Chapter 326 - 298: Everyone is Vying for the Fateful Opportunity

Chapter 326: Chapter 298: Everyone is Vying for the Fateful Opportunity

"It seems that over the past thousand-plus years, quite a few True Masters have found this Traveling Palace, even without a Jade Pendant."

Before them was a bluestone path over a hundred zhang long, leading to a massive, towering mountain gate.

Beyond the vast Han White Jade Plaza, the Traveling Palace sprawled like a colossal, crouching beast.

The area was littered with signs of battle.

Clearly, an Array had once been here, but it had likely been broken. The bodies of several Golden Core Powerhouses lay strewn across the plaza, but the sight didn’t surprise anyone.

Ever since True Master Chixia’s demise, many major factions had never stopped searching for his Traveling Palace.

Besides, the world of Cultivators was full of talented and extraordinary individuals. Many specialized in arts like tracking, excavation, and searching. Over the past millennium, some must have used the guidance from a Jade Pendant to find the Traveling Palace’s location. It was even possible they had left other clues behind.

But unfortunately...

Finding it wasn’t enough.

The real problem was getting inside.

Meng Qianxun frowned and was about to step forward, but Chen Yin moved to block his path.

"Elder Meng, be patient. With more than a dozen Golden Core corpses lying here, I’m afraid there’s a formidable Killing Array. We should conserve our strength in case of an emergency. Let me send a Puppet to scout the path first, then we can discuss a strategy."

With that, he waved a hand, and a giant bird of prey, over ten zhang long but with no discernible aura, materialized in midair. The Giant Eagle’s natural Feathers had been completely stripped away, replaced with new ones forged from Exotic Copper and Iron.

No one thought this strange. Puppets were often constructed using corpses as a base, and many Puppet Masters would make such modifications.

As for the Little Chick, it let out a shocked "CHIRP!"

Its metallic Feathers didn’t seem to affect the Puppet’s speed. At Chen Yin’s command, it flapped its massive wings, stirring up a gale as it sped toward the Traveling Palace.

"This Puppet was a gift from my ancestor when I reached Foundation Establishment."

Chen Yin explained as he controlled it:

"After some recent enhancements, its Defense Power is now on par with a Fake Pill Cultivator. Combined with its speed, it’s perfect for scouting. Even if it can’t break through the Array, it should be able to probe its secrets."

SHIIING!

His words had barely faded when, at the exact moment the Giant Eagle Puppet passed through the mountain gate and entered the plaza, a sword’s cry rang out.

At the entrance to the Traveling Palace, a small sword—one that nobody had paid any attention to, seemingly hung carelessly on the paw of a stone lion—suddenly flared with brilliant light, as if flicked by an unseen hand.

Then, a beam of Sword Qi shot out.

CRACK!

All anyone saw was a flash of light. Amid a shower of sparks, the Giant Eagle Puppet was sliced into several pieces, which fell from the sky with a series of loud CLANGS.

Everyone was startled and turned to look at Chen Yin.

"It’s nothing."

Chen Yin waved a hand dismissively, but his tone was heavy.

"It couldn’t even dodge..."

"The power of that Sword Qi just now... it’s already beyond the Fake Pill level."

Chen Che glanced out of the corner of his eye at the Little Chick perched on his shoulder.

The little bird’s Feathers were already standing on end. When it saw its master looking, it shook its head so fast it was a blur. ’Clearly, it has no confidence in getting through this Array. If it tried with its current strength, it would probably end up just like that Giant Eagle Puppet...’

Nodding slightly, Chen Che turned to Meng Qianxun and asked:

"Old Man, do you have the confidence?"

Meng Qianxun also found the situation daunting. As everyone looked to him, he replied:

"Dodging a single strike won’t be a problem, but..."

’That’s true...’

The group turned their gazes to the fallen Golden Core True Masters. Some had been killed by a single strike, but several others were covered from head to toe in sword wounds.

At that moment, an idea sparked in Chen Che’s mind.

’True Master Chixia left the Jade Pendant so people could find this palace. Could the Jade Pendant be the key...?’

With that thought, he formed a quick hand seal, clutched the Jade Pendant, and tossed it forward.

As everyone watched with anticipation, a beam of Sword Qi flashed. The Jade Pendant was instantly obliterated, turning to fine dust. Chen Che froze, his forward momentum halting. ’Well, the palace is found, so the map was useless anyway.’

The others just looked at each other, nonplussed.

At this time, Xiao Chan spoke up:

"This is a Bright Array. Its core is that small sword. Breaking the Array is simple: just take the sword."

Take the sword...

Chen Yin pondered for a moment, then slowly shook his head. "But we’re not strong enough."

Lu Qinglian nodded. "It would be too much of a waste to leave just like this. Even if we can’t get inside, we can at least try to retrieve those bodies. We came all this way; we can’t just leave empty-handed."

Chen Che glanced around, seeing that the others were moved by the idea. Although they were wary of the Traveling Palace’s small sword, they were truly coveting those corpses.

"I feel the same way. Why don’t we give it a try? If all else fails, we can just retrieve the bodies, and the trip won’t have been for nothing. The Traveling Palace isn’t going anywhere. We can always come back to explore it later when our Cultivation is higher, or after we’ve figured out a way to break the Array."

"There’s no need to barge ahead when we know it’s a death trap."

This Grand Array was impossible to breach without two or three Golden Core cultivators.

What’s more, even if they barely managed to break the Array, the rest of the Traveling Palace might not be safe either.

"Agreed!"

Meng Qianxun nodded, preparing to step forward.

"I’ll take point."

"Old Man, you bring up the rear. We can’t gauge the Sword Array’s power. If we can’t withstand it, we’ll need to retreat. If you take point and exhaust your True Essence, and the rest of us get stuck, we’ll be completely trapped with no way out..."

After a pause, he continued:

"This way, even if we run into trouble, we’ll be able to retreat in one piece."

Although Chen Che had never personally raided a Traveling Palace or ancient tomb before, he had watched many similar documentaries back on Earth Element Star. He knew how to best preserve a team’s strength and how to execute a safe withdrawal if they encountered a forbidden area they couldn’t handle.

The group exchanged a look, all agreeing that this plan was feasible.

And so, the group quickly conferred. Lu Qinglian would take point, followed by Chen Che, then Xiao Chan, with Chen Yin in the fourth position.

Once the four of them exhausted their True Essence, no matter what happened, they had to stop immediately, and Meng Qianxun would escort them away.

"I’m ready!"

Lu Qinglian took a deep breath and released her True Essence to envelop the group.

Not only that, she also activated a Lightning Tide Shield Talisman. Nine shields made of lightning began to revolve rapidly around the group. They would automatically trigger to block any attack. Its Defense Power was on par with a Fake Pill Powerhouse.

This was a Talisman she had received from Ye Jiuming’s belongings.

On top of that, surrounding the True Essence Shield, she conjured layers of flames, a Wind Shield, and a Tidal Water Mist. Having witnessed the power of the earlier Wind Blade, she didn’t dare hold anything back. If she waited until her Shields were broken to react, she feared she wouldn’t even have time to Activate another Talisman.

"Let’s go!"

Taking a deep breath, everyone stepped onto the plaza.

SHIIING!

Almost simultaneously, the whistle of a sword rang out.

A Sword Aura, like a bolt of white silk, shot across the plaza. It moved like a rainbow piercing the sun, crossing the distance in the blink of an eye to arrive before them.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A series of explosions rang out.

The nine lightning Shields shattered in quick succession. Her remaining layers of Magic were utterly unable to stop the Sword Aura. They were sliced apart as easily as a knife cutting through butter. In an instant, all of Lu Qinglian’s preparations were torn to shreds.

The Sword Aura was already right in front of them.

Chen Che’s brow furrowed. He had no choice but to step forward and shield the others behind him...