CHAPTER 668: CHAPTER 098 THE THEORY OF THE SOUL SEA PLANE

"Is there anything you don’t know how to do? Well, it seems there really is something."

Zhou Yan feigned thoughtfulness as he spoke.

Yilan involuntarily rolled her eyes, revealing a coquettish charm that was shy and girlish.

"Master, the things you’re not good at must be things like comprehending Divine Tao, Divine Artifacts, and the like, right?"

"That’s a good guess. Yilan is really smart."

Zhou Yan expressed his admiration with praise.

Yilan was rendered speechless, but because of the ease in Zhou Yan’s manner, she finally calmed her excited, chaotic, and because of the stimulation, very sensitive heart.

This was how Yilan felt, and so did Qian He and Cheng’er.

The atmosphere lightened suddenly, and after a bit of sighing, they finally came to accept the bizarre.

Before, Cheng’er believed Zhou Yan’s claim of being able to repair the Ancient Transmission Array and open the Starry Sky Gate to be bragging nonsense; now, she felt that it was entirely true, not nonsense at all. It was very possible that Zhou Yan was even more formidable than he claimed!

Otherwise, how could he be so impressive and yet so humble?

"He’s truly outstanding, millions of times better than any genius. It’s just too bad that he’s so low-key and doesn’t know how to boast at all."

Cheng’er thought to herself.

It was she, too, who had previously thought Zhou Yan too arrogant and proud.

Such a dramatic turnaround might not be shown by others, but Cheng’er, being young and simple in character, was not good at dissembling, so everything was almost written on her face.

That’s why Cheng’er’s reaction also secretly impressed Yilan.

...

The Flying Palace of Nine Swords continued its flight for a while before arriving at a vast snowy expanse.

The earth was covered in flying snow, melting everything into a silver furnace, sending chills that were bone-piercing.

Yet, there was a mist-laden aura circulating in the air, making it very fresh.

The pure white heaven and earth were like an ethereal pool in an Immortal Realm, splendidly beautiful.

Upon reaching this place, the Flying Palace naturally came to a stop.

Cheng’er, who was controlling the palace, and Qian He, acting as protector, both ceased and did not go further.

"Great Master, Princess, we have already arrived near the Beixue Heavenly Palace; from here, we cannot travel through the Void in the Flying Palace."

Qian He transmitted her voice from outside the palace.

"Mm, I know. Master and I will come out."

Yilan’s voice came from inside the palace, and in less than a moment, the palace slightly fluctuated, and Yilan and Zhou Yan appeared outside.

The palace then transformed into a streak of cyan light and vanished into Yilan’s forehead.

Yilan stood in the Void, leaning lightly against Zhou Yan as if she wanted to be as close to him as possible.

She looked at the distant complex of ancient halls, resembling an Immortal Palace, with a slightly complex gaze and gave an inexplicable, soft sigh.

"Master, now that we’ve come here, we must rely on our own Sword Flight or ride the rainbow light to travel, and we can’t directly fly over the tops of those halls."

Yilan collected her emotions and explained.

Hearing this, Zhou Yan simply nodded, not minding at all.

Other than when he was playing around with Qingcheng Yilan and the others earlier, Zhou Yan had been comprehending the mysteries of the Void Sword Body inside the palace.

The Four Great Ancient Sword Forms—Void, Thunderflame, and Emperor, while the Four Great Sword Forms of the Tao do not have a clear rank, it’s clear that the advantages of the Void Sword Body are remarkable!

Of course, the defects are also evident.

Moving through the Void to deliver a lethal strike, the methods are fierce and hard to defend against, with endless killing intent, which is very formidable.

Having used the Void Sword Body for the first time, Zhou Yan felt its power to inflict harm was very strong, no weaker than the power he wielded when he unveiled his full Combat Power to use Xingyi Swordsmanship. Conversely, the weakness of the Void Sword Body was also very clear.

While moving through the Void, the body must merge with it, favoring a weaker physical form.

This point starkly conflicted with the Emperor Qi Sword Body.

Indeed, merging the two was an ordeal that could not be accomplished overnight.

"Master, although the Beixue Heavenly Palace is a force within our universe, it is different from us. A significant reason why the Luo Stone Ancestor Star is so peaceful and stable is the presence of the Beixue Heavenly Palace here.

While this planet may be the weakest, it’s also the one that must not be provoked. Any power would act with restraint on this Ancestor Star. The reason the Heavenly Soul Hall has gone mad this time is most likely because they have no other choice but to act this way; normally, they would never cause such a disturbance."

Seeing that her master, Zhou Yan, seemed to have no reaction to the Beixue Heavenly Palace, Yilan pondered for a moment. She assumed her master was probably not well-acquainted with this world, having come from the Silent Annihilation Ancestor Star, one of the desolate lands of ancient gods. Therefore, she decided to bring him up to speed with some common knowledge in a casual manner, explaining it all without making him feel ignorant, and thereby hoping to make a better impression.

Yilan had this in mind, so she brought it up as if in passing.

"Oh? What’s the situation with the Beixue Heavenly Palace?"

Zhou Yan casually walked through the void, raising the question.

Beside him, Yilan and the maid Cheng’er stayed close; he could smell the faint fragrance of the two women.

Since he had saved Cheng’er, the young maid had become rather clingy, showing him considerable affection and sometimes even daring to ask some rather bold questions.

When a young girl can be so open and unrestrained in the presence of a man, even to the point of having no inhibitions, it surely means she regards the man as one of her own.

Zhou Yan was well aware of this.

At this moment, Zhou Yan could sense Yilan’s kindness and also feel the thoughts of Cheng’er, the young maid who wished to explain everything clearly and share all her secrets with him. Zhou Yan asked, following Yilan’s lead.

With a beautiful and heart-stirring smile, Yilan gently smoothed a few strands of hair from her forehead. Her lightly dancing black tresses were extremely soft and beautiful, emitting a subtle fragrance that was intoxicating.

"Master, the Beixue Heavenly Palace is actually a Lower Realm force from an upper-class plane. It’s like a harsh environment used for nurturing talent and sending it to the Upper Realm. The cultivators here are mostly women with great talent... stemming from the Beixue Heavenly Palace’s selection for this Luo Stone Ancestor Star. Ah, the first genius extraordinary woman of our Ye Sha Ancestor Star, Fairy Xiao Xiao, comes from the Beixue Heavenly Palace."

"The Beixue Heavenly Palace is a force passed down by the strong from the Upper Worlds. To put it in another way, it’s like a Great Sect wanting to collect talents, where under the Sect there are smaller sects, which in turn need ordinary mortal sects to recruit disciples.

The Beixue Heavenly Palace would be the equivalent of such a mortal force."

"I remember, my father said that the Heavenly Emperor Universe is but a barren and decrepit Plane, similar to a Prison Plane, where the cultivators’ fates are mostly tragic, and it is even possible that the entire universe is just a ’Soul Sea Plane’ of some divine beings—but this is just my father’s feeling, not certain."

"But my father mentioned that once, a remarkable person named the Lei Yan King comprehended something very special. Before reaching the high-level realm of the divine, he created his own Soul Sea Plane, which was then stolen from him. It seems to have been a world called ’Thunder Origin Plane’. The life on that world is not much different from ours, and it appears the ’Soul Hall’ force was there. Therefore, my father is also worried about potential connections between the current Heavenly Soul Hall of Heavenly Soul Mountain and the rumored Lei Yan King. If that were true, none of us might survive."

"It is said that when Lei Yan King faced an ancient planet, he took a deep breath, and all the Life Origin of the planet was sucked away by him, leaving all life on the planet dead, and the planet itself turned into a dark meteor, falling into the depths of the universe... The terror of it surpasses the divines and is unfathomable. For this reason, our Wansheng Divine Dynasty has never dared to oppose anything related to ’Lei Yan King.’"

Yilan explained slowly.

The secrets sent tremors through Zhou Yan’s shocked spirit.

Had the Lei Yan King become so terrifyingly powerful? To extinguish the life of an entire planet in one breath?

And what about the Soul Sea Plane? The Thunder Origin Plane?

Why did they feel so familiar?

The Soul Sea? The vast sea where the Thunder Origin Sword God of Thunder Flame Breaking Path Mountain resided... Could that be the Soul Sea?

Was the Lei Yan Continent that he, Zhou Yan, had mistakenly entered actually the world of the Thunder Origin Plane? Strangest of all was that the Princess Hongyi there nearly resembled the Princess Hongyi of the Nine Origin Heavenly City!

"Is the Thunder Origin Sword God up to something? Could it be that he is trying to simulate the Sword Burial Ancestor Star, to replicate everything from the Sword Burial Ancestor Star onto the Thunder Origin Plane, creating an identical ’Nine Origin Reincarnation’ to replace the real with the fabricated?"

A flash of lightning streaked across Zhou Yan’s vision as he instantly came to a realization of the truth, deeply shocked.

If this were true, then the patience and restraint shown by the Thunder Origin Sword God were extremely frightening, and the feigned ignorance between him and Jiang Tianling, Jiang Yuning would be even more terrifying.

Zhou Yan took a sharp intake of breath. For some reason, now possessing the Nine Orifice Exquisite Heart, he would often have sudden flashes of insight, seeing through illusions straight to the core, and perceiving the unknown dangers concealed beneath.

"What kind of ability is this? Even if I were extremely clever, I could never be this capable. Something must have changed—"

Zhou Yan murmured to himself, his past flashing through his mind like lightning.

All of his past experiences flickered before his eyes, with one scene suddenly freezing for an instant.

It was the moment the Xuanyuan Sword Fragment emitted light, suppressing the natural decay in his body.

At the time, the Golden Battle Armor man had said, ’I didn’t expect that you could comprehend the true path to transcendence, know a bit about how to leave the Prison Plane. Since that’s the case, let me help you further...’ After this, the Nine Orifice Exquisite Heart was fully awakened.

Afterward, as long as there was the slightest clue, he could grasp the most correct direction and clearly sense the most accurate outcome.

"This, I do not know whether it’s the power of the Nine Apertures Heart or the ability given to me by the Golden Armor man within the Xuanyuan Sword Fragment. But the Golden Armor man inside the Xuanyuan Sword Fragment is definitely far more powerful than Jiang Tianling and others. Zhou Yan recalled that Bai Ying once said that she heard terrifying words like ’In the inquiry of the Supreme, who is Immortal?’ Zhou Yan felt that these powerful beings were truly fearsome.

Inside his soul’s Dantian, the presence of the Golden Armor man from the Xuanyuan Sword Fragment was his greatest advantage.

Zhou Yan believed that this was where his hope of escaping this horrifying Plane lay.