Sun Moon Empire, western suburbs of Mingdu.
A giant sword arrived through the air, without alerting any faction within the Sun Moon Empire. Not far below the giant sword, the West Mountain range sat upon the land.
"I seem to have sensed it."
Riding on the giant sword, Ning Tian felt the ring on her finger—the one birthed from the mutated Yearning Heartbroken Red—grow slightly hot, and a hint of joy rose in her heart. Because the existence below was undoubtedly related to the ring. Otherwise, there absolutely wouldn't be such a resonance.
"It seems the God of Love's inheritance is within this West Mountain."
Saying this, Ning Tian slightly turned her head, looking at Chen Junting who had half-crouched down. "Brother Junting, let's go down."
The hope in her eyes was a thirst for inheriting a divine throne. After all, as a soul master with both talent and ambition, who wouldn't want to step onto the path to godhood? Previously, she had the thought, but it wasn't strong; her thoughts about becoming a god mostly rested on her own Brother Junting. But when she learned that she actually had such a connection with the God of Love, and even had the chance to inherit His divine throne, this thought sprang up uncontrollably.
"Alright."
Chen Junting nodded slightly, not saying anything else. It was just that as he looked down at this crisis-ridden West Mountain range, his eyes held an inexplicable complexity. Thinking back to when he first set foot in Mingdu to participate in the Soul Fighting Tournament, in order to avoid entering the Qiankun Wenqing (Love Querying) Valley, he had formulated a series of plans, and only with great difficulty did he avoid falling into the trap of that valley.
He never expected that today, it would be his turn to travel thousands of miles to the West Mountain, and then actively drill into the Qiankun Wenqing Valley. How should he put it... he always felt a sigh similar to "the wheel of fortune turns."
Whoosh—
As these thoughts crossed his mind, he controlled the giant sword to descend.
But the very moment they approached the sky above the West Mountain, Chen Junting's expression changed drastically. Simultaneously, he reacted instantly, reaching out along with his sleeve and grabbing Ning Tian by the waist.
The next second, the giant sword supporting them instantly dissipated, and a strange fluctuation swept the two into the West Mountain.
"Ah—"
The sudden change made Ning Tian subconsciously exclaim. But the warmth and force from her waist made her react instantly. Before Chen Junting could make a move to ensure they landed smoothly, she immediately made a move she thought was correct: raising her right hand, nine-colored radiance shone brilliantly.
A peony-like tower base bloomed, and a nine-colored Glazed Tile Pagoda appeared in Ning Tian's palm. Immediately after, Ning Tian tossed the small pagoda in her palm downward, and blood-red light blossomed.
A giant pagoda as tall as a mountain towered within the valley.
With their minds connected, in a flash of lightning, Chen Junting understood Ning Tian's thoughts. Without needing words or eye signals, he easily adjusted his posture in mid-air and fell toward the top of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.
Bang—
Accompanied by a sound like a heavy strike, Chen Junting had safely landed on top of the pagoda with Ning Tian.
"It seems this area forbids flight and hovering."
Although the words were a statement, they also carried a hint of a question. And Ning Tian's gaze toward Chen Junting was also seeking confirmation. It was precisely based on this conjecture that, in the instant they fell, Ning Tian didn't adopt the idea of creating a mid-air foothold for Chen Junting, but instead directly deployed her external soul bone. Even though she hadn't used it in a long time, she could still fly, after all.
"That's right."
After he arrived in the sky above the West Mountain, Chen Junting felt as if the entire sky were working against him. No matter what, a massive pressure would forcibly suppress him. The strength of that pressure just now had clearly surpassed the range of what human power could contend with. And the two falling from the sky was precisely for this reason.
Due to the domineering nature of the "No-Fly" effect, any means of flight above the West Mountain would lose its function. This naturally included "Sword-Riding Flight," which was why the giant sword collapsed on its own.
He had actually overlooked this point.
Hmm... it couldn't really be called an oversight, either. After all, a novel from his past life had so much content; how could he have read and remembered every single plot point word for word? Being clear on the general outline, plus the major events, was already pretty good.
"Let's go down first and then talk."
He gazed at the surrounding mountain range, but it was shrouded in heavy fog, making it hard to see clearly. Even when his spiritual power radiated outward to investigate, it hit a wall, having not the slightest effect.
"Okay."
Hearing Chen Junting say this, Ning Tian naturally had no objections. Controlling the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, the originally mountain-high pagoda rapidly shrank as if dehydrating, constantly becoming smaller. Only when the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda was just four or five stories tall, and Chen Junting could clearly see the ground, did he leap down, landing safely and flawlessly on the ground.
At the same time, Ning Tian also dispelled her Martial Soul True Body.
However, at this moment, if they looked up, they could see the sky was already covered in thick fog. Only the area less than five meters above the ground lacked too much fog. Moreover, the fog in the sky faintly showed changes in color.
"Below, we should be following the ring's guidance, right?"
Having already realized the abnormality of this fog, Ning Tian shifted her attention to the ring in her hand. At this moment, the rings on her hand and Chen Junting's hand shone brilliantly, appearing somewhat wondrous in this environment, as if echoing each other.
"That's right."
Chen Junting raised his hand, constantly changing the direction of the ring. Until it pointed at a certain spot, making the light emitted by the ring shine even brighter.
"With this thick fog shrouding the sky, it completely affects the valley. Even within the valley, spiritual power can't be used to investigate. This makes it even more impossible to distinguish north, south, east, and west. If we relied on ourselves to walk, who knows where we'd get lost."
The two talked as they started moving. The further they walked in the direction the ring pointed, the brighter the light on the ring became. Even at the end, within the originally pink light emitted by the ring, there was faintly a gold and silver hue.
Right at this moment, a sudden warning sign appeared.
"Careful!"
Even though he knew living creatures could hardly survive here, Chen Junting remained vigilant, unable to guarantee what unexpected mishaps might occur. Thus, with sword crisscrossing, the fierce Seven Kill Sword surrounded the two of them.
At the same time, both subconsciously looked in one direction. Immediately after, a gold-and-silver dual-colored halo surged from the distant shadows like a tide, instantly covering the two.
However, as this overwhelming gold-and-silver dual-colored light passed through the sword aura, it didn't produce any impact. On the contrary, this overwhelming gold-and-silver dual-colored halo echoed with their rings from afar, causing a strange feeling to permeate their hearts.
Is this related to the God of Love's inheritance?
Looking at the faint gold and silver color rendering on herself and Brother Junting, Ning Tian's expression changed slightly.
But as soon as this thought emerged, a strong pulling force began to surge from the gold-and-silver dual-colored light. If her cultivation wasn't decent, she would probably have been pulled and sent flying to the side.
The sudden change made Ning Tian slightly panicked. But seeing Chen Junting's calm expression, the panic that originally rose in her heart was quickly suppressed, returning to normal.
Seemingly noticing this, Chen Junting looked at Ning Tian. A smile appeared on his lips. "Don't worry, it's fine."
Immediately after, the gold-and-silver dual-colored traction force pulled at them, forming a giant ball of light that soared into the air, shooting directly toward the sky. The problem of being unable to fly seemed to no longer exist under the traction of this gold-and-silver dual-colored light.
Very soon, Chen Junting and Ning Tian were pulled into the thick fog, surrounded by fog so dense they couldn't see their hands in front of their faces.
About a quarter of an hour passed. Suddenly, their vision brightened abruptly; they had rushed out of the thick fog.
"This is..."
Ning Tian, and even Chen Junting, widened their eyes the moment they rushed out, revealing an incredulous look in their eyes. Even though they had some mental preparation, when everything presented before their eyes was like this, they still felt it was incredible!
The magnificent shock before them far exceeded the shock they felt when they entered the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. What met their eyes was a vast lake surrounded by mountains, the water so clear they could see the bottom.
And this lake water also presented a gold-and-silver dual color.
In the most central area—the middle of the lake—there was a circular patch of golden lake surface. Intense golden light continuously radiated outward from it, just like a sun emitting warmth.
Surrounding it was a crescent silver moon. The silver moon was on one side of the golden sun-like lake surface, nestling against it, emitting waves of silver radiance.
This vast lake was completely dominated by the gold-and-silver dual colors. That dual-colored light continuously spread outward, climbing up the mountains and spreading further away. It looked similar to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, though without the embellishment of immortal herbs, but how should one put it...
The feeling brought by the gold-and-silver dual-colored lake alone surpassed the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and the embellishment of its many immortal herbs. This was something hard to describe in words or compare to; one could only say:
How magnificent, how dazzling this was!
The two looked at the scene before them with slight shock, the amazement and incredulity revealed on their faces hard to conceal.
As they felt themselves getting closer and closer to the center of the lake under the traction of the gold-and-silver dual-colored light, Chen Junting was the first to come back to his senses, and Ning Tian followed closely after his reminder.
"It truly deserves to be the Qiankun Wenqing Valley." While being pulled, Chen Junting actually still had the leisure to sigh with emotion. "Just this scenery alone is worthy of the title of the foremost of the world's Three Great Treasure Basins."
This title naturally didn't come out of nowhere. Rather, Chen Junting had seen it in the "Poison Chapter" of the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record that Tang San had left at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Although Tang San as a person wasn't great, this Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record was quite good; it even had records on how the "Qiankun Wenqing Valley" was formed. Otherwise, he wouldn't have brought Ning Tian here.
Because regarding the origin of the Qiankun Wenqing Valley, the "Poison Chapter" said this: Legend has it that in the Divine Realm, the God of Love was betrayed by her own lover, and in utter grief, fell to the mortal realm, thus forming it.
Heaven and earth turned upside down, sun and moon became a lake.
Because of the betrayal by her lover, the fallen God of Love extremely hated those who betrayed feelings. Once such a person fell into the Sun and Moon Lake of the Qiankun Wenqing Valley, it would trigger her wrath, thereby beginning the Qiankun Inquiry of Love. Only true lovers could leave here alive, and might even gain benefits. And all liars and deceivers would receive severe punishment.
"Brother Junting, then comes the Qiankun Inquiry of Love."
"That's right."
Chen Junting looked at the increasingly close Sun and Moon Lake and nodded slightly. "If I guess correctly, I'm afraid only when you and I pass the test of the Qiankun Inquiry of Love will the God of Love's true inheritance open up. In other words, the inheritance left by the God of Love will initially recognize you."
As soon as his voice fell, the two of them were pulled by that magical force to the very center of the lake, right above the golden sun and silver moon.
At this moment, the golden sun and silver moon in the lake instantly became dazzling. Immediately after, that clear golden light and bright silver light instantly soared up, swallowing them both completely.
This force was exceptionally bizarre. After being swallowed, the two didn't feel any impact on their bodies; they only had the illusion that their bodies seemed to be out of their control.
No! It couldn't be called an illusion; it was real!
Under the effect of this gold-and-silver dual-colored light, the sword aura surrounding Chen Junting's body collapsed, and the Seven Kill Sword was forced back into his body.
The next instant, both of them were covered by a layer of gold-and-silver dual-colored light. At the same time, a bubble-like gold-and-silver dual-colored light shield appeared over each of them, and they hovered in mid-air.
Subsequently, the two were separated, and the two gold-and-silver dual-colored bubbles fell toward the golden sun in the center of the lake.
Plop—
Very soon, Chen Junting fell into the lake water, enveloped in that layer of gold-and-silver light around his body.
Entering the lake water, what Chen Junting felt was not the golden light on the lake surface, but a spinning world. Everything around him was constantly changing as if the world were spinning. Even with his current cultivation, he still felt waves of dizziness. It seemed the stronger a person's spiritual power, the greater the stimulation they received.
But before this dizziness could sweep over his entire body, the Rakshasa God mark at Chen Junting's glabella shone brilliantly, domineeringly expelling most of this dizzy feeling. As for the tiny remaining bit of sensation, it could only be called a sense of foreignness.
This allowed Chen Junting to have the energy to observe outside the bubble, but besides lake water, there was only lake water; there was nothing else.
Finally, that remaining sense of foreignness gradually disappeared.
His gaze remained unchanged, but it gave him the feeling that this was somewhere else; it seemed this was a more translucent world, not at the bottom of the lake, and everything around was like it was made of gold-and-silver dual-colored crystal. However, he was still inside that bubble, but his foothold was a giant circular platform.
This platform was entirely pale gold, about twenty meters in diameter. There were two opposing one-meter-diameter circles on the edge. The one he was standing on was his foothold, and standing on the opposite circular platform, needless to say, was naturally Ning Tian.
As for above, it was the light of the golden sun and silver moon, and the surroundings were a blur of light and shadow. Besides this, there was nothing else.
He gave the bubble a light poke... Hmm, it didn't break; it was actually quite tough.
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