Chapter 566: Nest at the End

Author: I Eat Tomatoes

Within the deep, dark passage of the lair, Palace Master Xueyu’s eyes were icy cold, and her forward speed also slowed. An invisible aura surged from the depths of the passage, causing even Palace Master Xueyu to feel immense pressure.

“The aura alone is this terrifying, enough to suppress a Fourth Tribulation Realm expert to death,” Palace Master Xueyu murmured, feeling slightly perplexed. “What is its source?”

A corpse, for instance, even a legendary one from an Eighth Tribulation Realm expert, would only naturally emit an aura capable of controlling Tribulation Realm cultivators and altering their bloodlines. It would not directly suppress a Fourth Tribulation Realm cultivator to death.

“Is it a treasure from the River of Spacetime, or a living being?” Palace Master Xueyu pondered, her body glowing with an icy jade luster as she continued to advance without slowing her pace.

“Palace Master, Palace Master,” a voice cried out for help.

“Hm?”

Palace Master Xueyu frowned slightly.

Within the grotto-heaven she carried, Palace Master Xueyu’s figure materialized, looking towards the Peng Emperor’s soul avatar, who was respectfully saluting before her.

“Palace Master,” the Peng Emperor’s soul avatar said, sounding quite anxious, “Your subordinate encountered an enemy named Meng Chuan. My true body was captured and imprisoned by him, and all my treasures were seized.”

“Your treasures were seized? Your outer realm true body imprisoned?” Palace Master Xueyu frowned slightly. The treasures her subordinate had obtained within the grotto-heaven originally belonged to her, so for Meng Chuan to rob the Peng Emperor was effectively robbing her own treasures. Naturally displeased, she then asked, “What is his background?”

The Peng Emperor hastily replied, “Reporting to Palace Master, this Meng Chuan is from Cangyuan World!”

“Cangyuan World, of Patriarch Cangyuan?” Palace Master Xueyu was somewhat surprised.

Patriarch Cangyuan was the only Seventh Tribulation Realm expert born in the entire Three Bay River System throughout its long history, and Palace Master Xueyu naturally knew of him.

“Yes,” the Peng Emperor continued, “As Palace Master is aware, Cangyuan World is adjacent to my homeworld, and a great enmity has formed between us. This Meng Chuan rapidly rose to prominence, and in Cangyuan World, he is also known as ‘Emperor Dongning’. His strength progression was initially quite normal; after approximately a century of cultivation, his strength was only at the peak Venerable level.”

During the great war in the World Gap, the strength Meng Chuan displayed was clear; at his strongest, he was only comparable to Monarch Peacock.

“Later, he went to the outer realm, and in just a few decades there, his strength ascended to the Tribulation Realm level,” the Peng Emperor explained. “And he is even suspected to be a Fifth Tribulation Realm expert.”

“Suspected to be a Fifth Tribulation Realm expert after just a few decades in the outer realm?” Even Palace Master Xueyu, for all her composure, found this unbelievable.

“Therefore, your subordinate suspects it might be a fortuitous opportunity left by Patriarch Cangyuan, allowing him to enter a special secret realm,” the Peng Emperor said. “It might seem like a few decades in the outer realm, but in reality, tens of thousands of years or even longer might have passed within that secret realm. This time, he tracked karmic connections to this grotto-mansion, first capturing your subordinate alive, and then, using karmic connections, he killed two emperors from my homeworld.”

“He has a great enmity with your subordinate’s homeworld. His imprisonment of your subordinate is also to ensure he has full certainty before eradicating all of your subordinate’s avatars,” the Peng Emperor said.

Palace Master Xueyu nodded slightly: “I understand. If he truly has reached the Fifth Tribulation Realm, no one can completely kill him. If he is determined to kill you… you can only rely on yourself to survive.”

“Your subordinate understands,” the Peng Emperor replied, bowing his head.

He naturally understood this principle. A Fifth Tribulation Realm expert can only be killed by an Eighth Tribulation Realm mighty one across life worlds, a possibility that can already be ignored. Therefore, after confirming that Meng Chuan had likely reached the Fifth Tribulation Realm, the Peng Emperor felt some despair. All he could do now was strive to become stronger, making it difficult for Meng Chuan to completely eradicate him. If one day the Peng Emperor also became a Fifth Tribulation Realm expert, he would naturally be fearless and roam freely across the River of Spacetime.

Recalling her thoughts, Palace Master Xueyu continued to advance through the deep passage.

“Emperor Dongning Meng Chuan, suspected Fifth Tribulation Realm? This is getting more and more interesting,” Palace Master Xueyu mused as she continued to advance step by step, enduring the pressure. Finally, she reached the end of the deep passage and arrived in a massive cavern.

The cavern was incredibly vast, spanning approximately ten thousand li. Palace Master Xueyu exited the passage and entered the cavern. At a glance, she saw a massive head at the far end of the cavern.

This head was approximately a thousand li tall, with two black curved horns. Its skin was also black, and it possessed only a single blood-red vertical pupil! Its mouth was like a gaping maw, approximately five hundred li long, and inside were teeth like towering mountains.

Chains were rooted within this head, embedded in its skull, face, ears, and mouth. Vast amounts of energy were transmitted through these chains throughout the entire lair.

“Hm?” Palace Master Xueyu’s expression changed dramatically.

Because this massive head, though bound by numerous chains and unable to move, and with its gaping mouth also motionless, its blood-red vertical pupil was full of spirit. It was currently staring at Palace Master Xueyu.

Stared at by this blood-red vertical pupil, Palace Master Xueyu felt a suffocating fear. Her entire body instantly seemed to freeze, making her utterly unable to move.

“Break, break, break,” she urged internally.

It took Palace Master Xueyu several breaths of time to fully resist the influence of the blood-red vertical pupil and regain control of herself. This made her look at the massive head with some trepidation.

“A Sixth Tribulation Realm Forbidden Creature?” Palace Master Xueyu was shocked. She had once seen a Forbidden Creature before, but that encounter was with a Fifth Tribulation Realm one. But the feeling was similar.

However, this head before her was even more terrifying. If it weren’t completely restrained, a single glare from its blood-red vertical pupil could kill her. A single gulp from its open mouth could swallow her whole.

There was no way around it.

The further one progressed in the Tribulation Realm, the greater the disparity. A Fifth Tribulation Realm expert could easily crush a Fourth Tribulation Realm expert, and the suppression a Sixth Tribulation Realm expert exerted over a Fifth Tribulation Realm expert was even more terrifying. Prodigies who created ultimate Emperor-level absolute arts could ascend to the Fifth Tribulation Realm in a short time. Yet, even after exhausting their entire lives, they would barely reach the Sixth Tribulation Realm level.

“Sixth Tribulation Realm,” Palace Master Xueyu murmured as she stood in this cavern, seeing a Sixth Tribulation Realm Forbidden Creature imprisoned. The Forbidden Creature’s blood-red vertical pupil continued to stare at her, and even though she could resist the pupil’s influence, she still felt immense pressure.

“Whoosh.”

From the massive head’s five hundred li long mouth, a wisp of mist flew out, condensing into a man with a human torso and a snake tail.

“This sin creature’s mouth is the absolute core and end of the entire grotto-mansion,” the man with the snake tail said, smiling at Palace Master Xueyu after flying out. “Among all of you who explore this grotto-mansion, only one can reach its true end.”

“Can I enter now?” Palace Master Xueyu asked, looking at the man with the snake tail. She instantly determined that this was merely a guardian deity-like existence, not a true living being.

“No,” the man with the snake tail shook his head. “Within a year’s time, all beings who arrive here will engage in a final competition. Only the sole victor will be allowed to enter.”

Palace Master Xueyu said no more. She could sense that the massive head was protected by numerous arrays, capable of restraining even a ‘Sixth Tribulation Realm Forbidden Creature’. If she wasn't allowed to enter, daring to trespass would be courting death.

Half a month later.

“Hm?” The hunchbacked Old Devil Heifeng also arrived here. Upon seeing the massive head bound by chains, his face also paled. The massive head’s blood-red vertical pupil then turned to look at Old Devil Heifeng.

Old Devil Heifeng felt a chill. It took him a full three breaths of time to resist the suppression.

“A Forbidden Creature? Sixth Tribulation Realm?” Old Devil Heifeng was also greatly surprised. He quickly discovered the purpose of the chains: “What a powerful method! It completely restrains a Sixth Tribulation Realm being, and it also seems to draw power from this Forbidden Creature to supply the entire grotto-mansion.”

Old Devil Heifeng then turned his head to look at Palace Master Xueyu. Palace Master Xueyu stood to the side with her eyes closed, silently waiting.

“Xueyu, you arrived remarkably fast,” Old Devil Heifeng said, opening his mouth to chuckle.

Palace Master Xueyu opened her eyes, glanced at him, and then closed them again.

Another half a month passed.

The slender Tagu also arrived here. When he saw the massive head, his body trembled, but he resisted the influence in about a single breath of time. This was because he was already aware of the layout here and knew there was a terrifying Forbidden Creature imprisoned within. With his mind prepared, he naturally broke free from the influence more quickly.

“They arrived even earlier than me?” Tagu said, somewhat surprised to see both Palace Master Xueyu and Old Devil Heifeng. He then turned to look at the guardian deity with the human torso and snake tail, and spoke loudly: “In this grotto-mansion, all other beings must have given up exploring by now. Since it’s just the three of us Fifth Tribulation Realm experts, let’s quickly begin the final competition.”

“No rush,” the man with the snake tail smiled slightly. “There’s still one more advancing.”

“It’s been ten months already, and there’s still someone advancing?” Tagu asked, puzzled.

Old Devil Heifeng and Palace Master Xueyu, however, remained calm. Both of them knew there was another unfamiliar expert, suspected to be a Fifth Tribulation Realm cultivator.

“Emperor Dongning Meng Chuan?” Palace Master Xueyu murmured inwardly. Among the three, she knew the most about this unfamiliar expert.

“Senior, please spare my life, spare my life,” a tall, thin man in a gray robe said with utmost respect, though bitterness filled his heart. He was a Fourth Tribulation Realm expert. He had deliberately slowed down, and with the numerous lair passages, he had originally thought he would gain greatly this time. Who would have thought that there was a Fifth Tribulation Realm mighty one even slower than him! And moreover, they were coincidentally in the same passage.

“Doesn’t this Fifth Tribulation Realm expert fear being too slow, allowing the best treasures to fall into the hands of other Fifth Tribulation Realm experts?” the tall, thin man in the gray robe thought, feeling aggrieved.

“Spare your life?” Meng Chuan, with his white hair draped over his shoulders, looked at him. “You should understand the rules: hand over all your treasures, and I’ll spare your life.”

“Yes,” the tall, thin man in the gray robe replied. No matter how bitter he felt, he honestly handed over his treasures. From their recent exchange, he had discovered the immense gap between them; the mere illusory suppression from Meng Chuan’s Primordial Spirit World had rendered him utterly powerless to resist. If this white-haired man wished, he could easily kill him and then take all his treasures. This ‘outer realm true body’ had also cost him six hundred units of outer realm primordial crystals to cultivate, so being able to preserve his true body was already a decent outcome.

Whoosh—

With a wave of his hand, Meng Chuan collected the numerous treasures, and then continued forward. He had indeed arrived relatively late, so Palace Master Xueyu, Tagu, and Old Devil Heifeng had all gained something by breaking through various obstacles. In contrast, Meng Chuan’s primary gains were from this Fourth Tribulation Realm expert and the Peng Emperor.

Of course…

Some vital areas in the lair had lost their core treasures, significantly reducing their threat, so Meng Chuan’s forward speed could also be faster.

“This aura of suppression,” Meng Chuan also felt the terrifying aura of suppression. As he walked through the passage, he too wondered, “How can this aura be so strong? Is it a treasure, or a living being?”

Soon, Meng Chuan also exited the deep passage and arrived in the massive cavern. The cavern was ten thousand li wide, and at its far end, a massive head was imprisoned. The head’s blood-red vertical pupil fixed on Meng Chuan.

Meanwhile, Palace Master Xueyu, Old Devil Heifeng, and the slender Tagu all simultaneously turned their heads to look at Meng Chuan.

“The last one has also arrived,” the man with the snake tail said, revealing a smile.