Chapter 335: Endless Immortal Palace

The Endless Immortal Palace was by far the largest palace ruin in the entire Heaven-Reaching Tower. The Human Skin Evil Book had also stated that back in the Ancient Era, the Endless Immortal Palace was a colossal structure of miraculous proportions.

Everyone said the Endless Immortal Palace was big, but it wasn’t until Chen Yuan arrived before it that he knew just how magnificent and vast it truly was.

Ahead was a huge floating fragment of land, like a small mountain suspended in mid-air.

At the land’s edge, crimson-tinged clouds and mist churned like a boiling ocean. Peeking through them was the indistinct silhouette of an immense and majestic palace.

From a distance, the palace looked somewhat normal—just incredibly vast and mountain-like, soaring to an astonishing height of a thousand zhang.

But upon closer inspection, the palace appeared somewhat sinister and bizarre.

Its overall shape wasn’t a normal rectangular palace, but triangular, with the palace gates located at its corners.

The glazed tiles on the palace roof were not the usual cyan or gold, but a dark ochre, the color of congealed blood. In the light filtering through gaps in the clouds, they flashed with eerie scarlet veins that, upon closer inspection, resembled a dense network of capillaries.

The main entrance should have been a gateway, but there was only an opening with no door. Its surroundings were scarlet, while the inside was pitch-black, looking at first glance like the gaping maw of an abyss.

Two rows of statues also stood before the gates of the Endless Immortal Palace.

Normal Sect ruins would have things like lions, dragons, phoenixes, or divine beasts.

But the statues at the entrance of the Endless Immortal Palace were exceedingly sinister.

One had the body of a tiger, yet sported the head of a woman with a compassionate face.

Another was a monster with a human head and a snake’s body, its mouth split open to the base of its ears, full of sharp teeth.

Yet another wasn’t a creature at all, but a blood-colored lotus. In the center of the lotus, however, was a mass of flesh and blood from which a human face faintly emerged.

There were more than a dozen of these sinister and bizarre statues, making anyone who looked at them feel uneasy.

At this moment, many Martial Artists were gathered before the gates of the Endless Immortal Palace. They were all watching and waiting, but no one dared to enter.

Chen Yuan swept his gaze over the crowd and noticed Wen Rou among them.

“What’s the situation inside the Endless Immortal Palace right now?”

Chen Yuan landed with Gu Lichuan and Yue Ling’Er and asked hurriedly.

Wen Rou shook her head. “The situation isn’t good. The areas just inside the entrance to the Endless Immortal Palace had been explored over the years, so at least a portion of the space right after entering was supposed to be safe.

But this time, the space within the Endless Immortal Palace has shifted. The entrance area has been moved and thrown into disarray, revealing a place that has never been explored before.

Over a hundred Martial Artists went in earlier, but large clumps of mangled corpses were immediately thrown out.

A few Martial Artists had their bodies torn apart but were barely clinging to some Vitality. From them, we learned that the place they entered seemed to be a palace for raising Spirit Beasts, but the Spirit Beasts inside were all extremely strange and ferocious.

Right now, a group of them are trapped inside, relying on an Array to stay alive. Their fate is unknown.

Your friends Luo Lie, Lu Chuanshan, and Cui Xuanye are all trapped inside. It’s lucky Cui Xuanye is with them. He’s the one who activated a part of an Array within the Endless Immortal Palace, which is how they’re surviving.

But no one knows how long he can hold out.”

Just then, a figure radiating golden Buddha Light landed with a BOOM, demanding in a loud voice, “Is that Longyou Temple Monk, Tianhai, still trapped inside? Is he dead?”

Wen Rou turned to look. The newcomer was Ming Chong of the Vajra Prajna Temple.

At this moment, Ming Chong looked anxious. His eyes were wide and fierce, like a wrathful Vajra, and the surrounding Martial Artists subconsciously backed away from him.

Longyou Temple was a major temple near the Central Province Capital City. It had deep ties with the Vajra Prajna Temple; its founding patriarch had also come from the Vajra Prajna Temple before receiving the legacy of other eminent Buddhist Sect monks and establishing Longyou Temple.

But even though they had established their own branch, they always maintained a very good relationship with the Vajra Prajna Temple. The two were closely allied, and Longyou Temple had always regarded the Vajra Prajna Temple as its leader.

And because of its proximity to the Capital City, Longyou Temple was on good terms with many of the capital’s dignitaries and nobles. It had abundant resources and connections, and could provide the Vajra Prajna Temple with a great deal of supplies.

For the opening of the Heaven-Reaching Tower this time, Longyou Temple had sent a disciple, Tianhai, and had asked Ming Chong to look after him.

Although the other man was already in his thirties and was technically Ming Chong’s senior martial brother, his strength was definitely inferior to Ming Chong’s.

Now that Tianhai was trapped in the Endless Immortal Palace with his fate unknown, Ming Chong was naturally frantic, believing he had failed to look after him properly.

If something really happened to Tianhai, setting aside whether it would affect the relationship between the two temples, he himself would be held accountable by his Sect’s elders.

For years, Longyou Temple had provided the Vajra Prajna Temple with so many resources. Now, they only asked for help looking after a disciple in the Heaven-Reaching Tower, and you couldn’t even manage that. It would be completely unjustifiable.

Seeing Ming Chong’s attitude, Wen Rou’s brow furrowed.

‘I’m a Jianghu information broker, true, but I’m not a subordinate of your Vajra Prajna Temple. What gives you the right to use that demanding, interrogating tone with me?’

“The Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower’s information comes at a price. Doesn’t your Vajra Prajna Temple always look down on us Jianghu information brokers? Master Ming Chong, you accost me with demands the moment you arrive. Suddenly you think us information brokers are useful?”

A sarcastic smile tugged at the corners of Wen Rou’s lips.

As the Vice Tower Master of the Qin Province Branch Building, she had dealt with the Vajra Prajna Temple before. She held a great deal of resentment toward this bunch of monks.

As a Major Sect in Qin Province and one of the Buddhist Ancestral Courts, the Vajra Prajna Temple had always looked down on a Wind Media Power like the Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower, which peddled information, viewing them as gutter rats.

Branch buildings in other regions could all cooperate with the local Jianghu Forces, but the Qin Province Branch Building found it completely impossible to work with the Vajra Prajna Temple.

Moreover, this bunch of monks was incredibly domineering. When the information brokers of the Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower were gathering news—even if it wasn’t about the Vajra Prajna Temple—they would be driven away for just getting too close to the temple.

But now that he needed her, he still took that same demanding, interrogating tone. So why didn’t he think they were gutter rats anymore?

“Insolent!”

Ming Chong’s eyes blazed with anger. Golden Buddha Light surged around him, and a vast Qi and Blood Power erupted forth.

“What kind of skill is it to bully a woman, you bald donkey? Is this how the Vajra Prajna Temple conducts itself? Arrogant and domineering, bullying the weak and fearing the strong. Is this what your Buddha taught you?”

Chen Yuan took a step forward, instantly moving in front of Wen Rou. A Blood Fiend aura erupted from his body, suppressing Ming Chong’s Buddha Light.

Behind Chen Yuan, Wen Rou pursed her lips into a smile, casting a smug look at Ming Chong.

Normally, while she had to put up with a lot from this bunch of monks from the Vajra Prajna Temple, she wouldn’t dare to be so openly sarcastic to their faces.

But with Chen Yuan here today, she had a backer and dared to be bolder.

Besides, she had gathered a lot of information in the Heaven-Reaching Tower this time. After returning, she would be able to enter the headquarters’ secret realm to cultivate. When she emerged, she might even be qualified to take charge of a whole province’s branch building. Naturally, she wasn’t worried about this bunch of monks from Qin Province causing trouble for her.

The surrounding Martial Artists all looked like they were ready to watch a good show.

Outside, Chen Jiutian had faced off against Ming Chong and the others, but they had only exchanged a single move. It was just a taste and ended too quickly, leaving everyone feeling unsatisfied.

Now that the two sides were confronting each other again, it seemed like there was going to be a good show.

“Chen Jiutian! You’re courting death!”

A furious glint appeared in Ming Chong’s eyes.

He had actually seen Chen Yuan long ago but hadn’t acted.

The urgent priority right now was to rescue Tianhai of Longyou Temple, so he didn’t want to get into a conflict with Chen Yuan here.

But Ming Chong didn’t know about the relationship between Wen Rou and Chen Yuan, and he never expected Chen Yuan to stand up for her.

Just as the two were at daggers drawn, a gentle voice suddenly cut in.

“Gentlemen, we all came here to save people. Right now, we should be cooperating sincerely. Why must you create such a stalemate?”

Qingchen of Yellow Court Temple strode over, a gentle smile on his face. His ethereal, otherworldly temperament seemed to dissipate much of the fiery tension between the two.

“Master Ming Chong, you really should work on that explosive temper of yours. The Jianghu information brokers of the Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower are in the intelligence business. Of course they can’t just tell you whatever you ask.”

Then, Qingchen turned his gaze to Chen Yuan. “Brother Chen, you have friends trapped in the Endless Immortal Palace, and a disciple of an old acquaintance my master asked me to look after is also trapped inside.

We are all here to save people. Can we each take a step back and prioritize the rescue?”

Qingchen was a rather low-key figure on the Hidden Dragon Rankings. To be precise, the entire Yellow Court Temple was very low-key. Its disciples deeply understood the Taoist School’s essence of tranquility and inaction, rarely venturing into the Jianghu and focusing mainly on ascetic cultivation.

But no matter how ascetic their cultivation, they still had some connections and friends in the outside world who needed looking after.

Just as Song Yanluo had asked Chen Yuan to look after Yue Ling’Er, the person Qingchen was supposed to be watching over was also trapped inside, which was why he had rushed to the Endless Immortal Palace.

“I naturally want to prioritize the rescue. It’s just that some people are used to being domineering and have taken things too far.”

Qingchen’s attitude was gentle, so Chen Yuan was naturally willing to give him some face. He stepped back to Wen Rou’s side.

Ming Chong took a deep breath. He also knew that he had been a bit too hot-headed just now because he was overly anxious.

Of course, he wouldn’t admit that he had acted domineeringly. Instead, he believed that the information broker from the Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower had spoken with a sharp and unkind tongue, and that Chen Jiutian had used the situation as a pretext to deliberately make things difficult for him.

“A bottle of Top Grade Elixir. Is that enough to buy news of Tianhai?”

Ming Chong said stiffly, but in reality, this attitude was already a concession for him.

Wen Rou said lightly, “No need. I’m not that petty. The information is free.

That Monk, Tianhai, is also trapped in the Array with the others. However, he was injured by an Exotic Beast and has been severely poisoned. I’m not sure if he’s okay now.

And as for the person you wanted to save, Daoist Qingchen, it should be the Jing Yuan Daoist from Xuanyuan Temple, right? He’s fine. He was working with Cui Xuanye of the Celestial Official City’s Cui Family to control the Array.”

This kind of information wasn’t worth much money to begin with. If Ming Chong’s attitude had been better, she wouldn’t have deliberately withheld it.

It wasn’t that she was afraid of offending Ming Chong by taking his payment, but it would have broken the rules of the Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower.

The Celestial Wind Listening Rain Tower was famous for its fair dealings with everyone.