Chapter Thirty-One: The Porcelain Box of Trials

“Blood Taiji?”

As Qi Guang uttered that phrase, the uneasy atmosphere thickened.

Hua Sheng quickly asked, “What does it mean?”

“The Eight Trigram formation shouldn’t look like this. I’ve never seen anything like it,” the Junior Supreme Lord replied, staring fixedly at the Taiji diagram on the ground. “All the trigrams are correct, but why is the Yang part within Yin-Yang colored red?”

“None of you have seen this before?” Hua Sheng looked around at the group.

Everyone exchanged bewildered glances.

“There seems to be some secret hidden in this blood-colored Eight Trigram formation,” the Junior Supreme Lord said, stepping forward.

He crouched beside the Blood Taiji, attempting to touch it, but before his hand made contact, he recoiled as if shocked.

“It’s some sort of immortal barrier,” Xuan Wen observed.

The trigrams surrounding the Taiji were the Eight Trigrams: Heaven, Earth, Thunder, Wind, Water, Fire, Mountain, and Lake. The Junior Supreme Lord pointed at the Heaven trigram and said, “Look, there are a few drops of blood on this trigram.”

Hua Sheng moved closer and inspected it. Indeed, several drops of blood had fallen upon the trigram, and one drop rested precisely on the outer edge.

“See, this drop is only half there,” the Junior Supreme Lord remarked.

“What does that indicate?” Mie Ying asked.

“It means this trigram isn’t just engraved into the ground—it’s a mechanism that can be opened. The remaining half-drop must be hidden beneath it.”

The Junior Supreme Lord placed two fingers upon the Heaven trigram, closed his eyes, and recited:

“Heaven and Earth, mysterious origin, myriad energies, I cultivate for countless eons to attest my divine power.
Within and beyond the Three Realms, only the Way is revered; my body is enveloped in golden light.
Invisible to the eye, inaudible to the ear, encompassing the world and nurturing all beings.
Recite once, and my body shines bright; Three Realms’ guardians and Five Emperors greet me.
All gods pay homage, thunder and demons flee; monsters lose form and souls vanish.
Within, thunder and lightning gods hide their names; wisdom flows, five energies surge.
Golden light swiftly appears, protects the true one—hasten as the Jade Emperor’s decree commands!”

A flash of golden light flared, but nothing happened.

Having practiced spells for some time recently, Hua Sheng had some understanding and asked, “Why did you recite the Golden Light Mantra?”

“No, that’s not the right spell. Perhaps it’s the Purification of Heaven and Earth?” The Junior Supreme Lord pondered for a moment, then pressed his fingers to the Heaven trigram once more and recited:

“Heaven and Earth are natural, impure energies disperse. Within the cave, mysteries abound, the Great Origin shines bright.
Divine powers from eight directions make me natural. The sacred talisman is proclaimed to the nine heavens;
Heaven’s response, primal force, binds and slays thousands of demons and ghosts.
The Mountain God’s Mantra, primordial Jade Text, recite once, cure illness and prolong life;
Traverse the Five Peaks, and the Eight Seas know; demon kings bow and guard my hall;
Evil dissipates, the Way’s energy endures.”

“Hasten as the decree commands!” As he finished, the massive stone box began to shake violently!

The Eight Trigram images around the Blood Taiji rose up. Beneath each trigram was a porcelain box of blue-and-white design, about the size of two palms pressed together.

“One porcelain box for each trigram,” Hua Sheng recalled the rules written on the ground—

“Protect the Eight Trigram porcelain boxes… withstanding the trial of the boxes…”

He continued, “I suspect these are the porcelain boxes mentioned in the rules! Since we must protect them, only by opening them will the treasure box containing the divine guide appear.”

At that moment, they noticed the porcelain box beneath the Heaven trigram had already been opened. The interior was not only small but very shallow, and even without leaning close, they could see it was empty. Yet, several drops of dark red liquid had splattered on the white bottom.

Considering the bloodstains scattered around, it was clear the liquid inside was also blood.

The Junior Supreme Lord said, “Perhaps the porcelain box beneath the Heaven trigram was opened by Rong Ping, and something happened to him as a result!”

“What the hell is this place!” Mie Ying was clearly anxious, barely able to contain herself.

Hua Sheng tried to comfort her, “Mie Ying, don’t panic. Maybe this is just the trial itself, only this round is particularly difficult.”

“Difficult? It’s dangerous!” Mie Ying was unwilling to listen.

“Perhaps what’s being tested is our courage—like those haunted houses in amusement parks?”

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Mie Ying seemed to calm a little after hearing this. If this was merely a trial, then Rong Ping’s disappearance might simply mean he’d been eliminated.

But Hua Sheng knew this was just a comforting lie. Testing courage hardly explained their predicament. It wasn’t that the Tianmu Trial couldn’t test courage, but Hua Sheng noticed that each round’s focus was reflected in its third character. If “Candlefire Battle Round” tested “battle,” and “Divine Heart Calculation Round” tested “calculations,” then this “Clever Box Seizure Round” must be about “seizure.”

“Seizure” implies forcibly taking something from its original owner. If it were a test of bravery, a word like “break through” or “rush” would be more apt.

Yet so far, apart from the porcelain boxes, they hadn’t encountered anything matching the “Clever Box Seizure Round” theme. The current situation felt both like and unlike a Tianmu Trial.

Each round had a set number of participants. If this final round didn’t, so be it. But what about the Supervising Immortal? In the previous round, the Supervising Immortal hid among the participants, but the chances of that happening again were slim—especially since Mie Ying was a special participant last time.

Why hadn’t the Supervising Immortal appeared? Was he not yet in the round, or hiding somewhere?

After comforting Mie Ying, Hua Sheng still couldn’t find an answer convincing even to himself. All he could do was press forward, having no better idea.

The trigrams around the Taiji were Heaven, Earth, Thunder, Wind, Water, Fire, Mountain, and Lake—the Eight Trigrams. Hua Sheng had studied them thoroughly in the Academy of Techniques. Their meanings were infinitely varied, but the most common explanations were:

Heaven represents the sky, Earth the ground, Thunder is storm, Wind is air, Water is fluid, Fire is flame, Mountain is stone, Lake is marsh.

From the rules glimpsed earlier, it could be inferred these were the “trial clever boxes” of the Clever Box Seizure Round. The Heaven box had been opened, but the other seven remained sealed.

“So, if we want answers, we need to open the other seven clever boxes,” Hua Sheng said.

“I’m not opening them! If you want to, go ahead!” Mie Ying shrank back. “I have no interest in this. If I'd known the Tianmu Trial would end up in such a cursed place, Seventh Sister wouldn’t have come.”

In contrast, Tian Ji Zi stepped forward unexpectedly and, without hesitation, opened the porcelain box beneath the Mountain trigram.

Pop! The lid knocked lightly against the box as it was opened.

Tian Ji Zi stood by the porcelain box, glanced inside, and said, “Empty.”

“Empty?” Qi Guang walked over and confirmed it. Indeed, the box was empty.

Tian Ji Zi moved to the Lake trigram’s box, opened it slowly.

“Still empty.” He looked inside.

Both the Mountain and Lake boxes were empty!

Mie Ying stepped forward, “That can’t be! If so, what does the text mean? Could we have misunderstood what the trial clever boxes are?”

The Heaven box had indeed been opened and bore bloodstains. But if the Mountain and Lake boxes were empty, was Rong Ping’s disappearance unrelated to the clever boxes?

Qi Guang said, “Let me try.”

He walked to the Earth box. As he opened the lid a crack, a crimson shadow shot out!

At the same time, a foul stench filled the air. Before anyone could react, the crimson shadow bit Qi Guang’s waist!

A closer look revealed a creature with sharp horns on its head, enormous wings on its back, and covered in red spikes.

Qi Guang let out a heart-wrenching scream, striking the creature’s head with his fists.

“Hasten, hasten as the decree commands! Hasten—ah—!”

The mortal disciple was tossed like a broken doll, blood splattering everywhere.

As the beast leapt from the porcelain box, it dragged out a white-robed shadow.

“Damn! It’s a beast! Qiongqi!” The Junior Supreme Lord rushed forward, striking the creature’s forehead with a palm. Blood gushed from its brow.

He landed and shouted, “Look at Qiongqi’s eyes!”

Only then did everyone notice that the monster, called Qiongqi, had been blinded—two iron rods stuck in its eyes. Its blood mingled with Qi Guang’s, splattering everywhere.

Mie Ying, her curly hair trembling, was nearly scared out of her wits and hid to the side.

Tian Ji Zi joined in, pointing at Qiongqi, “Sword technique!” A streak of sword light shot from his finger and pierced the creature’s belly.

The monster bit down savagely, and Qi Guang fell silent. Qiongqi retreated, dragging Qi Guang with it into the Earth box.

Hua Sheng lunged forward, trying to grab Qi Guang’s arm, but it was slick with blood and slipped from his grasp. The creature dragged Qi Guang back into the porcelain box.

The lid snapped shut, but then began to flip open and closed repeatedly, finally springing open once more. Hua Sheng rushed forward—the box was soaked in blood, but empty.

“Gone—gone!” Hua Sheng searched frantically. The creature and Qi Guang had vanished without a trace.

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Only the group remained, shaken and unsettled.

“How can this be?” The Junior Supreme Lord hurried over and examined the box—indeed, nothing remained but bloodstains.

As the two reeled from shock, Xuan Wen cried out, “Look! Whose corpse is that?”

Hua Sheng turned immediately. Xuan Wen lay on the ground, trembling, pointing at a white shadow ahead.

Could it be Rong Ping? Hua Sheng wondered, but upon approaching, he discovered it was a young woman in a white dress. He leaned in for a closer look and gasped.

Xuan Wen’s so-called corpse was a mistake—in reality, it was a life-sized doll. The doll was lifelike, down to the white dress and black hair. From a distance, it could easily be mistaken for a young woman lying on the ground.

What was horrifying was that both eyes had been gouged out—though fake, the sockets were bloody and raw.

No one could have predicted that, in the blink of an eye, the Clever Box Seizure Round would become so bizarre and gruesome.

“A—are there dead people?” Mie Ying asked in a trembling voice.

“No, just a fake person—a puppet,” the Junior Supreme Lord replied.

“Not Rong Ping?”

He shook his head, “Of course not.”

Xuan Wen asked, “What just happened? Who is this... person?”

The Junior Supreme Lord covered his mouth, looked closely, then shook his head, “I don’t recognize her. But this puppet’s attire doesn’t resemble that of Saint Peaceful.”

Tian Ji Zi stepped forward and glanced, “Looks like a mortal woman’s dress.”

Xuan Wen said, “Where did Qi Guang get dragged off to? What is going on here?”

The Junior Supreme Lord asked, “Mie Ying, do you recognize this puppet?”

“I won’t look! I won’t look! I won’t look!” Mie Ying repeated three times.

“You must look. Maybe it’ll help us figure out where the puppet came from.”

Reluctantly, Mie Ying covered her eyes and peeked through her fingers, whispering, “I don’t recognize it! I don’t know what this thing is, or where it came from! I’ve never seen anyone like this!”

The atmosphere grew heavier, a weight pressing on everyone’s hearts.

Hua Sheng asked the Junior Supreme Lord, “Earlier, I heard you call that monster Qiongqi—what does that mean?”

He replied, “Qiongqi is a kind of strange beast.”

“A strange beast?”

“Yes.”

“From Saint Peaceful?”

“No, Qiongqi is ferocious and eats people. There are no such monsters in Saint Peaceful.”

“Then where does it appear?”

“In the mortal world.”

“The mortal world?” Hua Sheng was startled. “How could such a thing exist among mortals?”

“It’s more accurate to say it’s vanished now. Qiongqi appeared mostly in ancient times—a fearsome beast humans dreaded.”

Hua Sheng asked, “How could something from ancient times appear in Saint Peaceful?”

“I truly don’t know.”

“It’s not appearing in Saint Peaceful!” Hua Sheng and the Junior Supreme Lord turned. Tian Ji Zi was speaking, “It can’t be said to be in Saint Peaceful, because we’re still inside the Tianmu Trial.”

Xuan Wen cried, “No! This couldn’t possibly be the Tianmu Trial! How could the Academy of Techniques allow such things in the trial?”

“I’m afraid this isn’t the Academy’s doing,” Tian Ji Zi replied. “The Tianmu Trial has been tainted by something.”

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