Chapter 440: 415 Hongyao

Tang Zhao turned his head abruptly, but did not see the massive phantom of the Immortal Palace he had imagined on the horizon. Just as he was feeling puzzled, he saw a corner of an eave peeking out from amidst a stretch of gorgeous clouds.

It was merely a corner.

Under the reflection of the rosy clouds, the eave was a faint gold, as if cast from crystal-clear glazed glass; it was more lustrous than gold, more brilliant than jade, both magnificent and elegant.

Although it was half-hidden, for some reason, everyone had already imagined a magnificent palace.

"Fly over there, fly over there quickly!"

Black Widow muttered urgently.

Everyone thought the same, but the direction was only in the control of that flower; no one could rush it.

Fortunately, the flower was destined to fly toward the Huayuan eventually. Amidst everyone's expectant gazes, the flower drifted upward, revealing the full appearance of the roof.

There was a pavilion on the clouds.

It was truly just a pavilion.

It was not a vast sea of clouds, but only a small fragment of cloud about two or three zhang in circumference. On the cloud sat a small pavilion, which appeared to be made entirely of wood. It had no extra wood lacquer applied, retaining the color that raw wood should have; only the tiles on the roof became shimmering under the reflection of the clouds.

Whether it was the psychological effect of the group or not, they only felt that this small pavilion was built with exquisite beauty—no, it should be called art.

Although its style was similar to the pavilions commonly seen, the details were more delicate, and the lines were extremely smooth and incomparably harmonious. If a drop of dew were to slide down from the top of the pavilion, along the roof ridge and the pillars, and land on the ground, the droplet probably wouldn't even shatter. It stood there like a beauty—fresh, serene, and alive.

Beside the pavilion, there were a few peony plants, standing tall and graceful in the wind and dew. In front of the pavilion was a line of stone path that extended outward.

However, that stone path extended no more than two zhang before it abruptly broke off at the edge of the cloud. The break was as if cut by a knife or struck by an axe, ending suddenly, leaving only countless room for imagination, letting everyone envision that the end of this stone path was originally the magnificent "Five Towers and Twelve Cities".

This was not an Xiancheng; this was a fragment broken off from an Xiancheng, like a piece of ice fallen from an iceberg, becoming an isolated island drifting in the blue void.

It both revealed a glimpse of the prosperity of the Xiancheng and recorded the fragmentation after that catastrophe.

"Sigh..."

Black Widow let out a sigh. It was unclear whether she was sighing at that legendary disaster, or sighing that she had yet to find her target, and this drifting, uncertain journey was still far from its end.

But looking at the bright side, since they had seen a fragment, it meant the Xiancheng truly existed, and was not just a pale text in a pile of old papers, much less the illusory dream bubble everyone had imagined.

Tang Zhao, on the other hand, thought of the Suiyu. The Suiyu was shattered into pieces just like this, and becoming increasingly fragmented, with no one knowing if there would ever be a day it could be pieced back together. That Xiancheng also came from the Sword Domain and had now suffered such a calamity; was being shattered the destiny of these Small Worlds?

This seemed to be foreshadowing something in the dark.

Tang Zhao felt a faint sense of defiance in his heart. He did not like this feeling of a helpless slide toward destruction and always wanted to do something.

Perhaps feeling that it had recognized the wrong person, the white flower drifted over the pavilion without any intention of landing or approaching it. It seemed it was only taking everyone to tour a small, miniature landscape.

At this moment, a thought stirred in Tang Zhao's mind. He pulled on the silk thread, jumped down, and landed beside the pavilion.

With this pull, the force increased, and the white flower immediately froze in the air, floating motionless.

Seeing him suddenly jump off to the pavilion—presumably to investigate for clues—Black Widow and the others paid attention simultaneously. Yue Lai remained still, but Black Widow wanted to follow him down. Tang Zhao hurriedly waved his hand, signaling her not to move either.

This pavilion was an entirely unknown territory; who knew what dangers remained? As a Sword Guest, he could only say he would try his best to protect himself, so Black Widow should not come down to take risks.

Shangguan Jianke at the very top also wanted to come down, but his thumb was still locked, so he was willing but unable. He only watched Tang Zhao intently, waiting to see if he would find anything valuable or if he would move to snatch it.

Therefore, the only one who came down with Tang Zhao was the white fox.

The white fox landed almost at the same time as Tang Zhao. Unlike Tang Zhao, who was cautiously looking around, it ran into the pavilion on its own, jumped onto the railing, and said wistfully, "Hongyao Ting."

Tang Zhao looked up but did not see a plaque on the pavilion. He thought: Hongyao, is it peony? Is it named because two peonies were planted in front of the pavilion?

He wanted to ask, but at this moment, everyone above had their eyes fixed on him, making it inconvenient to talk to the white fox in the Void. He only walked around inside and outside the pavilion, stopping at every step to observe the details.

After walking this circle, he could only say: It really is a pavilion.

This pavilion looked just like those in gardens, and the stone path was also like a courtyard's stone path. Whether looking at it or touching it, there was nothing special; it was merely smoother and more exquisite.

He had long known from books that every blade of grass and every tree in the Xiancheng was woven from silk threads. He even held a silk thread in his hand and knew its texture, but no matter what, he could not detect that this pavilion and the stone path were made of silk threads.

If he couldn't tell with the pavilion, he could tell even less with the flowers.

Just as Tang Zhao was about to look at the peony flower, he saw the white fox lean in and bury its face completely into the large flower head.

Tang Zhao couldn't help but say, "Is it a man-eating flower?" Was this flower alive, like a Venus flytrap, sucking it in and sticking it fast?

The white fox raised its head and asked in confusion, "How did you come up with that?" It was naturally unharmed and said, "I was just smelling to see if it was fragrant."

When it said this, it piqued Tang Zhao's interest. After all, these things were all fake, and so were the flowers. Would such a lifelike peony have a scent?

He also leaned in to smell it, but there was no delicate fragrance of a peony, which made him feel slightly melancholy. In an instant, that fresh and dripping peony flower faded quite a bit in his heart, no longer having that "vivid and fragrant" feeling of a real flower.

But thinking about it, if it were a real flower, how could it bloom without ever fading? Just like this pavilion, it had remained clean and elegant for so many years; although broken, there were no signs of decay. All of this discarded the laws of nature, revealing a "thievish glint" of a fake.

The white fox said regretfully, "In our Baiyujing, birds had bird-songs, and flowers had flower-scents. It is just that Big Sister and Second Sister are no longer here, so whether it is flowers or grass, nothing is as it once was."

Tang Zhao felt a stir in his heart: Hearing it say this, were the Sword Intent of the other two Sword Heroes affiliated with Baiyujing related to sound and scent? This was a supplement. It seemed that the Ruyi Sword constructed the world, and the other two swords added elements, together making Baiyujing closer to reality.

As for the white fox...

The white fox's sword was a bit idealistic. Tang Zhao guessed that it was probably responsible for making those who were in it trust the scene more?

After checking every inch of the pavilion, Tang Zhao was certain there was nothing left to see here, nor were there any useful clues. He prepared to return and continue drifting with some melancholy.

At this time, the white fox said wistfully, "Take the Hongyao Ting with us. Let's all go back to Baiyujing together."

Tang Zhao was a bit surprised and thought: Take it away? How could he take away such a large pavilion? Storing it in a Time Jar was possible, but this was a fragment of an Immortal Sword's Sword Intent; taking it away rashly might...

Wait, it wasn't impossible!

A thought arose. Tang Zhao untied the silk thread from his wrist and tied it directly to the pavilion pillar, letting the white flower kite and the Hongyao Ting connect completely.

This move of his startled everyone. Shangguan Jianke scolded, "Nonsense! With this, no one can leave..."

Suddenly, a gentle radiance transmitted from both ends of the silk thread simultaneously. It was very faint, yet very lively, flickering in the middle of the silk thread before extinguishing.

It was as if two friends who had been separated for a long time had held hands for a moment and greeted each other at the same time.

Then, the clouds beneath the pavilion began to move.

The clouds were pulled by the silk thread hanging down from the flower, and they began to drift along with it in the wind.

It had actually started moving.

A flower pulling a pavilion was like an ant pulling a large cart. It looked so uncoordinated, but it had actually happened.

In that instant, the white fox's eyes were a little moist, and it said, "Hongyao is coming with us. So... everyone wants to go home."

Tang Zhao did not know if the white fox meant that this pavilion had a spirit, or if it was merely a rhetorical device; looking at the proportions of the white flowers and the pavilion, he suddenly felt a stir in his heart and said, "According to the proportions, the pavilion side should be the active one."

The white fox nodded and said, "With Sword Momentum of the same origin, the pavilion here is indeed the active one; it can even dismantle the flowers into silk threads and assimilate them as part of itself."

However, both the pavilion and the flowers were unconscious, so they would naturally not actively merge. He did not know if Meng Huazhou could be the master of those flowers, but in any case, the pavilion had nothing to do with Tang Zhao right now, and it simply would not listen to him.

But even so, the pavilion was neutral and not as fragile as the silk threads beneath the white flowers; moving from someone else's home field to a third-party venue was always better.

Tang Zhao raised his voice and said, "Everyone come down; what is the point of hanging onto the ropes? It is better to rest in the pavilion."

Black Widow's eyes lit up, and she was the first to slide down from the silk threads.

Among all of them, her cultivation was slightly inferior, and having drifted in the air for a long time, although she was not exhausted, she gradually began to feel uncomfortable, especially since she was not accustomed to high-altitude Flying; looking down made her feel dizzy, and several times she could not help but involuntarily imagine the scene of falling, so how could she not come to a place where she could stand on solid ground?

Over here, Yue Lai hesitated for a moment before sliding down as well; he was tired too, after all, the temptation of having a place to sit was truly great.

Tang Zhao glanced at Shangguan Jianke, but that Sword Guest swept a cold look downward and then held his head high, ignoring him. Tang Zhao stopped calling out to him; after all, he prided himself on being a senior and would never say the honest truth: "I'm hanging here and can't get down."

The three of them entered the pavilion and sat under the railings; Tang Zhao took out the flatbread and mutton soup stored in the Time Jar and shared them with the others. The flatbread was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and the mutton soup was piping hot and still steaming.

Black Widow naturally took it without ceremony and began to eat, while Yue Lai hesitated for a moment before taking the bread and eating it.

At this time, they were getting closer and closer to Cloud Immortal City, and it was time to replenish their energy. They did not know where they would eat their next meal. Tang Zhao himself also ate quite a bit.

The three sat around eating and drinking, with the aroma and heat rising upward; Shangguan Jianke watched from above with a face as dark as water, his gaze filled with anger.

Below him, a white fox crouched on the roof of the pavilion, turning its head to look toward the horizon.

On the horizon, the morning glow gradually dispersed, leaving only a stretch of azure darkness.

Night had descended.