Chapter 322 Gate of All Beings
The Zhong and Wu couple entertained guests in the main hall.
Led by the Liu sisters, You Su and Tan Zheng entered the courtyard.
Zhong Cai looked up and glanced at it.
It felt different from the last time we met.
On that occasion, You Su's actions were anxious, urgent, and pleading as he pleaded for his sworn brother's life. He was also very careful and sometimes even humble. Tan Zheng, who was paralyzed and powerless and could only passively accept treatment, was even more pathetic than You Su after he recovered.
Now, their clothing and appearance are very much in line with the image of young masters from aristocratic families, and they also match their temperament, making them appear quite elegant.
The whole thing looks quite glamorous.
·
After the two brothers and two sisters approached, they bowed to Mr. and Mrs. Zhong.
Knowing that the two brothers had come to pay the fee, the Liu sisters tactfully withdrew outside.
After a moment's hesitation, Tan Zheng solemnly asked, "I wonder if this place is hidden?"
Zhong Cai understood and looked at Wu Shaogan.
The two looked at each other and understood Tan Zheng's meaning. He felt that what he was about to take out was a treasure that even if they had powerful backers, it was still best not to let others know about it.
Zhong Cai became even more curious.
Wu Shaogan quickly took out several array plates and set them up in the hall.
At the same time, the main hall doors were also closed instantly.
Zhong Cai smiled and made a "please" gesture.
Tan Zheng then carefully took out a small, dark, metallic-looking object, no bigger than the palm of his hand.
Then a flicker of pain crossed his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure and cautiously handed it over.
Wu Shaogan reached out and took it.
Even if Tan Zheng could trust someone with such an unknown background, he still wouldn't let Zhong Cai take the job.
So, Wu Shaogan quickly picked up the object.
Zhong Cai walked to Wu Shaogan's side and looked at him carefully—
What appeared before them was a tiny, toy-like door.
But in fact, both of them knew that this could not possibly be a toy.
Wu Shaogan sensed no danger. The door felt heavy in his hand, and its texture was similar to gold or jade, with a cool feel. It also exuded a strange aura, with a sense of vastness and mystery.
Therefore, Wu Shaogan allowed Zhong Cai to touch him.
Zhong Cai lightly touched the object with her finger, and the texture was indeed quite unique.
As you rub your fingertips, you can vaguely make out a few tiny characters, which are an ancient script that has been lost in most places now.
But Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan both happened to recognize each other.
Because much of their knowledge came from ancient times, the meanings of many ancient characters were passed down to them. Then, by comparing and recognizing each other's abilities, they naturally memorized them and became familiar with many kinds of ancient characters.
Zhong Cai did not speak, but communicated with his old man Wu through their souls.
【The Gate of All Beings.】
[Old Wu, this name sounds a bit mystical.]
Wu Shaogan couldn't help but smile.
[A very unfamiliar name. This door must also be an ancient artifact.]
Zhong and Wu exchanged glances, and then they both looked at Tan Zheng.
Now it's Tan Zheng's turn to explain.
·
Tan Zheng had been observing the two men's expressions. Seeing the subtle changes in their emotions, he knew that they had figured out the handwriting on the door and recognized it.
This further confirms that the two benefactors were very familiar with ancient writing systems.
That would make his subsequent explanations much easier.
·
Tan Zheng said directly, "This item is the Gate of All Beings. I found it in the tomb of the Heavenly Crystal Ice Python."
You Su's expression remained unchanged, clearly indicating that he had already heard a lot about it from his sworn brother at home and knew that his sworn brother had gone to dig up the grave.
Tan Zheng continued, "However, I didn't know there was a Heavenly Crystal Ice Python's tomb there. Instead, I went to a large-scale ruin that opens only once every thirty years. Any cultivator who has reached the Suspended Illumination Realm can enter. Each opening lasts for fifteen days."
He sighed as he said this.
“In the past, cultivators who went there did not encounter too much danger. It was just a bit troublesome to find resources. The resources they obtained in the end depended on luck. There were always a few lucky ones. Most cultivators would gain something more or less. But I did not expect that there would be a small inner secret realm among them, which was the burial place of a Heavenly Crystal Ice Python.”
"After I entered the ruins, everything went smoothly for me, just like for other cultivators. But after seven days, my beast soul suddenly became restless."
"As you two seniors have probably guessed, my companion treasure is the soul of the Heavenly Crystal Ice Python."
"After its initial agitation, it became almost uncontrollable, urging me toward the statue in a small hall within the ruins."
"Then the statue emitted an extremely powerful attraction, and I was involuntarily sucked into a special space—that small inner secret realm."
Zhong Cai and Wu Shaogan listened to his story without showing any impatience.
You Su kept looking at his sworn brother, his expression revealing a lot of heartache.
His elder brother had truly suffered greatly this time, and the greatest reward he had gained was now being used to repay the debt of saving his life. Although this was only right, he still felt that his elder brother's beast soul was utterly hateful! At such an advanced age, it still couldn't control itself!
Otherwise, my elder brother wouldn't have encountered so many dangers this time, and perhaps he could have reaped the rewards safely.
Tan Zheng recounted the entire process in detail.
This way of narrating the story ensures the accuracy of the origin of the item in his possession and allows his two benefactors to have a thorough understanding of the whole matter.
·
Upon entering the small secret realm, Tan Zheng was immediately chilled to the bone by the frost and snow all around him, as if the cold wind was blowing into his very bones.
Tan Zheng quickly activated his cultivation technique and also took out a large number of his most treasured defensive items, equipping them on himself as quickly as possible.
That made me feel a little better.
The agitation of the Heavenly Crystal Ice Python's soul intensified, forcing Tan Zheng to proceed in a certain direction according to the message conveyed by the soul.
The journey was relatively smooth, and Tan Zheng saw some ancient natural treasures and various rare medicines, which he carefully collected.
Although the Heavenly Crystal Ice Python was always impatient and urging, it still allowed Tan Zheng to collect resources.
In just half a day, Tan Zheng's harvest was much greater than in many previous days. It was under such collection that Tan Zheng's mentality gradually relaxed. Although he was still very wary of external dangers, he did not restrain the beast soul.
Gradually, Tan Zheng approached a snow-capped mountain.
The snow and ice on the mountain seemed to have been compacted, and the surface of the mountain had become very smooth, with a kind of shimmering charm.
Tan Zheng stood at the foot of the mountain, looking up, unsure whether there were any other resources here or whether they could be collected.
At that very moment, his beast soul transmitted many thoughts.
Following this thought, Tan Zheng opened the mountain.
The mountain suddenly caved in, and in its place stood a huge tomb.
The entrance to the tomb faces Tan Zheng directly.
Tan Zheng was a little nervous, but since he was already here, this might be a great opportunity, and it just so happened to be related to the Heavenly Crystal Ice Python. So he made up his mind and slipped into the tomb.
As soon as he entered, he saw a completely different world.
At first glance, it seems no different from the outside, but upon closer inspection, one will find that the huge snow mountain standing in front of you is actually a coiled, dead Heavenly Crystal Ice Python.
This is what the graves of rare animals look like.
The area around the Heavenly Crystal Ice Python was filled with white mist that seemed to blend into the surrounding world, making it almost impossible to see clearly without careful observation.
Tan Zheng was able to distinguish it because he smelled a strange and complex fragrance.
It's a poisonous fragrance.
Upon closer inspection, one can discover that near the Heavenly Crystal Ice Python, there are many clusters of precious medicinal herbs of various shapes, shrouded in thick white mist, or some carefully placed natural treasures!
The vast majority are ice-type, and the vast majority of those are poisonous.
Tan Zheng walked up to some thick white mist, lowered his head slightly, and saw the appearance of the treasure.
Compared to the Heavenly Crystal Ice Python, its quality is actually not that high.
Most are only at level five or six, with very few reaching level seven.
The corpse of the Heavenly Crystal Ice Python was clearly of the eighth rank... It shouldn't need low-quality resources at all.
But soon, this question disappeared.
As Tan Zheng searched around some areas, he was shocked to find the relatively small corpse of a Heavenly Crystal Ice Python lying somewhere to the side.
This Heavenly Crystal Ice Python is only about level five.
He suddenly understood.
Perhaps this tomb is both the tomb of that eighth-order Celestial Crystal Ice Python and the place where it raised its offspring.
Therefore, the resources prepared are all of low quality, simply to provide the Little Crystal Ice Python with a rich resource supply.
However, this little python was either unlucky or lacked talent, and died at only the fifth level. It must have devoured all the resources of other levels, leaving only those of the fifth level or above.
This benefited those who later discovered the tomb.
However, just as Tan Zheng analyzed all of this and continued to collect other resources, he went to examine the wisps of white mist... Suddenly, he saw a very peculiar and precious medicinal herb.
At that moment, Tan Zheng's mind went blank, filled with a very strange and irritable thought.
Almost instantly, he lost control.
At that moment, Tan Zheng's eyes turned into python eyes, a single horn grew on his forehead, and his whole body was covered with a layer of faint scale patterns.
In the next instant, Tan Zheng pulled out the medicinal herbs from the white mist and put them in his mouth.
It tastes very sweet.
No, it wasn't sweet; it was a jumbled mess of flavors, sometimes bitter, sometimes salty and fishy.
No, that's not right, it's just very sweet.
Two completely different perceptions kept swirling in Tan Zheng's mind, and he vaguely understood them.
The one who finds it sweet is the Heavenly Crystal Ice Python Beast Soul.
It was Tan Zheng himself who found the taste strange—most resources containing poison would taste very odd to human cultivators.
After a while, Tan Zheng became dazed and confused, his consciousness in a state of confusion.
All I remember is that all sorts of tastes kept coming out of his mouth, and many strange changes occurred in his body.
This is dangerous.
However, Tan Zheng was completely unable to control himself and was entirely affected by another emotion.
·
After an unknown amount of time, Tan Zheng finally woke up.
He discovered that he was in a cave formed by the body of the giant crystal ice python.
His posture was that of sitting cross-legged, as if he had previously practiced a martial arts technique.
A little while later, many memories were transmitted to his mind.
This also made Tan Zheng understand the situation at the time.
·
You Su hadn't heard his older brother explain in much detail before, but now that he heard these details, he couldn't help but reach out and hold Tan Zheng's hand, squeezing it reassuringly to comfort him.
Tan Zheng sensed something, glanced at You Su, and his expression softened considerably from "still feeling fearful".
Zhong Cai seemed to understand something, and said, "Beast souls should not be able to control cultivators themselves, and even influencing a cultivator's will is very difficult... Brother Tan, when you entered the ruins, you were probably already at the peak of the Suspended Illumination Realm? Presumably, you have already found the point of fusion with the beast soul, and are ready to break through that barrier and begin the fusion at any time?"
Tan Zheng nodded and said, "That's right."
Zhong Cai nodded: "That's not surprising."
·
It was precisely because of the impending fusion and the opening of the ruins that Tan Zheng wanted to go in and look for opportunities.
It was at this critical juncture that his primordial spirit became somewhat unstable. Furthermore, because his primordial spirit was already in contact with the beast spirit, the auras of the beast spirit and the primordial spirit were slowly merging, and the influence of the beast spirit on the primordial spirit naturally increased significantly.
When Tan Zheng was influenced and controlled by the Heavenly Crystal Ice Python's spirit, he devoured many poisonous substances that the spirit desired, driven by its greed. The spirit had been agitated earlier because it was attracted by the aura of its kin, and had become somewhat calmer after entering the tomb. However, many of the abundant resources stored on the surface contained things that the Heavenly Crystal Ice Python craved…
From the time the Heavenly Crystal Ice Python Beast Soul began waiting in the Dark Land until it was summoned by Tan Zheng, it had not been able to eat these things that it used to love so much for many years.
Seeing so many at once, I couldn't resist the urge to eat.
Rare beasts are different from human cultivators.
Often, human cultivators can control their desires with their strong willpower, but rare beasts don't have the patience to restrain themselves, and their animalistic nature often doesn't allow them to do so.
And so, the beast soul influenced Tan Zheng.
Tan Zheng himself had ingested a lot of poisonous substances... Although a beast soul cultivator like him would be affected by the beast soul in terms of physical characteristics, he was not a real rare beast after all. So, the various poisonous substances that rare beasts would find delicious accumulated in Tan Zheng's body, causing his body to collapse immediately.
Especially when the beast soul discovered the Nine Heart Grass, it was at the peak of its will... and also when Tan Zheng completely lost consciousness, leaving only the instincts driven by the beast soul.
Later, in the process of constantly consuming, Tan Zheng not only obtained countless kinds of toxins, but also many resources that were helpful for cultivation.
Furthermore, with the beast soul now driving Tan Zheng in this way, the compatibility between the two naturally increased once again...
Tan Zheng instinctively made a breakthrough.
So when he woke up, he was already a cultivator in the early stage of fusion.
At the same time, he was also a cultivator covered in poison and nearing the end of his life.
·
After realizing his condition, Tan Zheng's face turned ashen.
The beast soul only truly came to its senses at this moment, and was also in a very bad mood.
Tan Zheng is the cultivator most compatible with the Beast Soul. If Tan Zheng dies, how can the Beast Soul benefit?
Especially since Tan Zheng's loss of control this time was all caused by the beast soul, and it had also merged with a trace of it, the beast soul will most likely remain in a state of slight fusion with Tan Zheng's primordial soul and dissipate together with Tan Zheng's primordial soul.
Tan Zheng was furious.
The beast soul was extremely depressed.
But now that things had come to this, Tan Zheng was only focused on gathering enough resources for You Su. The Beast Soul also thought that it might be able to find treasures in the tombs of its own kind that could cure the poison or weaken the deadly poison. So the Beast Soul carefully sensed the surroundings, trying to find more resources in the cave.
A man and a beast can be considered a success.
The Heavenly Crystal Ice Python wasn't particularly wealthy in its lifetime, but it had accumulated quite a few resources, which were stored in a mustard seed ring in the corner of this cave.
Tan Zheng took the mustard seed ring and found some ancient artifacts inside.
Among them is this Gate of All Beings.
Tan Zheng didn't notice at first, he was only focused on gathering all the resources.
When he returned and met You Su, in order not to arouse You Su's suspicion, Tan Zheng put the mustard seed ring into a small box, and then put it into a mustard seed bag along with some ordinary resources before giving it to You Su.
Every time Tan Zheng went out to train, he would bring some things for You Su, which were always packed in mustard seed bags.
You Su naturally had no doubts.
After rescuing Tan Zheng this time, Tan Zheng told You Su that he had actually left him a lot of resources.
You Su was both crying and laughing at the time...
Of course, there's no need to go into these details with Mr. and Mrs. Zhong.
·
Tan Zheng said, "When my brothers and I were taking stock of the resources, we saw the Gate of All Beings again, and we also learned how to use it from a jade slip next to it."
You Su nodded.
It was only after reading the jade slip that the two brothers realized that the Gate of All Beings was actually the most precious thing.
Tan Zheng had originally intended to collect some level six or seven resources as a selling fee, but after discovering the Gate of All Beings... he pondered for a long time and finally decided to give the items to the couple.
As they spoke, Tan Zheng handed a jade slip to Zhong Cai.
Zhong Cai raised an eyebrow, took it, and examined it with her soul sense.
Upon looking at it, he suddenly received a flood of information, and at that moment, he understood what it was.
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The Gate of All Beings is the gateway to a land that embraces all beings.
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The term "sentient beings" refers to all living beings engaged in cultivation.
This includes humans, as well as all sorts of rare and exotic animals.
Any sentient being capable of communication can enter a special area through the Gate of All Beings.
That area was created by some powerful being—or perhaps it wasn't created by a powerful being at all, but rather formed by the very creation of heaven and earth—existing within a void, where no one can enter at will.
It is also an extremely safe place.
All living beings that enter the land of sentient beings must not attack each other and must maintain a public harmony.
It is said that the Land of All Beings has various settings that allow all beings to have a great deal of... experience.
The jade slip did not explain the specific reasons.
Once this door falls into the hands of a cultivator, as long as they leave a soul imprint on it, they can open the door and pass through it.
Once the cultivator enters, there is no need to worry; the door will automatically follow the being that opened it, and together they will enter the Land of All Beings.
And this door... is not something that can only be owned by one person.
As long as the soul owners trust each other completely and have no conflicts, they can leave their souls on the same door.
Each door can hold up to ten souls!
At the same time, the number of beings that can enter the door can reach five.
...It is truly an extremely powerful treasure.
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The jade slip further explains that unless it is a jade slip placed on the door leaf that can be engraved with some relevant information, other things, whether books or other carriers, cannot leave information about the Gate of All Beings—even if they do, they will quickly disappear with the passage of time.
This explains why, despite being well-read and possessing numerous ancient inheritances, Zhong and Wu could not find a single word about the Gate of All Beings in any classic text or record.
It seems that it can only be passed down by word of mouth...
Or perhaps it can only be passed down among the owners within the power, to their disciples or descendants, and so on.
·
Zhong Cai looked at the jade slip with bright eyes, and quickly handed it to Wu Shaogan.
Wu Shaogan also raised an eyebrow and quickly checked and accepted the information.
Zhong Cai then smiled and handed the Gate of All Beings to Wu Shaogan.
Wu Shaogan understood and carefully put it away for safekeeping.
·
On ordinary days, the ancient city was usually carried by Zhong Cai so that he could hide at any time.
Now, Wu Shaogan will put away this portal. If they encounter any terrifying danger and all their other abilities are exhausted, Zhong Cai can enter the ancient city in an instant. The ancient city will fall on Wu Shaogan at the same time, and Wu Shaogan can open the portal at the same moment and enter with the ancient city as quickly as possible.
They were teleported to the Land of All Beings inside the portal, thus saving their lives.
·
Zhong Cai looked at Tan Zheng and You Su again and said slowly, "Although I have cured you of the poison, you both know the wonders of the Sect of All Beings. Its value far exceeds the cost of this treatment."
"The Gate of All Beings must be an immense opportunity. You have given this to my husband and me with such willingness?"
Although multiple soul imprints can be left on a single door, and theoretically this item belongs to the Zhong and Wu couple for safekeeping, it's also acceptable to allow the Tan Zheng and You Su brothers to leave their soul imprints as well, thus granting them the qualification to enter the Gate of All Beings...
However, both sides are well aware that this also requires mutual trust.
Moreover, once the soul's essence is imprinted, it cannot be erased and will occupy a slot.
They are currently only in a transactional relationship and cannot trust each other. Moreover, such a treasure has fallen into private hands, and to avoid any accidents, they would almost certainly not allow anyone else to use it besides the Zhong and Wu couple.
At least Tan Zheng and You Su can no longer qualify.
...For these two brothers, this is a real loss.
·
Tan Zheng had already given this matter considerable thought and was well aware that he would encounter such an inquiry.
In fact, how could anyone possibly be willing to give it up completely?
He struggled internally for a long time while pondering this matter, repeatedly questioning himself before finally making a decision.
Because Tan Zheng understood very well that he probably didn't have the confidence to enter the Gate of All Beings alone to explore.
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