Noah held Chasing Demon's talisman in his grasp as the four statues encircled him and the elders.
He wasn't sure if someone inside the palace controlled them or if theirs was a natural reaction triggered by the presence of unwanted guests inside the defensive walls.
However, he was sure that they weren't living beings.
'A white tiger, a green dragon, a red phoenix, and a black turtle, all of them exuding the power of the sixth rank. Yet, the size of these statues doesn't reflect that of the species that they want to represent.'
Noah thought as he studied the puppets.
Those statues were all seven meters tall, a stature that any dragon and most tigers would surpass once reached that level.
The lines that covered their bodies shone with a blinding light and radiated a suffocating pressure, but they didn't charge at the group of heroic cultivators.
They simply limited themselves to surround Noah and the elders and stare them with their lifeless eyes.
That stall continued for a while.
Noah's group didn't dare to move since even the slight action could trigger unwanted reactions, and the beasts didn't take a step further either.
It was as if their job was only to contain any external threat.
"Are they waiting for orders?"
Flying Demon transmitted through his consciousness to the other members of his group.
The three of them were close and with their front facing the beasts.
Their consciousnesses touched each other, and they could transmit mental messages in the triangle created with their backs without leaking even the slight ripple.
"Probably. I don't see why they stopped otherwise."
Noah answered through the same method used by the elder.
The statues weren't doing anything, so that was a good time to make the point of the situation.
"Trying to escape is too dangerous, we have to follow the rules of this place."
Dreaming Demon added after a short moment of silence.
Separate dimensions usually contained inheritances and trials, which forced every contender to behave in a certain way.
They didn't know if the palace was meant to deliver an inheritance, but that situation didn't allow them to do much.
The threat of those statues was too high, just one of them was enough to take care of the three heroic cultivators.
Even Noah didn't have any confidence in escaping from that encirclement with Chasing Demon's talisman.
Also, they couldn't just escape.
They had lost too much time, and they couldn't reach the areas targeted by the rank 5 Tribulations before the next lightning storm anymore.
Their only options were to go all out and face the rank 6 lightning bolts in four days, or wait and see if those statues hid a deeper purpose.
Possible death was better than certain death, so they decided to wait.
The minutes became hours, and the hours eventually turned into days.
The Demons and Noah remained still in the air, and the four statues around them did the same.
Nothing moved inside the palace, and the three heroic cultivators did their best to breathe only when they needed it.
"There is the chance that there are mechanisms active only during the Tribulations."
Dreaming Demon transmitted at some point, and her companions agreed with her guess.
The statue and the ethereal properties of the castle worked as autonomous defensive mechanisms.
Still, there had to be some sort of intelligent being or spirit automaton controlling the entirety of the structure.
Yet, it was possible that such automaton would activate only during the Tribulations and go dormant in the days between them.
"We should prepare an escape plan if nothing changes. Do you have anything that can work against these constructs?"
Noah asked, and Flying Demon immediately replied without trying to hide his sarcasm.
"Haha, yes! I'll take out the secret item that I've decided to save during the last one thousand years! Demon Prince, these are rank 6 puppets, we are dead if they start to move."
Flying Demon's words were on point.
He would have already left that place if he had something that could oppose forces in the sixth rank.
"I might be able to affect the fabric of this layer if I go all out. I would fall asleep again though, and that only in the scenario in which these things don't notice my actions."
Dreaming Demon spoke, and Flying Demon's consciousness couldn't help but tremble slightly when he heard those mental messages.
The thought of seeing his lover suffering from the backlash of her techniques again stirred his emotions.
However, he immediately calmed down.
The situation was entirely different now.
They already knew the position of the exit, and the Hive was the fourth force in the Mortal Lands.
Waking her up would be effortless if they managed to reach the southwestern coast of the new continent.
The only issue would be in surviving the rank 5 Tribulations while also defending the sleeping elder.
"Demon Prince, do you have something that can buy enough time for our escape?"
Flying Demon asked when he accepted that momentarily sacrificing his lover was the only approach that could create a way out of that situation.
"Maybe."
Noah limited himself to transmit that word, and the conversation ended after that.
They were just evaluating ideas, and they weren't even sure that they would survive the next lightning storm.
More days passed, and the Tribulation arrived on time as usual.
Black clouds gathered in the sky, and orange lightning bolts began to fall toward the prairie.
The color of the Tribulation didn't change even from inside the palace.
Noah and the elders felt relieved when they saw that the shield around the structure easily fended off the rank 6 lightning storm, and let their mind wander at that sight.
They were right under a calamity with the power at the peak of the sixth rank, and they could observe it in its entirety from a safe position.
Most heroic cultivators wouldn't have the chance to witness such a sight until they reached a similar rank.
They didn't think.
They just admired the stage that every cultivator in the Mortal Land dreamed of reaching.
"I've stared at these bolts of lightning more than three hundred thousand times, but I've never become bored with them."
A firm voice suddenly resounded in the area, and the three heroic cultivators' gazes immediately turned toward its source.
They saw that the ethereal figure of a middle-aged man had appeared out of nowhere right next to the encirclement of the four statues.
The man wore a luxurious green robe and carried a couple of thick tomes under his armpit.
"Return to your pedestals."
The man ordered, and the beasts flew back to the four corners of the defensive wall.
Noah and the elders could finally relax when they saw that and waited for the automaton to explain further before saying anything.
The ethereal man didn't wait for them to act and performed a polite greeting gesture while adding a few words.
"Welcome to the house of the Divine Architect."