The youth carried his sword upside down, his body covered in blood.
He had no time to care about others' shock, his gaze fixed solemnly on the gate of the black palace.
"It's still unlocked."
The artifact spirit demon god sighed. As expected, where there was one, there would be a second. He had encountered an anomaly who could disregard restrictions, and his divine soul could too.
However, he was now reduced to someone's weapon, unable to recover his strength at will, while the other party was different. He appeared to hold absolute authority.
As long as he unlocked the other seals and absorbed the demonic energy, he would be able to shape a physical body.
By then, his title as demon god would be completely stripped away, and his billions of years of loneliness would become a joke.
"Don't worry, they won't cause any trouble."
The gray-white eyed individual remained calm, seemingly unconcerned about the demon god's revival.
Whether it was the divine soul seeping out of the demon god or the spiritual entity of Vilitian, they were all within the palace before him.
So it was simple: he would go in and kill them.
"Bang!"
Under the astonished gazes of everyone, Xu Mu kicked the gate open and, carrying his sword upside down, slowly walked in, his back gradually swallowed by darkness.
It was so easy, as if he were walking into a neighbor's yard to fetch a disobedient puppy.
...
"This..."
The numerous domain lords' eyes widened to their fullest. The truth was unknown, how dared this brat do this!
Had he also been possessed?
"Can't care about that anymore!"
After a brief, intense struggle, Biting Fire retracted his celestial and terrestrial manifestation, his eyes burning with fervor as he charged into the palace, leaving behind a blaze of flames.
"We're going too!"
Following closely behind were the colossal ability user the size of a mountain, and the little loli riding on a fire bear.
With the holy relic ahead, no matter what schemes or tricks were involved, how could they retreat easily after coming this far?
Those who fear death would never obtain great fortune!
"Let's go, together!"
"We're going too!"
"Hurry and charge..."
Faced with the temptation of the holy relic, everyone went mad. Even the cultivators at the rear, tasked with interception and serving as cannon fodder, all turned into streams of light and vied to fly into the palace, attempting to seize their fortune.
"Alas, after being timid for two hundred years, whether the Wang family can truly rise depends on this moment."
The old ancestor of the Wang family stood at the entrance, watching the ability users file in. Finally, steeling his resolve, he too stepped into the darkness.
...
Meanwhile, inside the palace.
It was so dark that one could not see their fingers. In all directions, there seemed to be no end.
Xu Mu's consciousness spread outwards, but he could not perceive any boundaries.
"From the outside, the length and width of this palace seemed no more than that of an ordinary restaurant. Upon entering, one discovers how vast it is."
Charles sighed. He surmised that this palace was similar to the Heavenly Palace, boundless.
"There is nothing, so just keep walking forward."
Gray-white eyed individual was clearly experienced in such matters. Although darkness stretched as far as the eye could see, he felt as if he were about to reach the end.
Or rather, it was like being at home.
With a single thought, one could arrive.
*Tap!*
Xu Mu's brow twitched as he seemed to step on something.
Then, one torch after another lit up around him, spiraling from left to right, from low to high, as if by magic, their destination unknown.
"Octagonal shape. From the outside it looks like a palace, but inside it's a building."
Gray-white eyed individual looked around. The area of the first floor seemed to be the largest, enough to accommodate a thousand people, like a plaza. As one ascended, the width of the building seemed to decrease, accommodating fewer people.
The eight walls around were also mottled, and something seemed to be hidden within them, just like the divine murals before, giving him a sense of inexplicable pressure.
"There's a staircase."
Xu Mu, in the Heavenly Palace, spoke. He saw that at the opposite end, a wooden staircase ascended, attached to the wall, spiraling upwards. It seemed that by ascending it, he could find the demon god's divine soul.
"It certainly won't be that simple."
The demon god's voice was ancient. Although he possessed a divine soul, it was derived from his broken horn later.
He only retained memories from before his true body's divine soul was sealed here, so he did not understand this space.
Xu Mu's rash intrusion made him fearful, for he was afraid of Fuxi, and of being sealed again.
"What is this place?"
Biting Fire emerged from the darkness behind him and stepped into this space, standing behind Xu Mu, gazing at his surroundings in a daze.
"I never expected it to be like this inside."
The little loli, holding her bear doll, also appeared, accompanied by the towering giant.
Gray-white eyed individual frowned. He had a premonition that more people would be arriving, so he stepped aside a few paces.
As expected, amidst a clamor of noise, more and more ability users entered this space. Most of them were injured, some crying, some laughing, and some fainted the moment they entered, as if there was something terrifying in that darkness.
"They've all come."
Xu Mu in the Heavenly Palace was surprised. Not only the domain lords from in front of the palace, but even the ability users who were used as cannon fodder to block the outside had seized the opportunity to break in, all wanting to contend for a fortune.
Biting Fire's expression was grim. No one had followed his previous regulations. With so many people vying for it, his chances of success would be significantly reduced.
"Members of the Demon Extermination Division, gather behind me!" Biting Fire took two steps forward, turned to scan, and signaled for his own people to assemble by his side.
At this moment, apart from individual strength, it was the foundation of one's own faction. Although not many from the Demon Extermination Division had arrived, only a dozen or so, everyone except Yin Zhongxiu was a top-tier expert.
Yes, he had already counted the younger generation, Yan Yu and Xu Mu, among the experts.
At this very moment, they were no longer insignificant juniors but key to his success in obtaining the holy relic. The man's confidence soared.
He believed that as long as these two did not betray him and revealed all the secrets they knew, his chances of obtaining the holy relic would greatly increase. By then, even the top ten on the world rankings might not be his match!
Thinking of this, Biting Fire immediately became wary, emanating a terrifying aura, ready to act at any moment. The people from other factions had naturally also noticed the performance of Xu Mu and Yan Yu, and someone would surely try to eliminate these two.
Seeing that the members of the Demon Extermination Division had gathered, the other factions also quickly regrouped. Those who were weak and alone temporarily formed teams or joined forces for protection.
From this moment on, their opponents were not only the unknown but also everyone around them.
With the opportunity ahead, everyone besides oneself was an enemy.
"Ouch!"
Suddenly, a strange cry drowned out the noisy clamor. Everyone turned to see a fourth-stage lord-level ability user, driven by greed, who had discovered the staircase and wanted to climb it when no one was paying attention.
But halfway up, he suddenly fell to the ground.
"He can't get up!"
Everyone stared in unison. The man seemed to be exerting all his strength, but he couldn't get up from the ground. His face was flushed, and his neck was contorted.
The flesh on his face and his robes, as if filled with lead, all drooped towards the ground.
*Crack, crack!*
After a grueling three seconds, the ability user couldn't hold on any longer. His chest was three centimeters from the ground, and then he fell heavily again, as if a mountain was pressing down on his back, crushing his bones.
Following that, his bones were crushed, then his internal organs, face, eyeballs...
Five seconds later, he had become a flattened puddle of flesh.
He was dead, crushed by something unknown, and his resistance was futile.
"Gravity."
A fifth-stage domain lord spoke. In the center of the octagonal building, he sensed immense weight.
It seemed to be tens of thousands of times what their human bodies could normally withstand!
"To obtain fortune, one must pay a price."
An sinister voice echoed from the top of the octagonal building.
As he spoke, the seemingly endless height of the structure appeared to have an end.
"Seven floors," Gray-white eyed individual counted.
"Who are you!"
Biting Fire's expression was grave. This was the one who had controlled Ji Chang and helped them open the great array, and now he appeared at the very top, as if he had always lived there.
"I am the demon god."
The phantom spoke:
"You mortals may not have heard of my legend, but it doesn't matter."
"You only need to know that this octagonal building has seven floors, each with different trials and restrictions, and of course, opportunities. Only those who pass the trials can ascend."
"The trial on the first floor is called the Eight-Faced Heavenly Wall. You must proceed in order from one to eight, enduring gravity from one hundred to eight thousand times, and pass through with your physical bodies to reach the next level."
"Those who break the rules and barge in directly will be subjected to the combined pressure of the eight heavenly walls, resulting in death and annihilation."
"Of course, during this process, it is not necessary to pass through with brute physical force. This heavenly wall is in harmony with the Great Dao. If one can comprehend its mysteries, they can naturally pass, and their physical bodies will become indestructible."
The demon god's divine soul paused, for he saw Xu Mu, and naturally, he saw his own body that had become a sword.
His emotions were complex, and then he became enraged, but finally, he returned to peace.
He certainly could not reveal these facts publicly, for then no one would risk breaking the seal for him.
"So, you are the holy relic itself?"
Someone asked loudly. The demon god suppressed the anger in his heart towards the demon god's horn, thinking that the holy relic was below, and thus did not answer.
He continued to speak:
"This is a trial specially set up by that brat Fuxi. He believed that even if my seal were broken, those who could pass the seven trials would have the ability to fear me. But I did not think so. Therefore, the final outcome is for you to decide."
The hundreds of ability users in the field fell silent in unison.
Demon god, seal, holy relic... there were too many unknown terrors here.
But as the divine soul above had said, whether to seek fortune or flee in fear was their own choice.
Moreover, it seemed they could not go back. They looked back and saw only cold walls, with no sign of the path they had come from!
"The victor becomes king, the vanquished becomes a bandit," Charles shook his head, his expression calm. "This is a devil using human desires to make a deal."
"And when humans have desires, they lose."
"Not so," Gray-white eyed individual shook his head. He looked at the first heavenly wall before him, and a strong urge to step into it suddenly arose.
So he lifted his foot.
"Losing or winning has nothing to do with greed or not, nor does it have anything to do with being human or a devil."
He said, and stepped beneath the first heavenly wall.
Instantly, a hundredfold gravity pressed down on him. His golden Dao source dimmed, and even the flow of his blood became slow.
But his expression remained as usual.
Xu Mu closed his eyes slightly. A hundredfold gravity was naturally not a problem for him. The reason he stopped was because he needed to sense the Great Dao between the heavenly walls.
With the flow of blood, each compression and beat of his heart, the expansion and contraction of his pores, his connection with this space deepened.
The sensation was like a wandering swordsman who had traveled thousands of miles, crossed mountains and seas, and returned to his homeland, closing his eyes to feel the breeze and breathe the scent of the wheat fields, feeling carefree and at ease in his heart.
Calmness led to clarity.
Thus, Xu Mu took a second step forward.
He then took a third step, a fourth step, a fifth step... He did not pause. After crossing the first heavenly wall, he continued to cross five more, only stopping at the sixth.
This time, his breathing was slightly heavy, and even bloodshot veins appeared in his eyes.
This was three thousand times the gravity.
But he still maintained a poker face.
"As long as I'm here, I will definitely win."
*Boom!*
So he took another step forward.
...