"It is imperative that we enter the tower without delay!"

Lei Yuce uttered in a low voice, and with a sway of his body, he arrived before the massive stone gate at the base of the giant tower.

The others around him followed closely behind.

Lacking True Immortal cultivators, the group now numbered less than five hundred. Han Li naturally blended into the crowd unnoticed, keeping a relatively rearward position.

At the same time, his gaze occasionally swept, intentionally or unintentionally, towards another direction within the crowd. There, two seemingly unremarkable cultivators stood – a man with a square face and thick eyebrows, and a woman with a round face and cherry lips.

They were the very two he suspected to be the "Lan siblings."

Although he couldn't yet confirm their true identities, he believed that even if they weren't the "Lan siblings," they were still individuals he needed to watch.

With the opening of the Grand Sui Estate secret realm, even if the Golden Origin Immortal Palace still lacked a leader, he couldn't believe that the Heavenly Court would truly sit idly by. The fact that he hadn't seen anyone from the Heavenly Court yet only made him more cautious.

Lei Yuce stood beneath the tower, scanning his surroundings to confirm there were no issues before raising his palm and placing it upon the stone gate.

Before he could even exert force to push, the stone gate emitted a deep rumbling sound, automatically opening to both sides, revealing a dim entrance. The light inside was somewhat faint, but flickers of fire could be seen.

Lei Yuce was slightly surprised, but quickly recovered. He didn't rush in, but stood at the entrance, observing.

Seeing this, the others also held their breath and peered into the doorway, attempting to use their spiritual sense to investigate, but naturally, they gained nothing.

The tower clearly possessed an invisible power of restriction that could block all spiritual sense.

"This place is truly peculiar. Everyone, be vigilant. It's not too late to leave if you don't want to go in now," Wen Zhong said with a chuckle.

He said this, but since everyone present had come this far and endured so many twists and turns, who would willingly give up? Naturally, no one retreated or left. All eyes once again turned to Lei Yuce.

"Let's go!"

Lei Yuce said, stepping into the tower.

The remaining crowd, led by the Tongtian Sword Sect and the Tianshui Sect, followed closely behind.

Upon entering the tower, they saw that the walls were lined with fire basins, burning with some kind of oil. There was no smoke, but a faint, fishy smell permeated the area.

There were no furnishings on either side of the tower. Directly ahead stood a double-headed statue, over ten zhang tall, in the very front.

The statue was strangely shaped. The left head was a smiling heavenly official, while the right head was a ferocious demon. It wore intricately carved golden chainmail, with two golden wings sprouting from its back. One hand held a golden scepter, and the other wielded a mountain-splitting axe, each pointing to the left and right sides, respectively.

Below the golden scepter and mountain-splitting axe were deep passages, leading into the depths of the giant tower. The light illuminated the area, but one could not discern what lay within.

"There are words on the golden scepter and the mountain-splitting axe." Just then, someone called out.

Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he saw that there was indeed a vertical line of small characters on each. He then murmured, "Choosing a path without regret, different paths lead to the same destination."

On the other side, Lei Yuce also repeated the words, turning his head to ask, "What does this mean? What does 'choosing a path without regret' mean?"

"It seems that choosing different paths will lead to different encounters. I'm afraid one is dangerous, and the other... even more so," Jin Liu said thoughtfully, pausing.

"Splitting up is perfect. Our Tianshui Sect and your Tongtian Sword Sect can each lead a group, each taking a path," Su Anxi said, her eyes moving as she gazed at the statue.

"Immortal Su, this is, after all, the core of the Immortal Estate. There are bound to be dangers inside. I don't think it's wise for us to separate," Lei Yuce said, his eyes flashing.

Jin Liu also hesitated, and advised through voice transmission:

"I know you don't want to travel with him, but what he said is not wrong. Since the statue says that different paths lead to the same destination, then which path you take, isn't it the same?"

"When did Senior Brother Jin become so naive? Just because the statue says so, does that mean it's true? Won't that Grand Sui Immortal Venerable deliberately set up a trap, making one path a dead end for intruders?" Su Anxi sneered, replying.

"Junior Sister is right, I was dull. But how should we choose these two paths? Can you see any clues?" Jin Liu choked, smiled bitterly, and said through voice transmission.

"Both passages have restrictions within. Spiritual sense cannot penetrate them. We can only know what's inside after we enter," Su Anxi replied.

"Immortal Su, what do you think of what I just said?" Seeing that Su Anxi hadn't responded for a long time, Lei Yuce asked again.

"It doesn't matter. Since your Tongtian Sword Sect and our Tianshui Sect are the leaders of this alliance, what will other fellow cultivators do if we concentrate on walking together? Can't we let them explore a passage on their own?" Su Anxi said coldly.

"This..." Lei Yuce hesitated upon hearing this.

"Daoist Lei, I appreciate your kindness on behalf of my junior sister, but what my junior sister said is also reasonable. Since we are regarded as leaders by our fellow Daoists, we should naturally bear the responsibility of leading," Jin Liu said with a smile.

"In that case, please choose a path first, Immortal Su," Lei Yuce said after hearing this.

"The heavenly official is on the left, and the demon is on the right... then I will choose the path on the right," Su Anxi said without much hesitation.

"Good! Then our Tongtian Sword Sect will take the path on the left. Fellow Daoists from the Lingxiao Gate, Qingsuo Valley, Lieguang City, Moxian Pavilion, and Wangyou Pavilion, please follow Immortal Su and explore. The rest of you will follow me," Lei Yuce said loudly.

The people behind him were originally pondering the meaning of the statue, and were somewhat hesitant about the two paths. But since the leader of the alliance had spoken, and one of the two major sects was leading the way regardless of which path they took, naturally there was no objection.

Before long, the hundreds of people were divided into two teams, heading towards the two different paths indicated by the statue.

Before parting, Lei Yuce still instructed Su Anxi to be careful in everything, but the latter did not respond, but led her troops away first.

Among the Wangyou Pavilion group, the Lan siblings were mixed in the crowd, their expressions as usual on their faces, but they were secretly communicating through voice transmission.

"Little sister, this Lei Yuce also looks imposing and majestic. His cultivation is on par with that Su Anxi, why is the latter always so cold and frosty? It's strange," Lan Yuanzi asked, puzzled, through voice transmission.

"What's so strange about that? Whether it's mortals or immortals, as long as they are men, aren't they all the same? The more they can't get, the more willing they are to pay with infatuation. The colder and frostier that Immortal Su is, the more Lei Yuce will seek her in vain and be wholeheartedly devoted," Lan Yan said with a smile, replying.

"There's such a reason... speaking of which, this can be regarded as a way of playing hard to get," Lan Yuanzi said, nodding, seemingly enlightened.

"Why, brother, are you tasting something, thinking you've gained something?" Lan Yan suddenly changed her tone and asked.

"Cough... alright, let's focus on the task at hand. The future is unpredictable, stay close," Lan Yuanzi choked, changed the subject, and said.

At the end of the team, when Han Li passed under the mountain-splitting axe, he looked up and saw that there were a few small characters written on the place where it gripped the handle, reading "The axe falls to cut off longevity." His brow couldn't help but furrow.

Almost at the same time as him, on the other path, a young girl in a black robe also looked up when passing under the golden scepter and saw the small characters on the scepter, "As you wish, or not."

After the two teams had entered the passage for several hundred zhang, a "rumbling" sound suddenly came from behind.

The giant axe and golden scepter in the hands of the double-headed statue fell at the same time, sealing off the two passages and blocking the way back.

Hearing the sound, the two teams stopped at the same time. Wen Zhong and Jin Liu each returned to check and then returned to the team, saying that there was no way back and that they had to move forward with all their strength.

Everyone had come to explore treasures, and after a period of noise, they calmed down and continued forward.

In the rear of the team, Han Li listened to the sound behind him, and a look of thoughtful contemplation flashed across his face.

In the following period of time, the team led by the Tianshui Sect advanced along the passage for more than ten li. The stone walls on both sides of the road were covered with various engraved runes. Because they were too messy and disorganized, Han Li couldn't even tell what they were for.

Only, the further they went, the more the passage began to gradually narrow, from the initial width of several hundred zhang to the gradual contraction to dozens of zhang wide.

At first, everyone held a vigilant heart to deal with possible emergencies or some mechanisms and restrictions. As a result, in addition to becoming narrower and narrower, this passage didn't seem to have any other changes, and there wasn't even a single restriction.

The more this was the case, the more uneasy people felt in their hearts, and the atmosphere became a little tense.

At the end of the passage, a golden giant gate over tens of zhang high appeared in front of them. On the left and right sides of the gate were carved statues of gods holding halberds, all in the form of angry vajras, looking majestic and extremely imposing.

Everyone's eyes were attracted by the statues. Only a few people's attention fell on the door nails on the giant gate.

"Yin Yin Yang Yang, ten returns, nine exits... It looks like it's the Yin-Yang Closure Array." Jin Liu, standing at the front, pointed at the stone gate and said.

Han Li sneered in his heart when he heard this.

The stone nails on the door do have yin and yang distinctions, some are protruding outwards, and some are sunken inwards, forming a pattern of alternating yin and yang, but it is not meant to refer to yin and yang, but to the star palace.

Among them, the outward protrusion is the Sun Palace, and the inward depression is the Taiyin Palace. Therefore, the real name of this restriction formation should be the Star Palace Confrontation Restriction Array. As for the Yin-Yang Closure Array, it is only on the surface and does not match the reality.

"Since Senior Brother recognizes it, you should be able to solve this array?" Su Anxi asked.

"I can give it a try." Jin Liu hesitated slightly, then nodded.

With that, he turned to look at everyone, and said loudly: "Everyone, please be quiet for a while, I have something to announce."

As his voice fell, the passage suddenly became quiet, and everyone's eyes focused on him.