Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 2(76)
Passing through the sea of clouds, his landing point was Mount Taicang.
Upon the summit of Mount Taicang, there used to sit the cultivation center of the ancient Kingdom of Xianle: the Royal Holy Temple.
The Royal Holy Temple was an impressively expansive cultivation center. Its training grounds and temples covered the entirety of Mount Taicang, worshipping innumerous gods and immortals alike, scintillating and glorious. The main god worshipped was the Heavenly Emperor, and his golden temple was situated on the highest peak. The Crown Prince Temple that once stood on the second-highest peak was also a place of magnificent splendor.
Eight hundred years ago, Mount Taicang was renowned for its forests of flaming-red maples, and within those maple groves were endless crowds of devotees. However, when the Kingdom of Xianle fell, the crowds of devotees became crowds of angry rioters. They scaled the mountain to set ablaze the Crown Prince Temple, but they ended up setting fire to the entirety of Mount Taicang, burning it down to nothing but blackened earth and ash.
The burnt earth, like ground nourished by the dead, seemed to become even more fertile. Afterward, new seeds were planted upon the burnt earth, and new trees emerged. A few hundred years later, the mountain was fresh and covered once more, but the red leaves were no longer. The scenery was very different from eight hundred years ago.
When hiking the mountain in the past, there used to be a wide, paved path bordered by greenery. On the path, one could often see a devotee or a young trainee hauling firewood or water. Now, this path was long gone. Rocks and debris, withered branches and sticks, had covered its tracks and buried it deep underground. As Xie Lian climbed, he used only the strength of his legs, and when he ran into thorns or bushes, he took Fangxin and cut them down.
When he reached halfway up the mountain, Xie Lian was fatigued and leaned against a dead tree, ready to rest. Suddenly, the black shadow of an object came crashing down from the branches, making odd crackling sounds as it rushed toward him.
Xie Lian dodged. At first, he thought it was a broken branch or a nest, but when he looked closer, it was a plank so rotten that its original shape was indiscernible, with two rusted steel chains connected to either side. If it were anyone else, they might not be able to tell what it was, but Xie Lian knew immediately that it was a swing.
In the past, Mount Taicang had swings installed everywhere, both for fun and for training. Back when Xie Lian had only just started to retain memories, he once accompanied his parents to visit the Royal Holy Temple to pray for blessings. He saw a group of young trainees sparring, flipping and flopping all over the swings. It was an exciting performance; the king and queen enjoyed it, and Xie Lian clapped and shouted his appreciation. The king and queen were so pleased that they richly rewarded the young trainees, and ever since then the impression was left deep in Xie Lian’s heart that cultivation was something awesome and fun.
Though when he formally entered the sect for cultivation in his later years, the reason was no longer because it seemed fun.
After some rest, Xie Lian continued hiking. The higher he climbed, the thicker the bushes became, and every so often a critter would dart by, leaving behind a shadow of a bushy tail. There were a few squirrels huddling in the trees, munching on pinecones, peeking at this uninvited guest.
Thorns blocked his path, tearing at his clothes and limbs, but Xie Lian didn’t mind at all. Six hours later, at last he reached the peak of the Crown Prince Summit.
Of course, the Crown Prince Summit wasn’t originally called the Crown Prince Summit, but the name was changed after the Crown Prince Temple was constructed. Amidst the bushes and weeds, there were still remnants of pebble-paved grounds here and there; these were hidden traces of the large, burned foundation of the temple’s great hall. Going across it, through the rubble and ruins, past tinted glass tiles, he reached a chipped old well.
Looking from above into its bottom, it was easy to tell the old well had long dried up; the distance to the bottom was only a little over a meter, and all that was visible was sludge. Without hesitation, Xie Lian pulled his legs over the side and jumped in.
He didn’t tumble into sludge but instead traversed through that illusion and descended for over a dozen meters before his feet touched solid ground.
The surroundings were so dark that if he were to raise his hand, his fingers wouldn’t be visible. He looked up; there was no sunlight either, as if a heavy piece of fabric had blocked it out. Xie Lian felt around the bottom of the well, feeling several bricks, and pressed them in a certain order. With a rumbling noise, a small, short door opened on the side. Xie Lian dropped down on all fours and slowly crawled through the path past the small door. The moment he entered, he could hear another rumbling noise behind, sealing off the opening.
After half an incense time, he had finally crawled to the end of the tunnel. Xie Lian straightened up, snapped his fingers, and held up a small flickering flame.
After that small ball of flame was ignited, as if in response, not far in the distance another faint light started to glow like a pearl as it woke from its deep slumber and blinked open its bright eyes.
Soon after, more and more pearls glowed, connecting throughout and illuminating the surroundings. It became clearer and clearer that it was the spacious great hall of an underground palace. Above the great hall, there were embedded thousands of sparkling stars.
It was hard to imagine that the Imperial Mausoleum of the ancient Kingdom of Xianle was hidden beneath the scorched earth of Mount Taicang. Those brilliant stars were night pearls11 and diamonds embedded in the ceiling; the night pearls glowed when they came in contact with light, and the diamonds reflected their radiance. When they crossed paths, the result was a bedazzling brilliance, like a dream. It was like a minuscule Milky Way hidden below ground.