282: Chapter 282 A Fortuitous Encounter, The Great Fox Temple

At the absolute summit of Qingtian Peak, above the sea of clouds, the heavenly winds howled.

Xu Ruyu stood at the peak's narrowest point, feeling the lingering charm of the seven-colored immortal light gifted by the Heaven-Climbing Ladder flowing through his body. It washed away the last traces of fatigue and hidden injuries, consolidating his Dao foundation, which had been reborn through ten thousand trials.

His aura was calm and distant. Though it remained within the fluctuations of the Qi Refinement Stage, it possessed a natural poise that was as steady as a mountain and as deep as an abyss—a return to simplicity.

Looking around, the summit seemed empty, save for the exposed hard rock and the thin but incomparably pure Spiritual Qi.

But Xu Ruyu's intuition told him that this was by no means the end.

Since the Heaven-Climbing Ladder tested one's perseverance, how could there be no corresponding "Opportunity" after reaching the top?

Sure enough, as he concentrated his mind and slowly spread his Soul Power—which had become increasingly sharp after being tempered by the Heaven-Climbing Ladder—around him, he immediately sensed something. Beneath the seemingly ordinary rocky ground in the center of the summit, there was an extremely faint yet incomparably ancient, sacred, and vast spatial fluctuation.

He stepped forward, crouched down, and gently pressed his palm against that patch of rock.

It was cold to the touch and hard in texture, no different from the surrounding area.

However, the "Void Source Energy" within his body spontaneously produced a faint resonance.

"A hidden spatial entrance... does it require a specific 'key' or... recognition?"

Realization dawned in Xu Ruyu's heart.

The Heaven-Climbing Ladder itself might be the key.

Those who successfully reached the top gained the qualification to enter.

With a slight thought, he slowly released a trace of the "Ladder dao rhyme" aura from his palm, letting it seep into the rock beneath his feet. This aura had been naturally acquired during his climb up the Heaven-Climbing Ladder, through the confrontation and fusion of his Dao Heart with the omnipresent pressure of the Laws of Heaven and Earth.

"Buzz..."

It was as if an ancient mechanism had been triggered. On the surface of the rock, a circle of soft and profound silver-white runes rippled out, quickly spreading to a radius of about ten feet.

Immediately after, the center of the runes collapsed downward, forming a rotating portal of light leading to unknown depths.

From within the portal, the solemn silhouette of a palace and a vast pressure faintly emanated.

"Taihu Divine Temple..."

This name naturally surfaced in Xu Ruyu's mind.

This must be the location of the eighth trial, the "Opportunity Trial"! It was also the place of the final gift from the Heaven-Climbing Ladder to the successful climbers.

Without the slightest hesitation, he stepped into the gate of light.

The scenery before his eyes changed. The sensation of time and space shifting was lighter than when entering any previous Secret Realm, yet it felt much deeper.

It was as if he had merely stepped over a threshold and entered another completely independent, quiet, and sacred world.

Beneath his feet was a milky-white floor, smooth as a mirror and made of an unknown material, emitting a warm luster.

The surroundings were not walls, but swirling curtains of light that seemed to be condensed from the purest moonlight and starlight. On these light curtains, countless ancient fox-shaped totems and profound Dao markings faintly drifted.

The ceiling was high and distant, a profound illusion of the starry sky where billions of stars twinkled, forming star maps that contained the ultimate principles of Heaven and Earth.

The entire space was vast and empty, permeated by a sacred and lonely aura that felt eternal and supreme. Here, time seemed to lose its meaning; only the dao rhyme was eternal.

And in the deepest part of the space, a magnificent divine temple, carved entirely from flawless white jade that looked like warm jade, stood there quietly.

The temple was not tall, yet it gave the illusion of supporting the heavens and encompassing the Universe. The temple doors were wide open, and light flowed within, obscuring the specific details of the interior.

"Taihu Divine Temple..." Xu Ruyu whispered, a sense of solemnity rising in his heart. He could feel that this temple was the true spiritual symbol and core of Origin for the Taihu Clan; its history might even be older than the foundation of the Tianyin Mountains outside.

He tidied his slightly messy green robes, and with a solemn expression, he stepped toward the white divine temple.

His footsteps fell on the smooth floor without a sound.

The closer he got to the temple, the more obvious the pressure became—a pressure originating from the level of life and the Soul's Origin.

It wasn't hostility or rejection, but a natural sense of awe that one should feel when facing a supreme existence.

When he finally reached the temple door and looked inside, he couldn't help but be slightly stunned.

The interior of the temple was not filled with the enshrined statues or piles of treasures he had imagined.

Instead, it was exceptionally simple, one might even say... empty.

The hall was also filled with a soft, milky-white glow. In the center, there was only a simple prayer mat, also carved from white jade. On the mat, there was nothing.

However, Xu Ruyu's gaze was drawn to the wall behind the prayer mat, which was as smooth as a mirror and seemed to be polished from a single piece of "Primordial Divine Crystal."

On the wall, the scene inside the temple was reflected, as was his own figure.

But when he focused his gaze, he was shocked to find that the "self" reflected in the wall had an indescribable difference in gaze, temperament, and even subtle expressions compared to the him standing outside the hall!

The reflection's eyes were deeper and more ancient, as if they contained the wisdom of seeing through eternal vicissitudes.

Just as Xu Ruyu was filled with uncertainty—

The "reflection" in the wall suddenly moved!

It wasn't a movement from Xu Ruyu's actual body; instead, the "reflection" raised its hand on its own and made a "please enter" gesture toward the Xu Ruyu outside the hall. At the same time, a gentle, kind, yet supremely majestic and ancient voice rang out directly in the depths of Xu Ruyu's Soul:

"Young friend from afar, since you have climbed the Heaven-Climbing Ladder and stepped into the Divine Temple, why not come in for a chat?"

The voice seemed to travel through endless time and space, carrying the echoes of ages, and resonated directly at the level of his Dao Heart.