Aspiring to the Immortal Path - Chapter 524

Chapter 524: Maze

A fragment of the Court of Myriad Domains!

Everyone was stunned.

Someone muttered, “The Court of Myriad Domains actually exists?”

“Of course it exists. It’s right in front of us,” Tang Jie couldn’t help but shout.

At the same time, a certain scene played out in his mind.

It was the scene of a giant standing in the sea of stars, roaring as he swung around an axe, and a resplendent palace from which countless heavenly soldiers and generals charged out.

He saw that giant swing the axe and the buildings crumble under its might. Under that frenzied assault, that vast complex was blasted into countless fragments.

One corner of that complex was extremely similar to what he was seeing right now.

The Martial Lord!

This place had to have some major connection to the Martial Lord. Tang Jie was practically certain of it.

There had been no evidence of any of this before, but now, these ruins had lifted a corner of that mystery.

Even Master Xuan Zhong couldn’t help but say, “This is none other than a fragment of the Court of Myriad Domains! Hahaha, I really didn’t think that I would get the chance to come across something so incredible!”

Ao Chihu’s complexion shifted as he said, “This land belongs to Godhead Palace, and everything here belongs to Godhead Palace. My Beast Refining Gate only seeks the treasure that can empower fiends, and we have no designs on anything else.”

Tang Jie gave Ao Chihu an admiring glance.

This person was rather adaptable. The moment he heard that this was a fragment of the Court of Myriad Domains, he immediately stated that he didn’t want the item inside. Otherwise, even though the sects were allies, He Changan might decide to wipe out the Beast Refining Gate in order to ensure that his sect could take everything for themselves.

Even brothers could kill each other for wealth, let alone allies.

And if Ao Chihu said that he didn’t want anything at all, He Changan might not believe it. Thus, he stuck to his initial goal of a treasure that would empower fiends.

If He Changan could get the lion’s share, he might not quibble with him over this small item.

Jin Yutang was deeply displeased. “How could that do? Since we’re exploring together, why should we give up on everything?”

Tang Jie pushed him and said, “Godking He will make the right choices, so trust him. Moreover, whatever the treasure is, we have to enter the underground palace first. Although this is only a fragment of the Court of Myriad Domains, the formation is still active, which means that the palace probably has many other dangerous mechanisms that we need be cautious of. No matter how good a treasure is, you have to be alive to enjoy it.”

He was reminding everyone that now wasn’t the time to celebrate.

He Changan couldn’t help but nod. “Yingchen is right.”

How to handle the spoils could only be decided once they were gotten. No matter what sort of treasure was inside, they first had to go inside to take it.

There was a large gate in the front of the palace, and steps leading downward could be seen through it.

Ling Tianqi tested the gate and confirmed that there were no traps. So long as they descended using the steps, they wouldn’t encounter any danger.

The fragment of the royal court was clearly different from the Martial Lord’s hidden realm. The Martial Lord had personally established his hidden realm before his death, so he had been able to consider all aspects and thus make it impervious through the ages. But this fragment of the royal court had been smashed off by the Martial Lord’s axe, so all of its formations had come with the fragment and were greatly weakened from the splintering. Thus, it lacked a cohesive defensive system. This was why one could go in through the gate but couldn’t touch the walls.

In essence, the royal court fragment was undefended land. If it hadn’t been buried in the earth and protected by the Great Mountain, it would have been found long ago.

With the cannon fodder warriors still leading the way, the group entered.

The steps were very long, and perhaps because of the many years underground, they were covered in dust. Once the last person entered, the gates creaked as they closed, and the resultant boom echoed through the dark space and gave everyone a fright.

At the bottom of the stairs, they found themselves in what was clearly a maze, numerous paths leading off in various directions.

“Strange. What sort of place is this?” someone said, scratching his head.

Nobody had seen the Court of Myriad Domains before, and even He Changan had only seen some pictures of the Court of Myriad Domains in ancient texts, which was how he was able to guess that this was the place in question. As for what it was like inside, he knew nothing at all.

Nobody could understand why there was a maze in the Court of Myriad Domains.

He Changan said, “Everyone, be careful. This place has been buried for eons, and nobody can say what will appear here. We can’t be careless.”

He had the Beast Morphers lead the way.

Several Beast Morphers were at the very front, and for a while, there was only the rustling of footsteps.

Suddenly, the Beast Morphers stopped.

“What happened?” Ao Chihu asked.

“There seems to be something up ahead,” a Beast Morpher fearfully replied.

Looking over, he saw that in the dark region up ahead, there was a black fog floating. There seemed to be something roiling within the black fog, but it never left the darkness.

Ao Chihu frowned and pointed at a Beast Morpher. “You, go and take a look.”

The Beast Morpher instantly paled, but he knew that this was the fate of warriors like him. Hardening his heart, he roared and activated his Beast Morph ability, covering his body in black scales. Only then did he stride toward the black fog.

Just as he was about to enter the black fog, he suddenly froze, and then something seemed to pull on him. He shot into the black fog and was soon gone, and then his scream came from the fog. “Save me!”

He only cried out twice before he was completely silenced.

Everyone was aghast. A moment later, He Changan suddenly appeared at the front. Grabbing a Beast Morpher, he slapped the man’s body, and a ring appeared around the warrior.

The Grand Virtue Guardian Halo.

This was an extremely powerful defensive ability on par with the Godhead Immortal Body, but He Changan cast it easily, and he was using it on an insignificant soldier.

And then he threw out the Beast Morpher.

That warrior was devoured by the black fog. This one was able to scream a few more times, but he still wasn’t able to escape death.

He Changan scowled. “It’s a Shade Daemon.”

Through his connection with the Grand Virtue Guardian Halo, he was able to confirm what was inside.

“‘A daemon’?” Everyone was alarmed by this news.

Daemons were a sort of terrifying creature born from the demonic energy of the world. The Rosecloud Domain had first come into contact with daemons in the invasion of the Primordial Fog Domain. That world was a gathering ground for fiends and demons, and daemons were one of them.

Daemons were carnivores and were one of the cruelest and most savage kinds of demons. When encountering a daemon, the only choice was to fight to the death. There could be no compromise.

But why was there a daemon in the Court of Myriad Domains?

Xu Mingyue darkly said, “Many people must have died here.”

Everyone immediately understood.

Demonic energy did not come from nowhere, but came from concentrated resentment of those who had died unjust deaths.

Nobody knew why the Court of Myriad Domains was wiped out, but they could be certain that it had not disappeared peacefully, with this fragment being the best proof. And countless people had died on this fragment and then been buried here, meaning that the resentment could not disperse. It was only to be expected that this would condense into demonic energy and give birth to daemons.

Moreover…

He Changan realized something and said, “Be careful! This place is probably a Demon Zone. If there are daemons, then there are probably other fiends and demons.”

As he spoke, the daemon in the black fog charged, the cloud sweeping toward He Changan.

He Changan chuckled and thrust out his palm.

There was a golden burst of light, and then a miserable scream as the black fog scattered, revealing a savage black monster, around two meters tall. It swept a hand with five sharp claws at He Changan.

He Changan confidently raised his hand, and there was a clang as the claws struck it. He Changan thrust out his other hand, his palm striking the daemon’s body and releasing a searing white light that melted the daemon’s body like it was snow under the blazing sun.

It screeched in pain, but He Changan simply looked back with cold eyes. A few moments later, He Changan had completely melted down the daemon, the last wisp of black energy dissipating.

He Changan drew his hand back, his face emotionless.

While it seemed like he had easily disposed of the daemon, the methods he had used had actually been quite formidable. He turned and said, “Everyone, be careful. This place has been buried for eons, so there’s no telling how long these daemons have lived. The one just now was at least several hundred years old, and there will only be more powerful ones.”

As he spoke, shrieking came from all around.

More demons had noticed the intrusion of cultivators and were bellowing in rage.

“Prepare for battle!” Nan Ningjiang shouted.

Cannon fodder warriors were no longer needed. All the cultivators came forward, taking up their positions and deploying various defensive measures.

Meanwhile, dark plumes of smoke came rushing in from all sides, instantly engulfing the entire maze.

Even He Changan couldn’t help but pale. He barked, “There’s no end to them! Don’t get caught up in a fight! Just push through!”

The cultivators began to use their art relics on the approaching daemons while pushing forward.

Master Xuan Zhong and Elders Gold and Silver were responsible for opening the path, while Ao Chihu and Nan Ningjiang were responsible for the flanks. He Changan held the center while the Bloodbath Hall disciples, together with Xu, Liang, and Huang, defended the rear.

This was a force of three Soul Transformation and four Heart Demon True Persons, almost twenty Spirit Ring True Persons, and more than a hundred elite Spirit Masters—a formidable force by any measure.

The daemon horde descended upon them and crashed into their formation, sending out powerful ripples of spiritual energy.

Tang Jie was now seeing for himself the real power of Godhead Palace’s Steel Wall Formation.

With He Changan commanding them, every person produced a ring beneath their feet, which merged together into a force that could fend off the enemies.

Tang Jie considered himself lucky that he was disguising himself as the Beast Refining Gate’s Qian Yingchen, or else he would have been exposed just now.

No one could compare to Godhead Palace when it came to defense. They formed a rock that stood tall against the attacks of the daemons. As for the Beast Refining Gate, they were tasked with the offense.

Numerous refined beasts were sent out, making up for Godhead Palace’s lack of offensive power. And the Steel Wall Formation’s protection allowed them to cast spell arts as they pleased.

Brilliantly-colored flames lit up the maze, powerful torrents of energy crashing into the walls.

If this palace hadn’t been made from the rarest and sturdiest of materials, the impacts would have pulverized it long ago. So sturdy were they that they withstood the entirety of the onslaught, so it was no wonder that they had stood for eons.

Initially, the battle was in Godhead Palace’s favor, the combat formation grinding up all the approaching daemons such that the cultivators didn’t feel like these demons were much of a threat.

But as more and more daemons appeared, the humans started to reach their limits.

Zhou Fanghua was the first to shout, “What’s up with these daemons? We kill them, but more keep coming. How could one palace have so many daemons?”

Tang Jie snorted, “You still haven’t noticed? These daemons can be reborn. They are born from demonic energy, and so long as demonic energy exists, they can come back to life. The only method to truly destroy them is to be like Godking He and annihilate them with Primordial Yang energy. That’s why Godking He told us to fight and advance rather than fighting in place.”

He Changan glanced at Tang Jie, his eyes tinged with both admiration and discontent. He had intentionally not mentioned that, primarily because he didn’t want to hurt morale. After all, nobody liked to fight a never-ending battle. For him, everything would be fine once they pushed through this trial, and there was no need to annihilate the daemons. On the contrary, having them here would help to defend against anything coming up behind them. He hadn’t expected this “Qian Yingchen” to see through it and expose the truth.

He’s smart when it comes to small things, but he lacks vision of the bigger picture, He Changan thought to himself.

Sure enough, after Tang Jie exposed the truth, everyone’s will to fight began to falter. Moreover, when some people heard that Primordial Yang energy could kill the daemons, they began to use this energy to kill them. Primordial Yang energy was one of the foundational energies for cultivators. Although using it wouldn’t make one’s strength fall, there would still be some weakening, and it took a long time to recover. He Changan hadn’t mentioned it because he wanted to preserve the group’s strength. After all, there was no telling what they might encounter after this.

But in the end, not everyone could hold back in the face of all these daemons and the numerous maze tunnels.

Rays of light shot out, striking the daemons and melting them away in clouds of steam.

As one daemon after another was slain, the number of daemons charging out also dwindled, and some people began to shoot grateful looks at Tang Jie, thinking that this Young Master Qian’s advice had saved them a lot of fighting. But they also felt resentment for He Changan for not saying anything earlier and forcing them to battle it out.

Tang Jie pretended to not see their gazes as he silently memorized their path.

“A dead end!” Master Xuan Zhong shouted from the front. A high wall spanned the path in front of them.

The wall was made from Startrace Stone, Blackgloss Metal, and other such rare materials, so even He Changan couldn’t break through it.

“Shit!” Everyone cursed as they turned around.

This was inevitable in a maze. Only by roving around here and there could they eventually find the right path.

Nobody knew that while they were running around like headless flies, on the perimeter of the underground palace, Tang Jie’s original body was drawing on a formation diagram, and a map of the maze was gradually taking form.

Though it wasn’t complete, it was very accurate.

The maze was paved with jade bricks, and each brick was identical in size. Using them as a reference, Tang Jie was able to estimate the length of every passage.

For this reason, while the Godhead Palace team was running around in the maze, Tang Jie already had a basic grasp of the maze.

“The maze’s structure is rather similar to the Six Forms Compass Formation. When you encounter 3, you go straight forward, and if you encounter 6, you turn.” He pointed at a blank spot on the maze map and said, “If that’s the case, the exit to the maze should be here.”

Xu Miaoran curiously asked, “Is it that simple?”

“This wasn’t a maze meant to trap anybody. It was probably meant to teach formations, as the walls of the maze are able to move. But as time passed, all these mechanisms broke.”

“But Ling Tianqi and Xu Mingyue are in there. How come they can’t see it?”

“Sometimes, a bystander has a clearer view of the big picture,” Tang Jie replied with a smile.

He suddenly grimaced. “Not good. They’re about to reach the exit. I can’t let them leave right now.”

“Why?” Yiyi asked.

“How are we going to go inside if they don’t clear out more of the daemons for us?” Tang Jie replied. “Moreover, none of them have died yet.”

The four girls speechlessly stared at each other.

The maze.

Master Xuan Zhong was leading the group to a crossroads.

Tang Jie’s eyes flashed as he swept out his right hand, a blast from his finger scraping a wall. He then shouted, “Sir, we’ve been here before.”

“What?” Master Xuan Zhong turned to Tang Jie in surprise.

Tang Jie pointed at the wall. “I’ve made a mark at every place we pass. Look—I’ve made a mark here, meaning that we’ve been here before and up ahead is a dead end!”

“Ugh!” Master Xuan Zhong stomped his feet and turned around.

This path was avoided as the group kept going.

Everyone lost their patience in the long process, with some people occasionally cursing this damned maze.

But to Tang Jie’s surprise, they managed to endure.

Nobody died!

With the use of large amounts of Primordial Yang energy, the daemons had been rapidly cut down, and they presented much less of a threat to the group now.

Even though everyone was exhausted, they had managed to endure.

Outside the underground palace.

Tang Jie frowned.

“How are things?” Xu Miaoran asked.

Tang Jie shook his head. “In the end, this isn’t the Martial Lord’s hidden realm. While the royal court might be dangerous, it wasn’t intentionally designed to be so, so it can’t deal with He Changan.”

“In other words…”

“It’s too easy,” Tang Jie replied.

The fragment of the Court of Myriad Domains hadn’t reached the level of danger Tang Jie had expected, and it certainly couldn’t do anything to He Changan.

“I have to add a little difficulty,” Tang Jie muttered. “I need to split them up.”

“How can you do that?”

Tang Jie didn’t reply.

He placed all of his energy onto the avatar.

A sliver of light emerged from the center of the avatar’s forehead. As the vertical eye cracked open a sliver, the gloomy maze instantly revealed itself to him.

This was extremely dangerous, but Tang Jie had to take the risk. The battle was distracting mostly everyone while Tang Jie put all his strength into looking for his objective.

Finally, he spotted a brick slightly bulging out of a nearby wall.

It was extremely subtle, and Tang Jie wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t activated his Celestial Eye.

He moved toward that wall and pressed on the brick.

The maze suddenly rumbled, and all of the walls began to move.

“What’s going on?” a cultivator shouted.

He then saw the moving walls charging through the group, instantly dividing them into numerous smaller groups…