"Reminds me of the entrance to the Black Rose Sect…"
Muttering this to himself as he had entered the core area of the decaying palace, Xuan Hao looked directly at the small opening in the middle of what had been the main hall of the decaying palace in the past.
The opening leading straight down was oddly similar to the entrance of the Black Rose Sect that was also located on top of their main mountain peak. The main difference being that the hole leading downwards in the decaying palace was way smaller in size, being at most a few meters wide.
"Don't tell me the Raging Flame Sect is also a demonic sect that has a hidden base underground as well…?"
Thinking this to himself loudly, Xuan Hao quickly discarded the thought of the Raging Flame Sect being a demonic sect like the Black Rose Sect.
From the aura he had felt earlier, whatever hid beneath the decaying palace should most likely be related to the terrifying aura he had felt earlier along with the terrifying force that was about to break apart both his divine sense and his domain.
"…"
Leaning over the edge of the hole leading straight down into what seemed like an endless abyss of darkness, Xuan Hao had to restrain himself, so he didn't recklessly use his divine sense or domain to explore what was hidden beneath… He did not really feel like going through the painful experience of having his soul torn apart again…
"Should I go down or not…?"
He had to find out what the Raging Flame Sect was hiding and what made him feel so terrified earlier!
The three sets of footsteps also came to a stop in front of the hole in the main hall. Clearly indicating that someone else had entered before him…
Hesitating for what seemed like years, Xuan Hao finally took a deep breath before jumping into the hole and began his descend down into the abyss of darkness below.
Whoosh~
As the wind blew past him on his way, Xuan Hao kept falling for at least a minute or two before the hole he entered through began expanding into a large underground cave.
"Hah… That was closer than I expected…"
Forcefully coming to a stop and hovering mid-air, Xuan Hao looked below himself as he observed a weird black miasma that floated menacingly in the air only a few inches below the place he came to a stop.
The black miasma covered everything below him. Obscuring his vision and making it difficult to see anything happening inside.
"I wonder what this is…?"
Moving his hand down to try and touch the black miasma, Xuan Hao suddenly froze in place as he stopped himself just as he was about to touch the black miasma below him.
For some reason, he suddenly felt a sense of death wash over him as he quickly pulled his hand back and looked at the black miasma with a newfound sense of fear.
He had no idea what the black miasma was, but it had clearly made him feel a sense of death the moment he was about to touch it… Meaning the black miasma gently flowing through the air just below him, might have just killed him after touching it!?
This thought caused Xuan Hao to fly a bit higher as he distanced himself from the black miasma below, though he felt his curiosity towards the black miasma grow.
The black miasma below, that seemed to be harmless, could kill him? A Domain Lord!
"What in the world is this place…"
Narrowing his eyes as he began to inspect his dark surroundings, Xuan Hao quickly spotted a platform hanging from the ceiling of the large cave. Several large metal chains firmly embedded into the ceiling of the cave as they held above the platform, causing it to hover only a few meters above the black miasma below.
Looking around the platform hanging from the cave ceiling, Xuan Hao managed to spot a small rope connected from the hole he had entered through to the platform hanging from the cave ceiling.
"Looks like there was indeed someone before me here… At least it looks like they were indeed someone at the Nascent Soul Realm…"
Seeing the rope hanging freely as the gently swayed from time to time, Xuan Hao heaved a sigh of relief as he was sure that the person who had entered before him was indeed someone in the Nascent Soul Realm, or else, why would they both connecting a rope to the hanging platform instead of just flying over there?
The only thing that worried Xuan Hao slightly, was the fact that the rope looked to be rather new. Meaning the other person might still be inside of the underground cave…
Whoosh~
Slowly flying through the air as he followed the rope towards the platform hanging from the ceiling of the cave, Xuan Hao soon manged to make out the true appearance of the platform.
The platform was way larger than he had first expected and could easily fit a few hundred people on top of it!
"But where did the person go after reaching the platform…?"
Landing on top of the platform, Xuan Hao looked around himself filled with confusion.
There were no other ropes like the one leading towards the platform going anywhere else. Meaning the person who came before him should have only made it to the platform, but for what reason? There was absolutely nothing on the platform itself…
Rumble!
Just as he was about to leave the platform and begin to try and inspect the other areas of the underground cave, a large rumbling sound suddenly echoed through the surroundings as the black miasma below suddenly began to move.
"Not good!"
Having felt the terrifying sense of danger earlier when he was about to touch the black miasma, Xuan Hao did not dare to ignore the black miasma, as he watched it begin to quickly ascend upwards.
"I have to get out of here…"
Understanding that he might die if the black miasma touched him, Xuan Hao quickly left the platform behind and rushed towards the hole he had entered the underground cave through.
Whoosh~
The black miasma, however, seemed to have other plans as it suddenly began ascending at an even faster speed around the area that the hole to the outside was located. Blocking Xuan Hao's only path out…
Bang!
Not feeling to discourage when he saw this, Xuan Hao tried to hit the cave ceiling in an attempt to dig his way out, but the cave ceiling seemed to have been covered in a weird black light as his attempt to leave by digging his way out was out of the question.
"What now…"
Watching as the black miasma below grew closer and closer, Xuan Hao felt the sense of death he had felt earlier on as he quickly scanned his surroundings before spotting a small area in the distance where the black miasma seemed to be unmoving as the surrounding black miasma rose up.
Whoosh!
Not waiting for even a moment, Xuan Hao used his fastest speed possible as he flew towards the place where the black miasma was not moving upwards like the rest of the cave.
Rumble!
Not even a second later, Xuan Hao watched the black miasma reach the ceiling of the underground cave as it crashed against it, causing the entire cave to begin shaking violently under the impact of the black miasma before the black miasma slowly began retreating back again.
He remained safe!
"Hah…"
Letting out a sigh of relief as he watched the black miasma below him, Xuan Hao suddenly saw something moving as the black miasma gathered together into two giant eyes that shone with a terrifying killing intent.
BOOM!
A large explosion happened after the pair of giant eyes appeared, as the black light covering the cave ceiling was suddenly covered in all sorts of divine runes that began shinning with a brilliant and divine holy light.
ROOAAARR!
The countless divine runes covering the cave ceiling seemed to have incited the anger of the creature below that the giant pair of eyes belonged to, as a loud roar filled with anger erupted from somewhere located deep beneath him.
The runes did not care about this angry roar as several large chains made out of divine light manifested before diving down into the now violent sea of black miasma below.
ROAR!
The angry roaring continued as more and more chains of light manifested from the divine runes covering the ceiling above before diving down into the sea of black miasma below.
The scene of something large below being ensnared by the countless chains of divine light was barely visible to him.
With time, Xuan Hao felt the creature below slowly begin to weaken as the roars grew fainter with each passing second, while the chains brimming with a divine and holy energy did not seem to weaken in the slightest.
The black miasma that seemed ready to launch another attack towards the divine runes covering the cave ceiling, was momentarily restrained as it returned back to the same height it was at before.
Using this opportunity while the divine chains were busy restraining the creature below, Xuan Hao flew out from the safety spot he had found and made his way towards the hole he had entered the underground cave through.
Whoosh!
Leaving the underground cave, Xuan Hao watched the entrance below him slowly being covered up by the divine runes as the path inside the underground cave was completely blocked off after another five minutes passed.
The sound of roaring and the clash between the divine chains of light and the creature below had also completely disappeared along with it…