I can only beat noobs.

Chapter 265 Nine Heavens

The old Taoist priest bowed to Chen Ming and said, "I was able to escape this great calamity thanks to you, young friend. I never imagined that the ancient Emperor Xi's personal magical artifact would fall into your hands."

The magical artifacts of the ancient Emperor Xi?
Chen Ming subconsciously reached for the tortoise shell on his chest. Only when he touched the actual object did he realize that the tortoise shell had come with him to this strange space.

Could this be physical transmigration?
But the rest of his belongings were not there.

He suppressed his doubts and said, "This is also due to your good fortune, senior. I dare not take credit for it."

The old Taoist priest smiled and said, "No matter what, I still owe you this favor, young friend. Since you have that tortoise shell, you must be a person of great fortune. I will tell you the secret of this tortoise shell."

After saying that, before Chen Ming could speak, she continued, "This tortoise shell is not only a divination tool, but also a key. As long as you are in the capital, you can use it to open a secret realm. That secret realm is related to the ancient Emperor Xi. It is said that as long as you pass the test, you can obtain Emperor Xi's inheritance."

Then, he was taught how to open the secret realm.

"Alright. I see you're quite uneasy here, so I'll escort you back. You can come and chat with me when you have time in the future. Just call my name three times in your mind."

After the old Taoist priest finished speaking, he waved his sleeve. Chen Ming felt a sudden dizziness, and when he opened his eyes again, he was back in the same room.

"What method is this?"

Chen Ming touched his body and sensed the "Taiyue Sword" again, confirming that he had returned to reality. He breathed a sigh of relief, though he was still somewhat wary of the old Taoist's mysterious and unpredictable methods.

He was practicing his skills peacefully when someone forcibly dragged him into a strange place. This felt incredibly unsafe.

What if you get dragged into a fight while you're sparring with someone? That would be so dangerous.
Chen Ming took out the black jade-like tortoise shell and pondered, "I didn't expect you to have such a significant background."

The key to the secret realm, the legacy of Emperor Xi.

After his expression changed several times, he finally made up his mind.

Even if it's dangerous, we have no choice but to give it a try.

With only twenty days left, at his current pace, it would be difficult for him to accumulate 50 million experience points no matter how you calculate it.

Although the old Taoist priest was acting mysteriously, he didn't seem to have any ill intentions at the moment.

After making his decision, Chen Ming bit his finger and, following the method taught by the old Taoist priest, drew a pattern on the tortoise shell with his blood. Then, he used his divine sense to fuse the blood with the tortoise shell.

Suddenly, a magical scene appeared.

His blood seemed to seep into the tortoise shell, and his consciousness formed a mysterious connection with it.

In the darkness, he sensed something in the sky calling to him.

As if struck by a sudden inspiration, he silently uttered, "Open!"

With a loud boom, his consciousness seemed to soar to a great height, where he saw a magnificent gate.

The door slowly opened.

A strong sense of weightlessness, accompanied by a tearing sensation, came over Chen Ming. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a dilapidated palace. Everywhere he looked, there were broken bricks and walls, and collapsed giant pillars.

The sky was overcast, and the wind howled. The whole world was shrouded in a gray haze, and a few dark shadows could be vaguely seen flashing by in the distance.

Chen Ming found it a bit creepy.

"Is this the secret realm opened by the tortoise shell? It seems that, like the secret realm where Jin Tai of Jin Yutang is hiding, this place is on the verge of destruction."

Judging from the appearance of this place, it doesn't seem like there's any kind of tradition or heritage here.

He was very disappointed.

That's true. The ancient Emperor Xi was a figure from tens of thousands of years ago, so it's not surprising that this secret realm has become like this.

Chen Ming lost his desire to explore and was about to leave when he suddenly felt a chill down his spine. He dodged a gust of cold wind.

Turning his head, he saw a guard wearing armor, only half of his body, floating in the air. His body was black and semi-transparent, like a ghost.

"You audacious madman, how dare you trespass into the Xihuang Palace!"

It let out a shriek and pounced on Chen Ming.

He dared not be negligent, drew his "Taiyue Sword," and used the "Phoenix Dance in the Nine Heavens" movement technique to fight the ghost.

Since this is the first time I've encountered something like this, it's best to be careful.

After fighting for a while, he figured out the ghost's attack pattern. It only used yin energy to attack, and seemed to have no intelligence, relying entirely on instinct. It was not difficult to deal with.

Then he began to fight back.

With a single sword stroke, it cleaved its body in two.

However, this ghost has no physical form, so we still can't kill it.

Chen Ming kept cutting it into more than a dozen pieces before it began to dissipate.

You have defeated a level 90 mutated monster and gained 100,000 experience points.

"?"

He saw the notification, paused for a moment, then burst into excited laughter, "Hahaha...this is truly a stroke of luck!"

The ghosts in this secret realm actually grant experience points when you kill them!
This is practically a god-given leveling-up dungeon, and it's a dungeon he can have all by himself.

"Come out!"

Chen Ming leaped into the air, wanting to summon more ghosts to kill them all.

Then, the smile on his face froze, and without hesitation, he turned and ran.

Behind him, dozens of identical ghostly creatures, shrieking, chased after him.

Half an hour later.

Chen Ming finally shook off the group of unruly ghosts and began to reflect on his actions, "I was too loud just now. I shouldn't have attracted so much hatred."

He truly hadn't expected that a single sentence could summon dozens of monsters.

However, he then became excited again. Dozens of monsters, each worth 100,000 points, that's millions of points!
Next, Chen Ming began to study how to lure monsters, how to attract the aggro of a ghost, lure it to a secluded place, kill it, then lure another one and kill it too.

He only left after defeating the seven demons and returned to reality.

It was still that intense feeling of weightlessness and tearing.

When Chen Ming opened his eyes, he found himself back in his room.

Everything in the room was normal, and no one noticed that he had entered a secret realm.

He thought with some regret, "What's limiting my speed of gaining experience points right now is the recovery ability of my Qi."

Gu Haochuan was quite generous to him, giving him a lot of precious pills to speed up the recovery of his energy, but he couldn't take too many of these.

Eating too much will lower the purity of your Qi, which is counterproductive.

After thinking about it, Chen Ming decided to go and see the old Taoist priest.

"Wang Chenzi, Wang Chenzi, Wang Chenzi."

After thinking about the name three times, he felt his consciousness enter a mysterious space and return to that cave once again.

The old Taoist priest remained seated on the futon, exuding an air of otherworldly wisdom.

He smiled and asked, "Young friend, have you entered the Pure and Subtle Heaven?"

"Qingwei Heaven? Senior, are you referring to the secret realm that the tortoise shell leads to? Hmm, I've already been there."

"It seems you've had quite a good haul, young friend."

"Actually, we've run into some trouble."

Chen Ming gave a brief account of the situation at that secret realm.

After listening, the old Taoist priest couldn't help but sigh, "I never imagined that the Qingwei Heaven of Emperor Xihuang would also be destroyed. It was probably the sins of the Longevity Emperor."

Chen Ming, who was focused on gaining experience, said, "I couldn't bear to see that secret realm occupied by ghosts, so I'm determined to kill them all. But those ghosts are quite difficult to kill, so I've come to ask for your advice, senior."

The old Taoist priest said, "Those ghosts should be the transformed bodies of the guards of the Xihuang Palace after their deaths. If one were a top-grade martial artist, it wouldn't be difficult to destroy them. Young friend, your cultivation is a bit weak. I do have a secret technique that specializes in slaying these kinds of vengeful spirits, but if you want to master it, I'm afraid it will require several years of hard work."

Chen Ming was overjoyed upon hearing this, "Please teach me, senior."

The old Taoist priest stared intently at him. "Are you really willing to spend years of arduous practice to cultivate this secret technique in order to eliminate those evil spirits?"

"I am willing!"

"Good, young friend, listen carefully..."

……

As dawn broke, Chen Ming continued to study the secret technique called "God-Slaying Thorn" passed down by the old Taoist priest. This technique was specifically used to temper the soul.

The old Taoist priest said that he originally had a visualization diagram specifically for practicing this secret technique, but unfortunately, after he was captured, his belongings naturally became someone else's spoils of war.

Without visualization diagrams, cultivation becomes much less effective.

Finally, the old Taoist priest advised him to act according to his abilities and not to delay his martial arts training in order to practice this.

For Chen Ming, only getting started takes some time. Once he gets started, all he needs is experience points.

Practicing this secret method is called "sharpening the axe before chopping wood."

As usual, Chen Ming arrived at the prison in a carriage and saw Tang Shouzhen again. He went over and bowed, saying, "Lord Tang."

In front of outsiders, one should naturally still address others by their official titles.

Tang Shouzhen said excitedly, "Brother Gu, did you see the grand show last night?"

"what?"

Chen Ming asked, somewhat puzzled, "What happened last night?"

Tang Shouzhen said excitedly, "Didn't you see it? That's such a pity. That was a momentous event! After two thousand years, the Nine Heavens opened again. I never thought that I would be able to see the Nine Heavens appear in the world in my lifetime."

Nine Heavens?
For some reason, Chen Ming had a bad feeling and asked, "When did that happen?"

"It was probably around 1-3 AM. It lasted for more than two hours."

Chen Ming's heart skipped a beat. At that time, he was grinding monsters in that secret realm.

No way, what a coincidence!
He asked, "What exactly is this Nine Heavens? I am ignorant and have never heard of it before."

Tang Shouzhen said, "In this world, there are countless secret realms, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Among them, the most famous is the Nine Heavens. The great powers of the ancient human race successively moved nine of the most powerful immortal palaces to the capital city, and people called these nine immortal palaces the Nine Heavens."

"Once the Nine Heavens open, a strange sight will appear in the sky above the capital, with the phantom of a celestial palace appearing. However, since the fall of the Jing Dynasty two thousand years ago, such a strange sight has never appeared in the sky above the capital."

Chen Ming was so shocked by what he heard that he almost broke out in a cold sweat.

(End of this chapter)