Chapter 61 Tianyi Pavilion
Following Feng Fei's gaze, the City Lord of Fengye City also looked at Yuan Jue. His lips moved, but no sound came out.
Yuan Jue smiled faintly and asked the City Lord of Fengye, "May I ask your name, City Lord?"
"How dare you!"
"presumptuous!"
Before the Lord of Fengye City could speak, the soldiers below roared in fury.
Lord Fengye gestured for everyone to calm down. Although his face was no longer as serious and alarmed as before, it also lacked a smile: "My surname is Kou, and my given name is Xuanzhi."
"A good name," Yuan Jue praised.
"Is that so?"
"certainly."
…………
"What should we do next?" Jin Ming looked at the empty Yongzhen Palace and listened to the sounds of the Soul-Devouring Spiders scratching and attacking outside the palace, feeling slightly anxious.
“Blackie has recovered some of its strength, so we can temporarily hide in its space.” As soon as he finished speaking, Yuan Jue led Feng Fei and the other five into the space they had been in before. This space was more stable and brighter than the previous one.
"Why are we hiding here? Wouldn't it be better to fight those Soul-Eating Spiders?" Jin Ming was extremely dissatisfied with this behavior of hiding, and he believed that they had ways to protect themselves, so there was no need for this at all.
“You need to know how many military spirits were inside Yongzhen Hall before. And judging from the sounds coming from outside the hall, you can tell how many Soul-Devouring Spiders are surrounding Yongzhen Hall. We can kill the Soul-Devouring Spiders, but only when their numbers aren't too large. If those Soul-Devouring Spiders become too numerous, not only will there be leaders whose intelligence is no less than that of humans, but the sheer number of them will overwhelm us.” Yuan Jue glanced at Jin Ming, took a breath, and continued, “Furthermore, we need to go check out Tianyi Pavilion. There must be something inside Tianyi Pavilion that has protected the City Lord's Mansion from attacks for so long. And yet, it was suddenly besieged by Soul-Devouring Spiders today. There's probably something fishy going on here.”
Upon hearing this, Jin Ming stopped speaking. He was only skilled in medicine and the like; while not unintelligent, he lacked strategic acumen. Fortunately, he rarely needed to employ strategy. Thinking of this, Jin Ming relaxed again, carefree, and ran to the edge of the space, idly playing with the seemingly formless black mist in his hand.
Feng Feiyuan and the other five chatted, rested, and plotted within the space propped up by the old locust tree branches in the dark mass. Meanwhile, outside the space, in the Yongzhen Palace, as they disappeared, the main hall's doors slowly opened. Immediately, swarms of fist-sized Soul-Devouring Spiders poured in.
The Soul-Devouring Spiders swarmed in like a tidal wave, cutting straight into the Eternal Suppression Hall with unbridled force, only to find that there were no more military spirits within. The Soul-Devouring Spiders still densely covered the entire hall. However, these spiders were not randomly crowding together; if viewed from above, their arrangement would appear as a strange formation.
Outside the palace gates, there were still swarms of Soul-Devouring Spiders. All creatures in the city lord's mansion except for the Soul-Devouring Spiders had disappeared, or rather, they could not be called creatures. It should be that the aura of everything except the Soul-Devouring Spiders, stones, and wood had completely dissipated.
At this moment, a blurry humanoid figure faintly appeared amidst the swarm of Soul-Devouring Spiders. It slowly walked towards the Eternal Suppression Hall, finally stopping in the center. This shadowy figure—which could hardly be called human—was merely a dark, shadowy shape, seemingly extremely surprised and bewildered by the absence of any military spirits within the hall.
Suddenly, the shadowy figure roared to the sky, unleashing an invisible, silent sonic wave that overturned all the Soul-Devouring Spiders. The weaker spiders instantly split open, dying instantly. However, the others, still alive, simply rolled over quickly and obediently lay prone on the ground, completely ignoring the corpses of their fallen companions. If this scene were witnessed by Feng Feiyuan and his companions, they would be astonished and be filled with a headache. They had repeatedly succeeded in dealing with the Soul-Devouring Spiders largely due to the immense attraction of the spider corpses to their own kind. But now, these spiders were completely unmoved by the corpses of their fallen comrades beside them.
After venting its anger, the black shadow floating among the Soul-Devouring Spiders slowly walked away, its form dissipating with each step. Just as it stepped out of the Eternal Suppression Hall, the black shadow completely vanished into the swarm of Soul-Devouring Spiders. With the shadow's disappearance, the Soul-Devouring Spiders immediately became agitated.
It's important to understand that the sonic attack Shadow just unleashed was so powerful it wiped out all the Soul-Devouring Spiders; nearly two-thirds of them perished in the attack. The remaining third suffered varying degrees of internal injuries. They hadn't dared to act rashly while Shadow was still in the hall, but now that he was gone, how could they resist the temptation of their fallen comrades' corpses?
Thus, a war without gunpowder took place inside and outside the Yongzhen Hall.
Not long after, all the dead Soul-Eating Spiders had entered the bellies of their companions, and these satiated Soul-Eating Spiders swayed and retreated from the city lord's mansion like a tide.
quiet.
Inside and outside the Yongzhen Hall, only the sound of flowing dark mist remained.
Suddenly, a subtle air movement appeared on the stone platform extending from inside the hall, with faint ripples spreading outwards in circles, as if something was about to burst out of that distorted space.
Suddenly, the entire hall lit up and then went dark. The figures of Feng Feiyuan and his six companions appeared abruptly in the distorted air.
"Phew, those Soul-Eating Spiders have indeed retreated. I wonder how long we've been inside." It was Jin Ming who spoke. He was the most bored person in the dark, confined space, so he was also the one who felt the most comfortable after coming out.
Yuanjue stood at the very front of the crowd, staring blankly at the open palace doors.
Feng Fei pulled Ming Feng aside and watched Yuan Jue, who was lost in thought. He didn't know what Yuan Jue was thinking, but he was also pondering Kou Xuanzhi's origins.
What should we do next?
"Go to Tianyi Pavilion."
After answering Feng Fei's question, Yuan Jue's deep eyes gazed towards the direction of Tianyi Pavilion. He had just had a brief exchange with Kou Xuanzhi within the space constructed by Hei Tuantu. Tianyi Pavilion contained the protective hub of the entire Fengye City Lord's Mansion, and also a strange celestial book. It was this celestial book that allowed him to be the first to regain his sentience and possess the ability to restore the sentience of other military spirits. However, what was even stranger was that this celestial book could not be moved and appeared and disappeared intermittently. It was impossible to determine where or when this celestial book would appear.
Yuan Jue was filled with curiosity about this celestial book, and if he could, he would love to possess it. However… thinking of this, Yuan Jue glanced at Feng Fei. He vaguely felt that Feng Fei was the true destiny for that celestial book. If possible, he would certainly help Feng Fei get his hands on that celestial book.
"Alright, let's go to Tianyi Pavilion then," Jin Ming replied listlessly.
After a short rest, Feng Feiyuan and his group of six headed towards Tianyi Pavilion. They had to be careful of the Soul-Devouring Spiders along the way; who knew if they might use a feint attack followed by a sneak attack?
Tianyi Pavilion is located to the west of the City Lord's Mansion, closely adjacent to Yongzhen Hall. However, it is surrounded by a high wall. The high walls tightly enclose Tianyi Pavilion, and even from the outside, the oppressive feeling they create makes Feng Fei feel somewhat breathless.
"Yuanjue, this place is so strange!"
Feng Fei involuntarily tugged at Yuan Jue's sleeve, only to find Yuan Jue staring blankly at Tianyi Pavilion, as if he had lost his soul. Not only Yuan Jue, but Jin Mingming and the other three were the same. They all ignored Feng Fei's presence, walking past her and stiffly heading towards Tianyi Pavilion.
Feng Fei panicked for a moment, but quickly calmed down.
She knew. This must be a problem with Tianyi Pavilion. Right now, she was the only one unaffected, while Yuan Jue and the others were getting closer and closer to Tianyi Pavilion. Who knew what bad things might happen after they stepped into Tianyi Pavilion? So what she needed to do next was to eliminate the awkwardness and impropriety of Tianyi Pavilion before Yuan Jue and the others entered.
Thinking of this, Feng Fei immediately used her speed to run towards Tianyi Pavilion. When she passed by Yuan Jue, Jin Ming, and the other four, they didn't notice her movements at all. In fact, they didn't see anything else but Tianyi Pavilion in front of them.
Feng Fei bit her lip and quickened her pace as she ran towards Tianyi Pavilion.
Before long, Feng Fei arrived at the entrance of Tianyi Pavilion. She pursed her lips, turned her head to look at Yuan Jue, who was walking at the front, and finally resolutely pushed open the door and went in.
Just as Feng Fei entered Tianyi Pavilion, the door slammed shut.
"Bang!"
As the door slammed shut, Yuanjue and the other four shuddered, their eyes slowly regaining their clarity.
Da Bao and Xiao Bao were still a bit dazed, but Yuan Jue was the first to react. He sat up abruptly, looked around but couldn't find Feng Fei. A bad feeling flashed through his mind, and he shouted to the others, "Where's Feng Fei! Where's Feng Fei!"
Jin Ming was startled awake by Yuan Jue's voice, wondering why Yuan Jue had such a question: "Isn't Feng Fei always by your side?"
She's disappeared!
"Sister Feifei is gone!" Mingfeng exclaimed in panic. He clearly remembered that he was holding Fengfei's right hand and walking on her right side, but now Fengfei was nowhere to be seen.
Yuan Jue also realized that questioning Jin Ming and the others would not yield any results. Thinking about how they had inexplicably fallen into a strange state of mind, and considering the Tianyi Pavilion in front of them, a bold but extremely bad idea surfaced in Yuan Jue's mind: Feng Fei had entered the safe and unknown Tianyi Pavilion for the sake of the five of them!
Regret surged into Yuan Jue's heart in that instant. He realized that if it weren't for his greed, they wouldn't have entered Fengye City, nor would they have come to Tianyi Pavilion to search for that so-called Heavenly Book after obtaining the Military Soul. If it weren't for…
Yuan Jue slammed his fist into the ground, startling the other four.
"What are you doing..." Jin Ming stopped speaking as soon as he saw the trickle of blood seeping from where Yuan Jue's fist had struck the ground. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
Chapter Sixty-Two: The Heavenly Book
"Where is this place?"
Feng Fei looked around, but couldn't quite figure out where she was.
When she entered Tianyi Pavilion, she felt a sudden darkness before her eyes. Once her vision adjusted, she found herself in a space shimmering with a faint light. Looking around, she saw a stone table, a stone chair, and a bookshelf carved from a single block of stone. However, the bookshelf was completely empty, devoid of any books.
Could this be Tianyi Pavilion?
Feng Fei slowly walked towards the stone table. She saw something in the very center of the stone table emitting a hazy golden light, but it seemed to be restrained by something on the stone table, so the golden light did not spread throughout the entire space.
Feng Fei glanced around again. There were no doors, no windows, no stairs leading up or down; it was just a seamless, unified space.
This doesn't look like an attic at all.
Feng Fei muttered to himself as he carefully walked toward the stone table.
Standing before the stone table, the golden object suddenly came into full view of Feng Fei. It was a book with a dusty, gray cover, made of what appeared to be parchment, somewhat old but not damaged. The cover was half-open, revealing the first page. Feng Fei could only see half of the text, which appeared to read "The Book of the Four Directions."
"The Four Directions Heavenly Book?" Feng Fei's heart skipped a beat. Wasn't this continent the Four Directions Continent? Named after the four directions, could this Heavenly Book be something concerning the entire continent? Thinking this, Feng Fei hesitated. She didn't know why she had come to this continent. Perhaps it was because of Yuan Jue, perhaps it was because… If it was the latter, she felt she couldn't possibly live up to it in the Celestial Dynasty. She was just an ordinary citizen; asking her to do anything extraordinary would be harder than ascending to heaven. Well, actually, many of the things she had done on the Four Directions Continent would already be considered extraordinary in the Celestial Dynasty.
Just as Feng Fei hesitated, before he could retract his outstretched hand, the books on the stone table suddenly emitted a brilliant golden light. They had instantly broken free from the restraints of something within the stone table. The moment the golden light touched Feng Fei's fingers, he felt his soul tremble violently, followed by a refreshing sensation that made every pore on his body open up from the depths of his soul. Before he knew it, a groan escaped his lips.
The sound startled Feng Fei, who quickly withdrew her hand to cover her mouth, glancing around in embarrassment. She was afraid someone else had seen her. Fortunately, there was no one else there. Relieved, Feng Fei silently berated herself. Only then did she realize that she had somehow managed to pull her hands back.
He stared blankly at his hands for a moment, and before he could react, someone suddenly hugged him tightly.
Feng Fei's body stiffened, and she was about to kick the person behind her to escape when she recognized their identity. Her body went limp, and she collapsed into the arms of the person holding her. Before fainting, Feng Fei glanced at the stone table, only to find it empty, covered in a thick layer of dust. The space was no longer just the stone table, chairs, and bookshelves; many wooden furniture items had been added.
For some reason, at this moment, Feng Fei felt relaxed, and his tense mind immediately relaxed, and he fell into a deep sleep without hesitation.
Yuan Jue was the one who grabbed Feng Fei. At that moment, when they were helpless and their lips were burning outside Tianyi Pavilion, they suddenly noticed that the entire Tianyi Pavilion suddenly went dark, and then the barrier that was blocking them from entering seemed to disappear. Yuan Jue was the first to react and rushed in without hesitation.
Tianyi Pavilion has three floors. The first floor was empty, with only a few benches and chairs placed around the perimeter. Yuan Jue quickly glanced around but didn't find any trace of Feng Fei, so he hurried upstairs. The second floor of Tianyi Pavilion was filled with bookshelves, covered with numerous books, all of which were covered in a thick layer of fine dust, indicating that they hadn't been maintained for a long time. Still not finding Feng Fei on the second floor, Yuan Jue was getting increasingly anxious, but he still patiently ran to the third floor, vowing that if he couldn't find Feng Fei, he would burn down the entire City Lord's Mansion.
Upon reaching the third floor, Yuan Jue noticed a slight difference between the third floor and the previous two floors. However, before he could fully appreciate the difference, he saw Feng Fei staring blankly at his hands in front of a stone table, unable to hear him no matter how much he called out to him.
Yuan Jue's heart trembled violently, fearing that something might happen to Feng Fei, and without thinking, he hugged Feng Fei tightly.
He sensed the murderous aura that Feng Fei suddenly unleashed when he embraced her, but as if sensing that he was the one holding her, Feng Fei's body suddenly went limp and collapsed into his arms.
The moment Feng Fei collapsed into his arms, Yuan Jue felt his heart stop beating. He was afraid he had come too late; he was afraid that from then on he could only hold Feng Fei's body, but would never hear her sweet voice again.
"Phoenix flying, phoenix flying..."
Yuan Jue called out urgently, his arms tightening around Feng Fei.
At this moment, Jin Ming, who had followed up, saw the scene on the third floor and his eyelids twitched violently. He quickly stepped forward and grabbed Feng Fei's wrist. After a while, he finally let out a breath and scolded, "Yuan Jue, you don't have to scare us like that, do you? Feng Fei just fainted from exhaustion, but the way you look at me almost made me think Feng Fei was dead!" As he spoke, still not satisfied, he hit Yuan Jue hard on the head.
It was Jin Ming's rebuke that brought Yuan Jue out of his daze. He loosened his grip on Feng Fei, making her more comfortable, before turning to Jin Ming and asking, "Feng Fei is just exhausted?"
If Yuan Jue had examined Feng Fei first, he wouldn't be so flustered now. Although he wasn't an expert in medicine, he could still diagnose illnesses by taking a pulse. However, it was precisely because he was too flustered and too worried about Feng Fei that he panicked and forgot to check Feng Fei's pulse.
After letting out a sigh of relief, Yuan Jue realized that he had overreacted. He continued to hold Feng Fei to make her more comfortable even while she was unconscious, and at the same time, he looked around at the surroundings.
Apart from the stone table, stone chair, and stone bookshelf closest to him, everything else in this room on the third floor was made of wood. Yuan Jue's gaze returned to the stone table; when he first entered, Feng Fei had been staring intently at it. Perhaps this stone table was something special.
Just as Yuan Jue was glancing at the stone table, Jin Ming began wandering around the room. Ming Feng and Da Bao, who arrived later, obediently stood behind Yuan Jue without making a sound.
As Yuan Jue, Jin Ming, and the others carefully examined the third floor of Tianyi Pavilion, Feng Fei found herself in a space filled with golden light. This space felt very familiar to her, as if she had been here before.
Suddenly, she remembered the place she had entered when she first arrived at the Four Continents, when Feng Yi and Feng Shiyi had her temper her soul and body. Feng Fei clicked her tongue in admiration; this was her mental space, much larger than before.
Feng Fei slowly began to wander in his mind. This feeling of examining his own internal situation was quite wonderful, and he couldn't help but feel an irresistible urge to stop.
Suddenly, a bright golden light flashed in the very center of Feng Fei's mind, sending a chill down his spine. He rushed over, muttering to himself, "Please, please don't let anything happen. This is my head. It wouldn't be good if I became an idiot or something."
As Feng Fei drew closer to his mind, a ball of silvery-white light suddenly rushed towards him. Before Feng Fei could fully process what he saw and make a judgment, the ball of silvery-white light entered his arms.
Just as Feng Fei was about to ruthlessly destroy the silvery-white ball of light, a sense of intimacy and dependence emanated from it.