flstandardbreds Chapter 249 Young Man on a White Horse Drunk in the Spring Breeze 23
Chapter 249 Young Man on a White Horse Drunk in the Spring Breeze 23
The one who entered the number one pavilion in the world was my elder brother!
Qi Tianchen and the five eunuchs—
Xiao Ruofeng suddenly raised his head and looked towards the entrance of the World's Number One Pavilion, where Qi Tianchen's hand had already landed on Bai Te's forehead.
We must not let them disturb my brother's attempt to enter the pavilion!
Xiao Ruofeng's eyes were firm, and in the blink of an eye, he was beside Qi Tianchen.
"Imperial Advisor, wait!"
……
Inside the No. 1 Pavilion in the World.
Xiao Ruojin looked at the plaque in front of him with a leisurely expression; to be precise, he was looking at the sword mark on the plaque.
Legend has it that sixty years ago, a prince who had been living among the common people became a disciple of a sword immortal. Later, the prince returned to Tianqi City, but was framed by villains. Just as he was being led to the execution ground and about to be beheaded, a sword came from the west, its light as bright as a rainbow. In the end, the sword immortal rescued the prince from the hands of three thousand imperial guards and sixteen top masters of Tianqi City. As he left, he swung his sword at the plaque of Tianqi City, sealing a sword intent on it, as a warning to those people not to target the prince again.
The plaque that had been cleaved by the sword immortal was now right in front of Xiao Ruojin.
"Tsk tsk tsk! It seems that the emperor from sixty years ago was quite frugal. Even though the plaque is so badly damaged, he still can't bear to throw it away. He's practically a junk collector."
Xiao Ruojin clicked her tongue twice, shook her head, and said disdainfully.
The sword immortal was very powerful, with a high level of cultivation. The sword intent sealed in the plaque was also very powerful, but none of that mattered to him.
That sword intent would only affect those with weak willpower, but he had been through so much time, and both his soul and willpower had been tempered to be extremely resilient. How could he be frightened by a single sword intent and stop in his tracks?
"What then, the question of the world?"
Xiao Ruojin chuckled lightly: "You've got quite the nerve!"
With that, he turned around and went upstairs.
As soon as Xiao Ruojin stepped onto the second floor, she felt that everything in front of her was dark.
Before he could even realize what was happening, a beam of light suddenly appeared in front of him, and a figure slowly turned around inside the beam.
That person had the same appearance as him, or more accurately, the same appearance as the original owner of this body.
The man wore a fake smile and whispered to him, "I am you. If you want to get through this, you have to kill me..."
Before he could finish speaking, a sword pierced the man's chest.
A sharp pain shot through him instantly, and the man stared at Xiao Ruojin in disbelief; "You actually killed another version of yourself without any mercy?"
Xiao Ruojin was too lazy to listen to him. She drew her sword directly, and blood splattered everywhere. The man's face, filled with disbelief, resentment and hatred, slowly faded away.
As the person disappeared, the surrounding darkness vanished, and Xiao Ruojin's vision returned to brightness.
He flicked his sleeves, thinking disdainfully: What kind of thing dares to say "I am you"? If you were me, wouldn't you know that my greatest skill is taking my own life?
Xiao Ruojin sneered inwardly and continued walking, as if nothing had happened.
The number one tower under heaven is not for martial arts skills, but for a higher realm of being.
Xiao Ruojin couldn't figure out what the test was for on the first floor; he essentially cheated his way through.
The second level requires him to overcome his inner demons, but this is not difficult for him either.
All he wanted was to go home, but this building clearly didn't reflect his true feelings.
As for the third layer?
Amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood, is he afraid?
The moment Xiao Ruojin stepped into the third floor, she was completely captivated by the reliefs on the walls.
That was a battlefield that could be described as hell on earth.
The earth seemed to be churning by an enraged beast, with broken armor, snapped spears, and rusty swords scattered across the black soil, each silently testifying to the intensity of the war.
Soldiers on horseback brandished their spears, trampling over corpses, their hooves kicking up mud and blood.
The raging flames ravaged the battlefield, and countless people howled and struggled in the flames, trying to escape this endless torment.
A general with an iron mask stood in the center of the flames, raising his long sword to the sky and roaring wildly. Seventeen heavily armored cavalrymen followed closely behind, shouting deafeningly, as if they wanted to tear the sky apart.
Just as Xiao Ruojin was about to step forward to examine the relief sculpture more closely, a cold snort suddenly came from behind her. The sound was like an ice blade slicing across her spine, sending chills down her spine.
He's the gatekeeper!
Xiao Ruojin's gaze suddenly turned serious. Sensing the approaching whooshing sound behind her, she swayed and quickly dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the sudden attack.
However, just as he regained his footing, he suddenly realized that his surroundings had undergone a dramatic change.
The scene before me was like a dream, yet so real it was suffocating—
The scene depicted in the relief was vividly displayed before his eyes.
The air was thick with the smell of burnt earth and blood, and the corpses lying on the ground silently testified to the cruelty of war.
The raging flames leaped in the night, turning everything around them crimson.
Every neigh of a warhorse, every desperate cry of a soldier, seemed to echo from these ruins, sending chills down one's spine.
"This world is indeed mysterious..." Xiao Ruojin murmured. But if it is already so mysterious, why can't it solve the problem on his body?
"This world is quite ordinary; the only mysterious thing is this number one pavilion under heaven," the pavilion guardian said calmly, his voice coming from all directions, as if it were ringing in Xiao Ruojin's ear.
"You are indeed quite capable. You went from the first floor to the third floor in less than a quarter of an hour. You remained calm even when faced with this cruel scene, showing the composure of a great general." The guardian continued, "It was not in vain that I broke the rules of the Ascension Pavilion and made an exception to let you enter and ascend the pavilion."
"But now that you've come to my place, you should have given your name first, instead of remaining silent like this."
“Prince Jingyu, Xiao Ruojin.”
"Prince Jingyu?" The gatekeeper was taken aback. "You're a member of the Xiao royal family?"
“That’s right!” Xiao Ruojin nodded. “It’s only polite to reciprocate. Since I’ve already introduced myself, you should introduce yourself in return.”
"Hehe!" The guardian's voice revealed a hint of laughter. After learning that the person in front of him was the eldest brother's descendant, his previous displeasure had vanished. He stretched out a finger and suddenly slid it.
The scene before her eyes changed rapidly, with one cruel scene after another flashing before Xiao Ruojin's eyes like a revolving lantern.
Even Xiao Ruojin, who had been through many battles in her previous life, couldn't help but sigh when she saw these scenes.
He had already recognized that the battle before him was the earth-shattering battle that took place when Xiao Yi captured the capital of the Former Qin Dynasty.
When the Qin emperor faced Xiao Yi's army at the city gates, he actually used a strange method to turn Tianqi City, which was then the Qin capital, into a living hell.
In the end, Xiao Yi personally took to the field, leading the Five Pillars and Twelve Generals to kill the aliens and capture Tianqi City in one fell swoop, thus announcing the end of the Great Qin Dynasty.
Historical records indicate that nearly 100,000 soldiers died in that battle, demonstrating its extreme brutality.
Later, Grand Tutor Dong Li painted the battle as "The Shattered Kingdom and Destroyed Heaven," but because the painting was too violent, it was eventually placed on the top floor of the library by Xiao Yi.
One general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand!
Seeing that Xiao Ruojin showed no fear, the gatekeeper knew that such methods would be useless against him, so he simply flicked his sleeve. Instantly, the two returned to the third floor.
“Your willpower and soul are very strong, so the first two trials were no challenge for you,” the guardian said slowly.
"However, what I'm really curious about is the power you used earlier. It doesn't seem to be ordinary internal energy or true qi, but rather something that emanates from your soul."
"It is formless and colorless, yet it contains immense power. Even with my current level of cultivation, you cannot detect its existence without using that power. What exactly is it?"
"That's just a technique I created myself, nothing to mention," Xiao Ruojin said casually. "Let's talk about ascending to the fourth level and entering the Divine Travel realm."
The gatekeeper couldn't help but laugh: "You seemed so calm and composed just now, like a great general, but now you're getting anxious."
Before his laughter had even faded, he abruptly changed the subject, his tone laced with a hint of mockery: "It's very simple to get past this, just answer one question for me."
"What's the problem?" Xiao Ruojin asked immediately.
The guard's smile faded, and his voice became serious: "What are you fighting for?"
"Why fight?" Xiao Ruojin pondered for a moment, then said directly, "I want to unify the world and become the ruler of all under heaven."
Upon hearing this answer, the gatekeeper was first stunned, as if he could not believe his ears, and then burst into laughter: "What a big mouth! Even Xiao Yi back then failed to unify the world, yet you dare to utter such arrogant words."
Xiao Ruojin scoffed: "How can you be so sure that what I said was just empty talk? Just because Xiao Yi can't do it doesn't mean I can't."
The gatekeeper stopped laughing and looked at Xiao Ruojin with surprise: "As expected of the boss's descendant, he truly inherits his domineering aura."
At this point, he sighed, "Back in the day..."
The gatekeeper had probably been away from people for too long, and now that he had opened up, he talked on and on, recounting how Xiao Yi started his rebellion, how he fought on the battlefield, and how he destroyed the pre-Qin dynasty. He even wanted to tell you how many bowls of rice Xiao Yi ate in one sitting.
What can Xiao Ruojin do?
He couldn't defeat him in a fight, and he also needed the help of the guardian to enter a state of spiritual travel.
Left with no other choice, he could only listen patiently.
After a long while, the gatekeeper stopped, still seemingly unsatisfied. He then waved his hand and said with a refreshed expression, "You can go up to the fourth floor now."
Xiao Ruojin's brow twitched, and she asked with some surprise, "So I can go up to the fourth floor now?"
"Yes! But before that, I want to give you a gift."
As he spoke, the guard reached out and tapped Xiao Ruojin's forehead.
Instantly, a refreshing stream of true energy flowed from the guard's fingertips into his body.
"I bestow upon you a wisp of true energy to help you ascend to the heavens in one step. I hope that you will also achieve great things in the future and live up to my words today."
Xiao Ruojin silently sensed the changes in the energy within his body. At this moment, he could clearly feel that his cultivation level was constantly improving.
Soaring high, carefree and unrestrained, half-step divine travel... a divine journey through the mystical realm.
As his cultivation level rose, thunder roared in the sky, clouds began to gather, and as the wind and clouds shifted, the surrounding air trembled, as if the whole world was holding its breath for this moment to arrive.
Xiao Ruojin closed her eyes and suddenly drifted into a dreamlike state, traveling thousands of miles.
Amidst the misty sea of clouds, a single thought can transport you to the ends of the earth.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the Number One Pavilion in the World.
"So this is what it truly means to rise to the top in one step."
In the blink of an eye, one's spirit travels thousands of miles, roaming freely across the heavens and earth, feeling as ethereal as an immortal.
The air around her seemed to become lighter, and Xiao Ruojin felt as if her body was being lifted up by an invisible force, like a light feather soaring freely in the wind.
It felt as if I had transcended the limitations of time and space, experiencing an unprecedented sense of freedom and ease.
In that instant, he felt as if he had truly become a god.
The surrounding scenery was both blurry and clear in his eyes. Mountains, rivers, forests, flowers and grasses all flashed by before his eyes, and he took in every detail.
The connection between the mind and the universe becomes closer, and subtle changes between heaven and earth can be clearly felt in every gesture.
He was incredibly sensitive to everything, from the distant mountain silhouettes appearing and disappearing in the mist, to the babbling of the nearby stream, and even the slight tremors of the ground beneath his feet.
It's hard to explain, yet you can clearly feel that he has become a part of this world.
This feeling was so new to him that, for a moment, he felt a sense of belonging to the world.
Even after returning from her long journey, Xiao Ruojin was still savoring the feeling.
But after he felt the changes in his body, a trace of disappointment flashed quickly in the depths of his eyes. Although he had expected it, he still couldn't help but feel a sense of loss.
As expected, wandering in the mystical realm could not solve his problems.
Looking back on the high expectations I had when I first came into this world, and then comparing them to the shattered hopes now, this huge psychological gap is more disheartening than ever before.
The gatekeeper noticed that there was no joy on his face and couldn't help but ask in surprise, "You've now ascended to the Divine Realm, why do you seem so disappointed?"
Xiao Ruojin was taken aback by the question, but quickly recovered, as if her earlier disappointment had never happened, and her face regained its usual smile: "Not at all! This is wonderful news, how could I not be happy?"
The gatekeeper shook his head: "You concealed it well, but you couldn't fool my eyes."
"Perhaps... you can talk to me. Although I may not be able to help you, I can still listen to your feelings and let you vent."
Now that she had been seen through, Xiao Ruojin stopped pretending. She slowly wiped the smile off her face and sighed, "I appreciate Mr. Xie's kindness, but I'll have to handle my own affairs."
Regarding this answer—