Chapter 164: "Seems like this place has prepared quite a surprise for us,"
Chapter 164: "Seems like this place has prepared quite a surprise for us,"
.
The sudden turn of events chilled everyone’s hearts as they watched, horrified, the bald man kneeling on the ground, trembling before the big palace gate he had been so certain he could bring down just moments ago.
The guardian spirit standing to the side, watching everything with his usual calm look, could only sigh and shake his head as he said,
"I told you that reckless actions could cost you dearly, not to mention the fact that you ignored my final warning and got struck head on.
I understand that being at the fifth stage might seem like a great achievement in your eyes, but in the overall path of cultivation, reaching the peak of mortal realm is only the beginning.
The sooner you understand that, the better it will be for you.
This place has limited your power for a reason, and that is because most of you cannot truly hope to go beyond the mortal realm.
That said, none of this is really my concern.
As I said at the beginning, if you are interested in the legacy left by my original self, you must meet certain requirements, whether you like it or not.
I hope this is enough to make you understand the seriousness of the situation and to refrain from taking any more reckless actions like the last one," the spirit said, a smile on his face as he looked at the others, as if he had just pointed out something obvious.
This irritated some, but no one dared to cause more trouble, there was no need to do so.
They had come for the legacy, and that was all that mattered to them at the moment.
"Very well. Now let me explain precisely what you need to do.
See the gate behind me? This is the only entrance to the palace, and inside lies the legacy left by my original self.
But as you’ve seen, the gate cannot be opened by force, as various formations and seals have been set up to preserve the integrity of what lies within.
It goes without saying that you must take care of those seals, and in doing so you will automatically be evaluated by this place," he said, completely ignoring the bald man behind, who was stopping his bleeding wound with his Qi and glared badly at the guardian spirit.
Had it been earlier, he would have attacked him without hesitation, but after the severe blow he had received, he knew it was too risky to act recklessly now,
not in front of the others, who also had come for the legacy, and continuously interfering would have only made them enemies as well.
He was stubborn, but it was not that he could not understand his current situation. He knew very well that, for now, all he could do was keep his head down and wait for the right moment to take revenge.
The others on the other side had also ignored him and focused on the guardian spirit’s explanation.
None of them interrupted, because everyone was eager to complete whatever requirements there were and get their hands on whatever was inside the palace.
They had no idea what it might be, but the mere fact that the person who had left the legacy inside had been the first human emperor was enough to stir them all.
"There are three seals in total, which also act as the core for the formations placed on the gate. To remove them, you must find these seals to unlock each formation.
As for where they are... well, that is for you to discover. The only thing I can tell you is that they are on the mountain. There is no need to explore the rest of the secret realm," the spirit said, his calm face in stark contrast to the dark expressions of the others.
Expecting them all to be somewhere on the mountain was somewhat reassuring, but it must be said that the mountain itself was enormous, and although there were several fifth stage powers who could expand their spiritual senses on a large scale,
they strongly doubted that it would really help, especially since they were all practically in competition with one another.
Finding the seals and bringing them here was problematic for obvious reasons, and everyone was already anticipating the battle that would inevitably follow.
Once the spirit had said everything that needed to be said, he stepped aside, and the others immediately began organizing themselves with their group members before setting off one by one.
Even the bald man who had been injured reunited with his group and left.
The place returned to silence, with only the spirit, who had made himself comfortable on a nearby rock, gazing down at the grove below with a calm and thoughtful expression.
At that moment, a strange crack suddenly appeared at the corners of his mouth, stretching a few inches along his face on both sides before stopping.
A small, thin piece of his skin detached, like a thin shell cracking and breaking away, dissolving into particles of light that vanished into nothingness, leaving behind no flesh or blood, only a deep darkness.
The spirit, noticing this, placed two fingers on the areas where the cracks had appeared, and a light emanated from his fingers, passing over both sides of the mouth before fading again.
As soon as the light passed over the cracks, they disappeared, leaving behind no scars or any trace.
Having done this, the man sighed with a blank expression.
"Tch... it seems I won’t be able to resist much longer.
It’s a good thing someone found this place in time," he said, as a strange reddish glow appeared in his eyes before disappearing.
***
While the others set off in various directions across the mountain in search of the seals, deep within the mountain, two individuals finally arrived at the end of the tunnel.
As they did, both their expressions were dark as they gazed at the scene before them.
"Well, damn," said Liang Yuexin, staring in horror at the scene ahead.
Zhu Rong, who stood beside her, hearing what had been said, did not look away. He merely nodded and, sighing, said,
"Seems like this place has prepared quite a surprise for us," he said, gazing at the enormous underground cavern they had just discovered.
The rest of the journey through the tunnel was relatively smooth.
They had the chance to encounter another swarm of corpse eating insects, but Zhu Rong froze them to death just like the first time.
All in all, considering how far they had come since entering the tunnel, it took them almost thirty minutes to pass through.
Of course, if they had run at high speed, they could have done it in just a fraction of that time, but given that they had no idea what to expect when they entered the tunnel, they had walked at a controlled pace.
That said, considering their encounters with the corpse-eating insects on the way here, the two didn’t have much hope of finding anything good, and indeed they were ready to face something more dangerous or problematic—and so it was.
Only, the scale of it far exceeded what the two had imagined.
"For heaven’s sake, is this secret realm an inheritance left behind by someone, or a trap to screw over future generations?" said Liang Yuexin, unable to hold back her words any longer as she stared at the horrifying sight in front of her.
The end of the tunnel led them directly into an enormous underground cavern, which apparently connected to many other tunnels, all converging here.
But that wasn’t what surprised either of them,
what shocked them was what they found at the center of the cavern.
There sat an enormous, pulsating red cocoon, tied to several large roots that spread out in every direction.
Zhu Rong thought this cocoon was identical to those found outside the secret realm and that it was the cause of all the anomalies they had encountered so far, like the presence of the corrupted beasts and the corpse eating insects.
But when he noticed a particular part of the cocoon, a chill ran down his spine.
The cocoon, unlike those he had seen and found outside the secret realm, showed no blood pearl. Its presence was proof that the cocoon was still growing the creature inside.
If it wasn’t there, there were two possibilities,
either someone had already been here and taken it, which was unlikely, as that would have triggered the creature’s awakening inside,
or the pearl had already been fully absorbed.
In other words, the creature inside was already ready to awaken, and remembering what the creatures were like once they had fully awakened gave him shivers.
"Damn it, don’t tell me there’s one at the peak of the spirit realm inside..." he thought, avoiding scanning the creature’s power within.
He wasn’t sure why it hadn’t awakened yet, nor when it would, but he was certain it wouldn’t be long.
Using his spiritual sense on it might disturb it and risk waking it up, so he held himself back