The Ocean King Statue served as the entrance to the palace. A heavy pressure shrouded everyone, and golden shimmers fell upon them. Ye Futian felt a powerful will power invading his mind. He looked at the statue and seemed to have seen a godlike figure walking towards him, walking into his mind and overpowering him.
He was not alone; everyone around him felt the same way. It was the first trial of the ruins. If one wished to enter the ruins, they needed to be able to bear the powerful pressure of will from the statue. The higher one’s training was, the stronger the pressure. If a saint was present, the statue would have brought its greatest will to bear. There were some who had witnessed the phenomenon before, where a beam of golden light simply shot out of the sea.
The mighty ones from the three holy lands naturally knew what to do. They continued to move forward with the will pressure bearing on their minds. The ones at the forefront already made it to the golden steps and were walking towards the light emanating from the center of the statue. Once they made it past, they were able to enter the ruins.
Liu Yu, who was right beside Ye Futian, felt the pressure as well. However, the pressure on her was the weakest, as she was of the weakest in training out of all who were present. However, Ye Futian’s will could not help but resisted the pressure. It was something of an instinct.
As the god continued to walk into his mind, the pressure he bore became increasingly strong. A stronger will of resistance erupted from within his mind to resist that pressure. His spiritual will seemed to be burning, and it had gotten more and more powerful.
Ye Futian shook his head for a bit and sensed something strange. The powerful Ocean King’s will invading his mind had invoked the imperial will deep within his being. The Ocean King statue seemed to have become even more dazzling, as it seemed to have sensed the power coming from within Ye Futian’s. The Ocean King’s silhouette was regal and imposing within Ye Futian’s mind. He held a golden divine halberd in his hand while walking into his mind. The Ocean King’s powers were overbearing, intending to crush any power resisting him.
Ye Futian’s eyes looked straight at the Ocean King statue and his spiritual will seemed to have burned as well. Divine Fire of Emperors manifested, and the imperial will within Ye Futian’s mind seemed to have been provoked, which was returned in kind.
At that very moment, an incredibly holy figure appeared in his mind. It took Ye Futian’s form yet it burned within Divine Fire and basked in imperial essence, behaving in an overpowering manner like a true emperor. Everyone was to bow to him, even the Ocean King.
Boom! Several of the mighty ones on the golden steps were thrown away where they stood and crashed down below. They grunted as their spiritual will seemed to have been maimed, and they looked pale.
“What happened?” Pang Kun had been there before and he had entered the ruins. Why does it fail this time? He looked up and saw the golden statue shining with glittering, towering light, blinding those who saw it, making them unable to open their eyes. Furthermore, boundless light flowed about above the palace, and streaks of flowing light gathered on top of the statue in a frenzy, making it seem as if the statue had come to life, as if the Ocean King had appeared in person.
Indomitable pressure continued to sweep through the entire area in the sea. It was the true holy might. All who were below the golden steps and were on the golden ancient path shuddered under the might, making them felt as if they were to kneel. They were not the only ones being overpowered; even the proud black dragon’s body felt restless, and the demonic beasts around howled and roared. The entire undersea area was shaking.
“What is happening?” The mighty ones from the three holy lands were all pale. The pressure was so heavy that even a sliver felt unbearable. How the hell is this happening? There should be no saints here today.
A sliver of terrifying will swept through the entire undersea area. A golden light shot through the sea from the depth, rising up to heavens from the surface. One could see the golden light emanating from the sea from the surrounding areas.
Many mighty ones from the three holy lands had already gone to the ground. Their eyes were shut while their bodies shuddered. No one dared to let their guard down and brought their all to resist that pressure. No one had time to care about anyone else.
The human cultivators were not alone in their suffering; the demonic beasts suffered just as badly. All went prostrate and seemed to be worshipping the Ocean King’s statue.
Ye Futian’s body continued to shudder. He felt as if his soul itself was shuddering, and he never expected something like that to happen. The Ocean King certainly had been a very overbearing person when he was alive. It sensed the imperial will within Ye Futian’s mind and intended to wipe it clean with all he had.
He finally understood why no saint had been able to enter the ruins. A saint’s will proved to be more powerful than the Ocean King’s when he was alive, suppressing it in order to gain entry.
There was no way Ye Futian could have been capable of such a feat. While he had imperial will in his being, there was no way for him to thoroughly bring that power to the forefront, and burning it simply invoked part of its powers. If the Ocean King had been pinning down just his own will power, it would have wiped his mind clean without any problem. However, the Ocean King sensed Ye Futian’s imperial will, and he intended to wipe that from Ye Futian’s mind, which was why the current phenomenon happened.
Ye Futian felt as if his head was about to split apart. His brain seemed to be on the verge of exploding. There seemed to be two gods fighting inside his mind, which was so terrifying that he was about to crumble.
The entire palace was shaking. Boundless light seemed to have been invoked by the matrix. A god seemed to have walked out of that supremely divine statue, leaving an imprint in Ye Futian’s mind. Ye Futian was incredibly pissed off at the treatment. This Ocean King guy is just too much.
His imperial will seemed to have been angered as well. Its tremendously divine light of emperors dazzled, and a blinding light burst out of Ye Futian’s body. However, no one was there to pay any heed to him, as everyone was lying flat on the ground. Furthermore, the light bursting from the statue seemed to be enough to cover all other light sources.
The statue trembled alongside the palace.
Boom… A loud rumble was heard, and the godlike golden statue exploded into bits right, coalescing into a golden rock. Boundless light flowed inside Ye Futian’s mind and then disappeared altogether. The extremely terrifying pressure was lifted all of a sudden.
Ye Futian was thoroughly exhausted at that moment, sitting on the ground listlessly. The surrounding seawater invaded and drenched him from top to bottom. He was not alone. Everyone had been resisting the seawater using Spiritual Qi prior, and they were all drenched at the moment. All of them had been laid bare before the seawater around them. However, none of them were in any mood to pay attention to such details. They all looked at the broken rock and the remaining lower half of the statue. Everyone shuddered somewhat.
The Ocean King’s statue was gone.
Everyone knew what that meant.
The Halberd of Space and Time—Nothingness—was finally going to be seen throughout the Nine States again.
Even if none of them happened to be powerful enough to take the weapon away, the statue’s destruction meant that the palace no longer had anything to stand in the saints’ way. If the saints were to come claim the weapon personally, everyone knew how that would turn out.
“You all, get back to the Ocean Palace. Immediately,” Pang Kun ordered the mighty ones around him. All of them darted to the surface without question. The mighty ones from the Celestial Cliffs and the North Deep responded as well, sending people to inform their superiors.
If they were unable to claim the halberd, they could at least buy time. The saint who came the earliest would be the first to get their hands on the divine implement.
“Come, let’s go inside.” Pang Kun and his remaining people stepped through the screen of light and went inside the palace. People stepped inside one after another afterward. Without the statue getting in their way, the only notable obstacle to their quest was gone.
Everyone was able to get inside the palace effortlessly.
Ye Futian arrived before the broken statue as well. There was no seawater around him there. While the statue had indeed been broken, a formless screen of light continued to block the seawater. He peered forward and saw many broken pillars in the bright and vast golden palace, sprawled out all over the place. Intricate images filled the walls and the floor, but all of that was dull and tarnished.
“The matrix was destroyed,” Fang Tu commented. It looked completely different from how it was when they last came. The entire palace had been incredibly lavish and the light of the matrix flowed about.
“The collapse of the statue seems to be the reason of the matrix’s destruction. Any one of you know what happened earlier?” Pang Kun looked at the crowd behind him. “Who was the one who invoked the statue’s power?”
“You think it’s one of us here?” Fang Tu asked.
“Who else could it be other than us?” Pang Kun looked at him and added, “The statue only attacks those in front of the palace, so it has to be one of us. But then again, the statue was so powerful that it could even overpower saints. Who was it that broke the statue?” He was unable to fathom it all. The notion of someone more powerful than saints in their ranks was utterly ridiculous.
“With the matrix destroyed, things in the ruins are no longer what they once were. Everyone, be careful,” Fang Tu added. Everyone nodded in response and moved forward.
At that moment, Liu Zixuan found many pairs of eyes lingering on her, and she looked rather grim. It was especially so with those from the North Deep. They had no qualms staring at her voluptuous body. Due to having been drenched by seawater earlier, her clothes were sticking to her body, and her alluring figure was exposed. There were even parts that vaguely showed through the fabrics.
She did not pay any attention to that due to the shock experienced before, but she quickly took clothes out from her storage ring right to cover her body, wrapping everything inside. Even Lin Yu could not help but steal a glance at her before looking away. Liu Zixuan simply looked too tempting for a moment there.
It was the same with Liu Yu. She had a very alluring figure, and that naturally attracted looks. However, due to Liu Zixuan being around, the eyes around her were comparatively few. She nonetheless took out a coat and wrapped it around herself.
“Careful,” a voice said. A terrifying aura was sensed in an instant. Cold eyes turned to the direction where the voice was heard from. One frightening demonic beast after another from within the palace’s depth walked out.
“Welcome again to the Ocean King’s palace.” A voice was heard from deep within the palace, sending shivers down the spines of all those within earshot. Everyone felt as if they were being watched by a pair of eyes, which seemed to be able to bypass all distance, coming right before them.
Ye Futian looked far away and followed his senses. He seemed to be able to see an incredibly huge beast that behaved like a devil. Furthermore, terrifying aura emanated from that being.
“Liu Yu, Liu Han, let’s get out of here,” Ye Futian said to them telepathically. He took Liu Yu’s hand and stepped backward, intending to leave the palace.
He had just discovered something very terrifying!