Chapter 103: Chapter 38: Subduing the Fragments and Entering Zhao Palace
The golden-armored guardian, clad in full armor, was not only impervious to ordinary weapons of the mortal world, but even Immortal Flying Swords struggled to break through his defenses.

The reason was simple: his armor was a manifestation of the mortal world’s collective wishes, converging the faith of millions, which naturally endowed him with strange divine skills.

However, Immortal Capital Thunder was known as the “Majesty of the Jade Emperor,” and it had a natural restraining effect on such wish-powered entities, with a destructive power three times that of ordinary thunder methods.

A thunder method struck the golden-armored guardian, instantly creating a huge crack on the Bright Light Mirror on his chest.

Countless wisps of black smoke poured out, as if blood gushed from a spring, yet the Divine General seemed oblivious, continuing to charge forward with large strides, his long blade dragging behind him.

Xu Yinglian, pulling Qiu Changtian, retreated hastily, her Feather Jia Sword shooting out urgently only to be split open once again by the Golden Armored Divine General.

At the moment of the clash between gold and iron, another Immortal Capital Thunder struck precisely at the crack in the Divine General’s chest, piercing straight through it, then bursting from the inside.

The lower half of the Divine General’s body continued to charge forward, while his upper half was cut off at the waist, flying backward.

Soon, the golden armor, helmet, and long blade fell onto the Long Bridge. The body, composed of the willpower, was perfectly vanquished and disintegrated by the precisely controlled power of the Immortal Capital Thunder.

As Qiu Changtian’s Yu Long Sword swept past, it gathered the scattered gear to his side, while he asked the Kunlun Mirror in his heart:

“How is it?”

“It’s recorded,” replied the Kunlun Mirror. “The moment the willpower spilled out, I had already captured and inscribed it.”

“Good,” Qiu Changtian said as he attempted to don the armor.

Xu Yinglian helped him from the side, fastening the straps and belt for her senior brother, then circled around him a few times, scrutinizing him up and down.

“Aside from the crack in the chest of the armor, there are no other flaws,” she eventually concluded. “We can try it.”

“Mhm,” agreed Qiu Changtian as he put on the faceplate and headed towards the direction of the Cloud Platform.

The Kunlun Mirror also began to alter the Mirror Flower Water Moon Illusion Technique, and as for the persona template of the golden-armored guardian, it was one of “persistence.”

The so-called wish-power was essentially great persistence.

The more devout and firm the beliefs of the praying masses were, the purer the wish-power they contributed.

At this moment, Qiu Changtian had discarded all distracting thoughts, maintaining only the firm intention to leave the secret realm, striding along the Iron Chain Long Bridge.

As the Synchronization Value rapidly climbed, the trailing Xu Yinglian keenly felt that her senior brother’s aura was changing again…

But it wasn’t the first time it had changed; she had long since grown accustomed to it.

Qiu Changtian, silent and uncommunicative, advanced with rapid strides, eventually crossing the Iron Chain Long Bridge and stepping onto the jade bricks of the Cloud Platform.

Indeed, by employing the Mirror Flower Water Moon Illusion Technique of the Kunlun Mirror and assuming the guise of the golden-armored guardian, neither the Golden Armored Divine Generals nor the music and dance maidens paid any attention to him.

The malice that had always seemed to lurk, as if spying on him, had also vanished without a trace.

Without further ado, Qiu Changtian proceeded directly to the Jade Pond Mirror Stand and reached for the mirror on top.

The surface of the mirror shimmered faintly, seemingly about to initiate Time Retrospection, but it did not activate in the end—the artifact itself was merely a piece missing its Artifact Spirit, taken by the Divine Flame Path to serve as the core for the secret realm’s outer defenses. It was imbued with a low-level consciousness composed of wish-power, with orders to guard against any strangers from outside the realm.

Members of the Divine Flame Path, golden-armored guardians, and music and dance maidens from within the Sect naturally did not fall within the range of entities to guard against.

By adopting the illusion of the golden-armored guardian’s persona, Qiu Changtian finally avoided the risk of Time Retrospection and took the mirror directly from the Mirror Stand.

The next second, the fragment merged into his body as Ah Jing within his Sea of Consciousness began to work, allowing the Artifact Spirit and the fragment to recombine through a profound connection.

“Oh dear,” called out Ah Jing, half in distress and half in annoyance, after the fusion, “why did it use so much Spiritual Power?”

“Is the loss of Spiritual Power serious?” Qiu Changtian asked. “It makes sense, seeing as nearly ten thousand years have passed…”

“It’s not a matter of time.” The Kunlun Mirror said with a desire to cry but no tears, “The main consumption was due to the multiple activations of Time Retrospection just now.”

Qiu Changtian: ………

Indeed, having taken Junior Sister Xu through several rounds of the Jade Pond Golden Lotus Seeds, it seemed that they were produced by the Kunlun Mirror fragments consuming their reserves of spiritual energy.

As the mirror on the mirror stand was removed by the senior brother and then disappeared abruptly and oddly, the surrounding illusions also vanished along with it, and the sound of the music from the heavens above slowly died down.

Seeing Qiu Changtian begin to remove his armor, Xu Yinglian breathed a sigh of relief and then asked with a smile,

“Does this mean we’ve solved it?”

“Yes,” Qiu Changtian nodded slightly, and then harvested a withered lotus pod from the Jade Pond, extracting two Golden Lotus Seeds from it.

Anyway, since the artifact’s fragment created some “false history” by using spiritual energy to pull out the Golden Lotus Seeds from the recursive space-time, it would be a waste not to eat them.

After sharing a lotus seed with Junior Sister Xu, Qiu Changtian spoke concisely,

“Eat it, it can increase the speed of Qi Refinement.”

Xu Yinglian was stunned for a while, but after seeing Qiu Changtian eat his, she reluctantly followed suit and popped it into her mouth.

After consuming the Jade Pond Golden Lotus, the two made their way through Heaven’s Gate, heading towards the Zhao Palace of the Queen Mother of the West.

Just as on the previous occasion, after exerting effort to push open the doors of the Zhao Palace, they were greeted by an array of colorful magical treasures, flying swords, books of Dao, and elixirs… all laid out on shelves, free for choosing.

Despite Xu Yinglian’s usual cool and reserved demeanor, she couldn’t help showing a delighted expression, yet she didn’t rush through the entrance and merely looked eagerly at her senior brother.

Qiu Changtian pondered for a moment, then heard the Kunlun Mirror speak in his Sea of Consciousness,

“I have absorbed the knowledge and intelligence from my main body’s fragments.”

“Although this place is built to imitate the Divine Palace of the Queen Mother of the West, it is actually a secret realm designed by the Divine Flame Path to train the combat capabilities of Golden Core True Persons.”

Qiu Changtian understood clearly. Unlike the Pavilion, as a purely combat-training type secret realm, it made sense for there to be hostile entities like the Golden Armored Strongmen.

“The ancient Divine Flame Path emphasized collecting aspirations to become divine while sitting, leading their Golden Core True Persons to covet peace and quiet, having cultivation levels but not skilled in magical combat.”

“Therefore, within the secret realm, inside the Zhao Palace—that is, the room before you—the Divine Flame Path designed a total of thirteen training levels called ‘The Thirteen Luminaries of Divine Flame of the Upper Primordial’.”

“The might of the divine soldiers and generals at each level will change according to the cultivation rank of the trainees, ranging from the Soul Storing Rank to the Obscure Weave Rank of the Golden Core Realm.”

“After the trialists finish their challenges and return to the starting point—which is the room you are in now—they can choose their rewards based on the number of kills.”

“Additionally, as you have slain the Golden Armored Strongman at the entrance of the secret realm, which is equivalent to a Soul Storing Rank of the Golden Core Realm, this counts as defeating one Golden Armored Divine General. You do not need to challenge the subsequent levels and may directly select a reward.”

“Note, according to the restrictions of the Zhao Palace, each of you should only be able to choose one reward.”

After hearing the explanation from the Kunlun Mirror, Qiu Changtian understood.

This secret realm of the Divine Palace of the Queen Mother of the West was specifically designed by the Divine Flame Path for cultivators of the Golden Core Rank, much like a combat-training type secret realm like the Pavilion.

The training levels were located inside the Zhao Palace, in the rooms beyond the main hall, and corresponding rewards for passing the challenges were also set up.

As for himself and his junior sister, what they had solved on the Cloud Platform was merely the “firewall” of this secret realm to prevent outsiders from entering…

With this in mind, he felt his enthusiasm wane and decided not to challenge the “Thirteen Luminaries of the Upper Primordial” levels inside.

The ability to defeat the Golden Core Rank Golden Armored Strongman earlier was indeed crucial due to the Opposite Capital Thunder that countered aspirations, but even more critical was that the battle took place on the narrow Iron Chain Long Bridge where the opponent couldn’t maneuver or dodge attacks well.

If placed in a more spacious environment, given the opponent’s terrifying sprint speed within a hundred meters, he probably wouldn’t even have time to unleash his Thunder Method.

So he decided to choose rewards with his junior sister first and then leave the secret realm.