Chapter 484 – Into the Imperial Palace
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In the central transmission array of the broken world, Lin Ming forced a smile after he read the leftover memories of the memory fragment.
The memories of the Imperial Palace didn’t have any knowledge about secret paths that could be taken, or perhaps there were never any at all. If there wasn’t a secret path then it would be very difficult for Lin Ming to go in and out of the Demon God Imperial Palace without encountering those Life Destruction powerhouses.
In this broken world, his perception was suppressed to only 200 feet. But, these Life Destruction powerhouses’ perception might even radiate farther out than 1000 feet or even 10,000 feet; it would just be too easy for them to discover him. Even if he found any treasure, he wouldn’t have his own share.
Lin Ming now knew a great deal about the Demon God Imperial Palace’s inner layout, but what he knew made him feel hopeless: the Imperial Palace was filled with endless puppets.
The Imperial Palace occupied a swathe of land over hundreds of miles long. During the glory times of the Demon God Imperial Palace, there were tens and hundreds of thousands of people milling around; these people were all martial artist.
For this number of people, there were countless miscellaneous jobs that needed to be filled, all of which were done by the puppets, including guard duty and patrol duty.
Those puppets that were responsible for random daily chores had strength at the Xiantian realm. Those puppets responsible for patrolling were equal to the Revolving Core realm.
A Revolving Core master’s combat strength didn’t seem too terrifying, but their strength was not suppressed by the laws of this world. To a martial artist from the outside, they would nearly be equal to a Life Destruction powerhouse; it simply wasn’t what Lin Ming could contend with.
These puppets discerned people from their bloodline of the Giant Demon race, there wasn’t any knowledge of secret skills to control them in the Demon Emperor’s memories.
In short, he would be overwhelmed with difficulty.
The only thing that Lin Ming could take relief in was that he had found the location of the Demon Emperor’s medicine garden in the memories. If he wasn’t wrong, then the Nirvana Dragon Root should be there too. As for the array formation that guarded it, Lin Ming was a bit unsure.
Also, some other very valuable information was that not too far away from the Demon God Imperial Palace’s medicine garden, there was a one way transmission array that he could use to leave.
Just relying on these things, Lin Ming found it difficult to imagine how he would take the Nirvana Dragon Root from a crowd of Life Destruction masters.
“If I don’t have a way to avoid those sentry puppets, how will I be able to enter the Demon God Imperial Palace with those Life Destruction masters? If it’s like this, then my chances of obtaining the Nirvana Dragon Root are close to zero…” Thinking this, Lin Ming ruefully smiled.
“But… in the memories of the Demon Emperor, besides the medicine harden there is also a sealed treasure that is a top grade pill furnace. As for where this pill furnace is, the memories are completely unclear about it. As for the technique to manipulate it, it’s also vague on that…”
Lin Ming let out a deep sigh. He was aware that something like this was hopeless from the start. If he wanted to obtain treasure, then first he would need strength capable of doing so.
Normally, a martial artist of his cultivation would be diligently taking a Heaven Opening Pill.
During this trip to the Demon God imperial Palace, Lin Ming just wanted a single root hair of the Nirvana Dragon Root. He would be satisfied if he could push his Tempering Marrow to 80 or 90% completion.
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100 miles away, Demon God Imperial Palace –
Even through tens of thousands of years of weathering, the Demon God Imperial Palace was still magnificent; it was hard to find any traces of damage on the walls of the Imperial Palace.
Within the Imperial Palace, there was a thick column that stood several thousands of feet high, as if it supported the heavens themselves.
The 20 to 30 Life Destruction powerhouses that gathered at the entrance to the Demon God Imperial Palace had gone through several days of effort, and finally, an opening had been made in the defensive barrier of the Demon God Imperial Palace that was wide enough for a single person.
This was what Xuan Wuji had studied from the Demon Emperor’s letter for several years, and finally found a way to break open the defensive barrier. Simply put, they first had to isolate a part of the defensive array from the power source and then slowly attack it and wear down the energy that kept the barrier up. Afterwards, they would be able to break through the barrier.
“Let’s enter, this entrance can only be maintained for a single hour. Afterwards, the shield will automatically close again. When that times comes, we will have to work together again to reopen the shield.”
To have to spend so much time and effort to open the defensive barrier… there was simply nothing else they could do. The Demon God Imperial Palace had been a sixth grade sect. Their Elders were Emperor level powerhouses, their enforcers were at the Life Destruction realm and their deacons were Revolving Core martial artists.
Of Xuan Wuji and the rest, they mostly ranged from the first Life Destruction stage to the third. With their cultivation suppressed to 20%, they probably weren’t much stronger than those Revolving Core deacons.
For less than 30 of those lowest level deacons and enforcers to gather together and open the Demon God Imperial Palace would naturally not be easy.
Xuan Yuqie was the first to enter, followed by Nanyun Wang. Two days ago, outside of the barrier, Nanyun Wang didn’t fight with Xuan Wuji. The two of them had fallen into an impasse, glaring at each other as sparks flew.
Finally, they entered together – a total of 28 people.
Of these 28 people, they were divided into approximately five groups. The first group was the South Sea Demon Region, the second was the Great Zen Temple, the third group was the free martial artists that were represented by Nanyun Wang, the fourth group was smaller sects represented by Divine Phoenix Island, and the last was the Black Flood Dragon Clan.
The relations between these five major groups were complex and chaotic. Although they all aimed for them treasures in the Demon God Imperial Palace, they had already reached an agreement on how to distribute the treasure, and their representatives had even taken an oath on their heart of martial arts.
But, everyone also knew just how tenuous and fragile his agreement was. This agreement mostly applied to the basic treasures. If they truly encountered the Nirvana Dragon Root that was capable of increasing the chances of passing the Life Destruction stage, then taking some small damage to one’s heart of martial arts was nothing at all.
Of these five major groups, Divine Phoenix Island and the small sects were the weakest. But, Mu Fengxian was also aware of this. Before she entered here, she had reached an agreement with the Great Zen Temple. She would give up all chances of getting the Nirvana Dragon Root and other such great lucky chances in exchange for asylum and protection. So at least preserving their lives wouldn’t be a problem.
“These fellows that haunt us like ghosts are really hard to deal with. If they keep following us around, it will be hard to avoid a fierce battle later.” As Xuan Wuji swept his eyes past everyone, he sent out a true essence sound transmission. He wanted to separate from everyone to look for treasures himself, but he knew that since he was the one with the Demon Emperor’s letter, and also because he understood the location of the Demon God Imperial Palace’s treasure, it would be impossible for them to give up on following him.
“Mm… besides the Nirvana Dragon Root, there is also the Giant Leviathan and the Universe Heaven Melting Furnace. We are the only ones that have the technique to control the Giant Leviathan, so it is inevitably ours. We have to fight for the Nirvana Dragon Root. But, of all these things, the Universe Heaven Melting Furnace is the most valuable one of all… I can’t imagine what happened in ancient times that the Demon Emperor would actually leave such an important furnace in the Demon God Imperial Palace.” The one who answered was Xuan Yuqie. In the past, Xuan Wuji and Xuan Yuqie had read the Demon Emperor’s letter together.
“If I had to guess, then the Universe Heaven Melting Furnace was left behind by the Demon Emperor in order to protect the Demon God Imperial Palace. It was likely that the Demon Emperor was thinking that he would one day re-enter this broken world in order to rebuild the Demon God Imperial Palace. But, for some unknown reason, he was unable to return. This Universe Heaven Melting Furnace is the most precious treasure here by a landslide. Unfortunately, the stove is sealed within the Demon God Imperial Palace and has already become one with this land; it just cannot be moved by us. We had already spent our complete effort in order to create a small opening in the entrance’s defensive barrier. If we want to take the Universe Heaven Melting Furnace as our own, then the chances of that are practically zero.”
As Xuan Wuji mentioned the Universe Heaven Melting Furnace, Xuan Yuqie felt her heart itch. According the Demon Emperor’s letter, this furnace was used to refine heavenly pills. Tens of thousands of years ago, it was the number one pill furnace throughout the entire Sky Spill Continent. There were all sorts of valuable treasures sealed within the Universe Heaven Melting Furnace. For instance, there were top quality pills within. Their profit would be immense if they could obtain just a bit of this.
Moreover, the Universe Heaven Melting Furnace was a top treasure. If an enemy was sealed within and burnt by the furnace fires, it would be easy to turn anyone into nothing but ash.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration at all to say that with this treasure, she would be able to step into the Divine Sea realm with Xuan Wuji, and the South Sea Demon Region would rise to become a Holy Land. They would be able to reproduce the magnificence of the Silent Demon Emperor City from 3000 years ago.
Xuan Wuji shook his head and said, “Don’t even think of obtaining the Universe Heaven Melting Stove. The Nirvana Dragon Root is much more practical for us.”
“Mm…” Xuan Yuqie nodded and then suddenly thought of something. She said, “Let’s at least take a look. Once these fellows take a look at the Universe Heaven Melting Furnace, they will absolutely struggle for it. When that time comes, it will be to our advantage.”
As Xuan Yuqie spoke, a trace of a devilish smile appeared on her beautiful face, without the slightest hit of disharmony. If someone evil and stunning like Xuan Yuqie ever appeared in the mortal world, then they would truly die in a miserable fate.
“Hey, if a dozen or so of those fellows died, then that would be perfect…” Xuan Wuji traced his chain, his eyes flashing with a cold light.
As these Life Destruction Supreme Elders entered the Demon God Imperial Palace, at a transmission array 10 miles away, a white light flashed. A pale youth appeared. This youth was Lin Ming.
“This is the Demon God Imperial Palace…” Lin Ming breathed out. He had finally arrived. “If I remember correctly, this is the far square of the Demon God Imperial Palace. The main entrance is 10 miles ahead. The Imperial Palace’s main entrance also has a great protective array. If I want to enter, I’ll have to spend a great deal of effort.
Although there was a method to pass the barrier at the entrance, Lin Ming’s cultivation was just too low; wanting to enter would be difficult.
Lin Ming cautiously advanced according to the path in his memory. If he followed behind these Life Destruction Supreme Elders and was found, then he would have to resign himself to his fate.
“Mm? The barrier has already been opened by them.”
As Lin Ming looked at the barrier, he saw a hole there just the size for one dog. Worry crossed his expression. This meant that those Life Destruction powerhouses had already entered the Demon God Imperial Palace, and it was likely that they obtained some information about the Imperial Palace.
Thus the one advantage he had was greatly lessened.
Lin Ming clenched his teeth and decided to sneak through anyways.
The barrier was able to slowly restore itself. That hole that had been wide enough for one person was not just two square feet. Lin Ming crawled on the ground and barely fit through.