Chapter 518: Chapter 518: The Suppressive Force
Nine balls of light floated around Mist's celestial tomb, the luminous glow growing brighter as warriors emerged from each of the other eight balls as well.
The majority of them came from the Central Region, further grounding rampant speculations that the enchanted lamps would eventually fall into the hands of the large sects.
It was not a particular bitter fact to swallow for the small clans and sects. The lamps had no use for people of weak strength, knowing that the top masters from the Central Region would only end up annihilating them in a fight for the fortunes in Mist's celestial tomb. It would have been a plea for their own deaths if they dared to hope for a chance to win against the impenetrable force. They had to make the wiser choice of bargaining the items with the larger sects in exchange for more substantial benefits.
The event this time had the nine powers entering Mist's celestial tomb. The Cloud Hall, World Commercial Alliance, Bloodwood Cliff, Mysterious Luna Hall and Black Mountain Sect had gathered at the place with some independent warriors who had led secluded lives, a select few being masters of the Life and Death Realm.
They made up an overwhelming number of warriors coming from the Central Region, all with an exception of one group.
This unorthodox team traveled far to get to the destination through the space channel. However, their entrance was not seen by the people of the Central Region, who had entered the path to the tomb long before their arrival.
“Eh? Is this Mist's celestial tomb?”
Stumbling out of the portal, a woman dressed in black garbs looked around in wonder and confusion.
“Yes, it is!” A laugh was heard from the handsome man materializing after his companion. He stood proudly, his moderate build straightened in posture while he looked around.
She frowned, her bafflement only running deeper, “Didn't you say that we could only enter when all the lamps light up at the same time? Why isn't anyone else here?”
At the question, he furrowed his eyebrows before appraising their venue a second time in a perplexed manner, “There are nine lamps for the celestial tomb, maybe there are different entrances for each.” A pause was felt as they pondered over his answer, a lingering curiosity permeating the air. He huffed shortly after and crossed his arms, his stare landing on the track they were to trek. “Anyway, it doesn't matter. As far as I know, the other eight lamps are all from the Sky Northern Region, and those ants mean nothing to us. We just need to focus on what we came here for.”
The words struck to the girl's mind and immediately brought a fierce look to paint her expression, her dark clothes highlighting the shadows of determination captured in her look. “You're right, I don't want anything like bones of the immortal or the Flower of Life and Death. I only want one thing, and I will kill whoever stands in my way!”
With a wicked smile, her partner ominously chucked and said, “They're quite daring to have the guts to oppose you, aren't they?”
Sneering, she turned away and marched towards the opening. She did not bother thinking or caring about the possible danger lying ahead of them as she strode confidently. Her comrade followed her closely behind, wordlessly shifting to match her serious mood.
The pair had come from the four great divine kingdoms.
The Central Region in which Zen resided was known as the Sky Northern Region to the four divine kingdoms, with some people referring to it as the Sky Northern Island due to their prejudice for the land.
Even though its area and surrounding regions had vastly expanded to a size that was near unimaginable, the four divine kingdoms had still not changed their mindset of the land being much poorer compared to their home.
Two thousand years ago, the handsome man's family happened to take the enchanted lamp of the celestial tomb as one of their possessions. They had kept it secret for two thousand years, keeping every information hidden and quickly diffusing any rumors that might have once erupted. They were afraid that the masters from the four divine kingdoms would hear of it and forcefully take it to enter Mist's celestial tomb to hunt the treasures.
On the other hand, the forces in the Sky Northern Region
had always been considered invisible to their clan.
Steeling herself at the recollection, she fearlessly trudged up the rest of the trail. She was a master of the Virtual Tribulation Realm, along with her accomplice. Yet, they were not foolish enough to venture out alone. They had brought with them several Life and Death Realm masters whose mission was to solely guard them both.
They marched, entering the passageway of the cave before they suddenly halted, “What's going on?”
Frowning, she glanced at her ally, searching for a response but the man merely noted the strange atmosphere with the same puzzlement and alarm, “What a strong suppressive force! I'm being completely shut off!”
The group exchanged stares. One of the guards shared the thoughts of the others, “I also felt it. This suppressive force appears to be triggered by some powerful array, it's too hard to resist!” Murmurs of shock and perturbation sliced through, building tension as the pressure of the superior power suffocated their own.
No one was left unaffected by its oppression, all the warriors were stuck in experiencing the slow panic welling up from inside of them from the uncertainty of the circumstances.
Whether it was the warriors at the Life and Death Realm, Virtual Tribulation Realm or the Internal Elixir Realm, no one could quell the dominating aura forcing them to submissiveness.
Bits of ice crystals flickered between Letitia's slim fingers, testing out her own abilities with a look of frustration spoiling her features. “My cultivation base has been suppressed by a whole realm, I can only wield strength at the medium stage of Internal Elixir Realm.”
It was too much of a damage; she was originally at the medium stage of the Virtual Tribulation Realm, but now, she was back at the Internal Elixir Realm. She clenched her fist as the inklings of fear started to manifest through the tremors shaking her slim body. She looked at the rest, sending a mute question of whether they were going through the same experience. ŕΑℕốΒË𝘚
She was decidedly not alone, judging by the distress the horde exhibited. The elders of the Virtual Tribulation Realm such as Fernandez were also doomed to showcase their prowess at a level of the Internal Elixir Realm.
Even Imogen who was at the Life and Death Realm, could only display the might of someone at the preliminary stage of Virtual Tribulation Realm.
A chill was felt by the troop; they feared that the enormous drop in their levels would be like lethal wounds that would soon devour them whole if they were not treated as soon as possible. Strength and cultivation were the most important things to warriors, if their tiers went down by a whole realm, they would not survive the numerous dangers lying dormant inside Mist's celestial tomb.
Struck by indignation and unadulterated dread, they had grown oblivious to Zen, the individual who stuck out like a sore thumb in the pack as he seemed to have no understanding of their qualms.
His cultivation was the lowest in the group. It was only recently that he had reached the seventh level of the Illuminating Soul Realm through aggressive training and hard work. If he had gone through what the others were experiencing at present, he would have been reduced to the seventh grade of the nature level.
Thankfully, it might be by pure, sheer luck that he had not been included in that same case.
Zen stared in astonishment, marveling at his own figure as he compared it to his associates.
He was surprised at the apprehension of the many
as he did not feel anything wrong with his own cultivation base.
He turned around, examining if a comrade was like him when he got distracted by his own space ring. It hummed with a warmth that was almost scalding. He regarded it with a careful touch; It was the space ring Letitia gave him, designed specifically for women so he did not put it on his own hand.
A space ring could not be placed with another one. The risk of causing a backlash upon clashing would cause a space storm inside the rings, thus destroying everything inside. To solve the issue, Zen had found a string and hung it on his chest to serve as a necklace.
Its capacity was large, more so than his prior one, so he transferred a portion of his items to the new one.
He had encountered no troubles over it, at least not until now, when the ring with the engraved phoenix on it burnt in high temperatures.
“What's going on?”
muttered Zen, his suspicions growing. It was likely that the item had helped him block the crushing force, but Tia's space ring should not have had any of that function.
It rarely had any purpose other than the storage of objects. If it had any special skill, Tia would have told him beforehand.
Biting his lip, he let his thoughts run wild with theories. 'It could be because of something inside, ' Zen thought.
With haste, he infused part of his soul power into the ring and began to scan through the held items. After a while, he discovered a small, glowing article that emitted a contained light.
It was a token.
Eyes widened in surprise, he examined the piece and tried to remember its origin. Zen had obtained many tokens from the Eastern Region to the Central Region. It was a mix from the Cloud Sect, the Zhang Clan, The Cloud Hall and the World Commercial Alliance; all piled up in the corner of the storage.
However, this unique material outshined all the others with the word 'wind' that was engraved on its surface.
A jolt shook him as he replayed his memories. Zen remembered, on his way back from White Emperor City, he had acquired this token from the fairy place of Dragon Valley in G country.
“This token is from the fairy palace!”
His heart thumped erratically at the revelation.
After he had gotten it, he had left the palace and never returned.
Zen was told to have failed in owning the palace completely back then. According to Saul, he would only be considered as the nominal master of the fairy palace, but not its real owner.
Therefore, he had never stepped foot in the fairy place again. There was no use after all; he did not have the authority to use the weapon refining workshops and pill refining rooms he had coveted.
He did not leave empty-handed though; Saul had given him the token with the carved word 'Wind' of the Eight Diagrams on its exterior.
It was given as protection against the attacks of the humongous puppets back in the fairy palace. Regretfully, it was deemed worthless and of no use in the Eastern Region or the Central Region so it had always been kept away at the corner of the space ring.
He never would have thought that it would prove its value here. After he entered Mist's celestial tomb, the token with Wind actually helped him to resist the suppressive force!
“The fairy palace and the celestial tomb…” He trailed off in thought, musing on the connection of the two. It was probable that the master of the fairy palace had a relationship with the immortal, Mist, or in another context, Mist could be the owner of the fairy palace.
Scratching his head in consideration, he concluded that there was no clue or way to answer his own conjectures. He sighed, settling instead on the good news that the token permitted him immunity to the taxing suppression.
Zen was at the Illuminating Soul Realm, and had the prowess to vanquish warriors of the Internal Elixir Realm. That signified that in his current standing, he would be able to crush the Virtual Tribulation Realm masters that had been downgraded to the Internal Elixir Realm.
He had the power to battle them here in Mist's celestial tomb.
A faint smirk cracked his lips. This was a secret for him to bear at the moment, as he was with a group from the Cloud Hall.
The team gathered their own bearings upon the initial upset and continued on their journey. They could no longer do anything about their status and could only hope that the experience they had gained from skirmishes and wars would not simply be erased and would help them in facing against peril. Cautiousness lined their steps as they passed through the long corridor, finally arriving at the entrance. They were about to release their defensive stances when a burst of cold wind pushed them back, hearing Imogen's wary voice shouting back in trepidation, “Everyone, be careful! Something is coming!”