I come to see Bai Yujing today

Chapter 298 The Immortal Palace of the Sun and Moon
The confrontation between Shang Zhuqi and the mysterious man in black intensified, as if the sky was being torn in two by two completely different forces.

The moment the golden light collided with the black lotus, the void trembled and a thousand-foot-long, winding rift appeared, revealing the chaotic and unknown darkness behind it.

The man in black had an unwavering gaze, yet it caused the surrounding mountains to tremble and shed stones.

With a flick of his sleeves, nine black lotuses suddenly appeared behind him, their hearts radiating a cold, star-like light. Each lotus transformed into a chain, coiling around the Ten Dragon Lords, the number one in the Jade Palace.

Shang Zhuqi snorted coldly, and the Xuanjia Dragon Pattern suddenly lit up. Ten dragon shadows roared and soared into the sky, clashing with the Black Lotus Chains.

As the dragon roared and the lotus bloomed, the true essence of heaven and earth boiled like a cauldron. Even from a great distance, Chen Zhian had to circulate the Purple Yellow Green Sheep True Scripture, mobilize his true essence, and gather his blood energy to avoid being harmed by this boiling true essence.

"Crown Prince." Shang Zhuqi conjured a golden seal at his fingertips. The seal's inscription seemed to weigh a ton, causing the clouds below to collapse into an abyss: "This world will sooner or later bear the black dragon mark of my Great Qian Dynasty. Why do you have to struggle to hold on?"

Before the words were even finished, the golden seal crashed down on the man in black.

The latter suddenly dispersed like smoke and mist, and his true form appeared three inches behind Shang Zhuqi, pointing a finger at his heart.

This seemingly casual gesture caused Shang Zhuqi's black armor to emit a piercing cracking sound—spiderweb-like cracks suddenly appeared on the dragon-patterned armor!

"What a magnificent [Nine Hells Lotus Birth Scripture]!" Shang Zhuqi laughed instead of getting angry, and suddenly a dazzling blood-red light burst forth from his body.

The ten dragon phantoms solidified into physical form amidst the blood-red light, their scales unleashing blazing white lightning and fire that forced the man in black back a hundred feet.

Wherever the lightning passed, even the void was scorched black.

The man in black finally revealed his true form—a dignified middle-aged man with a twelve-petaled black lotus branded between his brows.

He formed a hand seal, and the black lotus beneath his feet suddenly transformed into a lotus platform.

As the lotus platform spun, it swallowed up all the thunder and fire, and then spewed out a sky full of stardust.

Each grain of stardust was as heavy as a mountain, causing Shang Zhuqi Dragon Shadow to wail in agony.

"This person's appearance seems somewhat familiar..."

Looking at the man from afar, Chen Zhian felt that his appearance was quite familiar, but after thinking about it carefully, he could not think of anyone who resembled him.

Just as the two were about to unleash their deadly attacks, a bell suddenly rang out from beyond the sky.

The sound of the bell seemed to come from eternity ago, causing both sides in the battle to freeze in place.

The man in black suddenly looked up at the east and whispered, "That Lower Immortal Palace is about to open."

Shang Zhuqi also withdrew the dragon shadow, his gaze behind the mask flickering uncertainly.

He glanced at Chen Zhian's hiding place with interest, then suddenly raised his hand and tore open a rift in the void: "Wait until the Daoxia Immortal Palace closes."

The man in black chuckled upon hearing this, and the lotus platform beneath his feet suddenly transformed into a stream of light: "I still need to borrow the essence blood of ten dragons from you to refine the ninth-grade lotus."

After speaking, the two stepped into the void at the same time, their figures disappearing like smoke.

Only the collapsing clouds and the still-unhealed spatial rifts testify to the lingering power of this epic battle.

Chen Zhian staggered out of the crevice in the mountain rock, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

He had only been watching the battle for a short while when his primordial spirit was already shaken.

"This is the strength of the number one on the Whale Riding Monument..."

"Upon careful consideration, it's clear that my father, whose Four Seasons Cicada was not yet fully perfected, was able to surpass the Ten Dragon Lord Shang Zhuqi and become the number one on the Whale Riding Ranking... His foundation was incredibly profound."

My foundation is far inferior to my father's, and even to Shang Zhuqi's.

Having witnessed the struggle between such figures, Chen Zhian seemed to have gained a deeper understanding of the world.

He was not saddened, but instead retreated into the mountains not far from Sun and Moon Mountain, took some medicine, and sat cross-legged to heal his injuries.

While recovering from his injuries, Chen Zhian would occasionally catch glimpses of Riyue Mountain in the distance.

He vaguely saw two beams of light appear in the sky above Sun and Moon Mountain.

One ray of light was as blazing as the sun, the other as cool as the moon.

Two beams of light hung high in the void above Sun and Moon Mountain, drifting slowly, about to collide.

From time to time, earth-shattering bell tolls rang out from within those two beams of light.

Chen Zhian activated the Heaven and Earth Cocoon, concealing his body within the mountain.

He was like a hermit, observing the Sun and Moon Mountain from the sidelines.

In just one day, countless people arrived at Riyue Mountain.

Chen Zhian saw many young powerhouses arriving hastily, some carrying long swords, some wielding profound treasures, and others riding on demonic beasts, before landing in the Sun and Moon Mountain.

Among them were those born with innate talent, as well as those from the Jade Palace.

Even the Xuanfu experts have many Venerable ones.

"The Great Qian Lord invites all the powerful individuals under the age of thirty-five to come and compete for the opportunity to enter the Immortal Palace."

This also includes young tigers from all over the world.

Therefore… in this struggle for the Lower Immortal Palace, perhaps some true figures from the Heavenly Palace and Heavenly Palace will also appear.”

Chen Zhian focused on healing his injuries. With the aid of medicinal pills and the fact that his injuries were not serious, his primordial spirit regained its brilliance in just one day, and the pain from his physical body gradually subsided.

He then got up, took a deep breath, and continued on his way to Riyue Mountain.

……

Jiao Nu stood atop the Sun and Moon Mountain.

She looked down and saw that Riyue Mountain was already packed with people.

The gate to the Xuanmen Temple on Riyue Mountain was tightly shut, and no one dared to go out.

The reason is that most of the people who come to Sun and Moon Mountain at this moment are either highly skilled in cultivation or have a profound background.

The best course of action for this small Taoist sect on Riyue Mountain right now is probably to close down completely to avoid attracting the attention of these abrupt individuals.

In a short period of time, Jiao Nu's cultivation level has advanced by leaps and bounds again, and she has already accumulated innate energy. Perhaps she will be able to step into the Jade Palace Realm soon.

Such a speed of cultivation is simply astonishing.

Even Chen Zhian, or the other top five figures on the Young Tiger Stele, cannot compare to Jiao Nu.

It's as if... Jiao Nu originally possessed such cultivation level, and now she has simply regained it.

As the master of Sun and Moon Mountain, even though the Xuanmen (mysterious gate) in the mountain was tightly closed, the abbot stood respectfully behind Jiao Nu at this moment.

"Just how many people have come to Sun and Moon Mountain?"

Jiao Nu asked.

The abbot of the Sun and Moon Temple was already old, but he dared not be negligent and respectfully replied: "Reporting to the mountain lord... there are probably no fewer than ten thousand people in the Sun and Moon Mountain."

Many of them were servants, guards, and maids, but there were still over a thousand people who truly wanted to seize the opportunities of the Immortal Palace below the Dao.

"Moreover, these thousand people... all have extraordinary cultivation levels, and there are many Jade Palace figures among them."

The abbot's tone became more wistful: "This old man has been sitting here on Sun and Moon Mountain for sixty years."

But I have never seen so many young and strong people.

Most of the young people there were actually stronger than me.

"In the path of cultivation, talent, aptitude, background, and opportunity are all indispensable."

Jiao Nu listened silently, then looked up at the sky above Sun and Moon Mountain.

There, two beams of light are about to meet.

As Jiao Nu's thoughts drifted to this point, she couldn't help but think of Bai Yujing.

She pleaded with the Princess of Baiyujing, and the young master of Chang'an said he would come in person. But to this day... the young master is still nowhere to be found.

"I wonder what kind of scene it is in that celestial palace."

Her thoughts had barely settled when an astonishing scene unfolded.

The two beams of light in the sky finally met, and the entire Sun and Moon Mountain trembled violently the moment the blazing sun and the cold moon collided.

Jiao Nu felt a bell ringing through the heavens and earth, which shook her spirit and made the scene before her eyes suddenly blur.

In a daze, she seemed to see a great sun falling into the bright moon, and thousands of rays of light bursting forth from where the sun and moon merged.

A majestic heavenly gate emerged from the rosy glow, with the character for "god" inscribed in ancient seal script on the lintel, each stroke flowing with a golden, divine charm.

"This is..." Before Jiao Nu could recover, her consciousness was drawn by an invisible force and suddenly passed through the gate of light.

In an instant, the world turned upside down, and when she could see clearly again, she was already suspended in the sky tens of thousands of feet high.

"My divine essence has unknowingly fallen into this lower immortal palace."

Looking down, the Daoxia Immortal Palace is actually a beautiful landscape stretching for thousands of miles.

Seven majestic cities stand like the Big Dipper, with crisscrossing paths between them, and rice paddies shimmering like emerald waves.

Further away, the green mountains rise one after another, and the waterfalls cascade down like silver ribbons into the deep pools, just like the spring scenery of Jiangnan in Dayu and the majestic city of Nanfang County in Daqian.

"How could this be?" Jiao Nu was shocked. She had thought that the celestial palace would be a magnificent palace, but instead she saw a bustling city, with vendors and laborers walking along the bluestone streets, and children chasing and playing with sugar figurines.

If it weren't for the towering jade pillar that stands in the center of each of these seven cities, one would almost mistake them for ordinary prefectures.

Suddenly, her heart began to pound violently.

Her gaze flickered and landed on one of the seven cities.

That's the Phoenix City in the northwest!
Jiao Nu keenly sensed that a call, as if connected by blood, was coming from that city.

As if guided, Jiao Nu's consciousness swept across thousands of miles of mountains and rivers in an instant, landing on a white jade square.

In the center of the square, a hundred-foot-tall statue of the goddess is bathed in the morning light.

The goddess had wide, flowing sleeves and a skirt adorned with star patterns; her face bore a striking resemblance to Jiao Nu.

Most strikingly, a crescent-shaped jade is embedded between the statue's eyebrows, and it is currently shimmering as if resonating with the spirit of Jiao Nu.

"This is the sculpture from my dream."

"This is...me?" Jiao Nu reached out and touched the void, and the statue trembled in response.

Countless unfamiliar scenes flooded her mind—she saw a goddess standing on the clouds, moving mountains and rivers with a wave of her hand; she saw the people of seven cities kneeling and praying, their incense turning into golden mist and disappearing into the statue;

They saw the heavens and earth about to collapse, and the goddess turned into a sculpture.

"This statue is intimately connected to me, just like it is in my dreams. If this goddess statue were to collapse, I fear my divine essence would also crumble..."

Jiao Nu's expression was solemn.

She gradually lost track of her origins.

She thought she was just the daughter of a disgraced official, destined to spend her whole life in the Yeting Palace and die there.

Later, she entered the White Jade Capital and gained some opportunities, thinking that she would have the chance to cultivate and go to a better place.

Now, she has come to the Great Qian Dynasty, and even has intricate connections with the goddess statue in this Lower Immortal Palace...

"who am I?"

Am I this sculpture?

Jiao Nu looked confused and somewhat at a loss.

But she was not lost for long, because the Immortal Palace under the Dao had finally opened!
Those young powerhouses who came to compete for the opportunities in the Immortal Palace have all set off!
The intense fluctuations of true energy pulled Jiao Nu's thoughts back to Sun and Moon Mountain.

Let's look at Riyue Mountain again!
But all that could be seen was the surging of true energy on the mountain!
Many young powerhouses used their supernatural abilities to either ride on clouds or ascend to the heavens.

Some cultivators who focused on physical bodies and blood energy would kneel down, crush the rocks beneath their feet, and leap up towards the point where the two beams of light intersected.

Chen Zhian stood on another hilltop, gazing at the radiance in the distance.

He vaguely saw that the radiance was filled with a profound spiritual energy.

The spiritual energy acted like a barrier, like a swamp.

Many young powerhouses stepped into that spiritual energy and immediately felt an immense pressure sweep over them, as if a high mountain was pressing down on their physical bodies and primordial spirits!
"Not just anyone can enter this Lower Immortal Palace!"

Chen Zhian stood tall, his gaze fixed on the void...

Just as everyone was struggling through the celestial palace's radiance, the sky was suddenly torn apart.

Chen Zhian suddenly felt a familiar aura. He looked up and saw a dragon horse with a body as white as snow coming through the clouds. Where the horse's hooves landed, rays of light bloomed.

The dragon-horse had eyes like torches, and its mane flowed with starlight-like brilliance. Every scale was engraved with ancient runes, and the clouds it exhaled when it breathed out transformed into a dragon-shaped phantom that coiled around its four hooves.

"It's the Candlelight Dragon Steed!" someone exclaimed.

Legend has it that this horse was bred by the imperial family of the Great Qian Dynasty using the essence of the Zhuzhao Dragon. It can travel 100,000 li a day without tiring and tread the heavenly palace as if walking on flat ground.

Even more surprising was the figure on horseback.

The figure on horseback wore a black dragon robe, with twelve jade beads hanging from his tall crown, yet they could not conceal the abyss-like majesty in his eyes.

He was surrounded by an astonishing aura, dazzling with crimson gold, each strand of which was as solid as a tangible substance, and his proud dragon head pressed down the sea of ​​clouds within a hundred miles.

"He is the first person to be honored at the Tiger Cub Monument, the thirteenth prince of the current dynasty, Qian Yuanji..."

Behind Jiao Nu, the abbot of the Sun and Moon Temple murmured softly, lowering his head and not daring to look directly at the figure.

Within that light, countless people struggled to move forward.

Look again at the Qian Yuan Ji!

Qian Yuanji remained calm.

He gently spurred the horse's belly, and the Zhuzhao Dragon Steed roared to the sky, its body radiating rays of light.

Wherever the light passed, it seemed to clear a path through the thick spiritual energy, and the barrier forged by countless rays of light crumbled inch by inch.

The horses' hooves trod on the gilded sea of ​​light, as if shattering glass, splashing up thousands of golden rays.

"drive."

With a calm command, the dragon-horse transformed into a crimson-gold meteor. Everyone watched in disbelief as that figure tore through the sea of ​​light.

Right here, under everyone's watchful eyes!
The thirteenth prince of the Great Qian Dynasty, the first person to be recognized by the Tiger Stele, rode a dragon horse and flew into that radiance, disappearing completely.

Many people who witnessed this scene couldn't help but take a deep breath!

"Entering this Lower Immortal Palace was so easy."

Some people lamented.

Chen Zhian stood still, sensing the terrifying aura that Qian Yuanji unleashed when he stepped into the Dao Lower Immortal Palace, but his eyes shone with a dazzling light!

"Qian Yuanji's cultivation is still at the Xuanfu realm, but he is the most profound, the most condensed true essence, and the most powerful primordial spirit among the younger generation."

Upon entering the Daoist mortal palace, he traversed it as if on flat ground, instantly cleaving through the sea of ​​light to enter.

"And I still have many gaps to close with Qian Yuanji..."

Chen Zhian's aura circulated, and his true essence rustled!

"I want to enter this Lower Immortal Palace and step into that light, but I don't know how many breaths it will take?"

(End of this chapter)