The crowd stood behind Emperor Pillzenith, casting hesitant looks at the palace that had appeared out of nowhere. Not even the locals knew what was going on. Its sudden appearance was simply too suspicious. They were all peerless experts in the human domain, but fear of death was only human nature.
âWhoâs willing to go in and take a look?â Emperor Pillzenith asked coldly.
The great emperors looked at one another, but no one volunteered.
âDaoist Luo Jue, since this is your territory, why donât you go in and have a look? Perhaps this residence is actually an ancient secret realm thatâs recently emerged.â Emperor Pillzenith glanced at the faction leader.
His target frowned. âThereâs no past record of this place. Its sudden emergence is simply too suspicious. Iâm afraid nothing good will come out of this if we enter. This is a setup!â
Send me in first? Luo Jue was no fool. He wouldnât have hesitated if this encounter had been with a past Jiang Chen, but the one now was no longer someone to be underestimated.
Emperor Shura, Old Ma, and even Big Horn had been slain by that brat. He clearly had the ability to kill great emperors. Luo Jue was a very confident man, but he didnât think he was any stronger than Emperor Shura.
Naturally, he wouldnât want to be on the front lines.
Emperor Pillzenith frowned. âDaoist Jue Luo, donât forget that youâre the one who gains the most from that bratâs death. Moreover, this is your territory. You have first pick of any treasure or heritage within. If we go in first, youâll have to relinquish your rights.â
The holy emperor shook his head without hesitation. âSo be it.â
Emperor Pillzenith was rendered speechless by the faction leaderâs timidness. He turned his head towards the crowd. âAny volunteers?â
Nobody volunteered despite his expectant gaze. This wasnât childâs play. Nobody was dumb enough to enter the residence alone.
......
At this very moment, Jiang Chen was sitting cross-legged in a hidden corner within the palace. The dwelling that Guo Ran had left behind was extremely well-designed. Jiang Chen could see everything that was happening around the palace.
The effects of oneâs cultivation was also enhanced compared to the outside world. Moreover, it was built like a maze. If Jiang Chen wanted to play hide and seek, those bastards would never be able to find him.
It was equipped not only with a disorientating formation, but also an empyrean slaughter formation that would easily decimate great emperors into dust.
Jiang Chen would never want to use this trump card unless there was no other option. He was meditating as every passing second was inexplicably precious. Heâd been travelling across multiple regions for the past few months, but never forgot to cultivate.
Despite being so diligent, he wasnât able to achieve the desired results due to constant traveling. Fortunately, his talents were far beyond the common person. Even though he hadnât entered closed door cultivation, his cultivation speed was still incredibly quick.
All of a sudden, his expression changed. Somebody had entered the palace!
Through his consciousness, he noticed a figure probing through the entrance vigilantly. The man took each and every step with extreme caution as though he was walking through a mountain of daggers and a sea of fire.
It was Pillfire Cityâs Emperor Heartcloud. He was one of Emperor Pillzenithâs loyal deathsworn. Since nobody had volunteered, he offered to be the first to scout the unknown palace.
Only one? Jiang Chen was a little disappointed. He didnât want to waste the a charge of the restriction on a single person.
Unless there was a supreme spatial art expert amongst the group, they would have an extremely hard time locating him if he didnât voluntarily reveal himself. Moreover, heâd already fully refined the abode. He was the overlord of the territory and could set the rules within this finite space. A bold thought suddenly appeared in his mind.
I was only able to kill Emperor Shura, Old Ma, and Big Horn with the aid of others. Come to think of it, Iâve yet to kill one with my own strength.
He then shifted his glance towards the palace. This is my territory. Iâm the one who sets the rules! Even a great emperor wonât have a chance against me here!
Even the person in question was shocked by his own thoughts. There was simply no way an initial emperor realm cultivator could kill a great emperor. But such thoughts have surfaced nonetheless.
It was like a swarm of ants crawling around in his mind. The itch was almost unbearable. He wanted to give it a try!
Mm. I mustnât be hasty. There needs to be a plan first. One could only imagine how difficult itâd be to kill a great emperor without the restriction. Everything would fall apart with a single mistake.
Granted, there was no need for him to be afraid of failure because he could easily get away thanks to the numerous mazes found within. Thereâs no harm trying since thereâs little risk!
Jiang Chen took inventory of his many trump cards. The magnetic golden mountain, Bewitching Lotus of Fire and Ice, Featherflight Mirror, Pentecolor Divine Swords, Imperial Advent Defense and Onslaught Talisman... to name just a few.
He could also call upon powerful formations such the Eight Trigram Boulder Formation, Great Dream of Spring and Autumn Formation, as well as the Heavenly Chalice Sword Formation.
After a brief but thorough contemplation, he had a plan.
Mm. Iâll incorporate formations into my attacks and when he least expects it, finish him off with the Heavenly Chalice Sword Formation. His most powerful attack method was currently the Heavenly Chalice Sword Formation. He hadnât fully mastered it yet, but there was no doubt of its lethality.
He was also in the possession of the Pentecolor Divine Swords. He hadnât fully mastered the sword technique either. Even if he had, it would still be weaker than the formation. After all, the addition of strength from a formation added power that ordinary weapon attacks couldnât measure up to.
Within one of the many spaces, Jiang Chen began to lay down the Great Dream of Spring and Autumn Formation, an extremely powerful restrictive formation. He completed it as quickly as he could and moved on to the Eight Trigram Boulder Formation.
A formation within a formation!
He wanted to restrict his enemy and attack when least expected. He was unable to fight a great emperor head-on at his current cultivation level. He could only resort to sneak attacks. Moreover, it would only work if the enemyâs guard was down. This opportunity may or may not appear, but if it did, it would only last for a fraction of a second.
Jiang Chen had to make complete use of that brief timing. As long as his timing was correct, the Heavenly Sword Chalice Formation would most definitely kill the enemy.
After all preparations were made, he turned into a flash of light and moved towards Emperor Heartcloud.
Right now, he needed to lure the enemy into the trap. Moreover, he had to be subtle or the enemy might not take the bait. The enemy was clearly an overly cautious old fox who would never pounce unless he had complete confidence.
Jiang Chen didnât seek Emperor Heartcloud out. Instead, he calculated the opponentâs route and continued cross-legged meditation while waiting for his opponentâs arrival. He was trying to make it seem like a chance encounter.
Emperor Heartcloud was indeed an extremely cautious and vigilant man. His heart was filled with regret after volunteering. He found the palace a little eerie after some exploration, but hadnât found any lethal traps just yet.
However, he didnât let his guard down because of that. Quite the opposite in fact. How could there be no traps in a palace as suspicious as this?
As he walked, he noticed a tiny sliver of consciousness in front of him. It was such a weak and tiny ripple that he almost failed to notice it. His heart sunk. As expected, thereâs someone in the palace! Is that brat hiding in here?
He remained vigilant and didnât rush forward. Instead, he slowed down his movements and analyzed the consciousness in detail. As he slowly made his way forward, the strength of the consciousness only became stronger.
Suddenly, he heard a low gasp as though the person in question was startled by something. Whoosh! The person turned into a flash of light and shot away.
Hmm? Did the brat notice me? Emperor Heartcloud hesitated for a second but quickly gave chase.
âBrat! Youâre surrounded! You wonât escape fate even if you grow wings!â Emperor Heartcloud growled deeply and dashed towards the beam of light.
He was still a little anxious but couldnât afford to hesitate any longer. Heâd finally found the brat after such a long search. His trip into the palace wouldâve been for naught if he let the brat flee.
Eager to please his superior, Emperor Heartcloudâs vigilance had dropped by a great half.