Chapter 974 – Seven Elements Relief Palace
“What"s going on?”
Ye Qingyu was stunned.
“This is no good.”
“There"s a trap.”
“Fall back!”
Many experts who had not entered through the stone gate immediately sensed that something was not right and retreated frantically.
An extremely rich smell of blood diffused from within the Reincarnation Hall, while a visible blood-colored mist splendor gleamed on the stone gate. Subsequently, as if painted with a layer of red, the entire originally-black palace complex abruptly became l.u.s.trous and lively, with a faint aura of life circulating about it.
Thinking in a.s.sociation back to the appearance of the black hole and those experts which exploded into blood mist without any warning, many immediately guessed that the tens of thousands of experts from various races who had entered the Reincarnation Hall had suffered a similar fate – that they had exploded into blood mist as a result of that mysterious power and turned into yuan and blood essence which were absorbed by the Reincarnation Hall.
Many experts exchanged horrified glances.
The Chaos Demon Emperor certainly lives up to his name.
Everything that had happened today had elucidated the word “demon” most fully.
Every one of those experts from various factions was a core martial powerhouse among the Vast Thousand Domains and possessed immense strength. Yet, without even knowing how, they perished without any resistance shortly after entering the Reincarnation Hall. Such methods and viciousness were truly spine-chilling.
Within ten breaths" worth of time, that terrifying power subsided.
Calm was restored in the Reincarnation Hall on Divine Emperor Peak.
The giant stone gate remained wide open, as if nothing had happened.
However, by this time, many experts no longer saw it as a shortcut that led to endless divine treasures and an opportunity of becoming emperor. What they saw was instead a mouth of a behemoth which enjoyed feasting on people and was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with murderous spirit and deathly aura. For some time, many people became hesitant and dared not enter.
Just then, heavenly music sounded once more.
Auspicious purple clouds surged forth tumblingly.
Without further hesitation, the [Fatally Beautiful Fairy] and the divine knights under her command worked up the war chariot and divine mounts and moved across the firmament in a magnificent array like that of a divine army going on a world expedition. They entered through the stone gate and disappeared into the depths of the Reincarnation Hall.
“We shall go too.”
Walking shoulder to shoulder, the Four Stars holy girl and the Third Prince of the Mizar Race covered the spatial distance within a few strides and entered through the stone gate.
“Hehe...” Laughing grimly, the Young Lord of the Sinful Pit, together with the two guardian Great Saints behind him, also made their way in.
Subsequently, without hiding or hesitating any further, countless experts from various domains and forces appeared in succession and hurriedly entered.
The [White Jade Capital] successor had also disappeared since some time ago.
Lu Wei, the young man who had impertinently and arrogantly a.s.serted his wish to kill Ye Qingyu, also appeared, along with a white-haired and youthful-looking kindly old man who was dressed in a cloth gown. The latter did not have much yuan qi aura about him and his life aura was more so weaker, appearing no different from any ordinary old man. With the former supporting the latter, the duo crossed the Void and entered through the stone gate.
“Huh? That old man...” Hu Bugui was a little surprised.
Ye Qingyu asked, “Why? Do you recognize him?”
Hu Bugui shook his head. “No, it"s just that he seems… a little strange, and might be someone I"ve seen somewhere before. However, my blurry eyes must"ve seen wrongly… He can"t be that person, who can"t still be alive after so many years.”
Hearing this, Ye Qingyu did not ask further.
He swept his glance across his surroundings. In truth, he had been trying to spot the bald fatty for the past few days, but to no avail. Reasonably speaking, [Quasi-emperor Xiaofei] would come to attend an event as shocking to the Vast Thousand Domains as the descent of the Chaos Demon Emperor"s Reincarnation Hall. After all, it was an important matter which concerned the destiny of the Human Race. Unfortunately, the latter had not been seen until now.
“Woof, we can"t wait any longer. If you still don"t go in, I"ll stop being your pet.” The silly dog Little Nine bared its canines and threatened Ye Qingyu. It had already gone bananas from impatience, much to the same extent as an angry little dog whose food had been s.n.a.t.c.hed away.
Ye Qingyu counted the time. It had been ten minutes since the last strange occurrence took place and the [Fatally Beautiful Fairy] entered through the stone gate. Hundreds of thousands more experts had entered the Reincarnation Hall during this time. It now seemed like everything had settled down and no more unexpected change would crop up.
After conversing with the million-year-old soul and obtaining his permission, Ye Qingyu nodded.
“Let"s go.”
He finally decided to enter.
“Woof, looks like you still care about me… Quick!” Overjoyed, the silly dog felt that its threat had worked.
Hu Bugui was similarly overjoyed.
With the Emperor qi tile emitting a misty green light, he carried Nan Tieyi on his back and followed closely behind Ye Qingyu.
They arrived in front of the stone gate within a few breaths" worth of time.
Without stopping to take a look inside, they directly entered through the gate.
Behind it was a manor-like empty s.p.a.ce.
A pavement made of black rock fragments led to another city gate in the distance. Outside the pavement were rock walls and low-lying vegetation. It was an utterly lifeless place that seemed nothing special.
The trio followed along the path at an unhurried, normal speed.
Swis.h.i.+ng, air-breaking noises went on incessantly by their sides, caused by the many experts who had turned into flowing light and rapidly pa.s.sed the trio by as they frantically charged toward the black city gate.
“Let"s hurry, woof.” Indignant like never before, the silly dog felt that Ye Qingyu was way too slow.
The latter laughed, saying, “I have my plans, don"t worry.”
He appeared very calm and composed.
After pa.s.sing through the archway in the black city walls, Hu Bugui and the silly dog understood why Ye Qingyu was not at all in a hurry.
This was because behind the archway was a black pavement which stretched no longer than twenty meters, and at which end was a large hall that seemed like a transfer station and took up more than twenty square meters of land. The hall was completely empty within , yet it was linked to more than one hundred forked tunnels, each of which was of the same size and shape and had no difference from one another, even in the fact that they led to unknown destinations. Dozens of foreign race experts who had arrived here earlier stood within the fork with hesitant expressions, apparently because they did not know which tunnel to choose.
It was, unexpectedly, a labyrinth.
When they saw the trio including Ye Qingyu appear, the foreign race experts did not take too much notice and simply swept a brief glance across while discussing something among themselves. They eventually came up with a verdict regarding which tunnel to choose. After turning into flowing light, they charged into the tunnel and disappeared in a twinkling.
“Little Ye Qingyu, how… should we proceed?”
Standing within the fork, Hu Bugui became nervous at once.
As dense as a beehive, the tunnels in front made him feel somewhat dizzy. They were completely alike and indistinguishable, rendering one uncertain of which pavement to choose.
“Woof… this...” The silly dog Little Nine was also a little flummoxed.
Different tunnels certainly led to different places, each of which was as likely to be a life gate was it was to be a death trap. A wrong choice could mean the difference between heaven and h.e.l.l, while any misstep could prove fatal.
“Follow me and you"ll be fine.”
Without any hesitation, Ye Qingyu chose a tunnel at the northwest corner and immediately entered it.
“Woof, how are you so sure?” The silly dog appeared greatly surprised, albeit it unhesitatingly followed up.
Free of all doubts, Hu Bugui also followed up.
The tunnel was five meters wide and three meters high with an arched ceiling. It was completely black and dim within, making one feel extremely inhibited. The coa.r.s.eness of the stone walls on both sides suggested that the pa.s.sageway had been carved out using knives and hammers and had been heavily weathered and infiltrated by the vicissitudes of time. However, there were wisps of barely-detectable blood streaks flickering among the veins while giving off a faint smell of blood which seemed to be from dead bodies. It was all extremely strange.
These things aside, there was nothing else within the tunnel.
After advancing approximately three or four kilometers, several unexpected things appeared on the ground ahead.
It was dozens of clothes and armors.
They were piled up in an extremely odd fas.h.i.+on, looking as if their owners had melted and disappeared in an instant. Their aesthetic style was clearly in line with that of the contemporary Vast Thousand Domains and was not at all ancient. The spiritual patterns on them were all but damaged, and hence they were completely worthless.
Ye Qingyu guessed that they had been left behind by the thousands of experts who were first to enter this palace.
It was highly apparent that some among those experts had hastily charged into this tunnel, where they met with some accident and instantly perished. While their bodies had disappeared, these clothes and armors were left behind.
This scene caused the trio to become vigilant.
Fortunately, however, no accident would happen subsequently.
After advancing for another thirty minutes or so, they finally reached the end of the tunnel.
“Woof woof, we"ve finally made our way out of this rat hole. My nerves were killing me already.” Little Nine was excited like never before to leave the inhibitive dark tunnel behind.
After exchanging glances, Ye Qingyu and Hu Bugui also hurried forth.
This was because a lofty palace had appeared at the end of the tunnel.
It was more than one hundred meters high and took up several hundred square meters of land. From outside, it looked primitive yet magnificent, with sculptures of ancient warriors serving as the pillars which propped up the palace. It was completely made from huge black rocks, the same material used for the tunnels. Right ahead was a giant ajar door which had left a black gap in its opening. One could only imagine what was behind it.
Above the door was a black plaque.
On the plaque were five large seal characters in black, every stroke of which was primitive and vigorous. As one looked at it, a supreme sword radiance and aura would gush at one"s face.
“Huh? On this plaque… should be written the name of this palace, I guess, but… what characters are these? I can"t understand them at all.” With Nan Tieyi on his back, Hu Bugui stood nearly a hundred meters in front of the giant door and studied the huge plaque above with curious eyes.
Ye Qingyu, too, raised his head and carefully examined it.
The plaque was approximately ten meters wide and was very primitive in make. The lines on it were so rough that they appeared to have been casually cleaved using a large hammer, and there was not a single carved or engraved embellishment on it. It could pa.s.s for a dinghy which had been drifting on a mighty, chaotic stream for millions of years. The words on it, which seemed to have been carved and chiselled using knives and hammers, emitted a mildly demonic and ancient aura, and were highly obscure and bizarre, certainly not words that belonged to this age.“These are words of the FiendG.o.d Age. They"re very old...” Ye Qingyu recognized the words on the plaque.
Hu Bugui was overjoyed. “Little Ye Qingyu, you can read fiendG.o.d words?”
Ye Qingyu nodded and said, “I"d specially learned them before. These four words indeed form the name of the palace, [Seven Elements Relief Palace].”