https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-960-The-Spirit-Realm-s-Enigmatic-Fog/13041487/
Chapter 961: Breaking the Tenacious and Crumbling
Chapter 961: Breaking the Tenacious and Crumbling
After leaving the Palace Path, Chen Chuan soon arrived at the spot where Xu Shaoye and his companion had just fled.
His gaze swept across the area, and he spotted over a dozen headless corpses lying on the ground.
The blood from these bodies had not yet dried, and it flowed along the cracks in the stone bricks. One or two of the bodies showed signs of being dragged along the ground, leaving a trail that led into a side hall. There, he heard the sound of something chewing.
Chen Chuan turned and approached the side hall, stepping over the broken bricks and shattered entrance. He saw a creature, six or seven meters long, resembling a snake or dragon with a single horn on its head, lying there and gnawing on the remains of a corpse.
As Chen Chuan drew closer, the creature suddenly froze, then whipped its head around. Its face was mostly gone, leaving only tattered flesh, and fresh blood oozed from the holes in its body where it had been chewing moments before.
Chen Chuan focused his gaze, and he noticed faint flickers of light representing spiritual power on the creature's skull and spine. This indicated that it was not a mutated ghost he had encountered before, but rather a highly concentrated spiritual entity occupying this shell.
Such a feat could undoubtedly be achieved by a divine cultivator or a being from the opposite realm. However, the entity before him seemed to match its shell perfectly, as if the original spirit had been reinforced through a ritual and reoccupied its decaying body.
Chen Chuan stood still, but the creature couldn't hold back. It turned and charged towards him. Before it even reached him, a powerful gust of wind and a putrid aura assaulted Chen Chuan.
Chen Chuan raised his hand and casually slapped the creature with a palm strike. A thunderous boom reverberated as the creature was struck by an irresistible force, slamming it into the ground and raising a cloud of dust.
At that moment, Chen Chuan's brows twitched slightly. In an instant, all the warriors before him, including the remains of the palace attendant, vanished like dissipating smoke.
The once-elegant buildings in the distance had transformed into a sea of dilapidated palace ruins. The path beneath his feet was no longer smooth but overgrown with withered grass and cracked stones, littered with scattered bones bearing marks of sword slashes and axe chops.
"The tricks of the Phantom Realm," Chen Chuan said coldly.
A thousand years ago, these creatures might have been able to bewitch him, but now, at most, they could only make him dazed for a moment.
If it weren't for the fact that following these creatures would make it easier to find Ying Emperor's true location, Chen Chuan would have torn through this veil of confusion long ago.
He retracted his whip and strode towards the palace complex.
The Longyou Circuit Government Hall had long been keenly interested in this secret treasury, not only because it was well-known but also due to its proximity to the Central City. The Central City had already considered it their possession and had gathered extensive information about it.
In reality, the adventuring party's operations were all planned and participated in by the Central City, aiming to find a way into the secret treasury.
When the ritual suddenly opened a passage into the treasury, the experts concluded that someone with knowledge of the information had entered. This person was not ordinary, and the Central City found it inconvenient to directly confront them. Instead, they aimed to obtain valuable items first, which was why Chen Chuan had been able to advance unimpeded since entering.
Now, Chen Chuan believed he had reached the core of the secret treasury. He glanced around and saw that a corner of the palace had collapsed, with several thick pillars still standing.
In front of him was a deep pool, filled with broken bones that appeared to have been gnawed on.
He glanced at it a few times and guessed that it should be the Dragon Pool.
According to historical records, Emperor Ying had five dragons under his command, each requiring a daily diet of a hundred living humans. Most of these were said to be criminals and slaves, but who were these slaves and prisoners? It was all up to Emperor Ying's word.
The experts in Central City analyzed this place as a secret treasury established in the name of Yuwen Yuanqi, but in reality, it was a spiritual palace prepared by Emperor Ying himself. The ghostly mirage they just encountered and the Dragon Pool before them all proved this point.
Gazing at the palace ahead, his eyes lit up with anticipation. The Yuwen clan had risen and fallen within three generations, a rare imperial family that did not have time to retreat to the Convergence Zone or make other backup arrangements. According to the records of the later dynasty, they didn't manage to plunder much, so it was generally believed that their accumulated wealth must be hidden in the secret treasury established by Emperor Ying.
There must be a lot of treasures here!
And the item that their faction had been searching for might very well be here!
He picked up his long whip and quickly walked past the Dragon Pool, heading towards the palace. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks as a unicorn snake-dragon slowly slithered out from the rubble and debris in front of him.
His eyebrows furrowed, and a slight twitch appeared between them. He realized that it was merely a mummified creature, its charred and desiccated flesh clinging tightly to its skeleton. However, its size was not small, measuring around seven or eight meters in length.
He didn't underestimate it. With a deep breath, his body suddenly expanded, transforming into an Obsidian Armored General. Without waiting for the creature to attack, he charged forward and punched its skull, smashing it into the ground. Then, he stomped on it and grabbed a nearby pillar, pulling it out of the ground. Instantly, a bluish-white flame spread across the pillar, and he repeatedly smashed it onto the creature below. Finally, he gave it one last powerful blow!
A cloud of gray dust exploded, and the decaying palace collapsed with a loud crash. As the dust settled, Xu Mutang's body returned to its original state, and the snake-dragon had been smashed into several segments, each landing spot reduced to a mess of flattened flesh and bone. He huffed and casually tossed aside the broken pillar in his hand.
Some things from the old era were indeed powerful, but others were exaggerated. This snake-dragon, however, might have had some fighting power in its life, but now it was just dried skin and bones, with barely any mutated tissue left, barely held together by a bit of spiritual energy. How could it fight him?
He picked up the long whip he had dropped on the ground and quickly walked towards the inner palace.
At the entrance of the palace complex, a flash of light appeared, and three snake-dragons that rushed towards him were instantly blasted into countless fragments of powder, scattering and falling all around.
Chen Chuan shook his head. This thing looked impressive but was useless. He didn't know how powerful Yuwen Yuanqi was, but he must have reached the Longevity Realm, or he wouldn't have become a General of the State.
Judging from the various manifestations of his body, he might have even reached the next realm. These five dragons were capable of splitting his body apart.
However, these particular dragons were far weaker than they were in their lifetime, after all, a thousand years had passed. Even with the attachment of spirits, their bodies had decayed.
At that moment, he heard thunderous muffled sounds coming from the palace above. He glanced up and remembered what the two people he had met earlier said—a fighter had entered. It seemed this noise was caused by him.
He turned and instantly disappeared from his original spot, heading towards the source of the sound. After a few breaths, he arrived at the foot of the palace. As he was about to ascend, he suddenly stopped, and a bright flash of light passed in front of him.
Several pillars in a nearby palace hall broke in half and slid down with a piercing creak, causing that corner of the already wobbly palace to collapse with a loud crash. The broken ends were remarkably smooth and flat.
Chen Chuan looked over and saw a warrior in red ceremonial armor with a ghostly mask. Judging from his attire, he seemed to be one of the palace guards. A cold light flickered on his body, and he held a saber in his hand.
Was this a mutated ghost? To be honest, after seeing so many corpses and ghostly mirages here, the sight of a ghost was somewhat familiar.
However, this one was clearly no match for the Guardian of the Law.
As the ghost approached, he drew his Snow Lord Saber from its sheath and advanced towards it. The ghost quickened its pace, and its figure suddenly flickered, dragging a long trail of cold blue light through the pillar hall. The saber's glow almost covered his entire field of vision.
But in the next moment, a bright flash of light like moonlight in the snow extinguished all the cold flames.
The ghost remained in the pose of swinging its saber, and the spiritual flame on its body suddenly went out. It instantly shattered into dozens of fragments, falling to the ground with a clatter. A thumb-sized jade seal also fell alongside.
Chen Chuan sheathed his saber and picked up the seal, examining it. The words "Swift Fruit Right Guard" were engraved on it.
He raised an eyebrow. The Swift Fruit Guards were Emperor Ying's personal army. Combined with the ghostly mirage they encountered earlier, it seemed this so-called secret treasury of Yuwen Yuanqi was not as simple as it appeared.
He glanced again at the vague outline of the palace above. He would find out what it was once he went up there.
...
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(End of Chapter)
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