That person of the Royal Sacred Sect who spoke to Qin Wentian earlier stood in front the crowd, pointing to the immortal palace and spoke to them, "This immortal palace has a very high probability that it was constructed by a true transcendent powerhouse. As for how powerful that senior was, I have no idea. But I can tell you all for sure that he was truly very strong, so strong that it exceeds the boundaries of your, and even my, imagination. In the palace, there's no need to doubt that there will be many treasures such as immortal arts and immortal-ranked weapons within.
"For generations, there were too many people of my Royal Sacred Sect that have entered it. The conclusion we eventually obtained is that Celestial Phenomenon Ascendants will all definitely die if they step within the Immortal Palace. The probability of survival is the highest for people at the supreme-tier of Heavenly Dipper that have comprehended a true intent. Hence, we summoned all of you to this place. The immortal palace is extremely dangerous, and I have told everything of importance to Xia Sheng and the other six. They are the clearest regarding the situation and circumstances within the palace and hence, you all need to obey all of their orders. If Xia Sheng dies within, Zai Qiu is the second in command. The seven of them will be the core of this operation. For those who defy their orders, even if you survive and exit the palace, you will all still be executed.
The countenance of this man was incomparably solemn. But it was evident that the Royal Sacred Sect had already made ample preparations regarding this trip within the immortal palace.
The others all felt their hearts trembling upon hearing his words. There were actually immortal arts and immortal weapons within? In that case, how powerful would the master of this palace be? They had no way to imagine that at all.
Qin Wentian was also aware that this Vermilion Bird Immortal Palace spoken by the Xia Emperor was many times more dangerous and mysterious than what he had imagined. Not only that, back then when the Xia Emperor entered it via a stroke of good fortune, his cultivation was just so coincidentally also at the peak of Heavenly Dipper. He also didn't know that Celestial Phenomenon Ascendants couldn't enter it. If not, the Xia Emperor would have surely warned him back then.
"Okay, you all can enter now. Xia Sheng will direct this operation. And if you really discover immortal arts or immortal weapons, pass it all to us when you exit. I can vow that the Royal Sacred Sect would definitely not mistreat you all. You all are allowed to cultivate the immortal art if you find one. At the same time, try your best to uncover more secrets within and report to me when you are out," that person spoke again.
Xia Sheng stood at the forefront of the crowd, and at this moment he turned and said, "Follow closely behind me, there's another world within this immortal palace. Nobody knows all the secrets hidden in the palace. If you move a step wrongly, you may very well end up dying there."
"Move out." Xia Sheng swept his gaze on to everyone, at this instant, his eyes suddenly erupted forth with an extremely cold and imposing light that struck fear in the hearts of people.
As the sound of his voice faded, he led the way and moved towards the entrance of the immortal palace.
"Let's go," Quinn stated. Qin Wentian and his group moved forwards as well. The hundred over people all stepped upon the stairs towards the entrance of the immortal palace and advanced upwards step by step. Every step they took made them feel so tiny and inconsequential in the face of the palace's majesty.
"Cloud and Loneliness, the two of you go on ahead. Watch out for the divine inscriptions, and as for the others, guard them." After they arrived at the entrance, there was a passageway with a mist akin to celestial qi permeating the air within. Even their sense of perception was severely hampered, only able to extend a very short distance ahead of them.
"In this passage way, other than the mist, there should be other traps and formations of divine inscriptions. The level of difficulty to counter these isn't really high. But they are all exceedingly dangerous, the instant we take a wrong step, the power packed within is sufficient to annihilate all of us." Cloud and Loneliness were two extremely famous divine inscriptionist grandmasters that were chosen for this occasion. They explained the matters to the crowd and soon after, all of them entered the passageway. Indeed, their perception could only stretch outwards to a maximum of ten meters.
"In the Royal Tomb of Grand Xia, at the location where the Xia Emperor was buried, there was a golden pathway that didn't allow one to advance forth to obtain the key if they couldn't negate the divine inscriptions. Could it be that it was a preparation for this place?" Qin Wentian silently speculated. He had very high attainments in the field of divine inscriptions, he naturally could sense the divine inscription traps layered here. Indeed, these divine inscriptions could be negated using a peak-tier fourth-ranked divine inscription. It wasn't really that difficult to resolve them.
Cloud and Loneliness were truly exceptional in terms of their attainments in divine inscriptions as well. Evidently, they were grandmasters nurtured by the Royal Sacred Sect. And although their speed of leading everyone forward was slow, they were extremely steady and stable. In this passageway, not a single mistake could be allowed to happen.
Qin Wentian was paying attention to the divine inscriptions here. In this passageway, the runic outlines of divine inscriptions here weren't a single unit but rather, they worked together as a whole. As long as one disturbed a single one, a chain reaction would occur, and the following results would be extremely terrifying.
Finally, they took a total of three days before finally passing through the passageway of divine inscriptions with no casualties.
While on the other hand in the outside world, Di Tian had arrived.
In the mountain range of the Illusion Mountains, it was very hard for outsiders to orientate themselves. Even the experts from the Royal Sacred Sect needed that compass-treasure to do so. However, Di Tian had no need for such measures. Because since Qin Wentian was here, he could naturally sense him.
When the experts of the Royal Sacred Region standing on guard outside saw the silhouette of Di Tian, they couldn't help but feel bewildered. A terrifying aura directly bore down on Di Tian as one of them inquired, "Who are you?"
"Junior is from the Grand Zhou Empire, I came to the Illusion Mountains hoping to risk my life to find rare treasures, eventually discovering this place by accident. I hope that elder can forgive my intrusion," Di Tian politely replied. After which, he purposely shifted his gaze onto the floating immortal palace as an expression of awe and shock appeared on his face, as though this was the first time he saw something this majestic and magnificent.
"You wish to enter?" That expert earlier coldly laughed. If a seventh-level Heavenly Dipper Sovereign were to enter, he would die for sure.
"Such a magnificent palace, there must be countless amazing treasures within… But since this place is found by senior first, this junior dared not enter without permission," Di Tian bowed as he replied.
"No worries, if you want to enter, just enter. But don't blame me for not reminding you, this is an extremely dangerous place. With your cultivation level, you will die without a doubt," that person emotionlessly stated.
Di Tian grit his teeth as an expression of a struggle flashed on his face. But still, he opened his mouth and replied, "This junior still wishes to give it a try."
"Fine, in that case, just go in if you want to." That expert waved his hands.
Di Tian bowed again, "Many thanks to senior."
After speaking, Di Tian continued on his path and soared upwards, stepping into the immortal palace.
"Reckless fool." The other experts outside remarked in disdain.
While right now, Qin Wentian and the others had already arrived at another location. This was a passageway, but there was no fog in it, nor any divine inscriptions. However, they could sense a formless energy that was unfathomably fearsome within it.
Xia Sheng stared at the others. Everyone was still present, so he then spoke, "In the next passageway you have to depend on yourself if you want to pass through it, others won't be able to help. The streams of light in this passageway will target one's will. You all have to be careful. Only by passing through this can we be considered to have truly entered the interior of this immortal palace."
The others nodded as they entered the passageway one by one.
"Be careful." Qin Wentian spoke in a low voice, Fan Miaoyu and Wu Teng nodded, "You too."
After stepping into the passageway, Qin Wentian felt a formless energy directly rushing into his mind. It felt like there was an invisible attack trying to collapse his will.
BANG, BANG!
Qin Wentian instantly paled as his heart pounded. With such a sudden rush of impact, none of them were feeling good. He felt as though his head was about to explode. Clutching his head with both his hands, an expression of extreme agony flashed on his face. Even with his will, he couldn't help but to falter.
"What a terrifying power." Qin Wentian's countenance turned incredibly unsightly. He grit his teeth as he continued forwards, yet he had no way to increase his speed. It was simply too painful. Right now, he could only grit his teeth and endure it.
Kacha!
A violet stream of light shot into him. Qin Wentian only felt a destructive lightning energy exploding in his brain.
Chi…
Instantly, Qin Wentian coughed out fresh blood as his countenance turned as pale as paper.
"It's actually so terrifying to such an extent. What sort of existence is the master of this Immortal Palace exactly?" Qin Wentian mused. Xia Sheng and the other six of the Core Faction walked ahead. Although they too were feeling the pain, their steps were steady. Like Qin Wentian, they came here well prepared, it was not so easy for them to waver.
"We can't wait. If we delay here, the attacks will continue unceasingly. If we stop here, we are merely courting death," Qin Wentian mused, as he continued advancing too, trying his best to hasten his pace. The lightning unceasingly blasted into him, generating an explosive might in his sea of consciousness, threatening to wipe away his mind.
Qin Wentian and the others were all geniuses from the Royal Sacred Region. They endured through it based on their own powerful wills and determination. However for those that lagged behind, they could no longer even see the shadows of those walking ahead. The distance between these two groups had been gradually lengthened.
"What's this?" Qin Wentian stared at the stream of light before him, it was actually a blood-colored lightning and just the sight of it filled one's heart with shivers.
"Hu…" Drawing in a deep breath, Qin Wentian didn't hesitate and continued forward, coming into contact with that stream of blood-colored lightning. The glow from it enveloped his body, Qin Wentian's sea of consciousness transformed into a sea of blood. Countless thunder blasted down from the skies, slamming into the sea, causing the waves to churn violently as the entire sea turned topsy turvy. It was simply too terrifying.
"I can't stop here." Qin Wentian had already endured this on the passageway for two days, his entire person was burning with fatigue. This passageway seemed to be like a bottomless pit, it was too tormenting.
Qin Wentian's blood was thrumming, he stared at the incomparably intense light as he clenched his fist. He still had many things he needed to do, how could he be forced to stop here? Didn't the Xia Emperor also pass this trial back then? Since he could do it, why can't he?
As he thought of this, his will grew even firmer and he advanced forwards. This time, five days passed, but Qin Wentian could no longer sense the flow of time. The seven days felt as long as a life time, he was fighting for his life at every single second. Such a torture simply filled one with endless despair, causing them to involuntarily want to give up.
Qin Wentian was exhausted, but the light that glimmered in his eyes could still stir the souls of others.
What made people despair was that this was merely only the beginning. Qin Wentian walked another month on this passageway and at the very end when he exited, he came to a boundlessly vast world. The first thing he did was to collapse on the ground and close his eyes. Right now, he wanted nothing more than a bout of good sleep.
After a long period of time, Qin Wentian finally opened his eyes and stared at this vast world.
Ahead of him, he could see many resplendent points of light floating above the ground in this world. Each and every point of light contained a brilliance so bright that it could pierce the eyes of people looking at it.
It felt that every point of light was in the form of an object floating in the air. The light from them illuminated this entire world. Some of the points of light were swords, some were ancient text akin to an immortal book.
And below them, there were actually tombs. There were so many tombs with no gravestone or anything to indicate the name of the character buried underneath.
Qin Wentian trembled, this was a fear born from the depths of his soul. Was this boundlessly vast world a graveyard? Those points of light, they were all tombs. But such tombs, what sort of existences were buried within them?
Could it be that...this Vermilion Bird Immortal Palace, actually buried immortals?!
RUMBLE~!
From afar, a supreme transcendent might gushed out, so powerful that even the skies changed color. Qin Wentian only felt this entire space vibrating as though it was about to break apart as a thunderously explosive sound resounded through the air.
"LET ME OUT!!!"
A voice filled with bitter rage and resentment rocked the heavens and earth. After which, a number of towering auras engulfed the entire space and each of them were so powerful that it caused Qin Wentian to tremble.
"Finally, there's people here again."
Another bolt flashed from the blue. Not only Qin Wentian, everyone who arrived at this passageway all felt their hearts shivering. Even Xia Sheng, who knew of the circumstances within, couldn't help but to tremble at the power of those auras!