Walking in the Heavenly City, you can see from time to time a broken jade bridge or a corner of a collapsed palace in the misty light, like the corpse of a wild animal revealed in the fog.
"Isn't Tianmen one of the four forbidden areas? It is very difficult to even enter. Who destroyed it like this?" Li Xiu asked behind Li Qingyi.
Li Qingyi said: "Since the Tianmen was discovered, it has been like this. Even in the historical documents of the Demon Country, the Tianmen has always been like this. When it was called the Four Forbidden Zones by the Demon Country, it was in this state."
After a pause, Li Qingyi continued, "Although it seems that there is not even a complete building in this city, even a broken brick or a tile has an extremely terrifying power. Someone once picked up a jade brick in this city and secretly took it out. As a result, the whole family of that person died strangely in less than a week. Later, no one who came into contact with the jade brick survived. When those people died strangely, the city also conducted an investigation, but the cause was never found. Dozens of people died in succession, and finally the jade brick was found. The investigators who came into contact with the jade brick also died strangely. Later, an elder sent the jade brick back to Tianmen, which calmed the death storm, but the elder disappeared from then on, and no one saw him alive or dead."
Li Xiu was horrified when he heard this: "Just a jade brick is so terrifying. We have stepped on countless jade bricks along the way. Won't we die without a burial place?"
"You don't have to worry so much. As long as you don't take anything out of Tiancheng, there will be no problem if you just touch these jade bricks." Li Qingyi said, and suddenly heard a roar like a cow or a lion coming from the depths of the cloud-like light.
"Evil spirit!" Li Xiu's heart skipped a beat.
It is not a good thing to encounter evil spirits in such a place. I heard from Lao Dao before that there is no evil spirit in Tianmen that is lower than the super spirit, at least it is a super spirit.
Although Li Xiu has a Jedi Knight on him, his own level is too low, so he is afraid of encountering evil spirits with area attacks. At that time, the Jedi Knight may not be able to block all the attacks.
"It should be a demon spirit, but don't worry. When I followed the elders to Tianmen before, I could often hear this roar. The elders said that they could hear this sound every time they came to Tiancheng, but they had never seen the owner of the roar." Li Qingyi thought for a while and said, "Don't worry, as long as we follow this route, there won't be too many problems. This route was explored by many senior masters, and there won't be too many risks."
"What will we encounter if we don't follow this route?" Li Xiu asked curiously.
“That’s hard to say. We might encounter a terrifying demon that can kill us in seconds, or we might not even know how we died inside this Heavenly City. The Heavenly Gate is mysterious, and too many people have died inside. Not to mention you and me, even the light-based trial-takers have to move forward step by step here and dare not be careless in the slightest.” Li Qingyi spoke as he walked, and suddenly a jade bridge appeared in the misty light ahead.
The bridge is two or three meters wide. The entire bridge is made of white jade. There are many strange patterns carved on the railings, including clouds, rain, thunder and lightning, and strange beasts and birds.
Clouds and mist rolled under the Jade Bridge, and one could not see whether there was water under the bridge. Three meters away from the Jade Bridge, nothing could be seen, and no one knew where the bridge led to.
"After crossing the Yunjian Bridge, we will almost reach the execution platform." Li Qingyi did not go directly onto the bridge, but walked to the side of the bridge head.
Li Xiu followed her for a few steps and saw a small temple-like building next to the bridge.
The building was extremely small, only half a person's height, probably reaching Li Xiu's waist, and about the same size as a doghouse, but its carved beams and painted rafters were extremely exquisite.
Inside the archway of the building, there is an equally small altar. Behind the altar is the altar, on which stands a jade tablet.
There were some demonic characters written on the tablet. Li Xiu recognized it at a glance. It said "The Seat of the Land Goddess".
Li Qingyi stood in front of the small temple and bowed three times respectfully to the tablet on the altar.
A strange thing happened. Li Xiu saw some simple lines appearing on the jade token, which looked like a smiley face pattern.
The pattern flashed by and disappeared, and if Li Xiu hadn't had sharp eyes, he would have almost thought it was an illusion.
Li Qingyi heaved a sigh of relief when she saw the smiling face. "The Earth Lady can keep you safe. Her smile means there is nothing to worry about ahead. We will definitely be able to pass through smoothly. You should come and pay your respects as well."
Li Xiu nodded, stood in the position vacated by Li Qingyi, and, following Li Qingyi's example, bowed to the tablet of the Goddess of Land.
When Li Xiu raised his head and looked at the tablet, he was stunned.
I saw bloodstains on the white jade tablet, like traces of blood and tears.
After Li Qingyi paid her respects, the smiling face disappeared instantly, but these bloodstains were like the dirty blood that had dried on the tablet, with no signs of disappearing.
"What's going on?" Li Xiu stood up and looked at Li Qingyi next to him.
Li Qingyi said with a strange look on her face: "I have only heard from my elders that if there is a smiling face on the tablet of the Earth Goddess, it means there is no worry ahead and you can pass safely. But if the Earth Goddess shows an unhappy face, it means there will be disaster ahead and you may encounter evil spirits or something like that. I have never heard of such a situation and I don't know what it means, but it doesn't look like a good omen."
"Or... I'll bow again..." Li Xiu pondered.
"It can only happen once, and it won't work if you pray again." Li Qingyi shook his head.
"Then what should we do now? Should we continue to move forward?" Li Xiu looked at Li Qingyi and asked.
"It's hard to predict whether this phenomenon is good or bad, and the future may be unpredictable. Why don't we forget about it today and come back another day." Li Qingyi pondered as he looked at the bloodstains on the tablet.
"There was no problem when you were praying before. I walked with you. How could it be that you had no problem while I did? I don't think this red color is a bad omen. Look how festive this red color is. It should be a good omen." Li Xiu said with a smile.
Li Qingyi said solemnly: "This is not a place for joking. If you make the slightest mistake, you will be doomed. There is no reason to guess like this."
"This is not a guess. The two results should not be contradictory. But since you think there is a problem, let's just leave it at that." Li Xiu said.
"Then let's go back." Li Qingyi said and took Li Xiu back.
Not long after they walked, Li Qingyi suddenly stopped Li Xiu, put her finger in front of her lips, and signaled Li Xiu to be quiet.
Li Xiu immediately understood what Li Qingyi meant. He stood there motionless, listening with his ear tilted to the side. He vaguely heard someone talking in the distant cloud light.
But because the distance was too far, Li Xiu could only vaguely hear some human voices, but couldn't hear clearly what was being said.
Li Qingyi listened for a moment, his face changed slightly, and he put his lips close to Li Xiu's ear and said in a very low voice: "Something is wrong, I heard the voices of Bai Wanli and Han Mingshou, there should be others, but the others didn't speak, I don't know how many there are, they should be coming for you, I didn't expect them to find out so quickly and chase in."
"Is there a place to hide people?" Li Xiu asked with a frown.
"We can't walk around here randomly. No one can hide here, unless we cross the Yunjian Bridge. There is a jade tower before reaching the execution platform. There is no danger in the tower, so we can take shelter for a while." Li Qingyi's face looked a little unhappy.
"Then let's cross the Yunjian Bridge first." Li Xiu said.
Li Qingyi was a little hesitant. After all, a strange sign appeared on the tablet of the Land Goddess, and Bai Wanli and the others in Yulou must have known about it. If they also went to Yulou, the two of them would have nowhere to hide.
"There's nothing to hesitate about, let's go." Li Xiu knew that Bai Wanli had come here on his own, and this time he must have been fully prepared to kill him. If he fought him head-on, he would be in great danger.
Li Qingyi also knew that a head-on confrontation with them now would probably have no good results, so she and Li Xiu turned around and walked towards Yunjian Bridge.
After the two stepped onto the Yunjian Bridge, nothing special happened. Under the leadership of Li Qingyi, they quickened their pace and headed towards the other end of the Yunjian Bridge.
Outside the Yunjian Bridge, the light was surging and the sea of clouds was rolling. In front and behind were mists emitting halos, giving a feeling of one walking in the heavenly palace.
After walking for a long time, Li Xiu kept counting his steps and was somewhat shocked to find that this mere jade bridge was actually more than a hundred miles long and he still hadn't reached the end.
After a while, we finally reached the end of the Jade Bridge. After getting off the bridge, the light of the clouds and mist in front seemed to be a little dimmer, and we could see about 20 to 30 meters away.
You can vaguely see a lot of collapsed buildings on both sides, lying on the side of the road like monsters.
After walking a short distance, Li Qingxiu identified the path and turned inside along a collapsed jade wall.
Li Xiu followed her for a while and saw a three-story octagonal jade building in front of him.
Half of the plaque on the octagonal jade tower door was broken, and on the remaining half there were two symbols of the Demonic language. Li Xiu recognized the two Demonic characters, and they probably meant "Jade Scene".
Because there are no words at the end, we don’t know what is written on the entire plaque.
"This Yujing Tower is very safe. If you encounter danger, you can hide here. I don't know why the demons won't enter the Yujing Tower. But you can't walk around the area near the Yujing Tower. Many people who come here get lost nearby." Li Qingyi pushed the door open and walked in: "Let's hide here first. Bai Wanli and his men must be looking for us. They think we have already reached the execution platform, so they must be rushing to it. After they pass by, we will quickly return the same way we came."
After Li Xiu entered Yujing Tower, he closed the door and looked at the scene inside the building.
This octagonal building has eight walls, with a door at the front and back. Each wall is carved with a pictographic pattern. The patterns that Li Xiu can recognize include wind, rain, thunder, lightning, frost, fire, and clouds. There is another pattern that Li Xiu cannot guess what it represents.
"Eight celestial phenomena, wind, rain, thunder, lightning, frost, fire, cloud and desolate, are engraved on the walls of this floor. There are also patterns engraved on the walls of the second floor, but they have become eight kinds of strange beasts. There are eight kinds of symbols on the third floor. Those symbols are extremely strange. They are neither our characters nor the characters of the Demon Kingdom..." Li Qingyi introduced in a low voice.
"I know what wind, rain, thunder, lightning, frost, fire and clouds are. What kind of celestial phenomenon are they?" Li Xiu asked.
"I don't know. I only heard from the elders that this kind of celestial phenomenon can only occur in Tiancheng. Someone once saw that kind of celestial phenomenon from afar, but he only saw it from afar and then he became blind. According to him, that kind of celestial phenomenon is indescribable and there is great terror in it." Li Qingyi spoke while listening attentively. Bai Wanli and his group did not appear.
"Let's go to the second and third floors and take a look." Li Xiu was quite interested in these things.
Li Qingyi nodded and took Li Xiu up the stairs to the second floor.
After going up to the second floor, Li Xiu looked at the eight walls of the second floor and indeed saw patterns of eight strange beasts.
He might know those eight strange beasts: dragon, phoenix, unicorn, horse, tiger, cow, sheep, and ape.
It's just that the horse has a pair of wings, the cow has three eyes, and the sheep has three heads. Only the pattern of the ape looks relatively normal. However, the patterns are obviously almost the same size, but the ape seems to be bigger than the cows and sheep. I don't know why.
After looking for a while, Li Xiu and Li Qingyi went up to the third floor. There were no windows on the first and second floors, but there were eight windows on the third floor. The windows only had frames but no glass, so you could see outside directly.
There was a palm-sized symbol engraved right above each window. Li Xiu looked at it for a while and found that he didn't recognize it. It was not the commonly used language of the Demonic Kingdom, and there was no similar symbol in the dictionary of the Demonic Writing Academy.
While Li Xiu was studying the symbols, Li Qingyi was leaning against the window and looking out. After a while, Li Qingyi's face changed slightly and she made a gesture to Li Xiu.
Li Xiu approached cautiously, and with the cover of the wall, he quietly looked out and found four figures walking out from the misty halo. Judging from the direction they were coming from, they were actually coming to Yujing Tower.
Li Xiu and Li Qingyi looked at each other and saw the helplessness in each other's eyes.
After a while, the four men came closer and Li Xiu discovered that they were all old acquaintances, Bai Wanli, Su Bancheng, Han Mingshou and Wan Chaoxin.
"The Li family really thinks highly of me. Su Bancheng, Han Mingshou and Wan Chaoxin are all super spiritual masters. Add in Bai Wanli, whose strength is unknown. If a fight really breaks out here, I'm afraid Li Qingyi won't be able to protect me." Li Xiu thought to himself.
"Adapt to circumstances." Li Qingyi stretched out her fingers and wrote four words on the back of Li Xiu's hand.
Li Xiu nodded, and Li Qingyi continued writing: "If they go up to the third floor, we will hide on the roof outside."
Li Xiu nodded again, staring secretly at the four people outside.
"Bai Wanli is a very scary person, be careful." Li Qingyi continued writing.
Bai Wanli and the other three went downstairs, but did not go directly into Yujing Tower. Instead, they stood in front of the door and started chatting.
"I've heard about Yujing Tower for a long time. Today I see that it does have some features. I'm afraid this is not a real tower." Su Bancheng said while shaking a jade folding fan in his hand.
"If this isn't a building, then what is it?" Han Mingshou asked.
"If I'm not mistaken, this should be a furnace." Su Bancheng said as he looked at Yujing Tower.
"The thatched cottage?" Han Mingshou said coldly.
"No, it's the alchemy furnace." Su Bancheng said.
"Whose alchemy furnace looks like this?" Han Mingshou thought Su Bancheng was talking nonsense. This was clearly a three-story building.
Su Bancheng smiled and said, "The eight corners of this building correspond to the eight doors of Kai, Xiu, Sheng, Shang, Du, Jing, Si and Jing. The entrance door on the first floor corresponds to the Shengmen, the back door corresponds to the Simen, and the eight windows on the third floor correspond to the Bagua positions. This is the layout of the Bagua alchemy furnace. Ordinary people don't build buildings like this. This building looks like a building, but the actual layout is a furnace. If someone lives in such a building, I'm afraid that within a month, all the blood relatives in the family will surely die. This building... refines life..."
"This is the Tianmen restricted area of the Demonic Kingdom. Your mysterious theories on Earth may not be applicable here." Han Mingshou said.
"I just said it casually, you guys just listen for fun." Su Bancheng did not argue with Han Mingshou.
Bai Wanli stopped the two from talking any further and said, "Li Qingyi should be on the execution platform now, seeking an opportunity to advance to the Light Base level. We must get rid of Li Xiu before Li Qingyi advances to the Light Base level. Otherwise, after Li Qingyi advances to the Light Base level, she will be there to protect Li Xiu, and it will be inconvenient for us to take action."
"In that case, why don't you go directly to the execution platform? Why come to Yujing Tower?" Wan Chaoxin said.
Bai Wanli smiled and said, "General Wan Chao, please don't be impatient. If we go to the execution platform now, and if we attack Li Xiu, it may affect Li Qingyi on the execution platform, causing Li Qingyi to suffer the backlash of the execution platform and lose his life instead of advancing. No one can bear this responsibility."
Bai Wanli said as he looked at Yujing Tower: "Yujing Tower is the center of the area nearby. The eight directions of Yujing Tower correspond to the eight special buildings in this area, and the execution platform is in the middle. In fact, Yujing Tower is a control center. By using Yujing Tower, we can make some changes to the execution platform and isolate the execution platform from the area outside the execution platform. In this way, we can completely separate Li Qingyi and Li Xiu on the platform to prevent Li Qingyi from getting in the way."
"Is there such a thing? Why haven't I heard of it?" Wan Chaoxin frowned.
"The Tianmen is mysterious and full of secrets. Even the president cannot know all the secrets of the Tianmen." Bai Wanli narrowed his eyes and said, "Let's go to the second floor first and use the Eight Life Phases on the second floor to control the execution platform and isolate it from the outside world."
Four people entered one after another and soon arrived at the second floor of Yujing Tower.
Li Xiu and Li Qingyi lay cautiously near the stairs, listening to the noise below.
"Where is the mechanism here?" Wan Chaoxin asked, looking at the empty second floor.
"The eight life forms on the wall are the control centers of the eight buildings. The King Kong Ape corresponds to the execution platform. As long as we activate the King Kong Ape, we can isolate the execution platform." Bai Wanli said.
"How do we start it?" Wan Chaoxin asked as he looked at the King Kong Ape.
"Look carefully, there are some depressions in the carvings of the King Kong Ape. As long as the corresponding magic core is embedded in them, the King Kong Ape can be activated." Bai Wanli said.
"Then what are we waiting for? Isolate the execution platform quickly and kill Li Xiu as soon as possible." Han Mingshou also said.
"Don't worry, Li Qingyi's promotion to the Light Base level won't be that fast. Maybe she hasn't started yet. Wait a little longer, lest it starts too early." Bai Wanli said, looking at Wan Chaoxin: "General Wan Chao, your little aunt should be in the Wanhua Garden now, not far from the execution platform. Should we go over and say hello first?"