HSSB229: Second refinement of the pillar of the Divine Palace
Yan Zhaoge had never been worried as to whether or not Ah Hu would be able to open the two assailant's mouths.
Because he had already handed the Cold Marrow Needles technique to Ah Hu.
Other than this final method, Ah Hu also possessed many other interrogation methods.
This big fella who looked simple and honest was proficient in many areas, making him a very dependable subordinate. It was just that he had not had a chance to put many of his professional skills on display before.
Ah Hu had indeed lived up to all their expectations, having wrung from the two what Yan Zhaoge wanted before they had reached Suzhou City.
"Indeed connected to the Decimating Abyss," Yan Zhaoge stroked his lower jaw, "Of the remnants of Black Nightmare Mountain, a considerable portion, whilst not falling to the dark side, have joined the Decimating Abyss."
"However, most of them still retain their independence, while at the same time also guarding against the Decimating Abyss and the Nine Underworlds in secret. But the two sides still maintain contact?"
"These people are mainly funded by the Sacred Sun Clan? This was within my earlier predictions."
Hearing Ah Hu's report, Yan Zhaoge muttered to himself.
Ah Hu imitated him, also stroking his lower chin, "I just don't know how much the Sacred Sun Clan know about the Decimating Abyss's situation, with their connection with the remnants of Black Nightmare Mountain? The positions of those two were still a little too low, with the useful information being limited."
Yan Zhaoge said, "No, actually, it's already sufficient, especially knowing that a considerable portion of those Black Nightmare Mountain remnants who joined the Decimating Abyss and had left the Wind Domain before have returned again to the Wind Domain in recent months. This piece of information is very important-perhaps they are planning to make another move."
After considering for a moment, Yan Zhaoge told Ah Hu, "Make two copies of the information that you obtained. Send one back to the Mountain and one to the First Seat Elder of the Sand Region."
Ah Hu nodded, going off to arrange it.
Yan Zhaoge turned and gazed back in the direction of the Great Western Desert, where the sky was still dark and gloomy.
Somewhere out there was at least one Black Nightmare Mountain Martial Grandmaster who had caused two Black Dragon Dreads earlier.
Yan Zhaoge was similarly certain that Broad Creed Mountain's Principal Elder who was nearest to here, in charge of sitting over the Howling Wind Sword Sect, had currently also arrived in the Great Western Desert, thereby deterring the Martial Grandmasters of Black Nightmare Mountain from personally making a move.
Accompanied by Yan Zhaoge safely bringing that stone pillar out of the Great Western Desert, the Principal Elder also retreated from that dangerous area. However, he did not go far, temporarily remaining at the borders of the Great Western Desert.
The group returned to Suzhou City. Elder Li had been Acting Elder in Suzhou City for so many years, and everyone rather looked up to him. Hearing of the bad news, the Broad Creed Mountain martial practitioners here all felt pain and grief.
As the First Seat Elder of the Sand Region and the Principal Elder of the Howling Wind Sword Sect received the news of Elder Li's death, as they sent over a letter of consolation, they also dispatched a new Acting Elder to take up office here in Suzhou.
Before the new Acting Elder of Suzhou arrived, Yan Zhaoge would be temporarily remaining here.
Yan Zhaoge's current identity as well as position was rather special. In theory, even the Sand Region's First Seat Elder would be unable to restrict him.
What requests he had, figures like the Principal Elder of the Howling Wind Sword Sect would even have to try to satisfy him as best they could.
While his age and cultivation were still limited, after Yan Zhaoge had left the clan and come here, his position had become exceptionally lofty.
However, Yan Zhaoge's current efforts were still mainly focused on that stone pillar which he had brought out of the Great Western Desert.
Entering Suzhou City, arriving at the lodgings that had been allocated to him, Yan Zhaoge finally set the massive stone pillar down.
As the stone pillar was placed on the ground, the dust all around did not arise as it seemed to hold no weight at all, just like when Yan Zhaoge had been carrying it. However, only those who truly dared to try would know how heavy this thing really was.
Yan Zhaoge was certain that if not for him already having achieved initial refinement, even if he had stepped into the Martial Grandmaster realm, he would be unable to lift the pillar up.
Since he had already achieved initial refinement of the stone pillar in the Great Western Desert, while staying in Suzhou City this time, Yan Zhaoge was preparing to refine it a second time.
On entering the city just now, Yan Zhaoge's manner of carrying such a massive stone pillar had already led to him being surrounded by spectating crowds.
It truly was flashy, but if it went on like this all the way, it might just be too flashy for words.
Not speaking of anything else, just bringing along this giant fella that could not be placed within a Shadow Shrinking Pouch, no matter where he went, everyone would know that it was he who had come, making him unable to conceal his movements at all.
Like carrying around a torch in the darkness of the night, and also a torch which could not be readily extinguished.
Let everyone know that I am here.
These words sounded pretty heartening, pretty cool, pretty flashy, pretty arrogant.
However, if a few more words were added at the front, the meaning would completely change.
For example, 'I can only let everyone know that I am here'…
Yan Zhaoge sat on the empty ground of the courtyard in the meditative position, raising his head and gazing at the pillar of the divine palace on the ground before him, more than twenty metres in height, virtually even higher than the walls of Suzhou City.
He traced some lines in mid-air with one hand, his aura-qi leaving marks behind as lines were inscribed one after another, forming abstruse patterns.
Afterwards, these silhouetted patterns were sealed together within a crystal.
These patterns were those that were on the surface of the pillar of the Divine Palace, recorded down by Yan Zhaoge.
Also sealed within was Yan Zhaoge's deciphering and understanding of these patterns.
The patterns on the stone pillar themselves did not contain any special meaning, but they held unique principles as well as concept within.
Viewed by a martial practitioner with a lower cultivation base, they would find it hard to understand its profundities as well as value, but if it was experts at the level of Yuan Zhengfeng, Yan Di, Fang Zhun and Shi Tie, they might be able to have gains of their own.
Based on everyone's personal situation, their gains might vary from one to the next, and some would gain more, while some would gain less. However, it was indisputably a treasure trove.
Bringing the entire stone pillar back, the only one who could actually truly refine and decipher it on a deeper level was in the end still Yan Zhaoge.
To Yuan Zhengfeng and the others, what held significance were the profundities within those patterns.
Therefore, while Yan Zhaoge would temporarily be remaining in Suzhou City for the stone pillar's second refinement, he recorded all of the patterns on it down, discreetly arranging for it to be secretly sent back to Broad Creed Mountain as soon as possible.
"Other than this matter, help me search meticulously for this thing in the Sand Region, seeing if you can find the second half," After handing the crystal over to Ah Hu, Yan Zhaoge took out that half a jade coin, "Do not be too showy-perform the search in a low profile manner."
Ah Hu received it, "Rest easy, Young Master. I know what to do."
After Ah Hu left, Yan Zhaoge refocused his mind on the stone pillar before him, beginning to attempt to refine it a step further.
As Yan Zhaoge's fist intent merged with it, the scene of the Great Calamity that year seemed to appear before his eyes once more.
The heavens collapsing and the earth shattering, the scene turning illusory, directly plummeting down from above the nine heavens. Yan Zhaoge knew full well that this scene was of the stone pillar's descent from the heavens. As though it was a lifeform with a memory of its own, his current visual perspective belonged to the stone pillar.
The stone pillar landed directly in the desert. At the beginning, the desert was totally ordinary. However, afterwards, the natural phenomena gradually changed, turning into the Great Western Desert that it was today.
And in this process, the stone pillar also gradually merged with the natural phenomena of the Great Western Desert, sometimes exposed on the outside, sometimes buried by the wind and the sand, not a trace of it visible.
Yan Zhaoge seemed to transform into this stone pillar as he experienced the ravages of time along with it.
Suddenly, the world before Yan Zhaoge's eyes lit up as an indistinct figure appeared before him!
HSSB230: A discovery that causes Yan Zhaoge's heart to beat wildly
The scenes in Yan Zhaoge's current field of vision did not truly exist, instead being from the 'memories' of the pillar of the divine palace.
Therefore, when he saw an indistinct figure appear in his field of vision, Yan Zhaoge could not help but take notice.
This meant that somehow had discovered the stone pillar.
This person strolled over slowly in the midst of the Black Nightmare Storm, as though just walking along leisurely.
Seeing this, Yan Zhaoge knit his brows slightly, because distinguishing carefully, he discovered that this person had arrived precisely when the Black Nightmare Storms of the Great Western Desert were at their most ferocious.
Walking along so relaxedly and leisurely, this person's unfathomable strength caused a feeling of apprehension in others.
Especially when observing carefully, Yan Zhaoge discovered that he couldn't clearly see the person's appearance.
The other party seemed to have been enveloped by a clear layer of light, such that only the body's contours were visible. It was a young woman, but her exact appearance and garb was a complete mystery.
This woman now came before Yan Zhaoge, or should it be said, before the stone pillar.
She gently reached out and stroked the stone pillar's exterior, sighing lightly as words seemed to resound within Yan Zhaoge's very heart, "Vast oceans to boundless fields, objects everlasting yet people faceless…"
Yan Zhaoge's pupils dilated abruptly, because listening to this person's words, he actually didn't feel like he was viewing a re-enactment of that time, but like this person was actually in the same era as him, right beside him as she spoke softly by his ear!
Hearing the person's words, carefully considering the meaning within, Yan Zhaoge's heart beat wildly.
Vast ocean to boundless fields, objects everlasting yet people faceless…
Stabilising his mind, Yan Zhaoge continued viewing the illusory scene.
That girl traced the patterns on the surface of the stone pillar, seemingly talking to herself, "Is the path that we will be walking the right one? When we die, will we be able to look our ancestors in the eye?"
She sighed lightly once more. She pressed down with her hand, not taking away the stone pillar, but pushing it such that it sank down even deeper, buried within the vast desert.
Gazing over carefully, Yan Zhaoge saw that the girl vaguely seemed to be wearing a crown on her head.
The scene very quickly vanished, but Yan Zhaoge's mind shuddered slightly once more.
"If I'm not wrong, that seemed like…the Extreme Yin Crown?" Yan Zhaoge's eyelids twitched as his expression turned rather strange.
While he had not personally seen it, Yan Zhaoge had viewed images of the Extreme Yin Crown quite a few times before.
The accessory on that girl's head, whilst seeming blurry and unreal, was clearly extremely similar in size to the Extreme Yin Crown.
Yan Zhaoge sucked in a deep breath as he awoke, breaking from the memories left behind in the stone pillar.
His expression was calm as innumerable thoughts flashed through his mind.
After a while, Yan Zhaoge recovered, his eyes squinting slightly as he raised his head and gazed over.
While the changes were slight, with Yan Zhaoge's current vision, he could accurately tell that the pillar of the divine palace before him was now a little shorter than before.
This meant that some results had already been seen in his second refinement of the pillar.
However, if he wanted to completely do what he had set out to do, it was not like the initial refinement earlier in the Great Western Desert, which could be done in a single leap.
This second refinement would require quite a bit of time and grinding to complete.
Yan Zhaoge reached out, pressing his palm on the surface of the stone pillar, his mind moving slightly as the stone pillar instantly became taller once more, resuming its former appearance, with no signs of anything out of the ordinary having happened.
However, it was indeed already different from how it was before. Accompanied by Yan Zhaoge's thoughts, the length and size of the stone pillar could already see some limited changes.
Accompanied by refining it further day by day, the extent to which the stone pillar could change in size would also increase unceasingly.
Yan Zhaoge looked at the pillar of the Divine Palace, not speaking for a long time.
In the days ahead, Yan Zhaoge remained stationed within Suzhou City. Other than for Elder Li's funeral, he remained cultivating, as well as refining the pillar of the Divine Palace.
Before the new Acting Elder of Suzhou got here, Broad Creed Mountain's martial practitioners in Suzhou would report to Yan Zhaoge on anything that happened.
However, everything here had long since been decided, and Yan Zhaoge was of no mind to mess around with the order of things. He just followed that which had been set in place earlier, peacefully going on with the status quo for this transition period.
Broad Creed Mountain losing an Acting Elder had already given its martial practitioners here bellies full of fire, and there was no one blind enough to provoke Broad Creed Mountain at this time.
After allocating the tasks that Yan Zhaoge had asked him to handle, Ah Hu returned to Yan Zhaoge's side.
Viewing the inscribed patterns on the stone pillar, Ah Hu also gradually quietened his heart, his gaze flickering as he seemed to have had some gains.
One fine day, the meditating Ah Hu suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp light flickering within as that tangible spiritual light above his head shot straight up into the horizon, its momentum surging.
Sitting where he was, Yan Zhaoge watched this scene calmly.
The spiritual light above Ah Hu's head gradually receded into the crown of his head, the gaze within his eyes also beginning to retract.
Finally, the spiritual light above Ah Hu's head vanished, the sharp light within his eyes also gone without a trace.
Ah Hu got up and punched out with a fist, the resulting scene formed of his aura-qi and fist-intent virtually solidified into solid form.
The spiritual qi of his aura-qi could not be seen from the outside, inside being accumulated within the heaven and earth formed of his fist-intent, heavy and vibrant.
It was like a patch of fertile soil, able to nourish boundless life. As soon the seeds were planted, they could then be nurtured, next growing roots and birthing sprouts.
That forceful, heavy power on Ah Hu's entire body was yet also extraordinarily intelligent, having risen greatly from how it had been before!
He seemed to have switched his bones and been reborn, entering a completely new heaven and earth.
The spiritual light above his head vanished, not having been intentionally kept hidden like before, but instead truly having vanished.
The spiritual light vanishing did not mean that he had weakened. On the contrary, Ah Hu had grown even stronger, because now, as every single one of his acupoints pulsed slightly, they seemed like they could communicate with the heavens and the earth, not just that one spiritual light above his head that was connected to the heavens any longer.
The sharp light within his eyes having been retracted, leaving it warm and smooth like jade, also shared this principle of the resuming of simplicity.
This was precisely the sign of a martial practitioner succeeding in their breakthrough from the Martial Scholar realm to the Martial Grandmaster realm!
Ah Hu leapt up from the ground, rushing before Yan Zhaoge upon which he broke out laughing, "Young Master, I've succeeded!"
Yan Zhaoge also laughed joyfully as he patted Ah Hu's shoulder, "Heavenly Connection to Spirit Vessel, heavens and earth no longer the same-good!"
Like the Martial Scholar realm, the Martial Grandmaster realm also contained three major stages.
The ten levels of the Martial Grandmaster realm, counting from the bottom, consisted of the Spirit Vessel stage, the Essence Spirit stage and the Essence Talisman stage, each stage also individually divided into early, mid and late.
The final, peak stage of the Martial Grandmaster realm was the Transcending Mortality stage.
Like Ah Hu today, Heavenly Connection Martial Scholars, in breaking through that final bottleneck, stepping from Heavenly Connection into Spirit Vessel, would rise from a Martial Scholar to a Martial Grandmaster, achieving a cultivation base of the early Spirit Vessel Martial Grandmaster realm.
The spirituality of the aura-qi resuming simplicity, the heaven and earth of the fist-intent turning from illusory into real, spirit soil beginning to form.
When a spirit seed was condensed, increasing in strength as it grew within the spirit soil, one would have stepped into the mid Spirit Vessel Martial Grandmaster realm.
As Yan Zhaoge felt happy for Ah Hu, he had also long had an idea regarding his own upcoming cultivation progress, "From the late Xiantian stage to the Heavenly Connection stage is not hard, but if I want to quickly get from the Heavenly Connection stage to the Martial Grandmaster realm, some things will have to be prepared beforehand."