Nine Astra Skies

Chapter 241: Opening of the Exclusion Zone

“What uses does the Soul Pearl have?” Ye Chen asked.

“There was an elder inside the Illusionary Pearl that had heard of the Soul Pearl but it’s specific use and the identity of its creator was unknown. Another elder mentioned that the Soul Pearl isn’t easily controlled and we must be careful with it. It’d be troublesome if one were to be controlled by it instead,” Little Wingsy translated, his eyes filled with confusion. How would human consciousness be controlled by a mere object?

Ye Chen frowned slightly, recalling back to when the Soul Pearl had invaded his mind earlier. He was startled. If not for the Flying Dagger in his mind, the outcome would have been a lot worse. It was unheard of for human consciousness to be stored in a vessel and become immortal, even continuing to cultivate itself in the vessel. When he thought about it, the process of creating these spirit arcana and creating Human Puppet should be of the same principle.

“The existence of the spirit arcana opposes the Heavenly Laws. Every thousand years, they were due to be condemned by the Heavens therefore, many spirit arcana were destroyed in the process. This Soul Pearl has had tens of thousands of years of history. Logically speaking, the Heavenly Law punishments would grow stronger each time so that there was a very minuscule chance of the Soul Pearl surviving. The elder said that perhaps the Soul Pearl had some special way to evade the punishments. In the case of the Illusionary Pearl, the reason for its preservation was due to the tanuki clan’s ancestors imparting part of their soul into it, invoking a powerful array inside the Illusionary Pearl that was able to throw off the Gods,” Little Wingsy continued to translate for Little Tanuki.

It would seem that the Illusionary Pearl was extremely powerful. Then, how did the Soul Pearl evade the Heavenly Law punishment?

Ye Chen paused for a moment. Then it came to him suddenly before saying, “Could it be due to the Sunken Jade Tower? Perhaps the Soul Pearl has evaded the Heavenly Law punishment because it was residing inside the Sunken Jade tower?” Was it possible that the Sunken Jade Tower was more powerful than these spiritual arcana?

Presently, there was no way for Ye Chen to know of these things so it would not hurt to speculate a little.

It would be wise to not underestimate the Soul Pearl. Fortunately, due to the Flying Dagger in Ye Chen’s mind, he did not have to fear the Soul Pearl. It comforted him when he thought of that.

It would seem it was not necessarily a good thing to have so many valuable treasures. With items like the Soul Pearl, Heavenly Astra Master Seal, and Vice Seal, a single reckless move might cost him his life. To gain control of them, he would need to hone himself to become stronger!

Ye Chen was not sure what had caused a reaction from the Soul Pearl. Could it be due to them being at the Exclusion Zone? This place was very mysterious. He decided he was not going to keep worrying about it for now. So, he stashed the other items back into the armguard space while he kept the Soul Pearl inside the pocket of his shirt. It already had a reaction once so it might happen again.

Since the Soul Pearl seemed to be vulnerable against the Flying Dagger, Ye Chen was confident that he could subdue it. He was not worried that it would fight back. He planned to just observe and see what happened for now.

Another day had passed. At dawn on the second day when the morning sun was only just coming up, there were already people practicing their martial art technique.

The few Earth Venerable Rank fighters were mostly practicing Tier Three to Tour martial art techniques. It took them a lot of time and effort to learn these martial art techniques. As for Tier Five to Six martial art techniques, they did not even bother to attempt them. Even Great Emperor Mingwu had only known a single Tier Six martial art technique passed down from his family.

Martial art techniques had to be improvised individually to fit their cultivation system to be cast. In the vault of the Xiwu Empire, there were plenty of scrolls detailing Tier Five and Six martial art techniques. However, those scrolls could only be used as reference material as it was near impossible to learn them and make it into their art martial techniques. Unless there was a talented clan member who was able to revise them, but there were not many people who had the knowledge and skill to do so.

When the morning came, the birds came flocking in large groups back to the Exclusion Zone, searching for food on the island.

“Your Majesty, does mystical beasts come out during the night in the Exclusion Zone?” Ye Chen asked. He found the phenomenon to be very strange because he did not see any birds setting up nests in the Exclusion Zone.

Great Emperor Mingwu frowned and said, “In the history of Xiwu Empire, there were not many who have been victorious and returned safely from the Exclusion Zone. They have recorded everything about the Exclusion Zone including the maps and other information There have never been word of mystical beasts appearing, even at night.”

Ye Chen was perplexed as that was strange. There was no way of finding out now so he would see how things went after he had entered.

Another two days had passed. It was early morning when the Exclusion Zone had opened.

Ye Chen, Great Emperor Mingwu, Nie Qingyun, and the others packed their belongings and headed toward the entrance of the Exclusion Zone.

The two top Mystique Venerable Rank Human Puppets stood quietly. Without moving their feet, they turned their heads and set their gaze upon them. Their piercing gaze carried an eerie chill behind them.

Knowing that these two guards were Human Puppets, Great Emperor Mingwu cannot help stealing a few more glances. After careful observation, he noticed that there were no hints of life within them.

“You may enter,” one of the Human Puppet guards said in a deep tone. His voice was sharp and husky, like the sound of sawing planks which sent chills down their spine.

The group did not utter a single word and proceeded to enter.

“Big Brother Ye Chen, those two are so weird. They don’t seem human,” Little Wingsy lifted his head and said to Ye Chen after they had walked a fair distance away.

“Hm.” Ye Chen nodded. He glanced toward the two Human Puppets far away. What sort of organization was the Tribunal Council and what secrets were they hiding?

Little Tanuki stood frowning beside Ye Chen, seemingly deep in thought.

“Since we’ve arrived at the Exclusion Zone, let’s deal with the people of Nanman Kingdom first!” said Ye Chen. He would not worry about these things for now.

Under Ye Chen’s direction, they were split into two groups. They quickly pushed inward toward the jungle, looking for the tracks of the Nanman Kingdom fighters.

At the same time, on the other side of the Exclusion Zone, Tuoba Yan was also leading the Nanman Kingdom fighters into the Exclusion Zone. They were advancing northward.

“Duke, I wonder what kind of fighters the Xiwu Empire sent,” a peculiar-looking middle-aged man said smiling. His skin was a charcoal black and he had a small frame. When he smiled, the corner of his triangular-shaped eyes had formed wrinkles. His name was Zuoqiu Gongye. His cultivation base was Heavenly Venerable Rank, one of Tuoba Hongye’s trusted captains.

Tuoba Hongye had seven Heavenly Venerable Rank fighters under his command. Two of them had passed away. This time, he had sent Zuoqiu Gongye and Zuoqiu Mingye to assist Tuoba Yan to accomplish the task.

Zuoqiu Gongye and Zuoqiu Mingye were siblings and they had nearly identical appearances. Zuoqiu Gongye was the elder sibling. He was shorter while Zuoqiu Mingye was taller. The cultivation systems that they had practiced were ice and fire, complementing and making up for each other’s weakness. In addition, having battled together for many years, they had excellent chemistry between them. Their combined strength could rival an early Mystique Venerable Rank fighter.

“Xiwu Empire is just a small kingdom, their empire is already weak enough as is. I don’t expect them to send any powerful fighters. If not for Dongmen Yingyang and Sikou Fengyan perishing in the Xiwu Empire region, I wouldn’t need to come myself.” Tuoba Yan snorted. “Since I’m here, what’s there to worry about?”

“The Duke makes a good point.” Zuoqiu Gongye chuckled.

Zuoqiu Mingye who stood beside was someone who kept to himself. He stayed behind Zuoqiu Gongye, not saying anything.

Despite what Tuoba Yan had said, Zuoqiu Mingye narrowed his eyes and had a calculating look upon his face. He had been in the prestigious Central Empire for a long time and he understood the principles of ever being vigilant and not underestimating his opponents. In the Central Empire, many were struck down because they had underestimated their opponents. The ones who had managed to survive this long in the Central Empire were all men that were as cunning as a fox.

Tuoba Yan lifted his head and surveyed the layout of the mountainous forest around them. The hills had irregular patterns and the forest grew lush and thick. A glimpse of chilling light glimpsed across his eyes as he announced, “Let’s stop here for a while. Wait for me to set up an array.”

“Duke knows how to mark arrays?” Zuoqiu Gongye asked, surprised. The art of arrays was extremely complex. In the entire Nanman Kingdom, there was not a single person who had been able to learn the art of arrays. It was said that the Oracle Sect of the Central Empire was extremely proficient in it while the other sects could barely scratch the surface of the art. They definitely would not be able to spontaneously make use of the terrain around them to set up an array.

“I know a little.” Tuoba Yan smiled. When he was young, he had assassinated a disciple of the Oracle Sect and obtained a catalog of arrays. The catalog was incredibly intricate with a total of three arrays detailed in it. He had only managed to learn one of them. By using the mountainous terrain, he could set up an array.

Tuoba Yan leaped over to a boulder about four to five meters tall. He wrapped his arms around the boulder. With a huff, he had lifted the gigantic boulder and hurled it five to six meters away. It landed on flat ground with a large bang. He surveyed around him for a while, then, using his palm, he fell several large trees.

Observing Tuoba Yan’s work, Zuoqiu Mingye whispered in Zuoqiu Gongye’s ear, “Brother, the old man says that we don’t have to worry if he’s here. It seems to be that he’s more afraid than any of us here.”

Zuoqiu Gongye grinned and said, “To be able to establish the position that he has in the Central Empire is no easy task. Him being so cautious does not do us any harm and only helps us anyway. The manner of Dongmen Yingyang and Sikou Fengyan’s deaths was too bizarre. It was said that when Dongmen Yingyang died, his body was scorched like charcoal after being burned by a special kind of flame. Sikou Fengyan, on the other hand, died an even more horrifying death. His body was destroyed where not a single piece of his body was left intact. This could only be done by some near Mystique Venerable Rank. It could be reinforcements sent by Mingwu. It wouldn’t hurt to be more careful.”

Zuoqiu Mingye nodded slightly. No matter what, he was always one step behind Zuoqiu Gongye.

The other Earthly Venerable Rank fighters observed from afar.

Tuoba Yan worked on it for some time and he had nearly finished his work.

The Zuoqiu siblings looked ahead. Many boulders and trees had been moved around. Some adjustment was made to the terrain as well.

However, it was still difficult to see if there was something special behind all of it.