Chapter 214: The Dragon Thunder Palace which had made sun set and stars sank, the Divine Dragon Pill and the Devil Valley
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
The towering palace was built entirely from huge, black rocks. The snowstorm in the air seemed to have no effect on this huge construction lying on the mountain.
Living Buddha Ba Siba walked step by step across the snow plains. He reached the front of the huge palace. Even though his cultivation had already reached the peak of Level Nine and was only one step from entering The Mysterious Realm, under this extremely cold environment, he was exhausted. After entering the area of the palace, he heaved a sigh of relief. His white face flashed a trace of red. A wave of heavy and rushed breathing followed. Even though he was trying to suppress his own breathing rhythm, his heavy breathing became very clear in this extremely quiet environment.
It was very quiet here. Even though it was only a distance of one step, this one step was like the distance between heaven and earth!
The snowstorm outside was blocked by an invisible barrier. No matter how fierce the storm, how heavy the snow, or how noisy the thunder roared in the sky, they were unable to pierce through this invisible yet sturdy barrier.
Ba Siba stood at the last level in the palace. He looked up at the 30-foot stairs in front of him. Above hung a huge piece of plaque. “Dragon Thunder Palace” was written on it.
Dragon Thunder Palace!
This mysterious architecture situated in the extreme north snow plains were known by only a few people. Only those who stood at the peak of this world knew of such a mysterious existence. In actual fact, this mysterious palace had existed since ancient times, yet it had never interfered with the matters of this world.
Neither the changing dynasties nor the rise and fall of tribes had anything to do with it. The purpose of its existence seemed only to be sitting in this enormous black mountain vein and looking at the sun set and the stars sink quietly!
“Ba Siba in Snow Mountain Great Wheel Temple pays his respects to Thunder Dragon Venerable!” Standing outside the black metal door, Ba Siba sucked in a deep breath. He didn’t have the looks of a legendary grandmaster. On the contrary, he was just like a small student respectfully standing outside the door and quietly waiting. After a while, the metal door creaked open. A small boy about 12-13 years of age walked out and looked at Ba Siba, “The Venerable asks you to come in!”
“Thanks a lot!” Ba Siba clasped his hands and followed the small boy through the door of the Thunder Dragon Palace.
He found the interior of this Dragon Thunder Palace much bigger. Nine 300-foot pillars supported the entire palace. The pillars were engraved with complicated pictures of the skies, beasts, flying creatures, deities, and demons. Ba Siba and the small boy were just like two tiny ants slowly progressing. They walked across the spacious living room and came to a room where there was a faint bright light. The small boy stopped in his tracks.
“The Venerable is inside. Grandmaster, please!”
Ba Siba nodded and opened the door.
This room was not big. Compared to the large hall, one was as big as an elephant while the other was as small as an ant.
It appeared to be just a normal guest room in an inn. The interior design was extremely simple — a bed and a stone table with a candle light. Under the dim light, there were two people buried in deep battle.
One of them was dressed in black robes. The robe was embroidered with purple lightning patterns. The black hair was tied up neatly. His looks suggested him to be 32 to 33 years old. The most attention-grabbing feature was those two silver eyebrows. They were like swords. He was just the Thunder Dragon Venerable that Ba Siba was looking for. His opponent was a golden-robed man. This man was the Stranger sitting amidst the lightning that Junior Leopard met in Maojiang.
It was already halfway through the chess game. Victory couldn’t be decided between them. The Thunder Dragon Venerable attacked furiously while the person sitting across him defended tightly!
“Ba Siba…!”
“Bigwheel Temple has 13 Living Buddha. You are the only one who chose to enter the world to cultivate. You are also the only Living Buddha who didn’t step into the Mysterious Realm!” Without waiting for him to go on, the Thunder Dragon Venerable interrupted his words. Speaking here, he raised his head and looked at Ba Siba. In the deep gaze, there was a trace of a strange color. “Interesting, if you could really forsake everything and become a buddha, then you would have the greatest achievements amongst the 13 of you. What a pity!”
“Venerable is jesting. Ba Siba is the one with the most inferior achievements amongst my seniors. This time around…!”
“I already understand your aim. But I can’t help you!” Thunder Dragon Venerable once again interrupted Ba Siba’s words. His face flashed a bitter smile and pointed at the golden-robed man, “Even if I wanted to help you, I’m unable to do so unless you can ask this person to leave!”
The grief on Ba Siba’s face grew denser. He shifted his gaze to the golden-robed man.
“Don’t look at me. There’s no point looking at me. You have to know that never do I want to come to such place in the middle of nowhere! Originally it was none of my business. However last time I lost out to the Fate Creation Boy. Hence I owed him a favour. There’s no choice but to come. If you feel unfair then you may blame the Fate Creation Boy!” The golden-robed man’s didn’t look up. His attention was fully on the chess game. He held onto a black piece with his gaze scanning across the chess board. Finally he said in a gentle voice, “You are a member of the Bigwheel Temple. Why don’t you go there and ask for help? They have 12 Living Buddhas whose cultivation is in the Mysterious Realm. If you ask them to help you, there’ll be an easy way!”
“If he could ask the Bigwheel Temple for help, he wouldn’t move across the snow plains to look for me!” Thunder Dragon Venerable sighed, “You must know that within my body flows the blood of the prairie people!”
“You bastard, your tribe was exterminated 850 years ago. I didn’t see you fart even once then. Now you are talking about having the blood of the prairie within you. What’s the meaning?!”
“Not implying anything,” Thunder Dragon Venerable bitterly smiled. He continued studying the chess game and no longer said anything.
“Your Venerable!”
“I said don’t look for me!”
“If this little monk didn’t remember wrongly, 13,000 years ago, it was someone from Thunder Dragon Palace who set up the prairie alliance in the grasslands. He also formed the root of trouble for the grasslands because of it. If not for the Thunder Dragon Palace…!”
“He is just a forsaken member of the palace. He couldn’t be considered as one of us!”
“However, he used the martial arts of the Thunder Dragon Palace! His outstanding cultivation was brought out of the palace. If I don’t remember wrongly, this doesn’t comply with the palace’s rules! Even if he was a forsaken member, before leaving the palace, his martial arts should be returned!”
“I’m defeated!” The Venerable looked up at the golden-robed man and admitted lost.
“Let’s have another round,” the golden-robed man waved his sleeves. The black and white pieces on the board flew up and landed in front of both parties.
“Don’t worry, I won’t leave the palace,” the Venerable smiled. “However, what he said is right. This matter originates from my palace. No matter how, my palace has to give him an answer.”
“Well, just do it. As long as you don’t leave the palace. Even if you want to pass your cultivation to this guy, I won’t stop you,” the golden-robed man laughed coldly. He aimed at playing chess with the Venerable and ensure that he didn’t leave the palace. As for what he would do, that didn’t matter. How should he fight with Thunder Dragon Venerable?
When Ba Siba heard the Venerable’s tone, his heart slightly relaxed. He raised his eyes, hopefully.
“You monk is interesting. After being worshipped in the grasslands for so many years, you haven’t made clear that it is impossible for me to help the grasslands. Even if I agree, I don’t have that ability. But you, as the three Grandmasters of the grasslands, you can help since you are worshipped for so many years.”
“This little monk is unable to do what I hope to do,” Ba Siba smiled bitterly.
“Yes, unable to do what I hope to do. So do I,” the Venerable smiled bitterly pointing at the golden-robed man in front. “In this case, since you cannot take away the people of the palace, nor the items of the palace, I have a Heavenly Dragon Pill here. I obtained it from Tian Long Taoism when I was roaming the Central Plains back then. You can take this pill, but I don’t care whether you use it or not!”
In between words, a streak of black light flew out from his robes and landed in front of Ba Siba. Ba Siba extended his hands to receive it. Looking at the black medicinal pill, he flashed a trace of happiness.
“Amitabha, if I don’t enter hell, who does? Ba Siba thanks Venerable for the gift!” He swallowed the pill without hesitation and then bowed towards the Venerable and exited.
“Alas, what a pity!”
After Ba Siba left the palace, the golden-robed man finally raised his head from the chess game. He looked at the direction where he disappeared and softly sighed, “If he’s given some more time, maybe he can have some comprehension and become a real Buddha.”
“But you won’t give him the chance,” the Venerable smiled.
“I said before that it had nothing to do with me.” The golden-robed man’s gaze returned to the chess game. “By the way, I have sent out the Nine Changes of Heavenly Birds.”
“What?!” The Venerable gazed at the golden-robed man with some suspicion. “You have found a successor? I must remind you if you pass it to the wrong person, and he gets lost in the process, you’ll also be punished.”
“Relax, he’s an interesting fella.” The golden-robed man seemed to have thought of something interesting. He smiled, “I believe that with his aptitude, he can inherit the Nine Changes. But I’m not sure how far he can reach.”
“Now that the world is chaotic at all sides, this is not a good timing.”
“This is the best timing. If he couldn’t even see through this point, then I will withdraw the Nine Changes of Heavenly Birds,” the golden-robed man lightly said. “Don’t worry, I won’t pass the Uniform Dao to a stupid person.”
“Fine. One less troublesome matter now,” the Venerable smiled. Following that, he moved his chess piece. A new round of killing was about to begin.
…
…
The cold wind roared. It brought hail the size of eggs smashing down from the skies. Even pugilists would have a hard time walking through this snow storm let alone normal people .
There were a few figures walking through the grasslands. The youngest one was only three to four years old. They were slowly trudging through the snowstorm. The oldest was 15 to 16 years old. The snow storm seemed to have no effect on him. No matter if it was wind, snow, or hail, as long as it landed within three feet of him, it would be dissolved by a layer of invisible power. It was unable to pose any threat to them.
This was Junior Leopard and the seven kids which he brought out of the Whitemoon Tribe. Four boys and three girls. The oldest was about nine. The youngest was still in a swaddle. Junior Leopard was not a philantrophist, but he couldn’t reject the offer of the Whitemoon Tribe. He would also not make things difficult for a group of kids. On the way from the Whitemoon Tribe, Junior Leopard was considerate and took good care of this group of kids. Creating such a huge protective layer around them was not an easy task.
These snowstorm and hail was too fierce. Junior Leopard didn’t have Ba Siba’s cultivation. If he was alone, it was fine for him to be in this weather. It was troublesome adding all these kids into the equation.
“Damn it, I can’t go on like this. If I didn’t have the External Elixer to support me, I’m afraid I would die of exhaustion!”
Junior Leopard stopped and helplessly looked at the few kids behind him. Within the oldest boy’s gaze, there was intense hatred. As for those who were younger, as well as the three girls, they were just busy fighting against the snow on the ground. Under Junior Leopard’s protection, the surrounding snow storm was unable to threaten them, but the snow underneath was piling up. It was very tough for them to walk.
“Kid, don’t look at me like that. You merely learned some basic skills. You can’t kill me at all. Even if your luck defies heaven and you kill me successfully, there will only be death left for you within this snowstorm without my protection.”Sseeing that the boy chose to ignore him, Junior Leopard laughed coldly and added another sentence, “You can be not afraid of death, but if the few of you really die, your entire Whitemoon Tribe will be exterminated and extinct.”
This caused the kid to lower his head and keep silent though his body trembled.
“What an obstinate person!” Junior Leopard said in his heart. When he was that age, he had already killed a Level Eight expert. That luck and scheming was unable compare with other kids. Precisely because of his experience at such a young age, he would be careful. If he was really trapped by these kids, he would lose all his face.
Stopping in his tracks, Junior Leopard turned his head and looked at them. “I have to say, this snowstorm is too heavy. Do any of you know of any place that we can hide?”
“I don’t know!” The boy stiffened his neck and said.
Junior Leopard didn’t look at him shifted his gaze to the others. “Go south and walk for a while, and we will reach the Devil Valley. We can hide from the snow storm there!”
The one who spoke was about five to six years old. Her hands were still holding a small baby. Her voice was light and fine. Her tone showed her hesitation.
Junior Leopard had noticed this small girl long before. Because she had been holding the baby for 10 hours already, he believed that her arms were already numb, but she didn’t release her hands. For fear of the baby freezing, she removed her coat and wrapped it around the baby, caring little for herself. If it wasn’t for Junior Leopard’s Internal Qi protection, she would have become a corpse long before.
“How dare you tell him!”
The words just blurting out, the boy jumped up and pushed the girl onto the snow. The girl cried out but tightly held the baby in her hands.
“Pa!” A sound rang. The boy was struck to fly by Junior Leopard’s sleeve, and he rolled across the snow plains. He was out of the radius of Junior Leopard’s protection now.
The wild wind blew furiously. Everywhere there were pouring hails the size of eggs. Within a few breaths, the boy was covered with numerous injuries. He found it was even impossible to stand up.
“This isn’t a place for you to be unruly!” Junior Leopard’s hands raised and pulled up the girl from the ground. A wave of hot airflow transmitted through her whole body and caused the coldness in her body to disappear.
“Your Excellency, I beg you to save him!” the girl pleaded.
“He pushed you just now, and you are speaking up for him?!”
“He, he is my man!” Rarely could the girl blush at this difficult time.
“Your man?!” Junior Leopard was obviously stunned, “Little girl, don’t tell me that the baby in your hands was the child of you two?!”
“No, no, no. He, he is my little brother!” The girl’s face was very red; her head shaked like waves.
“Alright, I’ll save him on your account,” Junior Leopard laughed. He slightly raised his hands and caught the frozen, nearly unconscious boy. “However, from today onwards, he’s no longer your man!”
“Ah?!” The small girl cried out. She raised her head and looked at Junior Leopard. Obviously she didn’t understand what he meant.
“This kid is impulsive and has an exaggerated opinion of his abilities. Even if I don’t kill him, with his personality, he wouldn’t live long. In my opinion, you must be engaged to him not long ago. I decide to annul this engagement. How about it?!”
The girl stared blankly at Junior Leopard. She didn’t know what to say.
“Alright, kid, don’t pretend to be dead. I already chased away the coldness in your body. With your constitution, you should’ve awakened.” Junior Leopard kicked at the boy who was lying on the floor. “Get up, you won’t die from these injuries. You have already heard what I said. If you agree, then nod. If you don’t agree then die! Everybody here is a witness.”
The small boy rose from the ground. Fresh blood on his head flowed down his face giving him a ferocious look and revealing a malicious expression.
Junior Leopard turned a blind eye to it. The corner of his mouth curled and he said, “Nod or die. Choose one!”
Without hesitation, the boy nodded, no longer saying anything.
“Alright, wipe the blood off your body. Little girl, you lead the way. We shall go to the Devil Valley!”
…
…
Devily Valley was a canyon!
The reason why it was called Devil Valley was not because there were demons inside. It was because the rocks between the canyon was full of holes. Whenever the wind blew through these holes, it would produce waves of sharp screeches like howling ghosts. The prairie herdsmen wouldn’t know of this logic. They thought there were ghosts inside. After a long period of time, the canyon was given the name “Devil Valley”.
In actual fact, after all these years, few entered Devil Valley. Everybody knew that this was a canyon with some special characteristics. It didn’t have any danger. It could at most be used to scare kids.
As for the tribes nearby, there were a few daring and bold kids who played in the Devil Valley for fame. Hence within these kids’ hearts, it was a very funny playground.
Since it was a canyon, naturally it was a place to hide from the snowstorm. After realizing the situation, Junior Leopard brought the kids towards the Devil Valley without hesitation.
While walking, he carefully observed their expressions.
He had brought all these kids out of the Whitemoon Tribe. Logically speaking, they were all his enemies. If it was someone else or someone in the novels that Junior Leopard had read before, he should kill all of them to remove the danger at its roots. Within Junior Leopard’s imagination, that would be the expected result.
When he was truly facing this problem, Junior Leopard was unable to do what the novel told. He wasn’t that kind of coldhearted killer. Although he had killed countless people, those were all pugilists and martial arts experts. When dealing with kids, he was unwilling to kill. He also didn’t think that they could cause him any harm.
The biggest one was only seven to eight years old. The youngest was in swaddle. The rest were between three to five years old. When these kids grow up, they wouldn’t remember their background. They also wouldn’t pose any threat to him.
Of course, this was only his imagination. Who knew if there would be any genius who would remember everything from birth to death in its minute details within these few people.
Just as Xue Wuya didn’t know that he possessed the Fiery Eyes and had the capability to kill him.
Now, Junior Leopard didn’t know anything.
Hence, he needed to add some insurance!
He wanted to bring the threat of these kids down to a minimum.
This kind of thinking caused Junior Leopard some worry. A 16-year-old Level Five expert, the one who used a Level Four cultivation to kill a Level Seven-Eight expert, would actually feel fear towards a group of harmless kids whose clan was exterminated!
“Damnit, I am really oversensitive!” Junior Leopard laughed at himself. Xue Wuya’s fate left a very deep impression.
“Alas, there’s no choice. Since I can’t bear to kill them, I’ll have to take some precautions. In this way, my heart will feel more relaxed. This is the so-called ‘indecisiveness’!”