Chapter 190 - 189: Mirror Image

Chapter 190: Chapter 189: Mirror Image

The so-called Array barrier was, in essence, nothing more than a Qi Mechanism. And if it was a Qi Mechanism, then the Conscious Fish should have an opportunity to exploit it.

The fish was ever-changing; it could integrate with all things in creation, which meant it could also merge with this barrier. The only catch was that he had to be extremely careful upon contact. If Qing Yao True Monarch noticed anything, all his subsequent plans would be for naught.

Having made up his mind, Chen Qingyang sat still while his Conscious Fish retracted its fiery-red color and slowly, sluggishly, approached the barrier.

Just as it was about to make contact, it stopped and lay motionless on a rock. Chen Qingyang paid it no mind, simply meditating and cultivating on his own, waiting for the fish to become one with the stone.

The nature’s spiritual energy here was far richer than in the outside world; otherwise, it wouldn’t be able to sustain so many Spirit Plants.

Gradually, the sun set behind the western mountains. The Milky Way shimmered into view, and the bright moon hung high in the sky.

By now, the Conscious Fish had mostly merged with the stone. Then, it probed forward and made contact with the Array.

Visible to Chen Qingyang’s naked eye, waves of light rippled out. The Conscious Fish seemed to have hit a wall, unable to advance another inch. He casually picked up a pebble and tossed it, with the same effect.

But at least it had made contact with the barrier.

Chen Qingyang resumed his meditation, cultivating the True Skill passed down by Master Jing Yuan—the Danxia Nourishing Truth Sword Manual. As for the Nanming Red Emperor’s Celestial Burning and Sea Boiling Daoist Truth, he had set it aside after grasping the basics. He wanted the Conscious Fish to cultivate it on its own.

This barrier was extremely difficult to breach, and merging with it was just as hard. Chen Qingyang waited until dawn, and then from dawn until dusk. Two short days were about to pass.

Finally, the Conscious Fish made a breakthrough.

With a mere thought from him, the fish passed through the Array barrier as seamlessly as a drop of water merging into the ocean. Chen Qingyang felt the nature’s Qi Mechanism change abruptly. It seemed to conceal a bone-chilling cold and a Slaughter Qi that, despite being perceived only through the Conscious Fish, still made him shiver involuntarily.

He then observed the world around him—the sun and moon, the mountains and rivers...

It was dusk here. The surrounding mountains stood tall, their outlines stark against the sky. In the center lay a vast, fertile plain stretching for thousands of miles. And there, at the distant horizon where sky met earth, sat a cluster of buildings.

’This... How can it be exactly the same as the other side?’

Chen Qingyang was astonished. He thought he had either taken a wrong turn or was seeing a mirror image created by the Array, so he began to examine his surroundings with great care.

The contours of the mountains, even the grass and trees underfoot, were identical. If not for the drastic difference in the Qi Mechanism, he would have truly believed it was just a mirror image.

Controlling the Conscious Fish, Chen Qingyang began to roam this new world. He sensed that the Slaughter Qi was not coming from just anywhere, but from the cluster of buildings in the very center.

The Conscious Fish moved with incredible speed, arriving at the location in a matter of moments. The palaces and halls were likely about the same as the ones outside, only these were shrouded in a dim, yellow aura.

It swept past numerous buildings, all of them completely empty. The place felt like it had been sealed away for many years, devoid of any human presence or sign of life.

As it zipped through the streets, ’hoping to find some fortunate encounter,’ a sudden feeling of premonition struck Chen Qingyang.

Looking up, he saw a high platform at the end of the straight, nearly one-hundred-zhang-wide avenue. Countless steps extended down from its four sides. It looked somewhat familiar...

’I remember now,’ he thought. ’It’s just like the one I saw in the Underground Palace outside Duling City.’

’Could it be that my guess was right? Can I really find the Great Soul Scripture, Volume Three here?’

There was no rush of excitement as he might have imagined, nor did he charge straight for it. Instead, he had the Conscious Fish circle the high platform, gradually tightening its orbit, drawing closer and closer.

This allowed Chen Qingyang to confirm that there was truly nothing out of the ordinary.

The fish danced upward and soon landed on the high platform. But it was completely empty, to say nothing of the Great Soul Scripture.

Chen Qingyang scanned the surroundings again. The walls of the palaces on either side were also carved with depictions of the Thirty-Three Heavens, and beyond them, the golden carp.

Recalling his experience in the Underground Palace outside Duling City, he moved the Conscious Fish to overlap with the golden carp in the mural. There was no expected reaction; it remained as deathly still as before.

The more he observed, the more Chen Qingyang began to understand why this place had become what it was.

’As my Eldest Senior Brother said, this is a Lost Secret Realm of the Celestial Court. The Sumeru Secret Realm, then, must be the place where my physical body is waiting outside.’

’Back then, it was likely that an ancestor of the Tai Xu Sect had discovered this Secret Realm and found a way to seal it away. Afterward, using it as a reference, they had refined the Sumeru Secret Realm to be its reflection, or what one might call a mirror image.’

’Therefore, it’s highly likely that for thousands of years, the disciples who came here haven’t truly entered the Lost Secret Realm, but have instead been wandering within its mirror image. As for whether one can find the fortunate encounters of the Secret Realm within its mirror, I believe it’s possible.’

’The line between illusion and reality is blurry. The real can be false, and the false can be real. The essence of all things in creation is nothing but Qi, which is not bound by material form and can thus come and go as it pleases.’

Only this could explain why this place was identical to the world outside. If the Great Soul Scripture, Volume Three had truly been stored here, there was no doubt it would have long since fallen into the hands of the Tai Xu Sect.

Having found nothing and with the time allotted by the True Monarch running short, Chen Qingyang was about to leave. But then he inadvertently looked up and, through the eyes of the Conscious Fish, saw the starry sky.

Amid the Milky Way, he immediately recognized the Southern Dipper Star, and his thoughts were instantly pulled back to that time long ago, back to the Underground Palace outside Duling City.

’The Southern Dipper governs life, the Northern Dipper governs death.’

Not far from the Southern Dipper Star stood the Northern Dipper. It shone dazzlingly in the vast sky, pointing directly here. But this was no gate of life, so how could he find the Great Soul? Meanwhile, the Southern Dipper was blurry and indistinct.

At that moment, a halo of light shot from the eyes of Chen Qingyang, who was seated on the hillside. The light was as brilliant as a star and shaped like a pentagram—this was the Star Sand Pattern. Starlight radiated from his body, and the constellations he gazed upon grew ever clearer. Even the direction the Southern Dipper pointed came into view.

Since this was a mirror image, the Southern Dipper seen from outside the Array should be no different from the one seen within. The Conscious Fish fixed its direction and shot off at extreme speed.

It crossed hills and fields, traveling for who knows how long, until the sky was nearly bright with dawn. Chen Qingyang knew he didn’t have much time left to waste. He continued until he reached the edge of the barrier, where he once again saw it: a stone pillar standing on the horizon.

It was as thick as a mountain, carved with inscriptions and inlaid with Talismans, and it emanated a powerful Qi Mechanism.

He looked up again. The Southern Dipper was still pointing in this direction. ’Could it be outside this realm?’

Time was tight, leaving Chen Qingyang no room for further thought. The Conscious Fish dove straight through. He felt the nature’s Qi Mechanism change abruptly as a cool, crisp wind blew against him, carrying a very familiar aura.

’This... I’ve come straight out of the Secret Realm!’

Looking at the surrounding mountain landscape, he saw that the place shining with golden light up ahead must be the Golden Summit of another peak in the Tai Xu Sect.

’Eldest Senior Brother said there were thirteen such Secret Realms, all of them lost from the Ancient Divine Court. Could it be that the place hiding the Great Soul Scripture isn’t here, but in another Secret Realm?’

Unfortunately, to use the Ziwei Scripture to observe the Celestial Phenomena at night, he needed his physical body. All that remained here was the Conscious Fish.

’Forget it,’ he thought. ’I won’t be finding any answers today.’

Chen Qingyang had the Conscious Fish look back one last time, memorizing the entire surrounding landscape. Once he was out, he could find this place again, use the Ziwei Scripture to confirm it, and ask around to find out which mountain peak it was.

Only then did he retract the Conscious Fish and hurry back without stopping. The terrain here was extremely familiar to him, so he didn’t waste a single moment. Finally, not long after the sun had risen, he arrived at the entrance.

There, he saw his Fourth Senior Brother, Ji Rang, looking around anxiously. Spotting Chen Qingyang, Ji Rang waved frantically. "What took you so long? Master is extremely strict with us. If we’re late, he’ll make us suffer!"

Chen Qingyang explained, "It was my first time here, so I got a little carried away. Luckily, I still made it back in time."

Ji Rang laughed. "Don’t tell me you actually stumbled upon some fortunate encounter, you lucky kid?"

Chen Qingyang laughed along, though it was a wry smile. "Senior Brother, do I look like it?"

Ji Rang studied him with great seriousness. "Nope. Not at all. I’ve been here more times than I can count, and I’ve never seen any fortunate encounter. If it’s something even a Golden Core True Monarch can’t figure out, what chance do we have?"

Hearing this, Chen Qingyang grew curious. "But two days ago, I personally heard the True Monarch say there was a fortunate encounter to be had outside the mountain?"

Ji Rang, however, was dismissive. "What a True Monarch can see, we can’t necessarily see. What a True Monarch considers a fortunate encounter isn’t necessarily one for us. Junior Brother, don’t tell me you actually believed him and went looking for it in the mountains?"

As he spoke, the guy burst out laughing, clutching his stomach. He seemed like a completely different person from his usual prim-and-proper self.

Having been delayed for so long, Chen Qingyang couldn’t be bothered to invent another excuse and just used the one at hand. "Senior Brother, that’s exactly what I was thinking."

Ji Rang looked at him and suddenly stopped laughing. "I shouldn’t laugh at you, Junior Brother. After all, it’s your first time here. Eldest Senior Brother instructed me to take good care of you. We should get going!"

"Then I’ll be troubling you, Senior Brother," Chen Qingyang said.

As they walked further in, the first thing they came to was a street, nearly identical to what the Conscious Fish had seen. Continuing forward, he saw that the slightly older buildings were also the same.

The only difference was that this place was wreathed in mist and dotted with waterfalls and Immortal Grass, giving it more of the feel of an Immortal Secret Realm. The other place had nothing but a deathly, twilight stillness.

"Senior Brother," Chen Qingyang asked, "we’ve been walking for so long. Where are we going?"

"To see Master. All three hundred Foundation Establishment Masters from our Cyan Bamboo Peak have arrived. The Tai Xu Elemental Separation Conference is about to begin."

Chen Qingyang frowned, a confused look on his face. "I heard Cyan Bamboo Peak has over three hundred and sixty Masters. What happened to the other sixty?"

"Sigh..." Ji Rang let out a long sigh and gazed at the sky, a look of genuine world-weary sorrow on his face. "The number of Earth Deities has dropped sharply this year. Qing Yao True Monarch personally said that there was no need for the last sixty to undergo Essence Splitting, so he sent them back."

’Have resources become this scarce?’

’If this keeps up, will we have to go to war with other sects to fight over Earth Deities?’

’Like the Yu Xiao Demon Sect, for instance.’