Northern Yan - Chapter 55: Opening the Hall of Celestial Timing Together

Mo Hao had been sitting in the cavern meditating for over half a month. At this moment, he was not practicing the Heart-Deriving Sword Technique or the Heaven-Shattering Divine Art, but was instead single-mindedly engrossed in mastering the Clarity-Origin Technique. This Clarity-Origin Technique was simply too crucial for the Qi-Condensation and Foundation-Establishment stages. The speed at which he could now recover his magical power using the Clarity-Origin Technique was already more than double what it had been back in the Profound Flame Abyss. This meant that if he were to enter the Profound Flame Abyss once again, Mo Hao would not need to rely on middle-grade spirit stones to recover his magical power and could easily breeze through the trials.

This realization left Mo Hao feeling both overjoyed and exasperated. He was overjoyed that his cultivation of the Clarity-Origin Technique had borne fruit, yet exasperated that he had not diligently practiced it much earlier, as doing so would have saved him a vast quantity of spirit stones.

Right now, he needed to seize every single moment to practice the Clarity-Origin Technique, because three days prior, the eighth Heavenly Time Tree had been activated, leaving only the final tree unawakened. Time was running short for him.

When his cultivation reached one month and four days, the entire mountain range and landscape of the Fluorescent Mist Secret Realm were illuminated as brightly as day. The Fluorescent Mist Secret Realm lost much of the mystery enshrouded by its fog. Nine pillars of light soared straight into the clouds, and Mo Hao, sitting inside the stone cave, felt a sudden ripple in his mind. He stood up, retracted the restrictive array barrier at the entrance, and simultaneously raised his head to look off in a certain direction, murmuring:

"The ninth tree has also been awakened. Is this the direction leading to the Hall of Heavenly Time?"

After hastily packing up his belongings, he headed toward the direction his inner intuition was guiding him. Along the way, the Fluorescent Mist Secret Realm, previously shrouded in darkness, revealed its true colors, but Mo Hao had no heart to admire them. In his mind, he carefully pondered the secrets Xu Jian had shared with him: the trial of the Hall of Heavenly Time concerned whether one could step into the half-step Foundation Establishment, and more importantly, Foundation Establishment itself.

It took him a full three days of flight to reach the place where the Hall of Heavenly Time had opened. Looking closely, wasn't this the exact riverside where he and Liu Yue had previously found and marked? This was the very place where he had rescued that female cultivator from the Cold Wind Ridge named Duan Xiangzi.

Mo Hao sensed that other cultivators had already arrived. However, he did not hide, but instead stood quietly in mid-air, gazing ahead. The guidance here was at its strongest, making one feel as though the blood and vital energy throughout their body were surging. There was no need to worry about those cultivators who possessed Heavenly Stones launching an attack on him here. Since these cultivators were able to acquire the Heavenly Stones, it meant they already knew the secret of the Hall of Heavenly Time. Inside the Hall of Heavenly Time, they were both rivals and non-rivals, and they would ultimately face nothing more than a challenge against themselves.

Before long, Mo Hao sensed a cultivator flying toward him. Turning his head to look, he saw it was Xu Jian. Xu Jian was still dressed in his customary black robes, seeming somewhat out of place in this world as bright as day. Xu Jian flew to Mo Hao's side and gently patted his shoulder:

"You really came after all! Excellent, I didn't misjudge you!"

"You too!"

A brief exchange of words, followed by a shared smile of mutual understanding, and the two stood together in this place awaiting the remaining cultivators who possessed Heavenly Stones.

In about a day's time, all nine cultivators had gathered at this location. Mo Hao had originally thought it would take a long time, but he had not expected these people to be so anxious.

The moment the ninth cultivator arrived, a booming roar echoed from beneath their feet. All the cultivators fell silent, watching the spectacle unfold. They saw a massive jade palace rising out of the ground completely out of thin air. The jade palace was translucent throughout, with every single piece of jade emanating a seven-colored radiance. When the entire jade palace fully presented itself before their eyes, everyone could not help but marvel at its grandeur.

This jade palace was a full fifteen zhang high, and its length and breadth were even more staggering. Nearly every part of the jade palace was constructed from those seven-colored jade stones. Sixteen jade pillars supported it in front, and the gates of the Hall of Heavenly Time were tightly closed. On the door hung a circular disk with nine small holes, suggesting that the nine Heavenly Stones needed to be placed upon it in order to open the Hall of Heavenly Time.

Seeing that none of the cultivators made a move, Mo Hao naturally did not act rashly either, simply waiting quietly in place.

Suddenly, all nine cultivators felt a jolt in their bodies, each sensing their blood and vital energy surging upward. A glowing Heavenly Stone emerged from within the body of every cultivator, and Mo Hao was naturally no exception. The shape of each Heavenly Stone was slightly different, and the inscriptions upon them varied even more. The nine Heavenly Stones flew up into the sky, forming a ring that precisely corresponded to each position on the circular disk, and slowly drifted toward the small holes on the disk.

The nine Heavenly Stones slowly embedded themselves into the nine small holes, and instantly, as if melting into them, not a single seam could be discerned on the circular disk anymore.

At that exact moment, the heavy doors of the Hall of Heavenly Time slowly swung outward. Everyone could clearly see that the interior was a vast, empty void, seemingly containing nothing at all. A few cultivators wore faces full of eager anticipation, itching to be the first to enter the Hall of Heavenly Time.

A strange sound rang out from within the opening gates of the jade palace, and immediately nine beams of light shot straight out, striking the nine cultivators directly. Mo Hao felt no discomfort and tried moving his arms to see if there were any abnormalities after being struck by that beam of light. However, he quickly realized that his entire body was completely paralyzed and unable to move. Guided by the pull of that radiance, he slowly drifted toward the gates of the jade palace.

During the flight, apart from being able to move his eyeballs, every other part of his body was entirely immobilized. Mo Hao felt like a mere puppet.

At this moment, the outside of the Fluorescent Mist Secret Realm was also trembling as if an earthquake were occurring. The cultivators of the Three Sects and One Sect all knew that the most mysterious Hall of Heavenly Time within the secret realm had opened. The nine pillars of light dimmed along with the opening of the hall. The three major sects each harbored their own hidden agendas; unlike when they had first arrived at the Fluorescent Mist Secret Realm and exchanged pleasantries, they now watched one another with expressions of guarded vigilance.

The Fluorescent Mist Secret Realm had now returned to its habitual nocturnal state, with demonic beasts and spiritual entities chirping endlessly. Everything seemed to have reverted to its former scenery, and everything returned to its customary tranquility. Shortly after the nine cultivators entered the Hall of Heavenly Time, the hall vanished from the earth once again.

***

Mo Hao had lost consciousness when entering the Hall of Heavenly Time. Not only him, but all nine cultivators had suffered the same fate, as if it had been deliberately orchestrated. When he slowly woke up, he could not help but feel his head slightly heavy. He sat up and circulated the Heaven-Shattering Divine Scroll to steady his mind, which made him feel somewhat better.

Looking around, the surroundings were extremely dim, with only the faint, sporadic glow of moonstone embedded in the walls. Mo Hao carefully observed and discovered that the walls were only three paces apart, making the space extremely narrow.

"We aren't going to fight right here, are we?"

Mo Hao felt a bit perplexed. With such a cramped terrain, fighting here would be extremely disadvantageous. Although he still had some confidence in his own strength, he was not arrogant enough to think he could clear the first trial against ten late-Qi-Condensation opponents in such a place. He tapped the wall lightly with the Cold-Paulownia Sword, finding the wall exceptionally smooth while producing a muffled sound.

This muffled sound indicated that the wall must be extremely thick. He struck the wall hard with the Cold-Paulownia Sword, and sparks flew instantly. Forget Qi-Condensation cultivators, even Foundation Establishment cultivators coming here would not be able to break out, let alone the fact that Foundation Establishment cultivators could not even enter the Fluorescent Mist Secret Realm. It seemed Xu Jian was right: cultivators who entered had to complete the trial, or else perish here.

"Are they really trying to trap people here to death?"

Mo Hao was not in a hurry, because he believed he had already spent a considerable amount of time here. If the trial had started, it would have begun long ago; there must be some trick to it.

He activated his Heavenly Eye divine ability, allowing his vision to reach several times further and see clearly in the faint light. However, the Heavenly Eye consumed a tremendous amount of magical power. After scanning his surroundings for a short while, he discovered this was a long corridor, with moonstones hanging along both walls, though their light was pitifully weak against the darkness here.

This place inevitably induced a sense of oppression. Ever since entering the Fluorescent Mist Secret Realm, he had barely seen any light; apart from the Profound Flame Abyss, everywhere else was filled with countless stars yet possessed an oppressive darkness.

He slowly felt his way forward. For some reason, he had an indescribable feeling in his heart—it closely resembled the precursor to a deviation in cultivation, yet was not quite it. Ever since waking up just now, he had gradually grown somewhat irritable, and he could not tell whether this was due to his own state of mind or the Hall of Heavenly Time itself.

After walking for two quarter-hours, he finally reached the end. However, the end was yet another wall. Yet this wall was strangely different from the ones on the sides; its material felt bizarre, even somewhat soft to the touch, and a punch landed upon it felt as though much of the force had been neutralized.

借助微弱的光芒 (Through the faint light), he saw a handprint on the wall. It seemed this was the key to unlocking the trial!

Mo Hao was about to press his hand against that handprint when suddenly, a fit of coughing echoed from behind him in the dark space. This sudden cough startled Mo Hao, causing cold sweat to break out all over his body. He abruptly spun around, placing himself on full defensive alert.

He saw a white, translucent old man floating over. Yes, white tinged with transparency, looking just like a wisp of white smoke, only much fainter.

Mo Hao stared at the old man, and two words instantly popped into his mind:

"A soul entity?"

A soul entity was similar to Liu Yue's state, yet there were still differences. Soul entities were born that way, whereas Liu Yue's divine soul had been forced to detach from her Azure-Water Golden-Dragon body out of helplessness.

Mo Hao stood without moving. If this soul entity had wanted to ambush him, it would have succeeded long ago; why bother using a cough to alert him? When the old man floated right in front of him, he could not help but remark:

"Well, well! This kid has decent guts; actually didn't turn tail and run. The few times I used to host brats like you, they would always spin around and sprint forward—goodness me, you couldn't stop them even if you tried! Tell me, am I really that terrifying?"

Hearing these words, Mo Hao was somewhat speechless, instantly understanding what the old man meant. In short, this old man liked playing pranks; it seemed the cough just now was deliberately meant to scare him.

However, what concerned Mo Hao was not this, but rather the word "host" the old man had used. This old man must be his guide.

"Are you a soul entity?"

The old man nodded and said:

"Consider you sharp-eyed. Another century has passed, and I finally get to see a living person. I'm truly delighted. I hope you put up a good performance, kid, and beat those other eight old geezers! Make sure you don't drop dead on the very first floor!"

Mo Hao asked doubtfully:

"Shouldn't there be only one guide? Does that mean there are eight other soul entities?"

The old man nodded and then shook his head, leaving Mo Hao speechless. Were you agreeing or denying?

"Counting myself, there should be ten. As for that final senior, you can only meet them if you successfully pass the five tiers of trials, and by then, there will be endless benefits waiting for you."

"Fine, then tell me how the trial starts!"

"What are you rushing for?! Can't you let me finish talking? I haven't seen a living person in so long, at least let me say a few words, otherwise if you perish on the first floor, wouldn't I get the short end of the stick?"

Mo Hao had no choice but to listen resignedly to the old man, occasionally answering some of his questions. They talked about everything from the heavens down to the earth, from river waters to oceans. The old man even occasionally brought up how dangerous the trials of the Hall of Heavenly Time were, making Mo Hao momentarily wonder if this wasn't a trial at all, but outright suicide.

However, the old man seemed to have talked his fill when he suddenly stated:

"If you regret it right now, I can send you out. You don't have to participate in this damned trial anymore!"

Mo Hao looked at the old man. Seeing him speak in such a serious manner about not needing to participate in the trial, Mo Hao felt no wavering in his heart whatsoever. When he came to participate in the trials of the Hall of Heavenly Time, he had already resolved to burn his boats.

Mo Hao shook his head and said there was no need, he was willing to give it a try!

The old man suddenly burst into hearty laughter:

"Very well, you've passed the first trial. Now you are qualified to participate in the trials of the Hall of Heavenly Time."

Mo Hao widened his eyes. So the old man had been tricking him the whole time, and this counted as a trial? He was truly left speechless and frustrated by this old man, feeling an urge to curse out loud. He had suffered through all that verbal torture for so long, only to find out it was all a trap to test him.

Fortunately, he had not been swayed by the old man's words. When the old man claimed it was extremely dangerous earlier, that must have been a bluff as well! While danger was undoubtedly true, it certainly wasn't exaggerated to that extent!

The old man looked at Mo Hao's expression with amused interest, raised a hand to point at the handprint on the wall, and said:

"Alright, I've satisfied my craving with all this nonsense. You can place your hand on that handprint now. Remember, using your full magical power to stimulate the handprint is the best choice. Although the opponents you encounter might become progressively stronger, the rewards you reap will also be the greatest. However much magical power you stimulate, that is the scale of difficulty you will face!"

Only a single thought echoed in Mo Hao's mind:

"If it's coming, let the strongest come. I'm going all out!"

With that, Mo Hao slowly placed his hand onto the handprint!