Chapter 304: Twelve Grottos of Nanxiang City

The night was like ink, the stars brilliant, scattered like fragments of glass crushed by a deity, falling in all directions, weaving the heavenly stars into a flowing, splendid tapestry.

Hua Changxi, who had been feeling heavy-hearted because the All-Heavens Star Disk had drained some kind of energy from her body, was also stunned by this magnificent sight.

Gazing at the stars that seemed "within arm's reach," Hua Changxi, who had fallen to the ground, involuntarily reached out her hand.

Reach out and pluck the stars!

It seemed that if she just stretched a little further, she could touch the stars in the sky.

Of course, this was only an illusion of Hua Changxi's.

Hua Changxi quickly snapped out of her shock, and then noticed that the entire firmament seemed to be drawn by some invisible force, as all the stars began to reverse their rotation and shift.

Soon, celestial patterns emerged.

Above the dome of heaven, the starry wall spread like a curtain.

In the east, the stars emitted a hazy cyan glow; among the dancing starlight, a cyan dragon seemed to be lurking, the entire star field exuding vibrant life.

In the south, the stars sparkled like blood jade, coalescing into the form of a fire bird; flames streamed with light, as if burning with an eternal fire, even the darkness was scorched into warm red, and even the star tracks carried burn marks.

In the west, a white tiger seemed to tread upon the stars as it approached; the star wind howled like blades, and even the stars carried the murderous aura of metal.

In the north, a ferocious beast with a serpent's body coiled around a tortoise's back crouched in the starry abyss, stirring the flow of star energy to form small stellar vortexes; all the stars revolved around the beast, as if time itself had frozen, even the speed of falling stars slowed by half. [smile]

Hua Changxi felt as if her soul had been sucked into the celestial pattern; in a trance, she heard the low chanting of the Four Spirits: "Azure Dragon governs life, Vermilion Bird governs flame, White Tiger governs slaughter, Black Tortoise governs stillness. With the four symbols cycling, the stars will never fall."

Hua Changxi's mind went completely blank; when her eyes regained clarity, the striking Four Spirits celestial pattern in the night sky had already dissolved. All she could see was a patch of cyan in the eastern sky, a cluster of red light in the southern sky, golden light blazing in the western sky, and a stretch of cold silence in the northern sky.

Recalling what she had just witnessed, Hua Changxi swallowed saliva, then braced her hands on the ground to stand up.

It was only then that she realized the Qin'guang Tower beneath her had changed dramatically.

The "ground" beneath her, made of an unidentifiable material, faintly shimmered with starlight; whenever she moved, starry patterns like cobwebs would light up on the "ground," as if an ancient formation were awakening in the dark night.

Hua Changxi shivered and suddenly realized that she seemed to have done another "big thing."

"Am I really the Chosen One of fate?"

If not, why did these major disturbances always find her?

However, regarding this so-called Chosen One of fate, Hua Changxi maintained an attitude of keeping her distance.

Fame is a burden, just like a pig growing fat invites slaughter; she just wanted to cultivate her own path quietly, without attracting too much attention.

"Hope today's incident won't bring me any trouble!"

Hua Changxi scrambled to her feet, ready to make a run for it.

But as soon as she stood up, she froze.

From this height, the entire capital city lay spread out before her eyes.

Hua Changxi's heart suddenly began to pound; compared to the shock of the Four Spirits celestial pattern just now, the myriad household lights she now saw seemed to touch her heart even more deeply.

"Little friend Hua, drip a few drops of essence blood into the All-Heavens Star Disk—you might gain an unexpected harvest."

Just as Hua Changxi was immersed in the warmth of human affection among those countless lights, a male voice entered her ears.

Hua Changxi snapped back to attention. Who? Who was speaking to her?

"That voice just now—was it a telepathic transmission technique?"

Who was sending her a telepathic message?

Hua Changxi looked around, then finally bent down to look below, and only then did she notice two figures on the tall building of the Celestial Department, as well as one person on the Tower of Time in the distance.

Among the three, she knew Wei Zhenjie, but she had never seen the other two.

She had dealt with Wei Zhenjie before; she could recognize his voice. So, the telepathic message just now must have been sent by one of the other two.

Hua Changxi noticed that the person with Wei Zhenjie had a tortoise shell in front of him; she immediately guessed that person was most likely the Master of the Qin'guang Tower. As for the person on the Tower of Time, that should be the Master of the Tower of Time.

The Master of the Tower of Time probably couldn't send a message to the Qin'guang Tower, so the one who sent her the telepathic message could only be the Master of the Qin'guang Tower.

"Drip blood into the All-Heavens Star Disk?"

The moment Hua Changxi thought about how the All-Heavens Star Disk had previously drained some kind of energy from her body, she felt a strong aversion.

However, Wei Zhenjie had helped her before and bore her no ill will, so it was unlikely that the Lord of Qintian Tower, who was with Wei Zhenjie, would scheme against her.

"Want to give it a try?"

The Lord of Qintian Tower deliberately transmitted a voice message. Hua Changxi was still somewhat tempted. While hesitating, her gaze swept over the serpent demon's body. Her eyes suddenly brightened, and she took out a gourd ladle to collect a ladleful of the serpent demon's essence blood.

"Let's try using the serpent demon's essence blood first."

After collecting the serpent demon's essence blood, Hua Changxi walked over to the Zhou Tian Star Plate and saw that it had also changed.

Earlier, when she looked at the Zhou Tian Star Plate, it was just a flat white jade table. But now, though its shape had not changed, it had become 'three-dimensional' — clearly having boundaries, yet giving one a sense of vast boundlessness.

Hua Changxi used her spiritual power to drip the serpent demon's essence blood onto the Zhou Tian Star Plate.

One drop, two drops, three drops...

As soon as the serpent demon's essence blood fell onto the Zhou Tian Star Plate, it disappeared — as if... absorbed?

Unfortunately, after Hua Changxi dripped over a dozen drops of the serpent demon's essence blood, the Zhou Tian Star Plate showed no reaction at all.

Seeing this, Hua Changxi, who still remembered she needed to flee quickly, grew too lazy to drip it in one drop at a time. She directly poured all the collected serpent demon essence blood in at once.

At this point, the Zhou Tian Star Plate finally showed some reaction.

A brilliant white light blazed within the Zhou Tian Star Plate, and a continent emerged in its central region. In the northwest area of that continent, dozens of rugged mountain ranges crisscrossed each other, and then spiritual light gathered above those mountains.

The spiritual light twisted and transformed into four characters: "Shi Wan Da Shan."

The moment the characters formed, the four words "Shi Wan Da Shan" burst apart. The next moment, those mountain ranges also vanished, followed by the continent itself.

"Shi Wan Da Shan?"

Hua Changxi guessed that continent was the Central Continent, but she did not know what kind of place the "Ten Thousand Mountains" was. She noted it down, planning to find an opportunity to ask Tong Yao, Jing Yan, and Zhenzhen.

Seeing that the serpent demon's essence blood could make the Zhou Tian Star Plate reveal the continent's topography, Hua Changxi gritted her teeth, used spiritual power to cut her finger, and carefully dripped one drop onto the Zhou Tian Star Plate.

With that single drop, the Zhou Tian Star Plate lit up with white light.

The Central Continent appeared again, and in its southern region, a magnificent red palace emerged — Lingguang Hall.

Seeing Lingguang Hall, Hua Changxi was stunned. Could it be that the Zhou Tian Star Plate was revealing places connected to her?

When she saw the white light inside the Zhou Tian Star Plate beginning to flicker, Hua Changxi thought it might be low on energy, so she quickly dripped another drop of essence blood into it.

After that drop of essence blood landed, nothing appeared this time, but the white light grew even stronger.

Hua Changxi hesitated for a moment, then dripped more essence blood onto the Zhou Tian Star Plate. This time, she was not stingy and dripped several drops at once.

More blood drops brought clear benefits.

Inside the Zhou Tian Star Plate, a stretch of firelight appeared below Lingguang Hall.

Then, other things began to appear within the firelight.

First came a grove of parasol trees, followed by Suiren Valley, Karma Fire Platform, Fire Cloud Cave, Nine Heavens Fire Spring, Red Flame Mountain, Flame Rock Grotto, Zhurong Tomb, Li Fire Cliff, and Ghost Fire Well.

Taking Lingguang Hall as the starting point, when these places were connected, they exactly outlined the pattern of a firebird.

Hua Changxi was stunned: "This is... the Vermilion Bird Totem!"

At the heart of the Vermilion Bird Totem stood a majestic city — Nanxiang City.

Behind Nanxiang City, there was also a fire pool that flickered on and off — the Nirvana Pool.

Hua Changxi remembered the locations she had recorded where spatial fluctuations were evident, and they matched exactly with the sites revealed by the Zhou Tian Star Plate.

These places should be what Tong Yao referred to as blessed lands and cave heavens.