Chapter 404 - 376: Lingxi Celestial Palace

Chapter 404: Chapter 376: Lingxi Celestial Palace

"Alright. First, after you enter the Lingxi Celestial Palace, take out the jade tablet I gave you earlier and follow the directions on the map. You must not take a wrong step. One wrong move and you’ll be trapped in an array, doomed beyond recovery!"

"Second, once you’re inside the Celestial Palace, trust no one. There will be Illusion Realms. It doesn’t matter who you see—just kill them. Do not hesitate!"

"Third, when you reach the end of the map, you’ll see a massive springhead. If the springhead speaks to you, do not be afraid. Find a way to make it happy. The happier it is, the higher your affinity with the spring water will be, and the greater our Dieyi Manor’s chances of winning the championship!"

Mu Ruo relayed three instructions with a solemn expression.

"Manor Master, I understand!" Nie Yun nodded quickly.

"Good. Remember what I said. Go on!"

He offered one last piece of advice. Seeing the young man understood, Mu Ruo nodded, then launched himself into the air and flew toward the Lingxi Celestial Palace.

Nie Yun knew the competition was about to begin. He pushed off the ground and flew after him, staying close behind.

As they flew, Nie Yun’s speed was neither fast nor slow, perfectly in keeping with Mu Jie’s identity, so Mu Ruo didn’t notice anything amiss.

They soon arrived at the Lingxi Celestial Palace, where Nie Yun saw that the square outside the palace gates was already a sea of people.

The death trial had only been decided by the Five Great Manor Masters and the City Lord; no one else was aware of it. Many of the participants were oblivious to the danger, thinking they could make a name for themselves in the competition and gain incredible benefits. They were full of excitement, planning to show off their skills.

Little did they know, a nightmare was quietly descending.

’Impressive!’

He frowned as he glanced around. Even though he knew about the effects of the Spirit Rhinoceros Spring Water, seeing hundreds of Ultimate Venerable Peak powerhouses under the age of twenty still left Nie Yun profoundly shocked.

In the Divine Wind Empire, there was likely no third person besides himself and his brother, Nie Tong, who had reached Ultimate Venerable Peak before the age of twenty.

’This is the disparity!’

’No wonder the people of the Ancient City don’t dare venture out. If the outside world knew about a treasure like this, this city would have been wiped out long ago.’

"Go on, get into the crowd. Keep a low profile at first, or you’ll become a public target, which will only cause more trouble!"

Just as he began to fly down, Mu Ruo’s voice quietly reached his ears via Sound Transmission. Nie Yun nodded to show he understood.

’It seems this trial is very important to Mu Ruo. The great Manor Master has turned into a nagging old woman.’

Flying into the crowd, Nie Yun glanced around and saw these so-called prodigies. Each one had an immense aura, and their eyes burned with fervor as they stared at the Lingxi Celestial Palace before them.

Many of the people here were not from the Five Great Manors. For those unaffiliated with a manor, the only way to obtain the Spirit Rhinoceros Spring Water was to participate in the Holy Spirit Disciple Competition!

To achieve their dreams, many of these young people were betting everything on this one chance, hoping to make a name for themselves and rise above everyone else.

’Hmm, I see an old acquaintance. Mu Shang is over there...’

Glancing around casually, Nie Yun suddenly spotted an old acquaintance and couldn’t help but smile.

It was none other than Mu Shang, the one who had started trouble with him the moment he arrived in the Ancient City!

At this moment, Mu Shang’s power faintly carried the aura of a breakthrough; he had somehow already reached the Secret Realm.

However, his aura still occasionally fluctuated with the aura of an Ultimate Venerable. He must have just broken through and had yet to fully stabilize his new realm.

’It seems that after I killed Muaixia Manor’s rising star, Mu Xiang, Mu Qi must have forcibly raised Mu Shang’s strength to win the championship, staking everything on him.’

Just as Nie Yun was looking at Mu Shang, Mu Shang looked over as well, a scornful smile in his eyes, as if he was confident he could kill this "Mu Jie."

Nie Yun paid his expression no mind, simply offering a faint smile before looking away.

After scanning the crowd once more and finding no other familiar faces, Nie Yun stopped looking, closed his eyes, and focused his mind.

After about an hour, a wave of Spiritual Qi rippled through the earth, and a deep, resonant voice echoed from the sky.

"The decennial Holy Spirit Disciple Competition now begins! The Lingxi Celestial Palace is now open. All you young prodigies, please enter!"

As the voice spoke, the great gates in front opened with a RUMBLE, and the countless arrays before them were completely deactivated.

"Go!"

Accompanied by a series of sharp whistling sounds, the many disciples standing before the gates all flew inside like a swarm of locusts.

Nie Yun rushed through the gates with the crowd, and when he looked up, it was as if he had entered another world.

This world was bizarre and fantastical, completely different from the world outside the gates. The Spiritual Qi inside was so thick it seemed ready to drip, and it was instantly invigorating.

’An Array Space? Who could possibly have the power to create such a vast one?’

An Array Space—a space formed by an array—was something that even third- or fourth-stage Secret Realm powerhouses couldn’t create. The larger it was, the harder it was to construct. This place looked like a cave from the outside, but it contained a world of its own within. The skill of the person who set up this array was probably no less than his own in his past life!

’In my past life, I was at the Peak of the Dantian Acupoint Realm. Could the ancestor of the Ancient City who created this array have also reached that level?’

His expression turned grave at the thought.

"Kill!"

Walking forward, he saw several people fighting to the death. Entering this place meant the start of a massacre. Only the strong would walk out alive!

SLASH! SLASH!

Two heads were chopped off by a young man’s long saber. Immediately after, Nie Yun saw two faint streams of light emerge from the slain corpses and slowly flow into the young man.

This light was invisible to the naked eye; Nie Yun could only see it because he had activated his Celestial Eye. It combined with the special Energy Bodies in this space, forming a strange shape in the air. Less than a tenth of it flowed into the young man, while the vast majority vanished into the depths of the space.

’Is this the so-called potential transfer?’

Nie Yun was stunned.

He had heard Mu Ruo mention potential transfer before but had never understood what it was. Now it seemed that some kind of array in this place could devour a person’s potential and transfer it to their killer.

’Transferring potential? That’s insane!’

’Even on the Floating Heaven Continent, I’ve never heard of such an ability!’

"The Demon Race!"

A name suddenly popped into Nie Yun’s mind.

’If anyone could create something like this, it would have to be the Demon Race. They’ve always been ruthless, willing to spill rivers of blood to achieve their goals. This method of absorbing another’s potential to empower oneself is probably one of their Secret Techniques—and an extremely evil one at that!’

’I have to be careful. This place isn’t as simple as I thought!’

His face grew grave as he pieced this together.

’I used to think that with my strength and skills, snatching treasures from a group of Ultimate Venerables would be a piece of cake. Now, it seems that’s not the case at all. The Secret Techniques of the Demon Race have always been bizarre and unpredictable. The slightest carelessness could lead to the Death of the Body and Fall of the Dao, no matter how strong I am!’

As the saying goes, of the Ten Thousand Great Dao, the Demon Race grasped seven thousand, while the Human Race understood only three thousand. This showed how powerful the Demon Race’s Secret Techniques were, more than twice as strong as humanity’s!

"Friend, this place is very dangerous. I think we should team up. We can kill everyone else first and then split the rewards!"

As Nie Yun continued forward, the young man from before—the one who had just killed two others—addressed him respectfully, having recognized him as a Secret Realm Powerhouse.

"Alright," Nie Yun replied with a faint smile.

"Then let’s go!" The young man nodded when he saw Nie Yun agree. Suddenly, he flipped his palm, and a sharp spike shot toward Nie Yun’s back.

The attack was swift and decisive, without a hint of hesitation. The spike carried a sharp whistling wind, stinging the skin before it even arrived. It was a fast and effective sneak attack. An ordinary Secret Realm Powerhouse would have been run through and unable to defend, but unfortunately for him, Nie Yun was no ordinary Secret Realm expert. Although he was only an Ultimate Venerable, his soul was far more terrifying than that of a typical Secret Realm Powerhouse!

He countered with a backhand slap!

SMACK!

The young man was flattened on the ground, reduced to a bloody pulp.

Upon his death, another special aura slowly rose from him. A portion of it flowed into Nie Yun’s body, while the rest dissipated into the air.

’So it really is potential? It can actually be transferred?’

Feeling the peculiarity of the energy stream flowing into his body, Nie Yun’s eyes widened.

’The moment this aura entered my body, my Late-Stage Ultimate Venerable cultivation actually stirred. It seems that with enough of this energy, I could break through directly to Ultimate Venerable Peak!’

’This isn’t energy, nor is it Spiritual Qi. It’s purely a psychological sensation!’

It was as if this aura made all barriers feel insignificant, posing no real obstacle!

It was said that for peerless geniuses, the realm barriers that were like chains to others were nothing at all—much like how the Secret Realm’s barrier had vanished for Nie Yun after he achieved a Spirit Level Bloodline!

The higher the potential, the simpler the barrier, and the easier the breakthrough.

To be able to break through realms just by absorbing this aura was simply incredible!

’This probably isn’t just related to the array. It must also have a strong connection to the Spirit Rhinoceros Spring!’

A thought began to form in Nie Yun’s mind.

’The Spirit Rhinoceros Spring can be communicated with using the Beast Taming Dantian, which is strange enough. How can my Beast Taming Dantian communicate with something that isn’t alive? And when I killed that man just now, nine-tenths of the aura representing his potential flew off into the distance. Where did it go?’

As he pondered this, Nie Yun flipped his palm and took out the map Mu Ruo had given him. He scanned it with his Spirit, memorizing it, then opened his Celestial Eye and looked ahead.

The map was indeed very detailed. The marked gaps were the weakest points of the array. Following them wouldn’t trigger any mechanisms and posed no danger.

In addition, with the City Lord’s jade tablet, even if one were to accidentally fall into an array, one could use it to reduce the attacks and escape with ease.

The combination of the two drastically reduced the danger.

Following the direction marked on the map, Nie Yun moved forward quickly. After a few steps, he saw several disciples who had teamed up, advancing in a coordinated sweep.

Although this place was a "kill or be killed" environment, there were still alliances. Most of them were from the same faction, teaming up to protect one person with the goal of helping that person win the championship.

When these people saw Nie Yun approaching alone, they all turned at once, their eyes flashing with a predatory green light.