The straight-line distance from the six counties to Zhongshan is only about 500 li. Even without the black horse, Xiang Yu's speed shouldn't be worse than that of Dai Zong, the Divine Traveler. He could arrive in about half a day.
Historical records indicate that the horse Wuzhui also died by suicide. Because it missed Xiang Yu so much, it rolled over and killed itself. After its death, the saddle fell to the ground and turned into a mountain, which is called Ma'anshan Mountain. This is the origin of the name of Ma'anshan City in modern Anhui Province.
While the legend of the saddle turning into a mountain upon hitting the ground is a bit far-fetched, the possibility that the black horse followed Xiang Yu to commit suicide is not small. Therefore, the black horse can no longer be found in this world.
Not long after, Xiang Yu arrived at Zhongshan, found a secluded spot, took out his Overlord Halberd and cut through the mountain rocks, carving out a thick and huge stone door. He then chiseled out a cave, and in less than half an hour, he had built a simple cave dwelling.
"King Xiang, shall we go to Mount Kuaiji again?" Hao Jiu asked Xiang Yu in his mind after he finished setting up the array.
"No need, important matters are at stake." After saying this, Xiang Yu stepped into the time-space passage and returned to Fangxian Temple.
Just as An Qisheng was about to bow, a flash of white light appeared, and Xiang Yu had vanished again.
Then.
Snap! Rumble...
"Holy crap!"
Bang! Crash...
Chapter 135 The Fifth Dimension
The familiar sky, the familiar buildings, the familiar...
Bang! Crash...
However, this time Xiang Yu hung from the roof beam for a while before falling to the ground.
"Why did I still end up in Ying Bu's palace?" Xiang Yu dusted himself off.
"It seems that the landing point of this time travel is not random. It must be related to your sword. Before Ying Bu arrives, let's see if the sword is still in the box." Hao Jiu spotted the box at a glance.
Xiang Yu strode over, drew his sword, cut the copper lock, opened the box, and found his sword lying inside.
"Put it away." Xiang Yu picked up the sword and put it into Hao Jiu's storage space.
"Why don't we wait here for Ying Bu, kill him, and then leave?" Hao Jiu suggested.
"Never mind, it's more important to take care of important matters." Xiang Yu lightly leaped onto the crossbeam and then jumped out through the hole.
Only then did the guards rush over in a panic.
"An assassin...?" The guard rubbed his eyes hard, staring in the direction Xiang Yu had just disappeared. Was he seeing things?
"Quickly send someone to inform the King!"
...
After leaving the palace, Xiang Yu galloped towards Zhongshan, where he encountered a young man dressed as a Confucian scholar outside the city.
"May I ask, what year is it tonight?" Xiang Yu asked, clasping his hands in greeting.
What year is it tonight? Is this person a madman?
The Confucian scholar sized up Xiang Yu. He was so tall and imposing that he was not someone to be trifled with. He could only cup his hands and answer truthfully, "In response to your question, brave warrior, it is now the ninth month of the tenth year of the Han dynasty."
Xiang Yu then asked, "Has anything major happened recently?"
The Confucian scholar was somewhat impatient, but dared not refuse to answer. "Brave warrior, if we're talking about important matters, it's that the several generations of prime ministers, including Chen Xi, have rebelled. His Majesty the Emperor is personally leading the campaign, and I've heard that the Prince of Huainan will also be leading his army to assist in the battle."
Hao Jiu understood. So the fifth dimension was in this time period. Calculating the flow rate of time, the flow rate of this dimension was about 14 times that of the main dimension. Although it was not as good as the sixth dimension, it was still not bad.
Xiang Yu pressed on, "Besides that, is there anything else?"
The scholar pondered for a moment, "Well, before that, the retired emperor and empress passed away, and then His Majesty the Emperor issued an edict ordering all the vassal states to build temples in their capitals to worship the retired emperor. Anything else wouldn't be considered a big deal. Does a rumor count?"
"Tell me," Xiang Yu said, accepting all the information.
"People are saying that the rebellion of the prime minister Chen Xi was related to Marquis of Huaiyin Han Xin, but I don't know if it's true or not," the scholar replied.
Historical records state that after Han Xin was demoted to Marquis of Huaiyin by Liu Ji, he finally realized that the kind and benevolent elder he had served was actually such a person. So he contacted his former subordinate Chen Xi, who was serving as prime minister in the state of Dai, and instigated him to rebel. Han Xin was to act as Chen Xi's inside man in Guanzhong.
Chen Xi always regarded Han Xin as his teacher, and Liu Ji used the pretext of rebellion to eliminate kings of different surnames one after another, and also made various states build temples to worship the retired emperor, which was really excessive.
At that time, the State of Dai was ruled by King Liu Ruyi of Zhao, who was just a child. It could be said that the State of Dai was controlled by Chancellor Chen Xi.
So Chen Xi rebelled.
Liu Ji wanted to quell the rebellion, but he knew he couldn't do it alone. So he asked Han Xin, but Han Xin claimed to be ill and refused to go. He asked Peng Yue, but Peng Yue did the same and sent his generals to lead troops to help him. He asked Zhang Liang, but Zhang Liang was chronically ill and had long since stopped offering him advice. Finally, Ying Bu answered the call and went to help him personally.
This incident was related to the later killings of Han Xin and Peng Yue, but it was not a necessary connection.
If Chen Xi hadn't rebelled, Liu Ji would probably have targeted those two next, including Ying Bu; Liu Ji wouldn't have allowed them to live.
After recounting a few more trivial rumors, the Confucian scholar fell completely silent.
Xiang Yu didn't make things difficult for him. He clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Thank you for clearing up my doubts. I'll take my leave now."
Whoosh!
After saying this, Xiang Yu leaped away and disappeared from the scholar's sight in the blink of an eye.
"Hold on, brave warrior..."
It flew away!
The scholar rubbed his eyes vigorously, his expression instantly becoming incredibly interesting.
"I...I've met a deity? Deity, wait for me! Take me flying with you!"
Xiang Yu couldn't fly, but he jumped far and fast enough that it's not surprising that others mistook him for someone who could.
However, it's time to consider providing Xiang Yu with a means of transportation; wasting time on travel is a waste.
When Hao Jiu opened the God's Shop, he found that the cheapest mode of transportation, the Pegasus, cost 1,000 energy points, which was a bit pricey and not very cost-effective. Compared to other flying mounts, the Pegasus was slow and had little combat power.
They're good at bullying opponents in lower planes, but they become easy prey in cultivation planes.
The problem is that lower planes can be easily bullied even without Pegasus, and 1000 energy points is not a small amount for lower planes. Even someone with perfect talent like Xiang Yu would need nearly a month to earn that much energy.
In fact, the energy consumed by the system is the purest life energy in the endless universe. Rather than saying that the host can provide energy for the system, it is more accurate to say that the system needs the host to absorb energy.
So where does the energy provided by the host come from?
The answer is that the plane of existence absorbs not only the light and heat energy of stars from the endless universe, but also something called dark energy.
The plane constantly absorbs dark energy and transforms it into life energy. However, ordinary creatures can only absorb a small amount to sustain their souls. Advanced life forms can use special methods to absorb life energy integrated into the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, which is commonly referred to as cultivation.
Although the system itself cannot directly absorb life source energy, after combining with the host, it can allow ordinary life forms or advanced life forms that do not know how to cultivate to absorb a large amount of source energy.
However, the host only plays the role of a bridge or a tool in this process, and all the life energy absorbed is controlled by the system.
The system can then use this life energy to nourish the host, making the host stronger and stronger, and absorbing more and more life energy.
With a powerful host like Xiang Yu, energy might become just a number for Hao Jiu in the near future. But at this stage, every bit of energy must be used wisely and conserved as much as possible.
The startup phase is like this: first, you should focus your energy on how to generate more energy, and find ways to use energy to generate more energy.
Hao Jiu has looked at several modules that can accelerate energy gain, but they are all quite expensive, so he has to save up slowly.
Therefore, Hao Jiu must now restrain the urge to spend energy.
Of course, you still have to buy what you need to buy. Time is money, and time is also energy. It's just a matter of finding a cost-effective way.
While Xiang Yu was on his way to Zhongshan, Hao Jiu carefully studied the issue of transportation. All the vehicles he could afford were not cost-effective, and only the Tianma was relatively cheap.
Pegasus, Pegasus?
Hao Jiu clicked on the explanation and found that this celestial horse was not the kind of white horse with wings, but the horse ridden by the heavenly soldiers in the Journey to the West world. It was the horse that Sun Wukong raised when he was the Keeper of the Heavenly Horses. Because it drank the water of the Milky Way and ate the Cloud Horse Immortal Herb, it was able to ride on the clouds and fly through the air.
Hao Jiu's eyes lit up, and he immediately searched for the Heavenly River Water and Cloud Horse Immortal Grass in the God's Shop. Sure enough, he found these two items, and they were not expensive, each priced at 100 energy points!
"Hahaha... This is truly heaven's help!"
Chapter 136 Pegasus
"Why is the God of Wine laughing?" Xiang Yu suddenly felt that the God of Wine was acting a bit strangely.
"Of course there's good news. Once we resolve this dimensional array issue, I'll give King Xiang a mount that can fly in the sky," Hao Jiu said smugly.
"A flying mount? That must be very valuable!" Xiang Yu thought to himself. This God of Wine is really capable, and also very generous!
Hao Jiu blushed and said, "Of course, then King Xiang won't have to go through so much trouble to cross mountains and rivers."
"Thank you, God of Wine!" Xiang Yu naturally knew how powerful it was to be able to fly in the sky, with neither high mountains nor great rivers able to stop it.
Soon, we arrived at Zhongshan.
Just like last time, Xiang Yu carved out a cave in the mountains. After it was completed, he blocked the way with a huge rock and opened a time-space passage to return to Fangxian Temple in the main plane.
Of the six spacetime split planes, the slowest and two fastest have now been resolved, and they should have gradually stabilized by now. Therefore, Hao Jiu and Xiang Yu are not in a hurry to go to the next plane.
As the saying goes, sharpening your axe won't delay your work. The Pegasus mount can travel with its host without consuming additional travel items, making it much more convenient when traveling to the next dimension.
"Great God, King Xiang." An Qisheng bowed with his hands clasped.
"Master An, please check if there are any abnormalities in the stars. I, the King, will return to the palace to fetch my horse." As he spoke, Xiang Yu rushed out of Fangxian Temple like a gust of wind.
An Qisheng found it strange. He hadn't ridden horses when he went to those three planes before, so why did he suddenly want to ride a horse this time?
Buying a Pegasus directly costs 1000 energy points, but buying the Heavenly River Water and the Cloud Horse Immortal Herb only costs 200 points. Do you even need to ask which one to choose?
However, the reality is that it requires taking a gamble.
If it were that easy to turn an ordinary horse into a heavenly horse, then those two items wouldn't be sold so cheaply. The instructions clearly state that there is a certain probability of failure.
Success depends on the horse's natural talent and aptitude; its speed and endurance after becoming a celestial horse are also related to its speed.
Among mortal warhorses, the Black Steed is undoubtedly a top-tier steed. If the Black Steed cannot transform into a celestial horse, then there probably isn't any other horse in this world that can.
Of course, just to be on the safe side, Hao Jiu persuaded Xiang Yu to merge the two black horses into one right now.
Since we can travel through time with Xiang Yu in the future, there's no need for two horses.
Xiang Yu returned home quickly this time, and without saying more than a few words to his family, he rode his black horse to Fangxian Temple again.
The black horse hadn't accompanied Xiang Yu on his campaigns for a long time, so it seemed very excited along the way.
Xiang Yu, accompanied by his black horse, went directly into the secret chamber of the Taoist temple, and then stepped into the first branch plane amidst An Qisheng's respectful farewell.