Chapter 76 — The Mountains and Rivers, the State and the Altars of Soil and Grain

"To think that a thousand years have passed and the mortal world has changed so drastically. Hmph! Those immortals of the nine heavens still have not managed to bring this mortal world to heel—so my pains back then were not in vain!" Bai Qi murmured to himself. Zhou Xuan was utterly bewildered. "In those days Xu Fu used the Mountains and Rivers, State and Altars Diagram to trap me. Within this stretch of heaven and earth, apart from this Epang Palace, there are restrictions everywhere—otherwise I would not have shifted you in here. You are lucky; you came in without triggering a single restriction." Bai Qi waved a hand. "There is nothing fit to drink here at all. Best you endure it!"

Zhou Xuan brought his divine consciousness back into his Dharma body, and the parched feeling vanished without a trace. He counted himself lucky again and again: thank goodness I cultivated my Dharma body, or I truly could not have borne it. This uncanny place is best left as early as possible. But legend says this Mountains and Rivers, State and Altars Diagram forms a world of its own; even true immortals and heavenly gods trapped within it can do nothing. My luck is truly rotten to the extreme! At this thought, Zhou Xuan grew rather anxious.

"In those years I made war across the world for my king and destroyed countless states. At last, when the Nine Provinces were all but pacified, heaven grew jealous of me. At the Battle of Changping it sent down four hundred thousand heavenly soldiers to possess the soldiers of Zhao, and I had no choice but to slaughter them all. After that it sent down a nine-heaven thunder tribulation, and that too I held off. But when the realm was about to be unified, the sorcerer Xu Fu actually talked my king round, lured me into this Epang Palace, and trapped me with the Mountains and Rivers, State and Altars Diagram, sealing me away together with the palace." Bai Qi recounted it all calmly.

Today I meant to write three chapters, but I have business this evening—forgive me, everyone.