Chapter 514: The Temple on the Mountain

【Grand Sacrifice！】

The great hall fell silent, every gaze converging upon the throne.

Emperor Qian frowned. Until today, the opinions of those present had never been so unanimous.

But······

Since someone could enter without the Grand Sacrifice, then this one····

Emperor Qian tapped the armrest lightly. Watching someone enter the Eight Directions Temple, his thoughts shifted as well.

Ancient records stated that the Grand Sacrifice carried risks, and not a single person had truly entered the Eight Directions Temple. Yet he had seen with his own eyes that the one who had not performed the Grand Sacrifice had entered the Eight Directions Temple by another method.

"Your Majesty!"

Seeing his hesitation, Huang Huang Longzi cupped his hands again and said: 【Someone opened the temple first, and the rest followed in— this is not something I imagined out of thin air,

my Poison Dragon Academy has records of such incidents.】

Huang Huang Longzi was very eager.

Before today, he had only wanted to fool these Da Yun court officials, seize the opportunity to capture the Spirit Turtle, and scrape together enough incense offerings to force his way out of this place.

But now, his hope for the Grand Sacrifice ran even higher than anyone else present.

Under everyone's gaze, after a moment of silence, Emperor Qian spoke. His expression was grave as he looked at Huang Huang Longzi:

【This one needs to know every piece of intelligence your Poison Dragon Academy has on the Eight Directions Temple and the Grand Sacrifice!】

【This····】

Feeling the gaze of everyone around him, Huang Huang Longzi's heart sank slightly. After a brief hesitation, he still nodded in agreement:

【That is only natural.】

He straightened his body, still hunched beneath the great umbrella, swept his gaze across the hall, and began: 【The Eight Directions Temple fell into our San Yuan Fa Jie domain three eons ago. At first it drew little attention, until one day a starfield collapsed and shattered, and only then was the Eight Directions Temple discovered···】

San Yuan Fa Jie domain, eons, starfields……

Wan Wan Zhuliu's eyes flickered, but he did not ask. He merely lowered his eyelids a fraction, concealing the silver light in his gaze, and listened intently.

Countless tens of thousands of years ago, the Eight Directions Temple fell into Tian Shi Yuan. At that time, all the clans and sects of Tian Shi Yuan, including the five great grotto-heaven holy lands such as my Poison Dragon Academy, were drawn to it. A terribly bloody great war erupted, and gods fell.

Recalling the records within the Academy, a heaviness rose in Huang Huang Longzi's heart, yet he was also deeply stirred. It was Emperor Qian who gathered his thoughts and spoke first,

asking about many matters.

The others followed, each raising their own questions.

Huang Huang Longzi answered every question, appearing to hold nothing back, displaying his sincerity in cooperating.

【The intelligence that the Eight Directions Temple is a cosmic marvel comes from Feng Jingcang.】

Lifting his teacup for a sip, Huang Huang Longzi also scanned his surroundings. Seeing that the crowd's expressions had not changed much, he cursed inwardly at these bumpkins' lack of worldly experience, and could only reveal a few secrets:

【Gentlemen, do you know that in our Tian Shi Yuan, a martial artist who enters the Dao lives five hundred years, and with the unity of three elements, a thousand years!】

A single stone stirred a thousand waves!

That one sentence from Huang Huang Longzi struck the hall far harder than anything before. Even the steady-tempered Wu Wu Yingxing

and Shen Shen Qisheng, who had been silent all along, both changed

expression.

【A thousand-year lifespan?】

A Grandmaster could live a thousand years!

【How could that be?!】

The hall erupted. For a group of Grandmasters who had lived just over a hundred years, nothing could be more shocking than this.

It worked!

Seeing the crowd in such a state, Huang Huang Longzi's heart settled. Striking while the iron was hot:

【I, Huang Huang Longzi, swear upon the Poison Dragon God— if there is a single false word, may I forever fall into the realm, lifetime after lifetime, never to be released!】

【Your Majesty, a thousand-year lifespan!】

【A Grandmaster gains a thousand years of life··· why do we only live two hundred? Could it be the Eight Directions Temple?】

The hall boiled over.

Only Emperor Qian and Wan Wan Zhuliu showed little change in expression. After a moment, it was still Emperor Qian who spoke, suppressing the clamor, and looked at Huang Huang Longzi: 【How is this lifespan limit to be broken?】

"These lord and minister truly know. The Cloud Demon clan, heh……"

Huang Huang Longzi's heart chilled slightly, but his voice remained calm: 【The limit on your lifespans stems from the Eight Directions Temple. If the Eight Directions Temple departs, it will naturally recover slowly.】

【The Eight Directions Temple will leave?】

Wan Wan Zhuliu's eyes darkened.

【Once the Eight Directions Temple opens, it will vanish— at minimum a hundred years, at most several hundred.】

Huang Huang Longzi paused briefly:

【If one could enter the temple, perhaps the limit could be broken at once— it is not known.】

【This······】

The people in the hall exchanged glances in pairs. Even someone as steady as Wu Wu Yingxing could not help but be moved.

For those in the hall, lifespan itself was the greatest blessing.

【Your Majesty.】

Shen Shen Qisheng rose.

The others rose as well, cupping their hands in salute.

Emperor Qian smoothed his brow: 【Granted!】

The instant the wooden door was pushed open, a flood of light and color rushed toward him. Li Yuan was briefly dazed, and when he opened his eyes, his vision felt incomparably vast.

The passage behind him was not narrow, yet it had felt oppressive.

But beyond this wooden door, there seemed to be another realm of heaven and earth!

Sea of clouds, great sun, gentle breeze, grass and trees, plains, rivers and lakes, mountain ranges.

All these sights entered his eyes, weaving together into a breathtakingly beautiful landscape painting.

【This place.】

Li Yuan looked around; the passage behind him stood open in mid-air, and looking back, there were also scenes of mountains, rivers, and vegetation, with the faint sounds of various birds and beasts calling.

Here, it was like a real world; he grabbed a handful from the ground, crushing the soil and grass into powder, yet it did not turn into true Qi.

【Really?】

Li Yuan focused his spirit intensely and switched to a set of Spirit-Enhancing Learning and Riding combinations, yet still felt not the slightest sense of discomfort or unnaturalness.

The world inside this temple was far more real than the Black Whale Mi Jing.

【Dong Tian Shi Fa Jie!】

The little female dragon's scream, though delayed, finally arrived; she gazed greedily at this world before her, lost in ecstasy and shock.

What can exist within the You Jing are either haunted lands or the divine realms of cultivators, yet this divine realm before them was clearly more vast than the Dong Tian recorded in her clan's annals.

The earth is boundless, the sky is vast, and the great sun hangs high, just like a real world!

No, a Dong Tian is a true world!

【Dong Tian.】

Ignoring the little female dragon who had fallen into madness, Li Yuan silently switched his Learning and Riding combinations, even mounting the Black Whale on them, holding only a single Black Whale Dou Chui.

A suit of armor, crimson as blood, instantly covered him from within.

Having just arrived in this place, the little female dragon was ecstatic and frenzied, but he felt only extreme danger; after all, he was not currently a body formed from Black Whale true Qi.

【Is that the Eight Directions Temple on the mountain?】

Li Yuan gazed into the distance.

Before him stood a high mountain lush with green vegetation, a mountain path winding like jade steps leading to the ancient temple at the very peak.

At first glance, it bore some resemblance to the Inverted Mountain within the Black Whale Mi Jing.

The difference was that within this mountain, besides vegetation, there were also various flying birds and running beasts, and indeed, he even spotted many spiritual herbs.

【Climb the mountain, climb the mountain!】

The little female dragon puffed up, wanting to fly toward the mountain peak, but let out a cry of agony as Li Yuan grabbed her tail.

by the tail.

Li Yuan flicked his wrist, instantly suppressing the little female dragon.

He cautiously touched that token, confirming he could retreat at any moment, before slowly walking toward the mountain path.

Until now, the call of the Eight Directions Temple had not ceased, growing even stronger; had he not forcibly suppressed it, he feared

he would have lost his mind just like that little female dragon.

【This place is likely very dangerous.】

Li Yuan was very cautious; this place seemed peaceful,

with flocks of birds and beasts in the mountains, but what was even more striking was the mountain path.

Or rather, the stone tablets densely packed along the mountain path, looking like tombstones at a glance.

Buzz~

Li Yuan focused his gaze; on the nearest stone tablet, the text he could not understand flowed like living beings, transforming into Great Destiny characters.

【Jail Dragon Tablet (14,236)】

【Eastern Realm, Challenger】

【Bloodline: Jail Clan】

【Realm: Three Heavens of the Spirit Palace】

【Talent Potential: Peerless】

【Divine Endowment Potential: Superior】

【Spiritual Aspect Potential: Divine Grade】

【Climbing One Hundred Steps, Comprehending the 'Eight Directions Map'】

【?!】

With just one glance, Li Yuan nearly broke out in cold sweat. 【A peerless grandmaster of the Peerless grade!】

Li Yuan stepped closer, scanning up and down, and when he confirmed he had not misread, his heart grew cold.

Except that his talent was not stacked as high as this one's, the figure on the tablet absolutely crushed him.

【Could it be that I have to fight this person?】

Li Yuan tightened his grip on the Dou Chui, looked upward; the stone tablets on the mountain path were as dense as a forest, and at a glance, there were at least several thousand, though he could not see the text upon them.

【Jail Clan!】

The little female dragon poked her head out from under his arm, her eyes filled with horror.

【You know?】

Li Yuan steadied his spirit, memorizing the text on the stone tablet one by one.

【The Jail Clan, who could not recognize them!】

The little female dragon was somewhat shocked:

【On the Three Enclosures and Ten Thousand Clans List, the Jail Clan ranks 139! Far stronger than that Cloud Demon Clan. Who is this Jail Dragon? Did he also enter the Eight Directions Temple?】

【How have I never heard of him?】

The princess of the Mirage Dragon Clan apparently possessed little knowledge...

Li Yuan silently scoffed inwardly but said nothing, waiting only until she finished her shock before asking:

"How high is this ranking?"

A ranking over one hundred on the Ten Thousand Races List is naturally very high, but exactly how high, Li Yuan could not imagine out of thin air.

"The Prison Dragon Clan's population is not prosperous; it is said that even at its peak, there were only tens of thousands, yet they ranked one hundred and thirty-ninth. Just think, what kind of powerful race is this?"

The little female dragon had already been defeated by this native boy's ignorance! "Then, what is our Human Race's ranking?"

Li Yuan asked aloud.

The little female dragon was suddenly speechless; after a pause, she lowered her head:

"First."

"First?"

Li Yuan stroked his chin and accepted it quickly; he had previously feared the Human Race's ranking was too low.

"You, you are different, different."

The little female dragon tried hard to explain, saying that the Human Race was only first because of their numbers, and their bloodline and physique were inferior to other great clans.

Li Yuan naturally ignored it.

The strength of a clan is naturally related to numbers, but to reach the top as first, it absolutely could not rely on numbers.