Chapter 161: Xian Hongyi
Chapter 161: Xian Hongyi
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Hearing the sudden voice, the four cloaked men behind immediately turned their heads to see where it came from, but no matter how much they looked around, they couldn’t see anything.
Different from them, however, the one leading the group did not shift his gaze away from the golden gate before him, and seemed to sense something from it.
Soon, the central point of the gate began to glow, and a faintly luminous figure started to emerge from the still closed gate.
He was tall, nearly 1.90 meters, with long black hair tied behind him, eyes black as ink, and a regal white robe with silver embroidery upon it.
It was clear that this figure was not among the others who had entered the secret realm with them, and certainly not a simple existence, considering his current appearance was far removed from that of a normal living being.
"Are you the guardian of this secret realm?" asked the cloaked man at the head of the group.
He was almost certain of his assumption.
Secret realms, especially those created by powerful beings who left behind their legacy, often had guardians whose duty was to follow the last will of their creator.
Their task was usually either to confirm that the one receiving the legacy in the secret realm was worthy, or to protect the leagcy from falling into the wrong hands.
There could be other reasons, but these two were almost always the main ones.
The man, ghost like, who had just passed through the massive golden doors of the palace, looked at the cloaked man who had spoken to him before saying,
"Indeed, I am the spirit guardian of this place."
Then he looked past the man toward the gateway from which they had come, and in the distance other figures had begun to appear one by one.
It was clear the others had started to catch up, and soon the place that had held only five people plus the spirit guardian was crowded with cultivators of different ages and factions.
All those who had just arrived took in the scene before them, and when they saw that the five who had come ahead had not yet entered, they let out a sigh of relief. That said, when they noticed the presence of this figure, they could roughly guess who he was.
As they gathered, the spirit guardian watched calmly, and seeing that nearly everyone had already arrived, he smiled before speaking again.
"I see most of you have managed to arrive here safe and sound, good," he said, immediately catching everyone’s attention with his words.
"I suppose introductions are unnecessary. I am the spirit guardian of this place. As for why I am here, well, it is to guide you," he said, never losing that smile on his face.
The effect his words had on the others was immediate, and everyone could understand what he meant, yet precisely because of that, many couldn’t help but frown.
Guide them? Guide them to what, exactly? Wasn’t the center of the secret realm this palace itself?
They were already here, what else was there to do?
Many doubts arose, and some were ready to speak, but just then, one person among them couldnt help but step forward and ask:
"Forgive my interruption, but I cannot help but ask which great being left their inheritance within this secret realm," asked Liang Zhan, who had also just caught up with the rest of his group.
Like the others, he had been waiting for some of his group’s members to show up, including his sister, but after a while, seeing that the others had started to climb up, he decided to follow as well.
He knew his sister had overcome her bottleneck and reached the fourth stage, so he was sure she would manage to remain safe inside the secret realm. Therefore, he wasn’t too worried about her. As for the others, some had arrived and some hadn’t, which in his opinion meant they were already dead by now.
They were experts from the third stage and above, with one at the peak of the third stage.
Considering the difficulty of this secret realm, it was likely that they were injured or worse, already dead.
Waiting any longer would be pointless.
Now that he had arrived here and could see the spirit guardian of the place, he could not help but feel as if he had already seen that figure somewhere before.
’Could it really be...’ A certain thought came to his mind, and just by thinking of it, his heart began to beat faster.
He considered the absurdity of it, yet on the other hand, if it really turned out to be true, then...
The guardian of the realm, hearing Liang Zhan’s words, did not seem offended or irritated, and instead maintained his composure as he replied,
"Oh, right, I haven’t properly introduced myself, my bad.
You already know I am but a small part of consciousness left behind by the creator of this place to serve as guardian, right?
I trust my name has not been forgotten after all this time, and from what I see, many of you have already started to guess who I might be.
Very well, allow me to introduce myself once again.
I am Xian Hongyi, though perhaps you know me by another title.
I am the first human emperor."
***
Far below, in another part of the big mountain, inside a great cavern, two figures were walking through a wide tunnel.
Visibility was limited here, and Zhu Rong had to light a small flame to illuminate just enough of the place to see more clearly around him and the road ahead.
He walked forward while, behind him, Liang Yuexin followed with sharp and vigilant eyes, as if ready for anything.
After all, the forest around the mountain had been filled with strange and powerful beasts, creatures that had already caused much chaos in the past in the continent,
What were the odds that no similar threats were hiding inside?
She had no intention of being caught off guard by some hidden beast attack, so she stayed alert. That said, as she walked, curiosity got the better of her, and she asked Zhu Rong where exactly they were headed.
It was obvious that he too was here for the first time, but even so, his insistence on heading this way felt unnatural, so she could not help but ask what he was looking for.
Unfortunately for her, the answer she received was far from satisfactory.
"I don’t know. I just feel like there might be something interesting here," he said, keeping his eyes forward as he walked.
They had been walking in a straight line for nearly ten whole minutes, but no matter how far they went, the road ahead showed no sign of ending.
She tried probing the place with her spiritual sense, but couldn’t detect anything.
At first, she thought the tunnel was simply very long, but after a while, she realized that probably wasn’t the case.
Being at the fifth stage, she had a wide range with her spiritual sense, she could, in fact, cover the entire mountain with her spiritual sense if she expanded it to the maximum,
yet she still couldn’t see the end of the tunnel.
It was clear something was interfering with her spiritual sense, so she avoided using it too much, as it was largely useless in this situation.
That said, hearing that they were here just because he thought something interesting might be around was, to her, shocking for a moment, before anger reached her head.
"So you don’t have the slightest idea where we’re going, and yet you dragged me all the way here?" she asked, her voice full of frustration and anger.
She was on the verge of grabbing him by the throat and dragging him back.
"Hey, what do you mean I dragged you here? You’re the one who decided to follo-" Just as he was saying this, he stopped, and soon his expression turned serious as he directed his attention forward.
Liang Yuexin, right behind him, also felt the atmosphere in the tunnel change, and seeing his reaction, she too looked ahead.
She couldn’t see or sense anything, but something in her mind told her that something dangerous was approaching. It wasn’t her perception, but more her instinct. And just as she wondered if it was all in her head...
The ground beneath them began to tremble, and a strange sound echoed from ahead.
At first faint, it quickly grew more intense.
Soon, in the distance, strange shapes could be seen taking form, and the closer they came, the clearer it became that it was not a single entity but a large group, an entire swarm of small creatures.
The sounds grew louder, countless tiny footsteps resounding throughout the cavern.
"Those... are insects?" Liang Yuexin, noticing what they might be, couldn’t help but murmur. But just then, she sensed elemental energy fluctuations at her side, and turning her head, she saw Zhu Rong preparing to unleash an attack.
"They’re not just simple insects," he said, his expression turning somewhat serious and... annoyed?
"They are corpse eaters."