Chapter 1142: First Encounter with Garuda
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Mu Chen and his team left Dragon Island. Even though quite a few people knew that Mu Chen and the rest had obtained the treasure there, due to the high prestige of the three Golden Dragon disciples, none were brave enough to track them down.
Mu Chen and the rest did not explore any further after leaving Dragon Island. Although they could possibly have acquired some other powerful treasures in the other islands, their priority right now was to get to the legendary Sky Pool.
After all, the baptism of the Sky Pool was an extremely rare opportunity for those who had yet to achieve Earthly Sovereign. Even Xiao Xiao and Lin Jing, who both had extraordinary backgrounds, would still be attracted to this opportunity, let alone Mu Chen!
After setting their course, Mu Chen and the rest hurried towards their destination. Despite travelling at full speed, it took them half a day to make it across the endless chain of suspended islands.
The four of them finally materialized on a lonely island. They scanned the horizon and realized that the sky within a hundred miles was empty, completely devoid of the groups of islands.Thus, they determined that they had arrived at the end of the chain of islands.
“We are getting closer to the depths of the Ancient Celestial Palace.” Mu Chen said, as he looked into the distance.
The immensity of the spiritual energy in this space was breathtaking. It had condensed into a colorful spiritual cloud in the sky. Only the condensation of a tremendous amount of spiritual energy could form such a spectacular spiritual cloud!
In the distance, one could vaguely see a few broken stone towers standing tall on some mountain peaks, and beyond them, the outline of an ancient temple could just barely be recognized. The entire atmosphere was shrouded in an ancient silence.
“We will be one step closer to the Sky Pool once we pass through the region of stone islands,” Mu Chen said to the three girls after checking the map.
Xiao Xiao lightly nodded, then scanned the silent space with her beautiful eyes. Although everything seemed peaceful, she somehow felt uneasy.
“Did you feel it?” Mu Chen smiled after seeing her expression.
“What was that?” Lin Jing asked, confused.
She clearly felt the same sense of unease, but was unable to pinpoint the source of the danger. Nine Nether was also scanning the space with her gorgeous gaze, but she likewise failed to find the source of the problem.
“Do you see these light beams?” Mu Chen raised his finger and pointed towards some light beams that were the size of a fist. The light beams appeared to be shooting downwards from the spiritual cloud.
After Mu Chen’s reminder, Xiao Xiao, Lin Jing, and Nine Nether soon realized that there was a weird flow within the light beams. As Xiao Xiao snapped her finger, her spiritual energy rolled out, lifting a huge rock and throwing it towards one of the light beams.
The minute the rock made contact with the light beam, it was cut in half. The cut surface was as smooth as a mirror, as if it had come into contact with a very sharp knife instead a light beam. This shocked all three of the ladies.
“A spiritual array was arranged in the spiritual clouds, such that the spiritual energy inside would converge and refract to the ground, like a giant net surrounding the entire land. These light beams are extremely sharp, even a Grade Nine Sovereign would be cut in half by them,” said Mu Chen nonchalantly, as he pointed towards the floating spiritual clouds in the sky.
The three ladies’ expressions twisted after hearing Mu Chen’s words. Had they charged across the light beams without being aware of the danger, even they would have paid the ultimate price!
“Why are there so many fatal traps in this Ancient Celestial Palace?” Nine Nether couldn’t help but ask.
“These traps were the Ancient Celestial Palace’s defence measures. Back then, they were triggered by the extraterritorial race’s invasion of the Tianluo Territory, and they have remained active ever since.” Mu Chen sighed.
He saw countless skeletons, suits of broken armor, and shattered weapons scattered across the distant land.The skeletons were translucent and emitted a faint glow.
Clearly, they had all been strong warriors prior to their deaths. It seemed there had been an extremely terrible war in the past, which had led to the deaths of many strong warriors of the Ancient Celestial Palace.
“I wonder why I haven’t seen any skeletons of the extraterritorial race…” The thought struck Mu Chen suddenly, so he had to ask.
“It is because the malicious energy practiced by the extraterritorial race was incompatible with the spiritual energy of the Great Thousand World. Therefore, when they died, their bodies were gradually dissolved into nothingness by the spiritual force in the space,” Lin Jing explained.
Most masters did not have much knowledge about such incidents, but Lin Jing, as the daughter of the Martial Ancestor, clearly had a better understanding of the so-called extraterritorial race. Mu Chen instantly understood after hearing her explanation.
“Let’s get moving. These light beams are troublesome, but we just have to avoid them,” Mu Chen told the three ladies.
He then took the lead and slowly moved forward, swerving around any light beams that he approached. Thankfully, the deadly light beams stayed still, showing no signs of chasing Mu Chen. The three ladies were relieved upon seeing Mu Chen’s stable progress, and they swiftly moved to catch up with him.
The area was surrounded by the spiritual crowd, forcing Mu Chen and the rest to slow down. However, thanks to Mu Chen’s reminder, they were able to get through the dangerous area smoothly.
After passing through the spiritual cloud area, the four of them sped up for an hour, then finally slowed down. The reason they slowed was because they had suddenly heard a strange sound.
Splash splash.
It was the clear sound of flowing water. As soon as the sound of water entered their ears, they could clearly feel the spiritual energy inside them boiling, as if it was being affected by some magnetic force!
The four of them quickly suppressed the boiling of their internal spiritual energy, which took them quite a while! During the whole process, their expressions showed their panicked states!
Due to the fact that just the sound of water was enough to cause such an obvious surge within their internal spiritual energies, they deduced that the water source was most likely their destination!
The Sky Pool!
As they all immediately thought of the same thing, their eyes lit up, and an unfamiliar excitement flashed across each of their faces. They then sped up, and in ten breaths, they crossed a long expanse of mountain peaks.
After passing through the high mountain peaks, their fields of view broadened infinitely. At the same time, a bright light shone on their faces, and their eyes stung slightly, despite being protected by spiritual energy. This caused each of them to squint involuntarily.
As the light lasted quite a while, they were gradually able to adapt to it. When their visions cleared, they inhaled sharply.
A borderless blue sea then appeared in front of them, set on a dark background of the galaxy. The water was crystal clear and sparkling, as if it contained the stars!
The occasional wave caused countless tiny powder-like crystals to spurt out. The crystals were formed from the extreme condensation of spiritual energy, which had been turned into sea water.
Due to the saturated spiritual energy above the sea, from afar, the spiritual cloud seemed to form the roaring figures of dragons and phoenixes. It was so wondrous, it seemed like a tiny universe! Moreover, this majestic ocean was floating in the sky!
On the edge of the ocean, the space was utterly shattered. Moreover, the entire space shook whenever the waves crashed against it. Mu Chen and the rest could clearly feel that the ocean existed in a different dimension, although it seemed as if it was right in front of them. Clearly, it had been sealed in this excavated space by an extremely powerful existence.
Mu Chen and the rest were terrified by the borderless sea, and only recovered their senses after a long while, their shocked expressions transforming into delight. They knew this sea was their long-sought destination!
The Heavenly River!
“Now that’s the cornerstone from which the Ancient Celestial Palace arose and expanded!” Xiao Xiao couldn’t help but exclaim.
The Sky Pool before them was definitely a work of art. It must have taken a huge amount of effort and resources for the Emperor of the Ancient Celestial Palace to build it! Even the superpowers of today’s Great Thousand World would be unable to contribute such tremendous amounts of resources to such an endeavor!
Lin Jing nodded her head in agreement. These were indeed the shocking foundations of the Tianluo Territory’s previous overlord.
As they were talking, Mu Chen slowly recovered his senses. Withdrawing his gaze from the Heavenly River, he was just about to speak, when something moved at the edge of his consciousness.
An unfamiliar sensation crept over him, causing him to suddenly turn his head to look at a far-off mountain peak. On top of the lone peak, a man, who was wearing a black shirt, stood with his hands behind his back. He was tall and had a huge presence. This guy was extraordinary!
Mu Chen’s pupil constricted, and an indescribable sense of wariness quickly arose from within him, causing his entire body to tense immediately. He immediately entered battle mode.
Mu Chen knew the man in black’s identity the moment he saw him. It was Garuda!
Just as Mu Chen was recovering from his shock, Garuda sensed his presence, his abyss-like gaze shooting towards Mu Chen from the distance.