Chapter 567 - 563: Empress

Chapter 567: Chapter 563: Empress

The elders had been talking in hushed whispers, deliberately keeping their voices low, so Lin Hao had no idea what was going on.

However, Lin Hao could see the expressions on their faces.

Seeing their incredibly solemn looks, Lin Hao temporarily suppressed his anger.

After glancing at the Fourth Elder, Lin Hao chose to continue forward.

Dozens of breaths later, Lin Hao was standing before the levitating palace.

The palace was wreathed in clouds and mist. Standing before it, Lin Hao had the strange feeling that he had stepped into a celestial palace.

Though the palace appeared unremarkable, Lin Hao could sense an overwhelming sense of grandeur.

At this moment, the palace doors were wide open. Lin Hao peered inside, his vision filled with a swirling, ethereal mist.

Through the haze, Lin Hao could vaguely make out gate after gate.

Even with his powerful vision, he couldn’t discern just how many gates there were.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Hao stepped inside.

There was no danger, not even a hint of suppressive force. Instead, he had the feeling that all thirty-six thousand of his pores were opening and breathing.

This ethereal mist seemed capable of cleansing a person’s body and soul.

Lin Hao didn’t sense any threat, so he allowed his body to relax, enjoying and embracing the sensation.

Meanwhile, he walked onward, passing through one gate after another.

Walking ahead, Lin Hao was completely unaware that every time he passed through a gate, the ethereal mist would shift violently behind him, as if entire heavens were opening and closing, one after another!

Finally...

Suddenly, as Lin Hao walked, he stumbled and fell forward.

An invisible force surged out, pinning Lin Hao firmly to the ground.

Lin Hao looked up and found himself deep within a massive palace hall.

The hall was empty, save for a huge statue that seemed to stand in the very center.

Lin Hao looked up again, his gaze traveling up the statue, then pausing at a certain part.

This pause was not out of any disrespect, but simply surprise.

For it was, unexpectedly, a sculpture of a woman.

A sculpture of a woman in the palace of the Heaven-Breaking Pavilion’s ancestor—this was something Lin Hao had not expected.

After a moment, Lin Hao’s gaze traveled further up.

Before he could even see the statue’s face, his eyes flew wide, and two words escaped his lips.

"Lord Lingdi!"

There, on the statue’s shoulder, Lin Hao saw an exquisitely carved, lifelike creature.

The creature was so vividly rendered it looked like a living, breathing Lord Lingdi.

The moment he spoke those two words, Lin Hao felt the oppressive force on his body vanish completely.

Lin Hao shot to his feet, his eyes glued to the creature.

Finally, he confirmed it. It was, without a doubt, a sculpture of a Lord Lingdi.

’A Lord Lingdi is on this statue’s shoulder? This is astonishing.’

Instead of looking at the statue’s face, Lin Hao scanned his surroundings, hoping to find the ancestor of the Heaven-Breaking Pavilion. But aside from this single statue, there was nothing else in the hall.

Just then, Lin Hao’s eyes narrowed, and he abruptly looked up at the statue’s face.

It was a woman’s face, plain and unremarkable at first glance.

But when Lin Hao looked down, intending to look again, he was horrified to find he could no longer recall the face he had just seen.

’The ancestor of the Heaven-Breaking Pavilion was a woman! And for a mere statue to possess such power...’ Lin Hao was aghast.

What shocked him even more was seeing a sculpture of a Lord Lingdi here, and on the shoulder of the Heaven-Breaking Pavilion’s ancestor at that.

His mind raced, and Lin Hao became certain of one thing.

’This ancestor of the Heaven-Breaking Pavilion... she must be a Great Emperor!’

’A female Great Emperor founded the Heaven-Breaking Pavilion!’

’A Lord Lingdi could stand on the shoulder of a female Great Emperor, and the oppressive power vanished the moment I called its name. That means Lord Lingdi’s origins are even more incredible!’

Lin Hao stared blankly at the statue, lost in a daze.

While Lin Hao was lost in his thoughts inside, outside, the members of the Heaven-Breaking Pavilion were anything but calm.

Liu Bo paced restlessly before the stone gate, his worried gaze frequently darting toward the palace.

The other elders also watched the palace, their expressions extremely solemn.

"Dean, there’s been no movement for so long. I want to go in and see." Finally, Liu Bo couldn’t hold back any longer.

"What, you want to go in and collect Lin Hao’s corpse? I don’t think that will be necessary. The Holy Hall’s Ninefold Gate... each gate is its own world. If Lin Hao failed to gain the ancestor’s acknowledgment, he’s likely been banished to the void by now," the Fourth Elder said.

"You... Hmph!" Liu Bo seemed unwilling to argue with the Fourth Elder and turned to look at Guan Zhengyang.

"Wait a little longer." Guan Zhengyang appeared perfectly calm. After saying this, he closed his eyes.

A strange glint flashed through the Fourth Elder’s eyes as he gazed at the palace, vanishing as quickly as it appeared.

However, Lin Hao had not been banished to the void as the elder imagined.

If the Fourth Elder knew what Lin Hao was doing right now, he would likely collapse from shock.

Lin Hao was attempting extortion!

To be precise, he was extorting the statue.

"Elder Sister, it wasn’t right of you to treat me like that just now. Don’t you think you should compensate me a little?" Lin Hao asked the statue tentatively.

If the elders outside were to hear this, their hearts might just stop from the shock.

This was the ancestor of the Heaven-Breaking Pavilion, a statue of a true female Great Emperor, and Lin Hao actually had the gall to demand compensation from her!!

HUMMM!

Lin Hao hadn’t actually expected a response—it was just a statue, after all. But who could have predicted that as soon as the words left his mouth, the statue of the female Great Emperor would begin to vibrate strangely.

Lin Hao was immediately thrown back by the force of the tremor.

Inside, all Lin Hao felt was a tremor. But to the elders outside, the entire palace was shaking violently, and the very void around it was shattering and collapsing!

The elders immediately dropped to their knees, not daring to even breathe.

At the same time, in the deepest reaches of the Heaven-Breaking Pavilion within the Divine Demon Destruction Domain, the statue of the female Great Emperor was also trembling.

Unlike on the Celestial Yang Continent, where only the five elders were privy to the event, in the Divine Demon Destruction Domain, every disciple of the Heaven-Breaking Pavilion fell to their knees, trembling uncontrollably.

Among these disciples, even the weakest was at the Sealed Martial Realm!

Naturally, even the elders of the Heaven-Breaking Pavilion on the Celestial Yang Continent had no way of knowing this was happening.

At that moment, Guan Zhengyang and the other four elders were on their knees, their bodies trembling as well.

This was the ancestor’s fury; they could feel the might of the Great Emperor.

Even though they were elders at the Spirit Transformation Realm Peak, they were no more than ants before the might of a Great Emperor.

Fortunately, the tremor lasted only an instant before vanishing completely.

"The ancestor is furious. If we do nothing to appease her, I fear the Heaven-Breaking Pavilion on the Celestial Yang Continent will be no more!" the Fourth Elder stammered, his face a mask of profound sorrow.

The other elders’ pupils contracted.

Without a word, Guan Zhengyang took a step, passed through the stone gate, and appeared in the void.

The next moment, Guan Zhengyang’s hair whipped about.

He was about to fulfill his promise: disperse his cultivation and extinguish his Divine Soul.

"Dean! Big Brother, you mustn’t!" Liu Bo and the other elders cried out in alarm.

Liu Bo was about to take a step forward, but he stopped abruptly, his eyes wide as he pointed toward the palace.

He opened his mouth to speak, but was rendered speechless.

The other elders turned to look at the palace as well, their eyes filling with utter disbelief...