Martial Peak

Chapter 2210, Mirror World

“Oh? There’s even something that Little Qian doesn’t know? I thought that you were so crafty despite your size, and that you knew everything,” Wen Zi Shan commented with a wide smile.

Chen Qian just glared at him, “Temple Master, you personally raised Sister Gao, so it’s fine for you to talk to her with such a tone, but I’m different… if you keep acting so flippantly and dim, I’m worried that you really will be single for the rest of your life!”

Wen Zi Shan immediately broke out into a cold sweat with an awkward expression, “Ahem, let’s set this aside. What did you want to ask just now?”

“Back then… why didn’t you… kill Grandma You?” Chen Qian quickly said with a serious expression.

Wen Zi Shan’s expression also became serious as he fell into silence for a moment before answering, “It’s not that I didn’t want to, but rather that I couldn’t kill her!”

Chen Qian replied with confusion, “This subordinate does not understand.”

Wen Zi Shan answered, “Back when I first came to Azure Sun Mountain Range, I decided to stay here precisely because I discovered the Divine Ascension Mirror. At that time, that old thing was already guarding the Divine Ascension Mirror, and it seemed as if she had been doing so for more than two thousand years. Of course, my desire was stimulated upon seeing that treasure for the first time and I was quite eager to study it, but you already know about that old thing’s temper. She wouldn’t agree no matter what, so in the end, this King was forced into a fight with her…”

“The end result was that you won and Grandma You lost?”

“En,” Wen Zi Shan nodded, “Although our Divine Senses were at about the same level, she only had First-Order Emperor, so this King was stronger overall. At that time, I discovered that old thing wasn’t anything good, with a violent temperament and a cruel heart. I never would have shown her mercy if I didn’t have to; however, since she had been together with the Divine Ascension Mirror for so long, it seemed as if she gained some understanding of its mysteries, and although she was unable to use it against her enemies, she could still use special methods to seal and ruin it! If she was really forced to the brink, she could simply destroy that treasure and then no one would ever be able to use it!”

Chen Qian understood much more after she heard this, “So, Temple Master had such worries…”

“Indeed!” Wen Zi Shan replied, “Thus, I made an agreement with her that this King wouldn’t kill her, nor would I take the Divine Ascension Mirror away from her; however, she would need to cooperate whenever I needed to use the Divine Ascension Mirror.”

Chen Qian now had an expression of understanding, “No wonder… back when I went to train in the Divine Ascension Mirror, Grandma You’s expression was filled with unwillingness, yet she still activated the mirror for me. So there was such a reason.”

“Not only you…” Wen Zi Shan chuckled, “That old thing always behaves like this every time that she has to activate the Divine Ascension Mirror. She’s always treated the Divine Ascension Mirror as her personal belonging, so she can’t stand others touching it!”

Wen Zi Shan then coldly snorted, “After all these years, although she has cooperated on the surface, she’s probably secretly used so many schemes to kill countless elites of my temple!”

Chen Qian’s pretty face changed upon hearing this as she stared at Wen Zi Shan in astonishment, “Temple Master, you mean…”

Wen Zi Shan kept chuckling coldly, “She thinks that she did it without anyone knowing, but this King actually knew all along. However… she didn’t go too overboard, so this King can’t be bothered to expose her.”

“But the dead disciples…” Chen Qian had a pained expression.

Wen Zi Shan sighed deeply, “This also counts as a type of trial. If one passes, they will naturally become stronger, and if they fail, they die. Everyone’s fate is different, that’s all!”

Chen Qian was now afraid after the fact as she patted her chest, “Luckily, I managed to pass back them,” she paused for a moment and then asked, “Temple Master, why were you willing to let an outsider into the Divine Ascension Mirror? That is the temple’s greatest secret; even most disciples of the temple don’t know about it.”

“There’s no particular reason, I just wanted to test his mettle!” Wen Zi Shan smiled slightly.

Chen Qian responded, “Is it because of Bustling World Great Emperor? That boy brought the Bustling World Great Emperor’s token with him, and I heard that the Bustling World Great Emperor raised you, Temple Master…”

“Nothing could be further from the truth!” Wen Zi Shan suddenly glared at Chen Qian and acted panicky, “This King grew up as an ordinary person, and has not the slightest connection to that old Bustling World fellow…”

“Oh? You trying to hide it makes it more obvious…” Chen Qian covered her mouth and smiled.

“Lies and slander!”

“The more you deny it, the more certain it sounds…”

“Little Qian Qian…” Wen Zi Shan suddenly took a soft tone and called her name in a deeply romantic manner.

Chen Qian’s pretty face suddenly changed as she hurriedly said, “Temple Master, this subordinate just remembered that I have something else to do, I’ll be leaving now!”

She instantly flashed away, as if she was trying to escape from Wen Zi Shan’s sight.

Her past experiences told her that whenever Wen Zi Shan changed the topic and used such a tone with her, it would be best for her to escape immediately. Otherwise… she would definitely be tortured until she wanted to die!

“Hmph, she’s too naïve, daring to challenge this old master? Nothing but overconfidence, wahahaha!” Wen Zi Shan proudly revealed an attitude of an undefeatable champion, laughed loudly in an aloof manner.

…

Six vague figures appeared one after another in a strange space.

Gradually, these figures congealed, the entire process quite wondrous. As the six figures solidified, they all groaned in pain, as if they were all experiencing great discomfort.

However, everyone soon recovered.

They looked all around and at each other.

“This is the world of the Divine Ascension Mirror?” Xia Sheng exclaimed with astonishment.

“My body feels somewhat different!” Murong Xiao Xiao furrowed her brow slightly.

“This should be because we are in the form of our Soul Avatars,” Xiao Bai Yi added.

“This is so hard to get used to!” Chen Mu Ji also commented.

Yang Kai didn’t say anything and just gently clenched his fist, experiencing for himself how different his body was from usual.

If it was only physical appearance, everyone still appeared the same as before, right down to their clothes; however, if one looked closer, they would discover that everyone here had no physical body. In other words, everyone here consisted of pure Spiritual Energy. Although their forms appeared to be corporeal, they were actually not!

“It’s just as I told you before,” Gao Xue Ting got accustomed quite quickly, most likely because she had come here before, or perhaps because her realm was that much higher. “Only our Soul Avatars have entered the Divine Ascension Mirror, while our physical bodies are still in the stone rooms back in the stone cave. Everything in the Divine Ascension Mirror’s world is made of Spiritual Energy, which is why this place is highly effective at increasing the strength of our Souls. If a cultivator has a powerful Soul, their ability to comprehend Secret Arts and cultivate Secret Techniques will greatly increase as well. There are also countless other benefits. The Soul is the most important foundation for a cultivator, apart from their physical body, that is why this is a rare opportunity for all of you. If you can strengthen your Souls to a certain level here, it will also become easier for you all to rise to the Emperor Realm in the future.”

“Disciple understands,” Xiao Bai Yi and the others cupped their fists as they responded.

“The Spiritual Energy in the Divine Ascension Mirror World is different from the World Energy outside. When we cultivate outside, the World Energy we absorb is transformed into Qi to increase our cultivation; however, if you cultivate here, the Spiritual Energy you absorb will instead strengthen your Soul. I think that you all should have noticed this already,” Gao Xue Ting explained.

Everyone nodded slightly.

Yang Kai had indeed sensed that the energy in this strange world was quite different from energy in the outside world.

He was absorbing the energy all around him, which strengthened his Soul Avatar and made his Soul more durable and powerful.

“If you want to strengthen your Soul here, apart from cultivating normally, you can also strengthen yourself by slaying the living beings here!”

“There are other living beings here?” Xiao Bai Yi’s expression changed slightly.

Gao Xue Ting glanced at him, “This is a complete world, why wouldn’t there be other living beings here?”

Xiao Bai Yi was instantly rendered speechless.

Gao Xue Ting continued, “According to the Temple Master, the Divine Ascension Mirror is a mystical treasure that was born alongside the Heavens and Earth. The mirror’s interior is its own independent world that, while even smaller than the Southern Territory, has given birth to its own unique lifeforms. There are people and Monster Beasts here… so this world has everything that the Star Boundary does! However, every living creature here is condensed from pure Spiritual Energy. Of course, none of these creatures realize this and believe that this is how the world should be. They have never experienced having physical bodies before. Also, I must remind you to avoid having any contact with the natives here. There are many powerful existences in the Divine Ascension Mirror you can’t afford to antagonize.”

“However, if you’re capable of killing living beings that have evil intentions towards you, you’ll be able to absorb their energy. The energy here is extremely pure, and most of it can be absorbed by our Soul Avatars to strengthen our Souls directly!”

Everyone’s eyes lit up upon hearing this.

“You might not understand too well just from my explanation. In that case, we can try it out right now so that you can understand.” Gao Xue Ting closed her beautiful eyes as she spoke before releasing her powerful First-Order Emperor Realm Divine Sense.

A moment later, she opened her eyes and declared, “Everyone, come with me.”

As she spoke, she began moving at a speed that everyone could follow after.

This was a plain with long grass and many birds flying overhead, a scenery as beautiful and refreshing as a spring day. Even though there was no sun in the sky, the light in this world was quite plentiful, it was just unknown how this light was generated.

Everyone followed Gao Xue Ting for more than a dozen kilometres before something resembling a Monster Beast suddenly appeared before them.

Everyone looked over to see that the Monster Beast was a type that they had never seen before. It seemed like an ordinary wild animal, but its body was as gigantic as a building and its two curved tusks gave it a vicious appearance.

The Dao Source Realm cultivators present instantly sent out their Divine Senses to scan this beast and soon discovered that it was at the peak of the Tenth-Order. In other words, it was a Monster Beast which was equivalent to a peak Origin King.

None of them would have any trouble dealing with such a Monster Beast, so it was perfect for experimenting on to clarify Gao Xue Ting’s earlier explanation.

It seemed that Gao Xue Ting had chosen this beast intentionally.