novelraw Chapter 456 - 453: Inspector
Chapter 456 - 453: Inspector
Above the Nine Heavens.
The Immortal Realm.
The vast expanse of territory was filled with a solemn and deadly aura.
In the eyes of mortals, the Immortal Realm was beautiful, peaceful, and desirable... But in reality? The Immortal Realm was cruel, bloody, and a graveyard for the weak.
The Immortal Realm believed in "survival of the fittest." If you were weak, you would be bullied by the strong, and only with great strength could you have the highest status and dignity.
...
In the east of the Immortal Realm, there was a pagoda gleaming with golden light floating in the air, surrounded by layers of white mist, it looked like a dream, fantastical and splendid.
A man in a bright red robe sat on a meditation cushion, slowly savoring a cup of hot tea in his hands. The man had long eyebrows that dangled down the sides of his face, giving him a somewhat unnatural look. His skin was very pale, especially his hands, which were even fairer and more delicate; his fingers were slender, clear and rounded. Although he was a man, he had the hands of a woman.
"Inspector!" A young man with long hair hurried in, "There's been an incident!"
The man in the robe lifted his eyelids, "What kind of incident?"
"Just now... I sensed the presence of the rebel stele..."
"What did you say!" the man in the robe stood up abruptly, his eyes wide and locked in an angry glare at the young man with long hair: "Say that again!" His anger altered the aura around him, turning it thick and intimidating.
"I sensed the presence of the rebel stele..." the young man with long hair repeated what he had just said.
"Are you sure? You didn't sense it wrong?" the man in the robe asked, staring intensely.
The young man with long hair shook his head, "I am quite certain, it was the rebel stele, and there was no mistake in my sensing."
"A million years have passed... I thought the rebel stele would never reappear... but now... it has emerged after all..." the man in the robe's face turned ashen, and he said coldly, "Where is the rebel stele?"
"Because the rebel stele emerged for such a short time, I had no chance to search for it," the young man with long hair said with an apologetic smile, "But I can be certain that the rebel stele is not in the Immortal Realm."
"Not in the Immortal Realm?" the man in the robe narrowed his eyes, "That means, the rebel stele is in the Lower Realms?"
The young man with long hair nodded, "Yes! I felt it clearly at the time, the energy fluctuations from the rebel stele came from the Lower Realms."
"Which Lower Realm?" the man in the robe asked.
"I do not know... The emergence of the rebel stele was too brief for me to track," the young man replied.
"There are thousands of inferior realms in total; to find the rebel stele among so many realms will be no small feat."
"It is very difficult."
"No matter how difficult, we must search! The rebel stele is something the Celestial Emperor himself ordered us to find. Whoever finds the rebel stele will receive the Celestial Emperor's accolades... You must immediately gather people to search for the rebel stele. I don't care how you do it, but you must find it," commanded the man in the robe.
"Your command is my wish," said the young man with long hair as he turned to leave.
The man in the robe stood in the center of the hall, head slightly tilted back, eyes half-closed, as he murmured to himself, "This time, I must find the rebel stele! I should report this matter to the Celestial Emperor! If I can get the Celestial Emperor's support, the difficulty of finding the rebel stele will be greatly reduced."
As soon as he thought it, the robed man immediately wrote a memorial and sent it out through special means.
A day later, the robed man received a reply from the Celestial Emperor, consisting of only eight words, "You must find the rebel stele."
"With the support of the Celestial Emperor, I can now make a bold move!" The robed man's face lit up with joy as he laughed, "Someone!!!"
"What does my lord command?" A subordinate entered briskly.
"I will be in closed-door cultivation for the coming period. No matter who comes to see me, stop them without exception," the robed man said gravely.
"As you wish," the subordinate accepted the order and left.
The robed man sat cross-legged on the ground, thinking to himself, To find the rebel stele faster, I should make the trip myself! With this thought, he brought his hands together and chanted under his breath. Uttering a supreme spell, he divided his Divine Sense into thousands of parts, "Go!" the robed man exhaled the word slowly.
"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!"
The thousands of Divine Sense scattered in all directions, breaking through seals, flying towards various lower realms.
"Success or failure hinges on this very move." As his Divine Sense was split into thousands of parts, the robed man's complexion turned instantly pale, and his aura weakened significantly. Clearly, the price to cast such a heaven-defying spell was great, but to search for the rebel stele, any price was worth paying.
Oh right, the identity of the robed man has not been introduced yet.
The man in the red robe was Ximen Lie, the Inspector of the Eastern Region of the Immortal Realm. Holding a high and weighty position, he was a significant figure within the Immortal Realm as well. Inspectors wielded immense power, including the authority to execute first and report later. In plain terms, Ximen Lie was the Celestial Emperor's executioner, aiding in monitoring officials and eradicating dissenters for the Emperor.
The reason Ximen Lie was so fervently searching for the rebel stele this time was to please the Celestial Emperor. A pleased Emperor meant a stable position for Ximen Lie, and a stable position allowed him to continue wielding power and influence.
...
Our protagonist, Gao Fei, was completely unaware that he was under the scrutiny of a major figure from the Immortal Realm. At this moment, he was busy exploring a mysterious island.
The island was vast; absurdly so.
It took Gao Fei, Chen San, and Liu Qing an entire month to fully explore the island.
During that month, Gao Fei and the others made significant discoveries. The island was home to many treasures, such as ginseng, fleeceflower root, unknown spiritual medicines and spirit grasses, precious metals for artifact refining... there were simply too many good things to list them all here.
In a nutshell, "Gao Fei and his companions had become exceedingly wealthy, their wallets bursting at the seams."
However, their laughter soon ceased... as they discovered that the mysterious island was surrounded by a mysterious energy. Whenever they attempted to leave the island, they would be attacked by this energy. Fortunately, they retreated in time, otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
"How could this happen!" Gao Fei's face darkened ominously.
"We are trapped here!" Chen San lamented with a downcast face.
"Trouble after trouble, just one thing after another," Liu Qing sighed heavily, "Does fate truly despise us that much, continuously throwing challenges our way?"
Gao Fei took a couple of steps forward, gazing up at the sky above the island; his eyes flickered with an unusual gleam. Pushing his Clairvoyance to the limit, he then saw odd ripples in the skies above the island. These ripples crisscrossed, orderly arranged and interwoven, forming a terrifying net that enshrouded the entire island.
It was this massive net that prevented Gao Fei and his companions from leaving.
They were safe on the island, but attempting to leave would provoke an attack from the net, which was terribly sharp. Gao Fei and his companions simply could not withstand it.