Chapter 600 - 373: The Celestial Jade Emperor Discusses True Immortals at the Peak of Cangming

Chapter 600: Chapter 373: The Celestial Jade Emperor Discusses True Immortals at the Peak of Cangming

「Two days later. Donghua.」

Yi Beidou stood alone at the summit of Tai Mountain, atop the Jade Emperor Peak, looking up at the vast expanse of the sky.

He was surrounded by throngs of tourists who had come from all over the country to admire a site of extraordinary significance to Donghua civilization.

Not a single one of them could perceive Yi Beidou’s presence. The crowd would unconsciously avoid the area where he stood, feeling nothing out of the ordinary.

Yi Beidou had told no one of his return to Donghua this time, nor was there any need to.

The Jade Emperor’s abode was 30,000 meters up in the sky. Even if a battle did break out, it wouldn’t affect the ground, so there was no need to notify the Donghua authorities to evacuate the crowds beforehand.

Furthermore, Yi Beidou had no intention of informing the Donghua authorities about Hong Datong’s plan in advance.

Secrecy is the key to success.

This plan would overturn many things. It would shatter the monopoly a select few held over the world.

Within Donghua as a whole, how many were truly ambitious? How many were hypocrites? How many were merely seat-warmers, occupying positions they didn’t deserve?

Even the true idealists were bound to have their own selfish motives, yet his goal was to shatter all such boundaries.

"A dragon in every man" could be a noble slogan, but many would be absolutely unwilling to see it become a reality.

’Better to wait for success, to present it as a fait accompli that everyone must accept. That will force the entire world to advance.’

’At that point, the surging tide of human progress will naturally sweep away anyone foolish enough to stand in its way.’

’And he, Yi Beidou, would stand atop that tide, quelling all turmoil in the new world and using calamity to weigh the Righteous Dharma.’

The Jade Emperor Peak has been a place of imperial sacrifice since ancient times. Emperors would ascend to this spot to worship Heaven and Earth, reporting their unparalleled achievements to the God above.

Yi Beidou’s gaze seemed to pierce through endless layers of clouds, locking onto a target tens of thousands of meters up in the sky.

Ever since he had locked onto the Jade Emperor’s location using the inspiration from Hong Datong, the Jade Emperor seemed to have sensed it as well. He had piloted the unknown, sky-roaming ruin to a position high above Tai Mountain, where it now hovered, motionless. It was as if it were quietly awaiting his arrival, or perhaps, recounting some ancient history to him.

It was difficult to imagine that when the great emperors of old—men who left indelible marks on Donghua’s history—performed their sacred rites on Tai Mountain, a real "Jade Emperor" might have truly been looking down from the endless heavens. Watching over everything, witnessing the development of civilization, the rise and fall of human destiny, the ebb and flow of the tides, and the changing of the world.

Such was the immense "weight" of this Root Source, the creator of All the Sons.

"An Immortal’s palace in the Thirty-Three Heavens, gazing down on the mortal world for six thousand years."

Yi Beidou muttered to himself, understanding the meaning of those words now more profoundly than ever.

But in his heart, he felt not a shred of fear.

’If the way things have always been was the right way, humanity would never have progressed.’

’If longevity equated to strength, then he would never have come to be.’

’In just thirty years, he had surpassed every prodigy humanity had seen in ten thousand years.’

’Human civilization has existed for tens of thousands of years, yet its achievements over that span cannot compare to those of the two hundred years since the Industrial Revolution.’

No matter who this being was, regardless of their historical weight, if they were willing to integrate into the new world, Yi Beidou would lend them a hand.

If they were not, Yi Beidou would send them back to the past—forever.

WHOOSH!!

With a light tap of his toes, Yi Beidou’s figure shot into the air. Unseen by anyone below, he soared toward the heavens, 30,000 meters up.

He passed through the thick cloud layers, and the surrounding Gang Wind gradually weakened. Yi Beidou had already left the troposphere and entered the stratosphere.

Beneath his feet lay an endless sea of white clouds. The sky was an unprecedented shade of azure, and the light of the blazing sun had never been so brilliant. Occasionally, he could even see an airliner or two flying past in the distance.

Yi Beidou continued to gain altitude. The air grew thinner and thinner, and the vast, dark expanse of the cosmos drew ever closer, representing humanity’s greatest aspiration from ancient times to the present day.

Flight!!

And now, the sky could no longer restrain Yi Beidou.

At an altitude of 30,000 meters, the universe seemed almost within reach. There was nothing else around; even the most advanced aircraft would struggle to maintain flight at this height.

In this endless sky, Yi Beidou’s gaze locked onto a particular spot.

To the naked eye, there was nothing there. But according to the lock from his spiritual sense, that large patch of space was showing an extremely high-energy reaction.

FWOOM!!

Black Flame burned in Yi Beidou’s eyes, shattering all illusions.

VMMMM!!

A colossal Immortal Palace materialized before his eyes.

It was built of white jade inlaid with gold, with ornate balustrades and jade-white pillars—ancient, majestic, and magnificent.

A powerful Array was in constant operation. Rings of golden Talisman chains revolved around the Immortal Palace, and the entire structure emanated a hazy, seven-colored light.

A White Jade Capital in the heavens.

It hardly seemed like a creation of the real world.

Yi Beidou had once witnessed an Immortal Mountain among the clouds within the Illusion Realm of Penglai Immortal Mountain. But that had been merely an ethereal phantom; the Immortal Palace before him now was a tangible, physical object.

The energy and technology required for such a massive structure to float in the sky for so long were beyond imagination.

’Immortal Jade?’

Yi Beidou understood the Immortal Palace’s energy source at a glance.

Immortal Jade—an unknown material with properties similar to Earth Immortal Flesh and Blood. In some Grotto Heaven Secret Realms, it was even used as the core of an Array, mimicking the cycle of the sun and moon to provide vast amounts of energy to the life and vegetation within that space.