Chapter 588 - 549: Ancient Starry Road, Ladder to Heaven
Chapter 588: Chapter 549: Ancient Starry Road, Ladder to Heaven
The Ancient Divine Palace. A colossal turtle bore a mountain, a city resting in the sky.
The Corpse Demon trembled, but finally decided to bite the bullet and fulfill her earlier promise to act as a scout.
She let out a sorrowful cry. "Xing Lan Fairy, this Little Demon will scout ahead. If anything goes wrong, I pray you’ll lend a hand. This eighty-pound bag of bones is in your hands now!"
As she spoke, her eyes danced, and she habitually shot Song Ciwan a coquettish glance.
Though a demon born from a corpse, she was graceful and enchanting, her skin like snow-white jade. Had a lecher been present, he would have been utterly captivated, his Divine Soul entranced.
Song Ciwan replied calmly, "If you scout the path, I will protect you as long as it is within my power."
The implication was clear: if it exceeded her capabilities, the demon’s safety was no longer her concern.
Although the Corpse Demon was displeased, she knew she couldn’t expect a Celestial Pride of the Human Race to risk her life for her. The fact that the woman was willing to offer a bit of help—or at least wasn’t trying to hunt her down and exterminate her on the spot—was already a sign of a good temperament.
Of course, the Corpse Demon wasn’t one to simply wait for death. If truly pushed into a corner, she had her own trump cards to play.
The Corpse Demon plucked a hairpin from her elegant coiffure, tossed it into the air, and prepared to transform it into a Flying Treasure to carry her up to the Sky City on the giant turtle’s back.
But instead, with a single DING, the hairpin fell to the ground. The Magical Treasure’s flight ability had failed!
The Corpse Demon froze in shock, then quickly gestured to recall her Magical Treasure for inspection. But the recall Spell failed as well, forcing her to walk over and bend down to pick it up herself.
Holding the hairpin, she channeled her Demonic Power and tested it, discovering that the Magical Treasure’s other functions were intact. It just couldn’t be sent flying, had lost its flight capability, and could no longer be controlled remotely with a Spell.
The Corpse Demon couldn’t help but say, "This is my Companion Spiritual Artifact. I’ve always found it incredibly responsive."
She looked at Song Ciwan.
Song Ciwan understood her meaning. She took a bracelet from her wrist and prepared to activate it—
This bracelet had come from Yu Wenxu. It was the Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact he had previously promised to give her.
Song Ciwan had obtained the Spiritual Artifact before setting out and had quickly refined it for her use.
It was called the Thousand Feathers Star-Stabilizing Ring. Though it wasn’t one of her usual Spiritual Artifacts and certainly couldn’t compare to the Sun and Moon Wheel of Formless Life and Death, its foundation as a Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact still made it an exceptionally rare treasure.
But now, as Song Ciwan initiated the Spell to activate the treasure just as the Corpse Demon had, she encountered the exact same problem.
The treasure was usable, but it couldn’t leave her hand to fly!
’Is flight forbidden here?’
Song Ciwan had a few of her Daoist Soldiers run the same test, and finally concluded that flight was indeed forbidden in this area.
The Corpse Demon’s eyes darted about as she began to have second thoughts. She shifted her feet, subtly moving farther away from Song Ciwan, and said with a soft, timid smile, "Oh, Fairy, flight really is forbidden here! So... this Little Demon feels that perhaps this Ancient Divine Palace isn’t a must-see destination after all, wouldn’t you agree?"
Though her words were gentle, she took several steps back, fully intending to slip past Song Ciwan and return to the original passage to leave the Ancient Divine Palace!
Song Ciwan didn’t move, but at that moment, her gaze sharpened.
Then, the Corpse Demon shrieked.
"Ah!" she screamed. "What’s happening? I’m flying again? Ahhh..."
Amidst her screams, a great road to the heavens suddenly arched up from beneath her feet!
At first glance, the great road resembled a celestial waterfall, arching upward from beneath the ground at the passage entrance. It was like a bolt of silk suddenly rising to cross the sky, spanning half the Celestial Road and forcefully erecting a bridge that connected to the heavens.
The other end of the bridge connected perfectly to the Sky City!
The Corpse Demon stood teetering at her end of the bridge, struggling to keep her balance.
Upon closer inspection, it became clear that the true material of this heaven-reaching bridge was not a waterfall, nor a rainbow, but a bolt of silk.
Yes, a gigantic bolt of silk.
A bolt of silk so enormous yet incredibly thin, fluttering and soaring all the way to the Celestial Palace.
The silk was slightly yellowed, faintly exuding the aura of passing time. As it occasionally twisted in the wind, one could almost see specks of ink upon it, the crisscrossing of a brush—the lingering shadows of written words.
But because the silk was so light and soft, billowing and rising through the sky, it was covered in folds that obscured the writing, preventing Song Ciwan from deciphering a single word from below.
She had no idea what was written on it.
The Corpse Demon stumbled and swayed on the silk for a moment, but then her ears seemed to catch a sound that Song Ciwan could not hear.
In a dazed and astonished tone, she recited, word by word, "Ancient Starry Road? This is the Ancient Starry Road? Follow this path to reach the Heaven-Reaching City! Witness the secrets of past and present!"
The Corpse Demon turned back, her eyes shimmering with a strange and brilliant light.
Beside Song Ciwan, the Heaven and Earth Scale stirred. Only at this moment did it finally receive a ball of aura from the Corpse Demon: [Demonic Heart. The surprise, anticipation, and contemplation of a special-breed Demon King Stage Corpse Demon. Weight: two jin and one tael. Tradable.]
’How interesting.’ The Corpse Demon had shown intense emotion and shouted dramatically in front of her several times before, but Song Ciwan had never received an emotional aura from her on those occasions.
Yet now, as the Corpse Demon’s expression grew calm, the Heaven and Earth Scale appeared and collected her aura.
Song Ciwan looked at the Ancient Starry Road, which resembled a divine missive, and met the Corpse Demon’s gaze.
The Corpse Demon gave Song Ciwan a demure smile that was both charming and flirtatious, and said in a sweet voice, "Xing Lan Fairy, when you step onto the Ancient Starry Road, you can hear a distant voice from an unknown source. The voice also says that to traverse the Ancient Starry Road and ascend to the Heaven-Reaching City, you have to answer questions!"
’Answer questions?’
’What kind of bizarre... no, what an interesting method of heavenly ascension is this?’
The Corpse Demon then said, distressed, "Fairy, I can’t figure out the first question. Could you please teach this Little Demon?"
Song Ciwan paused for a moment before replying coolly, "State the question."
The Corpse Demon hurriedly said, "The voice on the Ancient Starry Road poses a question: ’Walking down Immortal Street with a pot to buy wine, you pass a tavern, and the wine inside doubles. You see a flower and drink one measure. After encountering three taverns and three flowers, your pot is empty... Pray tell, how much wine was in the pot to begin with?’"
This was a question the Corpse Demon truly could not answer.
It was her own fault; though she had learned to imitate humans, she had never studied in the Mortal World. The question alone was enough to short-circuit her brain.
Song Ciwan, however, solved the problem mentally in a single thought.
But she didn’t give the answer immediately. Instead, she put on a pensive expression and carefully observed the Corpse Demon’s face for any changes.
An uncontrollable anxiety gradually crept onto the Corpse Demon’s hibiscus-like, beautiful face. Her body swayed more and more violently on the silk. For a split second, Song Ciwan even saw, beneath the painted skin of rouge and powder, the fleeting image of a ghastly white skeleton!