Chapter 168: Chapter 159: The Indestructible Mysterious Bronze Gate
Yunzhou.
Qin Country’s Capital Pavilion, Emergency Meeting Room.
All twelve pavilion heads looked gravely toward the front.
In front of an oversized projector, an elder wearing glasses stepped up and moved his hand in front of the projector, displaying images from dozens of angles where, no matter the angle, there was only a solitary large gate atop the mountain peak.
"These are satellite images."
He pointed at the majestic gate in the image and said:
"Last night at ten, this mysterious Bronze Gate suddenly appeared at the Cyan Mountain Ancestral Land, a hundred meters tall and thirty meters wide, inscribed with seal script and figures, sun, Flood Dragon, True Dragon, Divine Bird, and other motifs, all exuding an ancient charm."
"Our scholars are examining ancient records overnight."
"This Bronze Gate is extremely special, with a hardness exceeding any known material in the world. The military’s most advanced cutting machine ground at its edges for three hours without leaving even a white mark, while also being immune to corrosion and various chemical means."
"Conclusion, it is impossible to destroy the Bronze Gate."
"...Can the gate be pushed open?"
"Cannot be pushed open."
The elder shook his head, "The military took immediate control and tested this ’Bronze Gate’, which withstood a collision with a hundred-ton force from the front without even swaying."
Withstanding a hundred-ton force... without even swaying?!
Instantly, the entire meeting room fell into silence.
Obviously, the Bronze Gate was beyond their understanding.
After a long pause, a pavilion head slowly spoke, "Besides that, are there any other important discoveries?"
"Yes, the Bronze Gate might open, but it may require some kind of medium."
The elder lightly moved his finger over the screen, with a hint of seriousness in his tone,
"Please look at this satellite image of Cyan Mountain; the Bronze Gate was open when it first appeared. Then a light raced towards Yunzhou, suggesting something might have come out of the Bronze Gate."
"...Aliens? Or another world?"
"Possibly."
"...Can we find out what it is?"
"It’s already under investigation, but Yunzhou’s resident population is thirty million, with a transient population..."
"How long."
"With our manpower, it would take approximately seven days."
"Three days."
"Alright."
The elder responded.
The pavilion heads present wore serious expressions and continued discussing the matter of the Bronze Gate. They did not know whether the "people" or "creature" that came out of the Bronze Gate were friends or foes.
They could only prepare for the worst, deploying a large army on standby and burying a substantial amount of explosives deep within the mountain to flatten Cyan Mountain if necessary. Passively waiting was never Qin Country’s style.
Of course, if communication were possible, that would be best.
Three days passed in a blur, with investigators in Yunzhou coming up empty-handed.
Ning Yu, playing to her heart’s content, hadn’t learned to use "technology" and was oblivious to the events in Yunzhou. She had long since used the "Escape Technique" to conceal her whereabouts and left Yunzhou.
At this moment, the people of Yunzhou gazed up at the mountain peak, where the mysterious "Bronze Gate" was clearly visible. On that night, dozens of "witnesses" voiced their accounts online.
There were videos, images, and the truth.
One was a video taken from the mountaintop while enjoying the night view; the footage was blurry, seemingly shot on a phone. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, a half-open "Bronze Gate" appeared out of thin air, with a stream of light shooting out and someone screaming nearby.
Another, clearer image was taken by a professional photographer capturing Yunzhou’s nightscape, even showing part of the motifs on the "Bronze Gate."
...
This incited a good deal of curiosity among the people of Qin Country to climb the mountain, only to see squads of special ops teams armed to the teeth surrounding Cyan Mountain impenetrably.
Even the Flying Eagle Guard was evidently present.
Clearly, a major incident had occurred at the Cyan Mountain Ancestral Land.
Public uproar exploded among the citizens of Qin Country. Yunzhou, located in a remote area and neither a military hub nor a transport center, held its status as the capital due to the unremarkable Cyan Mountain hills, the origin of Qin Country’s civilization.
The next day, tens of thousands of people rushed to Cyan Mountain, demanding to climb it.
Dissuasion was ineffective.
The Flying Eagle Guard had no choice but to request instructions from above.
The outside public opinion caused some headaches for the Qin Country pavilion heads, as such matters could hardly be concealed in today’s technologically advanced era.
A middle-aged pavilion head suddenly posed a hypothesis:
"The appearance of this Bronze Gate reminds me of a folk legend that in times of chaos, Cyan Mountain saints would emerge, aided by Red Flame Celestial Soldiers, which is why our nation has undergone thousands of years of division and unification, always returning to unity, as if blessed by the heavens."
"Perhaps."
He paused, continuing,
"That Bronze Gate may be connected to the mysterious Cyan Mountain Immortal, Red Flame Celestial Soldiers, and historic Cyan Mountain Saints, possibly requiring a descendant of Cyan Mountain to open?"
"Should we let the people try?"
An elder pavilion head said, "We’ve tried. Moreover, are there still legitimate descendants of Cyan Mountain in this era?"
The Flying Eagle Guard leader "Zhao Halberd" is an Innate Martial Artist of the Martial Arts Four Realms; various metaphysical methods of Inner Qi, Essence Blood, and Heart Spirit were tested on the "Bronze Gate" without any reaction.
The great dynasties before Qin Country’s establishment saw the decline of Cyan Mountain heritage, which faded from strength to extinction, leaving only the book "Taiping Scripture" and the post-compiled "Cyan Mountain Transmission."
Now is the era of firearms; people live comfortably, pampered from a young age without the tempering of war. It takes decades of hard training in Martial Dao to achieve something, with only the army’s eight families and the eighteen sects in the populace still persisting.
The number of martial artists is actually similar to ancient times; back then, resources were scarce, now it’s a lack of perseverance, and martial artists remain a minority.
"We are powerless, so allowing them to try wouldn’t hurt."
A pavilion head slowly spoke.
Should the "Bronze Gate" exhibit any abnormalities, their extensive defensive arrangements might not protect Yunzhou’s citizens. As for retreating, being the capital city, a national lifeline, they hadn’t even contemplated withdrawal.
They never considered retreating; in this vast world, where could they flee? At the very least, if war occurs, the military must secure information about the world inside the gate for Qin Country.
The other chief pavilion masters heard this, exchanged glances, and agreed.
...
Cyan Mountain Ancestral Land.
Flying Eagle Guard leader Zhao Halberd received the order, looked at the foot of the mountain at the densely packed tens of thousands of Qin Country citizens, and said solemnly:
"The space on the peak of Cyan Mountain is limited, only a few hundred people can enter at a time. Please queue up and come one by one."
The Qin Country citizens heard this and instinctively formed a line, orderly stepping onto the mountain path, harboring an awe-struck heart, eager to behold the magnificent and grand "Bronze Gate."
Standing under the hundred-meter giant gate, looking up, they saw it towering into the clouds, vast and boundless, breathtakingly crafted by divine artisans.
The military personnel were nearby reassuring that there would be no danger and not to worry about the "Bronze Gate" breaking; the public could confidently enjoy, even reach out to touch or try to push open this grand door.
Success would earn rich rewards.
Yet the Qin military did not know they had inadvertently made the right move.
The Cyan Mountain transmission was deeply engraved into the bloodline of civilization, so everyone could say they were descendants of Cyan Mountain.
As batches of Qin Country citizens ascended Cyan Mountain, chanting the name "Cyan Mountain."
The pure belief and admiration gathered like a trickling stream converging into an ocean.
Meanwhile.
Taiping Lake seemed to sense something, its surface began to ripple with fine waves, subtly quivering.
Treasure Division Rock.
Two children in Daoist robes sat meditating, eyes suddenly opened wide.
Their figures flashed instantly to the lakeside at Taiping Lake.
The lake’s surface reflected a vivid scene: a group of men, women, and children surrounding the "Bronze Gate"; some knelt in prayer, some stretched out to push the gate, and others fervently explained the gate’s mysteries to the camera.
"What’s going on?!"
Baiyun Child puzzled, fingers swiftly calculating, "How could the World Gate reveal itself in the Mountain and River Realm when Master said the time isn’t here yet?"
After the Red Flame Army last descended, the next opening of the World Gate was supposed to be after the Mountain and River Realm’s Spiritual Energy Recovery.
The two children exchanged a glance and spoke in unison.
"Who descended privately without closing the World Gate."
This matter concerned Master’s Dao Lineage, with Master summoning them before each retreat for hundreds of years, Qingfeng Child was momentarily unsettled, turning eyes towards Baiyun Child.
"What should be done?"
Baiyun Child hesitated.
A figure rushed from the sky; it was Gao Fei Xue, who looked at the lake’s scene with a slight frown,
"Baiyun, Qingfeng, come with me to see Senior Brother."
Baiyun Child breathed a sigh of relief, and the three ascended to enter the Immortal Slaying Sword Map hanging deep in the Star River.
Then, a circle of golden magical power was cleansing the Immortal Slaying Sword Map; with Ning Xunqiu’s current cultivation, even a wisp of power ripple was insurmountable for Qi Cultivators who hadn’t attained immortality.
Baiyun Child and Qingfeng Child, akin to aliens, cultivated nearly five hundred years, but their Primordial Spirit Dao Practice was only "three hundred years."
"Senior Brother."
Gao Fei Xue halted outside and softly called out.
The golden magical power stopped, Ning Xunqiu opened his eyes, "What’s happening?"
For hundreds of years, all matters of the Cyan Mountain Dao Lineage were fully handled by Gao Fei Xue and Ah Qing; he rarely inquired.
Gao Fei Xue summarized briefly, "The World Gate prematurely revealed itself in the Mountain and River Realm."
Ning Xunqiu heard this.
With a thought, his "eyes" immediately saw everything happening at Taiping Lake, he frowned.
Then swiftly scanned the entire Cyan Mountain Heaven and Earth without finding Ning Yu’s trace, and also missing were the Big White Goose, Little Cyan Snake, and Flame Sparrow.
"Where is Yu’Er?"
Gao Fei Xue shook her head, then cautiously asked, "Senior Brother, did Yu’Er cause trouble..."
She knew the "Mountain and River Realm" was crucial for Senior Brother Ning Xunqiu’s Dao Lineage.
Ning Xunqiu, after years of nurturing, had a peaceful mental realm; now perhaps five million Qin Country citizens already knew of the "World Gate’s" existence, retracting it was meaningless, he didn’t blame those around him.
Moreover, under the guidance of Cyan Mountain Saints, Qin Country had been established nearly a hundred years earlier.
"No trouble, the impact is minor."
He looked at the two silent children beside him and instructed, "Qingfeng, Baiyun, go down to the Lower Realm, one of you to lead the fated Qin Country people to meet me, the other to bring Yu’Er back."
"Yes, Master."
Qingfeng Child and Baiyun Child bowed and accepted the orders.
Ning Xunqiu thought a moment, then called back the two children.
"Forget it, given the situation, let Yu’Er stay in Qin Country for now, and don’t return yet."
He considered himself a parent late in life, pouring decades of effort into Ning Yu, but Ning Yu favored activity over peace.
The couple was reluctant to strip away her pure nature, bringing her along, and a century’s nurturing subtly imparted some understanding of worldly ways.
Her nature was not bad, just somewhat playful.
Furthermore, upon calculating carefully, the construction of the Barbaric Realm was nearing completion; it was time for their daughter Ning Yu to face the world alone.
If unwilling to cultivate Dao, then perhaps practice martial arts.
...
"Yes."
Qingfeng Child and Baiyun Child exchanged glances.
One rode the wind, one rode the clouds.
Hastily rushing towards the World Gate’s location.
...
