Chapter 139: The Eight Diagrams
Although the jade-paved path looked peaceful and tranquil, it was actually a deathtrap in disguise. The crowd was aware of this, so they turned back hastily and fled.
Luckily, they hadn't walked that far yet so they got to retreat in an instant. However, two Koi fish still managed to jump out and swallow two nature creatures among them.
A frown was etched on Zen's face as he watched the pond and stood motionless on the shore. It couldn't be better for him if these noble people explored the path before him.
It seemed that the fairy palace posed dangers far beyond their imagination.
They thought that the fairy palace would be a safe place, since a large enchanted barrier was set up to isolate the giant beasts outside. If any of them broke in, the fairy palace would become a palace of monsters.
However, nobody among them imagined that the Koi fish would block their way and threaten their lives.
The crowd still stood by the shore. Their eyes cast nervous looks at the pond, and saw the dense school of Koi fish that swam towards the jade path. A rough estimate would say that there were probably thousands of the giant Koi fishes in the waters, which was possible since the pond was as big as a lake.
No matter what kind of creature crossed the jade path or even went near it, let alone fell into the pond, the Koi fishes would jump out and instantly tear them up.
They frustratedly looked at the pill refining and weapon refining workshops from a distance. Nobody was willing to return from a treasure trove empty-handed.
The woman with long hair, old Wilson, Seymour, and the other Illuminating Soul Realm masters looked at each other meaningfully. After a little while, they all rose up high in the air by burning their life vitality.
It was worth noting that the Koi fishes could jump high as one thousand feet.
The shadows of the hovering Illuminating Soul Real masters reflected and rippled on the clear waters. Since they flew higher, the jumping fish couldn't reach them.
However, they were all aware that even if they could avoid the Koi fishes' attacks, there might be other disasters waiting for them.
Still, people under great temptation always risked their lives to seek out adventures. The greater risk they faced, the greater reward they would get.
Besides, if they gave up now, all their previous efforts would just be wasted. The Illuminating Soul Realm masters understood this and did not hesitate to fly towards a pavilion at the center of the pond.
Unlike the nature creatures, the Illuminating Soul Realm masters had the ability to fly. Thus, the nature creatures had no choice but to wait on the shore.
Meanwhile, Zen stood beside the lot of nature creatures and thought about what measures could be taken.
These Koi fish were fanged, numerous in quantity, and huge in size. But no matter how large they were, they were still fish.
If the Illuminating Soul Realm master who was previously eaten by the Koi fishes chose to sprint at a high speed from the beginning, he might not be captured so easily.
'After all, the Koi fish is simplemind animal. It can't think and judge like humans do. And, the jade path is not too long. I should be able to run through it in really swift velocity.
Of course, it is too dangerous.
But speaking of danger, are there no dangers awaiting those Illuminating Soul Realm masters who flew over the pond? Life itself is a crisis. I'm not here for pleasure, ' he thought.
With those beliefs in mind, Zen decided to venture out into the jade path.
He stood at where the path began and took a deep breath. Then, he positioned himself into a sprint posture. Hushed whispers followed and many eyes were now fixed on him.
“What does he want to do?” “Is he crazy?”
“Is he trying to run through the jade path? Brad was at Illuminating Soul Realm, and much stronger than him, but even he didn't make it.”
“Huh! Maybe he signed his own death warrant. It would be better for him to die now. We're not gonna let him remain alive anyway.”
The nature creatures on the shore murmured among themselves. On one hand, they took delight in and wished that Zen would feed his body to the Koi fish. On the other hand, they envied Zen's courage. After all, they didn't dare act like Zen, even though they were nature creatures.
“Schhwaff!”
After one more deep breath, Zen darted out like an arrow shot from a longbow's taut string.
A tremendous force surged from Zen's body as he awakened the cyan dragon with more than a hundred glittering scales in his mind.
“Swish, swish!”
“Bam, bam!”
The moment Zen rushed forward, he heard the sound of the imminent fishes' flapping of tails and splashes of water. Countless gigantic Koi fishes leapt and bit at him, their mouths opened which exposed sharp teeth.
“Plop, plop, plop!”
However, all of the Koi fishes were unsuccessful and fell back reluctantly into the water behind Zen.
Meanwhile, whenever Zen felt that his strength slightly diminished, he would immediately mobilize dragon scales to refuel himself.
The sight of Zen's unbelievable speed had the nature creatures on the shore stare at each other with agape mouths.
It was true that a strong cultivator on a high rank of the nature level was not necessarily slower than Zen. They could also do what Zen could do. However sometimes, courage was needed more than strength.
They dared not dance in front of death, but Zen did.
By now, Zen had passed smoothly through the first half of the jade path.
At the second half however, some Koi fishes that awaited him from a distance jumped up in advance.
“Let's see what that boy will do!”
“I'm sure he'll get eaten by the Koi.”
Once again, the noble people talked haughtily among themselves and relished in telling each other about what miseries Zen would end up in.
However, Zen still noticed the obstacles and hazards around him with his strong soul, even when he ran quite fast.
As he neared the fish that waited for him along the way, Zen jumped up at a high altitude.
The Koi also jumped up from the jade path with a flick of their tails, and opened their mouths to bite Zen.
“Phoenix Crystal!” Zen chanted.
He had emitted energy from the Phoenix Crystal embedded in his right arm just in time for this critical moment. When he released the energy, he felt his body become lighter and his speed increased several more times.
Now, the fishes out of the water were less agile and powerful, and thus Zen had successfully escaped.
Finally, Zen hopped among the remaining Koi carps in the last parts of the jade path. He finally got to the pavilion after a lot of threats, but he got out unscathed.
The Illuminating Soul Realm masters who had previously flown to the pavilion were shocked to see Zen when he rushed down the jade path. Old Wilson's hate-filled eyes looked repulsively at his approaching figure.
'The boy sticks to us like an annoying dog, ' he thought.
Old Wilson's murderous glare did not escape Zen's eyes, but he simply shrugged his shoulders and said, “You know that my black wolf incarnated from life vitality is still fighting with the two giant puppets outside now. It's easy for me to bring them in.”
When she heard Zen's words, the long-haired woman yelled to Wilson, “Wilson, not now. We have more important things to do. Don't rock the boat. He's already here anyway.”
Old Wilson didn't say anything more.
After he composed himself, Zen circled the huge pavilion then realized why everyone stopped advancing at this place.
It turned out that it was a special pavilion that only allowed anyone to enter, but not to leave.
From the outside, the pavilion was huge, measuring at least tens of thousands of feet high. Except for its large size, its shape and form did not differ from those of an ordinary pavilion.
Inside it however, was a completely different scene.
Only if one walked in would they find a pink colored enchanted barrier which blocked the eight exits of the pavilion.
Perhaps some people had thought that as long as they entered the pavilion, they would be able to access their favorite treasure house. However, the pavilion was unexpectedly a cage that locked in everyone that would enter.
In the center of the pavilion, there were huge Eight Diagrams, around which eight Chinese characters were written respectively. The eight words in proper order were “Heaven,” “Earth,” “Thunder,” “Wind,” “Water,” “Fire,” “Mountain,” and “Valley.”
At a glimpse of those eight words, Zen suddenly remembered the information recorded on the inner page of the Weapon Refining Principle written by the master weapon refiner, Chase.
'Since the Dragon Valley was also recorded in that book, the information of the Eight Diagrams in the book should be related to this huge Eight Diagrams in front of me, ' Zen speculated.
Zen noticed there were stone sculptures scattered around in the pavilion. They were supposedly assigned to the positions of the eight Chinese characters in the Eight Diagrams. The goal was obvious: to get out of this pavilion, one had to use the sculptures to solve the diagrams first.
However, it was very difficult to figure out how to place the sculptures to each character of the Eight Diagrams.
It needed to be calculated accurately, and in precise numbers. There was absolutely no room for errors in the whole process.
In the case of a wrong placement, a fatal threat might befall on them.
Even though they were in plenty of potential peril, they had no better way. They were currently intercepted in the pink enchantment area. If they couldn't break through the pavilion, they would all die in the end.
Silence enveloped the pavilion as they tried to think of what to do.
“What do we do? Who can decode the Eight Diagrams?” a female voice asked. It was the long haired woman, who waited for an answer with anxious eyes.
“I can't. I don't know anything about the Eight Diagrams,” said Wilson, and shook his head.
Others shook their heads too. There were some masters skilled at the Eight Diagrams among the seven noble clans, but they weren't with them now.
To everyone's surprise, Zen asked, “How about let me try?”
“You?” screamed Wilson as he viciously glared at Zen.
“You had better worry about your own life,” he sneered.
However, Zen had expected that they would refuse his offer. Of course, it was impossible for them to hand over their fate to an unknown person in a mask.
At this point, everyone's mood had turned quite sour. This choice between life and death was a really hard test.
After a long while, someone spoke again. “Well, I'll do it,” the long haired woman said and broke the silence. “I used to learn the Eight Diagrams. So I know a little bit, though I am not skilled,” she added.
Nobody answered back. Even though they weren't confident enough with the long haired woman's ability, they had no other choice.
Everyone had acquiesced to remain silent, then the long-haired woman began the work of calculation and prediction. After a while, she suddenly looked up and emitted life vitality from her hands. Her life vitality covered the head of one sculpture like a cap, then slowly raised it up in the air.