Chapter 460: 435 The Hidden Place

"Hmm?"

The firmament overhead suddenly split open, and a head poked out, which was truly quite startling.

Even though Tang Zhao was not lacking in courage, he still leaned back, and the white fox jumped onto Tang Zhao with a 'whoosh'.

But fortunately, he realized immediately that this was no ghost or monster; it was Aqin.

Although Aqin was upside down, she seemed unaffected by gravity; her hair did not hang down naturally, but instead hung behind her head as if she were upright. The benefit was that it didn't block her face, allowing her features to be seen clearly, but the downside was...

It was even more eerie!

"Aqin, where did you come from?"

After Ling Baoyu saw who it was, she poked her head out from behind Tang Zhao's shoulder and asked, then immediately realized: "You... came from upstairs?"

Although the Celestial Sphere Map looked infinite, as if it were higher than the sky, it was actually just one floor; the end of the Celestial Sphere Map was the ceiling.

And as for Aqin, if she had successfully reached the floor above, then her floor was the ceiling below; she only needed to open the floor to naturally poke her head out from the ceiling.

You ask how the ceiling opens?

Is this still Baiyujing or not?

As long as it is something woven from Cloud Silk, how could it not be opened? It could be hard when needed, soft when needed, whole when needed, and scattered when needed.

It was just that Tang Zhao hadn't expected this mysterious Celestial Sphere Map to also be woven from Cloud Silk.

The "Ruyi" in Ruyi Silk was not a hollow name; it was simply omnipotent.

Tang Zhao said: "Where did you go up from? You didn't go out first and then climb up along the outer wall of the building, did you?"

Yes, in fact, Tang Zhao had just thought of this method, because this method was the simplest.

Regardless of what kind of tall building Qianqiu Tower was, it only had that much space; from the outside, it was just floors stacked on top of each other. If you couldn't go up from the inside, couldn't you go up from the outside? Fly up and land directly on the roof, then walk down floor by floor.

Moreover, the pavilions were all woven from Cloud Silk; even the sturdiest obstacles could split open at any time to make way for the person in control.

This method was very simple, but the only fear was that there might be mechanisms on the building; descending from above might trigger restrictions and get one wiped out instantly. But Aqin was now effectively able to control Qianqiu Tower, so naturally, she could pass unimpeded.

Aqin said: "I originally thought so too, to climb up from the outside and then climb down from the roof. Then I went up, but there was nothing on the roof, just a bare terrace. I walked all four sides and didn't find anything strange at all. I even wondered if you were overthinking it? It's just a roof, just add a cover."

"So I planned to flip down directly and give you a scare."

Ling Baoyu said crossly: "Haven't you scared us now? I saw Tang Zhao get startled."

Tang Zhao chuckled, thinking to himself that it was as if she hadn't just bristled with fright herself.

Aqin said solemnly: "No, it scared *me*—underneath the terrace, above the Celestial Sphere Map, there is actually another floor! It is a true mezzanine; I have been here for so many years and never knew!"

Tang Zhao went "Oh" and said: "You are on the floor above us now? What is up there?"

Aqin said: "There is... you come up and see!"

As she spoke, she retracted, but that gap never closed.

Tang Zhao and Ling Baoyu looked at each other; Ling Baoyu scrambled up first, and Tang Zhao followed, using his Qi to support his base, slowly floating up.

There was indeed another floor above, much lower in height than the floor below, barely taller than a person—so low it was somewhat oppressive. Compared to the floor below which was filled with crystal windows, this floor had neither windows nor doors, counting as a true "dark room."

However, this floor was not dark at all; it was very bright.

At least after Tang Zhao came up, he only felt dazzled.

The four walls and the ceiling of this dark room were all carved with dense Rune Formulas! Those Rune Formula traces were flying and elegant, crisscrossing vividly, as if they were living dragons about to take flight, almost occupying the entire field of vision.

With Tang Zhao's current level as a Sword Guest, protected by his sword, ordinary Rune Formulas appeared as only faint traces to him. But every single Rune Formula here was shining with brilliance, flashing so brightly he thought they were rays of Sunlight embedded alive into the walls, impossible to look at directly.

This indicated that these Rune Formulas themselves contained extremely powerful elemental power; they might even have been injected with enough power to activate them when they were first carved, not comparable to ordinary Rune Formulas that automatically adsorbed elemental Qi from the air.

Furthermore, it also showed that the Rune Formulas themselves were powerful; ordinary Rune Formulas could not store power even if a massive amount was poured into them, as they could only store power equivalent to their own capacity limit.

"Are these Rune Formulas? Why does it make me dizzy?"

Ling Baoyu asked, somewhat dazed.

"Of course it will make you dizzy. Look closely, although this Rune Formula is carved on a flat wall, it is actually three-dimensional. Compressing a three-dimensional Rune Formula onto a two-dimensional plane will have such a distorted effect. And..."

As Tang Zhao spoke, he leaned in to look, and the more he looked, the more shocked he became, whispering: "No, this is not three-dimensional; one must also add the flow of the lines themselves, approximating the flow of time—this is four-dimensional..."

Ordinary Rune Formulas that could create Art Tools were all planar; one could write them on a sheet of paper, and even an apprentice could trace them; they could only be called low-level Rune Formulas. The next level up were three-dimensional, capable of creating Dharma Artifacts, which only truly inherited Talisman Sword Masters could master.

And the level above that...

That was the top-tier Rune Formula, climbing to the level of a Sword Immortal, surpassing the knowledge Tang Zhao possessed, and of course, surpassing the level of his master, Xue Xianyun.

Tang Zhao knew nothing of Rune Formulas at this level.

He had heard of them, but never seen them—where would he learn them?

This was his first time seeing such high-level Rune Formulas, and they were actually carved so brazenly on the wall? One must know that high-level knowledge was always monopolized and very difficult to obtain, relying solely on master-disciple inheritance within a sect or family.

His master had knowledge of Dharma Artifacts, so he could make friends who knew how to make Dharma Artifacts. Tang Zhao was his disciple, and at a young age, he could create Dharma Artifacts, and it was even relatively easy to obtain other inheritances of the same level.

But Xue Xianyun did not know high-level Rune Formulas, so he couldn't mingle in that high-level circle, and thus Tang Zhao couldn't even touch the edge of that level.

Without inheritance, no matter how outstanding your talent or how much your 'cheat' helps, you still cannot find the way in.

Therefore, seeing these unprecedented Rune Formulas, Tang Zhao was somewhat tempted; if he had seen them elsewhere, he would have had to study them thoroughly, perhaps even studying them for ten days or half a month at a stretch, and perhaps his attainment in Rune Formulas could reach a higher level.

It was just that now was not the time.

Ling Baoyu heard Tang Zhao speak so decisively and assumed he understood, so she asked: "What is the use of these Rune Formulas? Are they of any help to our situation?"

At this moment, hope gradually rose in her; in the whole world, apart from the sword, nothing was as miraculous as Rune Formulas, which could produce unexpected effects. This place was so secret that even she had never heard of it, and it was all used to store Rune Formulas, which showed how precious they were. These Rune Formulas had remained golden and brilliant after so many years; who could say they weren't the means left behind by His Highness to turn the tide?

Tang Zhao said helplessly: "How would I know..."

He had learned Rune Formulas quite well, but the field of Rune Formulas was vast and profound; would an advanced math student know functional analysis just like that? Wouldn't he still just stare blankly as if looking at a heavenly book?

But Tang Zhao also knew that perhaps the key to breaking the situation was hidden among these high-level Rune Formulas, so he still looked through them carefully from beginning to end, wanting to see if there were any Rune Formulas he could understand.

"Wait—are these Rune Characters?"

Below a golden, brilliant Rune Formula, there was actually a line of Rune Characters.

Rune Characters were simplified from Rune Formulas, removing their function and used only for recording; no matter how well written, they would not glow. This line of text was just black ink, not easily discovered amidst the radiance. If Tang Zhao hadn't been looking carefully, he would have overlooked it.

Tang Zhao knew Rune Characters, and as he read along, his heart skipped a beat.

Ling Baoyu saw his expression was unusual and asked, "What is it?"

Tang Zhao said, "The one who left the Rune Character is an 'acquaintance'."

Ling Baoyu thought for a moment and realized, "That drifting Bone? The messenger of Dongjun?"

The reason she thought this was because the last time she saw this kind of Rune Character was on a coffin.

Tang Zhao nodded. Although the Rune Characters were regular, they still had "handwriting" to speak of, and he recognized them at once.

It was indeed left by that old acquaintance who had written a long passage of "remorse."

And if one looked into it closely, it was reasonable.

Aqin had said that when she was hiding in Qianqiu Tower playing hide-and-seek, that woman was in front of the building. Although Aqin remembered she did not come in, who knew if she had snuck in later?

"So... the Rune Formula here was left by her? Besides being a messenger, is she also a very brilliant Talisman Sword Master?"

Ling Baoyu had no good feelings for that woman, nor for Dongjun, and was somewhat unwilling to acknowledge the other party's ability. She said, "But this secret chamber was built by His Highness; it couldn't have been created by her out of thin air. His Highness must have left something here, but now it is all gone. Could it be that the woman took it?"

Tang Zhao read those Rune Characters. It was a relatively long record, far exceeding the few characters on the coffin, and the amount of information was immense, making his heart churn incessantly.

Hearing Ling Baoyu's words, he turned his head and said, "These Rune Formulas were not just left by her. Only the ones on the walls were left by her; the ones on the ceiling were not."

The three of them looked up together. The ceiling was also carved with complex Rune Formulas, which were also glowing.

However... this light was not as bright as the light on the walls.

Although both were bright lights, if one looked at the ceiling's Rune Formulas alone, they were also bright, but compared to the ones on the walls, they were at least a level lower. Moreover, the Rune Formula on the ceiling lacked that water-like sense of flow, making it even less of a visual spectacle and more eclipsed, which even Ling Baoyu could see.

In other words, this Rune Formula was not as high-level as the ones on the walls.

That was why Tang Zhao could understand it.

Previously, the ones on the walls were easier to see, so Tang Zhao hadn't paid attention to the ceiling, but that messenger had recorded the process of her inscribing the runes on the wall and also mentioned that the original Master had left a Rune Formula on the ceiling. He couldn't help but look up, and then he understood the general idea.

If it weren't for the fact that this long text was too fierce, Tang Zhao should have been very excited to see these Rune Formulas.

"This should be the accompanying Rune Formula for the Celestial Sphere Map. It should be a contingency plan left by your Highness."

Tang Zhao explained, "Didn't I say before that if the space within the Celestial Sphere Map is real, we could use this map to go wherever we want?"

"Although the Celestial Sphere Map is virtual, this Rune Formula should be able to achieve that."

Tang Zhao looked up and laughed: "This is also my first time seeing a complete version of... a Large-scale Directional Teleportation Array, something that only exists in stories."