264 The Truth Part One

After slowly taking each step cautiously, Mei found herself standing in front of the gates to the palace. The gate that led into the Palace's front yard was a tall metal barred gate. The space between the bars was big enough for Mei to even squeeze between. She reached out and touched the gate, with her eyes closed and her brow scrunched up as if she was expecting to be electrocuted the moment she touched it. But to her surprise, she was able to touch the bar without an issue. Seeing no danger, Mei quickly stepped through. But when she turned around to look at the spot she just came through from, she was stunned to see nothing but a tall stone wall that went up a few tens of meters high. 

Mei quickly touched the wall to see if this was an illusion but the wall was completely solid which made Mei's heart sink. "Am I trapped in here!?"

This was the first thought that came to mind. Not that this place was bad but being stuck in some place with no way to get out was not something that gave her a good feeling. "Relax Alacia, if there is a way in then there must be a way out. First, let's just take a look around."

Mei gave herself a little pep talk as she took a look at her surroundings. What she saw made her eyes light up. In front of her was a long path that led to the palace but to her left and right sides were nothing but rows and rows of spiritual herbs. Each one radiated with a golden glow. 

Mei knelt down to reach out to touch one of the herb plants but her hand seemed to be stopped by some kind of invisible barrier. "Ouch!" Frowning Mei stood back up while blowing on her sore fingertips. "I guess my only course of action is to go into the palace and see what is in store for me…." Mei said as she took one last glance at the herbs and dejectedly walked towards the palace's entrance. 

The path was fairly long and took her almost five minutes to reach the stairs leading to a tall set of doors. The palace's exterior was covered in many carvings. Each seemed to have taken a long time to do. These carvings were like pictures in a children's book and seemed to tell a story of some kind. Since she was not in a hurry and the place was safe, Mei decided it would not hurt to see what these carvings were trying to say. 

After finding what seemed to be the starting point Mei went from picture to picture trying to piece together the story. After getting the gist of it, what Mei had figured out was this. 'There was once a great being that ruled over everything. That being after creating a world and giving it life would move on to create the next world, never to even look back at the world it had just created. Each world was different, some had magic while others were able to cultivate.

'But no matter how hard they tried it seemed impossible to reach the strength of that the being had. The most anyone could do was create dimensions that were secluded in their own space. Even if they were as big as a world they were still nothing more than a fragment of what the Origin was able to do. No one was able to create an actual planet as the Origin did.'

"I am not sure if my take on these pictures is what they are supposed to be telling but it does seem interesting." Mei muttered to herself, only to be given a start when she heard a gentle female voice float into her ear.

"What you figured out is correct. But not completely correct either." The gentle voice said as a strong wind blew causing Mei's hair to float in front of her eyes. When she brushed it away a young woman dressed in white robes floated in the air in front of her smiling gently at her. 

Mei quickly jumped back not sure if this young woman who suddenly appeared out of nowhere was an enemy or not. Seeing Mei's reaction the young woman gave an approving nod. "It's good to see that you are on your toes. But do not worry I do not mean you any harm. What you see is a projection. And this palace was one of my private residences. You see I was the one who summoned you here. I do apologize for making you fall. I know that sliding down such a muddy slope was not a very good experience."

"You… Summoned me here?" Mei asked. Still keeping her distance from the young woman. 

The young woman gently nodded her head as her clear eyes looked at Mei. " You can say that I have been waiting for millions of years for a person with both magic and spiritual qi to appear. Not just me but many more like me as well. I believe you already ran into one of my seniors. He gave you three books if I am right. "

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