Looking up at the large engravings above the gate leading into the large palace of mist called the Thousand Wind Palace, Xuan Hao could not help sucking in a breath of cold air as he felt a shiver run down his spine.
Even if the engravings above the gate were only made out of mist and should be nowhere near the original engravings when the Thousand Wind Palace had still been around, the remnant intent from the original engravings had carried over and had attached to the new engravings.
From the remnant intent alone, Xuan Hao could clearly feel how powerful the creator of the Thousand Wind Palace had been when he was still alive!
Compared to the Soul Ascension Realm Expert he had encountered outside… The creator of the Thousand Wind Palace was on a completely different level!
Looking over the engravings for a few more seconds, Xuan Hao stepped forward and entered the Thousand Wind Palace.
Whoosh~
Given that the entire place was made of mist, it was not too surprising that it was rather easy to enter the Thousand Wind Palace. At most he had to use his domain to forcefully scatter the mist around him for a short moment as he passed through the gate. Nothing difficult with his current strength.
However, the same could not be said for anyone below the Domain Lord Realm, as it would be quite difficult to pass through the mist that made up the Thousand Wind Palace.
The Main reason for this being that the mist that made up the Thousand Wind Palace had been strengthened by the remanent intent of its creator. Making it far more difficult for someone to scatter the mist and make their way inside the Thousand Wind Palace.
"Well… I guess that Nascent Soul Realm Expert will end up rather disappointed after he reaches this place…" Muttering this to himself as he shook his head with a hint of pity towards the unfortunate Nascent Soul Realm Expert at the base of the mountain, who had ended up getting used by the Soul Ascension Realm Expert, Xuan Hao soon began examining the interior of the Thousand Wind Palace for any possible threats.
Different from any palace he had been to before, there were no decorations anywhere in sight. Likely due to the mist only having taken up the shape of the palace itself. Not the different decorations that had been inside it.
Together with how much time had passed, the entire palace interior ended up completely empty. Devoid of anything other than the few art pieces that were carved into the palace itself.
As for threats… There weren't really any that Xuan Hao could feel. In the end, it looked like the Thousand Wind Palace was just a large empty palace without anything of interest inside of it…
Whoosh-!
Feeling that there shouldn't be any powerful ancient demon beast or something dangerous lurking around inside the palace Xuan Hao spread out his divine sense to cover the entirety of the Thousand Wind Palace's interior.
The main thing that he was looking for, was something not made of mist and most importantly, the core of the natural mist formation!
"I found it."
Feeling his lips curling up slightly as saw a small ball of condensed mist at the centre of what he assumed to be the throne room of the Thousand Wind Palace, Xuan Hao took a step forward and disappeared from his original position before arriving directly in front of the small ball of condensed mist inside the throne room of the Thousand Wind Palace.
"Ah!?"
About to reach forward to grab the ball of condensed mist that acted as the core of the mist formation the engulfed the entire peak of the mountain, Xuan hao abruptly stopped himself as a terrified expression appeared on his face.
What is with this thing? When I reached forward to grab it for a closer inspection earlier, I clearly felt like I would die the moment I did so… Is this perhaps a warning left behind by the Lord of a Thousand Winds before his untimely demise?
Not knowing what to do as he thought this to himself, Xuan Hao decided to not touch the ball of condensed mist at the centre of the throne room.
In any case, he was not about to test his luck and see if the Lord of a Thousand Winds still had some safety measures in place on the ball of condensed mist.
Even if hundreds of thousands of years had passed since his death, the Lord of a Thousand Winds was an expert that had surpassed the Soul Ascension Realm!
No matter how confident Xuan Hao was in surviving against a Soul Ascension Realm Expert after he had merged his ice and sword domain together, the same could not be said about an expert that had already surpassed the Soul Ascension Realm.
For such a powerful cultivator, a single attack would be more than enough to kill him…
After carefully determining that it was not worth risking his life for a random ball of condensed mist that he didn't understand, Xuan Hao quickly left the throne room before appearing inside a different room of the Thousand Wind Palace.
During his earlier scan of the Thousand Wind Palace's interior, the condensed ball of mist inside the throne room was not the only thing that managed to catch his attention… But there was also something different located in the deepest part of the Thousand Wind palace that caught his attention.
Standing in front of it, Xuan Hao could not help feeling a bit excited, while at the same time hoping deep down that he would not end up encountering the same feeling of death he had when he was about to pick up the condensed ball of mist inside the throne room…
"A book…"
To be precise, it was a book that was not made from mist… Meaning, that the book in front of him had managed to survive for over a hundred thousand years without decaying!
Over such a long period of time. Even jade slips, the best way Xuan Hao knew about when it came to storing information for in a long period of time, would have become unreadable without proper maintenance.
Yet… The book in front of him looked as good as new. Almost like it had been written just a few days earlier!
Whoosh~
Picking up the book without feeling any threat to his life, Xuan Hao could not help feeling even more excited as he slowly opened the book.
"Of course… Its written in that ancient language…"
Feeling like a bucket of ice water had been thrown on him, Xuan Hao felt all his excitement from earlier disappear as he skimmed through the book with far less enthusiasm than before.
Whoosh-!
However, upon turning the final page of the book, Xuan Hao suddenly felt himself losing consciousness for a brief moment before waking up again.
The fact that he had been knocked unconscious meant that his soul had been affected!
Feeling a wave of fear wash over him as he woke up again, Xuan Hao understood very well how strong his opponent was to be able to knock him unconscious-
"This… Where am I…?"
But the moment Xuan Hao looked around himself to find out what had happened, he discovered that he was no longer inside the Thousand Wind Palace. Instead, he found himself floating in the air above what could only be described as a massive battlefield that stretched as far as he could see!
Boom-boom-boom!
"This is-
Listening to the constant fighting going on below him, Xuan Hao tried to look closer at the people fighting. Discovering that not only was he far higher up in the sky than he had even ventured before due to his strength not being able to withstand the chaotic qi at his current height, but all the people fighting below had at least reached the Domain Lord Realm!
Among them, there was also no small number of Soul Ascension Realm Experts that brought devastation that he had never imagined before. In front of these Soul Ascension Realm Experts, the one he had seen in the Thousand Wind Mountains was nothing more than a candle being compared to the power of the sun.
Even among the Domain Lord Realm Experts fighting, Xuan Hao could clearly see several powerful ones that were not the slightest bit weaker than himself and there were also a few that were stronger than him!
Outside of this, there were also a few people far stronger than the Soul Ascension Realm Experts... But the most shocking thing was not the Experts that had likely surpassed the Soul Ascension Realm or the many Soul Ascension Realm Experts present. Instead, it was what they were fighting!
"Aren't these… The same creatures I encountered back in the enlightenment space of the Dao of Corruption?"
Although the creatures on the ground looked different and were far bigger and more powerful compared to the ones he had seen, Xuan Hao was still certain that they should be the same as the ones he had seen during his time in the enlightenment space!
Their grotesques and warped appearance was not really something easy to replicate…