Chapter 567: The Mysterious Tablet! You Can Play Like This Too! Surprised Celestial Master Zhao!

Equally astonished was the massive, ancient stone tablet. The tablet was sentient, and now, sensing the overwhelming aura, it trembled uncontrollably.

A powerful sealing formation protected it; no Yang Spirit expert of the third realm could strike it. Yet now, the seal remained unchanged, clearly indicating that this opponent was still at the Yin Spirit realm, not yet a Yang Spirit.

Still, the surging power made the tablet shiver in fear.

Is this... the second realm?!

The tablet panicked internally.

Rumble! Rumble!

A massive portal appeared, leading to an unfamiliar world.

“The entrance... opened?” Celestial Master Zhao froze, his mouth twitching.

Clearly, the tablet had cowered. Its seal could not protect it; one strike could shatter its soul, reducing it to ash.

So the tablet willingly opened the entrance. Li Yanchu paused for a moment too, though he had never entered the Shanhai Secret Realm before, so he wasn’t sure if this was normal.

To avoid having to return a year later, he decided to follow the procedure strictly.

His gaze turned icy, his blood and qi like a roaring sea. A golden sun rose from his body, mirroring the movements of the towering figure behind him. He assumed a standard martial stance, preparing to throw a punch.

The tablet trembled violently; it had never expected this young Daoist to disregard martial ethics.

The gate is open! The gate is open! Can’t you see?!

the tablet screamed internally.

As Li Yanchu’s aura instantly surged to its peak, pure yang blood and qi enveloped heaven and earth.

The tablet panicked completely, and it strained to expand the entrance to its maximum, forcing it open. The world beyond the gate had already manifested.

Yet Li Yanchu remained indifferent.

In the flash of an instant, the tablet actually broke its sealing formation and spoke, “Wait... the gate is open. There’s no need to strike further.”

Hearing this, Li Yanchu froze, and Celestial Master Zhao was stunned as well.

“The tablet... can talk?” Celestial Master Zhao was astonished. He had visited this place more than once, and each time he had never seen the tablet speak. In his understanding, the tablet was sentient but could not articulate words.

Li Yanchu paused, withdrew his martial projections, and calmed his blood and qi. He looked at the tablet, somewhat puzzled.

But the tablet’s attitude was surprisingly gentle. “You meet the conditions. Quickly... enter.”

Li Yanchu was speechless at its words.

When pressed, beings could do almost anything, except maybe solve math problems. The same applied to the tablet: it had actually spoken.

Hearing this, Celestial Master Zhao exhaled in relief. For some reason, seeing Li Yanchu unleash that overwhelming blood and qi had made him inexplicably nervous, even though it wasn’t directly related to him.

Li Yanchu, on the other hand, was no longer anxious. He vaguely sensed that while the tablet was mysterious and powerful, its current gentle tone carried a trace of fear toward him.

“I’m looking for someone, the heir of the Qing family. Can you help?” Li Yanchu asked.

“No. I am only responsible for opening the gate. I cannot find people,” the tablet replied.

Celestial Master Zhao gave Li Yanchu a peculiar look. “Kid, you’re dreaming. The tablet has never done anything like this before; it’s just an object to open the secret realm, not a search tool.”

Li Yanchu nodded. “Then let’s test it further.”

Boom!

His blood and qi surged like a smoke signal, spreading a powerful aura.

“Who are you looking for? What does the Qing heir look like?” the tablet suddenly asked.

Celestial Master Zhao fell silent at its words.

Then, Li Yanchu described the heir carefully to avoid mistakes. Celestial Master Zhao even used his magic power to project the heir’s appearance, which made Li Yanchu raise an eyebrow in surprise.

“Oh, it’s him. This fellow is fairly strong, a sword cultivator. Don’t worry, I’ll find him,” the tablet said obligingly.

A sword cultivator?

Li Yanchu exchanged a glance with Celestial Master Zhao. They had never known this detail before, not even the heir’s cultivation level or preferred techniques.

“I’ve found him. He’s in the ruins of the Shituo Kingdom, but I cannot pinpoint his exact location,” the tablet continued cooperatively.

Hearing this, Celestial Master Zhao twitched. The Shanhai Secret Realm had a strange isolating force. He could deduce that the Qing heir had entered, but could not trace him within. Originally, Li Yanchu would have to spend time searching inside, but now the tablet could locate him directly. Even a rough estimate was far better than blindly plunging in.

“Thank you. Can you send me directly to the Shituo Kingdom?” Li Yanchu asked.

The tablet was silent for a moment. This request was somewhat irregular, but seeing the scorching sun rising above Li Yanchu’s head, it smiled and said, “No problem.”

Speechless, Celestial Master Zhao suddenly felt nostalgic for the tablet’s formerly mysterious aura. This new, cooperative behavior was almost too much for him to accept.

Li Yanchu glanced at the world beyond the cave, which had already changed, like a slideshow shifting scenes.

A thought suddenly occurred to him:

Could this tablet really carry such high-level authority? Was it truly just an ordinary gate-opening mechanism?

Before approaching the entrance, he moved his mind slightly and smiled faintly at the tablet. “Shall we step in and have a look?”

The tablet remained silent, giving no response. “I can’t go in myself. I’m restricted by the rules!”

It offered a very official explanation.

“Hmm, then I’ll give it a try. If it doesn’t work, so be it,” Li Yanchu said, nodding. He grabbed the tablet and stepped toward the open cave entrance.

The tablet did not resist at all. It seemed like it wanted to shout, “Put me down!” but in barely a blink, it and Li Yanchu disappeared into the heart of Gu’ao Peak, leaving the purple-robed, immortal-looking Celestial Master Zhao standing bewildered in the wind.

“Is this even allowed?!” Celestial Master Zhao muttered, his lips twitching.

Li Yanchu and the tablet arrived in a strange new space, filled with an ancient, vast aura.

“See? We’re inside,” Li Yanchu said with a smile.

The tablet fell silent, while Li Yanchu frowned at it. “You’re too conspicuous in this form. Can you shrink?”

The tablet wanted to curse,

Why the hell do you have so many complaints? Do you think I volunteered to come in? You drag me along, then complain I’m too obvious...

But the tablet glanced at the Jiaoslayer at Li Yanchu’s waist, sensing the terrifying aura emanating from it.

“Alright, no problem,” the tablet finally said, in a friendly tone.

It shrank down to roughly the height of a person, with the characters “Shanhai” still engraved on it.

“This is still a bit big... smaller,” Li Yanchu said, and then paused, a memory coming to mind. He couldn’t help but recall when the Great Saint Sun[1] adjusted the size of the Ruyi Jingu Bang[2]making it grow and shrink. A faint smile curved his lips.

The tablet had no idea what the young Daoist was thinking, but it silently sighed, thinking,

Damn it!

Still, it acted decisively, shrinking further into a palm-sized token that floated faithfully beside Li Yanchu.

1. This likely refers to Sun Wukong ☜

2. Ruyi Jingu Bang, or simply Ruyi Bang or Jingu Bang, is the poetic name of a magical staff wielded by the immortal monkey Sun Wukong in the 16th-century classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. ☜