Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The Fourth Palace was just a sheer cliff. A palace had been magically constructed on it without any flight of steps or road leading there. There were now four or five people eager to set off there. They all wanted to make their way to the Fourth Palace and leave their names on the cliff.
However, all of a sudden, they detected a disturbance behind them and turned around and looked back. It was obvious that the disturbance came from the Third Palace.
“That is…did all Eighteen Stone Statues come to life?”
If they observed the Third Palace from the Fourth Palace, they could easily see the commotion caused by the stone statues inside it; hence, why they were all stunned. Since all Eighteen Stone Statues came back to life at the same time, it could be said that the difficulty had reached an outrageously high level.
“An accident must have occurred there. I feel bad for those unlucky people,” someone said. This was the only reasonable explanation they could find for this matter.
“They are really out of luck, and they will end up dying for nothing.” Since all Eighteen Stone Statues had been activated, the people there would surely all die.
The Doctrine Palace had existed for countless years, and many treasure hunters passed through here. So it was obvious that such issues and accidents might occur, and an unlucky crowd would end up running into them.
“Sirs, I will go first.” They quickly concentrated once again on what was before them. A youth in white clothes among them strode forward. He had already taken a journey up to the Fourth Palace, yet his shoes were still spotless and clean. That was weird because it was impossible to fly up the cliff so he must have climbed. His face was as pale as snow, and not even a wisp of blood could be seen in it. It was like a piece of ice. He didn’t have an outstanding appearance, but his special skin color still let him stand out more than others. He had seemed light and graceful while walking and looked like he wanted to start flying at any moment. The youth went to the cliff and looked up at the palace, which was almost 1,000 feet above the ground.
Just as the youth was just about to start climbing it, a rumbling sound could be heard from the cliff, and the ground quaked. Just after that, a boundless stream of water surged down, and it seemed like a water dragon which would sweep them all away. The youth clenched his teeth. He didn’t shrink back and just extended both his hands.
Meanwhile, another incident occurred in the Third Palace, and familiar-sounding voices could be heard echoing from there.
“What! He succeeded?”
“Impossible! He will surely die with how high is the Eighteen Stone Statues’ difficulty.”
“Is he a Great Venerable who came here to look for treasures?”
“Everything that could be taken away in the Doctrine Palace has already been collected, and there isn’t any treasure left.”
A person who had teleported from the Third Palace arrived at the Fourth Palace before their amazed gazes.
“It’s a youngster.”
“He’s in the Celestial Venerable Realm.”
The person sent here was Jiang Chen. He had just made a narrow escape from death, and it was only through using his entire power that he managed to finally reach the Fourth Palace.
“It seems like breaking through the Doctrine Palace isn’t easy. The Fourth Palace would be surely more difficult.”
When the confident Jiang Chen ran into the Eighteen Stone Statues, who awakened all at the same time, his will started wavering. All of a sudden, he noticed several pairs of eyes examining him.
Awful! Jiang Chen said to himself. Even though his body didn’t have any visible injuries and the Flame Emperor’s clothes weren’t damaged, his current state was still far from good. He wouldn’t be able to fight again for at least several minutes. He quickly witnessed the three guys mentioned by Wu Hui and the others. One was an Earth Spirit, one a Wood Spirit, and the last one was a Half-Spirit.
“What is your name?” The guy called Shui Mu furrowed his brows and asked calmly.
Jiang Chen was startled by this and heaved a sigh of relief. It seemed as if they didn’t recognize him. He didn’t answer and just waved his hand at them, before he consumed an elixir and started recuperating.
“I’m asking you a question!” Shui Mu spoke in displeasure.
“Hey, I’m just wondering what do you all plan to do? He’s already heavily injured, yet you still want him to have a chat with you?”
The other two people who were oblivious to the situation questioned them.
“It has nothing to do with you,” Shui Mu replied. His gaze fell on Jiang Chen, and he asked, “Are you Jiang Chen?”
Jiang Chen didn’t move as he tried to quickly recover his power.
“Lad! You are courting death!” Upon witnessing Jiang Chen refusing to answer, the robust Earth Spirit thrust his fist at Jiang Chen angrily.
“He, he!” The person, who had just questioned them a moment before, kept talking in front of Jiang Chen. He said, “Spirits are really arrogant! Don’t you all see that he is trying to recuperate now?”
“Why do you want to meddle in other people’s business?” The Half-Spirit shouted.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Don’t try to scare me, you are just a Half-Spirit, and you are still half human. So, don’t forget your roots.” This person obviously didn’t take those three people seriously and just chuckled carelessly.
“Hateful!” The Half-Spirit pulled his sword out and his sharp and deadly Sword Doctrine’s power erupted out. His sword shone in a dazzling light that illuminated the cliff.
“I already said, don’t try to scare me.” This person was also young and was just at the early stage of the Celestial Venerable Realm. His smile still didn’t disappear, and he looked at the Half-Spirit with his sharp gaze. It seemed like the Half-Spirit had just sustained heavy injuries. His face turned pale, and he drew back, while his sword’s aura disappeared completely.
“How is this possible?” Shui Mu was started by this. How could a mere gaze possess such destructive power? Even if he tried to use his aura to harm him, he still shouldn’t have been able of achieving such a matter, unless he was a Great Venerable.
“What is going on?” Shui Mu and the Earth Spirit asked hurriedly, while they got on guard against him.
This person had come to the Fourth Palace before them all, and they all didn’t know him. However, proud and haughty Spirits like them didn’t take him seriously.
“Friend, this person may have killed my friend’s little brother and driven away my little sister.” Upon witnessing that the Half-Spirit was left at a loss of words, Shui Mu could only inform him of this matter.
“You just said that it may be that person, and he also may not be that person, isn’t that the case? I don’t want to meddle in other people’s business. But it’s only after this person has finished recuperating that you can take care of your feud with him.” He spoke firmly. Upon witnessing his usual confident smile once again, the three Spirits didn’t dare take any rash actions.
After a short while, the sound of someone else passing through the Third Palace successfully echoed once again. It was Yao Yuntong who appeared here. Shui Mu didn’t know Jiang Chen, but she knew him. When Yao Yuntong appeared, her gaze swept the surroundings, and it fell in the end on Jiang Chen.
“He, he, you should take care of your affair by yourselves.” The busybody had sharp observation powers and quickly noticed something. He drew back and observed calmly how this matter would unfold.
“Yao Yuntong, is he Jiang Chen?” The Earth Spirit spoke in an ice-cold voice.
Yao Yuntong was taken aback by this, and she quickly noticed Jiang Chen’s current condition. She said, “What do you mean by this?”
“Don’t act stupid here. The person who was with you killed my little brother, Gang Yang. You can’t shirk responsibility for this matter.” The robust man had intense killing intent, and he strode forward toward Jiang Chen.
“He isn’t Jiang Chen, and I don’t know him,” Yao Yuntong spoke.
“Since you said this, we can be almost sure it is him. Move out of the way.” Shui Mu didn’t believe her.
The robust Earth Spirit clenched his fists, and a crisp sound echoed out. His murderous aura turned into a hurricane, whose wind was as sharp as knives, and attacked the sitting Jiang Chen.
It was at that moment that Jiang Chen stood up. Most of his internal injuries were healed, and his heart throbbed strongly. A magnetic field appeared around him and extinguished the wave of the murderous aura.
“Are you getting anxious, and you want to quickly meet your little brother?” Jiang Chen sneered coldly.
“Hateful!” Upon hearing him admit it personally, the robust man couldn’t bear it any longer. Even the ground beneath the cliff started quaking.
“Since you killed my little brother, you will surely die today. Anyone who dares to obstruct me will become my Earth Spirit Clan’s enemy.” He shouted angrily to deter Yao Yuntong and the man who had just helped Jiang Chen a moment ago.
