Chapter 1333: An Unexpected Change

"Rest assured, everyone. The power of the ancient barriers will not reach beyond the dark clouds. But if anyone charges inside, that will be another matter." Canghong’s words were half explanation, half warning. "It seems like Old Devil Ye is not here. Let us proceed according to plan and split up."

At this point, the Sky-Eyed Butterfly had also carefully searched the surroundings and found nothing unusual.

Qin Sang withdrew his gaze from the dark clouds and looked toward the depths of Sin God Palace.

This place had once been a vast complex of palaces, but now it was almost impossible to determine what those palaces had once been used for.

Some had toppled. Some had collapsed. Broken stones lay everywhere, leaving only ruined walls and shattered remnants. Not a single intact structure could be found. It was a complete and utter ruin!

In the void, countless ancient barriers floated densely, spread everywhere. Compared with this place, Abyssal Ruin was nothing more than a minor trifle.

Countless ancient barriers crisscrossed, layered over one another, and influenced each other. Many places were extremely unstable, making every step difficult.

After generations of tireless exploration by Sin Abyss cultivators, several relatively safe paths had been discovered.

"Where is the passage leading into Ziwei Palace?" Zhenyi asked.

The others were curious as well. They had observed the area for a long time, but none of them could tell where the entrance to the passage was.

"In the sky!" Canghong looked up, gazing into the depths of Ziwei Palace. "You cannot see it clearly from here. Once we cross this palace ruin, we will see a place within the dark clouds where lightning gathers. The passage is hidden there. Our predecessors noticed the anomaly there long ago and made some guesses, but the lightning formed by the ancient barriers was too terrifying. Many people tested it before eventually giving up. One predecessor even perished inside."

"You searched the devilish monster’s soul and obtained the secret technique to control the ancient barriers?" someone interjected.

"Correct," Canghong said with a nod. "The barriers around the passage were inextricably linked to Ziwei Palace. Whenever Ziwei Palace fell dormant, the passage would close, so Old Devil Ye had to wait until now to enter Ziwei Palace. Even so, we are already too late to stop him. The phenomenon when the passage opens is not obvious, so it is difficult to judge his movements from that alone..."

Everyone abandoned their last hopes and, according to the earlier division, split up and entered the palace ruins.

Although they had the geomantic map, none of them dared grow careless.

Qingjun and Lu Boyuan guarded the front and rear, while Qin Sang was protected in the middle as he used the Sky Eyes supernatural ability.

The palace complex was too vast. They had already been walking for half an hour.

Along the way, Qin Sang awakened the fat silkworm and the Fire Jade Centipede. If any strange treasures or spiritual herbs were hidden here, perhaps they would sense them.

He also did not forget the sword spirit and constantly paid attention to any changes in the Killing Sword.

The three hidden realms were connected. Since both Ziwei Palace and Seven-Kill Hall had hidden fragments of the Killing Sword, Sin God Palace should have been no exception.

Perhaps this place had already been searched clean. After walking for so long, neither spiritual insect had reacted, and the sword spirit showed no sign of waking.

The path twisted and turned.

After they walked an unknown distance farther, Qingjun, who was at the very front, suddenly stopped and said softly, "We’re out."

Beyond the ruins, the world remained dark and oppressive. After leaving the ruins, they indeed saw the place Canghong had mentioned.

In the depths of Sin God Palace, lightning appeared more frequently within the dark clouds than it did outside. It seemed to have been attracted by something, and part of it continued to strike the same place.

However, they were still far away and could not see it clearly.

Ahead, mountains rose one after another, their silhouettes faint and shadowy. Iron chains crisscrossed the mountains, and the ruins of ancient fortresses could barely be seen.

It was best not to fly in such a place. After pausing briefly, the group activated their movement arts and swept toward the mountain range.

The mountains were steep and treacherous, with sheer cliffs everywhere. Thick iron chains connected them, each as wide as a person’s embrace. Waves of yin wind blew through the area, bitterly cold to the bone.

Although everyone present was a Spiritual Infant cultivator, the chill still invaded them as they walked along the iron chains, leaving their faces pale.

They crossed one icy mountain peak after another, but found nothing of value. Beyond the mountain range lay a swamp.

Qingjun took out the geomantic map and looked toward a certain direction in the swamp. "One of the forbidden grounds is here. The filth in the swamp has corrosive power, and it becomes more powerful the farther in we go. Everyone, be careful."

Everyone summoned their own astra and maintained a height of about half a person above the ground as they swept toward the target.

Along the way, they encountered ruins one after another. Some had been completely destroyed, while others still had light flickering and floating over them, though they were also badly damaged.

Judging from the shape of these ruins, they looked very much like cages. No one knew how many people had once been imprisoned in this vast swamp.

After passing through countless cages, they finally arrived before the forbidden ground.

This place was called a forbidden ground because it was the most special area here and was completely different from the other prisons.

This entire area was empty around the edges, and the other cages had clearly been built around it. At a glance, it was obvious that this was the core.

The forbidden ground was densely covered in ancient barriers and black as ink. Even standing outside, everyone felt a sense of danger.

Above the forbidden ground, four gray stone pillars stretched upward, with only their topmost portions visible. They almost touched the dark clouds.

As soon as everyone arrived, they immediately made a discovery. "The forbidden ground has been opened. Old Devil Ye came here!"

There was a stone path outside the forbidden ground, leading to a black door. At this moment, the iron lock on the door had been torn apart, and the barrier had been damaged!

Whoosh! Everyone reacted extremely quickly. They immediately scattered and formed a battle formation.

The door was half open, and inside lay a deathly silence. Someone grew suspicious. "Could Old Devil Ye have deliberately set up a false trail to delay us?"

"It’s possible!" Qingjun was bold because of her skill. "Let’s go in and take a look first, then decide whether to notify the others."

Everyone landed on the stone path and carefully entered.

The traces left behind by Old Devil Ye were very obvious, leading straight to the end of the stone path. Along the way, every door had been destroyed.

Though danger lingered, nothing truly alarming happened, and they reached the depths of the forbidden ground safely.

"There are only a few layers left before we reach the core of the forbidden ground. If Old Devil Ye is inside, we had better call reinforcements first," Lu Boyuan stopped Qingjun and transmitted his voice.

Everyone quietly withdrew from the forbidden ground, used their communication methods to notify the other two groups of cultivators, then formed a battle formation at the entrance.

At the same time, in the other two forbidden grounds of Sin God Palace, Canghong and Devil Lord Tongyou were each leading their own teams in exploration.

There were also traces left behind by Old Devil Ye there, but they soon discovered that those traces were false and only remained around the outer areas of the forbidden grounds.

After receiving Qingjun’s message, the two groups quickly set off toward the forbidden ground in the swamp.

At this time, Qin Sang and the others were guarding outside the forbidden ground, waiting while discussing their next plan.

Just then, Qin Sang glanced toward the depths of the dark clouds from the corner of his eye. He suddenly felt that something was wrong with the place where the passage was located and abruptly raised his head to look.

The others also noticed the abnormality. The lightning around the passage was actually growing increasingly violent. At the center of the lightning, a lightning ring the size of a millstone gradually emerged.

At first, the lightning ring was very thin, but as time passed, it grew larger and larger.

From the center of the lightning ring, streams of multicolored light surged out. After falling into the void, they scattered in every direction.

Everyone looked at one another. The two Sin Abyss cultivators accompanying them were both completely bewildered.

In the past, even when the passage opened, there had never been such a phenomenon!