Volume One: The Misty Immortal Palace Chapter One Hundred and One: The Nangong Immortal Palace

Chapter 101: Nangong Immortal Palace

In a mere twelve seconds, Zhou Hao had gained thousands of years of "life history and experience." Naturally, these experiences belonged almost entirely to Ouyang Qi. With them, Zhou Hao’s transformation into Ouyang Qi would be seamless. All of this was thanks to Qingqing’s mind-reading ability—a power so heaven-defying that it could extract a person’s entire lifetime of memories and share them.

"Haozi, what do you plan to do next?" the Turtle asked, looking at Zhou Hao across from Qingqing.

Zhou Hao was momentarily lost in thought. The images he had seen in the last six seconds were staggering. The giant turtle with a dark green python coiled around its back looked exactly like the Xuanwu, one of the Four Symbols of legend. Why did these images come from Qingqing’s memories? Was she the python? And who was the mysterious man in the black robe? The deep green bead he extracted from the giant turtle’s body must have been the Xuanwu Essence Bead. Did he kill the Xuanwu?

During the eye contact between Qingqing and Zhou Hao, it had been normal at first. But in the final three seconds, Zhou Hao’s eyes had uncontrollably transformed into golden double-pupils. The golden beams merged with the purple light from Qingqing’s snake eyes as if searching for something, which was why he had seen the man in the black robe and the Xuanwu.

Unfortunately, Zhou Hao knew he would never fathom the mystery behind this, so he forced himself to return to reality and stop thinking about it. Shaking his head to clear his mind, the tide of memories—Ouyang Qi’s entire life—flashed before his eyes. If he were to transform now, no one would doubt his identity.

"Hey, why are you all staring at me? Are you dumb?" Zhou Hao asked, noticing the Turtle, Qingqing, and Huohuo staring at him blankly.

"You’re the one who’s dumb! We were asking what to do next. You didn't answer and just sat there looking pensive. Are you awake now?" the Turtle snapped back.

"As for what’s next, it’s time to finalize our battle plan!" Zhou Hao rubbed his chin with one hand while extending the other. The Ouyang Qi lying in his palm rapidly shrank until he was only the size of a thumb. "I’ll keep you for now. I’m not a bloodthirsty man; the other old fool just brought his death upon himself." Zhou Hao remarked coldly before tucking the shrunken man into his domain space.

A domain space is a concept only accessible to those at the Golden Immortal level. It is a personal, portable dimension used for storage or combat. It does not exist in the physical world but follows the owner like an invisible vehicle.

"Our plan is..." Zhou Hao grew solemn as he explained the details to the others.

"Hmm, not bad. It looks like we’re in for some fun this time!" the Turtle nodded, his lecherous eyes squinting into slits. Huohuo rubbed her hands together, a smile gracing her exquisite face. After hearing the plan, she couldn't wait to teleport to the Nangong Immortal Palace.

Qingqing, meanwhile, acted like a submissive little wife, swimming close to the Turtle. It made Zhou Hao recall his days as the Emperor of the Great Zhou, when his concubines were always so obedient. Could this little turtle also be a king of his kind?

"Let's move!" With their speed pushed to the limit, they flew toward the Nangong Immortal Palace.

Zhou Hao now realized how vast the distance truly was. Even for a Golden Immortal flying at the speed of light, it would take several days. Finally, after days of frantic travel, he saw the long-lost entrance to the Immortal Palace.

In the starry sky stood an oval stone gate a hundred meters high. Two silver-armored soldiers stood on either side, their faces obscured by helmets, holding halberds and standing motionless.

"I’m back!" Zhou Hao murmured before landing. The soldiers crossed their halberds, blocking the way. "Tokens!" they intoned in cold, emotionless voices.

Zhou Hao presented his disciple token, but Huohuo and the Turtle pulled him back. He suddenly realized that the others had no tokens.

"Wait, how did you sneak out with me last time?" Zhou Hao asked.

"I got a token from your master back then, but now we need four for the four of us," the Turtle replied.

"So, as long as you have a token, you can enter? No real-name registration?" Zhou Hao asked, enlightened.

"Seems so," the Turtle nodded.

"Damn it, you could have said so earlier! I thought every person needed a custom, registered token," Zhou Hao laughed.

"The priority is getting two more tokens, brother!" the Turtle rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry, that’s easy. I still have two," Zhou Hao said, remembering the elder tokens he had taken from Ouyang Qi and Shangguan Qian.

The four of them entered the stone gate with their tokens. Inside, a magnificent world of cultivation unfolded. Majestic mountains rose into the clouds, and waterfalls tumbled through forests. Most striking was a massive purple peak shrouded in spiritual mist.

A stone path led toward the peaks, starting at a gate marked with two gilded characters: "Nangong."

"Hmph, do they deserve it?" Zhou Hao scoffed, though he quickly regained his composure, remembering he was playing Ouyang Qi.

"Follow the plan." Zhou Hao flicked his sleeve, and the Turtle, Qingqing, and Huohuo shrunk and flew inside. He then strode confidently up the stone path, heading to find Nangong Xun.

On the purple peak, Zhou Hao stood once again on the sword-practice square. Seeing a seven-story blue pagoda standing where the main hall used to be, he froze. According to Ouyang Qi’s memories, Yu Nan was imprisoned inside that very pagoda. He could not wait to confront Nangong Xun.