Chapter 225: The 28 Constellations in the Immortal Palace
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Junior Leopard radiated an overwhelmingly cruel and fierce spirit. Green sword light exploded from his body and surrounded him instead of bursting outward. In the same moment, his endless killing intent spread all over the place.
“This is—!”
As Golden Rooster stood beside Junior Leopard, he felt the unmistakable sensation of Junior’s Leopard’s physical presence disappearing in a flash. His body instantly vanished, cloaked by the Free Will Demonic Smoke, while the green light surrounding Junior Leopard seemed to isolate him from the outside world. If Junior Leopard’s Poison Cold s.h.i.+eld had not been protecting Golden Rooster, the Junior Leopard before his eyes would have seemed to be nothing more than a phantom left behind by the real person.
“What’s this? A sword formation?”
The lady in white silently admired Junior Leopard’s prowess as she hid in an out-of-the-way location. She was astonished by the amazing scene before her eyes, an astonishment stirred by Junior Leopard’s sword light. Her eyesight was superior to Golden Rooster’s, so she immediately recognized that the sword light emitted by Junior Leopard had formed into a forward-facing formation. However, she failed to identify the formation type.
Of course, she could not a.n.a.lyze this formation. Junior Leopard had formed his Yin and Yang Dust Formation out of Sword Qi. With his current cultivation and understanding of the Yin and Yang Dust Formation, he could only deploy the Death Gate portion of the Yin and Yang Dust Formation.
The Yin and Yang Dust Formation was a kind of formation that combined attack and defense but only manifested its real power when completely deployed. Presently, Junior Leopard had only deployed the Death Gate, which merely intensified the attack force of his Sword Qi.
This, however, was all he needed.
Within the Death Gate, the Sword Qi of his Silver Moon Sword Technique and his Yin and Yang Heavenly Sword flowed together as one.
The Dragon Flying Technique surged through his body like a maelstrom and ripped apart the Yin and Yang Heavenly Sword Qi within the External Elixir between his eyebrows. His Sword Qi was shredded into countless tiny sword threads that merged bit by bit with the Sword Qi of the Silver Moon. As this additional energy augmented the Death Gate in the Yin and Yang Dust Formation, the sword light around Junior Leopard grew indistinct. His green sword light took on a blood-red hue, emitting a piercing cold filled with inexhaustible ferocity. His entire body resembled a giant bomb that was about to explode.
The lady in white let out a cold laugh as she seemed to perceive the danger. Clouds of pale mist condensed out of every nook and cranny; this time, she called on all her strength to demonstrate the true power of the Free Will Demonic Smoke. The smoke formed into a big white ball less than ten feet in diameter, centered on Junior Leopard and Golden Rooster. Outside the smoke ball, Ma Tianchang’s central camp remained intact and undisturbed.
The Poison Cold s.h.i.+eld could not hold for long under the great pressure of the Free Will Demonic Smoke. Even though Junior Leopard had built his practice of the Poison Cold s.h.i.+eld around the Poison-absorbing Green Bead to create a s.h.i.+eld that emitted a breathtaking quality of poison… he had only recently completed this practice. Junior Leopard and his Poison Cold s.h.i.+eld were not perfectly integrated yet. What’s more, the lady’s Free Will Demonic Smoke technique was not inferior to the Poison Cold s.h.i.+eld, and her cultivation was superior to Junior Leopard’s. As a result, Junior Leopard’s Poison Cold s.h.i.+eld was crumbling under his opponent’s pressure.
“Help me, Golden Rooster! Make a hole in the smoke!” Junior Leopard shouted, his face burning red beneath his mask.
“Got it!”
Jin Yuquan replied in a low voice, eyes flas.h.i.+ng as he realized how critical this moment was. He raised his hands as Gang Qi burst forth from his body in a shower of golden light.
Four Golden Claw.
The second Excellency:
Split the Sky.
“Rustle—”
There was a sound like silk cloth ripping in half. Jin Yuquan grimaced and bared his teeth. Even though his Gang Qi protected his body, he could not bear the great pressure imposed by the Free Will Demonic Smoke without the shelter of Junior Leopard’s Poison Cold s.h.i.+eld. More importantly, it felt like he was ripping up steel and iron whenever he slashed at the surrounding white smoke with his golden light-wreathed claws. Even the glowing haze of the Free Will Demonic Smoke was harder than iron when it condensed into one place.
Although Jin Yuquan’s Four Golden Claw technique had matured, he struggled to rip through the pale, seemingly translucent smoke. His fingertips throbbed with pain, but since crying out would be humiliating, he clenched his teeth and kept going until he had ripped many small tears in the surrounding Free Will Demonic Smoke.
This was the exact opportunity Junior Leopard was waiting for.
Once Jin Yuquan had ripped gaps in the Free Will Demonic Smoke, Junior Leopard let out a deep-throated yell. Greenlight burst from his body. The green sword light around him suddenly condensed into a single point. With a mournful cry and a glimpse of blood-red swordsmans.h.i.+p, the gathered energy shot towards the fissures torn by Jin Yuquan.
“Puff, puff, puff—!” The swift, fierce sword light pierced the Free Will Demonic Smoke with a soft sound. Junior Leopard’s Sword Qi perforated the steel-like Free Will Demonic Smoke in an instant.
“Go now!” After Junior Leopard’s thrusting attack, he pulled Jin Yuquan along with him. Jin Yuquan responded quickly and focused his golden light. As he followed Junior Leopard, his light transformed into a golden streamer as thin as a paper that coated his skin.
Junior Leopard also condensed his Poison Cold s.h.i.+eld into a thin, skintight layer, and then rushed out through the hole he pierced with his sword light.
The Free Will Demonic Smoke had currently grown extremely dense, forming a big smoke ball only ten feet in diameter centered on Junior Leopard and Jin Yuquan. Junior Leopard only needs to stab through a distance of five feet with the Sword Qi he had suddenly unleashed.
This was a trifle for Junior Leopard’s Sword Qi.
Although the Free Will Demonic Smoke could regenerate itself, this process took time!
Junior Leopard and Jin Yuquan followed closely behind the outrus.h.i.+ng sword light and dashed out of the Free Will Demonic Smoke. With their protective layers of Gang Qi and Poison Cold s.h.i.+eld along with their swift speed, they covered that five-foot gap in an instant. The big hole in the smoke ball did seal shut until they ran well clear of the Free Will Demonic Smoke.
“d.a.m.n it!” The lady in white swore under her breath. She hadn’t expected Junior Leopard to release such a great power so suddenly. In moments, her white smoke exploded outward and moved to cover her two enemies again.
“Come on!” Jin Yuquan hissed, having little time to think. His figure transformed into a golden light that flew out of the central camp. Junior Leopard’s sword light followed close behind.
They fled more blatantly than they had when they first slipped into the camp.
A golden light and green light rushed straight out of the central camp, ripping the camp into pieces as they pa.s.sed and startling the master of martial arts among the troops. The barrack was instantly thrown into disarray. Dozens of shadowy figures swarmed out of the barracks, seemingly intending to chase after Junior Leopard and Jin Yuquan. Once they saw those two lights shooting thousands of feet up into the clouds, however, they gave up one by one.
The highest-level masters among them had only cultivated to Level Six. In order to pursue those two lights into the cloud, they would need the good eyesight and the lost flying skill that only came from successfully practicing Gang Qi – both of which required cultivating to Level Seven. Though they were competent masters, there was no way they could catch these two people.
For this reason, the masters abandoned their chase one after another and returned to camp. As they drifted back into the central camp, they realized that the barracks had been thrown into chaos.
“Pah, pah, pah, pah, pah…!” A miserable Junior Leopard stood on top of his own sword light, an eerie expression on his snow-pale face. The sword light trembled under his feet, seemingly on the brink of destabilizing.
His sword light was indeed unstable; it would be strange if it wasn’t.
That final, seemingly easy attack had nearly consumed all the Internal Qi from Junior Leopard’s Green Jade Qian Yuan Skill. The last dregs of his Internal Qi were just barely supporting the sword light beneath his feet.
The Death Gate of the Yin and Yang Dust Formation had many functions, one of which was to greatly increase a warrior’s sword attack force. Junior Leopard had only just mastered this ability, using this feature of the Death Gate to break free of the restraining Free Will Demonic Smoke.
However, though the Death Gate of the Yin and Yang Dust Formation amplified one’s abilities, it did so by consuming Sword Qi at an astonis.h.i.+ng rate. Junior Leopard had already known he would not be able to activate the Death Gate with just his peak Level Six Cultivation and his Sword Qi altered by the Jade Original Power Gang Spirit. He had to mix his Extreme Yang Heavenly Sword and Jade Original Power Gang Spirit Sword Qi together in order to even use the Death Gate at its lowest level.
Even after taking all these measures, Junior Leopard only acquired enough power for one attack.
A single, measly attack.
After that attack, Junior Leopard had to devote the remnants of his Internal Qi towards supporting his Reining Sword Gang flight technique. If he ran into any more powerful opponents, he would have to fight them using pure physical strength.
In light of this, Junior Leopard finally, truly understood why it was so handy to carry External Elixirs.
Possessing an External Elixir effectively meant possessing another Dantian, which, practically speaking, would double your combat capabilities.
For most ordinary people, refining an External Elixir was a waste of time. This was no problem for Junior Leopard; his External Elixir could refine by itself for 24 hours straight, giving him a nigh-insurmountable advantage.
“It seems I made the right choice using my External Elixir to practice a second mental cultivation method!” Junior Leopard thought, feeling a surge of both pride and regret. If he could not practice the Green Jade Qian Yuan Skill using the External Elixir, how could he feel at ease when disguising himself as another person?
The current issue was that Xiao, his secret ident.i.ty, was supposed to be a sword pract.i.tioner. Even the most imaginative and clever people in the martial arts world would never guess that Zhou Bao, who swung around two big iron hammers all day long, was also a sword pract.i.tioner with great attack force.
These two ident.i.ties could not be connected to each other under any circ.u.mstances.
” I have to keep practicing the Silver Moon Sword Technique for the time being. My secret sword pract.i.tioner ident.i.ty gives me a valuable edge!” Junior Leopard thought.
“What’s going on? Are you all alright?”
Upon noticing Junior Leopard’s deathly pale face, Jin Yuquan started looking queasy as well.
He had come here today to rob an ancient treasure. Contrary to his expectations, he had failed to steal the artifact and wound up getting nothing but a sore nose for his troubles. Even worse, he had to endure the humiliation of being rescued by Junior Leopard. Jin Yuquan was w.a.n.g She’s partner. Junior Leopard was supposed to be a temporary replacement while w.a.n.g She healed from his severe injuries. Jin Yuquan was supposed to be the leader in this impromptu partners.h.i.+p.
What happened instead?
His performance today had fallen far behind Junior Leopard. If Junior Leopard had not unleashed that final blast, they both probably would have died in that smoke ball. This realization made Jin Yuquan gloomy.
“I’m fine. I just consumed too much power!” Junior Leopard said with a shake of his head. As he slowly calmed down, the green-glowing sword light under his feet started resynchronizing with the pulse of his Dantian. He started to recover his strength.
Yes. He was recovering his pneuma.
Although Junior Leopard’s Dragon Chimera skull was currently broken, he could fas.h.i.+on a functional equivalent to an External Elixir by combining his crushed skull with his Flying Sword Infusion. This improvised Elixir would inherit all the properties of the Dragon Chimera’s External Elixir, including the self-practicing Green Jade Qian Yuan Skill, which could provide him with the equivalent to 24-hours of non-stop practice.
The only difference between this jury-rigged Elixir and the Dragon Chimera’s Inner Elixir was that the Flying Sword offered an additional procedure: it could transform the Internal Qi of the Green Jade Qian Yuan Skill into Silver Moon Sword Qi.
Practicing with this jury-rigged Flying Sword infused Elixir would take longer than with the pure Dragon Chimera’s External Elixir, but this was neither here nor now.
“Would you like to head down there again, Golden Rooster?!”
“No way,” Golden Rooster said, shaking his head. He brushed away some of the cloud vapor near him and glanced down through the gap. “Look for yourself,” he said. “All of the barracks are on high alert and Ma Tianchang had already returned to the central camp. We wouldn’t stand a chance!”
“It seems you’re quite scared of Ma Tianchang!” Junior Leopard asked with some curiosity. “He may be the Governor of Yunzhou, but he’s just a Governor. There are few masters of martial arts around him. Aren’t you…!”
“He’s a Level Nine expert!” Golden Rooster said, interrupting Junior Leopard. With a brittle laugh, he continued: “Ma Tianchang had a master with a mysterious background. His cultivation has already reached the peak of Level Nine, the same level as the three Grandmasters of Northern Yuan. Why do you think the three Grandmasters are too afraid of the risks involved in killing Ma Tianchang?!”
This was the first time that Junior Leopard had heard about this.
The Yunzhou Governor in Great Jin was actually a Level Nine expert!
All this time, he had a.s.sumed a Level Nine expert was a.s.sisting Ma Tianchang; he never thought that Ma Tianchang himself was the Level Nine expert. No wonder he was able to cause such a ruckus in Yunzhou over the years with nary a peep of opposition!
Seeing the surprise on Junior Leopard’s face, Golden Rooster said, “Actually, you don’t need to worry. Though we failed to steal the Clear Gla.s.s Jade Bottle, we did learn that Ma Tianchang’s wife was the Moon Vixen of Heart. That’s more than enough for our purposes!”
“I have a question about that: are you sure that lady was from your Immortal Palace?!”
“She must be the previous Moon Vixen of Heart from the Immortal Palace!” Golden Rooster said. “I know the current Moon Vixen of Heart; she has a high cultivation, but hasn’t yet mastered the Free Will Demonic Smoke, let alone to the level of proficiency we saw!”
“Is ‘Moon Vixen of Heart’ just her code name, then?!”
“Correct. ‘Moon Vixen of Heart’ is just a code name. Every member of the Immortal Palace has a code name; mine is ‘Sun Rooster of Hairy Head’, while w.a.n.g She’s code name is ‘Winged Fire Snake’. The Moon Vixen of Heart called you ‘Little Fire Snake’ because she noticed the ring w.a.n.g She had lent you!”
“Moon Vixen of Heart, Sun Rooster of Hairy Head and Wing Fire Snake. They are all part of—”
“––the 28 Constellations!” Golden Rooster replied. “However, there are currently openings among the 28 Constellations. Your strength and skill qualify you to be one of the 28 Constellations; you could become a full member of the Immortal Palace whenever you wished!”
“Do you have to join the 28 Constellations in order to be counted as a full member?” Junior Leopard asked.
“Yes. To be regarded as a full member of the Immortal Palace, you must join the 28 Constellations. However, members of the 28 Constellations must have at least a Level Seven cultivation!”
“I haven’t reached Level Seven yet!”
“As a sword pract.i.tioner, your attack force is far beyond that of an ordinary Level Seven expert, and you have your Poison Cold s.h.i.+eld to protect your body. You’ve already surpa.s.sed the power of an average 28 Constellation member; even I don’t know whether I could vanquish you in a fair fight. If you aren’t qualified, then neither am I!”
“You’re too modest!” Junior Leopard said with a laugh, staring down at the ground. “So, your Immortal Palace actually does want to recruit me. If they weren’t, you wouldn’t be saying all this, would you?”
“Certainly. Any organization worth their salt would want an expert like you, and we know a bit more about you than others!” Golden Rooster said with a grin. Indeed, the Immortal Palace knew one thing the other organizations did not; they knew Junior Leopard’s second ident.i.ty, Xiao.
They knew Junior Leopard’s true value and cherished him all the more for it.
“There are still 14 vacancies left among the 28 Constellations; you can take your pick!”
“Take your pick? What do you mean?” Junior Leopard asked with some confusion. “What difference is there between the vacant Constellations?”
“Each Constellation is a.s.sociated with different martial arts, secret skills, special techniques and celestial devices. Inheriting one Constellation position may grant you access to a special martial art, while others let you inherit secret skills, special techniques or celestial devices. Take me for instance: my constellation, Sun Rooster of Hairy Head, corresponds to the Four Golden Claw art; Moon Vixen of Heart corresponds to celestial devices such as the Free Will Demonic Smoke. As Flying Fire Snake, w.a.n.g She practices the Snake-like Breath Holding Skill, one of the Seven Wonderful Techniques.”
“And the other constellations?” Junior Leopard asked. “What do the remaining 14 constellations correspond to?”
“Those are secrets of the Immortal Palace that I cannot reveal. However, if you’re willing to join the Immortal Palace, they will no longer be secrets!”
Temptation. This was a naked act of temptation!
The Immortal Palace enticed experts to join them with the lure of martial arts and secret skills!
If anyone else was so invited, they would have joined up without a second thought. Only Junior Leopard, a person who knew several secret skills and special techniques already, had a resistance to these kinds of lures.
“Ha-ha, Golden Rooster. I need more time to consider such a big decision!”
“What’s there to consider? There’s no downside to joining the Immortal Palace! The management in the Immortal Palace is hands-off. The privacy of members is respected. We have few restrictions in times of peace and offer decent wages. If you wind up regretting your choice, you can resign any time you please. Members can come and go as they wish, just like the Moon Vixen of Heart did. There’s no better organization out there!”
“As I please?!” Junior Leopard asked, giving Golden Rooster a weird look. “Just to be clear, I can come and go as I please? I can quit the Immortal Palace even if I wind up training in their martial arts?”
“Oh, that wouldn’t do at all!” Golden Rooster promptly explained. “You see, after entering the Immortal Palace, you can only resign if you pay a price equal to the gifts you gain from the Immortal Palace. For example, I learned to practice the Four Golden Claw from the Immortal Palace; if I wanted to resign, I would have to offer something the Immortal Palace does not yet possess — for instance, a martial arts skill or celestial device no less valuable than the Four Golden Claw.”
“Are there any other benefits? For instance, rewards for taking on a.s.signments?”
“Of course there are!” Golden Rooster said, “Oh, one more thing: if you joined, you would be forbidden to reveal the secrets of the Immortal Palace!”
“What about the martial arts skills I learn in the Immortal Palace? Can I pa.s.s them on to others?” Junior Leopard asked, thinking of the Snake-like Breath Holding Skill that w.a.n.g She had bequeathed to him.
“Beyond a few exceptions, you can if you want to!” Golden Rooster replied.
“Really?” Junior asked, feeling surprised.
“Would you share your hard-earned, unfathomable martial arts skills with other so easily?” Golden Rooster asked with a scornful laugh. “People in this world are selfish; they cling to their riches, hunger for even more advantages, and pay no mind to others!”
Hearing this, Junior Leopard had a moment of enlightenment. He himself knew many profound martial arts skills. He had just recently imparted the Seven Swirl Hack Skill he had learned in the prairie to w.a.n.g Tianlei, his brother-in-law; he had kept all his other martial arts skills secret from the world.
“It seems that the Immortal Palace preys on people’s weaknesses, luring in experts to join them by offering such favorable terms!” Junior Leopard thought. Through the information gained from his chat with Golden Rooster, Junior Leopard had figured out the basic methodology of the Immortal Palace. The more he understood, the more he came to admire them.
To a certain degree, the Immortal Palace was a loosely structured service organization. Its purpose was to bring experts together in the pursuit of profit and thereby a.s.semble a great deal of power.
Even if someone wished to resign from the Immortal Palace, they would not lightly share the benefits they’d gained there with others.
In an organization like the Immortal Palace, an injury to the profit of the organization was an injury to everyone’s profit; the rank and file of the Palace would rebuke any individual member who deprived their organization of profit. What’s more, there was no strict cla.s.s division in this loosely structured service organization. Even the superiors of the 28 Constellations probably only received and a.s.signed missions and did not directly manage the 28 Constellations. As a result, conflicts and power struggles would rarely arise between members of the Immortal Palace.
They had no positions of authority to claw after, so any profit they acquired would be through their own strength.
More importantly, the Immortal Palace provided various kinds of services to a.s.sist members with their various affairs.
Once these experts got accustomed to the services provided by the Immortal Palace, they would grow more dependent on their organization. In this way, this seemingly lax organization maintained a cohesion stronger and more unbreakable than the authority some barons could maintain among their families.
It was a mutual-aid fraternity for experts above Level Seven, filled with a powerful vitality and explosive force. There were no downsides to joining!
Once he figured this out, the decision was easy.
Junior Leopard realized he could not resist this temptation.
“Well then,” he said to Golden Rooster with a smile, “Now that you’ve told me so much, I have no more reservations. Count me in!”