Chapter 756: Entering the Projection

In the void above Mount Kunlun, at the peak of Mount Yujing, Lin Feng sat cross-legged on the crown of the Black Heavenly Treasure Tree. He looked at a hovering spot of light in front of him and smiled: "While the Three Mountains of the Ying Sea revealed themselves more than a year earlier than I had expected, it is alright."

He rose to his feet and with a slight tremor, Mount Yujing started moving across the void towards the East Sea.

Meanwhile in the Ying Sea, Lin Feng's Steel Tree Avatar, following the path indicated by the Green Glass Jade Stand, brought Zhu Yi and all to find Yingzhou Celestial Mountain.

As they traveled, the group interrogated their captives. Neither the You Heaven Robe nor its previous owner, Yi Cangchen, dared to hide the truth, telling the group everything they knew.

Even though Lin Feng did not know the art of making Unholy Marionettes with River Styx Primordial Water nor did he have the Heavenly Gods-Sealing Banner with him, he still possessed the means to get the truth out of them.

"From my knowledge, when Heaven's Gate sect fell in the past, tribulation befell the Nine Treasures of the Heavenly Gate. All nine magic treasures except the Cang Heaven Spell Blade of the East and the Zhu Heaven Pagoda of the South-West sustained severe damages. The Min Heaven Banner of the North-East, the You Heaven Robe of the North-West, the Yuan Heaven Emerald Needle of the West and the Yan Heaven Crucible of the South were completely destroyed." Lin Feng asked: "How many magic treasures have the East Heaven's Gate collected?"

Trapped under Zhu Yi's Great Boundaries of the Celestial Light and Darkness Mandala, Yi Cangchen is fully aware that if he decides to hide or distort the truth he will immediately perish from the simulated Destruction of Heaven and Earth by the Mandala.

In fact, Yi Cangchen is not a reckless person. He spoke ill of Meng Bingyun deliberately to enrage Zhu Yi so that Zhu Yi will stop and attack him. This way, he figured, as long as he can defend one wave of Zhu Yi's assault he would have bought enough time for Shao Qingcheng and his men to catch up with them, leaving Zhu Yi with no way of escape.

Unfortunately for him, Lin Feng arrived before Shao Qingcheng and Zhu Yi turned out a lot stronger than he had expected.

"I have to save my life first before I can figure out a way to escape, and only after freeing myself will it be practical to think of revenge and the like." After calm considerations, Yi Cangchen replied truthfully: "The East Heaven's Gate had acquired the Xuan Heaven Seal of the North, Zhu Heaven Pagoda of the South-West, and..."

He looked at Zhu Yi: "... the Yang Heaven Lamp of the South-East."

"Moreover, the Yuan Heaven Emerald Needle of the West was not completely destroyed: its treasure spirit had perished, leaving but an empty shell behind, which we have acquired as well. After restoration, the treasure spirit had been reborn and is now in the Gestation Realm."

"While the You Heaven Robe of the North-West and the Yan Heaven Crucible of the South had indeed been destroyed, Elders from our sect reforged them using ancient techniques, obtaining two magical treasures of the Gestation Realm, one of which is my You Heaven Robe.

As he spoke, Yi Cangchen felt like vomiting blood. He was a rising star within East Heaven's Gate that people looked highly upon, which was why the sect gave him a magic treasure to protect himself from harm for his trip to the Ying Sea despite being only at the Advanced Nascent Soul Stage. While the You Heaven Robe is not a Primordial magic treasure like Shao Qingcheng's Yang Heaven Lamp, it is nevertheless powerful.

By right, with his level of mastery and the You Heaven Robe, he would even be able to defeat some Cultivators of the Immortal Stage or at least escape from them safely. Who would expect him to face the combined power of Zhu Yi and the Supreme Holy Ancient Apparel that instantly breached his defense and then captured him? Even the You Heaven Robe had been taken away from him.

Lin Feng nods: "So, the Zhu Heaven Pagoda is in the hands of your sect as well?"

Yi Cangchen replied: "Yes, the East Heaven's Gate Sect resides in its Alternate World."

The Zhu Heaven Pagoda was a magic treasure of the Metaplasia Realm which, similar to the Hidden Dragon Teapot and the Immortal Royal Flag, spawns an Alternate World within it. It is capable of absorbing energy from the moon and the stars and is one of the few magic treasures among the Nine Treasures of the Heavenly Gate untouched by the tribulation.

Had the Heaven's Gate not fallen at the end of the Primordial Era but survived until today, this magic treasure could very likely have advanced into the Mahayana Realm.

What caught Liu Feng and Zhu Yi's attention was that the magic treasure is capable of hiding inside the void, making it next to impossible for outsiders to find it. This was why the East Heaven's Gate highly valued the acquisition of this magic treasure and used it as a base for the sect. Thanks to the Zhu Heaven Pagoda, the East Heaven's Gate was able to maintain a low profile and rarely could anyone gather more information about the sect.

To a certain extent the Zhu Heaven Pagoda, which the East Heaven's Gate currently resides in, is similar to Lin Feng's Mount Yujing. Nevertheless, the Zhu Heaven Pagoda is inferior to Mount Yujing given that it is unable to traverse the void easily, making it much more predictable. Wherever the Zhu Heaven Pagoda hides inside the void, it reappears at the same place.

"The Xuan Heaven Seal is held by my master, the leader of our sect, Holy Man Shao Dongtian." Yi Cangchen continues, "But the Xuan Heaven Seal was badly damaged by the tribulation as well and it fell from the Mahayana Realm to the Metaplasia Realm."

"Our Sect has devoted a large proportion of our efforts to restoring this magic treasure, but owing to the severity of its damages, we could not restore it to the Mahayana Realm even till now."

Zhu Yi and Li Yuanfang looked at each other and shook their heads. Jieyu and Baiguang, the dragon couple who hailed from the Dragon Roost of the Great Void Sect, could not help but sigh.

Aside from the Great Heavenly Wheels, the magic treasure of the Destiny Realm that is capable of suppressing the Heavens, and the Nine Heavenly Swords that only existed on paper, the Heaven's Gate of the past had five magic treasures of the Mahayana Realm: the Heavenly Imperial Jade, the Cang Heaven Spell Blade, the Xuan Heaven Seal, the Yuan Heaven Emerald Needle and the Yan Heaven Crucible. These five treasures of the Mahayana Realm alone are equal to five Immortal Soul Stage Level three cultivators, let alone the numerous high leveled cultivators from within the Heaven's Gate sect itself.

In the Primordial Era, when Heaven's Gate was at the peak of its glory, the sect was unquestionably immensely powerful, an equal to the Great Void Sect at that time.

Lin Feng asked another question: "So your sect had reforged the Yan Heaven Crucible as well? How powerful is it compared to the Yan Heaven Crucible of the past?"

While the strongest of the Nine Treasures of the Heavenly Gate was undoubtedly the Heavenly Imperial Jade, but to Lin Feng, the Yan Heaven Crucible is even more valuable.

From the perspective of people like Lin Feng, Yan Nanlai, Xin Longsheng, Liang Pan and Shi Yu, the Yan Heaven Crucible ought to be ranked first among the Nine Treasures of the Heavenly Gate.

In a way, one could even see the Yan Heaven Crucible as a magic treasure of equal value to the Great Heavenly Wheels, and the combined power of both magic treasures led to the glorious albeit short-lived prime of the Heaven's Gate Sect.

If the Heaven's Gate had not been destroyed in the Primordial Era, the sect would only grow stronger as time passes. This is because the Yan Heaven Crucible is one of the strongest magic treasures for the cultivation of elixirs and medicine in the human history of the Divine Lands, second only to the Crucible of the Divine Lands, the magic treasure of Destiny Realm owned by Emperor Xia.

When the Heaven's Gate was at its prime, the Yan Heaven Crucible was able to churn out astronomical amounts of elixirs in a day. A diverse range of powerful elixirs had been endlessly produced and provided to disciples of Heaven's Gate to supplement their own cultivation.

While massive amounts of resources may not be sufficient to produce master cultivators, it is able to produce many adept cultivators. As the number of cultivators grew, the chance of producing master cultivators increases as well.

Of course, the cultivators themselves must possess a strong spiritual resolve as well. This is why Lin Feng was able to use copious amount of resources to help Wang Lin build a top-tier Spiritual Altar when Wang Lin was at the Foundation Establishment Stage. With the Cloud Forest Tree to supply Xiao Yan, Zhu Yi and all during their cultivation, they too can progress swiftly and not be bogged down by resource constraints.

Yi Cangchen says: "While the reforged Yan Heaven Crucible has similar effects, it is only of Metaplasia Realm and incomparable to the Mahayana Realm magic treasure it was in the past."

He paused slightly and added: "The Yan Heaven Crucible is even weaker than historical records of the Yan Heaven Crucible of the past when it was at the Metaplasia Realm."

Zhu Yi replied dismissively: "Even so, the Yan Heaven Crucible is pretty remarkable."

They knew from the earlier encounter that there are four cultivators of the Immortal Soul Stage within the East Heaven's Gate, including Shao Qingcheng whom they have just encountered. Among the four, Shao Dongtian, Yi Cangchen's master and Shao Qingcheng's father just reached the Immortal Soul Third Level not long ago. Overall the East Heaven's Gate is stronger than many sects in the Divine Lands, and it must have taken lots of resolve to maintain a low profile until now.

After binding the Yang Heaven Lamp, the You Heaven Robe and Yi Cangchen securely, the group pressed on.

Zhu Yi suddenly remembered: "Master, when we first entered the Ying Seas, Mr. Miao left us after telling us that we should go our separate ways without leaving a voice-projection crystal behind. When Sixth Junior reminded him, he just walked off as if he never heard us. Now that we have news of the Yingzhou Celestial Mountains we could not reach him via any means."

Lin Feng said: "Let him go his own way. He was looking for the Semi-round Jade Disc which I heard was exclusive to the Yingzhou Celestial Mountains. Once he receives news of the Celestial Mountains, he will go and seek it out himself. Even if he fails, you can help him keep an eye out for the Semi-round Jade Disc if you can ascend the Celestial Mountain."

Zhu Yi and Li Yuanfang nodded in agreement.

The path indicated by the Green Glass Jade Stand came to an end, but the Celestial Mountain is nowhere in sight. Everything remained shrouded in a thick fog.

But the group knew that the path is right. They could clearly sense a large number of projections, more than any other areas in the Ying Sea that were at the same time more powerful and discrete. While the group had sensed many projections, there is little doubt that many more projections remained undetected.

Lin Feng, moreover, possessed a more reliable evidence compared to the group's speculations. His Heavenly Oyster's Golden Pearl started flashing a purple light.

The flash of light had a similar intensity compared to the time when they approached the Fangzhang Celestial Mountain. Lin Feng mused: "The flash is not as intense as the first time. It seems like the first time it flashed I must have unknowingly came very close to the hidden Penglai Celestial Mountain."

"The Royal Hades Region must have a shared connection with Penglai Celestial Mountain. The Heavenly Oyster's Golden Pearl reacted when it approached Fangzhang and Yingzhou Celestial Mountain well, which should be due to the shared properties of the three Mountains of the Ying Sea."

After carefully surveying the area, Liu Feng's expressions turned more serious.

Zhu Yi, who stood beside him, wore the same expression. He looked at Liu Feng: "Master, it seems that the Yingzhou Celestial Mountain has been enveloped by an enormous projection. We need to enter the projection and only after we break the projection from within can we finally reach Yingzhou Celestial Mountain."

Lin Feng nodded in agreement: "Yes that's right. Let's go." He walked towards the projection.