Just as the bell rang, the Glass Saint and Great Zhou Sacred King were injured at the same time. Saint Xihua’s body turned into a shadow and moved instantly towards the Glass Saint, so quickly that there was no time to react.
Jiang Yuechan, who caught the body of Glass Saint, did not hesitate when she swung her sword at Saint Xihua. Everything she knew was taught to her by the Glass Saint, therefore their abilities were similar in nature. This sword was cold and biting, but when the attack of Saint Xihua countered it, the sword was broken inch by inch and the horrible turbulent force impacted her arms and body.
Blood blossomed, and Jiang Yuechan’s arm was pulverized instantly. She flew back along with the body of the Glass Saint. Her clothes were bloody and shocking to behold, but her beautiful face was not shaken one bit.
“Yuechan.” Glass Saint was looking pale. With this hit, Jiang Yuechan was injured more severely than her. If not for the space greatly restraining the strengths of the cultivators of the holy lands and that ringing of the bell just now, Jiang Yuechan would not have survived going up against Saint Xihua.
“My lady, I am fine.” Jiang Yuechan looked at Glass Saint and appeared just as firm as always. She did not call the Glass Saint “Master,” but referred to her as “My Lady” because she had followed the Glass Saint since she was a child and was her lady in waiting. She had accompanied Glass Saint as part of her dowry when she was to be married. They did not expect to be sent to the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty, and she had watched her lady nearly commit suicide to avoid the shame of being humiliated.
Later, when she and the lady were rescued by the previous lord of the Lapis Lazuli Holy Temple, they were saved, but the entire family of her lady was exterminated, and her own family along with them. She made a blood oath then that she would seek revenge one day, even if her talent was not particularly outstanding. But today, she was on the Sage and Saint Ranking. For revenge, she would do anything.
When Xihua Sacred Mountain and Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty teamed up to deal with the Holy Zhi Palace of Barren State, both of them knew that Great Zhou Sacred King would make his move on them. Today, at the imperial mausoleum, it was just an early arrival of the inevitable. Those two saints, who stood at the top of the Eastern State, would attack Lapis Lazuli Holy Temple sooner rather than later.
“That was because you interfered,” Saint Xihua said indifferently. This could not be regarded as an attack to the sage.
Dong! Another bell rang out. The radiant ancient bell kept spinning, releasing terrifying lights. The bell sounds were like the sound of the Great Path, once again rocking the minds of those who heard it. Everyone groaned, especially those on the Saint Plane as their Divine Paths were being suppressed.
At the same time, in the place where they stood, the brilliant light of the matrix seemed to resonate with the ancient bell and gave birth to a tremendous pressure of the Great Path. Those saints frowned and felt their power had been suppressed, forcing them to stand down from the Divine Path.
Dong! The bells were still ringing ceaslessly. As every bell rang out, it banged hard in the minds of all Saints. The cultivator next to Xia Qingyuan said, “Princess, our plane has been suppressed and we can no longer exercise the power of the Saint Plane.”
A touch of coolness flashed between Xia Qingyuan’s brows. She turned back and gave Ye Futian a look, but Ye Futian just said, “Princess, the puppets of the ancient temple were blocking the path with the ancient bell hanging in the sky. I could venture such a guess. The matrix is changing at the moment, perhaps we have an opportunity.” Just as he finished speaking, lanes of ancient paths appeared in front of the matrix, leading to the ancient temple in the front. Upon the ancient paths, strong and powerful puppets appeared.
“He guessed correctly?” Many looked at Ye Futian with amazement. Xia Qingyuan was a decisive person, so she ignored the descending pressure of the Great Path and went straight ahead toward the ancient path. Since the path had appeared to the ancient temple, then it had to be the right way.
Bang! There was a loud noise. Xia Qingyuan’s attack landed on the puppet but did not break it. She felt that this puppet seemed to be created by the matrix according to her plane so that it was extremely strong and indestructible.
A terrible vortex suddenly appeared on top of her palm. When the attack came, she raised her slender fingers and pointed forward. In a flash, the terrible vortex shattered everything, and the body of the puppet exploded.
Xia Qingyuan continued to move forward, the bell still ringing and the glory of the Great Path continuing to rain down, which put her under great pressure. Still, she moved forward steadily, pushing open the door of the ancient temple where there was an enormous golden glow reflected upon everyone’s face.
Huang Xi was extremely emotional. According to the mark on the map, the cache of the sutras within the Imperial mausoleum was here. It could contain many powerful methods, and it could be a treasure trove.
With Xia Qingyuan taking the lead, the rest followed close behind. The matrix was constantly slowing down, and puppets appeared one after another. The stronger the cultivator, the stronger the puppet, and the bell never stopped its pressure so that the saints were also suppressed and moving step by step inside.
“I will go in to take a look. Keep tabs on him.” Saint Ji transmitted his voice to Ji Ya and went forward. Most of the people from the holy lands in the Nine States and the cultivators of the Upper Worlds also wanted to enter and look inside.
Huang Xi also had this impulse, but Ye Futian had told them to give up. He knew the reason behind Ye Futian’s decision. Many cultivators were here. If they were going along with them, there would be no chance of survival at all.
This ancient temple was excellent bait.
At this time, the Glass Saint was still confronting Saint Xihua and Great Zhou Sacred King. Ye Futian observed the situation in front of him and realized that this matrix was self-contained and therefore impossible to take advantage of. Although it could suppress the power of the Divine Path, it was impossible for a sage to overcome the existence of a saint even if the other party’s strength was suppressed.
“Move,” Saint Xihua said and joined forces once again with Great Zhou Sacred King to continue the attack on Glass Saint.
Ye Futian realized that it was not only Saint Xihua and Great Zhou Sacred King, but there were also many cultivators of the Xihua Sacred Mountain and the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty who also did not venture into the ancient temple, but instead were focused on him.
Aside from that, there was also Saint Zhi to consider. Saint Zhi hated him to the bone. Since they entered the imperial mausoleum, he had focused his attention on him. And then there were some who surprised Ye Futian. People of the Hall of Holy Light and many holy lands in the Nine States had left some people who also did not enter the ancient temple.
Saint Ji had already stepped toward the ancient temple, but several cultivators from the Hall of Holy Light paid no mind to it, as if they had not noticed at all. Instead, they were focusing all their attention on his side. Among them, there were the two topmost gifted talents from the Hall of Holy Light—Ji Ya, and Ji Mo—and one other with a very strong presence, very possibly one of the sages from the Hall of Holy Light. As for other cultivators, they were also the top figures of all the holy lands.
It seemed that this time, his opponents were not just the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty and Xihua Sacred Mountain.
“Don’t you want to go inside the ancient temple and take a look?” Ye Futian glanced at the cultivators in the matrix.
No one answered him, which made Ye Futian faintly get the feeling that the two holy lands in the Eastern State had investigated the background of the imperial mausoleum and suspected certain things. Not only them, but the other holy lands also vaguely knew of these things, but they should all just be suspicion without confirmation. If this was the case, he would like to see if Saint Xihua and Great Zhou Sacred King would be willing to give him up.
“Let’s go,” Ye Futian said. When his voice faded, he abandoned the ancient temple and led the people of the Barren State to step back and went around the matrix, moving forward from another direction. This matrix was the only way to the ancient temple in front, but there were no more obstructions preventing them from moving toward it.
Sure enough, as Ye Futian started to move, many shadows now came out of the sky, and Saint Xihua had a look of hesitation. The exchange with Glass Saint before gave him an understanding of her true strength. Under the condition that all three of them had their powers suppressed, it would be difficult for the two of them to overcome the Glass Saint in a short time.
“The imperial mausoleum is important,” Saint Xihua said to Great Zhou Sacred King, and then immediately gave up his attack on the Glass Saint and instead pursued in the direction of Ye Futian.
Now it was ascertained that Ye Futian knew of the secret of the imperial mausoleum, and with his understanding of Ye Futian, who was a tough character, if he had given up the ancient temple, it must be because the real treasure of the imperial mausoleum was not here. He would keep a close eye on Ye Futian, and perhaps there were also treasures in the ancient temple, but there was no gain without risk.
Ye Futian and his party were extremely fast. They were running like mad inside the imperial mausoleum. The ancient temple had attracted many people, but they did not expect that there were so many cultivators following, which was rather thorny. Soon they would reach the entrance to the place of the inheritance of the Imperial mausoleum. It would be best if everything went well.
Finally, there was an immensely powerful pressure of the Great Path coming toward them, and they could faintly make out many large statues that extended high into the sky. Both Saint Xihua and Great Zhou Sacred King were moved, and their looks were solemn as they moved forward step by step.
Ye Futian gradually reduced his speed and slowed down to take in the magnificent scenery in front of him. Although he had already seen the map of the imperial mausoleum in advance, it was still deeply shocking when he beheld the scene in person.
This was an enormous mausoleum. In front of the mausoleum there was a stone wall, immensely large and laid across the imperial mausoleum. On the huge stone wall, there were engravings of enormous statues that were lifelike. Every statue could be that of a man of great importance in life.
There was a total of 37 statues, with 18 on each side, completely symmetrical. The statue in the middle was radiant all over, and its eyes seemed to regard the world with great authority.
Everyone felt that their breathing had become quick and difficult, and there was a kind of suffocating pressure descending upon them. Even saints, such as the Great Zhou Sacred King and Saint Xihua, were no exception.
The statue in the middle was most likely the statue of Renhuang. And the 36 statues on both sides each contained a terrible will of the Great Path, and this realization was the true realization of the Great Path.
“This is the real imperial mausoleum, the tomb of Renhuang.” Saint Xihua’s heart was incredibly turbulent as he stared at everything in front of him. Glass Saint also stared ahead with her beautiful eyes. She entered the imperial mausoleum because she also wanted to get to the treasures hidden within and use them to squash the Great Zhou Sacred King.
This imperial mausoleum was not complicated, and there was no murderous matrix. It was very likely that the master of the Imperial mausoleum was preparing for the inheritance of his descendants. Then perhaps, Ye Futian and his people would have a way to enter this true tomb of Renhuang.
Saint Zhi walked towards Ye Futian and stopped not far behind him. His eyes were fixed on him. If there was a chance, it was certain that he would let Ye Futian meet his maker. However, Ye Futian appeared not to have noticed. His eyes remained on the statue in front. He knew that behind this was the inheritance left by Renhuang, and this statue was the entrance. However, the premise was to open it.
“Ye Futian, how do we get in?” Saint Xihua said as he moved forward step by step, the pressure of the Great Path emitted by the statues inside the mausoleum descended on his body, and Saint Xihua just felt the entire burden of heaven upon him.
But right now, inside of him, there was only greed.
The rest of the cultivators had also moved toward Ye Futian and the others. They all felt that they were now close to the real destination!