NOVPUB
Chapter 388: Chapter 385: Entering Aries Star Palace Again
Gu Jinlai looked at the remaining one hundred and forty-nine beams of Qingguang and turned his gaze to the Balance Holy Scripture.
Compared to the Book of Nature, which is more inclined towards nurturing Plant Spirits and follows the route of Alchemy and medicine refinement, the Balance Holy Scripture, although also lacking any powerful offensive secret techniques, was at least slightly better than the Book of Nature.
Just at that moment, a faint sound came from outside the Cultivation Room.
Since Gu Jinlai had not announced a seclusion, merely stating he was sorting out his Cultivation, Gu Qingmei would still come to report immediately when relatively important matters arose.
He left the Cultivation Room, and outside, Gu Qingmei and Leng Tianfeng were already waiting there.
Upon seeing Gu Jinlai’s arrival, Gu Qingmei immediately took out a Thousand-mile Light and Shadow Mirror, "Patriarch, it’s Star Lord Xin."
"Oh." n𝚘𝚟𝚙𝚞𝚋.𝚌o𝚖
Gu Jinlai’s gaze shifted to the Thousand-mile Light and Shadow Mirror.
Inside, Xin Tianqi had a trace of joy in his expression, "They agreed."
He said with a smile, "The Daqian Royal Family has agreed to cooperate with us; they will let the Devas, Jiang Yinlong, secretly bring the Immortal Essence Gold and all materials needed for casting the Undying Holy Body over to us."
"They agreed?"
Gu Jinlai was momentarily startled, then followed with emphasis, "Good!"
For a hundred years, the Daqian Royal Family had amassed a large quantity of Immortal Essence Gold, amounting to more than one thousand portions.
These one thousand portions of Immortal Essence Gold, along with some other materials for forging a Holy Body, were enough to cast two Cheng Ying Mechas.
After all, it’s not a must to use Immortal Essence Gold for the refinement of Cheng Ying Mechas.
It was simply chosen as the material because of its cost-effectiveness and accessibility.
"When will Jiang Yinlong arrive? I’ll personally go to receive him," said Gu Jinlai.
Even though one of the two Cheng Ying Mechas being forged would be given to the Daqian Royal Family, having an extra Cheng Ying Mecha meant Lingxiao Palace would have the power of an additional Saint Level fighter.
Moreover, they were currently on good terms with the Daqian Royal Family, so giving a Cheng Ying Mecha to Jiang Tianji would not be a bad thing.
"They’re traveling in secret, not informing anyone about their route, saying they will notify us once they reach Lingxiao City," Xin Tianqi said, pausing before adding, "Furthermore, Jiang Yinlong has another mission upon his arrival—to bring back Star King Jiang Chongshan."
"Bring back Jiang Chongshan?"
Gu Jinlai was somewhat surprised.
Jiang Tianji’s ascension to power was not legitimate—he only secured his throne with the sole support of Tai Yuan—so the Imperial Family, especially as Jiang Chongshan came from the direct lineage and was closer to it, was rather wary of him.
But now, they actually wanted to summon Jiang Chongshan back?
After a moment, he decided not to dwell on it further.
Imperial Family affairs were not something he wanted to get involved in.
"What did Jiang Chongshan say? Is he willing to go back? If he wishes to stay in Lingxiao City, I believe no one would be able to forcibly take him away," Gu Jinlai inquired.
"He agreed," Xin Tianqi replied.
"Then let him go," Gu Jinlai responded.
The two discussed some details, but at that moment, Gu Jinlai felt something.
He saw Zhang Lihuo and Zhang Yukan rushing over.
Among them, Zhang Yukan couldn’t contain the joy on his face, "We found it, we found the location of the Aries Star Palace, Supreme Elder! It’s located."
"The Aries Star Palace?"
Gu Jinlai sharply turned his attention.
"Yes, the Aries Star Palace is on the sea near Island State. Someone saw the Heavenly Dragon Wood carrying the Aries Star Palace, traversing the Thunder," said Zhang Yukan.
"On the sea near the Island State..." Gu Jinlai said without hesitation, "I’ll personally go there at once."
The Aries Star Palace holds the inheritance of the Aries Star Lord.
Compared to the inheritance from Master Wushi and the Daqian Royal Family in the Balance Holy Scripture, and the Book of Nature from Zhou Yi, the inheritance of the Aries Star Lord preserved by the Aries Star Palace’s Artifact Spirit Purple Sun and the Heavenly Dragon Wood—two beings who have lived for over a thousand years—is definitely much more complete than those of the other two scriptures.
Moreover, according to Purple Sun, once he passes the Aries Star Palace’s trials, he would become the master of the Aries Star Palace, where he could control not only the palace created by the Aries Star Lord himself—which is probably even more precious than a Supreme Taoist Device—but also command the Heavenly Dragon Wood, allowing this Heavenly Dragon, with the battle power of an Earthly True Immortal, to become his protector.
At that time, with the power of the Heavenly Dragon, he would crush all opposition within the Qiantian Realm and unite Qiantian thoroughly.
Then, using Qiantian as a foundation, he planned to greatly develop industrialization and train top cultivators.
With steel and fierce flames, he would eradicate Devils, Great Demons, and even Demon Kings. With Cheng Ying Mechas, and even complete versions of Cheng Ying Mechas and the Heavenly Dragon, he would confront Demon Emperors and Demon Monarchs.
Furthermore, he could focus on developing medium and long-range missile technology.
As long as missiles could reach speeds of twenty to thirty times the speed of sound and be equipped with nuclear warheads, the threat from Demon Emperors and Demon Monarchs would be minimized.
At that point, the Demons would have no choice but to transform into Demon Spirits.
And once they became Demon Spirits, it would be the Heavenly Masters’ primary battlefield again.
With the rapid conversion of cultivators into Heavenly Masters, it wouldn’t be surprising to suddenly have a bunch of creators and Great Sky Lords emerging.
Furthermore, although currently there aren’t any creators who show themselves, who would dare say there isn’t a single living creator out there?
This is also the reason why Demon Spirits have not transformed into their demon spirit form to invade so far.
They went through great efforts to destroy the lineage of the Heavenly Masters and used the devil’s lineage to deprive the Heavenly Masters of their living soil, even getting cultivators to join in the suppression of the Heavenly Masters.
If the invasion of Demon Spirits activated the lineage of the Heavenly Masters and even brought back the prosperity of a thousand years ago, those higher Demon Spirits waiting for the right time to completely conquer this world would have nowhere to cry.
"Zhang Lihuo, I am going to the Aries Star Palace to go through the final assessment. If Jiang Yindong arrives and I haven’t returned, you will take my place in receiving them and verify those materials,"
Gu Jinlai instructed.
A hundred years ago, a Heavenly Monarch’s status was enough to sit on an equal footing with the Devas.
Having Zhang Lihuo, a Heavenly Monarch, welcome Jiang Yindong, one of the Devas, would not be a slight to his status.
"Please, Venerable Daoist, wholeheartedly accept the inheritance. With me here, there will be no issues,"
Zhang Lihuo said solemnly.
"Good,"
Gu Jinlai said, as if he had thought of something: "Do you and Zhou Yi want to try your luck at the Aries Star Palace’s trials? After all, there are many rewards to be gained from passing them."
"We trust in the Venerable Daoist’s talent and ability in the path of the Heavenly Master. As long as the Palace Master passes through the third trial, Hidden Dragon Pass, and obtains the complete inheritance of the Aries Star Lord, the Aries Star Palace and all its treasures within will belong to our Lingxiao Palace. I imagine at that time, the Venerable Daoist will not treat us unfairly,"
Zhang Lihuo said with a smile.
"That is true,"
Gu Jinlai was very confident about passing the Hidden Dragon Pass.
"There is no time to delay, I shall head there now,"
he said, quickly taking out the Cheng Ying Mecha from his Qiankun Ring.
Seeing the Cheng Ying Mecha, he thought of the resources Jiang Yindong had brought that could be used to forge the second and third Cheng Ying Mechas.
In fact, he truly didn’t mind making a trip to the Imperial Capital himself to bring these items, but unfortunately...
Although there was an unspoken agreement between him and Emperor Qian, his actual arrival in the Imperial Capital would certainly raise the city’s defenses.
Even Tai Yuan, who was plotting against the True Immortal Palace, would probably have to abandon his busy work and return to the Imperial Capital to protect the Emperor.
Even if he had no ill intentions towards Jiang Tianji, this scene would inevitably occur.
In the end...
Trust.
Shaking his head, Gu Jinlai boarded the Cheng Ying Mecha, his departure watched by Zhang Lihuo and others with some anticipation and envy. The Eternal Furnace operated, infusing the mecha with energy.
Soon, accompanied by the engine startup, the Cheng Ying Mecha soared into the clouds, breaking through the atmosphere at supersonic speed towards Island State.
...
Although Island State was over twenty thousand li away from Star State, to the Cheng Ying Mecha maintaining four times the speed of sound, it was less than three hours before it reached the sea area where Island State was located.
Pursuing the storm, he quickly commenced a search through the void.
Heavenly Dragon Wood, as the pinnacle of life in the Beast Taming System, possessed an inconceivably powerful life force.
The Cheng Ying Mecha itself had a radar to detect life energy, and although it only had a range of less than a hundred li, it was insistent that Heavenly Dragon Wood would flee into the storm.
Moreover, the mobility of the Cheng Ying Mecha was astonishing...
After just one day of searching, Gu Jinlai found the Heavenly Dragon Wood on a large island about six thousand li from the coastline.
This was a sprawling island of a hundred li, seemingly inhabited by overseas residents, with an estimated population of over a hundred thousand.
Gu Jinlai paid them no attention; he went directly to a somewhat steep mountain range on the north side of the island, which harbored the Aries Star Palace’s Heavenly Dragon Wood.
When he arrived in the Cheng Ying Mecha, the Heavenly Dragon Wood sensed his presence, emitting a status warning growl.
However, before it could act further, the Artifact Spirit Purple Sun quickly perceived something, appearing promptly and guiding Gu Jinlai to land.
"Gu Jinlai, your timing is perfect. We were just planning to accumulate energy in another year and a half before coming to find you,"
Purple Sun greeted him with a smile. He looked curiously at the mecha Gu Jinlai was wearing and remarked, "This War Spiritual Artifact... is it powered by that ’nuclear fusion’ force you mentioned before?"
"Yes,"
Gu Jinlai nodded.
He was able to complete the construction of the Nuclear Fusion Reactor thanks to the simulation provided by Purple Sun, this "supercomputer."
"It seems quite powerful. Do you want to test it against the wood and see where the limits of its power lie?"
Purple Sun asked curiously.
Gu Jinlai glanced at the massive body of the Heavenly Dragon Wood and the volcanic force hidden within it, prudently replying, "The Cheng Ying Mecha is not yet in its full body form, so it certainly is not a match for Master Mu."
Having said this, he shifted the topic to the Aries Star Palace, "Is the Aries Star Palace ready to be activated now?"
"We’re just a bit short on energy for a full activation..."
Purple Sun said, then looked at Gu Jinlai, "But I have confidence in you and am willing to activate the Aries Star Palace just for you. Do you intend to challenge Hidden Dragon Pass?"
"Yes,"
Gu Jinlai nodded. "Thank you very much."
"No, if you really succeed, we are the ones who should be thanking you,"
Purple Sun said, appearing somewhat emotional. "We have waited far too long for the day when we can choose an appropriate successor for the Star Lord."
After speaking, he promptly headed inside, "Follow me, I can’t wait to welcome the new Lord of the Aries Star Palace."
