荔枝影院

Edited by: Michyrr

Roooar!

The Dragonbeast finally roared as it exerted all its strength into lunging at Wang Chong.

Boom! The cave entrance collapsed, the Dragonbeast’s massive head thrust into the entrance while the rest of its muscular body writhed and twitched, shaking down large piles of rock. Then the Dragonbeast opened its mouth and unleashed a gout of flame.

Wang Chong jumped away and immediately fled deeper into the caves, deciding to linger for not a moment longer.

Behind him, the massive Dragonbeast was still trying to charge at Wang Chong, but the low cave entrance was proving a difficult barrier to overcome.

Ten meters, one hundred meters, one thousand meters... Finally, the roars of the Dragonbeast began to fade into inaudibility. It was clear that the practicality of the situation had forced it to give up on Wang Chong.

Whoosh!

Wang Chong leaned against a wall, his chest heaving. For a moment there, Wang Chong felt like he had taken a jaunt through the underworld. His clothes were completely drenched in sweat.

Now that he had temporarily escaped the menace of death, Wang Chong finally had time to think about other things.

“Yellow Emperor... Dragonbeasts... What’s going on here? Why would the location of the Origin Immortal Lord’s treasury contain three savage beasts from the Yellow Emperor’s era? What in the world is going on?”

Wang Chong’s mind was in turmoil.

The Origin Immortal Art was the world’s number one art, and Wang Chong would not have found any sort of danger or peril to be out of the ordinary. Still, Wang Chong was slowly beginning to realize that there was something fishy going on.

The other traps, including the metallic storm in the pit and the Stellar-Piercing Beetles, were things that Wang Chong could accept, but Dragonbeasts from the era of the Yellow Emperor... those should have never appeared here. It seemed like the arrangements were not to protect a treasure like the Origin Immortal Art, but some other kind of secret.

“What is going on here?”

Wang Chong was pensive, but his ponderings failed to produce any results.

“It’s better to think about this later!”

Wang Chong continued forward. After advancing another several thousand meters, he found an isolated area and seated himself on the ground. His injuries were much more serious than he had imagined. The constant fighting and fleeing had taken its toll on his body.

The situation inside his body was more serious than it had been at any time before.

Master once said that once the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art begins to devolve, the process is irreversible and will begin to accelerate. If I get into another fierce battle or use too much Stellar Energy, I’ll incur all kinds of serious consequences, even death! This was also why Master was forced to keep a low profile in his later years and ended up being betrayed by his disciple.

I thought I could drag things out until I found Master and the Village Chief, but it seems I can’t put it off any longer. I have to find the Origin Immortal Art as quickly as possible to heal my injuries, Wang Chong quietly said to himself.

With a thought, he gathered up all the Stellar Energy flowing through his limbs and meridians into his dantian and swiftly began to adjust it. Wisps of steam poured out of the top of his head as Wang Chong completely immersed himself in suppressing his rampant Stellar Energy.

As time slowly passed, the cave remained quiet and still. After some time, Wang Chong’s meridians and insides finally began to stop convulsing.

Wang Chong’s mind also became as calm as the water at the bottom of an old well.

The entire world had fallen silent.

As Wang Chong was focused entirely on treating his injuries, he suddenly had a strange feeling like someone was shaking his shoulder. Wang Chong had barely noticed it at first, but then he heard a shout at his ear like someone was calling him.

The voice seemed to be coming from very far away initially, but quickly grew closer and clearer.

“Wang Chong, Wang Chong...”

The voice was tinged with worry, concern, and even sobs.

Wang Chong was alarmed and dismayed, completely confused as to what was going on. Ever since he had been split up from his master, it was simply impossible to hear this kind of voice underground, but it seemed so clear and real.

At this point, Wang Chong finally stopped his cultivation and opened his eyes.

Suddenly, there was a crack of light, one that was rapidly widening, but everything in this light was a blur.

What’s going on here? How could there be light underground?

Wang Chong was flabbergasted.

But he quickly sensed that something was wrong. It wasn’t just an underground light source. There were a few blurry figures in the light, and one of them appeared to even be crying over him.

Even though he couldn’t see clearly, Wang Chong sensed that this person was brimming with sorrow.

Just what in the world happened?

Wang Chong was getting more and more surprised. No matter how slow he was, he was beginning to sense that this situation was far too different from what he had imagined.

He struggled to open his eyes so that he could make out those people.

Gradually, his vision began to clear up, but before this process could complete, a figure rushed at him.

“Wang Chong, you’re finally awake...”

The voice was practically weeping with joy, and its owner embraced Wang Chong’s body and cried.

“Qi-Qiqin?!”

Finally, his vision completely cleared, allowing him to see that familiar and weeping face, a sight that struck Wang Chong dumb. What was going on? Hadn’t he just awoken from cultivation? Hadn’t he only just stabilized his disorderly Stellar Energy?

Why was he now seeing Xu Qiqin here?

Looking around, he saw even more familiar figures at his side: King Song, the old butler, his big uncle, his mother, Huang Qian-er, Zhao Yatong, Bai Siling, and also his master and the village chief. They were all in the room, surrounding his bed with grief-stricken faces.

Wait, his master and the village chief... An illusion—this had to be an illusion!

He was clearly in the northwest, seventeen thousand meters beneath the earth, searching for the Origin Immortal Art. How could he have appeared here?

Wang Chong prepared to stand up so that he could break free of the illusion.

But before he could sit up, he felt an intense ache all across his body. At the same time, a broad palm pressed against his shoulder.

“Chong-er, your injuries aren’t healed. Don’t move around recklessly. Let your master treat your wounds so you can recover as quickly as possible.”

“Master?”

Wang Chong looked up and saw that the Demonic Emperor Old Man had appeared at his side and had pressed a hand on his shoulder. His face was immediately stricken with confusion.

“Mm, we’ve done our best to treat you, but the cultivation defect of the Great Yinyang Heaven Creation Art is not that easy to cure.”

The familiar voice of the Wushang Village Chief rang out as he solemnly walked forward.

The sight of these two familiar people threw Wang Chong’s mind into disarray. For a moment, he found it hard to distinguish between the real and the illusion.

“Master, weren’t we adventuring in the northwest to search for the Origin Immortal Art? Why are we here? Is that matter already finished?”

Wang Chong was stunned. Had he fallen unconscious underground and been brought back by his master and the Wushang Village Chief?

“The northwest? The Origin Immortal Art?”

The Demonic Emperor Old Man and the Wushang Village Chief exchanged a glance, deep worry in their eyes.

With a long sigh, Academic Lu Ting came forward and looked sadly at the bedridden Wang Chong. “King of Foreign Lands, I know that you are still worried about the matters of the court, but you’ve done your best in the militarist-Confucian conflict. No one will blame you.”

“The militarist-Confucian conflict?”

Wang Chong was struck dumb. What was going on? Wasn’t that conflict already over?

“Chong-er, you still don’t understand? Ever since you collapsed from your cultivation defect in your study and we discovered you, seven days and nights have passed! You’ve been unconscious for seven days and nights!”

Madam Wang stepped forward, and as she caressed his face, she could no longer hold back her tears.

“What?”

Wang Chong froze.

Study? Cultivation defect?

He clearly remembered that after he fell unconscious in his study, he had woken up in the carriage, already on the way to the northwest with his master. How had he remained in the estate? Had all of that been an illusion?

No, impossible!

“Mother, Academic Lu, you’re joking with me, right?”

Wang Chong smiled as he leaned back, his face remaining calm and composed.

Everyone stared silently at Wang Chong.

But the heaviest blow came from the Demonic Emperor Old Man and the Wushang Village Chief.

“Chong-er, you don’t know what you’re saying. Your master and the Village Chief never went to the northwest, nor did we go looking for the Origin Immortal Art.”

“Although we truly planned to go to the northwest, the Origin Immortal Art has been missing for several hundred years. How could it be that easy to obtain?” the Wushang Village Chief added.

The Wushang Village Chief had a close relationship with Wang Chong, and he had always treated him the same as one of the youths from his village. However, he felt that perhaps the blow from the Confucian Sect had destabilized Wang Chong’s mind.

Buzz!

As he stared at these strange yet familiar faces, Wang Chong was rendered speechless.

“Fake, it must be fake. I have to be dreaming...” Wang Chong muttered to himself. He looked down at the base of the bed. The greatest discrepancy between a dream and reality was that in a dream, he would never be able to cast a shadow. Dreams could not possibly be that real.

But a moment later, he saw his shadow and was struck dumb.