111 The Jade Purity Palace of Taiwei

The trio emerged from the Tushita Palace, having salvaged four puppet celestial generals. After repairing them, they continued their campaign of conquering and plundering. Eventually, the division of labor became clear: Luo Yu and Qin Yue were responsible for repairing puppets and activating formations, while Luo Li led the assault and mopped up the resistance.

The puppet army grew steadily, snowballing in size. By the time they reached the Taiwei Yuqing Palace three months later, they possessed over fifty puppets. Luo Yu roughly estimated that they now commanded nearly a quarter of the total puppet force, allowing them to move through the deserted heavenly palace almost unchallenged.

Finally, they reached the core of the Heavenly Court. The three siblings took to the front lines together, each determined to witness the historic moment they had spent nearly two years waiting for.

Luo Yu surveyed the two gleaming rows of thugs behind him, then cast a glance at the nine giant, ten-foot-tall puppets standing before the Yuqing Palace. He raised his token and shouted, "Attack!" before immediately dragging Qin Yue and the cat away to hide in the distance.

The puppets obeyed, swarming toward the nine giants like a hive of bees. Instantly, the entrance to the Yuqing Palace was filled with the glint of blades and the ceaseless, crisp clashing of swords and halberds.

The three siblings huddled in a corner, passing the time playing cards until day turned to night and back again, occasionally recalling a puppet to swap out its depleted immortal stones. Five days later, the nine giant puppets finally succumbed to the massive consumption of energy and shut down one by one.

Luo Yu happily ran over to take inventory. Eight puppets had been scrapped in the battle, over twenty were heavily damaged, and the rest were merely scratched. Although his heart ached, the siblings couldn't help but grin from ear to ear at the sight of those nine perfectly intact giants.

After packing everything up and breaking the formation, they finally stepped into the Yuqing Palace.

The outer courtyard was slightly disheveled, suggesting it had likely been looted by the palace attendants long ago, but the ultimate sanctum of the "boss" remained untouched.

The three walked through layers of halls: spiritual flowers exhaled fragrance under the corridors, while white clouds drifted like jade amidst the pavilions. Windows were adorned with cinnabar beads, and arched bridges wound through swirling mists. The scenery was less grandiose than what they had seen before, possessing instead a subtle elegance that left them feeling relaxed.

Reaching the inner sanctum, they found the physical bodies of the Heavenly Emperor and the Heavenly Queen, along with some immortal maidservants who had long since passed away in meditation. Some wore flowing rainbow garments, while others were dressed like the "Flying Apsaras" from Dunhuang murals, with bare midriffs and colorful ribbons draped about their arms, floating like silk and smoke in the air.

Luo Li’s eyes lit up the moment she saw the ribbons. "Wow, what beautiful flight artifacts!" She lunged forward and began pulling at them.

Qin Yue said coolly, "These artifacts are indeed excellent; only the old hags of the Nine Heavens Palace still possess any. They grant incredible speed and make one's footwork much more flexible in combat. They are worth having." As he spoke, he stripped the cloud-white ribbon from the Heavenly Emperor’s body.

Luo Yu immediately protested, "You want that one? What about mine?"

Qin Yue replied expressionlessly, "There are plenty left. Take the Empress's."

Luo Yu roared, "That one is for women!"

Qin Yue retorted, "They are the same color and shape. What does it matter?"

Luo Yu angrily ripped the ribbon off the Heavenly Queen, shouting, "Look closely! Yours is plain, but this one has ruffled edges! It's too obvious!"

Qin Yue said blankly, "First come, first served."

Luo Yu didn't hesitate; he lunged, and the two immediately rolled into a ball on the floor.

Luo Li danced about, waving a pile of ribbons and cheering, "Oh! Look, Nii-san! So many! They're all mine! They'll match all my clothes! Haha!" Seeing the two ignoring her, she jumped into the fray to add to the chaos.

After a long skirmish, Qin Yue managed to snatch the last tail of ribbon from Luo Yu's hand and tucked it into his bracelet. Having failed to win the struggle and ending up with disheveled clothes and a flushed face, Luo Yu sullenly picked up the ruffled ribbon that had been cast aside, gritting his teeth as he accepted it. "Bullying your big brother! Fine, for the sake of you being his wife, I'll let you have it!"

The three knew the bodies were also valuable—the Heavenly Emperor's golden coronation robe, for instance, clearly had high defensive properties—but it was too flashy. Wearing it would be like walking around with a sign saying, "Rob me, I'm a mark!" They would surely be swarmed. Even if they could win, why bother? Alas, a useless treasure.

Luo Yu said, "Since no one else can get in here, and even if the puppets are gone, no one can break the formation, let's leave them for now. Stripping them completely... well, that’s a bit much."

Qin Yue nodded. When they were at the Tushita Palace, they had intended to cremate the body of the Supreme Lord of Tushita, only to find they couldn't even singe a single hair. This discovery had shocked the siblings for a long time: the Nine Heavens True Monarchs who had surpassed the Tribulation Stage were truly not human! Their remains were even more formidable than the puppets.

It was clear that while the Heavenly Emperor and Queen were not as powerful as the Supreme Lord, they were not something a few small-time cultivators in the Golden Core stage could hope to burn. The three sensibly abandoned the attempt. As for the artifacts inside their bodies, they didn't even dare to dream.

However, they weren't entirely discouraged. After rummaging through the Heavenly Emperor's body, they actually fished out a jade seal.

The seal was the size of a palm, glowing with a purple-gold luster. Its material was unknown. The top of the seal featured auspicious clouds surrounding mountains and rivers, with the sun and moon above; the base was dotted with the stars of the Big Dipper and divided into yin and yang. Aside from the inscription "The Haotian Golden Pavilion Supreme Sovereign Natural Marvelous Jade Emperor God," the four sides were engraved with intricate, mysterious formation patterns—it was a powerful artifact.

Luo Li held the seal up and asked curiously, "Huh? This is the Imperial Seal, it has huge political significance! Why didn't they refine it into a magical treasure? What if someone stole it?"

Qin Yue thought for a moment and said, "It is indeed strange." He turned to Luo Yu and asked, "What are these patterns for? Holding it doesn't give any offensive power, so I assume it's not for anti-theft."

Luo Yu frowned. "If it's engraved with formations, it can't be used as a standard magical treasure; the runes would get in the way, and it could never develop a spirit. By that logic, these runes must serve a specific, essential purpose—one so important that they chose to forgo refining it into a weapon."

Luo Yu turned the seal over in his hands for a long time, muttering, "It must be a key or a token of some sort."

Luo Li asked, "Is it the key to the Yuqing Palace?"

Qin Yue frowned in thought. "Many people have the authority to enter the Yuqing Palace; they wouldn't put the access formation on something so important... Could it be the key to the Treasure Light Hall?"

Luo Yu’s spirit lifted. "I bet it's the key to the Qionghua Palace. Want to make a wager?"

Qin Yue asked, "What are we betting?"

Luo Yu was about to speak, but suddenly stopped to look at Luo Li, a lewd, excited expression on his face. "Uh... you know!"

Qin Yue understood, of course, and kept a straight face in silence. Luo Li didn't notice their suggestive winks and happily joined in. "I’ll bet too! I bet it opens both! If I win, you can't leave me behind anywhere you go!"

Luo Yu paused. "Then I bet it opens both."

Qin Yue said with a wooden expression, "Me too."

Luo Li: "..."

The siblings walked out of the inner sanctum, continuing their search. The Heavenly Emperor's palace was like a garden, so they had to look around—what if they found some immortal herbs?

As they searched, they turned past several more halls and were suddenly greeted by a vast cloud terrace. In the center stood nine hundred-foot-tall jade pillars, shining with silver light and arranged in a perfect circle. Between the pillars, gold and silver formation patterns flowed through the barrier, shimmering against the blue sky and making it impossible to see what lay within. A circle of twelve puppet celestial generals guarded the perimeter. Beyond these, the four beast corpses—the Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise—lay at the four cardinal directions.

The three were startled by the display. Luo Li couldn't help but whisper, "What is this place?"

Luo Yu said, "This... wait? This seems to be the center of the Heavenly Court... the position of the Innate Bagua Disk!"

Qin Yue said, "This place must be the most critical of all."

Luo Li nodded, her face solemn. "There must be the rarest, most precious treasures inside! Ah... I know! The Treasure Light Hall was just a cover to distract people! All the good stuff must be hidden in here!"

Luo Yu felt conflicted. "What do we do? We don't have enough puppet babies... even if we fix those four big ones, we still won't be able to win... Do we have to go back and grind for another year or two before coming back?"

Qin Yue hesitated for a long time before saying, "That Imperial Seal... could it be used here?"

Luo Yu’s heart skipped a beat. He flipped his hand and produced the seal. "I’ll go try... if I get chased, I can just teleport back to the Heaven-Defying Palace."

Qin Yue and Luo Li nodded. "First, break the no-fly formation here."

After making preparations, Luo Yu slowly channeled his spiritual power.

Following a flash of golden light, the handsome youth vanished, and a small golden phoenix appeared in his place, wearing a ring around its neck and holding the purple seal in its beak.

It gracefully flapped its wings, twirled in the air, and drifted out with elegant, feather-light movements, reaching the hundred-meter mark in the blink of an eye. The phoenix stopped, opened its mouth to release the seal, and blew a breath of air onto it. The seal immediately erupted in a burst of purple radiance, hovering steadily in mid-air.