In the center of the eight-sided black hall, the full pressure of all eight celestial walls would be borne.
Even for Gui Bai Tong, who considered himself a chosen one, stepping forward required courage.
How could he muster that courage?
The indifference in Gui Bai Tong’s eyes vanished, replaced by a confidence bordering on madness.
Since awakening in the Heavenly Palace, nothing in the world, be it cultivation or the physics and mathematics of Blue Star, had ever proven a challenge to him.
Therefore, he believed Fuxi would be no different!
And so, the youth lowered his right leg, which had been suspended in mid-air.
*Rumble!*
Before his foot could even touch the ground, the seemingly indestructible stone bricks shattered under the immense pressure emanating from him, and the pulverized flesh and blood beneath them sank.
Gui Bai Tong steadied himself and took a step forward. His body was enveloped in fierce winds and blazing flames, his eyes blazed with lightning, and his skin shimmered with golden light. This time, he unleashed his powers, going all out.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Eight resounding booms echoed, shaking the space. The boundless gravity instantly crushed the gravitational daos he controlled.
He had only just comprehended them and could not resist such immense pressure.
The youth's expression drastically changed. It was only now that he finally understood why these eight stone walls were called Celestial Walls.
Celestial Walls, vast and boundless, their width unknown, heavy as the firmament!
Suddenly, Xu Mu looked up. He seemed to have realized something.
He stood in the center of the first level, and the eight celestial walls now seemed to converge, forming a continuous line. Their height was immeasurable, and the roof that was previously visible now appeared to have vanished, pierced by the celestial walls, reaching straight into the heavens.
So, up, down, left, and right, there was no end.
It turned out the eight celestial walls were merely a deception; the true celestial wall was singular!
"Heh!"
A low growl escaped Xu Mu. His muscles bulged, and the surging winds and thunder spread outward. The terrifying aura almost sent the observing lords, standing dozens of meters away, flying.
"He can withstand it?"
Some were astonished by Xu Mu's strength. His mere presence was so powerful that the eunuchs present felt their faces burn, as if they had been slapped.
This was hardly a man at the end of his rope; one would believe him if he claimed to have just broken through in this state!
"Bang!"
Relentless and unavoidable, the gravitational daos, with their devastating force, annihilated the winds and thunder, and then bore down entirely upon Xu Mu, pressing against his body, which resembled exquisite jade.
Xu Mu's body remained unharmed for the moment, but the ground did not fare as well.
It was like using a hammer to crack a walnut, with a thin wooden board placed beneath the walnut.
As long as the walnut was hard enough, the board would shatter first.
And the moment the gravity, like the sky collapsing, landed on Xu Mu, he held firm, and the obsidian tiles covering the ground once again shattered.
*Crack! Crack! Crack!*
Centered on Xu Mu's feet, the ground within dozens of meters cracked and crumbled like a spiderweb. His own body was submerged by the collapsing ground, sinking into a vast pit more than two meters deep.
The celestial walls hummed, and the gravitational daos surged like a tidal wave, eroding his body.
Xu Mu's heartbeat began to slow.
"More than... one hundred... thousand... times!"
In the pit, Xu Mu was hunched over, his hands in a posture of lifting, his shoulders pressed into the shattered stones, as if holding up the sky. And the weight of that sky continued to increase!
Even the proud Gui Bai Tong felt a tremor of fear at this point.
The celestial wall, now a unified entity, was entirely different from before. It was like the difference between a spark and a raging inferno. If before he was resisting external gravity, now he was standing within a world of gravity!
Boundless and without end, he was like a tiny ant crushed beneath a toppling mountain, buried in the earth.
The only way was to find a clever way to evade, to seek an exit in the cracks.
But the celestial walls were boundless, their length and width unknown, forming a closed loop. So where could one find a blind spot?
"He doesn't seem to be able to get out!"
A sudden change occurred. The violent winds and thunder instantly subsided, replaced by a suffocating gravity. Then, Xu Mu's body abruptly vanished into the ground, crushed into the pit.
For a full three seconds, he remained motionless, seemingly unable to struggle!
"Hahaha, so what if he wasn't at the end of his rope? He's still going to die!"
The eunuch shrieked with laughter, his mockery sharp.
Even if Xu Mu was a once-in-a-century genius, challenging the rules with his pride would only lead to death!
"What a pity."
The Wang family ancestor, sensing the gravitational pressure in the arena, raised an eyebrow in surprise. Then, lamenting Xu Mu, a genius as brilliant and short-lived as a shooting star.
That gravity far exceeded his estimated hundred thousand times, and it was still increasing. In three seconds, it reached one hundred and fifty thousand, its upper limit unknown.
"I never thought the greatest enemy of my Wang family in the future would die so soon."
The old man clasped his hands behind his back and laughed heartily, walking past the drunken Daoist with a sense of exhilaration.
He passed through the eighth celestial wall without any pressure and stepped onto the stairs leading up.
"A very talented genius, but alas, short-lived."
"I admit you weren't wrong, but what's the point of that?"
The Daoist's gaze was heavy. He ignored the old man's taunt.
From his position, he could see a little of Xu Mu's current situation. He was still holding on.
However, as the spatial pressure intensified, he seemed to be nearing his limit.
The drunken Daoist became somewhat bewildered, then regretful.
Could it be that the successor his senior brother had so painstakingly found would die like this today?
...
"Charles, think of something!"
Gui Bai Tong roared. Using all his strength, he climbed out of the rubble and dirt, step by step, back onto the ground.
During this process, his arm, unable to withstand the pressure from the side, forcefully pushed out the white bones from his back, a terrifying sight with blood gushing like pillars, resembling a mutated monster.
"I told you to make some devices, but you didn't! Now where am I supposed to get a weight reducer for you!"
Charles, abandoning all respect, cursed.
Long ago, he had taught Gui Bai Tong how to build a zero-gravity machine that could block the Earth's pull and increase speed.
But Gui Bai Tong thought it was useless, as he was already fast enough, and the process was too cumbersome and time-consuming. So he never made it.
Who would have thought it would become necessary!
"Regret is useless. I can't do anything."
Charles shook his head. He had no way to help Gui Bai Tong now, as he couldn't conjure a machine out of thin air.
As for how to combine the remaining powers and Daoist techniques, he believed Gui Bai Tong understood it better than he did.
...
"Damn it!"
The scarlet white bones were smoothed by the gravity, and the Daoist talismans inscribed on them vanished. The energy shield, like a balloon in a fierce wind, was squeezed into an unrecognizable shape and then shattered.
His expression was disheveled, filled with disbelief.
In just three seconds, everything he had prepared was destroyed. After exerting all his effort, all he had achieved was crawling out of the pit and taking two steps forward.
He still needed to take thirty-five steps to reach the stairs leading to the second floor.
Gui Bai Tong's eyes gradually dimmed. He did have some other means, but if he unleashed them all and still couldn't escape, what would await him?
Cellular breakdown, organs ruptured.
And then, his heart would stop beating?
...