Pathway

"Ju Feng?"

Zhang Xiu Ying pretended as if she was just seeing her son, on the day, for the first time. A look of shock and surprise displayed on her face.

"Ma! It's really you!"

Ju Feng ran to his mother and gave her a hug. Momentarily, he forgot about the situation they were in as he continued to hold his mother. After taking control of himself again, he looked in bewilderment at his mother.

"What are you doing, Ju Feng? "

"How's everybody at home? Grandma and grandpa? And uncle Luyang?"

"Easy, child. They're all fine." 

"How come you are here, Ma? Did you also know about this place?" 

"Yes. I heard about the location of the palace from some merchants and decided to come and check it out. Sometimes, it's good to see the world outside. Luckily for me I found it just as described with the gates opened and I entered."

With her head lowered a little, she continued to feign surprise as she stared at her son affectionately.

"But, what are you doing here? Are you not suppose to be learning right now?"

Zhang Xiu Ying raised her head and glimpsed at the other disciples.

"It seems we have a group of adventurers here."

"Yes, ma. This is our luminary week. So, we decided to go out on a little adventure. These are my friends, Cheung, Da Xia and Yingjie. We're together with our sect elder, elder Cao."

"Hm."

Zhang Xiu Ying voiced as Ju Feng introduced them to her. She acknowledged the disciples one by one, before turning to elder Cao Wang Xiu.

"I greet you, elder Cao of the Last Sages sect."

"My greetings too, lady Zhang."

"Hm."

Zhang Wang Xiu responded before receiving a mindvoice from Cao Wang Xiu.

"And thank you for saving my life back there."

"Don't mention it. You would've escaped the place without me, anyways."

"Hard to say, but you came at the right time."

"How do you know it was me?"

"My traits. Just like yours."

"Ancestral bloodline. By the way, what happened back there? You could've left once that seal was destroyed, but you stayed." 

"Yea. Escaping wasn't the best option, was it?"

"Hm. You could've ran for it, but you'll be leaving your disciples behind. So, you stayed behind."

"I'm their elder, lady Zhang. It's what I had to do."

"I commend you, elder Cao. You're a true elder."

"Nothing to it, but thank you, demigod."

"You're welcome, honoured elder.""

Zhang Xiu Ying replied before they both turned their attention back to the scenery in front of them. Truly, the forsaken palace was a glorious place to behold. The place looked so peaceful and serene, even a cultivator could meditate without any disturbances. It was a place truly befitting a Jade emperor, and emperor Wan Bao was as ancient as they could be.

After a moment of delibration, they decided it would be the best course of action for them to continue moving forward. Since they didn't know who or what could be outside the gates they had entered through. It would be a good idea to leave, especially with Lang Hai still trailing them.

Gradually, they began walking down the entrance path which led to the palace. They had only taken a few steps down the path when they heard a voice, all of a sudden .

"Stop! Show me your pass!"

Suddenly, out of the thin air, a huge figure in a large black drape, silently appeared right before them. His exceedingly large frame could only mean one thing, a giant. White, curly hair tied in a ponytail. A furrowed face of hollow brown eyes which were set firmly within their sockets.  The half dead eyes seemed to watch, cautiously, over the soul they had been isolated from for so long. A large ragged beard that matched his eyes and would leave a haunting memory of his former glory. But, what really caught the eye were the golden seal around his neck and the golden rune on his forehead.

A remnant.

Remnants were the remaining fragments of entities. What were left of their previous selves which contained part of their consciousness necessary to function, their life-forces residues, and the entrapped soul which was kept inside the broken shell of the entity's own body at the point of death. The entity was no longer dying or completely dead. And wouldn't be able to fully die in order to reincarnate, until it would be freed from the bondage. 

The act of entrapping a remnant was a forbidden practice. When an entity was subjected to death, the soul had to undergo a reincarnation. That was the law of creation. Preventing a soul from undergoing reincarnation was against the laws of creation.

"Your key."

Lin Chenric quickly fished out the large jasper ring and showed him. As soon as he saw the red ring, the giant waved his hand and the ring appeared in his hand. With a swift glance, he examined the ring and lifted his head to gaze at them, giving a short nod of his head in cognizance.

"Welcome to the grand palace of the eternal Jade emperor, Wan Bao. I am Dargehk, the caretaker of this palace." 

The giant uttered in a hard but mellowed voice. 

"Since you have the ring which showed you can be here, I'll treat you fairly. However, you won't be getting the ring back." 

With his gaze still fixed on them, he paused for an instant to allow his words to sink in.

"The alignment is right, and all the five keys are now here. It means the palace would cease to be accessible after this period of time. As you all know, this palace is a domain world created with rules. The rules are my words, and my words are the rules. Obey them while you are here, and you may live."

"You are entitled to a fruit each as a welcome gift. If you are ready, follow me."

Dargehk moved to a location on the right side of the walkway which overlooked the garden, and made hand seal gestures. Suddenly, an archway to a new path appeared before him, and he gestured for them to follow. They moved behind him to the opened entrance leading to the garden. They expected to see what they already saw from outside the archway, but what they were seeing was a different scenery from the one they saw on the outside.

The first sight was that of a path of marble stones that looped around the garden. Ruby beds of grass which were accompanied by what seemed to be mutated ruby-flower bushes and shrubs. There was a runic fountain of mist which stood near the back of the garden, spouting mist high up into the air. Behind the ruby flower bushes and shrubs, were the plants and different types of spirit grasses. After them were the ancient huge trees with single fruit each. But most of them had no fruits since they had been plucked already.

Ju Feng and the other three disciples could only look on in utter alarm at the scenery in front of them. What had appeared to be a peaceful and beautiful garden on the outside of the invisible archway, turned out to be the exact opposite on the inside. Now, they realized the need for them to thread carefully there.

"This is different from what we saw from the outside?"

"Doesn't look the same garden?"

"What's with the place?"

Zhang Xiu Ying and Cao Wang Xiu turned to their divine and spiritual sight respectively. After careful observation, they found no sign of any deception.

"What did we missed?"

"This is the true state of the garden."

Degarhk said as he turned to look at them with indifference.

"The ruby beds are ancient death beds that would entrap anyone who forcefully enters or disobey the garden rules. The same thing with the misty fountain. But how could you have seen it from the outside? This is a godly domain after all." 

Shrugging his shoulder, he continued.

"True, you're seeing this place in your mortal world, but it's not part of the mortal plane. You're both golden core cultivators. Even if you couldn't see this place from the outside, you should've known about it once you saw it. Well, maybe not."

"Are you an ascendant?" 

"Or an hegemon?"

The highest a cultivator could go in the mortal plane before being ejected from it, was the ascendant stage. Ascendants were nascent soul cultivators who had reached the gates of godhood and had traces of the godhood traits. If an ascendant didn't want to be sent out of the mortal plane, the ascendant would have to let go these traits of godhood. It was then the ascendant would be able to undergo a different tribulations from that of ascension.

The abate tribulations.

This tribulations would turn an ascendant into a permanent hegemon. But with no possibility of any future ascension. Hegemons were ascendants who refused ascension into the heavenly plane and would forever be on the mortal plane.

"Ascendant or hegemon?"

Dargehk asked as he glared at Zhang Xiu Ying and Cao Wang Xiu in dismay.