Chapter 77: The Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams

  As soon as he stepped into the restricted area, Xia Chen's eyes lit up, and all he saw in front of him was a huge hall with an area of tens of thousands of square meters. The walls, ceiling, and pillars were all covered with restrictive light, illuminating the entire hall as bright as daylight.

  In the center of the hall, several meters high, was a huge yin-yang diagram made entirely of flowing light, which occasionally emitted a hissing sound.

  Apart from this, the hall is empty, except for the direction of the forbidden gate, each of the other three sides has two straight passages, black and unknown where they lead.

  He led the way in, with the six major forces of the Hao Ran sect occupying one passageway each, seemingly preparing to enter.

  As Xia Chen walked in, except for the man in green clothes, all the other forces were coldly sizing him up with unfriendly eyes, as if warning Xia Chen not to follow.

  Xia Chen swept a glance over the crowd, saying nothing and choosing none of the paths, but instead walked straight to the giant yin-yang diagram that had been transformed from the flowing light.

  It seems that Xia Chen is quite interesting. Everyone else also withdrew their gaze. Although this young man with a green face seemed unremarkable, he possessed the treasure key and was the last to enter the ancient storage, how could he be a simple person? It's best not to cause trouble if possible.

  Only Qian Li's eyes remained fixed, his expression unkind as he stared at Xia Chen. After a brief moment, he suddenly spoke in a gloomy tone: "Your face looks unfamiliar, not like the cultivators from my Yunyangdu. I am Qian Li, may I ask for your esteemed name?"

  On that day, the monk who killed Qian Xueming was hiding in his cloak and no one had seen his appearance, but Qian Li was also a seasoned person and guessed that the murderer might have possessed the treasure key.

  Although the Haoran faction and other forces have the ability to kill Qian Xueming's son, it is unlikely that they can hide their identities. Therefore, the most suspicious ones here are Xia Chen and the man in green clothes. However, the man in green clothes is a VIP of Baibao Pavilion, Qin An must recognize him, leaving only Xia Chen alone.

  "Sorry, I'm not interested in getting to know you!" Xia Chen said calmly.

  Qian Limu's eyes gleamed with a fierce light: "Do you still want to hide your identity? You must be the one who killed my beloved son, today whether you speak or not, I will make sure your head falls to the ground!"

  His tone had become murderous by this point.

  "Do you want to kill me?" Xia Chen sneered, "Try moving against me and see what happens?"

  "You scoundrel! If our master doesn't take action himself, I'll take your dog life!" One of Qian Li's guards shouted loudly and rushed up.

  "Get out!" Xia Chen shouted coldly, kicking out with one foot and sending the guard flying. With a loud crash, he heavily smashed into a pillar, spitting out blood as he fell to the ground, clearly dead.

  "Bastard, die for me!" Qian Li's face turned iron-gray, he pounced forward, his large hand fiercely grasping towards Xia Chen.

  Xia Chen sneered and refused to back down, also reaching out with a large hand to grab him.

  Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

  In a flash, the two had already collided seven times with their hands, and then their bodies swayed, each retreating several steps.

  Qian Li's hand trembled slightly, and his eyes twitched at the corners. The shock in his heart was almost indescribable.

  This earth-shaking grab was his proud ultimate skill, even a 7th-stage peak would have to defend with all their might. Yet, Xia Chen somehow blocked it effortlessly, and even managed to shock him so much that his palm stung. Could this person's strength be above his?

  Everyone looked on, also startled in their hearts, and their vigilance against Xia Chen increased a few more points.

  The man in blue clothes flashed his eyes and was slightly confused, as if he had seen something.

  "I've heard you're a Seventh-Order cultivator of the Post-Celestial realm, and the overlord of Yunyang City. But I think your cultivation isn't that impressive!" Xia Chen said calmly.

  Qian Li gritted his teeth: "You dare to mock me!"

  "I'll not only mock you, but I'll also kill you!" Xia Chen's eyes shot out cold light, deeply inhaling, and was about to unleash a full-force strike.

  He killed Qian Xueming, and the hatred between him and Qian Li could never be resolved. Now that he had been identified by Qian Li, it was only natural that he would be killed to avenge his death.

  Suddenly, Qin An walked up and laughed: "Money brother, and this Taoist friend, why must you ruin the harmony because of a little dispute? We've finally entered the ancient storage, we should put all our energy into finding treasure. If you two fight now, it'll give others an opportunity to take advantage. I'm mediating, so please put aside your grudges for now. Even if you want to fight to the death, wait until we're out of the ancient storage and do it outside."

  Qian Lìzhēng scowled, having no way to retreat, and immediately said: "Alright, today I'll give face to Brother Qin. Treasure hunting is urgent, you little beast, I, the old man, will remember you. Once I get out, I will definitely kill you."

  Xia Chen simply looked at him coldly, since Qian Li had already shown signs of retreating, he didn't want to push too hard, otherwise it would provoke Qin An into action, and the two great Seventh Heaven cultivators would be quite troublesome.

  "Let's go, Brother Qian." Qin An glanced at Xia Chen with a hint of curiosity in his eyes, but then smiled kindly and followed Qian Li into the passageway.

  Hao Ran and others also walked into the passage one after another.

  Just as Xia Chen was about to raise his head to gaze at the yin-yang diagram, he suddenly had a feeling in his heart and turned his head to look around. He saw that the man in green clothes was staring at him with an expressionless face: "You seem quite familiar!"

  Xia Chen's eyes narrowed, and he immediately knew that the brief exchange with Qian Li just now had already revealed a hint of his intentions. He thought to himself that this man in green had sharp eyes indeed.

  "So? I also killed your son?"

  The man in blue clothes smiled faintly: "I don't have a son! It's just that I feel like I've seen you somewhere before!"

  Xia Chen's expressionless face said: "I think I've seen you before!"

  "Oh?" The man in green clothes was taken aback, "Where have I seen you before?"

  "I feel like you're my long-lost brother, so I think we've met before!" Xia Chen said coldly.

  "Haha! You're really interesting." The man in green clothes smiled, "Unfortunately, I'm sixty-five years old and don't have a younger brother like you! However, since we're both alone, why don't we take the same path?" He said, gesturing with his hand.

  "Thanks, I'd like to choose another one! Following you doesn't make me feel at ease," Xia Chen said calmly.

  "Suit yourself!" The man in green clothes smiled lightly again and floated into the corridor.

  Xia Chen stood still for a moment, waiting until everyone had disappeared into the passage. He suddenly sprang up and jumped to the front of the yin-yang diagram with a whooshing sound, then pointed at it with one finger.

  Bang!

  The yin-yang diagram flashed with a burst of light, releasing an extremely powerful force that instantly sent Xia Chen flying.

  Xia Chen stumbled and fell to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood. He took out several Yuan Qi Dan from his bosom and swallowed them, his face pale as if he had suffered a serious injury.

  In the corridor, the man in green clothes somehow quietly returned again, looking at this scene with a faint expression, and then quietly disappeared again.

  "This yin-yang diagram doesn't seem to have any secrets after all, but it's actually the strongest seal... This person didn't know his own strength and tried to test it, but instead he verified for us how he wasn't killed by the rebound of the seal. Now we have one less competitor!"

  In the other five channels, there were also people who quietly returned and watched this scene, sneering in their hearts.

  As soon as they came in, they felt that the yin-yang diagram seemed to be unusual. The pressure released from the seal was too strong, and no one dared to try it out. Therefore, seeing Xia Chen touch the yin-yang diagram was a pleasant surprise for everyone.

  Xia Chen seemed unwilling to give up and jumped up again, with a sharp blade already in his hand, directly towards the yin-yang diagram.

  Bang! This time the yin-yang diagram counterattacked with even greater force, a stream of light shot out and directly sent Xia Chen flying, crashing into a pillar, and spitting out another mouthful of blood!

  Foolish guy! The crowd jeered and disappeared into the passageway, this time no one came back.

  Xia Chen swallowed a few more Yuan Qi Dan, his ears moved slightly, confirming that he hadn't heard any sound again, and then he smiled coldly, his face suddenly returning to normal.

  Many people enter and exit the passage, although hidden, how can they deceive his extraordinary hearing skills?

  The rebounding power of the yin-yang diagram was not that strong after all, Xia Chen just bit his tongue and pretended to be pale, easily deceiving everyone.

  Moreover, when I just entered the hall, the聚宝盆 transmitted an eerie feeling, and this Yin-Yang diagram must be hiding a huge secret behind it.

  Xia Chen raised his head and looked at it, silently reciting in his mouth: Kan three, Kun four, Zhen seven, Qian nine...

  This is the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams technique from the Heavenly Book of Esoteric Talents.

  Just now, Xia Chen suddenly discovered that the flowing light that made up the yin-yang diagram had transformed into a Bagua diagram.

  Every position on the map has a fluorescent flash. If it were someone else, they would definitely not know what to do, but Xia Chen happened to have practiced the Jiugong Bagua technique and knew how to crack it.

  He sprang up again, pointing like the wind, and transformed several streams of true energy, which landed on the positions he had silently recited earlier on the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams diagram.

  Only to see the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams diagram suddenly shine brightly, and then, a jade slip about an inch in size suddenly shot out from the diagram!

  Xia Chen's eyes were quick and her hands were fast, she grasped the jade slip in one swift motion, and then gently descended to the ground.

  As soon as he grasped the jade tablet, a strange feeling came over him. Xia Chen's mind was suddenly shaken, and an old voice suddenly echoed in his mind: "I am Lie Yunzi, who has cultivated for over 300 years but still cannot achieve immortality. I sigh at how difficult cultivation is, more difficult than ascending to heaven. I regret that the knowledge I have learned in my life will be lost after I pass away. Therefore, I left behind my cave and transformed into seven precious keys, scattering them to those who are destined to find them."

  Lie Yunzi? Xia Chen calmed down and looked at him, it seemed that Lie Yunzi was the master of this ancient cave. Indeed, it was a cave dwelling of an ancient divine cultivator, but he didn't know what level Lie Yunzi's cultivation had reached.

  Leyunzi's voice said, "This grand hall is the central hub of my cave mansion. Among the six passageways, none are true. Entering will trigger a forbidden attack. The only real passage is on the third pillar in the second row from the left. To obtain the jade tablet, use the same method as the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams to unlock it."

  Xia Chen walked to the pillar mentioned by Lie Yunzi, looked up and saw that this pillar was no different from other pillars, with flowing light flashing on it. He thought that if he hadn't obtained Lie Yunzi's jade slip, how would he know how to open the real passage.

  He used the method of Jiugong Bagua, and pressed a few times on the pillar. The flowing light on the pillar immediately faded away, as if a complete picture was split in two, revealing an opening about one zhang wide and high.