Chapter 184 "Emperor Taizu" in the Secret Room
“Plop!”
Under the dark bridge, without much hesitation, Zhao Duan used the faint moonlight to quickly strip off his coat.
Then he jumped into the river, following the sensation, and moved towards the center of the formation at the bottom of the river.
Because it was night, visibility underwater was extremely low. After diving a few meters, we were almost blind.
Fortunately, the qi in the body establishes an implicit connection with it, like an invisible rope in the darkness, quietly connecting the two.
Finally, Zhao Duan followed his feeling and touched the bottom of the water.
A faint glow was emanating from the mud-covered stones.
"Something really changed!" Zhao Duan was delighted and used his hands and feet to paddle and crawl over.
After wiping off the mud with hands, one can clearly see the glow shining through the patterns of the formation.
"Why has it changed? Clearly, there was nothing an hour ago."
Zhao Duan had no doubt that if the empress was nearby, she would definitely be able to sense it.
"I haven't seen any noticeable changes in the past few days. I'm pretty much the same as before. So, the biggest possibility is time."
Zhao Duan quickly grasped a key point:
"Ghost Festival!"
"The Ghost Festival is the day of the year when the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is the most abundant, and the gods are also the most active. Could it be because of this?
Wait... If I couldn't open it before because I was too weak, then is it possible to pry it open today when the formation is active?"
Thinking of this possibility, his heart pounded wildly in the dark and cold water.
After a slight hesitation, Zhao Duan pressed his hands firmly on the formation, trying to enter the unique energy of the "Way of the God of War".
Then, with his injection, the light of the formation that had been dead for many years became brighter and brighter, and a mysterious force descended, expanding the river water.
It was as if an air bubble was created at the bottom of the river and swallowed Zhao Duan into it.
"feasible!"
Zhao Duan was shocked. So, the key to open the secret passage was just the martial arts aura of Taizu?
Today's timing and location are right, and it saves him countless efforts.
The next second, he felt a flash before his eyes, and the whole person disappeared into the bottom of the river out of thin air.
…
Imperial Palace.
"His Majesty!"
In the palace square, a group of palace maids walked with lanterns.
Suddenly, a streak of light was seen approaching, and it transformed into the Empress of Dayu, who was wearing a white dress, with long black hair flowing like a waterfall, a fairy-like face, and was graceful and majestic.
I don't know how she changed her clothes on the way...
Xu Zhenguan nodded slightly and said:
"I'm going to the Yuanzu Temple to meditate. If you have any questions, please come and report to me."
“Here!”
The palace maids nodded hurriedly and watched the empress walk away.
"Your Majesty, are you coming back from outside the palace?"
"Shh, don't talk."
The palace is very large, and the lights can only illuminate a small area.
The Yuanzu Temple is not far from the sleeping palace, and there are no guards stationed around it.
Xu Zhenguan broke away from the female officials following him, walked to the front of the temple with a natural look, and pushed open the ancient temple door with a creaky sound.
As the eye catches, the vertical lamps in the hall light up one after another, and on the wall, a "Wu" character written in a flamboyant style almost seems to support the sky and the earth.
"Hu." Xu Zhenguan exhaled lightly, rolled up his sleeves, and the temple door closed automatically.
Walk to the altar and turn the candlestick.
“Zazaza—”
Next to the wall, the entrance to the cellar slowly opened.
The empress walked down the stairs, and after a few steps, she suddenly saw a vaulted wine cellar in front of her.
Wine jars were placed on the shelves all around, and the crystals inlaid on the walls were all lit up under the blessing of the formation, illuminating the sky as bright as day.
Xu Zhenguan rolled up her sleeves, revealing her snow-white and smooth arms. She had almost no jewelry on her body, and her wrists were clean, like fine jade.
But now the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and he pulled out a huge food box from a shelf, which was full of all kinds of food.
She opened a jar of wine with a "pop" sound and immediately sat down at a small table by the wall, taking a sip of wine and a bite of food to fill her stomach.
——Wu Fu has an amazing appetite, and one bowl of wontons is not enough.
In addition, whenever there is a happy event, she likes to celebrate with a private drink, which has become a routine.
However, she could never have imagined that almost at the same time when she was drinking alone.
Behind her, across the wall, in another sealed "secret room" that could not be explored or perceived, a person suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
…
Zhao Duan felt dizzy for a moment.
It felt like walking through a long tunnel, yet it also seemed like just a blink of an eye.
He had left the riverbed and was lying on the cold floor.
It was dark before his eyes. He cautiously bent over and climbed up, holding the Golden Crow Flying Knife in his hand, ready to deal with danger.
However, everything around was quiet, except for a circular magic circle on the floor below, whose light slowly faded away.
Then.
"bass!"
"bass!"
"bass!"
Zhao Duan was surprised to see that in the darkness, balls of fire suddenly began to ignite around him in a ring shape, lighting up one after another around the wall centered on him.
When the light filled the entire secret room, he could see clearly that they were "night pearls" as big as fists, embedded in the wall.
There is a flame dancing in the beads.
"What the hell is this place... Where is the secret passage we promised you?" Zhao Duan was stunned.
The secret room he was in was not very big, about the same size as his room at home, empty, with no doors on any side.
There was only a stone platform in the center, on which sat a figure sitting cross-legged in meditation, with his back to him and his body covered in dust.
"Who are you?" he asked subconsciously, his body tense and a strong sense of regret arose.
I wondered if the "secret passage" that Old Xu mentioned was guarded by a master from the Imperial Palace?
Did you walk into trouble?
If I get caught later, should I confess and get leniency, or should I confess and get leniency?
Zhao Duan had a lot of grievances that he couldn't express.
According to his original idea, the so-called secret passage might be a formation under the bridge outside the city, connecting to the Yuanzu Temple inside the palace.
Maybe it will appear in the "wine cellar" mentioned by Zhenbao.
He broke in with the intention of gaining some benefits.
Anyway, the worst that can happen is that if we get discovered, we can just blame everything on Wushentu.
But this is obviously not a "wine cellar", the key is...
people.
However, Zhao Duan tried to call out several times, fighting wits and courage with the air for a long time, but the figure with its back to him remained motionless.
"Dead?"
Zhao Duan's face changed.
He subconsciously clenched the purple waist jade in his hand - the moment he saw the figure, he took out the teleportation waist jade bestowed by the empress.
After confirming that there was no response, he slowly walked around the wall and came to the "front" of the person sitting cross-legged in meditation.
After seeing it, he blurted out:
"Old Xu?!"
Yes!
The person sitting on the stone platform looked very similar to the Great Yu Taizu in the God of War picture.
Zhao Duan felt his scalp explode, and he had nowhere to vent his frustrations:
So, was I teleported to Old Xu's grave?
Stop it!
"Wait, something's wrong. How old was Old Xu when he died? He can't possibly still look middle-aged!"
Zhao Duan took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
I approached carefully and suddenly found that there were a few lines of words engraved on the stone platform.
"The Origin Temple... The Martial God Arena... The place where the Dragon Soul lives... Future generations..."
He recited in a low voice, and then his expression became strange.
The tone of the writing on the stone platform was clearly that of Emperor Taizu of Dayu, and the words were indeed crooked...
Well, it’s ugly in the style of Old Xu.
There are about a hundred words in it, half of which are ancient and half are not vernacular. It is obvious that the author has no culture, but is trying hard to be elegant.
The general meaning is that this place is the "Martial God Platform" under the Taizu Temple. Emperor Taizu created the "Martial God System" in order to cultivate warriors into gods.
The Martial God Platform is an altar dedicated to his own god.
Unfortunately, he never really took the last step in his entire life.
He only used a breath of dragon energy in his sea of qi and refined it into a thing that was similar to a god, but not quite a god yet, and named it "Dragon Soul".
He said that if he died, his dragon soul would remain here if it had not dissipated.
If any of my descendants are gifted in martial arts, they can, after breaking through the worldly realm, contain the dragon soul within their bodies, which will be of great benefit to them...
After death, the dragon soul will return to the Martial God Arena on its own.
“Ah, this…”
Zhao Duan's expression is wonderful.
First of all, he hadn't come to the wrong place. The secret passage led to the Yuanzu Temple. As for why he didn't see the wine cellar, he had no idea...
Secondly, he seemed to have picked up something extraordinary.
"Is this a dragon soul? A 'god' created by Old Xu through his own visualization?
Good fellow... Others gather the thoughts of all living beings to create a kind of god, and everyone drives it, but you mess with yourself and only use it for yourself..."
"It sounds like it was meant for future emperors... but why didn't Zhenbao keep it? She must have reached that level... and there's so much dust, it's obvious no one has touched it in a long time..."
"Yes, she 'usurped' the throne, and she probably had no idea there was such a secret room beneath the Yuanzu Temple... Such a huge secret, it's easy to imagine it's been passed down from generation to generation of emperors, and then the prince died..."
"But... for something this important, it's a bit random to find a secret passage just by practicing royal techniques...
Hmm... No, the entrance to the secret passage is gone. It would be impossible for a normal person to find it without knowing the location... Not to mention that it requires the royal family's skills as the 'key'..."
Zhao Duan’s thoughts raced.
He approached curiously and looked at "Old Xu" who was sitting cross-legged on the table.
Only then did he notice that its form was slightly illusory, as if it was not entirely solid...
"I'll just watch and not touch you. After all, I'm just a mortal, not yet in the secular realm... Hmm, should I hand it over? It's such a headache..."
Zhao Duan was muttering.
Suddenly, as if finally sensing the approach of an outsider, "Old Xu" who was sitting cross-legged on the stone platform suddenly...
Opened...
Eye.
Those were a pair of pure golden eyes, without any human emotions, only indescribable majesty.
boom!
Then, "Old Xu's" figure suddenly dissipated and turned into a ball of pure golden turbulence, shaped like a real dragon, circling in the air above the secret room, emitting a bright light.
The moment the dragon soul flew up, Zhao Duan felt his whole body stiffen and he couldn't move.
He was so frightened by the overwhelming pressure that was as fierce as a tsunami that he could not move.
Not to mention crushing the teleportation waist jade, even his thinking became extremely slow at this moment.
He could only watch helplessly as the dragon-shaped half-step god that Emperor Taizu had visualized throughout his life looked down at him.
Their eyes met.
Suddenly, the golden dragon soul raised its head and let out a low dragon roar. Then, it turned into a turbulent torrent, and madly, like the Nujiang River bursting its banks, poured into Zhao Duan's eyebrows!
"etc--"
Zhao Duan’s eyes went dark and he lost consciousness.
…
at the same time.
Across the wall, the slightly tipsy Emperor Fairy opened a new jar of wine with her delicate jade fingers. Suddenly, her whole body froze and she looked up at the sky in shock.
The wine jar in her hand made a "bang" sound and was shattered into pieces by the energy that she subconsciously released.
At this moment, she clearly heard a long-lost...
Dragon roar!
(End of this chapter)
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