Chapter 844

Sixteen young maidens were all cultivators of the Palace Secret Realm; in the Spirit Ruin Cave Heaven, they could become Sect Masters of their own domains, but here they could only guide guests and serve wine and dishes.

"Southern Tianmen?!"

Ahead appeared a grand, massive gate, inscribed with three ancient characters; Ye Fan, upon seeing this, felt curious.

"It was built in imitation of the legendary ancient Heavenly Court."

The Great Xia Imperial Prince explained.

"I've never heard of an ancient Heavenly Court."

Ye Fan was deeply curious; in Huaxia mythology, there was a Southern Tianmen, and Sun Wukong, who always entered the Heavenly Court through the Southern Tianmen.

But these were all myths and legends; he never expected to encounter the Southern Tianmen here, along with this "ancient Heavenly Court."

"Ten thousand years ago, the Great Demon Emperor Qingdi once proposed establishing a Heavenly Court and arranging such a structure, but he ultimately perished."

Yao Yuekong explained.

Qingdi was an existence who had attained Emperorhood ten thousand years ago, an ancestor of Yan Ruyu; no one knew how long ago he truly lived.

"Could an ancient Heavenly Court really exist?"

"We don't know; Qingdi only mentioned it in passing."

The Great Xia Imperial Prince didn't dwell on it and smiled as he explained.

After passing through the Southern Tianmen, they arrived at four distinct regions, each displaying the scenery of spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

The four major gardens displayed entirely different seasonal landscapes.

"There are four barriers here; though they cannot compare to the small worlds opened by ancient sages, they are nearly self-contained spaces. The Golden Family of the Northern Plains has profound mastery over the Way of Space."

The Great Xia Imperial Prince spoke.

"Oh? Then I'll have to pay a visit someday."

Fang Yu's expression shifted; the Golden Family of the Northern Plains possessed such ability, with deep understanding of the Way of Space—he certainly wanted to see it for himself.

In this world, the ones who understood the Way of Space most deeply were the Ji Family of the Eastern Wilderness, whose Ancient Huanggu Ji Scripture on Void Space showed profound comprehension of space.

The Golden Family of the Northern Plains also had deep understanding, having carved out four independent zones—he definitely wanted to witness this.

At that moment, a nearby maiden softly spoke: "Please, honored guests, choose a garden."

Fang Yu subtly shifted his intent and directly chose summer.

Summer was a beautiful season.

For many people, it was.

As for winter, he could simply cast the Great Freeze Art and instantly experience winter's sensation.

A cool breeze brushed against his face; this palace complex bloomed with flowers, flowed with gentle streams, and even echoed with tinkling rain.

Indeed, it was a summer landscape.

They sat down, drinking wine while admiring the flowers, enjoying a certain charm.

After a few cups of fine wine, even the little white-nun's face turned rosy, her big eyes bright.

Seeing this, Ye Fan laughed: "Princess, how can a monastic person drink alcohol?"

The little white-nun had not shaved her hair; she wrinkled her nose and whispered: "I am cultivating among mortals."

"I've long heard that Buddhism possesses countless miraculous arts, all wondrous techniques of the world, yet I've never seen any."

Yao Yuekong laughed.

The little white-nun did not respond.

"I've heard a little about Buddhism's Dao; I've never seen it, but Buddhist methods are countless, and they emphasize cause and effect most of all—is that right?"

Fang Yu looked at the Great Xia Princess and asked.

"Brother Fang is correct."

The little nun, hearing Fang Yu's words, widened her eyes in shock—she hadn't expected Fang Yu to know the very essence of Buddhist methods.

Even the Great Xia Imperial Prince, Yao Yuekong, and Jiang Yifei were startled, as if surprised Fang Yu had any knowledge of Buddhist techniques.

"Is there anything Brother Fang doesn't know?"

The Great Xia Imperial Prince was astonished.

"They say Brother Fang is a Chaos Body—can a Chaos Body also manifest Buddhist mysteries?"

Yao Yuekong found it unbelievable.

"I've only heard bits and pieces; I understand nothing of Buddhism's cause and effect."

Fang Yu smiled.

He truly knew nothing of the Second-Ranked Great Cause-and-Effect Art among the Three Thousand Dao Paths—he'd never had the chance to obtain it.

But to others, this sounded like Fang Yu's humility—too humble, too much hiding his true ability.

They moved past this topic and spoke of other things.

Soon, the Great Xia Imperial Prince revealed his true name: Xia Yiming; the little white-nun was named Xia Yilin; after becoming familiar, they addressed each other casually.

The gathering buzzed with clinking cups and platters of delicacies, all rare treasures.

"Brother Xia, you've gone too far—this dish is Divine Phoenix Wing! Made from a bird king with partial Divine Phoenix blood, condensed with its entire essence; if a cultivator ate it, it could elevate him one minor realm."

Yao Yuekong pointed at the dish, praising endlessly, as if unable to believe Xia Yiming had gone to such lengths.

Divine Phoenix Wing—this dish required five hundred jin of Source!

Pang Bo took a bite and found it truly delicious; he even felt his recent cultivated foundation beginning to loosen, sensing he wouldn't be long before preparing to break through to Wu Wu Zhongtian.

"Divine Phoenix Wing? Is there a Heavenly Peng Wing? We once encountered a bird-man, incredibly arrogant—of course, he was subdued by Brother Fang."

Pang Bo devoured the Divine Phoenix Wing, eating heartily as he asked.

"There used to be a Heavenly Peng Banquet, but the Old Peng King made such a commotion over it that the dish was ultimately canceled."

Pang Bo opened his mouth, utterly speechless.

"Heavenly Peng Wings, I'm not all that interested. What I'd really like is to try some Enlightenment Tea — they say even some of the great powers have attained enlightenment because of it."

Tu Fei spoke up.

"Enlightenment Tea — it's not that easy to come by. In all of the Eastern Wasteland there's only one Enlightenment Tea tree, and every year it's considered good going to gather a little over thirty leaves. Heaven knows how many pairs of eyes are watching it — what chance would we have?"

Yao Yuekong shook his head. "You have to understand, the Enlightenment Tea tree grows within the Undying Mountain, and that's a forbidden zone of life. Any ordinary person who enters is doomed. Only by every kind of method can they transmit out a little over thirty leaves."

"Undying Mountain."

The three words rolled around in Fang Yu's mouth. There were indeed experts within this Undying Mountain, so one could not enter lightly.

"That place doesn't seem far from Holy Cliff, does it?"

Ye Fan asked.

"Indeed, it's not very far off."

Yao Yuekong glanced at Ye Fan, as though he hadn't expected Ye Fan to actually know the name Holy Cliff.

"They say Holy Cliff is a cliff that someone, with world-shaking power, sliced clean out of Undying Mountain. There's a great terror there too — no one dares to enter it casually. Of those who go in, eight or nine out of ten perish."

Yao Yuekong truly lived up to being the young lord of the Heavenly Demon Palace — he knew many hidden things.

"But Brother Fang's Source Arts are simply too astonishing. Today, cutting stones that shook the whole of Shengcheng — I wonder how on earth you cultivated them."

As everyone raised their cups and talked merrily, the question finally came up — this was something every one of them wanted to know.

Whether it was Yao Yuekong, or the Imperial Prince of Great Xia, or Jiang Yifei of the Jiang family, they were all extremely curious.

Five attempts, and every single one yielded a rare treasure — was there such a thing under heaven?

If this Brother Fang were to make the rounds of the stone workshops of every great holy land, wouldn't he be able to amass an endless number of rare treasures in no time at all?

"There are rumors of Source Art families in the Eastern Wasteland. Could Brother Fang be from one of them? Could Brother Fang be a successor of a Source Master?"

Yao Yuekong asked curiously.

Fang Yu shook his head.

"When I examine stones I need nothing else — I simply read the qi."

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