Chapter 512: Contemplation Within the Tower

The first floor of the high tower wasn't large, like a secret room; the surroundings were gray stone walls, with only a pitted stone tablet standing in the center.

Yunhe examined it carefully all around, but found nothing; he thought only the central stone tablet was the key to the next floor.

When Yunhe approached the stone tablet, he discovered that although it was pitted, it bore no markings, seeming just an ordinary rock with nothing unusual.

"Young Master, try covering the stone tablet with Separation Fire."

Just as Yunhe was about to touch the stone tablet with his divine sense, Old Gourd reminded him that this matter concerning the Divine Lord was obviously something Old Gourd knew more about.

Yunhe withdrew his divine sense, steadied his mind, chanted the spell formula; as the last word was spoken, a purplish-red flame floated from his open mouth.

This was the Separation Fire Yunhe had previously refined; although it was still far less than one ten-thousandth of the Divine Lord's, it already showed a hint of its form.

When the Separation Fire touched the stone tablet, the entire tablet instantly ignited, and lines of burning characters appeared one after another.

"This is the 'Separation Fire Stone' on which the Divine Lord recorded his cultivation method; his first Separation Fire was obtained from it."

Old Gourd recounted in detail the stone tablet's origin and how the Divine Lord obtained the Separation Fire. Yunhe listened silently, meanwhile mentally reciting the cultivation formula on the stone tablet. Unconsciously, Yunhe had forgotten how many times he had pondered it, when suddenly he felt Old Gourd's voice growing distant and slow: "Benevolence, benevolence is the virtue of everyone's heart. Heart virtue is conscience, conscience is heavenly principle, meaning to extend oneself to others. Third Prince. Third Prince, are you sleeping comfortably?"

Yunhe saw a kind old man smiling, gently calling to him from before, while the laughter of other children came from nearby. Could he be dreaming? "Third Prince, do you understand the meaning of this 'benevolence' character?"

Yunhe involuntarily shook his head, only then realizing this was not a dream but an entry into the Divine Lord's memory.

"Third Prince, what do you wish to do in the future? Become a general, expand territory, achieve unprecedented feats? Or become a carefree prince, free of worry?"

"I want to become an immortal!"

"Oh?"

Hearing the child's firm reply, the old man was somewhat surprised, yet still smiled kindly and said.

"Hahaha, becoming an immortal is great! However, to become an immortal one must also extend oneself to others, having a compassionate heart, being lenient and gentle, in order to bless myriad beings. This old man here wishes Your Highness early immortal affinity."

Thereafter, regardless of whether the Third Prince understood, he turned away and continued lecturing the other princes and nobles.

Not long after, a massive sect suddenly appeared, arriving in the Great Zhou Dynasty; the middle-aged man leading them, holding a compass, said they were seeking a peerless genius bearing a heavenly spiritual root.

For a time, nearly all the children of the Great Zhou Dynasty were brought before the Meridian Gate, only to be rejected one by one.

Thereafter, in the astonished gaze of the teacher and everyone else, the immortal selected the Third Prince, that foolish child who only slept during class.

Actually, not only the teacher hadn't expected it; nobody in the Great Zhou Dynasty had imagined that the foolish prince who constantly spoke of becoming an immortal would truly be chosen by the immortal to become a deity. Although many came to congratulate the Third Prince's mother, saying that the Third Prince had gained an immortal affinity and that she would surely follow the water and raise the boat, etc.

But after the Third Prince had been away for five years, the entire Great Zhou Dynasty, aside from his mother, no longer paid attention to his affairs; only the street children had an extra nursery rhyme about the foolish prince becoming an immortal.

The dream ended, and Yunhe awoke; the Separation Fire on the stone tablet had extinguished at some point, leaving only a slight warmth.

Yet the Old Gourd beside him continued to chatter on.

"How long did I sleep?"

Yunhe asked, but saw Old Gourd stare blankly: "Young Master, did you just sleep?"

It seemed he hadn't slept long; Yunhe shook his head and then activated the spell formula he had just learned from the stone tablet—only to see the Separation Fire, originally like a flower bud, now grow to the size of a fist.

In Old Gourd's astonished gaze, as the enlarged flame again scorched the stone tablet, the ground actually began to slowly open, revealing a downward passage.

"Young Master, you are truly the fastest I have ever seen."

"Is he faster than the Divine Lord?"

"Young Master, which aspect are you referring to?"

The trials of the first three floors are basically the same; by passing the Separation Fire Stone one obtained the Divine Lord's essential divine abilities left on the first three floors, and also witnessed the Divine Lord's experiences at different stages—these experiences must certainly be more than ordinary memories of the Divine Lord, surely hiding some clues.

I also don't know how long he has stayed inside the tower; the flow of time here always seems strange to Yunhe, and I don't know whether it's a perceptual disorder arising from reading the Divine Lord's memory.

After Yunhe passed through the dark corridor and arrived at the fourth floor's chamber, he saw that the fourth floor's chamber was no different from the previous ones, except there was only a mat in the center. Thus the trial of the fourth floor is clearly related to that mat.

Yunhe looked at Old Gourd, wanting to ask his opinion, but saw Old Gourd shake his head, indicating he didn't know about this level either.

It seemed he would have to rely on himself, Yunhe thought.

Thereafter he sat cross-legged on the mat, gathered his spirit, as before when using the mat to cultivate; yet he felt no reaction.

This made Yunhe doubtful, since the trials of the first three floors were achieved by refining the Separation Fire divine formula through the Divine Lord's memory; could the fourth floor's trial be a different method? There is only this mat here—could it possibly be burned? Seeing no better approach, with a mindset of trying without expecting results, Yunhe decisively stood up, chanted the spell formula, and directed a mass of Separation Fire at the mat to burn it.

Yet the mat suffered no damage at all, and still showed no reaction.

Seeing this, Yunhe withdrew the Separation Fire and began to ponder carefully: since the first three floors yielded the Divine Lord's memory, perhaps this fourth gate is related to his own comprehension.

However, the switch to the next level should probably still be on this mat.

Yunhe reseated himself on the mat, recalling the memories he had just seen: "benevolence," "Third Prince," "old teacher," "extend oneself to others."

"dynastic change," "relatives scattered"—everything seemed to be narrating the Divine Lord's life creed.

Yunhe's train of thought gradually became clear, and a somewhat crazy idea arose: "Rise!"

Only then did Yunhe change his hand seal; a layer of purplish-red flame suddenly burst out around his body. This sudden burning sensation, though he had been prepared, still caused him to involuntarily let out a muffled groan.

"Young Master."

Beside him, Old Gourd couldn't help but worry for Yunhe; previously he had only seen the Divine Lord cultivate in this manner. What kind of person is the Divine Lord? To let his divine fire burn without a sound, and moreover possess Vermilion Bird True Spirit Essence Blood to aid his fire control—"kill kill kill."

Upon opening his eyes again, he found himself inside a palace; he glanced at his hands covered in blood plasma and the limbs and flesh strewn everywhere, his white robe already stained with blood plasma and flesh.

Before him stood a middle-aged man wearing a nine-claw yellow dragon robe, currently pinned to the dragon throne by a flying sword, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, clearly near death.

"The common folk have long suffered under the Great Zhou's tyranny; I, the king, have no regrets!"

The Divine Lord, having pulled out the flying sword, still looked somewhat dazed; unconsciously he had already left the Imperial Palace, and along the way everywhere were broken guard corpses, few intact.

He saw countless commoners standing outside the Meridian Gate, each looking at him as if he were a monster.

He felt somewhat strange, yet still loudly shouted, "Great Zhou Dynasty, Third Prince."

"Pop"

A wilted cabbage was thrown at his head, cutting off his words; he glanced at the crowd, seeing only gazes that regarded him as a monster.

"Smash him!"

"Smash him, this damned Zhou person!"

"Smash him!"—whoever started it, soon all the commoners grabbed whatever handy implements they had and hurled them at the Divine Lord.

He did not understand; clearly he was about to restore the Great Zhou, so why did the Great Zhou's commoners treat him this way?

"Ha!"

The Foundation Establishment deity let out an angry roar, and in an instant all the common people were shaken by this loud shout and fell to their knees on the ground.

"Why?"

The deity lowered their head and asked wearily, but at this moment no one could answer them; the ground was filled with ordinary people crying out in pain, when suddenly a stooped figure appeared beside them.

A flash of cold light crossed the deity's eyes; he instinctively thought it was a mob trying to take his life, and with one sword thrust he pierced the stooped old man. But when he lifted his head to see clearly who it was, only shock and remorse remained in his eyes. At this moment the flames on Yunhe's body had already been extinguished; because each time he entered the deity's memory it was extraordinarily vivid, feeling as if he had directly crossed into the deity's body, he still felt some lingering effect.

Yunhe could never forget those eyes at the final moment; his father, mother, and clansmen all died under the rebels' blades, while the last Zhou person was killed by his own hand, and Yunhe did not know how to judge it. Merely the act of slaughtering mortals like this, he feared the deity would thereafter be rejected by the orthodox path and never again be able to summon the Leaving Fire, yet he discovered that the Leaving Fire had undergone a tremendous change—from the size of a fist it had become the size of a flower bud. However, when Yunhe reached out to touch the Leaving Fire, he felt no warmth or discomfort at all.

"Congratulations, young master, the day you achieve your divine ability is imminent!!"

The old gourd beside him laughed smugly, looking extremely pleased.

"You actually reached the fourth level so quickly!"

The Little Red Tower suddenly appeared inside the secret chamber, and Yunhe's perceptiveness was obviously also very surprising.

"How did you practice?"

"Just sleep and you'll get it."

"."

"What kind of person is the deity?"

Yunhe's sudden question left the Little Red Tower, which had been somewhat speechless, stunned; it glanced at the old gourd, which likewise didn't know what to say.

"A good person?"

Forget it, I'd rather not ask— — I am the dividing line— —

"Brother Yun is a smart person, so I won't beat around the bush."

Bai Zhanwu, seated above, said to Yunhe, then rose and slowly walked to the middle of the reception hall, "I hope Brother Yun can assist me in taking charge of the White Tiger Hall."

Upon hearing this, Yunhe immediately raised his head to look at Bai Zhanwu, but could only see his back, unable to see his expression: "Hahaha, Brother Bai is joking; with your ability, taking charge of the White Tiger Hall will surely be just a matter of time."

"I, Yun, am shallow in talent and virtue; how could I deserve Brother Bai's great favor?"

Yunhe gave a faint smile, as if truly sighing that his talent was lacking; the two exchanged a glance, after a moment of silence they both burst into loud laughter.

"Brother Yun is too modest, hahaha, but I came in a hurry and when I visited your abode I brought no gift; please forgive me, Brother Yun."

"Brother Bai is joking; it's Yun who was remiss in hospitality."

After a moment of silence, Yunhe spoke first: "Brother Bai, I have pressing affairs on my island, so I'll take my leave now."

"Brother Yun, please do as you wish; we'll have plenty of chances to meet again—hahaha."

Watching Yunhe gradually walk away, Bai Zhanwu's formerly smiling face suddenly turned extremely grim.

"A mere mid-Nascent Soul cultivator dares to refuse me!"

In his extreme anger, he directly smashed the tea table to pieces.

"Come out!"

Upon hearing Bai Zhanwu's command, Heifeng walked out from the side hall.

"How is the Heavenly Demon City?"

"Young master, your industries have been severely damaged; after we left, the eldest young master and his gang looted the entire East Market."

"Damn it."

"And that Xuanwu turtle—they all deserve to die!"

After Bai Zhanwu's anger gradually subsided, Heifeng slowly rose and whispered a few words into his ear.

"Let's go take a look."

Soon they arrived at a mountain range in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, where many minor demons were digging the soil.

"Steward Bai, the young master has arrived."

Heifeng shouted at a middle-aged man not far away who was whipping a minor demon.

The middle-aged man instantly lowered his whip and ran, panting, to Bai Zhanwu's side.

"Young master, this is the recently discovered stone; its spiritual energy is several times higher than that of the previously found stones."

Bai Zhanwu took the stone from Steward Bai and repeatedly examined and sensed it.

"Good! Indeed much purer; hurry, let these useless things speed up—if we lack slaves, go capture more earth demons from the surroundings!"

If Yunhe were here, he would certainly discover that what Bai Zhanwu holds in his hand is actually a spirit stone from the cultivation world!

Who would have thought that the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains actually conceal spirit veins and spirit pools?!

Yunhe did not expect that, although he had been here for a long time, he had basically never seen demons using spirit stones for trade.

Returning to Huanhu Dao, Yunhe came to his own sunbathing platform and lounged leisurely; although troublesome matters came one after another, they were still within his control.

Regarding what Bai Zhanwu said today, Yunhe is not interested; he has no desire to get involved in the struggle for power, such as helping him take charge of the White Tiger Hall.

However, Yunhe is still very interested in the so-called Heavenly Demon City; he never imagined that demons would also establish order and cities.

Not knowing exactly where the Heavenly Demon City is located, otherwise Yunhe would really want to go investigate.

Today Yunhe sold several magic artifacts and storage bags together to Bai Zhanwu, obtaining a few fourth-level demon pellets.

Now trading with them is not as easy as before; this Bai Hanwu is very shrewd, more shrewd than anyone who has previously traded with Yunhe.

However, this is not necessarily a bad thing; I hope that by doing so, I can reduce Bai Hanwu's attention toward him. (End of chapter)