Chapter 266 - 225: Trial, Celestial Monarch Qin

Chapter 266: Chapter 225: Trial, Celestial Monarch Qin

He looked at Zhang Ji, a smile on his face. "Challenger, I have left nine Secret Skills in this place. Obtaining them will require great fortune, wisdom, and strength. Good luck."

As his voice faded, the projection dissipated.

Zhang Ji glanced around. The first trial had already begun.

Among the books on the surrounding shelves, one tome was one of the Nine Marvels Secret Skills. If you were lucky, you could grab it right away. If not, you could only take one of his more ordinary collected works as a consolation prize.

However, it wasn’t a complete test of luck. Some information was left behind to help solve the puzzle.

The room was laid out according to the coordinates of a specific Array. If one could find the bookshelf and the exact position corresponding to the correct time and place, they could easily retrieve it.

Besides, it was a test meant for Molting Realm cultivators, so the calculations required were minimal.

Zhang Ji needed only a single glance to calculate the location.

He strode forward and, with self-assured composure, pulled a book from the shelf.

The title on the book read *Fist Rune Skill*. In the next moment, the book transformed into a stream of light and entered Zhang Ji’s body, all of its information absorbed and read by him.

One of the Nine Marvels, the *Fist Rune Skill*, was now his.

"Congratulations."

Celestial Monarch Qin’s figure materialized once more. The space around Zhang Ji shifted, and he found himself above a large pool filled with fine quicksand. Beside it was an empty pool.

"For this trial, I want you to use your bare hands to scoop all the sand from this pool and place it in the one on the other side," Celestial Monarch Qin said. "The palm’s strength lies in its capacity to contain. I can teach you a few small tricks..."

As he spoke, Celestial Monarch Qin began demonstrating a Palm Skill. It was a very basic one, yet it was interspersed with profound and advanced techniques.

He seemed to be trying to lower the difficulty of the techniques as much as possible, while also hoping the challenger would grasp the deeper meaning within.

’That’s just how creators of trials are.’

’They worry it will be too simple and thus meaningless, yet fear it will be too difficult for anyone to complete. It makes them a bit awkward.’

For Zhang Ji, however, such thresholds were nonexistent. He understood these techniques at a glance and could even innovate hundreds of new, higher-level skills based on them.

After demonstrating the Palm Skill, an hourglass appeared beside Celestial Monarch Qin. "You may begin," he said.

With a single wave of his hand, Zhang Ji sent all the sand in the pool soaring into the air, filling the adjacent pool without a single grain going astray.

In the hourglass, the first grain of sand had yet to fall.

However, Celestial Monarch Qin showed no surprise. He was merely a projection without self-awareness, programmed to act according to a set logic.

After a perfunctory "Congratulations," a stream of light flew into Zhang Ji, and the *Palm Rune Skill* appeared in his mind.

It was another top-tier (Legendary) combat skill.

The *Fist Rune Skill* focused on concentrating power, while the core of the *Palm Rune Skill* was about dispersing it to strike the widest possible area. Mastered to its peak, a single palm strike could blot out the heavens.

The third trial was the *Claw Rune Skill*. Celestial Monarch Qin had Zhang Ji tear steel apart with a claw strike.

The skill emphasized sharpness and penetration, requiring one to condense and flatten their Qi and Blood, Gathering it at their fingertips.

Naturally, Zhang Ji passed with ease.

The fourth trial, the *Leg Rune Skill*, focused on power generation. Leg techniques could unleash three times the power of a Fist Skill, but the method of generating that force was key.

The test was to kick a massive iron ball. It was no challenge; he cleared it in an instant.

The fifth trial was the *Finger Rune Skill*. This was about energy Control, Gathering Qi and Blood at the fingertips and firing it out.

Zhang Ji was tasked with hitting hundreds of floating paper birds with a finger technique. He destroyed them all in a single move.

The sixth trial was the *Pupil Rune Skill*, which strengthened one’s eyesight and focused the Spirit.

This trial required Zhang Ji to identify an object over a thousand feet away and then select the correct answer from a list.

For Zhang Ji, whose gaze in his [Prajna Stance] could see for miles, this was nothing.

The seventh trial was the *Tunneling Rune Skill*. Zhang Ji had to race against a mechanical beast left by Qin. Zhang Ji won in an instant.

The eighth trial was the *Yuzi Skill*. The task was to use Qi and Blood to protect one’s body, cross a sea of fire, and retrieve an iron ball. Zhang Ji didn’t bother with any defenses; he simply walked across and grabbed it.

These trials were only difficult for Molting Realm cultivators. Zhang Ji had entered with the aid of [Limit], giving him strength comparable to a Profound Heart Realm master. Obtaining a few skills was child’s play.

By now, Zhang Ji had been transported to the very top of the Purple Tower. Just as he was awaiting the final trial for the *Izakai Skill*, his surroundings dissolved into a void.

The light-blue-robed Celestial Monarch Qin appeared once more, but this time, he didn’t seem like a projection.

He sized up Zhang Ji and said, "I had considered this possibility, but for it to actually happen is still a little surprising."

’His true consciousness has arrived.’

He was about to strike then and there.

"Wait, don’t attack!" Celestial Monarch Qin seemed to anticipate his move, speaking a second beforehand. "I have no intention of interfering. That you managed to sneak in is a testament to your own skill. It makes no difference how you passed the trials; I won’t short you the Techniques you’ve earned. I just wanted to have a word with you."

Zhang Ji paused for a moment, his expression flickering. After some consideration, he decided it was best to humor him.

’Offending a grandmaster who can achieve Broken Void, one who could trace me back to my source like following a "network cable," would be a massive headache. I really didn’t expect a master of his caliber would have the free time to check in on matters in his old world.’

After a moment of silence, Zhang Ji asked, "What about?"

"To be honest with you, my current situation is... not good," Celestial Monarch Qin said. "After I achieved Broken Void, I entered a greater world, but the local cultivators there branded me an otherworldly Celestial Demon and suppressed me. To this day, I have not been able to escape..."

That sentence brought a smile to Zhang Ji’s face, but the next one made it freeze solid.

"Of course, dealing with you would still be quite easy," said Celestial Monarch Qin.

"Senior, please just say what you mean. There’s no need to mock me," Zhang Ji said, his face darkening.

’He’s probably bluffing,’ Zhang Ji thought, ’but I can’t risk calling it.’ The situation was utterly exasperating.

"I can give you the complete *Nine Marvels Dao Scripture*," Celestial Monarch Qin said. "In return, if you have the ability someday, I’d like you to come and rescue me."

The *Nine Marvels Dao Scripture* was essentially the upgraded version of the Nine Marvels Secret Skills. It was the culmination of Celestial Monarch Qin’s path to the Broken Void, a fusion and sublimation of his nine Secret Skills. If classified simply as a skill, it would be Gold-tier (Supreme).

"And if I’m not capable?" Zhang Ji asked.

"Then the deal is off, naturally," Celestial Monarch Qin replied. "In truth, I have sought help from more than one person. I have made this same plea in all the worlds where I left avatars, but none have ever reached me. However, I have a feeling you can do it. With your talent, you will surely achieve the Broken Void in a short time. When that day comes, you can return to this place. I will give you the coordinates to that world so we can plan. And let me tell you, that world is far from ordinary. It may very well hold the secrets of Chaos Unity..."

"Chaos Unity?"

It was the first time Zhang Ji had heard the term, and he didn’t quite understand what it meant.

"Even the boundless Chaos Void will one day reach its end. Achieving the Broken Void does not mean achieving eternity... But none of this is important for you right now. You will understand when you truly set foot upon the path to the Void," said Celestial Monarch Qin.

At this, Celestial Monarch Qin’s body suddenly began to blur. "My time is running out. Take this..." he said.

As his voice faded, a profound and complex stream of informational light flew out and was instantly received and absorbed by Zhang Ji.

It was the *Nine Marvels Dao Scripture*.

When Zhang Ji came to his senses, he found himself already transported outside the Purple Tower.

His expression was somewhat complex.

’The imprisoned Celestial Monarch Qin... Chaos Unity...’ This information was a lot to process.

But Zhang Ji didn’t let it worry him too much.

For now, such matters were clearly beyond his reach.

Besides, Celestial Monarch Qin hadn’t forced him to attempt a rescue. Whether he went or not was entirely up to him.

Celestial Monarch Qin had simply dangled a lure and was now waiting to see what would happen. There was no compulsion.

’This suggests Celestial Monarch Qin’s condition really isn’t good at all.’

Pushing aside these distracting thoughts, Zhang Ji’s body transformed into a streak of light, turning and heading back toward the surface of the lake.

Now he just needed to casually grab a few more benefits as a cover, and then he could leave.

-----------------

「In a certain void.」

A structure as massive as a star stood here.

Within it, countless powerful prisoners were incarcerated.

Celestial Monarch Qin was among them. He was bound within a prison forged from countless special alloys. A pair of shackles sealed more than ninety-nine percent of his immense power, making it nearly impossible to perceive the outside world. Fortunately, he could occasionally sense the avatars he’d left behind through ripples in space-time, allowing him to send down a sliver of his consciousness. In this way, he attempted to set his pieces on the board in a long game to rescue himself.

But the hope of success felt slim.

The being that had captured him had already reached a deeper level of the time-space Domain. For such an entity, reversing the flow of time itself was a trivial matter.

He truly could not imagine how he could possibly resist that level of power. His only hope was to gamble that his captor wouldn’t pay him much mind, giving him a sliver of a chance to escape.