Chapter Three: The Ancient Gate of Deification

Petals swirled through the boundless sky, bathed in the pure radiance of the Eternal Light, like countless tiny fireflies flickering amidst the starry river, encircling the Continent of Blossoms, drifting with the waves—a scene both dreamlike and beautiful.

“It’s time to notify the Sea of Flowers,” said Da Jiuxing, his silvery hair fluttering like frost. As his words faded, a bright, emerald-green slip of paper appeared in his hand.

Feng Shang, bored beyond belief, glanced over with a hint of surprise, just as Da Jiuxing’s fingertip burst into a cluster of dazzling golden flame. As the flame touched the green slip, it caught fire quickly.

Within the glow, specks of cold, white divine brilliance churned, as though something were being brewed.

With a swift whoosh, the green slip dissolved, and from its center a beam of golden light shot forth. It sped toward the Haloed Realm of Blossoms, encountering no resistance, easily passing through and heading deeper within.

“What’s that thing?” Feng Shang asked.

“Just a little trinket, Young Master Feng. You needn’t concern yourself,” the old man replied dismissively, blowing out the last glimmer of golden flame on his fingertip.

“Tch, like I care,” Feng Shang huffed, rolling his eyes.

At this, Da Jiuxing smiled faintly. With a tap of his finger, the starry sky before them suddenly turned soft, twisted like paper, and was swiftly pierced open—a portal forming in its place.

Within, the void was hazy and indistinct, faintly illuminated by starlight, as if linked to another expanse of the heavens.

“Come with me. We’ll enter through the main gate. The Divine Lord of the Flower Sea will come to greet us,” Da Jiuxing said, stepping through the portal first.

Feng Shang glanced back at the Haloed Realm, its brilliance undiminished and flawless as before; the rift they’d made had already vanished without a trace. With a reluctant sigh, he followed the old man’s lead.

“All these twists and turns—why bother? Wouldn’t it be simpler to just walk through here from the start?” he muttered.

Before the portal faded, the youth’s impatient complaint drifted out.

As the two departed, a gust of cosmic wind swept in, erasing all traces of energy from the spot.

The Sea of Flowers was boundless and vast, nourishing countless billions of flower spirits. Legend held that this realm had once been an ancient star—its mere corner spanning trillions of miles. For ordinary cultivators without mastery over the void, traveling from east to west could take tens of thousands of years, a journey fraught with hardship.

With a ripping sound, a fissure tore across the starry sky, and the old man and youth emerged—Da Jiuxing and Feng Shang. Comparing their current location to where they’d been moments before, they had already crossed most of the Flower Sea Continent.

“Hm? Now this is interesting,” Feng Shang suddenly remarked.

At first, he’d lounged with his hands behind his head, indifferent. But as the new celestial vista unfolded before him, his eyes brightened.

The radiant veil of the Flower Sea was far from monotonous now. Towering before them was a mysterious, immense cosmic gate—so vast and majestic it seemed to contain the stars themselves. Above it circled three colossal whirlpools of spiritual energy, each vast as a sea, devouring the very essence of the starry heavens like bottomless pits.

Though the gate’s height did not rival the continent itself, it blazed with immortal light, its aura so overwhelming it seemed ready to pierce the vault of stars, as though lifting the entire Flower Sea skyward.

Never in all his years had Feng Shang seen such a grand and imposing gateway.

Drawing closer, the starlight dimmed, and rifts of void dozens of yards wide appeared everywhere.

Faintly, one could make out intricate ancient carvings on the gate.

There were scenes of flourishing star domains, bustling with commerce, radiant ships speeding by, throngs of people coming and going, and once, a dazzling young prodigy who had risen to fame here. That prodigy stood aloof, wielding a splendid silver spear, armor gleaming, eyes filled with disdain, exuding a haughty, world-conquering arrogance.

“Show-off,” Feng Shang muttered, feeling an inexplicable urge to punch him.

Looking further down, he saw the image of a woman of unparalleled beauty. Dressed in white, more brilliant than snow, she stood alone upon a star, playing a flute.

The scene was full of meaning—the woman’s eyes sparkled, moonlight spilling over cold rivers, her bearing as pure as a divine lotus, graced with the spiritual elegance of the universe itself. Was she playing of invincible solitude among the stars, or the yearning of lovers separated by endless distance?

Feng Shang mused, thinking that to guess the truth, a touch of imagination and reasonable conjecture would suffice.

The stars were lonely, the flute’s song slow and lingering, tinged with melancholy. After a long while, the celestial maiden sighed softly and lowered her instrument.

Perhaps she played of the hardship of solitude, unable to find a kindred spirit, longing to meet a youth as radiant as a blossom...

And what could banish such sorrow? Only a spirited young man.

Feng Shang smiled nonchalantly, convinced he’d understood the meaning.

Further down, there were images of green halberds, strange swords, and purple bells, clashing in a cosmic battle that cleaved the Milky Way—a scene so intense it seemed to draw one’s mind in, draining spiritual power. Feng Shang wisely did not linger on these.

There were also unique patterns etched above, filled with the mysteries of the cosmos. Given time, perhaps one could glean some profound insight.

“This gate truly is a treasure. The engravings seem to record events from the past,” Feng Shang observed, his admiration growing.

How could such a vibrant and lively sea of flowers be home to a cosmic gate so domineering and grand?

The two exuded almost opposite auras—if not utterly contradictory, then certainly worlds apart.

Before the gate, ancient Dao platforms hung suspended, weathered and mottled, numbering in the thousands. A thick layer of cosmic dust blanketed their surfaces, witness to countless ages.

They weren’t deserted; a handful of figures were scattered around, seated in meditation, so still they seemed fused with the platforms themselves—likely in the midst of their cultivation.

“That is the Gate of Apotheosis,” Da Jiuxing explained as his gaze swept over the carvings, his eyes narrowing, a faint trace of ancient sorrow flickering there.

Only this lingering mark remains—who still remembers that it was once the legendary threshold of an ancient star?

“The Gate of Apotheosis...” Feng Shang echoed, the phrase stirring a vague memory. Suddenly recalling something, he asked, “You don’t mean that ancient star that fell during the Age of Immortals, do you?”

“Yes.”

Da Jiuxing was somewhat surprised. Odd—this boy hasn’t pored over the star chamber’s histories, so where did he hear the name of the Gate of Apotheosis?

“It really is a relic of that ancient star! What a provenance, what grandeur—I like it! What if we hauled it back to Star City and set it up there? It would definitely show off our status!”

Seeing Feng Shang’s eyes gleam with excitement, Da Jiuxing’s lips twitched as the boy licked his lips mischievously, clearly plotting. The old man’s breath caught in his chest.

The sacred gateway of the Spirit Cosmos, the pride of the Flower Sea—and you want to haul it off just like that?

What goes through your head all day?

“Can you move a star? This gate weighs as much as a celestial body. Unless you reach the Stellar Transmission Realm, you can’t budge it in the slightest. And don’t look at me—I’ve never done anything so demeaning,” Da Jiuxing said coolly, dousing Feng Shang’s ambitions with a few words.

“…Boring,” Feng Shang grumbled, feeling the old man’s dismissiveness keenly.

He smirked inwardly. Just wait until we’re back in Jiuxing City—I’ll make you pay. I’ll swipe a few of your rare Star-Refining Treasures and waste them without a thought, just to make your heart ache.

Imagining Da Jiuxing’s helpless, darkened face upon discovering his losses, Feng Shang chuckled quietly, his mood instantly lighter.

It was just then that a voice, exquisite beyond words, drifted through the luminous curtain of the Flower Sea, altering the very season’s breath, and resonated throughout the starry sky.

“Nine Revered Ones have arrived—my apologies for not welcoming you sooner, Bamboo Heaven of Brahma extends its greetings…”

The celestial voice was ethereal, clear, and melodious, laced with a touch of proud grace, cool and pure, detached from the mundane, stirring the spirit.

Could the speaker be a celestial maiden?

In that instant, all the thousand Dao platforms trembled. The figures who had sat unmoving for ages shook off the dust of centuries, opened their eyes in unison, and stared in disbelief.

Feng Shang felt a tingling in his ear—it was truly the most enchanting voice he’d ever heard, making him irresistibly curious.

If her voice was so lovely, what must the woman herself look like?