Chapter 600 356: Decisive Battle

As he entered the palace, Lu Mingyuan's gaze was drawn to the dozen or so powerful figures, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

Just from the ancient aura they exuded, Lu Mingyuan knew that, like Princess Zichuan, they had to be The Awakened.

'According to Princess Zichuan, it isn't convenient for The Awakened to take action,' he thought. 'So why are they all gathered here now?'

As if sensing the confusion in Lu Mingyuan's heart, the Female Imperial Tutor explained, "The real reason I asked Your Majesty to come is that I hope you can use the power of the Ascension Platform to secretly transport these seniors to Ascension Island after its Forbidden Array is breached. Ascension Island is unique; even the Divine Thought of Divine Beings can barely penetrate it, making it impossible to probe the situation inside."

"But Your Majesty is different. You control the Ascension Platform and the Array of the Ascension Land. With my assistance, along with that of the Human Kings, I believe we should be able to slip past the perception of the Evil God Army."

After a pause, the Female Imperial Tutor continued, "The Forbidden Array of Ascension Island is actually quite terrifying. Countless Divine Patterns are interwoven within it, making it impregnable, and its offensive power is astonishing. Even a Fourteenth Realm expert would be easily annihilated for trying to force their way in. Invading the island is no easy feat. They would likely suffer heavy casualties without even managing to set foot on it."

"But we have no other choice. We must prepare for the worst. Once the Forbidden Array on Ascension Island is breached, we have to be on the island to intercept the army of the Celestial Court. We absolutely cannot let them have their way."

Upon hearing this, Lu Mingyuan finally understood. So this was the real favor the Female Imperial Tutor needed from him.

'These Awakened are indeed powerful—all of them top-tier experts of the Fifteenth Realm,' he mused. 'But unfortunately, there are too few of them. Compared to the gods of the Celestial Court, they're not even a rounding error. Even if they ignored the risk of exposure and chose to attack outside the island, they would just be courting death.'

Only by getting inside Ascension Island, waiting for the right moment, and launching ambushes from the shadows could they cause any real trouble for the Evil God Army.

The enemy was out in the open while they were concealed—that in itself was a massive advantage.

Just as he was thinking this, the Female Imperial Tutor's voice suddenly echoed in his ear, "They are the first batch of The Awakened. I had originally intended for them to guard the Awakened Holy Land, but unfortunately, we can't awaken the others for now. If we could, this situation wouldn't be nearly so dire."

Hearing her words, Lu Mingyuan's thoughts stirred. 'So that's why there are so few of The Awakened. I thought the Female Imperial Tutor was deliberately hiding her true strength, but it turns out this is all she has for now.'

This was clearly a secret of the Awakened Holy Land. The Female Imperial Tutor must have trusted him to have shared it via a private voice transmission.

"There's no time to lose. Let's get moving," Lu Mingyuan said solemnly, gathering his thoughts.

The Female Imperial Tutor took action, activating the hidden Secret Patterns throughout the Changming Imperial Palace. "There's a special Space Transmission Array in the Imperial Palace that can transport us anywhere in the Returning Ruins Silent Sea," she announced. "Everyone, prepare yourselves."

At her words, everyone in the palace rose and gathered by the Female Imperial Tutor's side.

The Awakened only shot Lu Mingyuan an indifferent glance, saying nothing. Their eyes were all filled with pride.

After all, they were heroes who had survived the Middle Ages; they had earned the right to their pride.

The Space Transmission Array activated. With a flash of white light, everyone in the palace disappeared.

「Above the waters surrounding Ascension Island」

A golden mist stirred, swirling naturally, and formed an extremely covert spatial passage. Lu Mingyuan and the others stood within it.

This too was a function of the Changming Imperial Palace's ancient Teleportation Array, helping to conceal them. As long as they remained inside the spatial passage, no one would be able to discover them.

"Such powerful auras," Lu Mingyuan remarked, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. "These subordinate Generals of the Evil Gods, standing on the Ascension Land... their Cultivation is all at the Human Immortal level. What is the Evil God Army trying to do by gathering here?"

The Female Imperial Tutor explained, "The Celestial Soldiers and Generals of the Old Celestial Court are equivalent to Immortals in this era, even if only the lowest-ranking Loose Immortals. The World Origin is closely connected to the Ascension Platform, and the World Origin is the purest form of the Heaven and Earth Rules. Back in the Ancient Era, the Celestial Dao originally nurtured five Ascension Platforms, allowing countless living beings to become Saints and Divine Beings."

"Unfortunately, due to war, only the last of the five great Ascension Platforms remains. Even the Divine Beings themselves were vanquished, the Celestial Court was shattered, and destructive power flooded the Nine Directions Heaven and Earth, turning it into what can only be described as a forbidden ruin. Some of those Divine Beings, in their search for greater power, threw themselves into an unknown white mist, and that is how they became what they are today."

"These creatures were once defeated by Mortals. Now that they've obtained even greater power, it's only natural they'd want to reclaim everything they lost and rule this world once more."

"My only regret is that I wasn't born in that era. Even during the Middle Ages, I was too weak. Otherwise, I would have fought to my last drop of blood to keep them from succeeding."

Lu Mingyuan was already more or less aware of these matters.

But hearing it all laid out so clearly stirred a different feeling within him. One hundred thousand years ago, powerful experts of the Human Race were plentiful, giving rise to countless peerless prodigies like the Taoist Ancestor.

Figures like Ten Thousand Tribulations Celestial Venerable, who destroyed several Ascension Platforms; Guang Chengzi, creator of the Cyan Wood Saint King Skill; and Celestial Venerable Ziwei, one of the supreme leaders of the Taoist Sect.

And yet, even with such figures, that era had still suffered devastating casualties.