Beyond the Divine States

Chapter 31 It's like a Dream

In the dark black furnace, the light that should be as bright as the sun and the moon, faded away bit by bit, just like the dying fireflies.

All the lights in the underground palace were swallowed, except that the votary lamps were faintly luminous on the four long and dark tunnels in the distance, just like the peeping eyes.

The underground palace was so quiet that even a dropping needle could be heard.

Zhao Xiang'er looked ahead in a daze. She made a fist and withdrew the ancient sword with rich immortal intent. Staggering for a bit, she finally went exhausted and bent her knees. Her knees touched the ground feebly with the rise and fall of her chest.

She closed her eyes and recalled what happened these days. The memories just flashed across her mind. When she reminisced all the dangerous scenes, she started to focus on the present.

Feeling that the Qi finally faded away in the furnace, she gradually gave a smile long after confirming the extermination of the old fox.

Her smile was just like a flower but no one was lucky to see it, for it was blooming in the depths of the underground palace.

Kneeling on the cold bricks quietly, she stayed silent for a long time until the spiritual power grew bit by bit from the sea of Qi of her Zifu and then nurtured her bones and meridians.

Zhao Xiang'er rose by holding the sword and walked to one of the tunnels with difficulty.

The tunnel led to the Qianyu Palace.

All the plots had surfaced by now. In this contest concerning life and death, she thought further, surely making her the winner.

Ten years ago, she went into the underground palace accidentally for the first time. The image of the old fox, just like the most horrid demon in the world, made her unable to move only by imposing the momentum across the furnace seal. Even after her mother came to the underground palace to take her away, the painful t*****e of the day and the night still kept haunting her like dark clouds.

Now the dark clouds finally turned into rain. After it rained for one day and one night in the imperial city, it finally cleared up with the bright moon.

She slowly walked forward along the tunnel.

At the end of the tunnel, the young girl held her breath and leaped forward to lift the ruins piled up above the old well. Then she got out of the well and looked around.

Those were supposed to be magnificent palaces but now, they had become desolate ruins washed by the autumn rain.

The rain had stopped but the clouds didn't completely disperse, which were still floating thinly and fast.

Sitting by the broken well edge, Zhao Xiang'er said gently, "If this is a test, what grade can I get then?"

Nobody replied to her.

She thought that her mother would appear before her after she killed the old fox.

However, nothing happened.

Of course, she didn't believe her mother had passed away. How could the ragtag crowd kill her mother? Her mother was a true immortal outside the secular world, distant and aloof, who was even deliberately distant from Zhao Xiang'er.

Yet, Zhao Xiang'er didn't feel too disappointed.

The imperial city and the people were secured. Those who besieged the Qianyu Palace were mostly dead. None of the assassins of the State of Jin and Rong survived. Even the old evil fox that encroached on the state's fortune was killed too.

This was the chilly autumn rain as well as the new rain of a new era.

She had done the best she could.

Watching the small state resigned to the current circumstances and established in the mountainous area, she finally gave a smile.

It had been a long day for her. Now, she was also tired. She only wanted to go back, take a shower, get changed and then have a sleep. As to the other things, she just felt like leaving them until tomorrow.

...

...

Lu Jiajia stared at the old fox vanish like fireworks and still didn't dare to believe what she had just seen.

The haughty old evil fox...just died like this?

What on earth happened?

Facing the imperial palace almost completely destroyed except the main hall, she had quite mixed feelings.

During the experience in the secular world, too many things happened beyond her expectation.

She noticed that there seemed to be a person lying in the blood before the imperial palace. In a hurry, she rushed over and found a dying woman. The woman's back was rolled over by the evil Qi, which was badly mutilated as if having been slashed by swords.

Lu Jiajia turned her over from the sticky blood carefully and transferred a mouthful of pure aura to sustain her heart and meridians. Then, she carried her to the temple stably and rapidly.

She dashed into the temple and directly put the woman into the blue-and-white sedan though the woman had blood all over her body.

At that moment, she suddenly felt as if putting someone into a coffin.

She immediately dropped the thought. The blue-and-white sedan was the treasure of her master's line. With the help of this treasure, one could recover from injuries tens of times faster than self-healing. If this thing couldn't work on the woman, she could hardly be saved by anyone in the whole South Continent.

About an hour later, the woman's eyelids twitched tens of times and finally, she opened her eyes with difficulty.

During her coma, Tang Yu felt that she had a long dream.

She dreamed of an infant being secretly carried out of the imperial palace by a woman chased by others. The woman, with tears all over her face, tripped and fell. As a result, the infant also fell on the ground and burst out crying.

The people after them also caught up with them and snatched the infant. The woman cried gut-wrenchingly and still failed to make them give the infant back.

Just when they were about to throw the infant to death, she glimpsed a figure. That was a woman dressed in fluttering clothes with long hair. The woman landed in the long street like a cloud that stayed unintentionally. She appeared so ethereal even in the dream.

She saved the infant and sent it to a poor family. Six years later, the infant became a little girl and then was sold into the imperial palace by the family again.

From then on, the little girl started to reside in the Qianyu Palace.

Somehow, Tang Yu knew that it was her past, which she couldn't have seen. Was it a hallucination...

She felt a serious headache and then opened her eyes dazzledly. The pain coming from her limbs was so severe that she kept groaning with a grimace. She mistook the pain for the hellfire burning her. Meanwhile, a blast of Qi as warm and soft as a mother's hug was surrounding her, offsetting the burning of the hellfire.

After a while, she finally opened her eyes and found herself in a sealed and narrow place. The curtains around seemed to be embroidered with blue flowers. Outside the curtain, white silk curtains were drooping quietly.

Was this...a cinerary casket?

She felt absurd at first.

Then she saw out of the white curtains that a woman was staring at her with soft eyes.

Well... This soulbringer was so young and pretty, who looked just like a fairy in heaven.

As she thought so, she was still aching all over her body.

"Are you awake?" Lu Jiajia finally felt relieved with a sigh.

Tang Yu heard her and subconsciously said, "Yeah." Then she regretted it because, in her memory, she shouldn't answer when a ghost asked her questions.

She looked at the gorgeous woman across the curtain nervously and suddenly felt something was wrong.

She felt the woman seemed somewhat familiar.

Then she was shocked. "It's you..."

She finally recalled that an immortal outside the secular world had entered the city in a blue-and-white sedan. At that time, she saw the immortal across the curtains from the distance.

Now, she became the one in the sedan while the immortal was outside. They were still blocked by the curtains.

As she got increasingly conscious, Tang Yu gradually became sober and asked, "Am I still alive?"

Lu Jiajia said with a nod, "Don't move for now. Stay in there for another hour and you will be fine."

Tang Yu felt the rich aura in the sedan and slightly nodded her head. "Thank you for saving my life."

Gazing at the woman before her, Lu Jiajia asked curiously, "What's your name? Why did you appear in the imperial palace?"

"My name is Tang Yu," the woman subconsciously replied.

"The imperial palace..." Then she was suddenly astonished and hastened to ask, "How is the old monster? What about Her Ladyship..."

Lu Jiajia answered, "The old evil fox is dead. Her Ladyship, well... You mean Zhao Xiang'er?"

Hearing that the old monster was dead, Tang Yu couldn't help laughing despite the serious pain all over her body and then said with admiration, "Yeah, exactly! Her Ladyship is invincible indeed. Even the old monster is no match for Her Ladyship!"

Lu Jiajia agreed with her. "She is quite impressive indeed. By the way, why are you in the imperial palace? Is it also part of her plan?"

Tang Yu said with a nod, "Of course. We made so many arrangements in the imperial palace only to wait for today's action."

She thought since everything was settled, she told Lu Jiajia roughly about the substitute plan after she and Zhao Xiang'er entered the palace.

Lu Jiajia was a loner. In the past, she devoted herself to pursuing Taoism, focusing on cultivating herself and practicing swordsmanship. All she wanted was to break through the mental barrier of the secular world so that she could gain the mastery of skills and reach the pinnacle of Taoism sooner or later.

As to the calculations of the secular world, she always didn't condescend to get involved.

However, until today, she finally encountered something she couldn't cut off and even almost died for it. Her mind was finally changed. Undoubtedly, she had to admire the girl much younger than her.

Lu Jiajia heard Tang Yu out and still felt confused. "As far as I know, it requires the imperial blood to operate the Rosefinch Flame Wand. Why can you do it?"

Tang Yu was slightly surprised. Instantly, she reminisced the previous dream and thought of her past that she had seen.

She had realized that the woman who saved her was the legendary goddess.

She should be an illegitimate daughter of the imperial family but her mother was involved in some conflict and got killed. Afterward, she was saved by the goddess and survived.

Now, on second thought, the goddess chose her for her blood so she became a pawn of the goddess and lived for more than 20 years luckily.

Had she deduced what would happen today from then on?

Thinking of that, Tang Yu felt frightened and had more admiration for Her Highness. Her Highness just deserved to the daughter of the goddess.

She couldn't help but laugh and meanwhile shed tears.

Looking at her emotional response, Lu Jiajia was confused but somehow, she could guess that Tang Yu should be an abandoned daughter of the imperial family. Now that she asked about it, Tang Yu thought of her pitiful life experience and couldn't help crying.

She didn't ask further.

After a while, Tang Yu gradually stopped sobbing.

She raised her hand with difficulty to wipe the corner of her eyes, saying, "I'm sorry."

Lu Jiajia said, "Now that you've survived from the calamity, you should cherish your life and let go of the annoyances beyond life and death."

How could these be insignificant... Tang Yu still felt a great deal of pain and yet nodded with a smile.

"Survived from the calamity..." Tang Yu mulled over the words and suddenly felt some other meanings. "Survived from the calamity? The old fox was so strong with the realm far higher than mine. When it bumped into me, I felt that my whole body was banged through... Why am I still alive?"

Lu Jiajia pondered for a moment and replied, "Maybe it's meant to be."

"Meant to be?" Tang Yu said with a grin, "My life is never in my hands."

Lu Jiajia asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Tang Yu's voice became determined. "At that time, I was supposed to die for sure but I didn't. It happened that you saved me... What were the odds of that?"

Lu Jiajia replied, "This blue-and-white sedan is an important treasure of my master. If one is not truly shattered physically and mentally, he will have a chance of surviving with the help of it."

Tang Yu shook her head and said, "No, you don't know the goddess. Since I survive, there must be a reason why I need to survive."

Looking at the beautiful figure behind the white curtain, she seemed to ask Lu Jiajia and also herself, "Why do I survive? Is there anything I need to do? What on earth is it..."