Chapter 756: Nine Dragon Killing Array

"The Buried Soul Star Domain was originally a Small World just like this one. Laws were only established later, allowing it to flourish into what it is today!"

"Could this be a leftover fragment? Was the Buried Soul Star Domain never fully utilized?"

"It must be a Twin Space. One part was discovered and had its laws established! This one, however, is perfectly complete but hidden away, yet to be found."

"Is the entire thing a Twin Space, or just this region?"

"Only this Purgatory Purple Mountain. Inside Purgatory Purple Mountain is an independent Space that contains this Law Supreme Dao."

"If we could acquire this Purgatory Purple Mountain, it would be a genuine, transportable Celestial Dao Rule Domain Secret Realm. Que De, you should know how valuable that is!"

"Acquiring it would be like obtaining an entire Star Domain..."

Que De’s voice trembled.

This scene was simply horrifying.

What was even more terrifying was that, until now, no one had discovered this place.

"How do we acquire it?"

Ye Tianling gazed at the sprawling Nine Dragon Killing Array, utterly clueless as to where to even begin.

This was no ordinary killing array. Even a Venerable who came in person would most likely be obliterated by the sheer force of this Nine Dragon Killing Array.

’Get benefits here?’

’First, we need to see if we can even survive.’

"Acquire it? There’s no way to acquire it. Let’s just observe for now. With this kind of killing array, even Venerables would be courting death. A Great Emperor is a Great Emperor, after all. How could a Great Emperor’s tomb be so simple? Besides, as long as we remained ignorant of the truth, we were blissfully unaware and couldn’t trigger the killing intent here.

But now that we know, we’ve touched upon certain rules of this place. It’s like we’ve already formed a connection with the array. Any move we make could very well activate it...

Sigh... Lord Que knew it. You’re a jinx! Every time I’m with you, I’m cursed with the worst luck imaginable."

Que De sighed, lamenting his fate.

An indescribable expression once again crossed Ye Tianling’s face.

But he couldn’t deny it. Every time he and Que De teamed up, Que De either ended up coughing up blood or was beaten to within an inch of his life. There were almost no exceptions.

As Ye Tianling carefully studied the Nine Dragon Killing Array, his expression grew even more solemn.

"The Nine Dragon Killing Array is awakening. It’s still changing, still Devouring some unknown Essence, Qi, and Soul Energy... Damn it, is a Great Emperor about to be resurrected? Or is this place a killing ground in itself? Are the Essence, Qi, and Soul of all the Cultivators who die in this region transported here to be absorbed? Otherwise, where would this array get so much Essence, Qi, and Soul?

This Essence, Qi, and Soul... it really belongs to Cultivators. There’s a death game here. Out of a thousand prodigies, only ten can survive. The other nine hundred and ninety must die!

And this happens every year!"

Ye Tianling recalled something and immediately told Que De about the War Dragon Academy’s trials.

Upon hearing this, the color drained from Que De’s chubby face, leaving it dark and grim.

"Damn it! If that’s the case, doesn’t it mean this place has already been discovered? At the very least, the War Dragon Academy must know about it! What are they trying to feed? What’s their goal? We’ve triggered the killing array now, so we’ll obviously be used as a Blood Sacrifice too! I knew it... you jinx! I’m never doing anything important with you ever again!"

The corners of Que De’s mouth twitched a few times. He looked like he was about to cry.

The corner of Ye Tianling’s mouth twitched as well.

Ignorance had been bliss, free of shock and dread. Now that they understood a part of the truth, their moods were absolutely foul.

"There’s no turning back now. To hell with it!"

Ye Tianling declared with a grim shout.

"It’s our only choice. There’s no way back!"

Que De sighed, but still gathered his bloodline power to activate another one of the Gold-devouring Rat’s Talents: its unparalleled sense of smell.

The two continued to work together, calculating, making Inferences, and exploring.

The deeper they went, the more they learned, and the darker their expressions became. At the same time, their sense of unease and strangeness grew stronger.

"These gloomy Ancient Daos... they look just like the layout of an ancient tomb I once saw. It’s like an ancient sacrificial ground."

Que De’s voice trembled, a chill running through him after he carefully observed the terraced, stair-like Ancient Dao behind the mist.

The two had already ventured deep into Purgatory Purple Mountain.

Yet, as they passed through the mist and stepped onto the ancient stairs, it felt as though they were walking downward, even though they were ascending the mountain.

This sensation of moving up and down simultaneously was distinct. It was no illusion; the very Laws of this Space-Time were bizarre.

A chill ran through them both. A creeping sense of unease, heart palpitations, and even the looming threat of death assaulted their minds and bodies.

Upon stepping foot here, Time itself seemed to stop working again.

Ye Tianling could no longer sense the effects of his bloodline’s evolution and progress. His comprehension of the Celestial Dao Rule Domain had also stagnated, remaining in a state of equilibrium.

They had been traveling for a long time, yet their own strength hadn’t diminished in the slightest.

By Ye Tianling’s estimation, their series of Inferences and calculations with Que De had taken at least four hours.

In reality, however, their strength, Abilities, and everything else remained at the same level as four hours prior.

Time wasn’t flowing. Their strength, Abilities, and even their Life Force were all in a peculiar state of ’stasis’.

Furthermore, using any Cultivation Technique seemed to consume no energy at all.

But this brought them no relief. On the contrary, it filled them with a terrifying sense of dread.

This was because a person’s total potential within each Realm is fixed. While on the surface there was no consumption, the moment they left this place, the Celestial Dao Rules would recalculate everything and deduct the expended energy.

If they used their Abilities too much and their own Energy was insufficient to cover the deduction, then their very potential would be used to pay the debt.

The result would be equivalent to having a portion of their potential annihilated—a permanent loss of immense consequence!

"We can’t go on like this. The energy drain is impossible to calculate. If we go over our limit, we’ll lose our Talent and suffer a permanent Dao Injury."

Que De suddenly wanted to give up.

"Can you even go back?"

Ye Tianling asked calmly in return.

Hearing this, Que De immediately glanced back.

One look was all it took for his face to turn grim.

"How can this be?"

The path behind them was identical to the path ahead; both appeared to descend. It was as if the very step they stood on was the highest point.

Que De tried taking a step forward. Just as he expected, he once again seemed to be standing on the highest step.

And because he was now a step away from Ye Tianling, he couldn’t even see him anymore, as if he had been completely isolated.

"Damn it, we really fell for it! Curses!"

Que De was no longer in the mood to complain. He immediately tried to release his Essence Blood Power to run some calculations.

"Don’t release your Essence Blood. The moment you do, it will be Devoured."

Ye Tianling’s figure appeared beside Que De. He had been thinking calmly ever since he understood their situation.