Heavenly Wheel Ascension

Zhi Xuan did not answer immediately. He allowed the cold valley wind to sweep across his robes, carrying the scent of damp earth. His eyes, as deep as the ocean, remained fixed on the horizon, where the last golden light was beginning to be swallowed by the creeping darkness of night from the direction of East Tiger City.

"Collecting debts is your business, Zhao Xue," Zhi Xuan said without turning. "However, facing the Bei Clan in their own den while the Young Kings gather is a suicidal act if you have not yet touched the true Weaver laws."

Zhi Xuan rose for a moment, his head turning toward East Tiger City. He turned his body completely, looking at Zhao Xue who was still leaning against the old tree. His eyes no longer radiated deadly coldness, but an unshakeable tranquility.

"I will come," Zhi Xuan said, his voice low. "That Banquet of Heavenly Secrets... I have business there. You, will you come or not?"

"I will come," Zhao Xue replied with a recovered firmness. "Not as a cowering prey, but as a sword practitioner demanding justice. If the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets truly opens a path to Huang Tu, I must be there to avenge my master on Bei Yun’s uncle, who is reportedly attending as a guest of honor."

Zhi Xuan nodded slowly. He did not forbid her, for he knew that for a sword practitioner, avoiding an enemy is a seed that will destroy their Dao Heart forever. Ao Sheng shrank and returned to his small dragon form, perching on Zhi Xuan’s shoulder.

Night had fully fallen as they approached the city gates once more. However, the atmosphere of East Tiger City was not dark. Thousands of flying lanterns woven from spirit silk illuminated the sky, creating a stream of light that guided guests toward the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets standing at the city’s highest hilltop.

the two of them walked calmly, and no one dared to greet or even glance at them after the events of the morning. Zhi Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly; his steps stopped as he felt a familiar presence about to arrive. He did not look up, but the corner of his lips pulled into a faint smirk.

In the sky, the void slowly tore open and a woman appeared in a mesmerizing velvet cloak, black bamboo tassels glowing softly at her slender waist, adorning her robes. Her amethyst eyes scanned the surroundings as if searching for a specific figure. She arrived alone, as if her presence, which was equivalent to a Divine Transformation expert, required no guards to walk within her own sovereign territory.

The woman landed with a grace that transcended all mortal definitions. Each of her footsteps upon the air seemed to create ripples of invisible lotus flowers. Her presence instantly silenced the chatter in front of the pavilion gates. Guards, elite practitioners, and even the recently arrived Young Kings bowed their heads in unison. The pressure she radiated was not a crushing burden, but a majesty that made every soul feel small before the moon.

"Holy Maiden Shen... Shen Ruolan," Zhao Xue whispered with bated breath, her frame trembling slightly facing a presence so pure.

Shen Ruolan paid no heed to the prostrating crowds around her. Her keen eyes swept the gathering until they finally locked onto the tall man in the tattered brown robe standing in the corner of the shadows. A thin, almost imperceptible smile appeared on her perfect face.

"There he is, my man," Shen Ruolan thought, her steps light, almost floating as she approached the brown-robed figure. "Always leaving and wandering, truly impossible to bind."

Zhi Xuan remained standing still, his hands hidden within the wide sleeves of his brown robe. He did not bow his head like the other practitioners who were enchanted by the sudden appearance of the Ancient Shen Clan’s moon. Shen Ruolan stopped exactly three paces in front of Zhi Xuan. The silence that fell between them felt incredibly thick.

"Senior," Shen Ruolan’s voice flowed with a provocative tone, sounding like the chime of a bell piercing through the crowd. "Come for a mere stroll, or... come because you knew Ruolan would arrive here?"

"I came for my own business, Holy Fairy," Zhi Xuan replied, his tone cold. "Holy Fairy Shen has every ear in Chi Di; it would be quite naive to think I could distance myself even by an inch."

"Mmm... so cold, as always," Shen Ruolan said while playing with the end of the black bamboo tassel at her waist. "Even though Ruolan went through so much trouble to travel far from the sixth peak just to meet Senior."

She glanced slightly toward Zhao Xue, her expression difficult to decipher. "But here, Senior seems to have met an old friend. That hurts Ruolan’s heart, you know."

"Holy Fairy Shen," Zhi Xuan said in a low and cold voice. "You should return to the sixth peak if you intend to pressure me. Zhao Xue is not a thing, nor is she something you can consider a flower petal that can be plucked away."

Shen Ruolan chuckled softly, a sound so melodious yet capable of making the hearts of practitioners around them race with an irrational fear. The charm aura that was her instinct spread until it formed a faint, intoxicating mist.

"Senior is too serious," Shen Ruolan said while giving a brief, scrutinizing look at Zhao Xue. "Ruolan knows her limits and also knows of the lotus that grows even in distant rivers. In that case, come... Ruolan will guide Senior inside."

The Young Kings in the pavilion courtyard looked like stone statues that had lost their breath. Everyone was frozen at the impossible sight before their eyes. A wanderer in a brown robe, whom they thought was merely a hiding old monster, turned out to have a seemingly personal connection with the Moon of the Ancient Shen Clan.

Zhao Xue herself felt as if a noose were placed right around her neck. From Shen Ruolan’s tone, the Holy Maiden who referred to Zhao Xue as a lotus knew at least the outline of Zhao Xue’s plight in a single glance, or perhaps not. Zhao Xue felt that every step of a being in Chi Di did not escape the Holy Maiden's eyes.

Shen Ruolan swung her fragrant sleeves, signaling for the path ahead of them to open wide. The Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets guards, who were previously stiff, now bowed deeply, giving the highest respect that not even the Young Kings of other major sects received.

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Zhi Xuan stepped forward, his brown robe fluttering gently with the rhythm of his calm steps. Zhao Xue followed behind, although she felt as if she were walking across a thin thread bridge over a deadly abyss.

"Look at that..." Wu Xinghan whispered from a distance, his eyes wide in disbelief. "Holy Maiden Shen... she truly knows him? Even acting as if she were a servant awaiting her master's return?"

"This is insane," Wei Tianfeng added, cold sweat drenching his temples. "That man in the brown robe... he is not just a wanderer. Bei Yun is truly unlucky to deal with a figure like that."

Zhi Xuan’s footsteps echoed on the jade-inlaid marble floor of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets. Shen Ruolan walked beside him, her luxurious velvet cloak sweeping the floor with a soft hissing sound, while her aroma resembling a charm flower began to fill the grand corridors.

At the end of the corridor, a giant gate opened wide. Inside, a massive hall that looked like a night sky dome was already filled with invited guests. Jade tables were arranged in a circle, with dishes of spirit fruits radiating a thin glow of light.

"Sit beside Ruolan, Senior," Shen Ruolan whispered with a tone that accepted no refusal. She pointed toward the seat of honor located in the front row.

"I will sit where I belong," Zhi Xuan replied flatly. He did not head toward the seat of honor but chose a small table in a darker corner, where rogue practitioners or minor envoys gathered.

Shen Ruolan did not seem offended. Instead, she smiled widely, revealing deadly dimples. "Senior is still someone who dislikes light that is too bright, aren't you? Fine, Ruolan will accompany you."

Shen Ruolan’s action of joining him at the corner table caused an uproar throughout the hall. A Holy Maiden from the Ancient Shen Clan, who should have occupied the highest throne at this banquet, was now sitting at a common wooden table for the sake of a man in a brown robe.

Zhao Xue felt her soul scream, yet she remained calm and responded by sitting at the dark corner table as well. She placed her Thousand Winters Sword on the table, her eyes watching sharply, as if searching for where the Bei Family was located.

"Senior, the wine on this table is too bland for your palate," Shen Ruolan said softly. She waved her hand and a wine jar appeared on the table. "This... is ancient peach wine, a specialty of the Ancient Hua Clan. Ruolan knows Senior has a good relationship with Holy Son Hua Tianming and Holy Maiden Hua Lian Xi. Therefore, Ruolan specifically brought it for tonight's banquet."

Zhi Xuan looked at the wine jar in silence; the reflection of the lantern light on the jade surface of the jar seemed to show distant shadows of the past. The names Hua Tianming and Hua Lian Xi uttered by Shen Ruolan brought a small vibration to his memory.

"You bring too much baggage for a journey this far, Holy Fairy," Zhi Xuan said as he poured wine into a cup and took a sip. "Good wine."

Shen Ruolan rested her chin on her smooth palm, gazing at Zhi Xuan with a sparkle in her eyes. "Senior's arrival here, does it mean Senior also intends to step into the land of Huang Tu?"

"Huang Tu is a land that once held my footsteps," Zhi Xuan replied with an unreadable tone. "However, my goal is not merely to follow the crowd of tigers and dragons thirsty for ancient treasures. I seek something buried deeper than mere dust of the fallen gods' bones."

Shen Ruolan narrowed her eyes, the purple flash in her pupils glowing thinly. "Ah, Senior means... perhaps the Ruined Wilderness?"

"You know of it?" Zhi Xuan replied, his voice sharpening as he set down his cup. "Huang Tu is vast, yet the Ruined Wilderness has always been a place that can never be avoided."

"The Ruined Wilderness is not a foreign name to the ears of those who hold the secrets of this world, Senior," Shen Ruolan whispered, leaning her body slightly toward Zhi Xuan. "The Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets gathered these Young Kings for a reason. They have found a door to the remnants of the underworld within Huang Tu."

Zhi Xuan fell silent, his fingers tapping softly on the rough wooden tabletop. "I have indeed heard of the Jiu-Quan river in Huang Tu, but a door to the remnants of a world beneath Huang Tu? Holy Maiden Shen, tell me."

Shen Ruolan smiled thinly, her supple fingers rising to stroke Zhi Xuan’s robe sleeve. Her eyes flashed for a moment in deep purple before her smile broadened.

"Many people think Huang Tu is just a barren plain where barbarians and the Black Corpse Sect rule," Shen Ruolan’s voice lowered, nearly becoming a sigh only audible to Zhi Xuan. "The Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets has found it, a spatial rift said to hold ancient treasures and clues to monsters that have been hiding beneath the ground of the Nine Plains all this time."

"Hiding monsters?" Zhi Xuan sipped his wine, letting the sweet peach flavor bring back memories of Huang Tu. "So, there truly is something beneath the soil practitioners have trodden for thousands of years."

Shen Ruolan laughed softly, the sound of her laughter drowned out by the noise of the zither music beginning to play in the center of the hall. "Mmm... who knows? That is why this time the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets invited Young Kings and talented practitioners; there has never been anything like this before."

The conversation stopped instantly when the boom of a giant bronze bell echoed three times, its vibrations traveling through the jade floor and silencing the hustle and bustle within the hall. On the main stage shrouded in spiritual mist, a figure of an old man in wide grey robes appeared as if made of nothingness.

He was Elder Xuan Ji, the key holder of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets for the eastern region. His eyes, which appeared cloudy yet contained the depths of a galaxy, swept across the room, stopping for a moment on the dark corner where Shen Ruolan and Zhi Xuan sat, before he finally bowed respectfully to the entire audience.

"Welcome, Young Kings and stars of the regions," Xuan Ji’s voice was raspy. "For thousands of years the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets has stood, yet we do not invite talented practitioners merely to attend this Banquet of Heavenly Secrets as wine drinkers, but for something that will be both opportunity and loss in a single cup."

Xuan Ji spread his arms, and instantly the pavilion dome roof that resembled the night sky rotated. The constellations above shifted until they glowed to form a star map of the Nine Plains, but what was prominent was the region that seemed adjacent to the Fallen Petal Ruins and Mo Yan.

"Huang Tu has churned once more," Xuan Ji stated. "The land where gods fell, a land that is merely an endless barren plain, turns out to hold an unavoidable threat, yet also an opportunity that Heaven and Earth cannot imagine."

"The Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets has found a way, aiming to see the underworld of legend for ourselves," Xuan Ji continued. "However, that is not the only reason the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets has invited the Young Kings and stars of the regions this time."

The atmosphere inside the hall grew so quiet that the sound of a falling needle would have sounded like thunder. Elder Xuan Ji slowly lowered his hands, but the star map on the pavilion ceiling grew even brighter, radiating a cold silvery light that enveloped every face present.

"Huang Tu is the fall of the remnants of the Immortal World," Xuan Ji continued, his voice heavy. "Infinite years in the ancient era, since the fall of the Ancient Clan Great Emperors. The Immortal World has collapsed, leaving its traces beneath the barren Huang Tu and merging with the underworld. It is said that the Grand Palaces of gods and demons of the ancient era are buried down there."

"The monsters down there are a major threat to the Nine Plains," Xuan Ji said, his voice rising slightly. "Practitioners from the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets have fallen by the thousands in their eternal journey to find a way to that lower land. They are crawling from the depths of the underworld, as if intending to emerge and destroy this world."