Chapter 2159: Glow of the Sunset Reappears

Everyone was caught by surprise that someone had gotten there first.

"Have you encountered other competitors before?" An Lingfei asked, her delicate brows slightly furrowed.

Emperor Si frowned. "There should be more than one entrance to this place, but they are far apart and lead along different paths. Before, I also vaguely sensed traces of what seemed to be others' activity inside, but their exploration progress was far behind ours, and the location of this entrance has never been exposed."

"I can't detect anything unusual nearby," Qin Sang asked, "how did you discover it, Emperor Si? Were the secret marks you left last time destroyed?"

"Exactly!" Emperor Si's expression shifted, and he nodded slightly.

Qin Sang pondered, "From this, I deduce that the other party likely has no insider within your imperial family, yet they are very familiar with this place. They certainly didn't stumble in by accident, and their strength is not weak, otherwise they would surely have left subtle traces."

At this moment, everyone else also understood Qin Sang's meaning.

The First Prince said in a deep voice, "So, these people might be previous competitors. Last time, perhaps they discovered Father's whereabouts, or deduced the location of this entrance. This time, they rushed in ahead of us, wanting to reap the benefits!"

The Siyou Imperial Family had started preparations at least two Holy Land trials ago, gradually overcoming internal difficulties and obstacles. Their preparations this time were very thorough, with great hopes for success. Yet, someone had come to benefit from their efforts, and the First Prince and others were all filled with indignation.

Emperor Si remained silent, seemingly pondering his previous experience, his expression growing increasingly grim.

"The fierce beasts outside were very likely left there on purpose by them," the Grand Tutor suddenly said.

Everyone was startled to hear this.

Those people left the fierce beasts alive and weren't afraid of them causing trouble at a crucial moment, which indicates they knew someone would clear them later. The other party only needed to secretly implement some means on the fierce beasts to know when they had been killed!

In this way, both sides would be aware of each other's presence, and the covert struggle would escalate into an overt confrontation!

The only thing in Emperor Si's favor was that their opponents didn't yet know they were aware of other competitors.

Qin Sang hadn't expected the situation to become tense even before they truly entered. He couldn't help but frown, thinking to himself that this journey might not be easy, and he wondered if exchanging for a Huashan Pearl would be a gain or a loss.

The opponents, knowing full well that the Siyou Imperial Family had been planning for a long time and were determined to secure this place, still dared to take something from such a powerful entity; they surely had confidence.

"Overthinking is useless; let's go in first! I want to see who is foolish enough to court death!"

Emperor Si said coldly, taking the lead and stepping into the tomb passage.

Everyone entered one after another. The tomb passage was somewhat narrow, so they adjusted their formation: Emperor Si led the way, Qin Sang and the Grand Tutor were on either side, slightly behind, and the others quietly followed at the rear.

Since they knew there were opponents inside, they all cast spells to conceal their aura and proceeded cautiously.

The tomb passage was very long, but fortunately not winding.

According to Emperor Si, in the beginning, the tomb passage was filled with numerous restrictions, making every step difficult. The imperial family paid a considerable price to overcome all the restrictions and open up the passage.

The tomb passage sloped downwards. After walking for a while, they neared the end of the passage, yet still found no traces, which showed how cautious their opponents were.

A chilling draft blew towards them.

They reached the end of the tomb passage. A faint light appeared ahead, revealing a stone door.

The restrictions on the stone door had already been deciphered by the Siyou Imperial Family, allowing their opponents to open it effortlessly.

Emperor Si stepped forward, placed his hand on the stone door, and sensed it for a moment, confirming there was no ambush behind it. He then channeled his true essence into it, and the stone door gradually became transparent, transforming into an invisible gateway, leading to an unknown destination.

The Grand Tutor and Qin Sang stepped forward, closely following Emperor Si through the gate.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

A fierce wind howled in their ears.

Passing through the gate, they found themselves not in a tomb passage, but in a void, surrounded by flowing black mist. The black mist flowed extremely fast, like a vast black river, ceaselessly surging towards an unknown region deep within the void.

Qin Sang turned around, and still saw endless black mist flowing continuously, washing over them.

They were in the center of the mist river, feeling a powerful pushing force that threatened to carry them downstream. To avoid being swept away, they had to circulate their true essence to resist the impact.

At the same time, Qin Sang also sensed an omnipresent and pervasive cold energy. Fortunately, he was also a body cultivator, and could resist the invasion of this cold energy by mobilizing his vital energy and blood.

The Grand Tutor, however, was not so relaxed. He activated a protective treasure, surrounding himself with a layer of light.

These mists looked somewhat similar to the corrupted energy in the Nie River, but they were not as chaotic and violent as the corrupted energy.

Swish! Swish!

The First Prince and the others appeared, each activating their protective measures.

Hovering in the center of the mist river, Qin Sang focused his senses and was surprised to find that the tomb passage they had entered through seemed to have vanished; he couldn't perceive anything.

"The entrance appears periodically, but only with extremely subtle fluctuations, making it easy to overlook. Over the years, we've only found this one," Emperor Si said. "Fortunately, the entrance doesn't move. Remember this location; if you encounter any unexpected situations later, you can return here and leave from this point."

"Will the area around the entrance change?" Qin Sang asked.

Bound by the Grand Void Golden Tome, Emperor Si could not lie to Qin Sang about the information regarding this place. "The entrance won't change, but this mist river will. We must go downstream, and when we return, we'll have to go against the current. As time passes, the flow will become faster and the pushing force stronger. However, as long as we are in the river, we can sense changes in the pushing force and retreat in time."

Qin Sang understood. This was equivalent to a time limit; once the pushing force became too strong for them to resist, they would be trapped here, and no one knew what might happen next.

Now, with unknown competitors, the difficulty had increased even further.

"Still no trace of those people," the Grand Tutor said.

Within the mist river, they couldn't see the boundaries in any direction. The black 'river water' restricted sight and perception, and only darkness was visible downstream. It was still unclear who their opponents were.

Just then, everyone suddenly turned their heads to look behind them, where a red speck of light appeared in the river.

The speck of light bobbed up and down, drifting towards them.

As it came closer, they saw that the red light enveloped a red crystal.

"It's a Zhonggui Crystal. Ge'er, retrieve it," Emperor Si instructed.

A flash of joy appeared in the First Prince's eyes. He was preparing to refine a spiritual treasure and lacked several spiritual materials, of which Zhonggui Crystal was one. He hadn't expected to find it here.

With a flicker between his brows, he immediately summoned a companion beast.

This beast resembled a fox, was the size of a mouse, and its tail was several times the length of its body. The companion beast turned its body, gave its long tail a gentle flick, and shot towards the red light.

Whoosh!

The long tail penetrated the red light, easily making contact with the Zhonggui Crystal. But as the tail wrapped around the crystal and pulled it with force, something unexpected happened.

The red light suddenly erupted. The First Prince sensed an incomparably sharp fluctuation within the red light, and his heart grew cold.

If his companion beast were struck by this force, it would be decapitated!

Seeing this, no one, including Emperor Si, interfered, trusting that the First Prince could handle it.

The First Prince let out a low growl. A treasured bell appeared above the red light and descended heavily, causing the red light to immediately stagnate.

Seizing this opportunity, the companion beast's long tail tensed, forcefully dragging the Zhonggui Crystal out of the red light. It then clutched the crystal tightly and, like a wisp of smoke, darted back to the First Prince's side. With the Zhonggui Crystal taken, the red light abandoned its pursuit, flickered a few times, and gradually dissipated.

Only then did Emperor Si speak to explain, "While traveling through here, you'll occasionally see similar light clusters of varying colors. Some contain treasures, others might be small secret realms, but there are also many traps. From my experience, black and white ones are mostly traps and are best avoided. Other colored light clusters can be worth trying. However, with enemies nearby, I hope you all can resist temptation before our mission is complete."

Everyone agreed.

The guest elder, Chao, had been staring at the upstream section of the mist river and softly said, "So many treasures are scattered here, like fragments. Is the upstream perhaps a shattered secret realm or a ruined cave dwelling?"

"Perhaps. We've tried before, but even when the mist river's pushing force exceeded our limits, we couldn't reach the upstream."

Emperor Si shook his head, then withdrew his true essence, allowing the mist current to push him downstream. Aided by the mist river's natural propulsion, everyone moved swiftly with little effort.

Before long, they encountered a second light cluster, which was black.

Remembering Emperor Si's words, everyone deliberately kept a distance from the light cluster, fearing they might fall into a trap.

Qin Sang secretly activated his Heaven's Eye divine ability. He could only see a mass of pitch black, but he vaguely felt as though he was being watched in return, which made him uncomfortable. When he withdrew his gaze, the feeling disappeared.

After this experience, Qin Sang no longer dared to underestimate these light clusters; not all of them would be as easy to retrieve as the Zhonggui Crystal.

Subsequently, they encountered more light clusters, but did not attempt to interact with any of them.

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Emperor Si, who had been drifting along the mist river, paused slightly and warned, "Ahead is the first ancient formation."

Qin Sang immediately felt a change in the pushing force; his body suddenly dropped, as if there were a waterfall in the mist river.

Whoosh!

Everyone descended rapidly, circulating their true essence to stabilize themselves. Ahead, they saw countless black stones floating.

These stones were uniform in size and shape, differing only in the patterns on their surfaces, which were clearly special runes.

The stones were arranged in a staggered yet orderly manner, forming a spiritual array.

Seeing the stone array, Emperor Si's expression darkened. Several stones directly in front of them were covered in cracks and severely damaged. The imperial family had fully understood this stone array, and before they left last time, they had altered its configuration to block the entrance.

The stone array had clearly been damaged by the people ahead. Although they could have used more gentle methods, they must have known they were being pursued and were no longer hiding their tracks.

Emperor Si snorted coldly and waved his hand. The nearby stones began to shift, and mysterious arcane light flowed between them.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Stones darted through the air.

In the blink of an eye, the stone array transformed drastically, revealing a clear passage before them. The power of the stone array could not block the mist river; as they passed through the array, they still endured the washing force of the mist river.

They quickly passed through the stone array, only to find another ancient formation blocking their path ahead.

To the naked eye, it was just a dazzling light barrier, but in reality, there was more to it within the barrier.

This formation had also been deciphered by the Siyou Imperial Family. Unlike the stone array, it wasn't as easy to manipulate. The previously opened gap was still there, allowing their opponents to pass through this formation effortlessly.

The Siyou Imperial Family's previous efforts had, in essence, prepared a wedding dress for someone else.

The First Prince and the others were furious, vowing to make those people pay once they found them.

Passing through the gap, they arrived before the third ancient formation, where the Siyou Imperial Family's arrangements had also been disrupted.

Just as they were about to enter the third ancient formation, Qin Sang suddenly felt something amiss.

He paused, noticing that both Emperor Si and the Grand Tutor's expressions had changed.

He vaguely detected an unusual fluctuation emanating from deep within the mist river, and a hint of unease stirred in his heart.

At this moment, everyone had a similar feeling; it was not an illusion.

"Husband, what is this?" An Lingfei quietly asked.

Emperor Si shook his head slightly.

Seeing that even Emperor Si didn't know the reason, everyone was secretly alarmed. What exactly had happened inside?

Buzz!

Suddenly, a vibration came, like a muffled clap of thunder.

Located between the two ancient formations, everyone noticed that the power of both formations had become unstable.

The First Prince's expression shifted. "Could they have already started breaking the formations?"

Boom!

A louder tremor came from ahead.

Thunderous roars sounded right beside them. To their astonishment, several cracks appeared in the ancient formation before them.

Through the cracks, they could vaguely see the scene deep within the mist river.

The Grand Tutor's expression suddenly changed. He pointed to one of the cracks and exclaimed, "True Lord Qin, look there!"

Qin Sang had already noticed that resplendent rosy light had emerged from deep within the mist river.

He had an ominous premonition, "Could this rosy light be..."

The Grand Tutor nodded gravely. Although it was only a fleeting glimpse, the rosy light here was almost identical to what Ji Qiong had described.

Why would rosy light erupt here?

Could there also be a lair of formidable beasts ahead?

Qin Sang quietly retreated behind the others. If not for the restriction of the Grand Void Golden Tome, and the fact that he hadn't yet sensed the oppressive aura of a great fiend, he would have long since used his Lightning Escape technique to flee.

"There are absolutely no Saint-realm fierce beasts here!"

Emperor Si stated firmly. The Siyou Imperial Family certainly wouldn't seek their own demise.

Before he finished speaking.

The mist river violently shook. Everyone watched as the ancient formation before them tore apart, finally succumbing to the immense pressure, with a massive crack running through the entire grand array.

The crack reflected the scene deep within the Nie River, where brilliantly radiant rosy light erupted freely. However, this beautiful light brought with it an overwhelming and uncontrollable power, putting everyone on high alert.

Whoosh!

The mist river surged backward.

The mist current, like a tide carrying wisps of rosy light, slammed into them. This force was even stronger than the Nie River's inherent pushing force.

"Retreat!"

At Emperor Si's command, everyone retreated. With an impact from ahead and a pushing force from behind, being caught in the middle was uncomfortable. Fortunately, everyone present had profound cultivation, remaining calm in the face of danger. As they rapidly retreated, they kept their eyes fixed on the rosy light and indeed made a new discovery.

At the edge of the rosy light, several dark figures appeared. They were also retreating outwards, just like them, and appeared quite disheveled. They were clearly the opponents who had gotten there first.

Emperor Si's eyes narrowed slightly as he stared intently at the figures, his voice icy: "They are the Feathered Race!"

Everyone saw that those people each had a pair of wings on their backs, which they were frantically flapping to resist the impact of the rosy light.