# Chapter 162: The Heavenly Treasury
In the Full Moon Pool, the rippling water gleamed like a mirror, yet it reflected none of those standing on the shore. Many were first-time visitors to the Full Moon Pool, and marveled at this.
High above hung the moon, yet it did not reflect upon the water. And within the water there was also a moon, still as a phantom. This moon in the water, at the very center of the pool, had remained fixed and unmoving since first it appeared.
From the circle of long corridors, looking up into the night sky, the moon above was still biased to one side. Time trickled away drop by drop, and the crowd gradually fell silent. All held their breath, waiting, silently bedding themselves in readiness.
At last the moon climbed to the peak of the sky. The moon above reached the dead center of the circle formed by the long corridors, precisely facing the moon's shadow in the Full Moon Pool below. At that moment, the moon in the sky lay upon the moon in the water.
All at once the ever-quiet Full Moon Pool changed; its rippling light swayed. The moon's shadow in the water gave a sudden quiver.
Jiang Wang knew that was no illusion—a transformation was about to take place. It was as if an invisible hand reached into the Full Moon Pool and "fished out" the moon's shadow in the water. Like a paper cutout, the moon's shadow left the pool, stood upright, and hung suspended directly above the water.
Though like a paper cutout, from the side one could not see its thinness. Seen from the front, the moon's shadow slowly expanded until it formed a round moon the height of a man.
This was the entrance to the Heavenly Treasury Secret Realm, called the Moon Gate.
The cultivators present took their leave of kinsmen and friends in turn, for perhaps this farewell would be forever. The danger of the Heavenly Treasury Secret Realm was as famous as its harvests.
"The Heavenly Treasury Secret Realm scares away all spines, of all these men I'm first past the line!" Xu Xiangqian hastily chanted this bit of "verse," then launched his body into the Moon Gate. But that posture might better have been a "head tucked and scurrying away" than a "vying to be first." No doubt he knew that "composing poetry" thus was apt to earn him a beating.
Li Longchuan followed close behind—his feet curved like a bow, his body rose like an arrow. The onlookers' eyes had barely blurred before he had vanished into the Moon Gate. The crowd tarried no longer, and rushed one after another into the Moon Gate.
"Let us go too." Chongxuan Sheng murmured the words. With his left hand gripping Jiang Wang's sleeve and his right hand gripping Fourteen's armor, the three threw themselves together into the Moon Gate.
At the very instant he entered the Moon Gate, Jiang Wang's hairs suddenly stood on end! For he sensed, behind him, Wang Yiwu pressing close. He made no attempt to hide it—his target was Chongxuan Sheng.
For such was the peculiarity of the Heavenly Treasury Secret Realm that no one who emerged would remember what had happened within. And this also meant that within, one could do anything at all. Nothing one did would leave any trace of evidence. This included—killing a scion of a great house such as Chongxuan Sheng!
...
Wang Yiwu pressed close behind them into the Moon Gate—surely not to make friends, it went without saying.
Jiang Wang's hand was already upon his sword, his whole body coiled and ready to strike. Facing an opponent such as Wang Yiwu, one could trust that Chongxuan Sheng and Fourteen had also readied themselves to fight to the death.
The Moon Gate was like a phantom; passing through it offered no resistance whatsoever, nor did body or mind feel any strange sensation. But upon landing, all around was empty. One could not see Wang Yiwu at all—nay, not even Chongxuan Sheng nor Fourteen were anywhere in sight.
So it was that after entering the Heavenly Treasury Secret Realm, everyone was separated.
Jiang Wang could not help but let out a breath. Though perhaps the battle with Wang Yiwu was inevitable, still, the more time he could buy to prepare, the better. Facing such a mighty foe, one could never be too cautious.
To his left ran a small river, its current babbling gently. Waterweeds swayed, fish swam at their ease. The water was very clear; Jiang Wang used a Dao art to gather a stone and hurl it in, yet it startled no water-dwelling savage beast from the depths. Perhaps this river was safe, though one could not be entirely certain. At the least, the functioning of his Dao arts was unimpaired.
The river was long, meandering off into the distance, its end unseen at a glance. Its width was modest—Jiang Wang could leap it with ease, yet he made no such attempt. Both banks were grown over with fresh green grass. Across the river lay flat land; in the distance one could see the rolling contours of mountains.
And standing on this bank, looking off to the right, one saw a dense wood, likewise without end in sight.
The air was fresh; Jiang Wang savored it carefully, catching the scent of water vapor and green grass. It should be no illusion—though the Taixu Illusory Realm had set a precedent of being real enough. But when he entered the Taixu Illusory Realm, only his divine consciousness entered; the Heavenly Treasury Secret Realm, by contrast, had brought in his very body. And one more thing: within the Heavenly Treasury Secret Realm, to die was truly to die. The many cultivators of years past could testify to that.
A hidden blessed land? Or did the Moon Gate possess some art of translocation? Jiang Wang surveyed his surroundings, then unfastened a jade pendant from his belt. It was oval in shape, carved in relief with a pair of lips.
This was one of the preparations Chongxuan Sheng had made before entering—the Echo-Return Pendant. He, Chongxuan Sheng, and Fourteen each carried one, precisely to guard against being separated. This remarkable object allowed its bearer to converse over great distances, a great convenience. Of course, the distance could not exceed a hundred li.
But when Jiang Wang tried to pour in his Dao essence, the Echo-Return Pendant gave no reaction. It was not that the distance was too great for it to work—it was utterly defunct. This also meant that many of Chongxuan Sheng's preparations had failed; the Heavenly Treasury Secret Realm in all likelihood restricted the use of all manner of remarkable objects, and only individual strength counted.
This was not good news. It was not that Wang Yiwu, as the final disciple of the Great Qi War God, had shallower foundations than Chongxuan Sheng. Rather, with Wang Yiwu's strength, coming to the Heavenly Treasury Secret Realm, he should need no great abundance of remarkable treasures. Nor did he have so much preparation time. In this regard, Chongxuan Sheng should have been able to recover some disadvantage—but because of the peculiarities of the Secret Realm, it had all gone down the drain.
Even the sword in Jiang Wang's hand had lost the ability to trigger its Golden Light Arrow. Though even so, it was at any rate better than nothing.
Jiang Wang stored away the Echo-Return Pendant, laid his palm flat and open, and a wisp of azure wood-element vital energy coalesced in his palm, forming the phantom of a small blade of grass. The blade of grass lingered a while, then bowed its head, as if lost in remembrance of things past.
The direction it pointed was forward.
This was a fine direction. Given the present circumstances, walking forward along the riverbank was beyond doubt the surest course. The field of view was open, and any danger could be met at the first instant. In this Heavenly Treasury Secret Realm, the most unbearable thing was the unknown. One knew not what trials lay ahead, nor in what manner the opportunity of the divine-power seed would present itself... All was uncertain.
...
Jiang Wang walked forward along the riverbank, noting the two banks as he went, including the dense wood and the distant mountains—yet all remained peaceful, and nothing at all happened.
"Fifty men entered the Heavenly Treasury Secret Realm together, and all were scattered? How is it I have not seen a single soul? Is the Secret Realm truly so vast?"
Jiang Wang sank into thought. He churned it over, and once again used Remembrance. He had already walked a good long while, and still Remembrance pointed ahead.
"Either within the Secret Realm, 'Remembrance' has failed. But that makes no sense—my other Dao arts are all unaffected. And if Remembrance failed, the Remembrance grass should have gone still or spun about, not bowed its head."
"If Remembrance has not failed..."
"Either Chongxuan Sheng is very, very far from me, too far for me to catch up however fast I hasten."
"Or—while I press forward, Chongxuan Sheng is also pressing forward."
"Or..."
Jiang Wang abruptly stopped in his steps.
"I have not actually moved at all."