Chapter 455: Strange Space
This was already the interior of the Primordial Mystic Ark, but the light was not dim; on the contrary, it was exceptionally bright. Yun Che looked up and secretly clicked his tongue, because before him lay an endless expanse of green grassland stretching to the sky. At the edge of the grassland, it connected with a gray, hazy sky.
"Wow! It's exactly as Master said!" Xia Yuanba, who had come here for the first time, was also full of surprise and couldn't help but exclaim, "Master said that the interior of the Primordial Mystic Ark has a special spatial law, forming its own world. Looking at this, one can hardly imagine it's the inside of an ark."
"Its own world?" Yun Che showed a surprised expression. At the same time, Mo Li's voice also sounded in his mind: "Indeed, the spatial law inside here is completely different from the outside world! This shows that the true space inside is much, much larger than what we see from outside! Perhaps... it might be several times larger than the entire Tian Xuan Continent... or even millions of times!"
Yun Che: "..."
The entire grassland was perfectly flat, with no end in sight. The only eye-catching spot was a profound formation about one zhang wide, shimmering with a light red glow not far away. Feng Hengkong and a group of elders from the Fenghuang God Sect were gathered around this formation, their gazes extremely cautious.
"The spatial law here is indeed strange. On the Tian Xuan Continent, if such a space profound formation were left unused for a long time, its profound force would only decay by about fifty percent in ten thousand years. But this space profound formation left by my Imperial Father's generation has decayed by nearly eighty percent in just three hundred years." Feng Hengkong furrowed his brow as he spoke.
"But the remaining power is enough to teleport us to the place we explored last time." Feng Feiyan withdrew his hand from the formation's glow and said calmly. The Primordial Mystic Ark was too vast to be fully explored in just twelve hours. Therefore, after each exploration, the Fenghuang God Sect would leave behind such a space profound formation. The next time the ark opened, they could directly teleport from this formation to the place they had last explored.
"First, strengthen the initial formation, then we begin." Feng Hengkong decisively said.
"Alright!"
More than twenty Overlord Emperors from the Fenghuang God Sect acted simultaneously, pouring their profound force into the formation. Soon, the formation's light grew from dim to increasingly intense.
After strengthening the formation, Feng Hengkong turned around and said, "Distinguished guests from the Four Sacred Grounds and the six kingdoms, would you like to join us in exploring the interior of the Primordial Mystic Ark? Our predecessors' explorations have reached about thirty thousand li, but they have always found nothing. Still, perhaps this time we might make a breakthrough and discover some ancient relics. The deeper we go, the greater the danger. At thirty thousand li, Overlord Xuan Beasts are rampant, and the danger is severe. Some obstacles cannot be overcome by one person alone and require joint effort. If you wish to come along, you may enter this formation. If you prefer to go freely, you may do as you please... However," Feng Hengkong paused his voice and said indifferently, "it's better for those below the Overlord Emperor realm not to come. Entering this formation would be suicide."
Of the thirty-six people, only five had profound force below the Overlord Emperor realm: Yun Che, two profound practitioners from the Black Fiend Kingdom, and the Yue Ji and Mei Ji that Ye Xinghan brought.
The Primordial Mystic Ark appeared once every three hundred years. Since they had entered, naturally they would choose to cooperate and explore the depths. Gu Cang Zhenren turned around and said, "Yuanba, will you come with your master?"
Xia Yuanba shook his head: "No, Master. This disciple came to the ark with you this time just to broaden his horizons, without any ambition. So I won't join you. My brother-in-law and I will just wander around and have some fun."
With Yun Che present, Gu Cang knew this would be Xia Yuanba's answer. He slowly nodded: "Very well. However, although the spirit beasts in this area are not threatening and the environment is not dangerous, this world is still extraordinary. No one can predict where hidden dangers might lurk, so you must be cautious."
"Also, remember what I have told you many times before: when the Primordial Mystic Ark's door opens, it means the ark will disappear after twelve hours. When the time approaches the twelfth hour, the space of the entire ark will tremble. When you feel the space tremble, you must make sure you are in as open a place as possible. Only then will you be forcibly expelled from the ark's world at the twelfth hour. However, if you are in a confined place at that time—such as a cave, canyon, house, stone tower, or similar—you will not be expelled but will disappear along with the ark... in other words, complete annihilation! Since the ark appeared, over a dozen ancestors have suffered this fate, their forms and souls destroyed! Remember this!"
"I understand, Master." Xia Yuanba nodded, then asked doubtfully, "But Disciple has never understood why one cannot be expelled from relatively confined spaces."
"Because every piece of land and every stone here is extremely hard, containing earth laws of terrifying density." Gu Cang Zhenren reached out, drew a fist-sized stone from the ground, and handed it to Xia Yuanba. "Yuanba, try to destroy it."
"Oh..." With Xia Yuanba's current strength at the mid-stage Overlord Emperor realm, he could easily crush not just a stone but even mystic iron into powder. The stone in his hand felt no different from an ordinary one in weight and texture. He picked it up and squeezed hard... Then his face showed shock, because the stone was not even dented, let alone broken.
Xia Yuanba placed the stone in his left hand, spread his palm, took a light breath, clenched his right hand into a fist, and slammed down hard.
Puh...
Half of Xia Yuanba's face twisted from the pain, and he grimaced. The stone fell from his hand... still completely unscathed.
"What... what kind of stone is this?! How can it be so hard!" Xia Yuanba shook his wrist, his face full of shock.
Yun Che stood beside Xia Yuanba, listening to the master-disciple conversation and watching Xia Yuanba's actions, also showing a surprised expression.
"Among various speculations, this Primordial Mystic Ark is very likely a vessel from the ancient True God era. Since it's from the True God era, even a small stone is extraordinary. Everything here is tougher than you can imagine. Even if you use all your strength, you basically cannot break even the most ordinary stone, let alone a stone wall or the like." Gu Cang Zhenren spoke slowly. "Things here can withstand such great force, and naturally they can also resist powerful spiritual pressure. If, after twelve hours, you are surrounded by such isolating spaces, the spiritual pressure that sends us out will also be completely blocked, preventing escape. You will then disappear with the ark and be buried forever within."
"Oh, I understand." Xia Yuanba looked at the stone under his feet with lingering fear and nodded more seriously.
"To be safe, Yuanba, take this." Gu Cang Zhenren took out a jade pendant and hung it directly around Xia Yuanba's neck.
"Eh, Master, what is this?" Xia Yuanba asked curiously.
"This is a profound formation jade created according to the spatial law of the Primordial Mystic Ark. If you encounter a fatal danger within the ark, or if you find yourself in a confined place unable to get out at the twelfth hour, crush this jade. The special space profound formation contained within will teleport you directly to Phoenix City directly below the ark. Although the profound formation in the jade is small, because it follows the spatial law of the ark, it is extremely difficult to create and requires the power of several Emperor Sovereigns."
"Back then, a personal disciple of the Holy Emperor was lost in an ancient palace here and unable to escape, thus disappearing along with the ark. Under the Holy Emperor's grief and fury, this space jade specifically for the ark was created. Throughout the entire Tian Xuan Continent, only our Huangji Sacred Domain possesses it."
"Oh! I see." Xia Yuanba nodded and said without hesitation, "Master, do you have another such jade? Give one to my brother-in-law!"
"This..." Gu Cang Zhenren showed a troubled expression. He was about to shake his head, but then suddenly thought that if he didn't give one, Xia Yuanba would very likely give his own to Yun Che. He could only sigh inwardly and took off the jade he was wearing: "Never mind, take this one from your master. These two jades are far rarer than you imagine. Do not use them unless your life is in danger."
"Thank you, Master!" Xia Yuanba immediately handed one of the jades to Yun Che, then casually waved to Gu Cang Zhenren. "Brother-in-law, let's go."
"Although there are spirit beasts here, Master says that within a few hundred li, the strongest are only Heavenly Xuan Beasts. There won't be any danger."
Watching Yun Che and Xia Yuanba walk eastward, Gu Cang Zhenren silently sighed. In all of Tian Xuan Continent, how many people dreamed of becoming his disciple but could not? Yet in dealing with Xia Yuanba, he was almost always trying to please him, afraid of losing this disciple... After all, Xia Yuanba possessed the legendary Overlord Emperor Divine Meridian, which destined him to become an Overlord Emperor!
But what worried him a little was that in the previous two years, Xia Yuanba's temperament had been quiet and domineering, quite fitting the character of a future emperor. However, after meeting Yun Che, that originally increasingly fierce domineering aura had almost completely disappeared. Moreover, before coming to Shenhuang, Xia Yuanba had entered the Primordial Mystic Ark precisely to face dangers. The more dangerous the place, the more he wanted to explore, breaking his limits amidst crises and perils. But now, he was choosing to stay in the safe nearby area...
Gu Cang Zhenren had begun to feel that Yun Che's appearance might have a very significant adverse effect on Xia Yuanba's progress and the further awakening of the Overlord Emperor Divine Meridian.
The people from the Fenghuang God Sect had already entered the formation one after another. Gu Cang Zhenren and Ling Kun also stood at the edge of the formation. Ling Kun glanced at Ye Xinghan, who was hovering in midair without any intention of coming over, and said, "Young Palace Master Ye, won't you join us?"
"Hmph! Forget it." Ye Xinghan gave a fake smile. "If I bring my Yue Ji and Mei Ji inside, some old fossils will definitely give me dirty looks. Compared to discovering some so-called ancient divine objects, I'm more interested in enjoying myself freely within this Primordial Mystic Ark."
Having said that, Ye Xinghan let out a loud laugh, hugged his two women, and walked far away.
"I'm here to enjoy the scenery. Leave the fighting and killing to you smelly men. I'm not going." Ji Qianrou flicked his long hair, pursed his lips, turned around coquettishly, and left alone.
Feng Hengkong did not make the slightest attempt to dissuade Ye Xinghan and Ji Qianrou from going alone; instead, he secretly sighed in relief. With those two troublemakers gone, the group would be much quieter. "Xue'er, let's go in. Afterward, you must stay close to your Imperial Father and do not wander off."
After saying this, Feng Hengkong started to move, but Feng Xue'er did not take a step. Instead, she suddenly said, "Imperial Father, Xue'er wants to look around on her own. May I not go with you?"
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