Chapter 25 - 22: The Treasury Opens, the Heavens Fall
The Second Prince hadn’t slept all night, but he was still in high spirits. He met with Xue Yanluo just as the sun was about to set.
Xue Yanluo still looked like a courtesan, with rouged lips and a Cyan Luo Gauze Skirt.
"Let’s go to the National Treasury, Your Majesty."
The fact that the Young Palace Master of the Blood Demon Palace had changed her form of address was extremely gratifying to the Second Prince.
"Of course." The Second Prince pushed himself up and slowly descended from the Dragon Throne. "Young Palace Master, do you know where my dynasty’s National Treasury is?"
Xue Yanluo shook her head. "I await Your Majesty’s instruction."
"The so-called National Treasury is not a storehouse, nor is it a palace. It is, in fact, hidden beneath the Yuqing Pool."
Within the palace was a man-made lotus pond with a pavilion at its center. Not far from the pavilion was a rockery. One only needed to break the seal to find the path into the National Treasury.
The Second Prince led Xue Yanluo and the Town Elder to the edge of the Yuqing Pool.
The Second Prince smiled. "My friends, the National Treasury is right below us. As per our agreement, you may take anything you wish from within."
The Second Prince, ever a man of his word, took out the Jade Seal. It was unclear where he pressed it, but with a KABENG, the rockery shifted to reveal a hidden passage. A transparent glass walkway appeared before them.
Xue Yanluo’s expression remained unchanged as she stepped directly onto the walkway.
It was a strange sight. Below the glass walkway was pitch-black nothingness; only the path itself emitted a faint, shimmering glow.
DRIP.
A drop of water seemed to fall, striking the surface of a pool with a clear, pleasant sound.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, a flicker of candlelight appeared ahead. The three of them stepped onto solid ground again—no, to be more precise, it was a lone island in the water. They were surrounded by a dark, watery expanse, and before them stood a gate so magnificent and massive it defied description. It was gilded and carved with phoenixes, depicting the sun, moon, and a river of stars.
Before this gate, the three of them seemed no larger than ants.
On either side of the gate stood a stone dragon’s head, its cavernous maw open as if to devour any who approached.
The Second Prince placed the Jade Seal into the dragon’s mouth, and the long-sealed doors began to slowly swing open.
"You see? I am always a man of my word."
But contrary to his expectations, Xue Yanluo didn’t move an inch.
"My friends?!"
The Second Prince cried out in alarm as his body involuntarily floated into the air.
Xue Yanluo had simply extended a hand, and the Second Prince was lifted forcibly into the air.
Xue Yanluo said, "Some years ago, my father happened to learn that the Glazed Dynasty’s National Treasury holds a Divine Sword named Broken Thought. It is said to be able to sever one from the six paths of the Red Dust. Rumor has it that a Cultivation Technique is inscribed upon the blade—one that can lead to a realm beyond Yao Guang."
A sword that could help one ascend beyond the Yao Guang realm would stir up a bloody storm wherever it appeared.
That was why the Blood Demon Palace had to take this sword secretly, striking a decisive blow before the other Nine Gates and Twelve Palaces could figure out their true objective.
Xue Yanluo said, "Don’t struggle. I’m not going to kill you."
A dagger sliced open the Second Prince’s arm, and scarlet blood dripped onto the dragon’s head. The prince’s face quickly turned pale.
Strangely, after absorbing the blood, the stone dragon’s head turned a brilliant gold.
"Dye the guardian dragon with imperial blood, and the sword will be revealed."
Ripples spread across the placid surface of the pool, and sure enough, the phantom image of a sword appeared within its depths.
The Second Prince was flung aside, and he slammed against the gate.
Xue Yanluo continued, "But even so, the sword cannot be taken. It is bound tightly to the Dragon Vein. Taking it by force would cause a massive disturbance and attract the other Palaces, so we must be patient."
The Town Elder smiled. "That’s why the Palace Master had the Young Palace Master return. By using the arts of the Yin-Yang Dao to blend mortal blood with Immortal Blood, creating a yin-yang force to corrode the Dragon Vein, and then finding a prince who longed for the throne but had no hope of taking it, we gained a legitimate reason to intervene."
"With the old emperor dead and a new one yet to ascend the throne, the Dragon Vein becomes unstable. That is the only moment an opportunity presents itself."
Xue Yanluo frowned. "Not enough people died last night. The blood energy isn’t dense enough."
Using the Heavenly Repair Pill as bait, we made sure the Cultivators it attracted would fight to the death here in the Glazed Dynasty. Their deaths would then become the key to shattering the Dragon Vein.
And during the Second Prince’s coup last night, many more people died, staining the halls of the Imperial Palace scarlet.
But it was still not enough.
"Hmm? This seal seems to have already been unstable. In that case, I should be able to force open a small crack. The rest will depend on whether that thing underground decides to cooperate."
The Second Prince pushed himself up in disbelief, stammering, "What are you talking about?"
The Town Elder chuckled. "You mean you don’t know? Beneath your Glazed Dynasty lies a suppressed Great Demon. This very sword is what keeps it pinned down. By using this Demon as nourishment, your Glazed Dynasty has been sustained for a thousand years, allowing it to remain standing even through a century of turmoil."
"What!?"
No one paid the astonished Second Prince any mind.
With a low, resonant cry of "Rise!"
Xue Yanluo floated into the air. She formed a hand seal, and a Yin-Yang Bagua diagram materialized behind her, seeming to split her form in two in a dizzying blur.
Scarlet blood materialized from the Void—the blood of the city’s dead—and flowed in a steady stream along the lines of the bagua diagram and into the phantom sword.
In that very instant.
The earth shook and the mountains trembled!
It was as if an earth dragon had turned over beneath the whole of Upper Jade Capital.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It’s raining, Old Ancestor."
Su Luoqiu ate his noodles with a sense of resignation.
He had stayed at the noodle shop all night. This morning, his Hidden Guard told him that his dear second brother had sent people to look for him the entire night.
His dear older brother had ascended the throne, and the very first thing he did was look for him. Such brotherly affection was truly touching.
Noodle Granny said flatly, "Come help me close up the stall."
The rain had come unnaturally.
It was as if it had begun all at once.
Su Luoqiu suddenly clutched his chest, struggling to breathe. A withered, old hand patted his shoulder, and the oppressive feeling vanished.
Noodle Granny said, "It’s about to come out."
"What is?"
Su Luoqiu asked, bewildered. He had only taken a single bite of his noodles.
Noodle Granny propped up the stall’s awning and put away the benches. "Three years ago," she said, "I happened to meet the Blood Demon Lord of the Blood Demon Palace."
"Huh?"
Su Luoqiu’s chopsticks fell from his hand.
He knew his Old Ancestor was formidable, but he had never imagined she was acquainted with a Palace Master from the Nine Gates and Twelve Palaces.
"I told him that there was a sword in the Glazed Dynasty’s National Treasury, one that could help a person ascend beyond the Yao Guang realm. And I told him that this sword was suppressing a Great Demon beneath the Dynasty. Right now, that sword has been loosened."
Su Luoqiu said in disbelief, "Then doesn’t that mean... the Great Demon is about to emerge?"
Noodle Granny nodded, a flicker of nostalgia flashing through her old, murky eyes.
"Indeed."
Su Luoqiu said urgently, "But if the Great Demon appears, won’t all of Upper Jade Capital be thrown into chaos in an instant?"
Noodle Granny repeated, "Indeed."
"Then why... Old Ancestor, why would you do that?"
Noodle Granny finally finished wiping the table.
She spoke.
"When I was young, the Sect where I cultivated was called the Iron Sword Sect. It was a very small Sect, but it was a warm place."
Noodle Granny lowered her eyes, her expression unreadable. "Of course, the Iron Sword Sect was annihilated many years ago. The person I loved most was imprisoned beneath this very Upper Jade Capital. Today, I am all that is left of the Iron Sword Sect."
The rain poured down in a deluge.
Soon, the rain blurred everything from sight.
Noodle Granny gazed into the darkness of the rain and whispered softly, "It’s been a long time, Junior Brother."