Chapter 269 - Three Emperors Palace (2/2)

Xiao Chen ignored him. He looked at the tunnel again and said, “Let’s go and take a look.” He then entered the path.

Zhiluan’s voice trembled out of fear. “Ki-kid, what are you doing? Don’t be stupid! There’s definitely a scary monster inside! It’ll be as scary as that Phantom King outside!”

Xiao Chen frowned. “Phantom King?” Sure enough, this Leopard Cat Spirit knew something about this place.

In a trembling voice, Zhiluan said, “Phantom King is the scariest existence in the Forest of Illusory Moon. I don’t know how long has he been around; he’s already here the moment I gained sentience. Moreover, he has been trying to eat me all this while.”

Xiao Chen shook his head with a smile. No wonder this Immortal Lingzhi was such a coward. It was all thanks to the Phantom King. Seeing his mocking expression, Zhiluan said indignantly, “Kid, what expression is that? This great one will have you know that the Phantom King will also eat you up if he sees you!”

Suddenly, a trembling voice came from the end of the tunnel. “This little leopard cat is right. That’s the Phantom King outside…”

Xiao Chen’s expression solemnified and said in the direction of the voice, “Forgive my disturbance, Esteemed Senior.”

The voice didn’t reply. Xiao Chen entered the tunnel and found a grand palace awaiting him on the other end. There were memorial tablets of deities of the Heaven Realm from the previous Mythology Era all over the place, such as Fuxi, Nvwa, and Farmer God.

Xiao Chen was certain that the voice earlier came from this place. Sure enough, he soon found a weak remnant of Soul Power under a small shrine.

“Young ones, you shouldn’t have trespassed on the Forbidden Land…” a wizened voice suddenly came from under the shrine.

Zhiluan jumped in fright. “I, the, the great one, am here! What devil or demon are you to, to haunt us?!”

“Hehe, little leopard cat. Did the Phantom King try and eat you again?”

Zhiluan stared wide-eyed at the shrine. It took a long time before he finally said, “Who, who are you? Tell me your name now! The great one can consider, consider sparing your life!”

“Hehe. More than a thousand years ago, hadn’t I rescued you when you were nearly eaten by the Phantom King?” Finally, a semi-illusory human figure emerged from under the shrine. With his snow-white hair and beard, the figure looked like he had witnessed all the vicissitudes of life.

“Meow!”

Zhiluan leaped onto Xiao Chen’s body. He pointed to the figure and said, “You! You vile b*stard! I just happened to pass by your battle with the Phantom King, but you used me as your shield and caused my magic power cultivation to reach a bottleneck! You b*stard, you dare say you saved me? Compensate me at once and I’ll forget your crime! Otherwise, the fury of the great one will rain down on you like a lightning strike from the Ninth Heaven…”

“Hehe. Had I not caught you, the Phantom King would’ve eaten you.”

“You! How dare you twist the truth! You obviously captured me to use as your shield…”

Zhiluan had more to say but Xiao Chen swiftly kicked him aside and saluted the semi-illusory figure. “Thank you for saving us earlier, Esteemed Senior. May I know who is this Phantom King that you speak of?”

“The Phantom King is born out of the Impure Qi of the Six Realms. He has such incredible magic power that I could only seal him under the Nether Spirit Pool at the expense of all my magic power and great injury to my Vital Soul’s Power. The seal is getting weaker. The Phantom King will be able to regain his freedom if he swallows the souls of thousands of living creatures…”

Xiao Chen was alarmed. This meant that the Phantom King was unrivaled. Didn’t those old fogies from the Daoist League of the Five Continents know about this terrifying existence in the Forest of Illusory Moon? To think they even made the cultivators train and undergo a qualification match in such a dangerous place.

But what he was most curious about now wasn’t the Phantom King but the strange palace in this place. There were even memorial tablets consecrating the Three Emperors too. What cultivator would worship a deity from the previous Mythology Era? This was surely unordinary. The mystery was thickening. He asked, “Esteemed Senior, why is there a palace here? Does it have something to do with the Three Emperors?”

The figure replied, “Correct. This is called the Three Emperors Palace, built to guard an ancient scroll. More than a thousand years ago, the Phantom King attacked this palace in hopes of engulfing my soul. We fought outside for three whole days. I ultimately used my Vital Soul’s Power and sealed him. But when I came back, I found the ancient scroll stolen…”

Turbulent emotions surged inside Xiao Chen. That ancient scroll again! Moreover, the scroll also mentioned the Three Emperors. He asked, “Do you know who stole the ancient scroll?”

The figure said, “The thief has exceptional cultivation beyond my power to defeat. I fear that he’s from the Heaven Realm.”

Someone from the Heaven Realm!

Xiao Chen was startled. As far as he could remember, the only person descended to the Human World was Qianyu Nishang. Did she steal the ancient scroll? But why? Just what was hidden inside the scroll?

The scroll was now halved. The Xianyong Sect had found one-half in the hand of an Immortal King’s skeleton bearing his Master’s aura. It was apparent that the ancient scroll was intricately linked to his Master. But what was the truth?

Suddenly, he felt a little weak and helpless. Every time he thought he had found traces of his Master, the clues would abruptly end. Then, out of the blue, a new clue would catch him unaware. It was as if there was a strange power at work, slowly ushering him toward an unknown finishing line.