Chapter 129: The Palace Countermeasures

Chapter 130: The Palace’s Countermeasure

The dark corridor stretched endlessly before them.

Lothe walked behind Adrian and Nyren, his dark eyes quietly scanning the ancient walls.

Nothing attacked.

No traps activated. No guardians emerged.

There was only silence.

Too much silence.

Lothe narrowed his eyes. "Something’s wrong."

Adrian glanced over his shoulder. "Wrong?"

"We should have encountered something by now."

Nyren’s gaze sharpened. "You think the Palace is waiting for us?"

"Not waiting." Lothe looked at the walls. "Watching."

Before Adrian could respond—

KRRR...

The corridor trembled.

Adrian raised his arm, metallic Qi gathering around his body. Nyren drew her crystal sword.

Lothe remained still.

The vibration wasn’t coming from beneath them. It was coming from the walls.

The basalt beside Adrian rippled like liquid metal.

He stepped backward. "What the—"

A series of metallic objects emerged from the wall: discs, daggers, chains, a spear, and a circular shield.

Adrian’s expression stiffened.

Those were his weapons.

Not similar weapons.

His weapons.

"I never showed the Palace that configuration."

Lothe’s eyes narrowed. "Exactly."

The weapons rotated in midair, then vanished back into the wall.

Silence returned.

Nyren’s fingers tightened around her sword. "It copied him?"

Lothe shook his head and activated [Qi Sight].

The world transformed. Countless threads of energy appeared inside the walls. Unlike before, they weren’t simply following fixed channels. They were shifting, rearranging, recording, comparing.

Adapting.

Lothe’s pupils contracted.

"The Palace isn’t merely storing combat data," he said. "It’s processing it."

Adrian’s expression turned serious. "So it really is learning."

"Yes." Lothe deactivated [Qi Sight]. "And now it’s beginning to use what it learned."

They continued forward, more cautiously than before.

Several minutes passed.

Then Nyren stopped.

"Wait."

She crouched and touched the floor. A thin layer of frost spread beneath her fingertips—then vanished.

Nyren frowned and released more Ice Qi.

The frost spread again.

CRACK!

The stone beneath her radiated heat. The ice melted almost instantly.

Nyren withdrew her hand. "The floor resisted my Ice Qi."

Adrian looked down. "That wasn’t happening before."

Lothe knelt beside her and pressed two fingers against the stone.

His expression changed.

"The Palace adjusted the energy circulation beneath this corridor."

"To counter Ice?" Nyren asked.

"Not just Ice." Lothe looked at Adrian. "Try your Metal Qi."

Adrian hesitated before placing his palm against the wall. Metallic Qi flowed outward.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then—

VMMMM!

The wall hardened. Metallic veins spread across the basalt, forming a thin barrier around Adrian’s hand.

He pulled away immediately. "It reinforced itself."

Lothe stood. "It’s testing our abilities before we even fight."

Nyren’s expression darkened. "So every technique we use gives it more information."

"Yes."

A faint sound echoed through the corridor.

CLICK.

CLICK.

CLICK.

Three enormous symbols appeared on the wall ahead: a metallic circle, a crystalline snowflake, and a distorted spatial ring.

METAL.

ICE.

VOID.

Adrian stared at them.

"Another trial?"

Nyren raised her sword. "Probably."

Lothe said nothing. His eyes remained fixed on the symbols.

They weren’t glowing independently.

They were moving.

The metallic symbol slid toward the Ice symbol. The Ice symbol shifted toward the Void symbol.

Then all three began to overlap.

Lothe’s expression hardened. "No."

The symbols merged.

BOOOOOOM!

A wave of energy exploded through the corridor. Adrian and Nyren raised their defenses as the walls trembled.

The three energies intertwined.

Metal.

Ice.

Spatial distortion.

Lothe’s eyes widened. "The Palace is combining our combat data."

The floor split apart.

Something emerged from beneath it.

First came a massive metallic arm, followed by an enormous body of black stone. Crystalline ice spread across one side of its torso, while spatial distortions twisted around its shoulders like invisible chains.

The creature slowly rose to its full height.

Four meters tall.

It resembled the guardians they had already encountered, but this one was different.

Its right arm transformed into a gigantic metallic blade. Its left arm became covered in crystalline ice. Space warped around its chest.

Lothe immediately stepped backward.

The guardian opened its eyes. Three rings rotated within its pupils.

Metal.

Ice.

Void.

Adrian stared at it. "You’ve got to be kidding me."

Nyren raised her crystal sword. "What is that?"

Lothe’s expression was cold.

"A response."

The guardian stepped forward.

BOOM!

The chamber trembled beneath its weight.

Black ancient stone formed its torso, reinforced by metallic plates. One side was covered in crystalline ice, while spatial distortions flickered around its shoulders, arms, and chest.

Three circular rings rotated within its eyes.

Metal.

Ice.

Void.

Lothe’s eyes narrowed. He had never seen this creature before.

Which meant there was only one thing to do.

His pupils glowed faintly.

[Inspect]

The System responded immediately.

[Target: Adaptive Combat Guardian]

[Race: Ancient Palace Construct]

[Classification: Adaptive Guardian]

[Rank: Level 6, Tier 3]

[Core Structure:]

• Ancient Basalt Core

• Metallic Energy Network

• Frost Energy Network

• Spatial Energy Network

[Primary Functions:]

• Combat Data Acquisition

• Technique Replication

• Combat Pattern Prediction

• Adaptive Defense

• Adaptive Counterattack

• Energy Reconfiguration

• Self-Repair

[Recorded Combat Data:]

• Adrian — 87%

• Nyren — 82%

• Lothe — 41%

[Current Combat Models:]

• Metal-Based Armament Combat

• Ice-Based Sword Combat

• Spatial Combat

[Weaknesses:]

• Insufficient data

• Conflicting adaptive responses

• Limited real-time processing

• Cannot perfectly predict unrecorded behavior

Lothe’s eyes narrowed.

Level 6, Tier 3.

The guardian wasn’t dangerous solely because of its cultivation. Its real threat lay in its ability to predict, replicate, and counter its opponents.

Then Lothe noticed the final entry.

[Lothe — 41%]

A faint smile nearly touched his lips.

The Palace had identified him and observed his battles. But it still had far less information about him than it had about Adrian and Nyren.

Interesting.

The guardian suddenly vanished.

BOOM!

Lothe shifted sideways as a metallic fist tore through the space where his head had been. The guardian followed with a spinning kick. Lothe ducked beneath it and retreated several meters.

Adrian raised his shield. "I’ll handle it!"

He rushed forward.

The guardian’s arm transformed into a massive blade.

CLANG!

Adrian blocked the strike, but the force drove him backward.

At the same time, three metallic discs appeared around the guardian.

Adrian’s expression hardened.

Those were his weapons.

"It’s copying me."

"Not exactly," Lothe replied, watching closely. "It’s reproducing the combat model it recorded from you."

Adrian gritted his teeth. "That’s not much better!"

The three discs launched simultaneously.

SHING! SHING! SHING!

Adrian raised his shield. The discs struck it, then curved around its edge, aiming for his blind spot.

Adrian’s eyes widened.

The guardian had recreated one of his own tactics.

He immediately sent his weapons into the air to intercept them.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

Meanwhile, the guardian turned toward Nyren.

Its arm transformed into a massive crystalline blade.

Nyren drew her sword.

SHING!

Ice Qi surged through her body as she vanished into a cloud of frost. The guardian’s blade cut through empty air.

Nyren reappeared behind it and thrust toward its back.

CLANG!

The guardian twisted. Metallic armor formed across its back, stopping her blade.

Nyren’s eyes narrowed.

"It adapted."

"No," Lothe said. "It predicted."

The guardian turned. One of the rings in its eye flashed, and space distorted around Nyren.

She jumped backward just as the distortion collapsed where she had been standing.​