BXBX NOVEL Chapter 15 - Nine palaces
The system perks up it\'s head after being poked. "What?"
At last, the system is allowed to speak, and launches into a tale. "It may be because I told him too many adventures when he was a child. After he became famous, he had a whimsical idea that some of his treasures should be stored in several places, hoping to be able to attract outstanding descendants. I suggest that the host should go and look for it. After all, the treasures are very generous. There are all kinds of rare pills, herbs and equipment."
Kong Wuying nods. "Okay, I\'ll go with you."
Xiao Yue is embarrassed. "Ning-ge, I haven\'t finished talking yet?"
Kong Wuying is still half listening to the system at the same time so he vaguely says, "Continue."
Xiao Yue clears his throat. "You\'re half right. Master Youtian said that a part of Emperor Chu\'s collection will be unearthed in Yunyue city three days from now."
A Tianyanshi is a profession in Mingguang that\'s very popular. The Tianyanshi are gifted and can see the past and the future, but they\'re not the same as common fortune tellers.
Xiao Yue explains, "I came here especially to tell you this because the collection is precious, so there must be tests in place. Emperor Chu is a pill master, so the tests are naturally related to refining."
Xiao Yue smiles. "Originally, I planned to go with Ruoruo, but she went home a few days ago, so I thought of you, Ning*-ge*."
"I\'ll go with you," Kong Wuying confirms.
Xiao Yue reminds him, "Emperor Chu\'s secret collection was designed to promote and challenge the talents of the younger generation. Ning-ge, you\'re refining is excellent, but don\'t underestimate the tests. You\'d better read up in the next three days."
"Xiao-ge, don\'t worry," Kong Wuying dismisses.
…
Three days later, Xiao Yue arrives at Kong Wuying\'s house on time.
For the adventure, Kong Wuying as well as his soul puppet have prepared.
"This is..." Xiao Yue trails off upon seeing Kongbao.
"My bodyguard, Kongbao," Kong Wuying introduces.
Xiao Yue says, "Ning*-ge*, don\'t worry. My family has made enough preparations and brought enough guards. Moreover, no one else knows about it opening so we won\'t have trouble."
Although many pill masters have excellent spiritual cultivation, their combat effectiveness is not as strong compared to physical cultivators, the martial artists. Therefore, it\'s very common for pill masters to keep guards.
However, Kong Wuying\'s bodyguard...
Remembering before that Kong Wuying said he likes beauties, Xiao Yue can\'t help but frown a bit.
Kongbao tilts his head, very obediently following at his master\'s side. He slides a sideways glance towards Xiao Yue and catalogues this person.
Gender: Male
Age: Bones are dated between twenty-four and twenty-five years old
Appearance: Three stars
Risk: Unlikely
From Xiao Yue\'s appearance, he shouldn\'t be a concern.
...
After travelling all the way to the west, far outside of the main city, they come to an unpopulated mountain.
This mountain is called Hongyun mountain, which is usually empty. \'Usually\' is because right now an entire crowd is clustered together, edging around each other to move around the base of the mountain.
Nearby is a peddler. "Passion fruit fruit tea, passion fruit fruit tea, a gold coin for a cup! Buy a cup to gift Emperor Chu! Don\'t miss out!"
So...no one else knows about the secret collection?
Xiao Yue is speechless. He never expected that the news would leak so quickly.
At this time, Kong Wuying sees an acquaintance and moves over to talk with them, Kongbao at his side. "Vice President Wan?"
Vice President Wan came in full regalia, followed by a group of pill masters. They all look familiar. It seems that they\'re all the first division pill masters who were watching that day. They greet Kong Wuying very warmly.
"Master Ning is early."
"Master Ning is here."
"Long time no see!"
Xiao Yue squeezes over. "Vice President Wan, are you looking for the secret collection?"
Vice President Wan chuckles. "How can we? We\'re self-aware enough - just look at this place. For the sake of Emperor Chu\'s secret collection, so many guilds and families have come. Our strength is not enough to compare, we\'ve just come to watch."
A handsome young man in a yellow robe stops beside them, with peach blossom eyes, a jade crown in his hair.
(^ peach blossom eyes = basically means pretty shape)
(^ jade crown = hair ornament)
The young man smiles naturally and unrestrained. "Oh, isn\'t this Mr. Xiao? You\'re here, too?"
Kongbao calculates.
Appearance: 4 stars
Risk: Unlikely
"Jiang Chen," Xiao Yue greets after a pause.
Jiang Chen looks around through the crowd. "Where is Miss Ruo?"
Xiao Yue replies, "She has something to do and left for Shengdu first."
Jiang Chen laughs. “Miss Ruo isn’t here! Xiao Yue, my dear, are you going to fight me then? What, did you bring along this pill master to do it? It’s a - it’s a first division!” Jiang Chen laughs even louder.
Hearing Jiang Chen\'s mocking, Kong Wuying ignores it. In fact, in this new body, Kong Wuying has gotten used to ridicule because everyone he’s met has looked down on him. If he cared about every slight, he’d be very tired.
On the contrary, Kongbao looks more upset. In his half-lidded eyes, there’s a faint sense of killing intent.
Xiao Yue\'s face is blank. “Division doesn’t mean everything. Ning-ge\'s strength is strong, far more than Ruoruo."
Jiang Chen, of course, doesn’t believe it at all. “What a poor bluff. It\'s a pity that in order to compete with Miss Ruo, I\'ve brought so many witnesses to watch me win but it’s all in vain now! Alas!"
"What!" Xiao Yue flushes in anger. “Everyone here is because of you?”
"Of course! The more people who participate in finding the collection, the more I can show my wisdom and martial arts. I even took the time to shout it all over the streets. Look! It\'s so busy now."
"Are you crazy!?" Xiao Yue complains.
Jiang Chen scoffs. “What, stunned by my ingenuity?”
Xiao Yue looks around, because he can’t be the only one incredulous about this.
As a result of the stunned silence, Jiang Chen concludes that he’s won and leaves with his men.
Xiao Yue sighs and says to Ning Zhao, “We met our opponent. Jiang Chen, although he has some problems with his brain, has a great talent for alchemy. Ruoruo isn’t his match either, we need to be careful.”
As soon as he finishes, he sees a rainbow in the sky.
Then, the earth and the sky crack apart, a tremor starting and the very air tears open. As everyone here knows, this is one of the secret collections of Pill Emperor Chu, and this is its opening.
The tremor lasts about fifteen minutes. After the tremor stops, a stone gate suddenly appears in the mountain pass.
The stone gate is square, a few lines dividing it into nine sections. Several grids have numbers on them, and a few are empty.
The system cackles. “This is Nine Palaces! Have you seen it before? I especially asked Chuchu to add this level. It\'s extremely difficult! But host, don\'t worry. With my calculation ability, I can help you pass this quickly!”
The system laughs wildly in Kong Wuying’s mind. The system would never dare to be so presumptuous after figuring out the skill of the new host, but now it has the change to show itself!
Kong Wuying huffs in amusement at the giant Sudoku game.
The system feels that the host’s answer is a little weird, when suddenly the rest of the crowd laughs too.
"Isn\'t this Nine Palaces?"
"I didn\'t expect that a test from Pill Emperor Chu would be so simple!"
"Nine Palaces? My eight year old son can do it!"
"Hahaha, it\'s so simple. I’m disappointed!"
System is quiet.
Kong Wuying rubs salt into the wound. “You never got basic education when you were with Chu Liying?”
System privately thinks; no wonder Chuchu had such a strange look when the system explained the idea.
The simple Nine Palaces greatly increases people\'s confidence. One by one, they pass through the first gate smoothly. Even the peddlers of passion fruit tea decided to follow and continue to sell after a brief hesitation.
After passing through the first door, they enter a strange space. Everywhere is a vast expanse of white, and all they can do is move forward.
They don\'t know how long they walk forward, when the second door appears in front of them.
People look at the door, and in their heart, all think; Emperor Chu, this is so uninspired.
Presented in front of them, is the upgraded version of the Nine Palace grid. But it’s 2048x2048, a dense grid filled with numbers and blanks that make many people feel dizzy just looking at it.
This difficulty is more than ten thousand times higher than before. Can anyone really get through?
Seeing this new test, Jiang Chen sits down and begins to calculate. If you want to look powerful, you can only sit down and calculate. But as for what you have actually worked out, you have no idea.
"Host!” the system cries. “Leave this to me! At most in half an hour, I’ll give you the answer!" the system promises.
Kong Wuying has a faint smile on his face. “So tedious.”