Deep within the palace, as Li Xiaotian broke through to the intermediate stage, the City Lord of Bliss also successfully absorbed the power of the Great Dao.
Instantly, the palace began to shake, and deafening roars echoed from outside.
"What's going on? Is it time? We should still have half a day!" Inside the palace, everyone was shocked, their eyes filled with terror.
"The power of the Great Dao has been absorbed! My heavens, I never expected someone to actually absorb the power of the Great Dao this time!"
"Who was it? The City Lord of Bliss? Or Senior Tian Mie and the others?"
"That's a trace of power from a high-tier expert’s Great Dao. Obtaining it offers a high chance of breaking through to the high tier. Once in the high tier, one becomes a hegemon!"
"No wonder this place mutated so suddenly. With the Great Dao's power gone, will the palace at the bottom of the lake disappear in the future?"
Everyone was astonished. The disappearance of the Great Dao's power was completely unexpected. The palace at the bottom of the lake had existed for countless years, and in the past, there had been even more powerful individuals entering the palace to contend for the Great Dao's power.
Especially intermediate-tier experts, who initially occupied at least half of the hundred spots. Later, as they returned empty-handed every time, fewer people came.
This time, only five intermediate-tier experts entered the palace. The City Lord of Bliss stumbled upon it by chance; he was originally pursuing Li Xiaotian but encountered the opening of the palace at the bottom of the lake and decided to try his luck.
But who would have thought that this time it would be successful, and the Great Dao's power would be taken?
"Let's go!"
Deep within the palace, the City Lord of Bliss roared and directly swept Li Xiaotian up, charging out of the palace.
At this moment, outside the mountain-top palace, World Mountain was collapsing, and the world spaces in all directions were being destroyed. Terrifying energy fluctuations were everywhere.
The world within the palace was about to be annihilated.
Everyone present realized this.
"Was the palace at the bottom of the lake built solely for the power of the Great Dao? Then, was the Blood Lake also created for this reason?" Li Xiaotian murmured, watching the terrifying scene.
A deafening roar startled Li Xiaotian. He followed the sound and saw an expert bombarding a fissure that had cracked open in World Mountain.
"That's!" Li Xiaotian's eyes sharply flickered. It was Chaos Gold!
Chaos Gold, one of the most powerful metals in the void universe, is a top-tier refining material. Ordinary weapons, as long as they are mixed with a little Chaos Metal, become incredibly hard. If a larger quantity of Chaos Metal is added, they can be almost as powerful as a Golden Body.
And if a weapon were made entirely of Chaos Metal, its strength would be comparable to an Indestructible Body, or even stronger.
"Hiss! No wonder World Mountain is so bizarre. It's entirely made of Chaos Gold inside. What a tremendous opportunity!" The City Lord of Bliss's eyes lit up with excitement, and he immediately rushed over.
At this moment, World Mountain was collapsing, revealing vast expanses of gold. All that met the eye was Chaos Gold.
"Whoosh!"
Seeing this, Li Xiaotian also rushed forward, his heart filled with excitement. With so much Chaos Gold, even a small amount he managed to snatch would be an incredible gain.
Even though he now possessed many treasures, in terms of true value, none of them were as precious as this World Mountain before him.
"Boom!"
Li Xiaotian punched the mountain body, revealing large areas of Chaos Gold. Fortunately, this Chaos Gold was in pieces and mixed with other materials, so he quickly dug out a large chunk, weighing over a ton.
At this moment, the experts still remaining in the palace world went mad, frantically digging for Chaos Gold. If they could just snatch a piece and integrate it into their weapons upon returning, their combat power would at least double. How could they not go mad?
In the blink of an eye, Li Xiaotian had already excavated five pieces, each weighing around a ton.
Five tons, after purification, the resulting Chaos Gold would likely be less than a thousand catties, Li Xiaotian calculated in his heart.
It was too little. Of course, a thousand catties of highly pure Chaos Gold would drive countless experts in the outside world to kill for it, as it could be used to forge a weapon. If mixed with other metals to refine a weapon, at least five could be made.
But Li Xiaotian was not satisfied, because he had too many people to support.
Yuan, Gu Kuangdao, Demon Lord, Tongtian, Yue – he wanted to prepare Chaos Gold for refining weapons for all of them.
If everyone in the Nine Provinces had a Chaos Sacred Weapon, the overall combat power of the Nine Provinces would at least triple.
As the Chaos Gold of World Mountain appeared, various treasures also began to fly around the palace world. This was mainly because the world was about to be destroyed, and those treasures were all exposed.
At this moment, everyone was going mad, flying in the sky and scrambling for them. There was no conflict between them because there were simply too many treasures.
Of course, the destruction speed of this world also accelerated, and everyone was racing against time. If they didn't leave before the world was destroyed, no one knew what dangers they might encounter.
"What is this?"
Suddenly, someone shouted. At the bottom of World Mountain, after the Chaos Gold was divided among the crowd, a bottomless abyss was revealed.
Simultaneously, wisps of icy aura surged from the abyss, making everyone present feel chills run down their spines.
For a moment, everyone was stunned. They were all invincible experts who had long been immune to worldly temperatures. Yet, the aura from the abyss could make them feel cold. This was simply incredible.
"Boom!"
But the next moment, just as everyone was about to investigate, an extremely terrifying aura surged up from the abyss.
Instantly, everyone felt an extremely intense sense of crisis and suffocation.
Above the abyss, illusory figures appeared, each radiating a powerful pressure that made people involuntarily want to prostrate themselves in worship.
The terrifying aura grew stronger, and the pressure felt by everyone increased. Even the City Lord of Bliss, the strongest among them, looked utterly horrified.
Because the aura from the abyss made it difficult for him to resist.
"What on earth is this?" Everyone was terrified.
"Rumble!"
Chaos aura spread, the world became turbulent, and it seemed as if a terrifying existence was about to emerge from the abyss.
"High tier! It's definitely a high-tier expert!" someone exclaimed, his face full of fear. This kind of aura could only belong to a high-tier expert, and only a high-tier expert could render them utterly powerless.
"Damn it, why is there a high-tier expert in this place? My heavens, could the palace be this high-tier expert's place of secluded cultivation? Was the Blood Lake always his secluded cultivation place, and not a place of opportunity at all? Did we disturb this being's cultivation?"
Someone guessed, their expression aghast.
Upon hearing this, many people's faces changed, as this speculation had a high probability of being true.
Invincible experts had limitless lifespans. In the void universe, there had never been an invincible expert who died of old age, not even at the first tier of invincibility.
Therefore, time had no concept for invincible experts. It was very common for some experts to cultivate in seclusion for hundreds or thousands of years.
Of course, secluded cultivation for ten thousand years was rare, but not unheard of.
If it were a high-tier expert, to break through to a higher realm, it would be understandable for them to cultivate in seclusion for tens of thousands of years, or even for eternity.
Instantly, everyone present became nervous.
"Rumble!"
The aura grew stronger, the surrounding space cracked open, and the edges of the distant world rapidly shrank.
The being in the abyss was about to emerge!
"Mingtian, go!"
The City Lord of Bliss roared, grabbed Li Xiaotian, and prepared to flee. Others around them were also escaping.
Because if they truly managed to provoke a high-tier expert, their demise would be merely a thought away for that expert.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, the fleeing crowd all stopped. They didn't stop on their own; rather, a terrifying aura forced them to halt.
The world, which was in the process of destruction, also seemed to have its destruction paused.
Everything in the palace world became still.
Following that, a black object surged out of the abyss. Almost the instant it emerged, everyone present felt as if they had been struck heavily, spitting blood. Some weaker individuals even had their bodies explode on the spot.
It was too terrifying!