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In the days that followed, the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's public announcement drew waves of well-wishers from across the continent.
First to arrive were Shrek Academy's Martial Soul Department Head, Yan Shaozhe, and Elder Xuan Zi. Soon after came delegations from the royal houses of the original Three Great Empires, the Tian Long (Heaven Dragon) Sect, the White Tiger Duke Manor, and other major powers.
The web of interests and hidden agendas was too intricate to untangle.
All that was clear was this: when the meetings concluded, only Yan Shaozhe and Xuan Zi wore faint smiles. The rest—especially the representatives of rival factions—left with troubled, anxious expressions.
But for now, none of this concerned Chen Junting.
At this very moment, he stood beside his master, Ye Xuanji, at the entrance to the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's Treasury Vault—a repository of ten thousand years' worth of accumulated wealth: immortal herbs, self-created soul skills, 10,000-year soul bones, rare metals…
As for the mountains of gold and jewels? Neither Ye Xuanji nor Chen Junting spared them a glance.
Under Ye Xuanji's guidance, they passed through the vault's outer layers without hindrance.
When they reached the stone steps leading deeper into the treasury, they descended a long corridor. Chen Junting observed the walls—no soul engineering lamps here. Instead, luminous night pearls were embedded in the stone, casting a soft, priceless glow.
After walking for over ten minutes, they reached the corridor's end.
What Chen Junting saw there left him stunned.
Before them lay a valley-like hollow, flanked by sheer cliffs that vanished into the mist above. And blocking their path stood two colossal doors—each twenty meters tall, their thickness unknowable.
Carved into the left door was the figure of a man—holding a pot and spatula, surrounded by swirling ingredients.
On the right, a woman in a pale yellow gown, her form elegant and regal, cradling a Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda that radiated nine-colored light.
Chen Junting recognized them instantly.
These were the very likenesses of Oscar and Ning Rongrong—mirroring their statues in Shrek Square.
"Do you know how this secret chamber came to be?" Ye Xuanji asked, gazing up at the ancestral carvings.
"Hmm?" Chen Junting frowned—then, as if struck by inspiration, blurted, "Master… don't tell me this chamber was built by our two ancestors after they ascended to godhood?"
"What? Can't believe it?" Ye Xuanji stroked his white beard, chuckling. "When my master first told me that, I reacted just like you. Hahahaha—"
Chen Junting rolled his eyes at his master's uncharacteristic playfulness. Instead, he studied the doors with burning curiosity. 'If this was truly crafted by the God of Food and the Nine-Colored Goddess… what did they leave behind?'
A divine trial?
Some hidden legacy?
But recalling how the sect had long been weaker than the Body Sect, he doubted such grandeur.
Ye Xuanji, noticing his disciple's silence, cleared his throat awkwardly. "You ungrateful brat—couldn't even humor your old master." He straightened, regaining his usual dignity.
"Master… what's really inside this chamber?"
"Didn't I tell you? A secret technique."
"Just a secret technique?" Chen Junting pressed, unable to hide his disappointment. The Shrek Seven Monsters had ascended with the help of both immortal herbs and divine trials. Even if the God of Food and Nine-Colored Goddess were lesser than the Sea God, any divine remnant would be invaluable.
"Just a secret technique," Ye Xuanji confirmed, sensing his thoughts. "This chamber holds no divine function. But its walls… can preserve soul skill imprints for future generations."
Chen Junting's eyes sharpened.
Soul skill imprints? Just like the runes inside soul rings!
Ye Xuanji continued: "But to leave an imprint, two conditions must be met. First—the imprint-maker must be a Super Douluo. Second—the soul skill must either be self-created, or a beast-derived skill so thoroughly mastered, understood, and even improved that it becomes one's own. In ten thousand years, only Elders Gu Rong and Chen Xin achieved the latter."
"Wait—Gu Rong and Chen Xin?" Chen Junting frowned. Weren't they killed in the God War before Oscar and Ning Rongrong even ascended? How could dead men leave imprints?
"I don't know," Ye Xuanji admitted with a shrug. "Perhaps… the power of gods is beyond mortal comprehension."
He then produced two tokens:
— The "God of Food Token", engraved with a sausage (held by the Chief Elder).
— The "Nine-Colored Token", bearing the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda (normally held by the Sect Master—borrowed by Ye Xuanji for this occasion).
These were the only keys to the doors.
As Ye Xuanji pressed each token to its respective door, the mountain walls trembled. With a grinding roar, the doors slowly parted.
An invisible pressure washed over Chen Junting—a feeling of utter insignificance.
Then—
"Is this what you call a god?"
Electrolux's voice echoed in his spiritual sea. Instantly, the verdant expanse turned ashen gray, and the crushing sense of smallness vanished.
"Elder Electrolux—"
Before he could finish, Ye Xuanji clapped his shoulder. "Come."
Inside, Chen Junting nearly stopped breathing.
The chamber was empty—yet its pure white walls were covered in inscriptions: poems, verses, essays—each radiating a distinct aura of power. His eyes traced the characters, sensing the raw might embedded within.
"Look," Ye Xuanji said, pointing to the nearest poem. "This is my self-created soul skill—Sword Dao: Xuanji. Every Sword-type Martial Soul Grand Elder before me studied Elder Chen Xin's imprint, refining it from simple application until they forged their own path."
Chen Junting's gaze fell upon a seven-character poem pulsing with starlight:
"Osmanthus trees spread for a hundred miles,
Partridges cry beneath noon's shade.
Yanping's peaks stand as blades—
The sword departs; the river runs empty!
Just then, Electrolux's voice returned, "These three white walls are forged from faith energy."
Chen Junting froze. Faith energy?
Electrolux explained: "Though I've not studied it deeply, faith energy is… versatile. But your world's gods wield it crudely—wasting it on mere walls to preserve runes.
A thought struck Chen Junting: If faith energy can preserve soul skill runes… could it also capture them? That would explain Divine Bestowed Soul Rings!
But speculation wouldn't suffice.
He needed to touch.
After asking his master where Elder Chen Xin's ninth soul skill was recorded, Chen Junting walked alone toward the far wall.
There, two inscriptions stood side by side:
"Bone Dragon rises from the sea, soaring through void,
Three realms tremble as it rides the wind."
Gu Rong's Ninth Soul Skill: Bone Incarnate Dragon
"Osmanthus trees spread for a hundred miles…
—Sword Dao: Chen Xin!"
Chen Junting reached out—
and pressed his palm to the poem.
Instantly, the characters moved.
They dissolved into glowing runes, then erupted in a blinding white light.
His consciousness was yanked inward. As he instinctively resisted, two voices—Electrolux's from within, Ye Xuanji's from without—shouted in unison:
"Do not resist!"
The light hurled him into a battlefield.
Before he could orient himself, a sickly green radiance filled his vision.
He blinked—and saw Chen Xin, identical to the sect's statue: blue robes, silver hair, one arm missing, floating in midair.
Beside him stood Gu Rong—gaunt, withered, yet towering—his skeletal frame radiating grim resolve.
And before them… a woman with ten soul rings, wielding a demonic scythe.
Bibi Dong.
Chen Junting realized instantly: this was the final stand where Chen Xin and Gu Rong sacrificed themselves to save Tang San—ending with shattered sword and broken bones.
Before he could react, the scene's Chen Xin struck.
Level 97 soul power erupted as sword qi—the Seven Kill Sword's might laid bare!
"This broken body awaits only this day!"
His voice thundered across the battlefield:
"Osmanthus trees spread for a hundred miles,
Partridges cry beneath noon's shade.
Yanping's peaks stand as blades—
The sword departs; the river runs empty!
—Sword Dao: Chen Xin!"
—
T/N:
This is the translation I've found on the wiki:
The fragrance of the fully blooming fragrant olive trees pervades the air across the land, francolins' continuous chirps accompany the summer breeze, the peaks near the Yanping Port have lost their magnificence, the sword disappears alongside river currents.
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