Since the Solitary Eagle was quite complacent, he was sure that Hai Chen Feng would keep his mouth shut because he had ordered it, and now that he was no longer worried about losing face in front of the world, he started focusing his attention on the task of finding Jun Mo Xie. As long as he was able to find Jun Mo Xie, he could improve the seventeen strokes of his style! [This is working out really well... ]
[But what's peculiar about Jun Mo Xie's 'character'? ]
The young master Jun's shamelessness was publicly known, but since he didn't wish to ward away two potential disciples, the young master Jun deceived them into going towards that Jun residence, and had only subtly indicated that his "so-called" disciple was a bit ill-tempered!
However, such public knowledge wasn't something a man of the Solitary Eagle's caliber would've bothered to learn about in the past.
His heart was full of joy and longing at the moment; it could be estimated that even if this mysterious master tried to con the Solitary Eagle, he wouldn't pay much mind to it….
As far as the Solitary Eagle was concerned, the agility of this mysterious master was unmatched in every respect; but in reality, the young master Jun hadn't actually left the vicinity, and had simply escaped underground; but since his backside was metaphorically on fire, even he didn't pay attention to the depth that his body had gone underground too! However, it could be estimated that he would've already reached deeper than an underground well's boring limits.
The young master Jun would've obviously wanted to find a more stable place to make this breakthrough, but by the time he spoke that last sentence to the Solitary Eagle, he had already started sensing that he was trying to hold back the turbulence of an ocean, which was soon followed by another loud 'boom' sound from the Hongjun Pagoda, and more Aura had started to flood into his body moments after. His mind had been launched into a state of complete confusion under the strength of the impact of this Aura on his meridians; meanwhile the Hongjun Pagoda had started to shake violently….
[I really can't hold this back anymore….. ]
Therefore, Jun Mo Xie didn't even wait for the Solitary Eagle's response, and directly casted out the 'Yin and Yang escape' law, and drilled his body into the ground like a mouse would've under just menacing conditions. He was completely unaware that this 'vanishing' act of his' would completely turn the 'Eighth Great Master's' world upside down!
Although the 'Yin and Yang Escape' law was indeed a peerless and unique technique, but its effect was something completely different from the Solitary Eagle's perspective; [the mysterious master's agility was amazing ah,] the Solitary Eagle had always paid special attention to his agility and had always believed that there was no one superior to him in this regard, however today he witnessed an act of agility which was far superior to anything he had even imagined!
This had also convinced the Solitary Eagle of this mysterious master's prowess, which is why he had obediently decided to seek out Jun Mo Xie. As far as seeking out a younger man for the sake of learning was concerned, the Solitary Eagle didn't seem to mind in the least. He was awfully clear on one immortal and unwavering truth: a superior in terms knowledge shall always be respected!
On the other hand, Jun Mo Xie was now completely ignoring the Solitary Eagle's presence above the ground, and was sitting cross-legged inside the ground beneath, and immediately started to realize that the situation was becoming more and more intense, and soon enough the young master Jun was no longer able to resist the power of the Pagoda anymore, and found his own conscious being pulled into the Pagoda.
The door to the Hongjun Pagoda opened silently.
Standing inside the magnificence of the Hongjun Pagoda's first layer, a few words suddenly panned out inside his mind: Defend the desires of the Yin and Yang!
Clear understanding!
Is clear understanding!
After one understands, one can protect the desire of the heaven and earth!
As he read these words, a burst of white light flashed up ahead, while a fragrant scent rushed through his nostrils, and what was initially an illusion of a ladder up ahead, suddenly became reality. These steps seemed to be leading up to a door, a solid but simple portal, which seemed to be opening slowly at the moment!
The second level of the Hongjun Pagoda had finally opened its doors to Jun Mo Xie!
An inexplicable burst of excitement seized Jun Mo Xie's heart! The first layer of the Hongjun Pagoda had given him some extremely powerful secret laws such as the 'Yin and Yang Escape' law, which had allowed him to defy the natural order of things in order to protect himself and his interest; as per the norms of this world, the young master Jun was only a basic Gold Xuan layered expert in terms of strength, however with the help of this law, he could roam around in the company of even Spirit Xuan experts without any fear of physical harm!
It was almost as if a three year old child had been given the power to transcend the status of an adult, and allowed him the right of an equal dialogue!
[Just imagine the benefits I could get from the second layer of the Pagoda, ah? ]
He composed himself, and then slowly stepped forward towards the door, and felt a rather familiar kind of an atmosphere as he reached the second layer's entrance.
Suddenly, there was a burst of light from within the second layer of the Pagoda, and an endless stream of graphics flew out of it, spinning around in circles, seemingly resembling a bird's nest in shape, and then slowly penetrated into the point between his two eyebrows, and then disappeared with a trace, leaving no signs of ever existing in the first place.
At the same time, Jun Mo Xie's mind could clearly see a series of words and few humanoid images inside it; it seemed as if those images resembled the flow-system of his meridians.
Everything seemed to be going just the way it had happened while entering the first layer of the Pagoda!
"One who walks the scope of the heaven and the earth, must protect the desires of the heaven and earth; one who rashly beheads another, nurtures a heart of ice; nine loyal transformations stabilize the soul by the will of the heavens, and then abides by it….."
Jun Mo Xie started becoming a bit excited after carefully considering the words again: [from what I can tell, it seems the first layer was only a beginning to 'unlocking the heaven's fortune'! ]
[Abide by the will of the heavens! ]
[From now on, only this can be regarded at the correct path ahead! ]
He was standing motionlessly at the door of the second layer at the moment!
The young master Jun was completely unaware that his corporeal body was undergoing some very drastic changes at the moment!
In addition to the huge amount of Aura which was rushing through his body's meridians again and again, a huge amount of aura had also penetrate through the pores in his brain, and the sole of his feet, and this crazy stream of aura was stretching and expanding his body's meridians in such a drastic manner that the clothes on his body were simply unable to resist their force, and had slowly turned to ash, and had then faded away into inexistence!
The sweat pores on the surface of the young master Jun's body were acting like springs, and were continuously emitting a dark, purplish fluid….
The aura inside his meridians was gushing about in such a turbulent manner that one could clearly hear the sounds they were making.
Since Jun Mo Xie's conscious was completely absorbed in this sea of knowledge, his mind was neglecting all external activities, which is why he had no idea that his body was undergoing such a major transformation.
[This second layer of the Hongjun Pagoda said, 'nine loyal transformations stabilize the soul', which was very similar to the directions of the first layer, 'the nine refinements of the soul, and one never falls into hell!' ]
[The first two directives of the Hongjun Pagoda have something in common, and that's the word 'nine'; nine refinements, and nine transformations! ]
[The number of layer in this structure is also nine, but what does this reveal? ]
[It's unlikely that it's all just a coincidence, right? ]
Jun Mo Xie's mind quickly evaluated everything that happened since the beginning of his time in this world, and after making a few calculation surrounding that information, the young master Jun was able to realize that his body had undergone several changes before the second layer of the Pagoda had revealed itself to him; upon careful introspection, he was quickly able to realize that the count of these changes was actually nine in number!
The first time this had happened, he had lost control and his soul had unexpectedly landed itself in this world, and this was the ninth time, which had finally taken him to the second level of the Hongjun Pagoda.
[It's no wonder that my body didn't fall into Hell after its death! "Nine refinements of the soul, and one doesn't fall to hell!" so that's the reason all this is happening…. ]
He couldn't help a wry smile, [it seems that I'll have to go through these so-called nine transformations before I can enter the third level ah! This obviously means that the tasks I'll have to undertake will be far more difficult than before! ]
As the thought of this crossed his mind, his heart suddenly felt a strange sense of tranquil, and it seemed as if mind frame had changed by a lot. In this quiet and peaceful atmosphere, his conscious slowly started to float into the second level of the Hongjun Pagoda!
This room was as huge as the one below, but wasn't empty.
There was a three-legged Dan furnace in the middle of the room; a multicolored flame was steadily and smoothly burning under the furnace.
A 'book' like object was hanging near this furnace, wrapped in a golden and glittering skin.
A few characters were inscribed on the furnace: The furnace of good fortune!
The moment Jun Mo Xie read these words, they unexpectedly and abruptly disappeared!
Even the audacious Hitman was very surprised by this!
Jun Mo Xie couldn't help carefully inspecting this mysterious furnace from a distance, and then slowly took two steps closer to it; it started seeming as if a voice was calling out to him from this mysterious furnace, seemingly trying to pull him closer towards itself!
That inexplicable force didn't seem irresistible at all, but Jun Mo Xie still didn't wish to resist it since it felt as if this voice belonged to a very intimate friend of his'…..
Just as he approached the furnace, the flame under this furnace which seemed to me calling out to him, suddenly jumped up and instantly wrapped Jun Mo Xie's consciousness inside it; Jun Mo Xie only had a very little time to feel it, but it felt as if his body was passing through the eighteen layers of hell as a penalty, but since his consciousness was sober, he could clearly feel the extreme pain of it, and this pain had already gone beyond the point of his ability of endurance...
Outside, Jun Mo Xie's body had already stopped discharging that strange fluid; his body had started feeling a burning sensation since it had already been wrapped in a large and colorful flame!
Above the ground, that large maple forest, which was initially thriving, had withering in the blink of an eye. The entire range of plants on the ground had withering, irrespective of their ability to withstand heat, and even the most stubborn blades of grass were no exception to this; this initially plush forest had instantly turned into the driest patch of land!
A cloud of mist started to rise upwards from the ground, and quickly disappeared into nothingness in the sky above. All the water within a few miles of radius had instantly evaporated!
It seemed as if this lush part of the Tian Xiang City had suddenly become an epitome of death!
This land was so dry now, that even if one flooded this land with water, this water-depleted land would absorb the water so deep down in its water channels that one would probably never be able to dig deep enough to find any traces of moisture in it....
Jun Mo Xie's fair and sturdy body continued to turn and twist in this flame, until this flame slowly and gradually reduced, revealing Jun Mo Xie's unscathed body!
Suddenly, there was another calling-like sound, and Jun Mo Xie's body instantly disappeared from the ground.
At the same time, and for the first time ever, he found his physical body standing inside the Hongjun Pagoda's second level!