Chapter 2102: Nature Jade Plate  

“Sect master!” the elders said nervously, as if they were trying to hint at something to her.

Yan Xuehen shook her head slightly and said, “It’s fine. With the regent’s current cultivation, he wouldn’t desire our sect’s treasures.” Then, she looked at Zu An and continued, “However, this matter is related to the prosperity and decline of the White Jade Sect, so I hope that the regent will not speak about it with others.”

When he saw how serious she was, Zu An became serious as well as he said, “I understand.”

Yan Xuehen now began to explain, "If we were to talk about anything in the White Jade Sect’s secret dungeon that fit the description you just spoke of, the only thing that could fit that would be a certain jadestone.”

“Jadestone?” Zu An repeated, stunned.

“Strictly speaking, rather than being a jadestone, it is actually a giant stone at the highest peak of the secret dungeon. However, the material is special and looks as if it is entirely made from jade. The surface is so glossy that you can see your reflection in it,” Yan Xuehen explained.

“Something that can exist at the highest peak of the White Jade Sect’s secret dungeon is definitely no ordinary jadestone,” Zu An said with a sigh.

“That’s right, the jadestone is indeed special.” A rare look of passion appeared on Yan Xuehen’s face as she explained, “Certain special images often appear on that jadestone, but they are not the reflection of any place in the secret dungeon, nor are they places we have ever seen in the outside world either. It is rumored that the jadestone reflects the scenery of the immortal realm.”

“Immortal realm?” Zu An repeated as he sat up. He suddenly became more interested.

“That’s right,” Yan Xuehen said with a nod. “It is rumored that many, many years ago, the seniors in the sect saw an immortal perform a sword dance inside. The White Jade Sect’s sword technique was inherited from precisely that scene.”

“Immortal’s sword dance?” Zu An asked, stunned. Why did that sound so familiar? “Have you all personally seen it?”

The White Jade Sect’s people all shook their heads. Yan Xuehen replied, “We have only seen some records from the ancient texts left behind by the sect’s seniors. We have never personally seen it, but there is no way to fake the sword skills that were passed down. For example, my Snowflake Sword came precisely from that jadestone’s immortal sword dance.”

Zu An asked seriously, “Could it be that a senior from White Jade Sect borrowed the name of an immortal for his technique?”

When they heard that, many elders showed dissatisfaction. Yan Xuehen explained, “There is no reason for the White Jade Sect’s seniors to do such a thing. Furthermore, even though no one has seen the immortal’s sword dance in the jadestone, there have been some other scenes. Throughout history, there have been talented individuals who obtained enlightenment through the jadestone and created their own techniques as a result.

“For example, the senior brother Li you met? His Immortal Sword came from some scenes he observed from the jadestone that gave him sudden enlightenment.”

The sword technique Li Changsheng had used in the past appeared in Zu An’s mind. Whenever the sword appeared, an illusory palace manifestedd in the sky. The style of that palace carried a divine air that seemed detached from the secular world. It was indeed quite different. It seemed this jadestone was special after all.

“Could that jadestone possibly be a passage that links up to another secret dungeon?” Zu An asked.

Yan Xuehen shook her head and said, “Countless seniors of the White Jade Sect have studied that jadestone to unravel its mysteries for thousands of years, but they never found anything. There were no spatial element waves detected. Apart from some mysterious scenes appearing every year on certain days, there was nothing else special about it."

Zu An thought to himself that nothing seemed to stand out in particular in the period when Chu Chuyan had gone missing. He asked, “Then where is that jadestone right now?”

Yan Xuehen reflexively glanced at Elder Ming. He replied, “The sect master was busy searching for Chuyan’s whereabouts and didn’t notice, but the jadestone has actually already gone missing.”

“What?!” Even Yan Xuehen was shocked now.

“When the secret dungeon changed, I was more worried about that immortal jadestone. After all, our White Jade Sect’s prosperity has largely depended on it. I wanted to see if I could arrange a protective formation around it, but when I arrived at the mountaintop, I was shocked to discover that the jadestone had already disappeared without a trace," Elder Ming said. “Why didn’t you tell me about something so important ahead of time?” Yan Xuehen said, feeling a bit anxious.

“At the time, the sect master was frantically looking for Chuyan and was not in the mood to pay attention to these things at all,” Elder Ming said with a sigh. “At the time, I contacted the other elders to search for the immortal jadestone, but we didn’t find anything. We even suspected that the jadestone might have fallen out of the clouds when the entire secret dungeon changed.

“This matter is too important, so we’ve since been investigating. We were worried that information could leak out and cause alarm among the disciples. But now that we’ve begun to discuss things, it seems that the jadestone’s disappearance is related to Chuyan’s disappearance.”

“Even so, in all these years, there have never been issues with that jadestone...” Yan Xuehen said a bit absentmindedly. The jadestone was too important and too mysterious. Even though they now knew that it could be related to Chuyan’s disappearance, she didn’t know what to do about it.

...

The group discussed things with each other for a while longer, but they couldn't come to any useful conclusions. Furthermore, it was already dark, so they decided to separate for the time being.

When he saw the daze Yan Xuehen was in, Zu An tried to comfort her by saying, “At the very least, we now know the reason for Chuyan’s disappearance, so we aren’t entirely without any clues anymore. Your serious injuries have only begun to heal, so you should go back and get some rest first.”

Yan Xuehen did feel quite tired. When she heard that, she voiced her agreement. “You’ve also worked hard, so try to get some good rest as well.”

After she said that, her cheeks heated up and she hurriedly added, “That’s not what I meant. I was saying that you must be tired from your journey here.”

Zu An couldn't help but smile, replying, “I didn’t say anything, though! What are you thinking about?”

Yan Xuehen didn’t even dare to look straight at him. She guiltily raised her dress and ran away.

When she left, Zu An put away his smile. After putting up several formations that isolated him from the outside world, he took out the Tai’e Sword and asked, “Big sis empress, are you there? I have something I want to ask.”

“I told you to call me master,” Mi Li said as a trace of red appeared. Her dignified and beautiful eyes were extremely enchanting.

As he watched Mi Li lie down, Zu An couldn't help but ask with a sigh of amazement, “Why do you always like this kind of sleeping posture?”

“It can’t be helped. Whose fault is it that I’m in this soul form? I can only save as much energy as possible,” MI Li said as she lay down on the bed while supporting her head with one hand. The part of her wrist that was exposed gave off a gentle radiance.

Zu An said seriously, “We still need one final material to reconstruct a body for you. I'll definitely do my best to find it for you.”

“I guess you have some conscience after all. But you should focus on saving those two little lovers first. In my situation, it won't really make too much of a difference if it happens a day earlier or a day later," Mi Li said, although a hint of a warm smile appeared on her face.

“Big sis heard our earlier conversation, right? Do you think Chuyan was brought away by that jadestone? Do you know the origins of that jadestone?” Zu An asked nervously. Among all the people he knew, the one with the most profound and deep knowledge was none other than Mi Li. For some reason, he subconsciously felt he could learn something from her.

When she heard what he said, Mi Li’s expression grew serious. There was a bit of hesitation on her face, but in the end, she said, “I know that those two young women are very important to you... Whatever. I have some guesses regarding that jadestone, but many of my memories are in a sealed state. I need you to give me enough Rage points that I can unlock a portion and take a look.”

Zu An had thought that she would talk in riddles again and hadn’t expected her to say that, so he was really happy and surprised. He asked, “Rage points can undo the seal on your memories? How many do you need?”

Too many things had happened as of late, so he hadn’t had time to pull the lottery. He had already collected 511,340 Rage points.

“Rage points are a form of soul power that is produced when the emotions of living creatures are most intense. They're a kind of power that's of an even higher order than the world’s natural ki. Once you reach a higher level, you'll understand their true use,” Mi Li replied. “I'm currently in soul form, so the accumulated Rage points are perfect for replenishing my power.”

“Sure, but how do I give them to you?” Zu An asked in confusion.

“You just need to agree,” Mi Li said, then suddenly closed her eyes.

Zu An immediately sensed his Rage points go to zero. He couldn't help but feel incredibly shocked. Even though the two of them had signed a soul contract and were already like one family after spending so much time together, he was still shocked when he saw that she could directly take the Rage points from his Keyboard System.

This woman is becoming more and more mysterious. She can actually even link up with the Keyboard System? Just how does she do that?

“There’s no need for you to feel shocked. You'll know in the future. All you need to know is that I won’t harm you,” Mi Li said; she clearly didn’t seem as if she wanted to explain any further. “By the way, this amount of Rage points is far from enough. Remember that you still owe me a lot and that you need to pay it all back.”

“Just how much do I owe you exactly?”

“I’ll let you know once you’ve paid in full.”

“...”

Still, since the information was related to saving Chuyan, Zu An didn't worry about that and said, “Hurry and tell me what's going on already.”

Mi Li closed her eyes, seemingly thinking about something. A while later, she slowly opened her eyes and said, “Judging from the description of the jadestone from the White Jade Sect’s people, if we connect that with the matter of Chu Chuyan’s disappearance, that jadestone might be the legendary Nature Jade Plate.”

“Nature Jade Plate?” Zu An repeated. He couldn't help but feel as if the name was a bit familiar, as if he had heard it before from his previous world’s myths.

“The Nature Jade Plate is a treasure that has existed since the formation of primal chaos. It records the three thousand great dao and is rumored to have the mighty power to travel through time and change everything. There are many worlds that have legends surrounding its existence,” Mi Li slowly said.

Zu An was stunned. So those things from legends were actually real!

“Of course, the Nature Jade Plate in the White Jade Sect’s secret dungeon was definitely not a complete one. This world couldn't possibly bear the power of the Nature Jade Plate, let alone one trifling secret dungeon,” Mi Li explained. “I believe that this should just be a small fragment of the real Nature Jade Plate.”

“Since the Nature Jade Plate is so formidable, how could it have been destroyed?” Zu An asked with a frown. He just felt that such a thing was unimaginable.

“As for who destroyed such a primal chaos treasure, that's unknown. There's probably no one left in the universe who knows,” Mi Li said, shaking her head.

“But that jadestone was fine for thousands of years. Chuyan was fine when she cultivated there in the past. Why did something happen this time?” Zu An couldn't help but ask.

“Did you forget that Chuyan obtained the Pure World Icelotus’ intent from the daoist secret dungeon?” Mi Li replied, staring at him.

“Is there a problem?” Zu An asked. He'd had his suspicions that it was related to that, but there wasn’t enough information to reach a conclusion.

“The Pure World Icelotus is an even higher-grade item than you think,” Mi Li said. After some hesitation, she continued, “I’ll explain it this way. Among the countless heavens and realms, countless beings have searched for the very root of the cosmos. There is one saying that when the primal chaos was formed, the entire universe was formed from a single lotus.”

Zu An was shocked, asking, “Don’t tell me it was none other than the so-called Pure World Icelotus?”

“It’s not that exaggerated,” Mi Li said with a smile. “But the Pure World Icelotus and the very first lotus from the formation of primal chaos have some connection. Additionally, the Nature Jade Plate is also an innate treasure of primal chaos, so the two could mutually resonate.

“That explains why the jadestone was fine for thousands of years, but once Chuyan obtained the Pure World Icelotus’ intent, something ended up happening. It should be the case that the two treasures sensed each other’s existence, which activated the Nature Jade Plate’s functions. Even though it's just a fragment, it's not something that a secret dungeon can handle.”

Zu An was worried, saying, “Even that secret dungeon was destroyed, so doesn’t that mean that Chuyan is...”

“Right now, you aren't thinking straight because of your worry. Didn’t you see the Snow Lady?” Mi Li replied, rolling her eyes. “It’s clear that she activated the Nature Jade Plate to travel through spacetime and entered another timeline.”

Zu An was now even more confused, asking, “There really is time travel in this world?”

All of the science education he received from his previous world had taught him that time was irreversible. Even in the world of cultivation where there were many miraculous things, he had never heard of anyone traveling through time.

“Even though the conditions are extremely strict, it is possible in a select few situations!” Mi Li replied, then seemed to have thought of something. Her eyes blossomed with a brilliant expression.