Chapter Ninety-One: The Palace of God

“So you mean you deliberately came in with me just to level up?” Wu Ming was a little speechless. He had kept thinking his little scheme had outwitted Qiongqi, only to realize in the end that he had been the one treated like a fool all along.

“That’s not quite it. I didn’t even know whether you were really the head of the One-Pure Dao Sect, or whether you actually possessed the Shanhai Mirror. At first I only sensed an immense spiritual force, along with the chance for me to become a divine beast, so I rushed over from Mount Gui in the Western Mountains to take a look. In the end, I found that the Thunder God’s old undying spirit was hiding inside you, deranged and going mad. Seeing an opportunity, I meant to devour the two of you together; maybe then I could become a divine beast all at once.” Qiongqi could not be bothered to make up lies. He spoke the truth outright, not even glancing at Wu Ming.

“Damn it! How little does he think of me? This is just pathetic. I’ve been ignored again!” Wu Ming thought bitterly, clenching his fists. “It seems only when you’re strong enough will people take you seriously. This time, I have to find a way to become powerful myself, instead of relying on my senior sister and the others to protect me!”

“Later, that old fellow Thunder God actually cast away his own divine rank and handed all of his thunder-law divine power to you. That did surprise me quite a bit, which is why, when you said you were the head of the One-Pure Dao Sect, I found it at least somewhat believable.” Qiongqi went on at a leisurely pace.

“Then why did you still dare come into this Shanhai Mirror world with me?” Wu Ming asked, even more puzzled.

“Boy, I’m not looking down on you. With power as immense as the Thunder God’s in your hands, you still don’t know how to use it, and instead try to bully me with your status. You think I’d be afraid of you under those circumstances? In the end, the Shanhai Mirror is nothing more than a powerful treasure. To put it in the terms of your world, if I gave you a nuclear bomb, what would there be to fear? You wouldn’t even know how to launch it!” Qiongqi was utterly disdainful. Under that twisted beast-like face, he even seemed to be sneering.

“You, you—” Wu Ming was seething.

“Boy! Will you hand over control of the Shanhai Mirror obediently now, or do I have to take it by force?” The fur along Qiongqi’s back stood up instantly, making him look like a giant winged hedgehog. He hissed ceaselessly.

“Oh no, hurry up and protect me, Nine-Headed Golden Dragon!” Wu Ming darted quickly behind Nine-Headed Golden Dragon’s back.

“Master, don’t be afraid. No one here can hurt you!” Nine-Headed Golden Dragon swiftly revealed his true form, a nine-headed golden dragon. His massive body was even larger than Qiongqi’s.

“Not bad! I’ll crush you yet, and you still dare threaten me?” Wu Ming felt that after this episode of frenzy, his personality had become strangely warped. It was as though every shackle had been broken. He did whatever came to mind, with a kind of unrestrained, reckless edge, perhaps because of the nature of lightning.

“Little Pan, let’s kill this Qiongqi. We won’t stop until we beat him into tears.” Wu Ming was full of vigor.

“Just start the taming program. Quit putting on airs.” Little Pan gave him an eye-roll.

In that instant, the once-arrogant Qiongqi, who had been preparing for a grand showdown, was tightly bound by vines that had somehow emerged from nowhere. In the blink of an eye, he had become a giant rice dumpling, unable to move at all. Even for someone of Qiongqi’s level, there was no resistance to speak of.

“Master, how should we deal with him?”

“That I haven’t figured out yet. This fellow is the son of the Western Heavenly Emperor Shaohao. I wouldn’t dare lay a hand on him. If I killed him and Shaohao came looking for trouble, crushing me would be as easy as stepping on an ant. Back in the day, he committed countless evils, yet even Emperor Shun, the heavenly ruler of the same realm, did not dare act against him. He merely banished him!” Wu Ming thought the fellow was truly troublesome. He could not be killed, which left him frustrated enough to scratch his head.

“How about you, Little Pan? Give me an idea. After all, however you look at it, you’re far more knowledgeable than I am.” Wu Ming flattered him.

Little Pan was overjoyed. For an artifact spirit, nothing was more gratifying than praise from its master. The little fellow’s face flushed red with excitement, and he thumped his tiny chest so hard it went bang-bang.

“Master, don’t worry. This is what the Shanhai Mirror does best!” Little Pan wore a wicked grin utterly unbecoming of such a young child.

“What are you doing? Let me go! I won’t let any of you off!” Qiongqi struggled with all his might, trying to break free of the vines, but it was clearly useless. If anything, the bindings only seemed to tighten further.

“What exactly will happen may leave a psychological shadow. Please, Master, go into the grand hall and wait with some tea. In a little while, I’ll bring the remodeled Qiongqi over to meet you!” With that, Little Pan lifted the vine-bound Qiongqi and walked off into the distance.

As Little Pan’s figure gradually vanished into the mist, Wu Ming could no longer make out what was happening in the thick fog ahead. From within it, however, came howls like wailing ghosts and crying spirits. The sound was so miserable that gooseflesh rose all over him. Little Pan really was vicious.

“Uh, let’s hurry into the grand hall!” Wu Ming fled like the wind with Nine-Headed Golden Dragon, who had just returned to human form, and rushed into the jade-built palace.

Only when he reached the entrance did Wu Ming finally understand why Little Pan had struggled so much when he had climbed out earlier. The crimson lacquered threshold alone stood a full half meter high, and the doors were over ten meters tall. It was clearly a hall built for giants. Grand it was indeed, and tall as well, but it felt strangely empty. At a glance, everything was a blank expanse of white, so dazzling that Wu Ming felt as if he had been blinded by snow. His eyes were terribly uncomfortable, and he felt like rubbing them again and again to ease the burning ache.

“Hey, Nine-Headed Golden Dragon, what place is this?” Wu Ming simply shut his eyes and sat down on the floor.

“Master, this is the Shanhai Mirror. This palace should belong to the Deity Kui. It was originally meant to be on Mount Changliu, the very mountain where the Western Heavenly Emperor Shaohao resides. No one knows when Deity Kui’s palace disappeared, and with it, the deity himself vanished as well. That deity governed the reflected light cast eastward when the sun set beyond the western mountains.” Nine-Headed Golden Dragon seemed quite knowledgeable about Deity Kui.

“No wonder it’s so blinding here. So this is the residence of the god who governs the reflected light when the sun sets in the west and shines eastward. No wonder it’s so bright. And honestly, that’s a really awkward thing to say.” Even Wu Ming himself found it clumsy.

Gradually, the two of them grew accustomed to the surrounding light. Everything around them slowly emerged from the whiteness. Though the space was vast and empty, it was furnished with all the necessary tables and chairs. Yet the effect was strangely uncanny, as though one had stepped into a gigantic real room filled with children’s play furniture.