**537. Chapter 523: K'un-Lun Heavenly Maiden**
Standing within the vibrant, dreamlike Quantum Realm, the three of them, Captain America, did not feel the Space-Time Pull as they had in the past.
Just as the three were at a loss, Captain America Steve Rogers looked around for a moment and suddenly noticed that a nebula-like blue jellyfish cloud before them had stopped contracting. It lay flat before them like a shimmering blue mirror surface, and dots of white light rose from within that mirror. Before long, an Archway, entirely pure white and emitting streaks of golden light, emerged from the mirror.
Steve Rogers took a look. This Archway was hundreds of times taller than his current size, ancient in design, yet grand and majestic within the golden light.
Captain America, Hawkeye, and Black Widow exchanged glances. "Captain, I've seen this kind of architecture in Chinatown. Easterner call it an Archway!" Black Widow Natasha Romanoff said, somewhat surprised.
"This Archway couldn't be the Passage Tang mentioned that leads back to our World, could it?"
"You two wait here, I'll go take a look!"
Steve Rogers turned back and gave Hawkeye and Black Widow tactical hand signal for caution and readiness. The nanotech armor's thruster beneath his feet sprayed blue flame, carrying him towards the Archway's position.
Just as Steve Rogers arrived beneath the Archway, several Spiritual Light flickered on it, and large area of Innate Divine Restriction flashed and vanished within the Archway.
Steve Rogers was startled by the streaking light anomaly on the Archway and subconsciously opened the nanotech armor's weapon launch port. Just as he was fully alert,
He heard the sound of bell and drum coming from within the Archway. A team of over a dozen Heavenly Maiden, clad in feather robe with beautiful face, holding magic tool like golden bell and jade chime, flew out from within the Archway, splitting to the left and right in a Wild Goose Wing Formation.
"Three Honored Guest, please follow me. The Great Heavenly Venerable has been waiting for a long time!"
The two leading Heavenly Maiden nodded towards Captain America and extended their hand in an inviting gesture.
"Are you Tang's Subordinate?" Captain America asked through the nanotech armor's faceplate, looking at these pure and ethereal Asian girl. As their white robe fluttered, their demeanor made him feel as if he was seeing legendary Angel.
"The Great Heavenly Venerable is waiting for you in K'un-Lun. Please follow me!"
The Heavenly Maiden on the left maintained a polite smile on her face and did not answer his question, instead speaking to Steve Rogers.
Captain America saw that these aloof young woman had no intention of engaging with him. Having met with a rebuff, he didn't press further. He turned and gave a safety gesture to Barton and Natasha Romanoff in the distance.
By the time Hawkeye and Black Widow arrived beneath the Archway, a golden light shot out from the center of the Archway, transforming into golden light pillar that enveloped the trio and the group of Heavenly Maiden.
The next second, their vision underwent a Space-Time Shift. When they reappeared, they were already in front of a magnificent Palace.
"Where is this?"
The three of them, Captain America, Hawkeye, and Black Widow, couldn't help but gasp as they looked at the incredibly magnificent and beautiful Palace before them.
They had experienced the battle with Thanos, seen the sky-shading and sun-blocking Fleet of Thanos's Subordinate, witnessed the fantastical Island in the Pirate World, and personally seen Sea King as large as Island.
They considered themselves well-traveled, but facing this grand and majestic Palace complex before them, the three of them still had their eye wide with shock. Natasha Romanoff didn't even know where to look.
"This is K'un-Lun!" The leading Heavenly Maiden answered Natasha Romanoff's doubt.
"Please follow me, everyone!"
"K'un-Lun!" Steve Rogers repeated the name. He then followed the Heavenly Maiden into the Palace before them with Natasha Romanoff and Barton.
K'un-Lun, the residence of the Ancient God Queen Mother of the West. As an Ancient God who had ruled the World for countless year, her residence was naturally spectacular and majestic.
Over the year, countless Cultivator had come to K'un-Lun to pay respect and pilgrimage. Force/Faction like the Dragon Palace and Cultivation Sect in the Mortal World offered countless Rare Treasure and Merman/Merfolk Pearl as tribute. These were also called Merman/Merfolk Tear; only tear shed by Merman/Merfolk in utter despair could condense into treasure pearl. These treasure pearl, which were worth city in the Mortal World, were offered by the *hu* (a unit of measure) on the Dragon Palace's tribute list. Just for these Merman/Merfolk Pearl, which were purely for viewing, Heaven knows how many Merman/Merfolk those tribute-paying Aquatic Race had to beat, how many Merman/Merfolk they had to coerce and extort, just to force them to shed so many tear?
Merman/Merfolk Pearl as thick as a thumb were so numerous that they were casually embedded in the handrail and railing along the Palace road as decoration.
Rare and magnificent, exquisite beyond compare, yet grand and majestic, spectacular and imposing – this Palace complex was simply beyond word.
The Palace was located on the Mountain Peak of a White Jade Mountain Peak over ten li high. The spiritual mountain peak was composed entirely of almost milky white White Jade. The Avenger, who had little concept of the price of this White Jade, would never have imagined that any random stone from this mountain peak taken to the jewelry market would be enough to make those Jade Merchant fight tooth and nail.
What truly made the eye of the trio, following behind the Heavenly Maiden, widen was the swaying plant along the way.
Immortal Ganoderma Grass, Purple Patterned Immortal Peach, Jade Spotted Fire Date, Green Jade Lotus Root Golden Lotus... Although they also didn't know the Value of these Spiritual Item, they had never seen plant emitting faint radiance. As a breeze blew, a refreshing fragrance lifted the spirit of the few who had removed their Ant-Man Suit.
"It smells so good!" Natasha Romanoff took a deep breath, feeling somewhat lightheaded, and her body felt much lighter.
The Heavenly Maiden did not lead the three towards the Palace but took them around behind it. They ascended along the jade step paved with White Jade, and after more than half an hour,
They arrived at a Heavenly Lake on the White Jade Snow Mountain. Along the way were jade tree and qiong flower. The luxury they witnessed and heard about along the way was shocking to the three of them.
The Heavenly Lake, covering dozens of li, had shimmering wave. A figure holding a fishing rod was sitting there, leisurely fishing.
A Heavenly Maiden walked behind the fisherman and bowed slightly: "Great Heavenly Venerable, your Guest has arrived!"
"Steve Rogers, Barton, and Ms. Natasha Romanoff, you're here. Wait a moment, my fish is about to bite!"
Tang Song turned around and greeted the trio. He then instructed the Heavenly Maiden beside him: "Amber, Weaver Girl, help me prepare some Fruit and Melon to entertain my Guest!"
The two leading Heavenly Maiden, having been prepared, instructed the Heavenly Maiden behind them to bring various fruit plate. On the fruit plate were placed various rare Spiritual Item: Bowl-sized Golden Lotus Seedpod, Crystal Pear so white they were almost transparent, Fire Date as red as flame... The Heavenly Maiden carried these fruit one by one into the Pool-Viewing Pavilion and placed them on the White Jade Round Table in the Pool-Viewing Pavilion. Then, the Heavenly Maiden silently left, leaving only two Heavenly Maiden in the Pool-Viewing Pavilion to attend to the three.
"Hmm? So sweet!" Barton picked up a Crystal Pear still covered in water droplet and took a bite, instantly conquered by the pear's crisp sweetness.
Natasha Romanoff picked up a Fire Date as large as an Egg and took a gentle bite. After one bite, her eye instantly narrowed.
"What kind of date is this!" Although Natasha Romanoff really wanted to act more ladylike, the date's sweetness was impacting her taste bud.
A date the size of an Egg was devoured by her in just a few bite, leaving only a small date pit in her hand.
"This is a Fire Date produced on an Immortal Mountain in the East Sea. It blooms once every thirty year, bears fruit once every thirty year, and the fruit also takes thirty year to ripen!"
The Heavenly Maiden Amber, clad in white robe with long hair tied up, smiled and explained to Natasha Romanoff. "You have to wait a hundred year just to eat this date!" Natasha Romanoff said, somewhat surprised.
"It does take some time for Fire Date to ripen. If the Guest likes them, feel free to eat more. These Fire Date have the effect of Replenishing Qi and Nourish Blood!"
Amber explained to Natasha Romanoff with a graceful demeanor. Her smile was gentle, making people feel as if bathed in a spring breeze.
Compared to her, the other Heavenly Maiden, Weaver Girl, gave off a timid feeling, like a fawn that would be startled at any moment. She didn't even dare to make eye contact with people.
Their personality might be related to their respective experience.
Amber was originally K'un-Lun's most noble Heavenly Maiden, responsible for dancing, praying, and beating the drum every morning to awaken the Sun from darkness and illuminate the Mortal Realm.
Later, Primal Human were born, and Queen Mother of the West sent Heavenly Maiden down to the Mortal World to impart knowledge to humanity and convey the Divine Will. Amber was one of them, and also the leader of this group of Heavenly Maiden.
Later, during the Battle of Zhuolu, Primal Human rebelled against Heaven. After that War between Human and God, K'un-Lun left the Mortal Realm, the Collapse of the Celestial Pillar occurred, and the Flood Cleansing the Land happened. The God used the most brutal method to suppress the human who attempted to resist.
The Heavenly Maiden also left the Mortal Realm and returned to K'un-Lun, but there were also a few Heavenly Maiden who chose to stay in the Mortal Realm.
Amber and Weaver Girl were among them, but their circumstance were completely different.
From the moment of her birth, Amber was the most noble Heavenly Maiden, deeply favored and trusted by the Queen Mother of the West.
Every morning, she would beat the celestial drum to awaken the Sun, and sing and dance under the jade tree and qiong tree.
However, in her life in K'un-Lun, which was the same day after day for thousand of year, she was not happy. She longed for the Mortal Realm; she felt the Mortal Realm was warmer than K'un-Lun.
After the War between Human and God, she stayed in the Mortal Realm for thousand of year, experiencing the joy and sorrow of the Mortal Realm. She was more like a rich second generation descending to the mortal world to experience life.
Just recently, Queen Mother of the West recalled the Heavenly Maiden who had Fallen into the Mortal World. Amber also returned to K'un-Lun. Although she lost her position as the head Heavenly Maiden, the Divine Rank of Jiutian Xuannü, upon her return, she was still a noble Heavenly Maiden, having washed away the worldly dust.
In contrast, Weaver Girl's life in the Mortal Realm was simply a Suffering.
During the War between Human and God back then, after being injured, she was saved by human. To repay their kindness, she showed her Divine Power to those "Benefactor," blessing that village with favorable weather for crop.
Unexpectedly, her Ability triggered the evil in human nature. Those people, wanting long-term gain without effort, built a Labyrinth and trapped Weaver Girl.
They even forced Weaver Girl to give birth to Child to bless their village for generation.
During these day when Queen Mother of the West was Cultivating in Seclusion and Tang Song was temporarily managing K'un-Lun for her, after Boss Tang learned of Weaver Girl's experience, he casually said something.
That village was inexplicably massacred by a group of Monster/Demon. Those existence suspected to be Vampire not only murdered and massacred the village but also destroyed that Labyrinth. Weaver Girl's Remnant Soul trapped in the Labyrinth was also discovered by Ghost Messenger and rescued. After the Underworld King learned of Weaver Girl's experience,
This Underworld King returned to the Underworld and directly ordered the Judge to find the name of the villager from that village throughout history. Regardless of whether they had reincarnated, all their soul were hooked and sent into Mount Iron Ring Hell.
To eternally suffer Hell Punishment, unable to reincarnate.
And personally sent the person back to K'un-Lun.
Tang Song personally acted to reforge Weaver Girl's Physical Body and erased her memory of this Suffering. But that experience seemed carved into the Depth of her Soul. Even without that memory, she became timid and cowardly from then on.
(It is rumored throughout the Underworld that the reason the Underworld King flew into a thunderous rage was that he couldn't stand the action of those human.
However, there is also Hearsay that the Underworld King did this merely to please his old flame and flatteringly seek credit.
Otherwise, with the Underworld King's scheming personality, having seen countless story more tragic than this over thousand of year, how could that dark heart be so easily moved! The Yellow Spring are filled with her malice. This Hearsay quickly reached the Underworld King's ear. The Underworld immediately launched a Crackdown/Raid. It is said that a Ghost Messenger named Zhao, who was Consorting with Mortal, was arrested on the spot in a Private Room at the Yellow Springs Bar! The Underworld King personally passed judgment. That Ghost Messenger, knowing the law yet breaking it, was sentenced to be thrown into Tongue-Pulling Hell for three day!
The Yellow Springs Bar was also directly ordered to be sealed for half a year!)
At the K'un-Lun Heavenly Lake, while the trio were gobbling down the K'un-Lun Fruit and Melon, which could be called spiritual food,
The calm Pool Water of the Heavenly Lake suddenly produced a splashing sound. The few people looked towards the sound.
They saw by the Pool Water, Tang Song raised the rod with his Right Hand. That Purple Bamboo Fishing Rod instantly bent down. Beneath the calm Water Surface, a fishing line was desperately pulling inwards.
Most men cannot refuse the temptation of catching a big fish. Even just seeing someone else hook a fish, they can't help but stop and watch.
Steve Rogers and Barton both saw the Purple Bamboo Fishing Rod in Tang Song's Right Hand almost bent into a bow shape. They couldn't even care about the half-peeled lotus seedpod in their Right Hand.
Holding the half lotus seedpod, they came behind Tang Song, nervously watching the rapidly moving fishing line on the Water Surface.
"This fish is at least 93 pound. I once caught a Lake Trout in the Great Lake. Its strength was great, just like now! Its performance Underwater was almost the same as now!"
Hawkeye said confidently, looking at the Water Surface.
"At least 133 pound!" Captain America retorted. "When Bucky and I had a competition back then, the fish we caught was much bigger than your Lake Trout!"
"It can't be 133 pound. Given the material of this fishing rod, this fish is at most 93 pound!" Barton swore solemnly, patting his chest.
As the two guessed the size of Tang Song's catch, arguing until their face were red, they completely failed to notice the peculiar gaze of the two Heavenly Maiden in the Pool-Viewing Pavilion behind them.
Splash!
Tang Song lifted his Right Hand upwards. A subtle force flicked down the fishing rod into the Underwater. A White Light leapt up from Underwater.
Accompanied by the splashing sound of it coming out of the water, Steve Rogers and Barton both opened their mouth wide, watching with wide eye as a writhing Dark Blue Carp over ten meter long was flung into the air by Tang Song.
(end of chapter)