Chapter 152: The Center of the World

The ground was as dark as death, yet the clusters of palaces were mostly as white as jade.

The world below struck Fang Junmei and Ruan Shi Daolang's minds with a stark, black-and-white contrast that was strikingly eye-catching.

Boom—

Not long after they flew out, a booming sound echoed from one of the four intact smaller regions on their left.

Fang Junmei and Ruan Shi Daolang exchanged a glance.

"Someone has arrived before us."

Ruan Shi Daolang sent his voice via telepathy, "Judging by the layout here, the best treasures and opportunities must be hidden in the palace right at the center. Why didn't the early birds go there, instead searching in these four smaller places? Could it be they've already been there? Have the things there been taken?"

Fang Junmei pondered for a moment and said, "Perhaps they, like us, arrived at those four places through teleportation arrays and haven't managed to break out yet."

"I hope so!"

Ruan Shi Daolang nodded slightly and unconsciously accelerated a bit.

...

The architecture in the center was completely different in style from the Great River State; they were all round and pointed shapes, especially the one right in the middle, which soared hundreds of feet high straight into the clouds. Its color was golden-yellow, presenting an astonishing aura.

The two men and one horse headed straight for that location.

Bang, bang, bang—

Seeing they were still a few miles away, the two men and one horse seemed to crash into an invisible wall, all crying out in pain and flying backward.

In the void ahead, blue light suddenly burst forth. Indeed, a layer of blue water-curtain-like light barrier became visible after being touched by the two men and one horse. It formed a large semi-circle, enclosing almost this entire cluster of intact palaces.

Hmph—

A shout rang out. Ruan Shi Daolang steadied his figure, sprang forward, and raised the yellow crystal saber high. Lightning arcs blazed all over his body as he began a fierce barrage against the blue light barrier.

The momentum was fierce, resembling a mad dragon, hammering the blue light barrier and causing sparks of mysterious blue light to splatter!

After bombing for a short while, seeing that the light barrier didn't even have a crack, Ruan Shi Daolang unleashed his saber-intent-to-the-bone power, followed by another round of booming sounds.

Lightning the horse watched coldly from the sidelines.

Fang Junmei knitted his brows in thought, neither making any other move.

"Daolang, stop. This protective light barrier is not something we can blast open. Otherwise, the entity that destroyed this place previously would have shattered it long ago, and the opportunities inside wouldn't be left for us."

Fang Junmei said.

Ruan Shi Daolang figured it made sense. After delivering one heavy strike, he withdrew in frustration.

"The entrance must be somewhere. Search!"

Fang Junmei spoke again. While spreading out his spiritual sense, he casually picked a direction and searched outward. Ruan Shi Daolang and the white horse headed off in two other directions to search.

...

"Come to my place."

After a little more than half a cup of tea's time, Ruan Shi Daolang's voice resounded in the consciousness of Fang Junmei and Lightning. The man and the horse quickly hurried over.

Their gazes shook once again. The place where Ruan Shi Daolang stood was already above a huge plaza, with wide, circular steps leading upward step by step. At the top of the steps stood another palace—though certainly not the tallest one—and Ruan Shi Daolang was standing right in front of its massive doors.

"What did you find?"

Landing beside him, Fang Junmei asked.

"Take a careful look at this door, both of you!"

Ruan Shi Daolang didn't even turn his head, his gaze seemingly immersed in the door.

Fang Junmei and Lightning looked over as requested.

The door stood seven or eight zhang high and three to four zhang wide. Unlike ordinary doors, it was completely impossible to tell from which direction it opened. The material it was made of was even more bizarre, resembling molten copper that had yet to solidify, constantly rolling and churning with an uneven surface.

If one looked even closer, five very peculiar spots could be seen within the churning, copper-like door. They were five pit-like recesses, all perfectly square. No matter how the copper-like substance rolled and churned, those five square void pits never moved.

"These five pits are the key to entering the door."

Fang Junmei said.

Ruan Shi Daolang nodded and said, "It seems we need to put something into them."

Fang Junmei also nodded.

What on earth were these square objects, and there were five of them at that? Where were they supposed to find them?

"That jade seal!"

Ruan Shi Daolang's eyes suddenly lit up as he spoke.

Hearing this, Fang Junmei immediately realized as well. The dimensions of these five square pits matched the golden jade seal precisely.

"But we only got one. Where are the other four?"

Ruan Shi Daolang asked in confusion, firmly believing that the jade seal they possessed was one of them.

As his voice trailed off, he already found the answer himself. He shifted his gaze and looked toward the four unruined areas in the surrounding directions.

Fang Junmei thought of it at almost the same exact moment and looked over as well. Although they didn't know what kind of bizarre things lay within those four areas, getting them probably wouldn't be all that simple either.

The two men and one horse did not immediately rush over there.

"There is still a question. The jade seals needed to open the door might not require all five; perhaps just one is enough to open it and enter."

Fang Junmei said. If possible, he really didn't intend to storm through the other four places again. After all, anyone could guess that the best things were right here; who would still have the interest to visit those four locations?

Ruan Shi Daolang said, "That is also a possibility. Lightning, give it a try."

"If you two lose this jade seal, you'll have to compensate me!"

Lightning first spoke with a stingy tone.

Fang Junmei smiled slightly upon hearing this and translated it for Ruan Shi Daolang. Ruan Shi Daolang also smiled speechlessly. After a bit of coaxing and trickery from the two, Lightning finally spat out the golden jade seal.

The jade seal seemed to have already been subdued by Lightning. After being spat out, it didn't fly around haphazardly. Guided by Lightning's spiritual power, it flew toward the highest aperture.

It settled in silently, but instantly triggered a brilliant burst of golden light. The entire door was obviously stimulated by something and began to vibrate violently, while the rolling speed of the molten copper visibly accelerated a bit.

However, after the man and horse waited for quite a while, the door still showed no sign of opening.

Clearly, this jade seal was merely one of the keys to enter, but to open it, all five had to be collected.

"Lightning, take it back."

Fang Junmei said softly.

Lightning opened its mouth and inhaled, sucking the golden jade seal back into its belly.

"How many fellows do you suppose have already entered the palaces in those four directions?"

Ruan Shi Daolang chuckled, a fighting spirit rising in his eyes.

Fang Junmei didn't overthink it, smiled faintly, and said, "Definitely not too many. Among the ones I can think of, at least two fellows are bound to be here."

"Gu Xijin? Long Jinyi?"

Ruan Shi Daolang's reaction was swift.

Fang Junmei nodded.

Ruan Shi Daolang said, "Those two are indeed formidable, but reaching this place relies not only on strength, but also on fortune. Otherwise, generations of cultivators before us surely would have come here."

Fang Junmei smiled. "Having been here doesn't necessarily mean they could obtain anything, just like your grandfather. The predecessors plant the trees, and the descendants enjoy the shade. Perhaps the ones enjoying the shade are our generation!"

Ruan Shi Daolang thought about it and nodded in agreement.

"Let's go, let's see who exactly is at that place from earlier!"

Fang Junmei shouted, taking the lead and walking away.

...

Out in the open space, spiritual sense could already be used. However, when the two men and one horse approached the spot where the booming sounds had come from earlier and tried to probe inside with their spiritual sense, they found themselves once again blocked by some kind of force.

In other words, they had to go inside to know the situation within.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Landing at the doorway, the three did not rush in immediately, instead fixing their gazes on the door. Although this door differed from the previous one, it clearly also featured a pit-like existence.

"Entering this door likewise requires an item to unlock it. The fellow inside either obtained it by a fortuitous coincidence, or else—it was passed down to him by the seniors of his sect."

Ruan Shi Daolang grew increasingly serious.

Fang Junmei nodded, involuntarily thinking of Daoist Tianhe and whether he might have privately given Gu Xijin some kind of key to open the door.

Reckoning thus, he and Ruan Shi Daolang along with the horse had actually taken the simpler route. Of course, goodness knew what bizarre obstacles had been cleared away by predecessors in that underground palace beforehand; and had it not been for Lightning, they wouldn't have been able to retrieve the jade seal, saber, and sword either. Therefore, the path they took was perhaps the hardest of all.

The door had already cracked open a seam. After exchanging another glance, the two walked through the entrance.

The world behind the door should have originally been a courtyard-like space, hundreds of feet in circumference, but it was now battered beyond recognition. Broken stones and rotting vegetation littered the ground, and the air was filled with a decaying stench.

The man and horse were already walking very slowly, but after entering, they stopped in their tracks after taking just a few looks.

"These plants and rubble seem a bit unusual."

Fang Junmei said.

Ruan Shi Daolang's gaze was sharp as he said, "Someone deliberately rearranged them. They must have been formed into some kind of formation or restriction. The fellow who entered before us is extremely cautious."

As his voice fell, Ruan Shi Daolang kicked out.

Whoosh—

A piece of rubble near his foot flew into the center of the courtyard.

Hoo—

The moment it landed, the howling of wind rose.

Suddenly, strands of grayish restriction-qi slithered out from the rubble and foliage in the courtyard ahead. Resembling little gray snakes, they covered almost every inch of space leading forward, not even sparing the sky.

The entire space ahead was boiling with little gray snakes, and the stone Ruan Shi Daolang kicked in instantly turned into dust.

Even so, it was still impossible to tell how powerful the offensive might truly was.

Fang Junmei was currently wealthy and well-supplied. After a moment of thought, he directly pulled out a medium-grade magical treasure shield and tossed it straight into the swarm of little gray snakes.

Bang, bang, bang—

A sound resembling rain beating on banana leaves soon rang out. In barely three or four breaths, the shield was pierced through, and within a few more breaths, it was riddled with holes, turning into a piece of scrap iron.

"What a formidable restriction! Even a top-grade defensive magical treasure probably couldn't endure for long, not to mention there are likely further layouts ahead. If we don't have a better magical treasure or the ability to crack the restriction, we'll be blocked here by him."

Ruan Shi Daolang said, "Cultivators at the Dust-Dust Dao-Embryo stage like us don't have exceptionally long lifespans, and we're all busy striving for higher realms. Generally, we haven't had the leisure to study formations and restrictions. The fellow ahead of us definitely came prepared; his door-opening item certainly wasn't something he found himself."

Fang Junmei nodded and asked, "Lightning, do you understand restrictions and formations?"

Lightning shook its head.

"Let's go, onto the next one!"

Fang Junmei said decisively, turning around to leave.

Ruan Shi Daolang and Lightning followed him out.

The two had no idea that just before they turned around, deep in the front, someone seemed to have heard the sound, turned their head, and smiled faintly toward their direction.

A golden robe, exuding a refined yet overbearing unique temperament.

It was precisely Gu Xijin.