Young Noble Be Monster Slaying

"It worked just like that?"

Everyone arrived in front of the Bone Palace with genuine surprise.

When Chu Liang went to negotiate with the elderly chancellor, the others had been waiting some distance behind him, ready to charge in and rescue him at any moment.

They hadn't expected that his talk with the elderly chancellor would go so smoothly.

This is a group of lingering spirits who have been holding onto their obsession for hundreds of years! Did they really treat you with the usual social etiquette and norms?

Chu Liang smiled and said, "It's all thanks to the chancellor's great sense of righteousness and duty. He understands that the current priority is to thwart the demon race's scheme."

However, the elderly chancellor's expression remained stern. It seemed he was still resentful toward the group of traitors from the Mount Shu Sect.

Nevertheless, he turned around, flung out his sleeves, and said, "Follow me."

It wasn't exactly Chu Liang's forte to quickly forge friendships with others; he wasn't Lin Bei after all.

However, having been friends with Lin Bei for so long, he had seen Lin Bei in action plenty of times. He picked up some of Lin Bei's socializing tricks like making a connection through mutual acquaintances and sharing stories about them… In short, it was about quickly breaking the ice and reaching a level where there was no hostility.

As for the subsequent negotiations regarding the conditions of their agreement, that was where Chu Liang truly excelled.

Once the negotiations were over, the elderly chancellor agreed to open the gateway leading to the next dream level for them.

Soon after, he led Chu Liang's group to the jade coffin.

Radiant light swirled inside the jade coffin, where the young emperor had been lying in slumber for hundreds of years.

Although born into the imperial family, he happened to be born during the final years of his family's dynasty. At the mere age of six, he was forced to ascend the throne and was later exiled. He was just a pitiful child with a tragic history.

With a wave of the elderly chancellor's large sleeve, the lid of the jade coffin slowly slid open, releasing a burst of brilliant light that shone an arc of light into the air.

Within the arc of light, there was a faint outline of a portal.

"This level is His Majesty's dream. Be extremely careful when you enter. Do not disturb His Majesty," the elderly chancellor warned.

Everyone agreed they would do as the elderly chancellor said. Then they stepped into the light one by one, their figures disappearing in an instant.

Chu Liang was the last to go.

The elderly chancellor told him, "I hope you will keep your promise."

"Rest assured, Chancellor," Chu Liang replied. "Since I've made a promise, I will not break it."

The elderly chancellor nodded. "Good."

Chu Liang then leaped forward, stepping into the arc of light.

Whoosh.

There was a flash, giving light to the scene before him.

He was in a beautiful paradise with rolling verdant hills and flowing limpid rivers. However, there was something strange. All the birds and beasts seemed to be asleep, frozen in place without even the slightest movement.

It was the very same mountain that Chu Liang, Luo Yao, and Pushan had visited previously.

Normally, crossing through the Deep Pool of Dreams would lead to this place—the first level of the dream world. It was likely due to the chaos in the Deep Pool of Dreams that Chu Liang's group had fallen into the lower levels this time.

According to what Chu Liang experienced the last time he was here, if they stayed in this paradise for too long, their souls would be pulled into the Immortals' Dreams… Chu Liang now guessed that this meant falling into the lower levels of the dream world.

However, the cultivation levels of Chu Liang's group members were much higher than when Chu Liang was here the first time, so he wasn't worried.

With Chu Liang's guidance, they made their way toward the cluster of palace halls at the mountaintop.

They swiftly arrived at a vast white public square, spanning a hundred zhang. It was adorned with the intricate Five-Element Formation of Celestial Design.

This was where the Southern-Route Guider had taken Luo Yao hostage. He'd threatened to kill her to force Chu Liang and Pushan to break through the enchanted formation. However, even with Chu Liang and Pushan working together, they had only managed to take a few steps past the edge of the enchanted formation…

Nonetheless, things were different this time.

Yan Qihu took the lead, taking large strides into the enchanted formation without hesitation.

The enchanted formation around him rumbled, but it didn't shake him in the slightest. The others followed closely behind, unfazed by the enchanted formation.

In fact, even just Chu Liang alone would probably have no trouble breaking through the enchanted formation now.

Rumbleee.

They continued breaking through the enchanted formation as they walked to the palace entrance, where they finally stopped.

Inside the main hall, there was a thin man sitting with his back facing the entrance.

At this moment, Second Madam Gu, who had been suppressing her emotions, could no longer restrain herself. She pushed through the group and rushed forward, grabbing onto the frame of the hall's doorway for support.

"Qingyuaaan!" she cried out, her sobbing voice reaching the man before she did.

After thirty years of waiting and searching, she had finally found the place that had occupied her thoughts for so long. Her countless feelings that had piled up over the years finally erupted like a torrent.

As her sorrowful call echoed through the hall, the man slowly turned around… revealing the familiar face of an elderly man.

He smiled and said, "Second Madam?"

…

"Mister Wei, why were you sitting here when you don't have any reason to do so?"

"And you were even facing away from the entrance. If you had just sat facing the doorway, it would've saved us the misunderstanding."

"Exactly, you wasted Thirteenth Aunt's feelings."

"..."

It turned out that the one sitting with his back facing the hall entrance was Wei Lang, the Confucian master from the Noblemen's Hall. He had previously gotten separated from the group.

The palace hall was very spacious, similar to the palace halls of an imperial palace. At the end of the hall, the imperial throne of the emperor sat vacant. Wei Lang had been sitting in the center of the hall, leading everyone to mistakenly think that he belonged to this hidden realm.

Wei Lang scratched his head awkwardly. "There just so happened to be a meditation cushion here, so I didn't think much of it."

Second Madam Gu's gaze became rather dead. The overwhelming emotions that had almost burst forth earlier had been plugged, and it was obvious she didn't quite know what expression to have anymore.

Wei Lang had no idea that just sitting there for a moment would earn him such complaints.

After a while, the group asked him about what he had experienced during the time that they were separated.

Almost a full day had passed since they fell into the Deep Pool of Dreams. The old man couldn't have been sitting in this hall the whole time.

Wei Lang sighed deeply. "The situation here is not good."

"Hm? Mister Wei, why do you say that?"

"Look outside..." Wei Lang replied, pointing toward the outside.

The group turned around to look and found that the initially transparent barrier around the Deep Pool of Dreams had turned into a solid white wall, resembling a dense cocoon.

"I've tried breaking it, but with my strength, I can't break this restriction," Wei Lang said. "I encountered another Confucian cultivator here. He told me that a powerful demon queen had come by earlier and sealed the entire Deep Pool of Dreams. She's the casue of the crisis we're facing. We are all trapped here now, and we can't send any information out."

The group fell silent for a moment.

They had already guessed that Caiyi might be a powerful demon at the eighth realm, so no one had even considered fighting her head-on. Instead, they wanted to escape this place and seek out formidable cultivators to deal with her. Unfortunately, it seemed she had anticipated that and sealed off the Deep Pool of Dreams in advance.

How were they supposed to break the seal of an eighth-realm greater demon? No one had the confidence that they could do it. Despite his usual bravado, even Yan Qihu of the Great Astral Sect didn't dare make any bold claims.

At this moment, someone called out from the entrance of the palace hall.

"Lianhua!"

They turned to see a handsome young scholar in a green Confucian robe.

Who else could this young man be except for the scholar Chu Liang had met here in the past? He was, of course, Gu Qingyuan.

Gu Qingyuan looked at Second Madam Gu, his beloved who had occupied his thoughts for thirty years and had never abandoned or forgotten him. Unable to hold back his overwhelming emotions any longer, he had called for her in a sobbing voice!

Second Madam Gu uttered, "Oh."

GLTD Alternate Universe's Thoughts

Translator: LD