# Chapter 163: The Dragon Palace
Jiang Wang altered his direction and once again invoked Trace-Quest. The Trace-Seeking Grass pointed behind him.
This meant his sense of direction had not gone awry.
He crouched half down and pressed a Flame Flower into the ground.
Without a sound, the violent bloom scorched a hole in the earth the size of a human head.
Jiang Wang fixed his gaze on the hole's position, then began walking backward.
He was certain he was moving—the hole grew ever more distant, shrinking in his field of vision.
Then, without having blinked, the hole vanished!
Jiang Wang bounded back to where he had been. The green grass along the riverbank lay undisturbed, as though no hole had ever existed.
"What in the world is going on? Could this place truly be an illusion? An illusion different from the Taixu Illusory Realm, one that allows the physical body to enter? A higher-order illusion?"
"No—if the physical body could enter and experience everything, it would no longer be an illusion. It would be tantamount to creating a world. The likelihood of that is far too small."
"First I must confirm that my physical body has indeed entered. The powerful cultivators who remain outside the Moon Gate guarding their own kin—that is proof. The cultivators of years past who never emerged from the Moon Gate are further proof."
Jiang Wang pondered, all the while sensing the Moon Key in his palm, trying to see whether he could enter the Taixu Illusory Realm from here.
No response.
Within the Heavenly Treasury Secret Realm, the Taixu Illusory Realm could not be contacted.
This place severed many things, including those remarkable objects and artifacts, and even the lunar star force.
Of course, this did not prove which was the higher order—the Heavenly Treasury Secret Realm or the Taixu Illusory Realm.
Jiang Wang turned his head sideways and peered into the small river.
The water was clear; the waterweeds and swimming fish were plainly visible.
And because of this, most people would place their suspicions and vigilance in the dense forest and distant mountains, subconsciously ignoring the river itself.
Jiang Wang had initially probed the river by condensing stones with a Dao art; the water had rippled and the fish had scattered—nothing abnormal.
But now, after repeated contemplation, he sensed something amiss.
He made the hand seal for a Dao art, and two vine serpents shot into the water, attempting to catch a swimming fish.
The fish darted away in alarm.
Jiang Wang controlled them remotely, pushing the vine serpents to their utmost speed—yet the fish was faster still! It wove through the water like a silver ribbon, flickering left and right.
How could an ordinary fish possess such speed?
And if it was not an ordinary fish, how could it have been startled by a stone earlier?
The answer struck Jiang Wang all at once. Without hesitation, he stepped into the river.
Before it had overlapped with the moon in the sky, the Moon Gate had lain within the Full Moon Pool itself.
That was the most obvious hint—the gate was in the water!
...
The same river, the same bank.
Li Longchuan stood at the water's edge but did not move.
He spread his hands and drew an invisible bow. A feathered arrow materialized from nothing and hung motionless in the air.
Li Longchuan waited in patience, then gently released the string.
The feathered arrow plunged straight into the river.
He did not so much as glance elsewhere before striding into the water.
...
Xu Xiangqian encountered this scene first.
But he was a creature of caprice by nature. The first thing on his mind was not how to find an opportunity, but rather—
"First I'll roast a fish to eat!"
He stared at the fish in the river, his eyes gleaming, his head bobbing with delight.
"Fish, that too I desire; bear's paw, that too I desire. The two cannot be had together, but the preparation differs! Bear's paw stewed, fat fish steamed—they must not be mixed!"
"Come to me, my little darlings!"
He thrust out his hand—a gentleman nurtures vast qi, and a great white hand of qi descended into the river.
"Steaming, that too I desire. Roasting, that too I desire. The two cannot be had together—Confucius said, whichever is more convenient!"
Muttering classical nonsense under his breath, the great hand formed of vast qi remained perfectly composed as it groped through the water, lunging left and patting right.
Alas, the fish were more alert still, slipping free just before being seized.
"Heh, I don't believe it!"
Xu Xiangqian rolled up his sleeves and planted a foot in the water.
...
Of the fifty cultivators who entered the Heavenly Treasury Secret Realm, each displayed their own methods.
Some followed the riverbank without end, never discovering the secret.
Some crossed to the opposite bank and ran toward the distant mountains.
Some plunged directly into the dense forest.
None of them returned.
Because the only path that avoided combat at this initial stage was to step into the river.
The dangers of the distant mountains and the dense forest exceeded what these people could withstand.
The sole exception was Wang Yiwu. Upon entering the Heavenly Treasury Secret Realm, he had naturally employed a military secret art to mark Chongxuan Sheng in advance.
But the direction indicated by the secret art lay in the distant mountains beyond the riverbank.
He did not hesitate for even an instant. He simply crossed the riverbank and walked toward the mountains.
He did not think, because there was no need.
Since someone had previously left the Heavenly Treasury Secret Realm alive, then he too would surely leave alive.
Because in the Heaven-Access Realm, the Great Qi War God Jiang Mengxiong had declared that he was the strongest of his generation!
He walked toward the distant mountains,
And the mountains roared.
...
Gao Jing stepped into the river. The water was plainly water, yet when he entered it, he felt nothing.
He walked deeper into the water. The deeper he went, the more the water engulfed him.
He could hear the sound of flowing water, feel the moisture in the air, yet the water did not touch him.
At his feet, a stairway had appeared at some point, seemingly carved from white jade.
The white jade stairs extended downward without end in sight.
Gao Jing steadied his mind and pressed on. Though being separated from his clan companions was somewhat unexpected, he was after all born of the Jinghai Gao clan—possessing both strength and bearing. He was not so easily rattled.
To move forward now was to descend.
His footsteps on the jade stairs were nearly silent.
He remained fully on guard, yet his feet did not stop.
Time passed slowly underwater, for without any reference points, he could only silently count his steps.
After roughly nine li, he took one more step, and the jade stairs came to an end.
Before him stretched a long passageway.
The passage was inlaid with gold and jade, carved with a continuous scroll—specific stories he could not discern, only vaguely making out a group of ancient nobles feasting and drinking.
Along both sides of the passage, blood coral stood in rows, each half the height of a man.
No two specimens of blood coral were alike.
He looked ahead, and everything before his eyes burst into sudden openness!
Behind a towering Crimson Jade Archway stood a palace beyond the power of words to describe.
The Jinghai Gao clan was famed for its wealth. The Gao family's estates, each more lavish than the last, held every rare treasure under heaven. The finest goods from every kingdom were on display.
Yet at this moment, Gao Jing felt that those estates were not worth so much as a thatched cottage.
The palace before him—even its bricks and tiles were carved from crystal, adorned here and there with luminous pearls.
Even these, for Gao Jing, were nothing remarkable.
But he recognized the palace's crossbeams—they were carved from Moon-Washing Nanmu wood.
This wood, snow-white in color, was a supreme material for forging artifact-grade spears. A single spear shaft was already worth a fortune beyond measure.
Yet this palace used the very wood as its beams.
Looking more closely, those self-luminous orbs were no ordinary pearls. Within each one, misty vapor swirled—clearly Smoke-Gauze Pearls, equally excellent artifact materials.
What he could recognize alone left him awestruck, to say nothing of what he could not.
The palace radiated ten thousand beams of light, auspicious energy rising in a thousand threads. It was not of this mortal world at all.
He summoned tremendous willpower to gather his focus and withdrew his gaze to the Crimson Jade Archway before the palace.
Upon the archway were inscribed the words—
Heavenly Treasury Dragon Palace!