Chapter 103: The Taiyi Heaven-Piercing Stele

Following Song Yue’s gaze, Qian Qianxue saw a wooden boat moored on the riverbank some dozens of meters away. The boat, about five meters long, looked ancient and worn, even tattered in places. Two oars lay crossed in the middle of the boat, which gently rocked with the dark river water.

This dark realm was devoid of human presence, filled instead with various insect demons and poisonous mists. Deep within lay an ancient castle unreachable by ordinary people, alongside a river as black as ink, and by its shore rested the boat…

The scene was eerie, peculiar in its atmosphere.

Qian Qianxue couldn’t help but say, “It’s a bit like a scene from a horror movie. Without any special effects or cheats, it’s basically handing the protagonists their doom, then carrying them off to their demise.”

Song Yue was speechless.

“Qian Ge, if you’re going to talk, say more,” he thought. Wasn’t this supposed to be scary?

“Did I say something wrong?” Qian Qianxue asked cautiously.

She had secretly watched a few horror films alone to build her courage. She’d seen similar scenes before, each time terrified to the point of skipping ahead, only to be startled even more.

“Of course you’re wrong. This is a date! How can a date be complete without rowing on the river together?”

With that, Song Yue naturally took Qian Qianxue’s hand—delicate, soft, and slender. He tried to intertwine their fingers, but Qian Ge shyly resisted.

After a couple of tries, she succeeded.

“I’m protecting you!” Song Yue declared solemnly.

Qian Qianxue rolled her eyes, blushing silently, letting Song Yue lead her to the wooden boat.

Just as Song Yue was about to board, Qian Qianxue tugged him back, waved her hand, and a gust of wind blew over the boat.

Years of dust and grime were swept into the black river water, leaving the old wooden boat clean.

Only then did she pull Song Yue onto the boat.

Song Yue paddled steadily, the small boat gliding smoothly over the black water, drifting diagonally downstream toward the opposite bank.

They soon reached the other side without any sign of monsters surfacing from the water, as Qian Qianxue had feared.

Outside the castle, they were stopped by a metal fence about seven or eight meters high.

Looking at the sharp spikes atop the fence, Song Yue said seriously, “I’ll carry you over!”

Before Qian Qianxue could reply, Song Yue wrapped his arms around her slender waist and leapt lightly over the fence.

In truth, she could have easily jumped over herself; the height posed no challenge.

The closer they got to the castle, the stronger the oppressive aura became.

Qian Qianxue leaned against Song Yue, tense and alert, hands forming spell seals, ready to cast at any sudden movement.

“Don’t be afraid!” Song Yue reluctantly released his hold on her waist.

The Jade Void Transcendence Tablet he carried began to pulse fiercely, guiding him into the castle.

Song Yue felt the tablet was somewhat unreliable—focused only on destruction, not on the aftermath.

No matter what lay ahead, if it piqued its interest, it would relentlessly stir and guide him there.

The castle’s gate was massive, etched with strange metallic patterns. Upon closer inspection, these patterns were composed of countless runes.

Song Yue tried to touch them with his spiritual energy, but before he even made contact, a fiery sting erupted in his mind.

Damn! This was a seal.

Something was sealed inside.

A flood of thoughts rushed through his mind.

The tablet stirred again.

“Behave!” Song Yue patted his pocket.

Qian Qianxue looked at him in surprise.

“I’m not talking about you,” he said, frowning as he examined the gate. The direct mental approach was blocked; they needed another way in.

Curious, Qian Qianxue approached and gently pushed the heavy carved metal door.

“Hey!”

Before Song Yue could stop her, the door opened.

Song Yue was baffled.

That door, with its powerful seal, opened just from a little push by a girl?

No shame at all.

At the moment the door opened, Qian Qianxue slipped back behind Song Yue, revealing half of her delicate face as she cautiously peered inside.

Song Yue smacked his lips, gripping his dragon-patterned blade, and strode into the darkness.

Inside was pitch black.

He threw in several portable lights from the stone tablet’s space, scattering the darkness.

They found themselves in a vast, empty hall.

The ceiling, dozens of meters high, was carved with strange humanoid figures—not quite human, but something close.

Could they be demons?

The hall was pillarless and empty except for a spiral staircase in the corner opposite them, connecting the upper and lower levels.

Song Yue extended his spiritual perception to sense everything.

According to the tablet’s guidance, the item attracting it wasn’t upstairs, but… underground.

He led Qian Qianxue to the staircase and descended.

They walked down spiraling stairs for over half an hour, reaching deep underground, where an ancient stone door appeared.

Despite the depth, the air was dry, with intense heat radiating from beyond the door.

Two golden-armored war gods were carved in relief on the door.

“Are these… Eastern deities?”

Though ages had passed, their golden armor was dull but their features still discernible—clearly resembling the Chinese.

One held a golden whip, his expression stern and imposing; the other brandished a drawn long sword, eyes glaring fiercely, more ferocious than his companion.

Song Yue opened his spiritual eye to examine them and saw that the two gods were also made of countless tiny, invisible runes.

Yet these “compatriots” were much friendlier, allowing his spiritual gaze without reaction.

Despite this, Song Yue could feel a terrifying energy emanating from them.

Like two sleeping dragons lying in wait—immensely powerful and unfathomable.

By now, Song Yue suspected something terrible was sealed here.

Perhaps this was why the secret realm had become so sinister.

It also meant those Westerners rushing here weren’t necessarily clueless victims.

They might have known something about this realm and were after something specific.

An undeveloped secret realm didn’t mean no one had entered before.

Recalling the Li family’s demon cultivators, Song Yue felt he was grasping at something, though the clues were vague.

“Not going in?”

With Song Yue nearby, Qian Qianxue’s courage had clearly grown. She looked at the doors, eager.

Song Yue glanced at her. “Try pushing it again?”

She reached out and pushed the stone door.

It opened again.

These doors had no shame at all.

Or perhaps… Qian Ge was destined for this?

A lightning flash seemed to strike his mind, leaving him stunned.

At first, he hadn’t considered this possibility.

His Jade Void Transcendence Tablet had been restless and guiding all along, while Qian Ge hadn’t been eager to come.

But opening two heavily sealed doors in succession wasn’t something Song Yue could ignore.

Maybe he could open them too, but the one who did it was Qian Ge!

The door opened, but no wave of heat rushed out—instead, a chill swept over them.

They didn’t enter immediately.

Song Yue looked at Qian Qianxue. “Do you have any feelings? Intuition, sixth sense?”

She paused, shaking her head. “No, just a little scared.”

Song Yue sighed, thinking he was overthinking. “Let’s go in and see.”

He threw in some light orbs, illuminating a small room starkly different from the luxurious hall above.

In its center lay a stone coffin, atop which rested a black, metal-like book, quietly placed.

Nothing else was visible in the room.

Suddenly, Qian Qianxue pointed to a corner. “Is that a stele?”

Song Yue froze, staring at the seemingly materialized stone tablet, his face twitching involuntarily.

A Transcendence Tablet!

That corner had been empty moments ago, and now a tablet appeared?

“It seems to be calling me,” Qian Qianxue said uneasily. “There’s the coffin and now the tablet—it’s calling me…”

“That tablet has nothing to do with the coffin. Go ahead, it’s your chance,” Song Yue said with a complicated expression.

He didn’t want Qian Qianxue to obtain a tablet and become a warrior of the Nine Passes world.

It was selfish; even though she was trying to become brave, he wished she could live carefree like a little princess.

Her family didn’t cherish her—he would.

But these tablets were unreasonable—appearing to her in this way, making refusal impossible.

The room was small, but Qian Qianxue cautiously approached the one-foot-high stone tablet, glancing back at every step.

“Taiyi… Transcendence Tablet?”

She read the inscription aloud, then stopped, looking at Song Yue. “I don’t recognize these characters!”

Jade Void… Taiyi?

Song Yue remembered the Master saying the warriors’ tablets were called Transcendence Tablets.

Before this, only his tablet bore two extra characters and was playfully called “Heaven Number One.”

Now there was another tablet with two extra characters.

As a cultivator, Qian Qianxue connected with the tablet much more smoothly than Song Yue.

She didn’t clumsily perform any blood-binding ritual.

“Wow, this has a huge space inside!”

Her normally cool demeanor showed a hint of excitement.

Previously, she had entered Song Yue’s tablet memories in the Kunlun secret realm, which the Master had erased, so she didn’t know what it truly was, thinking it a magic artifact with vast storage.

“Really? Open it and let me see,” Song Yue said, stepping beside her.

Qian Qianxue focused, and the runes on the Taiyi Transcendence Tablet glowed, revealing a portal of energy.

They stepped inside together.

Song Yue immediately checked the portals inside.

Nine gateways!

Like his Jade Void Transcendence Tablet, this Taiyi tablet also contained nine portals.

“Why are there doors? What’s behind them?” Qian Qianxue’s eyes sparkled as she asked, “You don’t look surprised at all. Is your storage space like this too?”

Qian Ge’s insight was no surprise.

How else could they store endless seafood and dragon-patterned leopard meat? Normal storage artifacts couldn’t hold such.

Song Yue nodded. “I’ll tell you the story later. Don’t enter those portals yet; they lead to another world.”

“Okay,” Qian Qianxue obediently nodded.

After leaving the Taiyi tablet, Song Yue turned to the black metal book on the coffin.

This book was the root of the Jade Void tablet’s agitation.

He didn’t rush to take it but circled the coffin, noting its two sides were carved with ancient creatures—divine birds and beasts, but not auspicious.

Their expressions were fierce, as if choosing victims to devour.

He tried to view them spiritually, and a surge of primordial energy struck him.

The carvings seemed to come alive, radiating overwhelming terror.

Though they didn’t attack his spirit, the pressure was immense.

The Jade Void tablet trembled, sending a message Song Yue clearly sensed—it was friendly.

The divine creatures immediately calmed and became peaceful.

Song Yue was speechless.

Was this a backdoor?

One end of the coffin featured a dragon—the traditional five-clawed golden dragon of the East—entwined with countless bolts of lightning, equally fearsome.

The other end was carved with a Buddha, seated on a lotus, hands clasped in prayer, surrounded by a radiant halo.

His spiritual eye sensed vast, boundless Buddhist power and faint chanting in his mind.

Song Yue exhaled deeply. What kind of being was sealed inside this coffin?

Divine beasts, a five-clawed golden dragon, and a Buddha!

What was the black metal book on top?

Urged by the Jade Void tablet, Song Yue finally reached for it.

“Crack!”

A thunderous sound erupted in the small room.

A bolt of lightning struck his hand fiercely.

Before he could react, a dragon’s roar echoed.

The lightning dissipated before touching him.

Both were startled, exchanging glances.

“What did you hear?” Song Yue asked Qian Qianxue.

“A cow mooing?”

“That was a dragon’s roar!” Song Yue wanted to facepalm. Qian Ge was adorably clueless.

He reached again for the black metal book, but the coffin stirred violently, banging as if a creature inside was striking hard.

In the spiritual realm, chanting of countless great monks echoed, calming the coffin instantly.

The chanting abruptly ceased.

The moment Song Yue grasped the book, a furious roar sounded from within the spiritual world.

The small room fell silent.

Song Yue didn’t know what metal the book was made of, but it was extremely heavy—at least several hundred pounds.

The black metal book’s cover bore several unfamiliar characters.

Song Yue used his Heavenly Sovereign Spiritual Method to read them.

He understood their meaning—Dark Holy Scripture.

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