Chapter 750: Princess Qing

“What? A Nine Heavens Martial Emperor?”

Ye Xuan was greatly alarmed.

If there was a Nine Heavens Martial Emperor here, who would dare to act so presumptuously? Before a Nine Heavens Martial Emperor, a Third Layer Martial Sovereign was no different from an ant.

“Haven’t all the Nine Heavens Martial Emperors gone to the Abyss?” Ye Xuan said with a frown.

Xiao Ming explained, “The Martial Emperors have all gone to the Abyss. However, the term ‘Nine Heavens Martial Emperor’ doesn’t necessarily mean a Nine Heavens Martial Emperor is physically present. It means the faction has a Nine Heavens Martial Emperor-level expert backing them, and that specific Martial Emperor must have already arrived in this mysterious land.”

As soon as Xiao Ming said this, Ye Xuan immediately understood.

“Does that mean your Xiao family’s Martial Emperor expert is here as well?”

According to what Xiao Ming was saying, it would have been impossible for the Xiao family to occupy this altar if they didn’t have a Martial Emperor expert who had come.

“That’s right. In fact, my Xiao family’s ancestor, Xiao Jingteng, rendezvoused with us right after we entered this mysterious land. That’s how our Xiao family was able to occupy one of the inner altars.”

A trace of pride appeared on Xiao Ming’s face.

Ye Xuan smiled. “Actually, back in the Land of Haze, your Xiao family’s ancestor was probably already following us, wasn’t he?”

Xiao Ming rubbed his nose awkwardly and said, “To be honest, it wasn’t just our Xiao family. The Martial Emperor experts from the Yuchi family, the Long family, the Helian family, Lingkong Cave, and the Langxie Sect were all secretly following. Look, the Yuchi family and the others have also occupied altars.”

Ye Xuan looked over and, sure enough, saw members of the Yuchi family not far away.

Those few from the Yuchi family also saw Ye Xuan. A hint of disdain touched their lips, and a cold glint flashed in their eyes.

After a brief exchange, Ye Xuan finally understood the situation.

There were forty-nine altars here in total.

These forty-nine altars were distributed in a regular pattern, like stars arrayed around the moon.

Furthermore, the strength of each altar and the Spirit Marrow Pool it contained were different.

The strongest altar, of which there was only one, was located in the very center.

The next tier of altars, twenty-four in total, was located in the inner ring. The tier below that, the remaining twenty-four altars, was in the outermost ring.

According to the intelligence they had gathered, the closer an altar was to the center, the more powerful its Spirit Marrow Pool. Thus, the twenty-four altars in the inner ring immediately became coveted by countless experts, leading to a fierce struggle.

In the end, the factions that already had Martial Emperor experts in this mysterious land seized the right to use these twenty-four altars. The remaining Martial Sovereigns could only compete for the altars in the outermost, lower-tier ring.

“Young Master Ye, we stopped you just now because that Celestial Mountain Sect is a rather powerful sect from the Profound Domain, backed by a Martial Emperor. The second reason is that even if you managed to occupy an altar, you probably wouldn’t be able to enter it.”

“Why is that?” Ye Xuan asked, confused.

Xiao Ming explained, “The Restrictions on these altars are incredibly powerful. Even the weakest altar requires at least a Tier Eight Second Layer cultivation level to have any hope of opening it. As for the inner altars, they require a Tier Eight Third Layer expert to even have a chance. With your cultivation level…”

Although Xiao Ming didn’t finish his sentence, his meaning was obvious: he was clearly saying that Ye Xuan’s cultivation level was too low.

“That’s not necessarily true. Have you forgotten that I’m an Array Master?”

Ye Xuan gave a faint smile.

He had already given the Restrictions on the altars a cursory look. They were incredibly powerful—much stronger than any he had previously encountered in this mysterious land—but opening one wasn’t entirely hopeless.

“Since Young Master Ye wants to give it a try, you can try with our altar. Each altar can allow three people to enter at the same time. Right now, only our Patriarch and the Grand Elder are inside ours. If you can break the Restriction, Young Master Ye, feel free to go in. After all, according to the agreement between the Patriarch and you, we’re supposed to give you thirty percent of any benefits the Xiao family gains.”

Xiao Ming said magnanimously, gesturing to the Restriction in front of their altar.

The elders of the Xiao family had already tried to open the Restriction on this altar countless times. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t open it, so one spot had remained vacant. If Ye Xuan could open the Restriction, they wouldn’t mind him entering to cultivate.

“But don’t say I’m trying to discourage you, Young Master Ye. Although your skill in Arrays is astonishing, I’m afraid it will still be very difficult to break this Restriction.”

Xiao Ming then shook his head and added.

“What, you have so little confidence in me?”

“It’s not that we lack confidence in you; it’s just that the altars here are truly special. Ye Xuan, take a look at the one at the very core. Do you see anything strange?” Xiao Ming suddenly said, pointing to the centermost altar.

Ye Xuan gazed over and immediately showed a look of astonishment. “How come there’s no one around that altar?”

According to Xiao Ming’s earlier explanation, the closer an altar was to the core, the higher the grade of its Spirit Marrow Pool. That meant the single, unique altar at the very center should be what all the Martial Sovereigns were flocking to. But what Ye Xuan saw was a lone, deserted altar with no one around it.

Xiao Ming said with a smile, “That altar is extremely difficult. The Restriction is so strong that even a Triple Peak Martial Sovereign would have a hard time breaking it. Since we arrived, I’ve seen at least several dozen Third Layer Martial Sovereigns give it a try, including our Patriarch and the Grand Elder. They all failed. And there are many experts in the Profound Domain, not a few of whom have some skill in Arrays.”

Ye Xuan frowned. “Didn’t you say some Nine Heavens Martial Emperors have come? Can’t even they open it?”

“That’s the most miraculous thing about the altars here. Tier Eight Second Layer and Third Layer Martial Sovereigns can open them, but not a single Nine Heavens Martial Emperor can. When some Nine Heavens Martial Emperors arrived, they tried to open these altars, but none of them succeeded.”

“What?”

Ye Xuan was startled. ‘A Restriction that Tier Eight Martial Sovereigns can break, but a Nine Heavens Martial Emperor can’t? What kind of joke is that?’

‘There’s only one explanation for this: these are specific kinds of Restrictions, meaning only a certain group of people can open them.’

‘This has me wondering… How were these altars formed? Why are there Spirit Marrow Pools inside them? And why is it that only Martial Sovereigns can open them, but Martial Emperors can’t?’

Ye Xuan’s mind raced with these thoughts.

“Elder Xiao Ming, not everyone has failed at the core altar, right? Didn’t someone succeed?”

Just then, another elder from the Xiao family suddenly spoke up.

Xiao Ming paused, then laughed. “Right, I’d almost forgotten. You’re talking about that genius from the Profound Domain’s Moon God Palace, aren’t you? Her name seems to be Princess Qing. It’s said she successfully entered the core altar, but that was before we arrived. It’s all just hearsay, though. Very few people actually saw it happen.”

“What? The Moon God Palace?”

Ye Xuan’s expression suddenly became agitated. He snapped out of his contemplation and fiercely grabbed Xiao Ming, his eyes sharp. “What did you say? A genius from what Moon God Palace?”

Turbulent waves crashed in Ye Xuan’s mind. ‘The Moon God Palace… the faction under the Yao Yue Martial Emperor’s command. Back then, the Yao Yue Martial Emperor, Yingtai Yue, came from the Moon God Palace and was its current Palace Master.’

Xiao Ming was startled by Ye Xuan’s intense reaction. “The Moon God Palace,” he said. “I heard it’s one of the top-tier factions in the Profound Domain. The person who entered the core altar is a genius from there. She’s only twenty-eight years old and is already a Tier Eight Third Layer Martial Sovereign. Her name is Princess Qing. But this is all just what we’ve heard from others. As for whether this person really exists, we’ve never seen her.”

“Princess Qing?”

Ye Xuan fell into deep thought, but his heart could not calm down.

‘I’ve never heard of this person before, but if she’s only twenty-eight, it’s normal that I wouldn’t know her.’

‘But for a genius like that, if she’s really from the Moon God Palace, her status must be incredibly high. She could even be this generation’s Holy Daughter.’

‘If that’s the case, she most likely knows about the Yao Yue Martial Emperor’s current situation.’

“Is that Princess Qing still inside the altar?” Ye Xuan asked in a low voice.

“That we don’t know.” Xiao Ming shook his head. “We only heard people talking about it. But we haven’t left our altar since we got here. If that Princess Qing is really inside that altar, she should still be there now.”

“I understand. Elder Xiao Ming, if Patriarch Xiao and the others come out later, please give them my regards.”

“Young Master Ye, you…”

“I’m going to try the core altar.”

As soon as Ye Xuan’s voice fell, his figure shot up into the sky, flying directly toward the core altar.

“This…”

Xiao Ming and the others were all dumbfounded. They hadn’t expected that after all their painstaking explanations, Ye Xuan hadn’t listened to a thing. Not only did he want to try, but he was going to try the most difficult of all the altars.

How could they know that Ye Xuan had finally found a glimmer of hope for finding information about the Yao Yue Martial Emperor? How could he possibly let such an opportunity slip by?

SWOOSH!

A moment later, Ye Xuan landed in front of the core altar.

Without any hesitation, he began to analyze the Restriction on the altar.

According to what Xiao Ming had said earlier, these Restrictions clearly had specific conditions. A Restriction that even a Nine Heavens Martial Emperor couldn’t break with brute force had to be of an extremely high grade.

With Ye Xuan’s current cultivation level, it was impossible to break it with brute force. The only way was to exploit the structure of the Restriction itself to dismantle it.

As Ye Xuan began to work on the Restriction, his actions attracted the attention of the experts on the other altars.

“Huh, someone actually went to the core altar? Even Tier Eight Third Layer Martial Sovereigns can’t break that one.”

The core altar was arguably the most famous one here. Basically, all the major factions’ Third Layer Martial Sovereigns had tried it. And not just the Third Layer Martial Sovereigns; many Second Layer Martial Sovereigns from the various factions had also given it a shot.

But in the end, they all returned in dejection.

So, seeing someone else go up to try wasn’t particularly surprising to the experts present. But when they sensed Ye Xuan’s cultivation level, every single one of them was stunned.