<b>Chapter 529: Secret Among Grave Secrets</b>
For as long as one could remember, no matter who the speakers were, they would immediately control their temperament when the name of Immortal Emperor Jiao Heng came up. There was no other option since Immortal Emperor Jiao Heng was the most dominant and arrogant person from the ancient era till now.
“Immortal Emperor Jiao Heng…” Lan Yunzhu could only sigh after hearing this name. She was not surprised at all.
To any cultivator, having twelve palaces was a heaven-defying achievement beyond comparison, but it became a matter of course for Immortal Emperor Jiao Heng.
“Having twelve palaces wasn't Immortal Emperor Jiao Heng's most glorious achievement in life, so very few people later on knew that he had twelve palaces.” Li Qiye explained with a smile.
Lan Yunzhu didn't know what else to say since the words “Jiao Heng” alone represented all there was to say. She calmed down and suddenly remembered something, then she spoke: “While you were cultivating, I took a stroll through the garden. Do you know what I saw? I actually saw a phoenix!”
“A phoenix? What kind of phoenix?” Li Qiye's eyes suddenly lit up.
She quickly answered: “At first, I thought I met an immortal phoenix, one of the mythical beasts, but after chasing for a while, I found out that even though this phoenix was about the size of a fist, it was still extremely powerful. I noticed that it entered a location with a violet energy that could make others easily lose their way, so I didn't dare to chase any further and had to come back.”
“That phoenix had five divine lights that turned into very long tail feathers, right?” Li Qiye inquired further.
“Yes! The bird's cry could tear apart the nine heavens. If it wasn't a young phoenix, then it was definitely a very amazing immortal medicine that was turning into one.”
At this time, Li Qiye's eyes became brighter than even starlight. It was as if his eyes could see through myriad dao of the heaven and earth. He then asked: “Where did it go? Quick, take me there!”
From seeing his expression, Lan Yunzhu understood that this matter was not so trivial, so she quickly led him to the place she stumbled upon before.
The two of them ran there and saw many King Medicines and nine transformations soulgrasses, but Li Qiye didn't even bat an eye to any of them. He was anxious to go to the place that Lan Yunzhu discovered.
“What is it, really?” Lan Yunzhu asked while leading the way after seeing his serious demeanor.
“I can't say for sure right now, I would have to see it with my own eyes to be certain.” Li Qiye replied as he shook his head.
In a short period of time, Lan Yunzhu took Li Qiye to the place where the phoenix disappeared. It was a small valley with broken brick walls, making it seem as if someone had lived here before.
Logically speaking, no one should have lived here, but considering how the name of this place was the lost alchemy garden of the immortals, maybe the person who lived here was an immortal!
The little valley was covered by a dense violet energy as if a treasure was about to come out. Despite its humble size, one would be easily lost once entrapped by this violet treasure; they would lose all sense of direction.
“This place…” Li Qiye stood in the same spot and looked around before murmuring while becoming lost in thought.
After looking for a bit, he aimed for a direction and ran with Lan Yunzhu there. Not too long after, they reached a precipice with no other path to go.
Next to the precipice was a little hole around the size of a fist. It was pitch black and seemingly bottomless.
Li Qiye narrowed his eyes then shot out two rays of light as if he wanted to pierce through it.
“How about we use our divine intent to check out this hole first?” Lan Yunzhu suggested after seeing Li Qiye looking at the small hole.
“It is no use, your divine intent won't be able to sweep it completely.” Li Qiye shook his head and said. He then pondered for a bit while looking at the small hole.
“Boom!” He opened his palace and a withered trunk that resembled a hand came out. With a whoosh, the dried trunk then took root inside the small hole.
“Whooosh!” A black light suddenly flashed. The dried trunk was taken by Li Qiye from the Thousand Islands. It was dead before he poured in a liquid, and a seed began to bud shortly after. The trunk looked like a spread palm with the middle hollowed like a tree.
A black portal then appeared on the tree as universal laws weaved together to form it.
This black portal was shiver-inducing since it looked as if it was connected to hell.
“Is this… Is this what you called a secret among secrets of the graves?” Lan Yunzhu looked at this scene and suddenly remembered something, prompting her inquiry.
Lan Yunzhu was also present when Li Qiye got this tree trunk from the Thousand Islands. At that time, she felt that he was being quite wasteful for cooking a young leaf of the World Tree into a liquid to pour on the tree.
However, after entering the Prime Ominous Grave and seeing Li Qiye using this tree trunk to obtain the defining treasure in the Secret Realm, Lan Yunzhu realized that he had been planning for a very long time before he entered the Prime Ominous Grave.
He was now using it again. She then remembered that Li Qiye said that each Grave Realm had a secret among secrets.
She then speculated that this little hole could be the secret among secrets that Li Qiye was talking about.
“You are right about that.” Li Qiye nodded and revealed: “This is indeed a grave secret among secrets. You are very lucky to meet such a big fortune. It is a shame that you couldn't stop the phoenix before it went back, but it is really not your fault. This thing is extremely powerful and stopping it is exceedingly difficult, unless it agrees to give you something or you are powerful enough!”
“That phoenix is the big fortune?” Lan Yunzhu emotionally asked. She didn't think that she would meet one.
“Yes, for you or any other person. If you could have that phoenix, then it would be quite incredible.” Li Qiye nodded and said: “But I am not satisfied with this phoenix since I want to enter the secret grave! This is a rare chance; I didn't expect for the entrance to actually appear.”
Lan Yunzhu seemed to have guessed a thing or two from Li Qiye's words, so she looked at him and asked: “Has no one entered the secret grave before? Do only these fortunes come out from inside?”
“Perhaps.” Li Qiye narrowed his eyes and said: “But if there were to be someone who had entered, then it could only be one person.”
She then curiously asked: “Who?” Where was this grave secret among secrets? Who had been to one before?
She also added: “Was it Immortal Emperor Di Yu?” She mentioned this emperor for a reason; he was the only person since the start of time to be rumored to have obtained the method for everlasting life.
“No.” Li Qiye denied that claim: “A person who had never existed or been heard of before. At least, this is what the future generations believe.”
Lan Yunzhu couldn't help but ponder this answer. A person who had never existed or had been heard of before? Then who was it?
Lan Yunzhu looked at the dry trunk taking root in the hole and asked: “Is this trunk another key? Just like the Prime Ominous Key, is it a key to open the top secret locations of the grave?”
“No.” Li Qiye answered: “It is not a key, but it is ten thousand times more precious than one. It contains an immemorial secret that no one knows about.”
Lan Yunzhu looked at it and, at this time, no longer underestimated it. Perhaps it was not only the key to the secret graves, maybe it also had some other usages.
Li Qiye hugged her waist and said in a serious tone: “Ready? We are about to go in and it might get rocky, be careful.”
Lan Yunzhu took a deep breath and nodded her head before speaking: “I am ready.”
She then grabbed his waist as well as Li Qiye shouted: “Open!”
The place that the dried trunk connected to suddenly created a vortex, and the black portal's black universal laws were all sucked up.
“Whoosh!” In just a moment, sand and pebbles flew everywhere. The black portal then sucked in Li Qiye along with Lan Yunzhu, who was hugging him tightly.
Once sucked in by the black portal, Lan Yunzhu felt her entire body being torn apart. This portal was different from an ordinary one.
“Crshhh!” Another rumble appeared and she felt as if she was being pushed out. Fortunately, Li Qiye was tightly grabbing her so she didn't fall and roll on the ground.
Once she opened her eyes, she noticed that they were standing on a high peak that arched through the high sky with circulating primordial energy.
A spectator would have the sensation that this mountain was from a scene at the beginning of the world, that this mountain was there at the world's inception. Looking upward, one would find that there was nothing except another high cliff in the sky. There was a giant wooden nest on top of the peak and primordial energy poured down from it like a sea of clouds.