章 50: Ocean King's Palace.
The moment Liang Chen stepped onto the seemingly endless path, space around him started to twist and distort, surrounding him in a cocoon. Before he got the chance to react, a bright light flashed in front of his eyes, dyeing his vision a deep silver. The light only lasted for a short second, but once it vanished, Liang Chen found himself standing in an unfamiliar location, with 12 other people standing around him, looking just as confused as him.
"What... What just happened? Where are we? Where are the others?"
After hearing someone call out in a confused voice, Liang Chen started to inspect his surroundings. The 12 people around him were all part of the groups that had stepped onto the endless path together, but Liang Chen could not see Yan Ling or anyone else from the Storm Wolf sect.
He recognized Tian Shuten and Zhao Daiyun, but he had no idea who the other people were. Other than these two that he recognized, there were three others in the group that he had taken notice of before they stepped onto the endless path. The first was the new member of Li Delan's group, the silver-eyed man who had unruly black hair, the man who Yan Ying had paid some attention to. The last two were members of the Nightshield sect, the subordinates of Qing Lan Yong.
Despite being separated from the rest of his group and ending up in an unfamiliar place, Liang Chen found himself strangely calm, much like how he was when he entered battle. He took a single deep breath and then gave his surroundings a closer look.
The 13 people were currently standing in a massive hallway, at least several hundred meters high and wide, and at least a few thousand meters in length. Just what sort of people would need a hallway this large? The corridor was made out of deep blue stone, the walls of the hallway decorated with massive spiraling golden pillars that stretched from the floor all the way to the ceiling. Liang Chen could see a massive door at each end of the hallway, as well as several smaller doors lining the walls.
While Liang Chen and a few others were examining the surroundings, one of the two men from the Nightshield sect, a middle-aged man with a slight stubble and slicked-back brown hair spoke up, stating his guess.
"It must have been a spatial formation, that's the only explanation I can think of. It probably sent the others somewhere else, but why?"
Spatial formations could bend space according to the will of their creator, transporting people countless kilometers through space. As long as they were fueled by enough energy, there was virtually no limit to how far they could send one. The others quickly agreed with his guess, trying to figure out as much about their current situation as they could.
As they were cautiously examining the corridor and trying to figure out why they had been sent here, a thundering voice rang out around them, the entire hallway trembling under the voice.
"Move fast, think fast, react fast. Escape the palace and claim your rewards!"
Liang Chen felt like his head was going to split apart when the voice sounded out, but luckily, the voice vanished swiftly. The other people couldn't help but be shocked after hearing the voice, a blonde-haired woman clad in the robes of the Ghost Soul sect breaking the silence, her voice trembling slightly from excitement.
"It's a trial? Could this hidden realm be a testing ground left behind by a mighty cultivator?"
When some powerful cultivators were looking to accept new disciples, or if they knew they were going to die, they would sometimes set up trials, handing out rewards to anyone who had good enough results. The others also quickly grew even more excited.
"If we're lucky and do well, maybe we can become disciples of that person!"
Whoever set up this palace was likely the same person who set up this entire hidden realm, someone who possessed supreme might. If they could become the disciple of that person, their cultivation would likely sky-rocket. Of course, whether or not this was true, they had no way of actually knowing, they could only guess. The blonde-haired woman from the Ghost Soul sect seemed to be unable to contain her excitement any longer, as she cupped her hands at the others.
"The voice said to move fast and escape this palace, so gentlemen, I won't stick around. May the best man win."
The woman immediately started dashing towards one of the massive doors that stood at each end of the hallway, hoping to be the first one to escape and earn a better reward. But just as the woman started to dash, Liang Chen sensed a tremendous feeling of danger coming from the ceiling above them.
He quickly raised his head and saw that a massive blue stone had loosened from the ceiling, quietly falling towards the dashing woman. He didn't seem to be the only one who noticed this, as someone quickly called out a warning.
"Above!"
The woman quickly raised her head, but it was already too late. With a deafening thump, the square piece of blue stone landed on the woman, smashing her into the ground and turning her body to paste. And just like that, 13 had become 12. The remaining people quickly paled and pulled back, with one of the people who hadn't sensed the danger when the stone loosened letting out a disbelieving sound.
"This...?!"
The stone had fallen without a sound, aiming directly for the dashing woman, there was no way it was something like a coincidence. The silver-eyed man had a slightly grim expression, pointing at the ceiling above them.
"It's a piece of the ceiling, you can see where it fell out."
Only now did some of the others in the group realize where the stone had come from, glancing at the ceiling with dark expressions. There was a perfectly square hole in the ceiling, but none of them were able to figure out exactly what it was that had caused the stone to aim for the woman.
The sound of doors being kicked open caused everyone to take their eyes off the ceiling, their vigilance rapidly rising. All the small doors in the hallway had been opened wide, humanoid creatures starting to swarm out from them. The humanoid creatures were about a meter and a half in height, had two legs, two arms, and a single head. Their bodies were covered in murky blue scales, their nails resembling claws.
But worst of all was that they didn't have a normal mouth, they had a massive round sucker mouth that covered half their face. Filled with razor-sharp teeth, it resembled the maw of a leech. The moment the murky white eyes of these creatures landed on Liang Chen's group, they immediately started running at them with clumsy motions, causing someone to call out in disgust and shock.
"By the heavens, what are those things?!"
Seeing such grotesque creatures run at them, the people in the group quickly jumped backward and prepared to defend themselves. But when they tried to maneuver their Qi, they discovered something horrible.
"My Qi, it won't come out?!"
Liang Chen and the rest of the people in the group wore ugly expressions. Whenever they tried to move their Qi and have it leave their bodies or temporarily strengthen it, a crushing pressure descended on them and forced their Qi back into the depths of their bodies. The message was clear, as long as you are in this palace, you cannot use your Qi to attack.
Not being able to use their Qi to attack, most of them were as weak as normal mortals, their only advantage being their years of experience. The people from the Fiendgod sect were a bit better off, as they focused on training their body. But they still couldn't release their true techniques without Qi, so there wasn't much they could do.
The group also quickly learned another shocking thing about the palace they were currently. In front of their eyes, the hallway itself was starting to twist and change, new doors appearing. One of the massive doors that showed where the corridor ended suddenly vanished, turning into an empty wall. The floor split open, new parts rising up from below, extending the corridor. It didn't take much thinking to realize exactly what was happening around them.
"The palace, it's changing?!"
They couldn't use Qi, strange monsters were attacking them, and the palace itself was changing in front of their very eyes. How were they supposed to escape the palace like this? The grotesque monsters were rapidly approaching them, so there was only one thing the group could do, an old man taking the lead and shouting out.
"Run! Keep a close eye on your surroundings and run!"
Right now there was no point in thinking about the trial or any possible rewards, now they had to focus completely on staying alive. The group immediately turned around and dashed towards the remaining massive door, Liang Chen, the silver-eyed man, and the two people from the Nightshield sect making up the rear of the group. Stones would occasionally fall from the ceiling, but those who noticed them gave quick warnings to the others.
The grotesque monsters turned out to be quite a bit slower than them, so they managed to reach the massive door without trouble. The doors were hundreds of meters high, but a single youth from the Moon Dragon sect was able to easily push them open, so they didn't seem to weigh that much.
After pushing open the doors and continuing their dash, the group found themselves in a massive, empty hall. The hall was made out of the same blue stones as the hallway, the walls decorated with massive golden pillars. There were three other massive doors in the hall, one to their front, one to their left, and one to their right. They had no idea where to run, so they could only pick one at random.
"Over there!"
The Moon Dragon sect youth who had pushed open the door pointed at the door to their right, the entire group quickly dashing towards it. The youth once again managed to easily push open the doors, revealing a luxurious bedroom, a several thousand meters long and wide bed covered in purple silk serving as the centerpiece of the room. Standing at the far back of the group alongside the silver-eyed man, Liang Chen was able to see his expression rapidly pale as he muttered to himself in a low, almost inaudible voice that dripped with terror.
"The Consort's chambers!"
The silver-eyed man didn't even spend a second thinking, immediately turning around and dashing for the door at the other side of the room. Looking at the room filled Liang Chen with a sense of utter despair, a faint whisper screaming out in his mind. Liang Chen swiftly turned around and followed the silver-eyed man, only giving a slight glance backward when he heard a terrified outburst.
"By the gods!"
The Moon Dragon sect youth had entered the bedroom, but the moment he set foot into it, his entire body was crushed into a fine paste, which then turned to dust before the shocked eyes of the onlookers. Exactly what was it that had killed him?! 12 became 11, and the remaining people of the group immediately dashed away from the room, quickly overtaking Liang Chen and the silver-eyed man.
They carefully pushed open the door that was on the other end of the room, finding another large hall past it. The wanted to properly check if it was safe, but the palace was constantly changing around them, stones falling from the ceiling, and the monsters in hot pursuit, so they didn't have the luxury of time.
A woman from the Fiendgod sect entered the room, the rest of the group following when they saw that nothing happened to her. The hall was a bit smaller than the one they had just been in, and it wasn't as empty. A massive crystal chandelier hung above them, casting a faint blue light over the entire room. There were two other massive doors in the room, one to their left and one right in front of them.
The right side of the room was occupied by what seemed to be a massive fireplace, a strange symbol in the shape of two serpentine dragons coiling around each other decorating the wall above the fireplace. Upon seeing the insignia, the woman from the Fiendgodsect couldn't help but call out in terror.
"That insignia, it can't be!? Why are we here?!"
The rest of the group also saw the insignia, but not all of them knew what it signified. A youth from the Ghost Soul sect fell to his knees, his face pale and his eyes red, filled with nothing but despair.
"This is the Ocean King's Palace, we're doomed!"
Liang Chen hadn't heard about this Ocean King's Palace before, nor had the guide he owned said anything about it, but it seemed like it was a truly terrifying place. The room they were in started to change, the floor falling apart as the room seemed to transform into a sideways corridor. Now wasn't the time to despair, so an old man from the Ghost Soul sect picked up the kneeling youth and dashed towards the door that was at the other end of the room.
"Keep running, focus on staying alive!"
The group quickly continued their mad dash, running through room after room. As they continued to run, Liang Chen noticed that the silver-eyed man was carefully inspecting the surroundings, as if he was looking for something specific.
After running for over two hours, the amount of grotesque monsters that were chasing them had grown to a despairing number. They were slower than the group, but even after running for two hours, they didn't seem tired in the slightest, their white eyes containing only a furious hunger.
The group pushed open another massive door, entering another long hallway filled with doors and pillars. The group quickly headed for the door at the end of the hallway, but after they made it a little over halfway, one of the small doors in front of them opened, a single creature walking out.
The creature was a bit taller than the blue monsters, its entire body covered by a dirty and tattered black robe. They couldn't see its face or body, only a single pitch black arm that had skin like tree bark. The arm held onto what seemed to be a collection of rusted keys, its body slowly turning towards the group. The moment the robed creature appeared, the expression of the silver-eyed man once again turned grim, a faint curse escaping his lips.
"The Dungeon Keeper?! Why is my luck so shit?"
The group quickly sped up and dashed passed the creature, which made no moves to stop them from passing it. But once they made it past it, the creature turned towards them, pointing the rusted keys at the group. Chains that had rusted from age suddenly grew out from the walls and the floor, slithering towards the group.
The chains moved rather slowly, but as they were able to come from the walls and floor, they still managed to pierce through the bodies of four people. Two people, Tian Shentu and Zhao Daiyun, were pierced through the chest and died instantly, but the other two were only pierced through the legs or shoulders. They survived getting pierced by them, but then the chains started to move in reverse, returning to the robed creature, bringing the four people with them.
"Save us!"
"What is this thing?!"
The two surviving people called out in terror, but before anyone had time to react, the chains sped up and reached the robed creature. The chains vanished into the robe of the creature, bringing the four people with them and silencing the cries of the surviving two.
11 became 7, the remaining survivors turning pale from what they had just witnessed. The robed creature once again started to stretch out the arm that held the keys, so the group sped up as much as they could, pushing open the door at the end of the hallway. They entered a hall much like the first one they had entered, each of its four walls holding a single massive door.
The floor in the room started to collapse the moment they pushed open the door, so it was clear that they had to choose a door quickly. Just as they were about to choose a door at random, the silver-eyed man pointed at the door to their left.
"There, that room over there!"
The door he pointed at had a strange symbol carved into it, a symbol that resembled a clawed hand shaking a seemingly human hand. The group was going to choose at random anyway, so they immediately dashed for the door that had been chosen. For the first time since they entered this palace, the silver-eyed man overtook everyone in the group, reaching the front as he dashed for the door.
The group ran as fast as they could, but the floor only started to collapse faster and faster. And in the end, the collapsing floor caught up with the rear of the group. There were only three people at the rear of the group, Liang Chen and the two people from the Nightshield sect.
Liang Chen's body was quite a bit stronger than a normal person's, so he was a bit faster than the two who hadn't bothered to train their bodies. Because of that, when the collapsing floor caught up with the group, it was the two Nightshield sect disciples that found themselves without footing. They just barely managed to grab onto the floor in front of them, but even that was collapsing, so they could only turn to the closest person, Liang Chen, and beg for help.
"No! Save us!"
Liang Chen stopped for a split second and looked at the two, looked at the subordinates of Qing Lan Yong, the subordinates of the man who had ruined his life. All he had to do was ignore them, he could simply turn his head away and they would likely die, falling to their deaths. His heart burned with hatred as he looked at the two who were begging him to save them. When Qing Lan Yong had his parents executed, did anyone listen to Liang Chen's begging?
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