Vermilion Bird Immortal Palace

Vermilion Bird Immortal Palace...

Qin Wentian took a deep breath, determined to banish the haunting memories of his nightmare. His eyes gleamed with newfound resolve and an unwavering determination.

The experience in the baptism had strengthened his heart even further. No one could stand in his way now.

Getting to his feet, Qin Wentian felt a shiver run down his spine. His shirt was drenched with perspiration, and the chilly breeze seemed to pierce through his body. Nevertheless, his gaze remained firmly fixed on the distance ahead.

In the distance stood an ancient imperial tomb, radiating a brilliant light that seemed to never dim.

With a flicker of his silhouette, Qin Wentian arrived at the edge of this dimension. His gaze was fixed on the ancient tomb before him, the only structure in this dimension. At the entrance, a gravestone in the shape of a human figure stood, clearly a statue of the peerless ancient emperor interred within.

"There are inscriptions?" Qin Wentian examined the statue and noticed an engraved monument on its chest.

"Xia Emperor's Tomb!"

Qin Wentian's heart skipped a beat at the sight of those words. The ancient emperor buried here was none other than the Xia Emperor himself.

In Grand Xia, countless eras had passed, and numerous emperors had risen to power. The Tyrant Emperor, the Blood Emperor—they all held the title of overlord in Grand Xia. However, there was only one true Xia Emperor—the founder of Grand Xia.

This tomb belonged to him.

Before the statue, an immensely long golden pathway stretched out. Countless puppet-like statues, clad in armor and armed with heavy spears, lined both sides of the path. Though they appeared motionless, a palpable aura of death emanated from them.

What astonished Qin Wentian even more was the majestic golden altar at the beginning of the golden path. On top of it lay several ancient-looking manuals.

Qin Wentian's figure flickered as he traversed the air and reached the origin of the path. He picked up one of the ancient manuals and sat on the ground, flipping it open. To his surprise, he found detailed information about the Dao of Divine Inscriptions.

The first manual by the Xia Emperor's ancient tomb was about Divine Inscriptions. It shared some similarities with the Gold-Element Ascendant manual Qin Wentian had acquired earlier, but many sections were far more profound. In addition to Divine Inscriptions, it also contained detailed information on the Dao of Formations and the Dao of Puppets.

Qin Wentian's eyes widened as he flipped through the pages, and a startling realization struck him. Could it be that the Xia Emperor, the founder of Grand Xia, was also a Divine Inscriptionist Grandmaster?

He continued reading until one page caught his attention, causing him to sit up straight in shock. The page detailed the Vermilion Bird Formation—the very same formation that had guarded the ancient kingdom of Grand Xia, where he had participated in the Heavenly Fate Rankings.

"The Vermilion Bird Formation," Qin Wentian muttered to himself, his eyes gleaming with excitement. This formation was a peak-tier, fifth-ranked Grand Formation and was exceedingly profound. When he had encountered it during the ranking battle, he couldn't fully comprehend its intricacies. But now, armed with the manual's explanation and his improved comprehension of the Dao of Divine Inscriptions, he could grasp some rough insights from it.

Surprisingly, the Vermilion Bird Formation he had encountered in the past hadn't displayed its peak fifth-ranked power. It seemed that the passage of time had diluted some of its strength, and the formation was so complex that even the Divine Inscriptionists remaining in Grand Xia had been unable to repair it.

Setting aside the first manual, Qin Wentian turned his attention to the second. To his surprise, it contained a set of cultivation arts—the Great Dream Immortal Art. While it resembled the dream creation cultivation art he had been practicing, it was tailored for cultivators in the Heavenly Dipper Realm, allowing them to cultivate in their dreams and increase the absorption of astral energy.

As Qin Wentian delved into the Great Dream Immortal Art, he became utterly absorbed in its contents.

He had personally experienced the terrifying power of this art. Even though the Xia Emperor had been dead for countless years, the dreamscape he created had ensnared Qin Wentian in a nightmare, nearly impossible to escape.

What made it even more formidable was that the snowman and Sword Forest had also been created by the Xia Emperor. While the first two dimensions were genuine realities that contributed to Qin Wentian's growth and his understanding of the Seven Annihilations Swordplay, the third dimension was a reality constructed from his inner demons, a nightmare.

The dream creation technique was so potent that it blurred the lines between reality and illusion, making it challenging to discern truth from falsehood. Submerging oneself in the dream turned it into a reality.

After a long time, Qin Wentian finally withdrew his focus from the Great Dream Immortal Art manual and carefully placed it back in its original spot. Besides its dream-crafting abilities, the art had another advantage: it made it easier for cultivators to create their techniques within the dream, perfecting them in that ethereal realm.

As a Stellar Martial Cultivator grew stronger, their innate techniques merged with the power of their Astral Nova or Celestial Constellations. By crafting their own techniques, they could tailor them perfectly to their attributes and strength, resulting in significantly more powerful techniques.

Turning his attention to the ancient scroll on the far right, Qin Wentian found it wasn't a cultivation art or technique. Instead, it was a rolled-up map depicting a mountain range. The details were vivid, with celestial qi permeating the atmosphere. Within the mist of celestial qi, an immortal palace floated in the distance. Above it, the silhouette of a Vermilion Bird shimmered in and out of existence.

This map was, in fact, a geographical guide to the location of the immortal palace.

"Could it be that the reason the totem beast of Grand Xia is a Vermilion Bird is connected to this?" Qin Wentian wondered aloud. Why else would the Xia Emperor leave behind a map leading to the immortal palace?

As he stood up, his gaze fixed on the golden pathway. With determination in his eyes, Qin Wentian took a step forward. Instantly, an overwhelming killing intent surged toward him. However, as he continued forward, stepping deliberately, the resplendent golden light of the path began to dim.

A third eye appeared in the center of Qin Wentian's brow. He had already discerned that this golden path was a creation of Divine Inscriptions. Stepping onto it without knowledge would lead to certain death.

The Xia Emperor left behind a manual of Divine Inscriptions, hoping that a future individual proficient in the Dao of Divine Inscriptions would use its concepts to traverse the golden pathway.

For Qin Wentian, this was not a difficult task. With his perception, breaking and negating formations was easier than inscribing them. As he stepped forward, the Divine Inscriptions on the golden pathway shattered one by one.

When he reached a certain point, the puppet-like statues on both sides came to life. They exuded overwhelming pressure and, in an instant, moved to attack Qin Wentian with lightning speed.

"Stellar Transposition," Qin Wentian muttered, and his feet shimmered with astral light as he evaded the puppets' attacks. He appeared beside one of the puppets and struck it with his palms, bypassing its defenses and shattering the divine inscription within. With his Heavenly Dipper Realm cultivation and comprehension of the Dao of Divine Inscriptions, ordinary fourth-ranked puppets posed no threat to him.

In the blink of an eye, he destroyed all the puppets and continued along the golden pathway. He reached the statue at an astonishing speed. If the Xia Emperor were still alive, he would have been amazed by Qin Wentian's speed.

Up close, Qin Wentian noticed another line of words engraved on the statue. "If one arrives here, one is eligible to acquire the key in my hands."

His gaze shifted to the statue's palms, where an ancient-looking key rested. Qin Wentian reached out and retrieved the key, and in an instant, a multi-colored beam of light enveloped him as the space around him warped. He had entered another dimension.

Here, a range of mountains stretched below, and celestial qi filled the air. The silhouette of the Xia Emperor stood alone in the air, and behind him was the immortal palace depicted on the map Qin Wentian had seen earlier.

"If you are here, it could mean that Grand Xia has already fallen, or you possess monstrous talent, capable of lighting up all eighty-one of the stone pillars, or perhaps both scenarios have occurred. Regardless of whether you are a descendant of my Royal Xia Clan, I hope you can protect Grand Xia," the Xia Emperor spoke slowly, but Qin Wentian knew it was merely a strand of the emperor's will.

"I am the Xia Emperor. Ages ago, due to fortunate opportunities, I arrived at the Vermilion Bird Immortal Palace and obtained the Great Dream Immortal Art and several other treasures. This stroke of luck allowed me to unite this region and eventually establish Grand Xia. However, many of the treasures I acquired were depleted during the process. The only thing remaining was the Great Dream Immortal Art that I always carried with me. Although it is powerful, it isn't considered an extremely valuable treasure within the immortal palace. The key I left for you can open the doors of the Vermilion Bird Immortal Palace. This key is something the Royal Sacred Sect of Grand Shang, the rulers of the neighboring region, has coveted endlessly in their dreams."

"Because I once ventured into that palace, I understand that those who dare to enter must possess both combat prowess and an unwavering heart. Otherwise, they won't gain anything. That's why, before you reached this point, you had to face those grueling trials. It was all to prepare you, to give you the slightest chance of success. When I ventured into the immortal palace, the treasures I obtained were as scarce as hen's teeth. Grand formations abound within, guarded by countless Divine Inscriptions. That's why I used this golden path as a test, and left the manual of Divine Inscriptions for you to study. If your understanding of them wasn't at a sufficient level, you'd never have reached the end of this path, and thus, you'd never have obtained the key to the Vermilion Bird Immortal Palace. Even if you had the key, you'd return empty-handed from inside the palace. In that case, you might as well be content with the Great Dream Immortal Art I left for you," the Xia Emperor explained.

A smile graced his face as he continued, "However, congratulations on passing this test. Before my demise, I wanted to pass down my legacy to the descendants of Grand Xia. I hope that you, who've reached this point, will surpass even my achievements. Only then will my efforts not be in vain."

As the Xia Emperor finished speaking, a smile lingered on his face, even as he began to fade away. "Our connection begins and ends here. Inheritor, what you've witnessed is the last trace of my will. From this moment on, the Xia Emperor will exist no more in this world," he said. Gradually, his silhouette vanished into thin air, and the last vestige of his will dissipated, marking his complete departure from this world.