Chapter 999: Sky Mending Spring

The Nanjiang Royal Court was split into the inner city and outer city. The outer city was where the ordinary citizens lived, whereas the inner city was where the royal family and important officials lived. The Sky Mending Spring was located inside the Sky Mending Palace, so of course it was inside the inner city.

Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou wasted no time. They ran straight for the inner city after entering the Nanjiang Royal Court.

The closer they got to the inner city, the greater the number of patrols, and the better the condition of the buildings. But although there were a lot of guards inside the inner city, most of them were not on high alert. In fact, they were less alert than the soldiers watching the outer city. It was why Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou made it to the royal palace without any issue.

Before they embarked on their journey, Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou had carefully studied a map of the Nanjiang Royal Court provded by Fei Xue herself. Therefore, they were familiar with the layout of the area like the back of their hand. It wasn’t long before they arrived at the Sky Mending Palace.

The Sky Mending Palace was located on the right side of the main palace, the Peaceful Nanjiang Palace. It was also second only to the Peaceful Nanjiang Palace in terms of shape and size. Together with the Treasure Hoarding Palace to the left, they were known as the Three Palaces of Nanjiang. It showed just how much the Nanjiang Royal Court valued the Sky Mending Spring.

Before the fall of the Nanjiang Royal Court, the entire Sky Mending Palace was a heavily guarded forbidden zone. No one was allowed to enter without the express permission of the King of Nanjiang.

Even now after the Nanjiang Royal Court had fallen, the Sky Mending Palace was still heavily guarded. It was just that the troops now carried the flag of Chu. It showed just how valuable the Sky Mending Spring was.

Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou did not hurry into the palace. Instead, they hid at the perimeter and observed the guards for a very long time. Once they had figured out when the relief replaced the current batch of guards, they waited until midnight before exploiting the loophole to slip into the Sky Mending Palace. No one noticed a thing.

“Is this the Sky Mending Spring?”

Inside the Sky Mending Palace, Ye Qing murmured while staring at a small pond that was only ten meters wide in radius.

The small pond was built using lapis lazuli and adorned with pearls and jadeite, exquisite and luxurious. At the center of the pond was the mouth of the spring.

Strangely, the spring water was golden purple in color when it initially appeared. It gradually turned crystal clear as it spread to the surroundings.

𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

At the bottom of the pond was a pair of palm-sized fishes. One of them was gold, and the other purple. They were swimming around happily and without a care for the world.

The fishes were shaped like koi. Their bodies looked as flawless as glass, and they had long whiskers like a dragon. They looked both elegant and mysterious.

“That’s right. This is the Sky Mending Spring.” Feng Qingyou.

“Alright. Bon appetite!” Ye Qing said and produced a cup. He tried to scoop up some spring water, but to his surprise, his hand passed through the spring water directly. To be accurate, he found himself unable to touch the spring water at all.

“Huh?”

Ye Qing tried a couple more times to no avail. The Sky Mending Spring was right in front of him, and yet he just couldn’t touch it no matter what. It was almost as if they existed in a different spacetime. He could see it, but he could never touch it.

“What’s this?”

His demonic thoughts told him that no restriction or array had been set up around the pond. He could not sense any anomalous energy either. And yet, he just couldn’t touch it. It was unusual to say the least.

“The Sky Mending Spring is a natural treasure. Naturally, it is magical in its own way. At this rate, you’ll never be able to obtain the Sky Mending Spring,” Feng Qingyou remarked smilingly while Ye Qing was still trying to scoop the water.

“You knew? Why didn’t you tell me?” Ye Qing asked.

“You didn’t ask, did you?” replied Feng Qingyou with mirth in her eyes.

“Fine, it’s my mistake.” Ye Qing shrugged. “So, Miss Feng, how can I obtain the Sky Mending Spring?”

“The Sky Mending Spring is a magical treasure. On most days, it looks like it is right in front of you, but it really exists in a completely different space. You can see it, but you cannot touch it. Not even a Sage can ignore this peculiarity and take it by force.”

Feng Qingyou explained, “The only time you can take the Sky Mending Spring is when moonlight touches its waters during the night of a full moon.”

“The night of a full moon? No wonder you wanted to wait until the night to slip in,” Ye Qing exclaimed in realization.

Then, another question occurred to Ye Qing. “We’re inside the palace though. How could moonlight reach the spring?”

“Who said that moonlight cannot shine inside a building?” Feng Qingyou chuckled. “Look. There’s the moonlight you’re looking for.”

As if on cue, the ceiling of the palace slowly lit up and formed a crescent shape.

“I see! The Moonlight Stone!” Ye Qing exclaimed in realization when he saw the crescent moon.

The Moonlight Stone was a natural stone that was impervious to the elements and loathed by evil. Only moonlight could penetrate its substance, hence the name.

When the Moonlight Stones on the ceiling were fully lit, a beam of moonlight landed squarely on the Sky Mending Spring and seemingly covered it in a sheen of silvery light. The mixture of silver and purple was quite fantastical.

Even better, Ye Qing could feel the Sky Mending Spring slowly becoming real to his senses. At the same time, a clear ringing and a refreshing scent came from the pond.

Just smelling the spring water was enough to soothe Ye Qing’s mind. He could feel his mental injuries healing a little as well.

“The Sky Mending Spring deserves its fame,” complimented Ye Qing. “So, I can take it now, right?”

Never say that Ye Qing didn’t learn from his mistakes. Especially ones that ended in his embarrassment.

“Yes, you can.” Feng Qingyou nodded. But right before Ye Qing could procure the Sky Mending Spring, she added, “But you shouldn’t drink the spring water. Instead, you should capture the fishes.”

“The what?” Ye Qing exclaimed in surprise.

I thought we were here to procure the Sky Mending

Spring,

not Fish!

“It’s very simple. The two fishes are the real Sky Mending Spring, not the spring water,” Feng Qingyou explained smilingly. “In fact, drinking the spring water would immediately erode your insides and annihilate your soul.”

“Also, you must consume both fishes at the same time when consuming the Sky Mending Spring. If you consume them one by one, then your soul will be annihilated as well.”

“I—WHAT?” Ye Qing could not help but raise his voice while swearing like a sailor on the inside.

Sky Mending Spring? More like Sky Scamming Spring!

Ye Qing scratched his nose as he asked wryly, “Let me guess, these fishes are not as easy to catch as it looks like, am I right?”

“But of course. For starters, you cannot catch them with your bare hands. The second you touch the spring water, the fishes would sense your touch and disappear into nothing. If that happens, you will have to wait until next month to obtain it.”

Feng Qingyou explained, “The only way to capture them is to use something that is neither Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth. In short, only an item not of the Five Phases can capture them.”

“On top of that, you need to capture both fishes at the same time. If you capture them one by one, the other fish would disappear out of fright as well.”

“Heavens, this is troublesome.” Ye Qing rubbed his nose. “Well, what other gimmick is there? Just tell me all at once.”

“This is all,” answered Feng Qingyou with a smile.

“Really?” Ye Qing asked suspiciously.

“Really.” Feng Qingyou continued to smile.

“This information should be top secret even in the Nanjiang Royal Court. How do you know them so well?” Ye Qing asked curiously. It was almost scary how well Feng Qingoyu knew about the taboos and process to obtain the Sky Mending Spring.

“I’ll tell you about it in the future,” Feng Qingyou said. “We’re running out of time. If you don’t act now, you won’t get another chance.”

Ye Qing stopped hesitating. He transformed the Profound Yellow Mother Qi into a palm and grabbed the two fishes.