章節 306: Chapter 306: The Palace Spirit
Cao Yun had not particularly been following the evolution of the demon culture, but he knew that Moshenhua was the ancient language of the demons. After enslaving the humans, the different languages spoken by the slaves began to interfere with the Moshenhua and slowly created many new dialects. In the end, it even produced new languages, among which the Primitive Nuhua who would later be the Nuhua, the official language of the Hongchen Kingdom. Literally, it was the language of Nuwa, the first emperor.
The tones of the Moshenhua were extremely different from the tones of the Nuhua. Even the sounds were more guttural as well. In a way, this language felt extremely ancient, very primitive. And to human ears, it sounded brutal and bloody.
Thankfully, Cao Yun had gotten his hands on a dictionary of Moshenhua when he had sifted through Can Mouye's belongings. And he had completely memorized it. Besides, since he wanted to decipher the Antique Sixian of his master, Cao Yun had decided to begin by learning another language. If he accumulated enough experience in learning new languages, this would make the process easier. At least, it was his idea. Just like mastering a weapon would make learning a completely different one easier. Indeed, you would already know many things about how to use your body and you would also know how you learn best, what really works for you.
Thus, Cao Yun was able to understand the voice that was speaking to him right now. But it wasn't that difficult because the sentence was short and straightforward.
"Come in!"
The young man was on the last step on a huge stair. All around him was pure darkness. Just like in the Yellow Death World, Cao Yun was surrounded by darkness and yet there was light somehow. Even without his eyes, he could have seen through his other senses. But fortunately, his eyes worked perfectly well in this place, although there was no direct source of light. It seemed as though the darkness itself was the source of light.
In front of him, the stair was so huge that a single step was literally twice as tall as he was. It was as if he was faced with a wall. But he could still see the enormous structure in the distance. Although he couldn't count them, there were several dozens of steps leading to a giant palace.
This palace had an architecture that wasn't too different from what one could see in the Hongchen Kingdom. The main difference was the sheer enormity of this palace. Indeed, the ratio between the steps and the palace was kept. As such, Cao Yun was able to see this giant roof spreading on both sides. There was nothing particular about this roof except for its dimension. Above it, was another, smaller floor with an even taller roof. And on both extremities of the rooftop, there were two statues facing each other. Cao Yun could not clearly see them, but they looked like two giant men. Most likely, they were either deities of the past or legendary heroes, like Emperor Nuwa was for the Hongchen Kingdom.
The palace was entirely resting on monumental columns. Without examining them, Cao Yun could still feel their grandeur. And if the palace was symmetrical, which seemed to be the case, there were one hundred and eight columns all around the structure.
From the echo of the voice, it had clearly come from inside the palace. Although Cao Yun was reluctant, he had nowhere else to go. Besides, if that voice was the one who had activated the Supreme emblem, it would be futile to try and run. Thus, Cao Yun proceeded forward. Jumping each step, he also counted one hundred and eight of them. This number had several meanings and symbols attached to it in the Hongchen Kingdom. But he couldn't know what a previous civilization would have put behind it. Maybe it had historical relevance, or maybe it was just superstition.
Anyway, Cao Yun finally saw the Palace of Supreme Wisdom. He was now sure that this was the real palace because its name was written on it, engraved with golden characters. Although he couldn't read those characters individually, he was able to read the name. But those were clearly not Insight Writings. In fact, Cao Yun recognized a character that he had seen in a history book. This was one of the languages of the men during the Legendary Era. With his shallow understanding of calligraphy, Cao Yun still knew that some masters were so talented that they could engrave the meaning of their writings in their art. As such, even without being able to read at all, you would still understand the words.
"Do not be afraid, come inside. It's been a long time since I've had a visitor."
Before entering, Cao Yun kowtowed in front of the palace. Because the voice was the using the language of the demons, Cao Yun decided that it would be best to consider it as one. And in front of a demon, he had to be extremely careful, without being impolite. Maybe he had to enter the palace for the voice to do whatever it was that it wanted to do to him.
Cao Yun's Moshenhua was good enough for him to read and listen, but he had never actually tried to speak it. Thankfully, he now had a model of what the language truly sounded like. Indeed, reading how a sound was pronounced was not the same thing as hearing it firsthand. With a very bad accent, Cao Yun tried to speak in Moshenhua. Apart from his accent and how slow he was, Cao Yun's grammar and vocabulary were spot-on.
"Venerable, please excuse the way I speak. The Moshenhua has been long forgotten by my people. This lowly one is named Chen Guo. Might the Venerable give me the honor of hearing his illustrious name?"
"Ha ha ha. Good kid! I have no name. You can just call me Palace Spirit. Although you've probably not heard of me, you have certainly heard of my master, the Demon God Da Mo. Oh?! I know! Call me Dian Mo*. But please come inside, young Chen."
The voice was hearty, but Cao Yun could still hear malice within. However, he had to find a nice way to disregard his instructions as long as he didn't know what kind of creature he was faced with. The name Da Mo didn't ring any bell in Cao Yun's mind. But the title of Demon God did. This was the title of the enemy, the one Emperor Nuwa had fought her entire life. He was the one who had enslaved the entire human race to serve his selfish purposes. If Da Mo had really created this Palace Spirit, then he had to be extremely dangerous.
Cao Yun got an idea. The Palace Spirit had summoned him after he had used his Drop of Wrath to the extreme in order to destroy the combined seals. Most likely, it had felt something in his blood and had gotten curious. Thousands of different ideas and hypotheses were racing through Cao Yun's mind. With his Chamber of Heavenly Court, he was able to analyze them all in an instant. But he was still lacking information. Until then, he would have to be very careful. Thus, he pushed his mind cultivation to the limit in order to hide his lies as much as possible. He also began to circulate his 'Ashen Feather Seal' in order to hide his very meridians and Dantian. On the other hand, he pushed his blood cultivation as much as he could to increase the properties of the Drop of Wrath in his blood.
"Venerable Palace Spirit, this humble demon has indeed heard of the great Demon God Da Mo. Unfortunately, the vermin leagued with one another and were able to best him. And now, our race is under their yoke. This pathetic one has been sent here to try and find a past relic said to be able to bring forth a terrible power. Hopefully, our kind might restore its strength and put the vermin back into shackles."
The voice stayed silent some time. And Cao Yun felt another piercing gaze directly from the darkness encompassing the interior of the palace. Indeed, nothing could be seen from the exterior although there were no doors to keep it shut. And that was giving Cao Yun even more reasons not to enter this place unless he had no other choice. This gaze was the same he had felt from the Supreme emblem, but it was even more powerful.
"Young one, from which clan do you come from?"
"I am sorry, Venerable Palace Spirit. This one has no clan. Most of our history has been destroyed by the filthy humans. Until you spoke the name of our Demon God, I did not even know of it. We only know of the name of the traitor, Emperor Nuwa as the humans glorify her."
"Emperor?! That wench?! Hmph! That explains why my palace has been infested by humans since that time... And now look at you, you're not even a Golden Blood Child despite your age. How the mighty have fallen!"
Dian Mo kept on insulting Emperor Nuwa and the humans for some time. But Cao Yun could guess his goal. He was trying to determine whether Cao Yun was really a demon or not. Unfortunately, he did not know enough about demons to fully pass as one. The less he would say, the better it was. But apparently, it was working enough to make the spirit doubt itself. Most likely, it had felt Cao Yun's meridians earlier. And Cao Yun knew that demons, just like demonic beasts, had no meridian, vessel or Dantian. They were cultivating the Qi in their blood. Golden Blood Child was probably referring to some cultivation level Cao Yun had no way of knowing. The best lie was the one covered by truth.
"Venerable, this lowly one is undeserving of entering your palace. Even our cultivation methods have been lost. This pathetic one does not even understand the terms that you use. This is why we have infiltrated the humans. Passing as one, I was able to enter this place. Other humans seemed to have discovered a great secret they intend to use to fully subjugate all the rest of my kind who is still fighting. And we thought that if we could get to it first, we might be able to revert our fate."
"Little one, my master would weep tears of blood if he could see how low your race has fallen. Impersonating a pathetic human and groveling at my feet. How unsightly! In memory of my master, I will still deign help you. The secret you've spoken of is indeed real."
"Then, Venerable..."
Cao Yun lifted his head and showed a genuine smile. Now, he was fully in his role.
"But you are just too weak to wield it. Its power would destroy you! However, I have a way, do not despair. Come, enter my palace and I'll help you get strong enough to take my treasure. Then, you'll be powerful enough to exterminate the vermin. Keeping them in chains was too soft a fate for those primitives. We should cover their planet with their blood."
Clearly, the Palace Spirit desperately wanted Cao Yun to enter into its palace. But Cao Yun was desperately trying not to. It was obvious that once inside, he might never get out. However, he had no idea of how powerful the spirit was outside of the palace. So he had to find some excuse to test him.
"Venerable Dian Mo, this lowly one is too unworthy. But if you were to take actions, I'm certain those humans would cower in fear. As I said, some humans have entered this Palace of Supreme Wisdom to rob you of your treasure. Surely, your wrath can fall upon them."
All those years, the Palace Spirit had never hurt a human being. Most likely, he simply couldn't intervene too much within the Palace of Supreme Wisdom despite his self-proclaimed name. But he had still been able to teleport Cao Yun here. That could merely be an extremely draining ability he had used in desperation because of Cao Yun's blood. If he had been created by a demon, Cao Yun could understand the interest for his Drop of Wrath.
"If only I was freed from this palace, I could surely annihilate all the humans on this pathetic planet. But unfortunately, my master made me bound to this Palace of Supreme Wisdom. And I have to abide by its rules. Outside of this place, my powers are very limited. But if you get inside, you'll see that I have much to give you."
This was really turning into a stalemate. And if Cao Yun kept on refusing, Dian Mo would understand his deception. The problem was that he had maybe already seen through him. And worse than that, even if he believed him, he could still attack a fellow demon. The demons were not known for their trustworthiness after all. Although he was a spirit created by a demon, that was the same. From what Cao Yun had gathered, this Dian Mo had been created by the Demon God to try and take over this array formation. But clearly, it had not worked as well as he had hoped. After all, this was supposed to be a 1-God array formation. This meant that at some point in time, it had had a spirit of its own.
Maybe Da Mo had tried to replace it but he had only partially succeeded. And the so-called treasure was something the Demon God Da Mo had hidden himself. It was no wonder the demonic cultivators wanted it so bad. The good news was that this Dian Mo was probably powerless outside of his palace. The bad news was that Cao Yun would have to enter at some point if he wanted to prevent the demonic cultivators from taking that treasure. Another good news was that a spirit would most likely attack his soul and mind and Cao Yun was not afraid of that in the least.
On the other hand, even if it cost him much, the spirit might still be able to activate the Supreme emblem and send him in a deadly realm. If he had never done so before, it meant that the cost of doing so was terrible even for him. But he might still be able to do it.
Many thoughts went through Cao Yun's mind. In the end, he took his decision. He wasn't sure whether it was because the Gate of Heavenly Court was influencing him but he decided to risk it. He stood up and entered into the palace. In front of him was pure darkness but he walked forward.
* Dian 殿 = Palace Hall
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