Chapter 386

Late at night, Chen Ji sat on the ridge of Ginkgo Garden, gazing at the imperial city. He silently pondered how to rescue Bai Li and what was still missing from his plan.

Were there any oversights?

During dozens of sweltering summer nights before his transmigration, he had similarly lain on his own rooftop, constantly refining his plan.

Those were dozens of difficult nights, filled with anxiety and restlessness.

At this moment, the distant night was illuminated by firelight, and Chen Ji sat up to look.

The Forbidden City was less than two li in a straight line from Fuyou Street, and the blazing fire seemed to be burning right before his eyes.

Chen Ji was uncertain and alarmed. Where was the fire? Based on the location, it seemed to be around the East Six Palaces and Kunning Palace. Could it be a fire at Jingyang Palace? Was it due to a palace intrigue or something else?

A bad premonition arose in his heart, yet he had no reason to go and investigate.

Fortunately, the fire quickly extinguished.

Throughout history, the imperial palace had always been the most perilous place, where the depravity of human hearts rivaled floods and tsunamis. Chen Ji had to rescue Bai Li as soon as possible, and the most crucial missing piece now was his strength.

Chen Ji lay back down on the roof ridge, letting the icy current wash over his entire body.

A black sea of clouds surged, and Chen Ji drifted within it for an unknown duration before finally falling downwards.

The black cloud-mist enveloped his body as he fell, trailing a long black line in the air, like a meteor with a long tail, before plummeting onto a mountaintop.

Nothing had changed here.

The Three-Legged Golden Crow remained frozen in the sky, its tail feathers unmoving; the giant still rushed towards the battlefield like Kuafu chasing the sun, but was paused mid-stride.

This world was like a vast and solitary amber, holding everything captive for tens of thousands of years.

Chen Ji's gaze shifted. Xuanyuan, propping himself with his royal banner, sat at the edge of the cliff and said without turning his head, "You haven't come for so long, I thought you wouldn't return."

Chen Ji found a large boulder and sat down, calmly explaining, "I've remembered some things. I recalled familiar weapons from the past, and I also remembered that you killed me."

He turned to look at the battlefield.

Xuanyuan silently waved his sleeve, and the battlefield suddenly stirred.

Countless ancient birds spiraled in the sky, trailing long and brilliant tail feathers.

On the ground, human battle formations steadily advanced, with human cavalry mounted on tall, mighty warhorses. On the other side of the battlefield, countless giant beasts seemed to be encircling something, whimpering incessantly.

The giant, previously frozen in place, finally ran closer, its footsteps like drums.

The giant reached the edge of the beasts' encirclement and eagerly pulled them aside, revealing a quiet figure within. The seven hundred and twenty hearth fires on that figure were slowly extinguishing, and a palm-sized sword seed was embedded in its head.

The sword was like jade, shimmering with brilliant light.

The giant carefully held the corpse in its hands, then, filled with grief and indignation, raised it above its head and let out a thunderous roar. The giant placed the corpse back on the ground, then led the colossal beasts and birds in a charge against the human cavalry, ultimately being overwhelmed by the human battle formations.

The world froze once more.

Chen Ji had been here many times and had seen these giant beasts encircled and wailing countless times. But it was the first time he realized that among those wailing beasts, the one being encircled was "himself."

He turned to Xuanyuan and asked, "And why are you trapped in this day?"

This time it was Xuanyuan's turn to fall silent, only changing the subject much later: "You've remembered everything?"

Chen Ji shook his head. "Not everything, just a few fragmented pieces. I saw your sword seed shine brilliantly and pierce my skull, and then the world plunged into darkness. What happened after this battle?"

Xuanyuan refused to speak.

Chen Ji smiled. "I'm not here to settle scores with you. Let bygones be bygones; there's no need to carry grudges from a past life into this one. I told you, we can get to know each other again."

Xuanyuan planted his royal banner in a rock crevice, letting the flag flutter and snap loudly in the strong wind.

He walked to the large boulder opposite Chen Ji, sat cross-legged, and asked, "Aren't you curious why I killed you, and why we went from friends to enemies?"

Chen Ji looked at the black clouds overhead. "I was curious before. I can feel the hatred and regret I had just before my death, the peach blossoms at the bottom of Guixu Sea, and the snow on East Kunlun Mountain. But I can't remember what I experienced there, as if something has cut it all away."

"Perhaps I did something wrong, or perhaps you did, but fifteen thousand years have passed, and none of that matters anymore," Chen Ji said, looking at Xuanyuan. "Xuanyuan, the previous life was the previous life. In this life, I still have many things to do."

Xuanyuan sighed with emotion, "Even you, the most vengeful, can let go of such a deep-seated enmity. This world has truly changed."

Chen Ji said seriously, "I came this time with many questions."

Xuanyuan sneered, "Ask away."

Chen Ji earnestly asked, "Does East Kunlun have a 'Taishang Wuqing Jade Tablet'?"

Xuanyuan shook his head. "No. East Kunlun only has endless vast snow and green mountains; there's no such thing as a 'Taishang Wangqing Jade Tablet'."

Chen Ji asked again, "Have you ever seen the Three Pure Dao Patriarchs?"

Xuanyuan said arrogantly, "Who dares to call themselves 'Patriarch' in my presence?"

Chen Ji was speechless.

According to what Xuanyuan had said earlier, he was sealed here fifteen thousand years ago. The Three Pure Dao Patriarchs and the Forty-Nine Heavens should all be people and events that appeared after that.

So how did the Forty-Nine Heavens come into being?

And how did the Daoist Court and Buddhist Sect appear?

These were all matters that happened after Xuanyuan's time; even Xuanyuan didn't know, so asking was pointless.

Chen Ji suddenly asked, "What was my relationship with Qingniao?"

He had asked this question before.

He had asked Xuanyuan if he knew Li Qingniao, and Xuanyuan had replied that he only knew Qingniao, not Li Qingniao. Chen Ji often wondered if they were originally the same "person."

So, who exactly was Qingniao? This was related to the answer of why he left the Forty-Nine Heavens.

Xuanyuan looked deeply at Chen Ji. "After me, Qingniao was your best friend."

Chen Ji was stunned.

Friend.

Best friend?

So, if Li Qingniao was the Qingniao Xuanyuan spoke of, then their help in leaving the Forty-Nine Heavens must have been benevolent?

Chen Ji stood up and pressed on, "Li Qingniao once told me, 'Alas, a steed in a crevice, fire from a stone, a body in a dream; the Forty-Nine Heavens cannot hold you. Go, go to where you belong...' What did he mean by those words?"

Xuanyuan asked in a solemn voice, "That's what he said? So that's it, that's how your 'Forty-Nine Heavens' came to be...

Strange, if that's truly the case, shouldn't it be the Fiftieth Heaven? Why only forty-nine layers?"

Chen Ji's heart jolted.

Fiftieth Heaven?

Earlier, he had discovered a problem: the world he was in was different from the Forty-Nine Heavens his master spoke of. Both his master and Prince Jing believed he came from the Forty-Nine Heavens, yet he had not met any of the deities commonly known to reside there. And those he *had* met, others knew nothing about.

At one point, Chen Ji would secretly wonder if Prince Jing and his master were mistaken, and if he didn't actually come from the Forty-Nine Heavens.

The other Forty-Nine Heavens were called things like East Kunlun, West Kunlun, Biyou Palace, Yujing Mountain, Sumeru Mountain—they sounded magical. But the one he was from was called Earth; just hearing the name made it feel out of place.

Now, hearing Xuanyuan, he wasn't from the Forty-Nine Heavens, but from the Fiftieth Heaven.

Did Li Qingniao know about this? Or perhaps they weren't telling the whole truth?

Chen Ji was uncertain.

He looked up at Xuanyuan. "Where did the Fiftieth Heaven come from?"

Xuanyuan shook his head. "The secret here is too great; it cannot be spoken."

Chen Ji asked again, "Will I remember it myself one day?"

"No," Xuanyuan paused. "If one day you meet someone who has experienced the same fate as you, perhaps you will understand. If you still don't understand then, you can come ask me again."

So, the Fiftieth Heaven only appeared after his death.

Chen Ji, being straightforward, sat back down. "I'll figure it out someday, but right now I don't care what happened in the past; I only care about the present. I have some questions about sword seeds that I need to ask you."

Now, Wuyun was trapped in the Forbidden City. Even if Pao Ge managed to acquire enough ginseng for her, Wuyun couldn't leave the palace to eat it, and it was useless for Chen Ji to consume it himself.

Since he couldn't cultivate the Mountain Lord for now, Chen Ji could only focus his energy on the sword seeds.

Xuanyuan shook his head. "I've taught you everything there is to teach. There are only two paths to cultivating sword seeds: one is to slowly nourish the sword with starlight, and the other is to forge the sword using others' sword intent as fuel. There are no shortcuts. As for how to master sword seeds, there's no method other than practice makes perfect."

Chen Ji was thoughtful.

He summoned his two sword seeds from his markings and hesitantly asked, "Excuse me, but I've cultivated two sword seeds. Is this normal?"

Xuanyuan abruptly rose from the boulder.

He strode over to Chen Ji, circled the two floating sword seeds three times, looking first at the seeds, then at Chen Ji. "What kind of demonic cultivation have you been practicing?"

Chen Ji innocently explained, "I just cultivated the sword with starlight as you instructed. It's just that after my markings appeared, when I killed another person, their heavy sword intent didn't flow into the first sword seed; instead, it forged a second one."

Xuanyuan frowned deeply, not saying a word.

Chen Ji curiously asked, "You haven't seen this situation before either?"

Xuanyuan came back to his senses, glanced at Chen Ji, and said dismissively in a casual tone, "It's not that rare. Your sword seeds are like broken iron shards, far from the divine path."

As he spoke, he lifted Chen Ji's clothes.

Chen Ji stepped back. "What are you doing?"

Xuanyuan said in a deep voice, "What else? I'm looking at your markings!"

Chen Ji unbuttoned his clothes, revealing his upper body. Three tiger-like markings were visible on his body: one light brown, two black.

Xuanyuan was startled for a moment. "You've already used it once?"

Chen Ji closed his clothes. "You know the purpose of these markings?"

Xuanyuan scoffed and leaned against the boulder. "Having dealt with you for ten thousand years and suffering two losses because of these markings, how could I not know? However, each time these markings are used, one is consumed. You've used one already, despite being merely at the realm of an ant. What will you do in the future?"

There was a hint of schadenfreude in Xuanyuan's words.

Chen Ji retorted irritably, "Worry about yourself."

Xuanyuan lowered his head in thought. "You're going to grow eight markings, which means you'll be able to cultivate eight sword seeds? How preposterous!"

Chen Ji asked earnestly, "Did I cultivate them wrongly?"

Xuanyuan shot him a look. "Shut up."

Chen Ji burst into laughter. "Are you jealous?"

Xuanyuan took a deep breath. "Such a petty demeanor. You don't know the hardship of nourishing a sword; it took me tens of thousands of years to cultivate just one. Are you going to take eighty thousand years to cultivate eight sword seeds? Can you afford to wait that long?"

Chen Ji slowly sobered. "Indeed, I can't wait that long. My purpose in coming here this time is to ask you to draw me a map to the place where you hide your sword."