kind.

An intuition from the depths of his being told him he absolutely could not miss it.

"Dada da~" the sound of footsteps rang out.

Zhao Xing was not the only one to discover the marvel of the octagonal palace; at this time there were seven or eight others who had also discovered this octagonal palace and were pursuing the octagonal underground palace together.

"Thud!"

Because they were too focused, the three people ahead actually collided into one another.

"Sorry about that."

"No worries."

Another person paid no attention at all to the one who had bumped into him, his expression cold, not even glancing at the two of them, and continued his pursuit.

Two quarter-hours later.

Of the eight pursuers, six had already given up.

Because comprehension was too difficult. First, comprehending while running was something they were not used to; second, this octagonal underground palace was far too profound and mysterious, and it kept vanishing without warning.

Zhao Xing was also a bit irritated. Just when he was about to glimpse something, it would immediately vanish, as if his comprehension had been cut off — was this octagonal underground palace playing some edging game with people?!

Nevertheless, he still patiently continued his pursuit.

The harder it was, the more it proved this octagonal underground palace was no simple thing, and it stirred something in him related to the Boundless Underground Palace he had studied. Naturally, Zhao Xing would not let it slip easily.

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye three days had gone by.

For three days, without eating or drinking, hardly resting for a moment, Zhao Xing kept chasing after this small octagonal underground palace.

During this period, participants came and went, went and came again.

Even now there were still quite a few people following along in pursuit, though they were no longer the original group.

Only that youth who had been bumped at the very beginning, with his cold expression, like Zhao Xing, still had not given up.

"Thud!"

The underground palace suddenly made a turn; since they were not far apart to begin with, the two who had each noticed something immediately collided into each other.

Zhao Xing reacted quickly, so this collision did not really injure him.

But the person opposite, perhaps because he was too focused, smacked his head directly against the hard edge of a stone.

The corner of his eye split open, and a gash also opened on his forehead — blood immediately poured out like a stream.

"Brother, are you alright?" Zhao Xing finally pulled his attention back to the present, and seeing this scene, he was quite startled.

"I'm fine." Han Bing shook out his sleeve, wiped it across the wound, gave it a casual swipe, and stood up.

Is this guy's head really that hard?

Still going to keep comprehending after this?

"Maybe you should stop the bleeding first." Zhao Xing tugged at him. "It'll affect your comprehension too — blink once, lose focus for a moment, and you'll miss it."

Han Bing thought for a moment: "Alright."

He pulled a strip of white gauze medicinal patch from his clothes, tore it open, and slapped it onto his head.

Zhao Xing recognized this as a military-grade wound-healing patch, made by pharmacists for treating external injuries.

Watching his technique, Zhao Xing found it a bit strange.

Just how practiced are you at getting hurt?

Coming to comprehend, and you brought military wound-healing patches with you?

Seeing that he really seemed fine, and not very willing to talk, Zhao Xing cupped his fists in greeting and planned to keep going. But to his surprise, Han Bing spoke up first: "You've been watching for three days too — have you figured out what method this is?"

Zhao Xing also recalled that this person had persisted the longest, so he stopped: "I'm guessing it's a combination of the Underground Palace method and the Mysterious Earth method. The Underground Palace part — I've made out some clues, it should be 【Divine-Step Underground Palace】. The Mysterious Earth part I haven't figured out yet."

Han Bing looked up in some surprise: "How could it be Divine-Step Underground Palace? It's clearly Cold-Flow Underground Palace."

Zhao Xing was also a bit taken aback, and he immediately thought of a possibility.

"What did you see?" x2

But Han Bing had thought of it too — the two asked at the same time.

"You go first." x2

"No no, you go first." x2

"..."

Zhao Xing and Han Bing stared at each other — wow, these two are way too in sync.

In the end, it was Zhao Xing who gestured for Han Bing to speak first.

"Alright, I'll go first." Han Bing pointed at the underground palace that had just emerged and said, "What I saw was a shipyard-shaped thing, kind of like a miniature dragon-head tower ship. Its pattern is hard to pin down, but it has always been moving along different earth veins according to the sequence of earth, water, earth-fire, earth, metal, earth, wood."

Zhao Xing said in surprise: "What I saw was a house. The shape of this house is a bit strange, like an octagonal cage — it doesn't even have a door, as if it's been sealed shut. The pattern I saw is also different from yours; it moves according to earth-wind, earth-metal, earth-fire, earth-thunder, earth-water."

Han Bing fell into thought after hearing this: "No wonder so many people collided earlier. I thought everyone was just focused on watching and ignoring their surroundings."

"Now it looks like it was simply because of this underground palace."

Zhao Xing smiled and nodded: "I figured that out too. Sorry about earlier, brother. My name is Zhao Xing, from the Divine Might Army. And you?"

Han Bing's expression showed some surprise: "Divine Might Army, Han Bing."

Han Bing of the Divine Might Army? The tenth one to report — what a coincidence?

"So we're fellow soldiers. My respects, Brother Han." Zhao Xing cupped his fists in greeting.

Han Bing's expression was no longer as cold as before, becoming a bit more lively: "Don't mention it. I think if either of us gains some insight later, we could exchange notes."

Zhao Xing nodded: "That's right. So, shall we continue?"

"Mm."

In the blink of an eye, another two days had passed.

During this period, many people came to try observing that elusive underground palace, but most chose to give up.

After all, there was only one month; wasting too much time comprehending something uncertain really wasn't worth it.

But neither Zhao Xing nor Han Bing gave up.

Zhao Xing did not give up because he had never seen this underground palace before — he had never even heard of such a thing existing in the Ten Sun Grotto-heaven in his previous life — so naturally he refused to let it go.

Han Bing, on the other hand, was stubborn by nature, with a tenacity that would not rest until his goal was achieved.

And so, the two of them occasionally exchanged ideas.

Another three days passed.

"It's the eighth day."

By now Zhao Xing was feeling a bit hungry and weary; he hadn't brought anything in to eat, mainly because he hadn't expected to stay this long without sleep or rest!

Han Bing gave him two fruits to eat, as if he already had the habit of carrying things on his person.

"It's already the eighth day. Starting from the fifth day, I've had this vague feeling that I'm about to comprehend a technique, but I'm always just a little spark of inspiration short." Zhao Xing was also feeling some anxiety in his heart. "Is it that I'm truly on the verge of comprehension, or is it an illusion, or perhaps the master of this underground palace is deliberately toying with me?"

It wasn't as if such a possibility didn't exist.

The Soldier Realm had many experts; some of them weren't compelled to come and teach, and the military wouldn't order them either.

These were generally old fellows who had lived for several hundred years, so it was normal to run into one with an eccentric temper.

"If I still haven't comprehended it after today, I'll have to leave." Zhao Xing had a plan for his training, and this plan had already had some of its rhythm disrupted.

"I'll stay for three more hours at most. Comprehend it if I can, leave if I can't — as if I can't do without this bit of opportunity from you!" Zhao Xing gathered his thoughts and quickly adjusted his mindset.

With his mindset adjusted, Zhao Xing was no longer anxious; he strolled along leisurely, no longer chasing after things like before.

In any case, once the time was up, whether he succeeded or not, he would leave.

When the underground palace disappeared underground in the meantime, he even ran off to look at other places, no longer troubling his mind over this mysterious underground palace.

With precisely this kind of mindset, at the midnight hour approaching the zi hour.

Zhao Xing instead achieved comprehension.

It was when he saw that octagonal underground palace emerge once again.

A door suddenly reflected in his eyes.

The octagonal underground palace had originally been completely sealed, although its exterior walls had various flows of the Five Elements power, forming mysterious patterns.

But at this moment, on the side facing Zhao Xing, a door suddenly opened.

As if a door had also opened in Zhao Xing's mind.

"So that's how it is." Zhao Xing sat cross-legged and closed his eyes.