Volume One: The Celestial Palace of Clouds and Mist Chapter Seventy: A Fortunate Day

Chapter Seventy: Lucky Day

Boom!

At the very moment everyone retreated from the Red Coral Forest, a massive explosion erupted across the entire grove, as if a shell had struck the surface. The wave of destructive energy tore apart everything, even rending the fabric of space itself. Amidst the chaos, a gourd was illuminated by countless sword lights, its mouth spewing a beam of white light skyward, as though summoning sword energy from the void. The space there was shattered by sword lights that appeared out of nowhere.

Those sword lights swept through the coral forest with unmatched power, obliterating any matter in their path. Treasured magical artifacts and rare items, revered by all present as the Dragon King’s treasures, proved utterly helpless, reduced to dust the instant a sword light struck them!

Not a single treasure remained—the Red Coral Forest was reduced to ruins, or rather, it couldn’t even be called ruins, for nothing existed there any longer, only a pitch-black pocket of space. The yellow-skinned gourd was terrifying to such an extent that, had its attack extended beyond the coral forest, Zhou Hao and the others would have surely perished without a trace!

“Too terrifying, too terrifying, too terrifying…” Those who escaped alive collapsed to the ground, staring blankly at the devastation ahead. Most of them were already broken in spirit.

“Is that gourd a demon? How could anything wield such dreadful power? Ah, I’m losing my mind! I have to get out of here!”

“This isn’t a treasure vault—it’s a slaughterhouse! What nonsense, calling it a treasure trove—it’s clearly a place for the massacre of immortals!”

...

Even Zhou Hao was stunned, his mind a blank. The area where the Red Coral Forest once stood was not far from them; had they delayed their escape by even a second, they would have been buried alongside that beautiful grove. He had always known entering the Crystal Palace would lead to no good, but only now did he truly understand the meaning of terror!

“Turtle… do you… do you know… what that gourd is… where it comes from?” Zhou Hao asked, hands trembling and lips quivering, speaking to the turtle in his arms.

But the turtle did not respond; it was easy to guess it had long since retreated into its shell in fright.

“Ah, truly unreliable!” Zhou Hao glanced at his arms, sighing helplessly.

At that moment, Su Qinglian approached him, her steps light and her face showing a hint of secret delight, for Zhou Hao seemed unharmed.

“Zhou Hao, you weren’t hurt, were you?” Su Qing asked with a gentle smile.

“I ran fast, wasn’t caught up in it. And you, Su Qing?” Zhou Hao gazed at the elegant fairy before him, suddenly revitalized.

“Me?... I’m fine!” Su Qing shook her head lightly.

“What should we do now? All the rare treasures in this vault were destroyed by that damned gourd—are we really going to walk away empty-handed?” Someone among the Four Great Factions regained composure, no longer despondent.

“Don’t worry. According to the Dragon-Seeker Map, the Crystal Palace vault has two treasure sites. The other is where the Dragon King’s coffin is kept!” The strongest disciple of Wind Desert pulled out a parchment and examined it.

“Haha, I nearly forgot we have the Dragon-Seeker Map! But who would have thought the Dragon King would place his own corpse in the vault? The treasures there must be even more valuable.” A disciple from the Four Great Factions laughed heartily.

“Indeed, there’s no time to lose. Let’s hurry, I worry that Cai Lingzi may have already reached the Dragon King’s coffin and seized the treasures—we haven’t seen him yet.” The strongest disciple of Fire Origin nodded, his brow furrowed as he gazed into the depths of the vault.

“Alright, listen up. Skirt the Red Coral Forest and proceed as quickly as possible to the Dragon King’s coffin!” The top representatives of the Four Great Factions issued orders to their teams.

Swish, swish, swish!

At the four commands, twenty figures soared skyward, transforming into streaks of light, their speed pushed to the utmost as they charged toward the unknown region beyond the Red Coral Forest.

“Zhou Hao, why aren’t you going?” Su Qing asked, puzzled. She had intended to follow the Four Great Factions toward the depths of the vault, but Zhou Hao held her back.

“Don’t you remember? There’s still one treasure left, and since they don’t want it, we’ll take it!” Zhou Hao grinned and gestured for Su Qing to look behind them.

Once a beautiful Red Coral Forest, branches adorned with rare treasures, brilliant and radiant—a veritable gathering place of wonders. But now, it was nothing but a pitch-black void, with only a single goose-yellow gourd suspended silently in midair, its mouth emitting a beam of white light, strikingly conspicuous.

“You mean that gourd is a treasure?” Su Qing looked at Zhou Hao in astonishment.

“Exactly. You saw how terrifying it is—even if all the treasures of the coral forest were combined, they wouldn’t compare to its worth!” Zhou Hao’s eyes locked onto the yellow-skinned gourd.

Su Qing could scarcely believe it. Her junior’s courage was extraordinary; everyone had just witnessed how frightening the yellow-skinned gourd was! In mere moments, it had wiped out the entire coral forest, and not even the treasures hanging from the coral branches could withstand a single blow. These weren’t ordinary immortal treasures—any one of them would make a celestial bow to you, a great immortal treat you with respect…

What do you mean, “since they don’t want it, we’ll take it”? We’d need the ability to take it!

“Do you have a way to get it?” Su Qing, ever rational, looked Zhou Hao in the eye and asked seriously.

“A wise man has his methods! Just watch, Senior Sister.” Zhou Hao smiled, appearing quite at ease.

He pointed to a spot and said, “From what I know, the yellow-skinned gourd was deliberately buried at the celestial node, meant to prevent others from stealing treasures, since it only attacks the coral forest. To retrieve it, all you have to do is put the stopper back in its mouth.”

Following Zhou Hao’s gesture, Su Qing saw that within the pitch-black space lay a small gourd stopper, with the yellow-skinned gourd hovering directly above it, all was now calm.

“So you plan to use remote transportation magic to put the stopper in the gourd’s mouth!” Su Qing nodded in understanding.

“Smart! Exactly—once the stopper is in place, the gourd will be safe.” Zhou Hao spoke with confidence.

He immediately channeled his immortal energy, using his intent to try to move the stopper in the void. He tried several times, but the stopper did not budge.

“Let me try!” Su Qing said.

Whoosh!

Her attempt had an unexpected result. The stopper didn’t move, but the yellow-skinned gourd reacted—the white light at its mouth summoned sword energy from the void, slashing toward Zhou Hao and Su Qing.

“Watch out!” The sword energy surged like a torrent. Zhou Hao quickly produced an object to block it.

Crack, crack, crash…

To Zhou Hao’s shock, the black stone slab in his hands began to crack, and the sound of shattering echoed from within. The sword energy from the gourd could even break this mysterious stone slab!

“My heavens, it can’t be!” Zhou Hao was nearly driven mad. This meteorite was of great significance to him; he had no other choice but to use it to block the sword energy.

Who could have imagined that the sacred stone, entwined with his fate for half his life, would depart from him today, in this treasure vault? In a flash, countless thoughts raced through Zhou Hao’s mind; he even wondered whether his own life might end this day as well.

Throughout history, emperors have clung to superstitions, believing that mysterious objects bound to them represented themselves; if such an object were destroyed, it meant they too would reach the end of their journey.

“I… Zhou Hao, Emperor of Great Zhou! Is it destined that today I will perish in the Dragon King’s treasure vault?” Zhou Hao questioned and sighed inwardly.

The scene seemed frozen in time. Su Qing, the graceful maiden in white, was shielded behind Zhou Hao, who held a basin-sized black stone slab. In front of him, the yellow-skinned gourd spewed white sword energy, swift and sharp as a silver dragon surging from the sea, crashing against the slab and riddling it with cracks, about to break it apart entirely!

Clang!

Suddenly, a sword cry rang out from within the slab—it was like thunder from the heavens, shaking the soul, the primal sound of the world’s creation. In that instant, everything changed!

The sword cry thundered across the sky, and the next moment, the stone slab in Zhou Hao’s hands began to shed layers of black stone, like an onion peeling away.

At last, a black sword embryo emerged in his hands, entirely stone in appearance but with a smooth surface, unlike the roughness of its slab form.

“There was a sword inside the black thing!?” Zhou Hao, who had begun to doubt his own destiny, now cried out in amazement. He gazed at the sword embryo, inexplicably excited, his blood surging. He sensed the sword was extraordinary—even the yellow-skinned gourd before him would be no match for it. Suddenly, the ambitions and heroic spirit that had once driven him to conquer the world returned to his body!

Hiss!

Zhou Hao’s blood boiled. He gripped the sword embryo’s hilt and blocked the torrent of sword energy before him. Sure enough, the sword energy was absorbed completely upon contact with the stone sword embryo—the previously unstoppable sword energy was now suppressed.

Unfortunately, the sword embryo seemed like an ordinary mortal sword, capable only of physical attacks. Its blade did not emit dazzling sword light or release sword energy that could tear through space. The only merit seemed to be its ability to absorb the sword energy spewed by the yellow-skinned gourd!

“This won’t do. I have to subdue that gourd—just absorbing its sword energy, how long would that take?” Zhou Hao frowned, lowering the sword, his gaze fixed on the yellow-skinned gourd.

“Attack!”

Like an arrow released from its bowstring, Zhou Hao charged with sword in hand, aiming for the pitch-black space. Predictably, he was surrounded by sword energy, yet this time it was different from before. The yellow-skinned gourd was like a mad thing, its mouth casting white light that became a storm of sword shadows, raging in all directions. It was as though Zhou Hao was immersed in a vast ocean of sword energy.

But the sword embryo in Zhou Hao’s hand was equally strange. As long as he held it, an invisible barrier formed around him, and no matter how sharp the sword energy, it could not touch him!

“Be my wine gourd!” Zhou Hao laughed heartily, pointing the sword embryo at the gourd’s mouth.

With a metallic clang, the sword’s tip pierced the gourd’s mouth, producing a clear, ringing sound. Instantly, the sword shadows vanished, and the yellow-skinned gourd tumbled down onto the “ground” of the pitch-black space.

“Today is truly my lucky day! The black thing that’s been with me so many years turned out to be an extraordinary sword, and I’ve picked up a wine gourd that can shatter the void—ha!” Zhou Hao’s mood was beyond elated.

The yellow-skinned gourd was utterly subdued before the sword embryo, and finally, it was left with no “temper” at all, allowing Zhou Hao to cap it with the stopper. From this day forth, it would serve only as a wine gourd!