Fierce gusts of wind suddenly cleared away the mist before Jiang Chen. The clash of weaponry and shrill whinnying of battle horses sounded in his ears.
He seemed to be abruptly approaching an ancient battlefield. The cacophony of slaughter and struggles to the death painted a vivid picture.
He scaled the mountain and looked over at the valley below. Countless troops were engaged in battle. Figures leapt and fell, horses reared and struck, limbs flew haphazardly.
It was a battle between humans and demons.
The human cultivators relied on formations and each other to defend themselves, whereas demons charged at the humans in the most primitive way possible, using brute force to eliminate their enemies.
Humans outnumbered the demons by roughly four times. Although demons were more powerful individually, humans gave as good as they got.
Nonetheless, humans suffered greater casualties, exchanging four to five of their own in order to kill one or two demons. Even with formations, the human cultivators were struggling to keep up. The army was on the verge of falling apart.
Jiang Chen blinked in disbelief. Was this an illusion? How could there be a pitched battle between humans and demons within the Six Palaces of Heritage?
The scene before him changed in another blink of an eye. The armies were gone. In their places were two pitifully smaller groups locked in a fight. They didn’t number more than fifteen.
On one side were five demon heavyweights. The other side were a number of human figureheads.
The two sides were caught in a gridlock. Both were astoundingly powerful. Everyone was at least mid divine realm. The strongest among them was close to reaching advanced divine realm.
A battle at this level could shatter the earth, obscure the sky, and dim the celestial bodies.
Everytime the two groups collided, Jiang Chen found his eyes drawn to them. He’d only seen such fights back in the heavenly planes of his past life.
Although these cultivators wouldn’t number among the most powerful in the heavenly planes, a fight at this intensity was still rare.
Jiang Chen kept a close eye on the battle, afraid to miss the slightest detail. He wasn’t good enough to take part, but instinct told him that there was a reason to be shown this images. Something about the battles would serve as an important lesson to him.
He imprinted everything onto his heart.
The scene continued to change. Battles upon battles were presented to Jiang Chen.
A lifetime seemed to pass, or just a single second. The space before him suddenly turned into the reflection of a mirror, then shattered just as abruptly. The environment surrounding him changed completely.
Blinding light forced him to shut his eyes. When he finally regained his vision, he found himself in an extravagant, luxurious palace.
The walls of the palace were lined with statues of different features, so lifelike that they seemed they would come to life any moment.
One was scowling. Another flashed a mysterious smile. One was contemplative, and its neighbor fiercely ferocious…
Realization dawned on Jiang Chen. Was this the real sixth palace?
“Junior Jiang Chen has come to pay respects to the sixth palace of heritage,” he spoke up. “Who is the senior who holds charge of this palace?”
“Jiang Chen…” A reply rolled forth slowly, the owner of which seemed to have just woken up from his slumber. There were traces of sleepiness in the manner of his speech.
“It’s been so many years. Someone has finally reached the sixth palace. You said you’re Jiang Chen, didn’t you? Which race do you belong to, young one?”
Jiang Chen paused. What else could he be within the human domain?
“I’m a human cultivator,” he replied with respect but also dignity.
“Just human?” the voice pressed coolly. “You cannot hide your bloodlines once you enter the sixth palace. I can see them as clear as day.”
“I am human, but I’ve experienced some unusual circumstances which have allowed me to incorporate the bloodlines of many different races.”
“Tsk, that explains it… You seem to have the blood of true dragons. Yes, and the Vermilion Birds. And something else…”
Jiang Chen started. He didn’t expect the man to be able to figure out his bloodlines simply by looking! Even in his past life, he’d known very few in the heavenly planes who were capable of doing that.
The Six Palaces of Heritage were more than he’d expected. Nonetheless, he didn’t think there was a need to hide his bloodlines. He obediently waited for the man to speak up.
A faint sigh. The owner of the voice sounded melancholy.
“What’s happening in the outside world? Do the boundary steles still stand?”
“It does, but they’re damaged,” Jiang Chen admitted. “Most of them are in danger of collapsing.”
“Does the seal on the demons remain?” asked the voice.
“It does, but that’s no better than nothing.” Jiang Chen gave his calm responses with ease. “According to my estimations, the demons are going to break out in one or two decades, or even sooner.”
“Ah, it’s as Great Divine Veluriyam predicted. Is this fate? Are demons destined to make a comeback?”
Jiang Chen widened his eyes. Great Divine Veluriyam? Did this mean the ancient lord of the Veluriyam Capital had been one of the human leaders at the time? Was he also the owner of the Pagoda?
The voice grew ponderous. Seemingly having made a discovery, he clucked his tongue in surprise. “Young man, you’ve reached ninth level empyrean, haven’t you?”
It amused Jiang Chen to be called a young man. In the mundane world, he’d long reached past the age to be one. Still, he was relatively young in the martial dao world.
“That’s right. I’m fortunate to have a few encounters that allowed me to reach this point.”
The man was curious. “What a strange young man you are. The sixth palace only requires the challenger to be at advanced empyrean. Most will come once they reach seventh level. Why did you wait until you’re ninth level empyrean? Are you overly cautious, or do you have other reasons?”
Jiang Chen didn’t intend to lie. “I’m not that cautious. However, I was otherwise occupied and hadn’t had the time to spare. The sixth palace isn’t to be underestimated. Therefore, I wanted to come fully prepared in order to show my respect.”
