Where Immortals Once Walked

“Who was she with?” This question was important.

State Preceptor Qing Yang had privately refined and sold the elixir of youth, so the gods would certainly hold her accountable. It was not strange for her to be interrogated in the Heavenly Palace.

The key was who had escorted her up the mountain.

“The Lord Emperor.”

Sure enough. He Lingchuan let out a long breath and said, “Looks like they really did reach an agreement. Did you hear what she confessed?”

Juju shook its head. “Star-Plucking Tower’s barrier blocks me from eavesdropping.”

It was curious too, but unfortunately, it had not managed to hear a single word.

“Then has she gone down the mountain?”

“She’s still inside the Heavenly Palace.” That much could not be hidden from Juju.

He Lingchuan thought for a moment. “Right, can you make the transport array on Tianshu Peak fail?”

“I can’t,” Juju said irritably. “Under the suppression of the Grand Spirit-Gathering Array, I can’t destroy the buildings or arrays on Mount Xu!”

“But once the array is broken, you can?”

“Of course!” Juju vowed confidently, patting its chest until sparks flew everywhere. “You just worry yourself about breaking the Grand Spirit-Gathering Array. Leave everything after that to me. Just watch me show off my divine might!”

After personally confirming that the array eye was no longer hidden in the void, its confidence had greatly increased.

He Lingchuan smiled and said, “Each of us handles our own part, then?”

“Exactly!”

Then He Lingchuan took a pair of shackles from his robes and said to Juju, “Come, let’s make a contract.”

Juju examined the shackles suspiciously. “What is this?”

“Chains of Oath.” He Lingchuan introduced them. “We each wear one shackle, then swear to help each other and not go back on our word. If either side fails to comply with the sworn oath, then whoever broke their word will suffer an attack from inner demons.” He smiled and added, “This was produced by the Demon-Heart Furnace, and even the ancient immortals couldn’t escape it.”

Juju’s face was nothing but blazing flame, so its expression could not be seen, but the fire around its body seemed to freeze for a moment. It snapped, “What is this supposed to mean? Do you not trust me?”

“The foundation of cooperation is honesty and trust.” He Lingchuan smiled. “Since both of us are sincere, what’s the big deal about wearing the shackles?”

“My sincerity needs no proof!” Juju said angrily. “Who knows what this damn thing really is?”

He Lingchuan lifted his hand, and the chain rang out with a crisp clang. “Anyone who touches a treasure like this will naturally know what it’s used for.”

Magical artifacts did not come with instruction manuals. How did someone who had just obtained one know how to use it? Intact ancient magical artifacts usually granted understanding upon touch and required no extra explanation. Later, so-called appraisals were needed either because the artifact’s spirituality had faded or because its creator had deliberately prevented others from understanding it at a touch.

Of course, there was another possible reason: the item might not be of this realm.

Juju stared at He Lingchuan and said, “You want to go back on your word? In front of me, nothing comes that cheap!”

Once it grew angry, both men felt flames searing their faces. The bat monster puppet simply hid behind Dong Rui.

Seeing its fury, He Lingchuan also put away his smile. This rock-fire aberrant creature’s sudden rage meant it had harbored its own petty schemes all along and had never intended to honor the promise properly. “If we don’t make a contract, then our cooperation ends here.”

After saying that, He Lingchuan stepped back twice, paused, and turned to leave.

Dong Rui silently turned with him, cold sweat in his palm. He understood the reasoning, but this was Juju’s territory. The rock-fire aberrant creature would not need much effort to completely roast the two of them.

Even if they rode the snail toad, what chance did they have of escaping successfully in front of this guardian spirit?

“Trying to leave?” Sure enough, Juju struck the ground with a heavy fist. A weathered boulder on the mountain instantly dropped, hit the ground, and split into eight pieces, perfectly blocking the path He Lingchuan and Dong Rui had taken to leave.

Even the smallest of those stones weighed several tons. The impact was astonishing, not only kicking dust and haze into the sky, but also frightening nearby roosting birds into frantic flight, filling the area with alarmed calls.

With such a commotion, the Heavenly Palace guards would definitely be alerted.

“Fulfill the contract obediently, or I’ll either blast you into ash with one breath, or hand you over to the Heavenly Palace!” Juju extended a hand, flames surging in its palm. “Choose!”

As its rage mounted, the flames around its body even turned white-hot, and nearby trees silently melted.

With its abilities, neither choice was an exaggeration. Dong Rui could not withstand the scorching flames and retreated several large steps, yet still felt his face burning.

If anyone else faced such overwhelming might, their knees might have shaken until they surrendered on the spot.

However, He Lingchuan stood where he was without moving. Protected by the divine bone amulet, he only felt a faint breeze brushing his face. “Your jailbreak plan will collapse along with us. You’ll only be able to continue serving as an ox and horse for the heavenly gods on Mount Xu. If you can’t display your might and awe Lingxu City, the dog food that the Ke Family feeds you will only grow less and less.” He said coldly, “After ten years of hunger, will you still be this impressive? Even if you can wait for a second group of rescuers, who knows what conditions they’ll offer you then, or whether you’ll honor them?”

Juju clenched its fist. Its burning fist was larger than a door plank, and it smashed straight down toward He Lingchuan’s head!

The force and momentum were unmatched. Dong Rui retreated another two steps, blinking several times.

Even if He Lingchuan could ignore fire damage, if that fist truly landed, he would be crippled even if he survived.

Yet he did not dodge at all. He only raised his head to look at Juju, as if what was falling toward him was not a meteoric fist, but a fluttering butterfly.

Dong Rui also knew this punch probably would not land, but he had no way to be as calm as He Lingchuan.

Fear of the strong had long since been carved into the marrow of human beings, had it not?

Sure enough, the fist stopped just a meter above He Lingchuan’s head. The powerful wind of the move pressed the weeds on the ground into wild motion.

Scarlet magma dripped down, getting as close as a few centimeters from He Lingchuan’s nose. With several hissing sounds, some of the drips burned holes into the ground.

Dong Rui felt hot just looking at it, yet He Lingchuan seemed not to notice.

“I dare scheme against the Heavenly Palace. Would I be afraid of a mere little guardian spirit like you?” He spoke calmly and fluently, seeing through Juju’s blustering weakness at a glance. “Put on the Chains of Oath and honor the agreement seriously, or tear up the deal and damage us both. The Heavenly Palace guards will be here soon. Choose for yourself.”

Juju truly was in a difficult position.

It had longed day and night to break free, but it did not want to offend the Heavenly Palace to the death. Therefore, it had never taken the latter parts of He Lingchuan’s plan, such as hammering Star-Plucking Tower, seriously.

It had thought it would agree first. If it could not accomplish those things later, then it simply could not. What could this tiny human do to it?

But it had not expected this little thing to bring out some damned Chains of Oath, forcing spoken words to count.

This did not align with the rock-fire aberrant creature’s beliefs.

Juju was extremely unhappy and felt it had been tricked.

He Lingchuan waited in place for several breaths. Seeing it hesitate, unable to decide, he said to Dong Rui, “Let’s go.”

Sure enough, just as Xu Shichu and Fang Canran had said, this aberrant creature was very cunning.

You wanted to cooperate with it, but it was calculating how to maximize its own benefit. Later, it might even turn around and stab you in the back. He Lingchuan had seen such people and such states before. It was nothing new to him.

Dong Rui turned on his heel and was about to leave with him when Juju finally said, “Wait, I’ll wear it!”

He Lingchuan also stopped and looked at it. “Have you thought it through? Once you put it on, you can’t regret it. This job has to be carried through to the end!”

He had waited until tonight, after successfully measuring the array eye’s path, before taking out the Chains of Oath. He first had to make Juju understand that this absurd-looking operation truly had a hope of success, as only then would it even be possible for it to steel itself to make the pact.

Otherwise, this halfhearted fellow might very well betray them on the spot.

Juju glanced upward.

From the mountain peak, the view into the underground dark valley was blocked by large boulders. At most, one could see a bit of firelight. But the falling weathered rock had caused too great a disturbance earlier. Now, guards were already running down along the small path, intending to see what had happened below.

Juju waved a hand, and a fire spirit avatar went forward to meet them.

Once it encountered the Heavenly Palace guards, it would explain the situation to them.

“Give it here!” Juju had no choice but to reach toward He Lingchuan and touch the chains.

Sure enough, it immediately sensed the traits of the Chains of Oath.

This could indeed be called the power of contract, and even it could not defy it.

Then He Lingchuan snapped the shackles onto both their wrists.

A human hand and the arm of a rock-fire aberrant creature were obviously not the same thickness, but fortunately, an immortal treasure could change its size freely and would always find a fit.

The runes on the shackles lit one after another in a beautiful rose-gold color.

The two parties swore before the shackles, clearly listing out everything that needed to be done afterward. Even at this point, Juju tried to play tricks and weave in some word games, but He Lingchuan ruthlessly pointed them out.

He even fixed the time limits.

Once the oath had been recited, Juju looked at the shackles. The chain between the two cuffs seemed to have liquefied into molten steel and then slowly dissolved amid the crimson light until it disappeared completely.

From this moment on, the oath would remain in effect until every part was completed.

The shackle on He Lingchuan’s wrist became an unremarkable silver bracelet, a single plain band without decoration or any magical energy fluctuations.

Juju’s shackle, meanwhile, became an ornate armguard at least two-thirds of a meter wide.

These shackles were quite intelligent, even able to change their appearance to suit each wearer.

However, their existence would inevitably bind both sides to fulfill the contract. Even if one cut off the hand or produced an avatar, the shackle would accurately appear on the one who had sworn, clinging like gum that could not be shaken away.

Juju said sullenly, “Satisfied? Get lost!”

According to the oath, after escaping its prison, it had to bombard the Star-Plucking Tower immediately and do everything it could to help He Lingchuan obtain the divine artifact.

In other words, a great battle was inevitable.

That part truly displeased it.

After everything was over, He Lingchuan might be able to pat his backside and run off, but the Heavenly Palace and Juju were neighbors who could not move away from each other. With the relationship turning that stiff, who knew how they were supposed to get along afterward?

Those bastards in the Heavenly Palace were insidious. They might not be able to punish it openly, but in the shadows, they could splash plenty of dirty water.

He Lingchuan, on the other hand, looked concerned. “One more thing to confirm. No one in the Heavenly Palace can match you, right? I heard that during the great earthquake in Lingxu City over a decade ago, it was only after the heavenly gods acted that the situation was finally calmed.”

Now that they were partners, he could not make the words too unpleasant. More than ten years ago, during the final assembly stage of the Grand Spirit-Gathering Array, Juju had awakened and erupted in a rage, causing an earthquake in Lingxu City that left countless dead and injured. In the end, the Heavenly Palace had invited a “divine descent” to suppress this guardian spirit.

In other words, Juju had been defeated by a god. Would it be swiftly and cleanly knocked flat again this time?