Chapter 328: Exploring the Mysterious Whale, the Splitting Sea Ruins?

The intelligence of this Mysterious Whale Spirit may not necessarily surpass that of Little Squeak.

Suspended at the mountain peak, staring at the jumbled text on the stone stele, after several attempts, Li Yuan had to admit this point.

It has a spirit, but not much.

"That's fine too."

Li Yuan indicated he could accept it quite well — if this Mysterious Whale Spirit truly possessed extraordinary wisdom, he would instead be unable to sleep.

Being stupid also has its advantages.

"... Afraid... talent not enough... can't enter..."

Not only stupid, but also very rigid.

Li Yuan shook his head inwardly — just these few phrases over and over, right?

"Can't enter where? At least let me try, won't you?"

Li Yuan looked toward the back of the mountain, at the grand and solemn palace complex — this must be what the Mysterious Whale Spirit was referring to?

"... Can't... can't enter the... Eight... Eight Directions... Temple..."

"Huh? Where? Eight Directions Temple?"

Li Yuan was startled, recalling the ancient temple in the painting that the Dragon Demon Daoist had repeatedly tried to enter during his last listening to the Heavenly Sound.

That should be the Eight Directions Temple, right?

This hammer...

"Enter the Eight Directions Temple? How to enter? Talent? Why enter the Eight Directions Temple? Where is that temple?"

Li Yuan fired off questions like a rapid-fire cannon.

The Mysterious Whale Spirit's answer was incoherent and jumbled:

"... Can't enter... will die... talent, talent not enough... Eternal-grade talent... truly acknowledge master..."

"Can't enter the Eight Directions Temple, who will die? You? Entering that temple requires Eternal-grade talent?"

Li Yuan deciphered for quite a while, and faced with his successive questions, the Mysterious Whale Spirit's answers seemed utterly chaotic.

After a good while, he barely managed to sort it out:

"Eternal-grade talent, I have it."

Wait!

Li Yuan realized that he currently did not have the Splitting Sea Mysterious Whale Hammer in hand, and thus did not have the four Eternal-grade talents blessing him.

"You must have Eternal-grade talent before you can completely acknowledge a master?"

After figuring out what this hammer meant, Li Yuan felt somewhat bewildered.

Wielding the hammer prevents communication with it; communicating with it prevents wielding it; lacking the Eternal-grade talent that meets its master-acknowledging conditions.

"... You, don't have."

Li Yuan sighed.

The benefits of being stupid are obvious, but the drawbacks are also great — it can't understand speech. He wanted to explain but had no way to do so.

With intelligence not even matching a mouse, how could it understand such tongue-twisting words?

"Since my talent is insufficient, why did you summon... me earlier?"

Li Yuan was rather speechless — this hammer was rigid to an infuriating degree. Having been locked in a small dark room, it still dared to look down on his talent?

"... Want to come out... then seek a master..."

Li Yuan nearly burst out laughing — this hammer was not only stupid but also had beautiful delusions.

However, he didn't bother arguing with this hammer. Through repeated questioning, he gradually managed to guess a few things:

"Perhaps it's not that this hammer is stupid, but that talent is a master-acknowledging rule it must obey?"

As a Weapon-Forging Grandmaster, Li Yuan had some guesses. Although he couldn't understand for the moment how this was achieved, it was clear that the Mysterious Whale Hammer, already terrified of being locked in a small dark room, could not defy it.

"Still need to stack talents?"

Since wielding the Splitting Sea Mysterious Whale Hammer, Li Yuan had abandoned the idea of stacking talents. Now it seemed he might still need to stack some.

As for that Eight Directions Temple...

"What benefits could a place the Dragon Demon Daoist died trying to enter possibly hold?"

Daoist Li's imagination ran wild, but right now he had no such intention — the Dragon Demon Daoist was a legendary figure who had undergone Ten Thousand Transformations, a Supreme Grandmaster.

Such a figure died in there — how would he dare go join the fun?

As if sensing Li Yuan's foul mood, the Mysterious Whale Spirit behaved itself quite well.

"Hoo!"

After pondering for a while, Li Yuan simply sat cross-legged before the stone stele to communicate with the Mysterious Whale Spirit.

The communication itself was halting and stumbling, but through question and answer, Li Yuan also figured out the differences and benefits between his current state and truly acknowledging the Mysterious Whale Hammer as master.

Of course, half of it was extracted and deduced by him from the Mysterious Whale Spirit's chaotic answers.

It seemed... there wasn't too much impact?

Li Yuan stroked his chin.

As long as the Mysterious Whale Spirit cooperated, his control over this Mysterious Whale Mi Jing would greatly increase — he could even make it cover the outside like the Nurturing Furnace Mi Jing.

Using this to plant spirit rice, spirit herbs, and the like.

Additionally, he could mobilize the omnipresent Mysterious Whale Qi within this Mysterious Whale Mi Jing.

The drawback was that before truly acknowledging the master, he couldn't see the second layer of wielding conditions and effects.

Buzz—

At a thought from Li Yuan, the surrounding Mysterious Whale Qi gathered, and in an instant transformed into a phantom wearing a ghost-face mask.

"This must be the principle behind the Dragon Tiger Pagoda, right?"

Li Yuan stood up and paced; with every step he took, the figure before him shifted accordingly—but only those who had once braved the Inverted Mountain.

He tried to "copy" Long Xi Xiang, and failed miserably.

"Entering the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing Mi Jing is a prerequisite; without a reflection source, the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing Qi has no way to take form. Besides, there are requirements for visualization."

Li Yuan tried for quite a while, only stopping when his spirit was somewhat exhausted.

After that, he carried the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing Hammer and turned to walk toward the palace complex that stood at the rear mountain, which he had long been curious about.

Outside this grand, desolate palace complex, there was a layer of invisible barrier that Li Yuan could not break even with all his strength, but with the cooperation of the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing Spirit, this barrier naturally could not block his steps.

Whoo—

After passing through the invisible barrier, Li Yuan only felt a slight chill in his heart, and an indescribable desolate aura rushed toward him.

"This feeling, it's a bit like that Long Mo Daoist…"

Li Yuan reacted quickly, but an inexpressible sourness still welled up in his heart.

He didn't need to think—he was surely already crying all over his face.

This was practically a spiritual attack!

Li Yuan grumbled inwardly. After adapting for quite a while, he finally walked under that hundred-meter-tall gate; both sides and the top of the gate were covered in characters he couldn't understand.

"What characters are these?"

Li Yuan asked.

He only heard two clacking sounds, and a stone tablet rose from the ground:

"Li… Liehai Divine Script."

Just as expected.

Li Yuan understood in his heart. He had previously gone to the library specifically to look for books, but none of the scripts could correspond to it.

"What does it say on it?"

"…Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing Gate…"

"Such a huge piece, and you tell me three characters?"

"…There are only three characters on it."

At the very top of the mountain gate, it looked like there were only three characters?

"I must have asked imprecisely."

Li Yuan felt that dealing with this hammer could drive him to death; it was even worse than amnesia.

"What is the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing Gate? A sect?"

Li Yuan asked patiently.

"Yes."

This time the answer came quickly.

"A sect from where?"

"Liehai Star."

Li Yuan's heart stirred:

"What is Liehai Star? Where is it?"

"Liehai Star is Liehai Star… at… here."

Here?

Li Yuan was stunned. After sweeping a glance at this palace complex, he finally understood the hammer's abstract answer.

The Liehai Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing Hammer was a Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing forged from the core of Liehai Star, so naturally, saying Liehai Star was here made sense.

"What about the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing Gate?"

"The Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing Gate is a sect."

Li Yuan was instantly speechless. He couldn't be bothered to ask what was written on the pillars on either side either. He lifted his foot and passed through the mountain gate, and just at this moment, he felt as if a gust of cool wind had blown past.

Before him, another stone tablet rose from the ground, its surface covered in characters resembling decorative patterns.

"Can't understand it."

Li Yuan squeezed the hammer. Only then did the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing Hammer Spirit belatedly realize, and rose a stone tablet of the same size to give an explanation:

【Trial Taker.】

【Talent: Dragon Among Men, Phoenix Among Women】

【Divine Endowment: Mid-Lower】

【Eligible for Outer Gate Trial.】

"Talent, Divine Endowment, Outer Gate Trial?"

Li Yuan frowned. Talent he could understand, but what was this Divine Endowment? What was it measuring?

Li Yuan asked when he didn't understand.

This time the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing Hammer Spirit answered quickly:

"Divine Endowment: that is, Divine Gift."

?

"That's it?"

Li Yuan suddenly began to miss conversing with normal people; it gave him a bit of a headache. He would provisionally treat this as another way of saying Root Bone.

"Outer Gate Trial?"

Li Yuan was of course very familiar with this. Just then, he noticed that as the stone tablet rose, clusters of hazy mist rose all around, enveloping the palace complex within.

Only a narrow path wide enough for one person to pass through was left.

【The Path to the Outer Gate Trial】

"The Shan Xuan Jing Gate's trial for accepting outer disciples? Only those at the peak of humanity can join the outer sect?"

Li Yuan was somewhat curious, but he didn't step forward; instead, he took a step back and silently activated the augmentation of the three Thunder Dragon Jun Heaven Hammers within the Zhang Bing Lu.

Hum～

With the familiar augmentation upon him, Li Yuan once again walked through that gateway, and the words on the stone stele changed by two lines accordingly.

One line was talent; "peak of humanity" disappeared, replaced by "world-shaking talent."

The outer sect trial location also changed to the inner sect trial.

"The threshold is this high?"

Li Yuan raised an eyebrow. World-shaking talent—at the present generation of Longhu Temple, only he and Long Long Xinglie had it. Such talent could only enter the inner sect trial?

"What's above the inner sect?"

Li Yuan inquired.

The Shan Xuan Jing Hammer answered:

"True Inheritance."

"Millennium-grade talent is required to become a True Inheritance disciple? This Shan Xuan Jing Gate's threshold really isn't low."

Li Yuan clicked his tongue in wonder. Judging solely from this trial, this Shan Xuan Jing Gate must once have been an extremely glorious major sect.

"Yes."

The Shan Xuan Jing Spirit suddenly popped out with a line: "You, do not have Millennium-grade talent…"

"Who says I don't?"

Being looked down upon repeatedly by this hammer, Daoist Li immediately felt a surge of anger.

He decisively exited the Shan Xuan Jing Mi Jing, and on the gray stone platform tossed the Shan Xuan Jing Hammer up.

Ignoring its wail of lament, he entered the Shan Xuan Jing Mi Jing once more and quickly arrived before that mountain gate.

"The talent is there, but the 'guide' is gone."

Li Yuan first memorized the unfamiliar words on the stone stele in his heart, then activated the Zhang Bing Lu.

Hum～

The familiar augmentation descended. Li Yuan sighed in comfort, feeling as if the fog before his eyes had thinned. Then, he stepped forward.

Whooo～

It seemed a gale suddenly descended, blowing the surrounding fog into a churning mass.

The passage within the fog vanished in an instant, and the words on the stone stele changed accordingly. Though still the flower-pattern script he couldn't read, he could see the difference.

The talent line and the trial line both turned gold, dazzlingly radiant.

"This, should be the True Inheritance trial, right?"

Looking at those two lines of gleaming golden text, though he couldn't read them, Li Yuan's mood improved considerably. But he didn't rush into that newly appeared foggy passage.

Instead, with a shift of thought, he took the Shan Xuan Jing Hammer off again.

Boom!

Mm, just as expected.

Seeing the words exactly as he had guessed, Li Yuan nodded in satisfaction. Toting the little hammer that was still trembling on its own, he strode into that True Inheritance trial passage.

Whooo~

Walking slowly through the passage, Li Yuan surveyed his surroundings. From outside the passage, it was just fog, but once inside, he discovered that the passage walls were covered in all sorts of wondrous patterns.

Similar to the previous script, yet different—and occasionally, some simple drawings could be seen.

"Is this Wu Gong?"

Li Yuan examined it curiously.

"No."

Within the passage, the Shan Xuan Jing Hammer's answer appeared directly.

One question, one answer—Li Yuan was already used to it. He casually asked a few more questions, then noticed the passage beginning to tremble, seemingly urging him on, so he quickened his pace.

Hum～

The passage wasn't long, perhaps only eleven or twelve li. Li Yuan sped up slightly and was already through.

Beyond the passage, his view suddenly opened up.

Li Yuan looked around. This was a concave-shaped arena, very spacious in the center, with what looked like various seats around the edges?

"An arena?"

Li Yuan tapped his foot and leaped nearly a hundred meters. He quickly scanned the surroundings. Just as he had guessed, the high platforms around the edges were all seats.

As he landed, the Shan Xuan Jing Hammer, without waiting to be asked, proactively displayed:

"This is the True Inheritance trial ground… Shan Xuan Jing Gate disciples fought fiercely here, vying for the position of True Inheritance."

Whoo～

It seemed wind blew from all around. Longhu Longhu Dandan mist rose from somewhere unknown, shrouding the high platforms around the edges.

"Wah!"

Li Yuan whipped his head around. Shouts he couldn't understand came from behind, then from all directions, growing from faint to a roar like mountains and tidal waves.

He squinted and looked. Through the hazy mist, he seemed to see countless blurred figures—some sitting, some standing, some tall, some short.

Without exception, everyone was cheering.

And what had drawn their cheers—

Li Yuan looked toward the opposite side. A tall figure, likewise shrouded in mist, slowly walked out from the passage, dragging a weapon at least six meters long, similar to a Fang Tian Halberd.

From several li away, Li Yuan already felt an immense pressure.

"At least Grandmaster level, and Millennium-grade!"