Chapter 2073: Trap City

"The altar?"

Fu Chenzi's heart tightened. The main reason the Star-Seizing Palace was feared by other sects was its ability to sacrifice to and communicate with deities. For such rituals to succeed, while offerings were a part, the altar, as the vessel, was absolutely indispensable. The Divine Temple, it seemed, had come to the Star-Seizing Palace specifically to seize this very item!

"This is the foundation of the Star-Seizing Palace; we could never give it to anyone else," Chu Yin explained. "The Palace Master deliberately stalled for time and left alone, hoping to find a suitable place to make a sacrifice to the heavens, to convey this matter to the deities and let them decide."

"I see..." Fu Chenzi finally understood, and Zhang Xuan, hidden behind the rafters, also grasped the situation. He had wondered why the disciple was made to impersonate the master and where Palace Master Du had gone. It all made sense now. With the Divine Temple's scrutiny, the Star-Seizing Palace couldn't perform a sacrifice there. They had to find a hidden location to report the news to the heavens. That was why Chu Yin had been disguised as Palace Master Du to buy time. Unfortunately, it seemed the Divine Temple's experts had long anticipated their plan and had already dispatched people to track Palace Master Du.

"Senior Fu Chenzi, it's highly likely that Master is currently being pursued by the Divine Temple. I beg you to save her," Chu Yin pleaded, kneeling down after explaining.

"If I can help, I won't refuse," Fu Chenzi nodded, then looked at them with a solemn expression. "However, you must first tell me where Palace Master Du went and where she intends to perform the sacrifice! That way, I can find her and devise a way to rescue her!"

"This..." Chu Yin looked at the Grand Elder, and both hesitated. The Palace Master's whereabouts were a top secret; she had specifically instructed them not to reveal it to anyone before she left.

"The Divine Temple has already detected your objective. If I'm not mistaken, they've already sent people to pursue her. Palace Master Du is very likely in danger. If you still have reservations and are unwilling to speak frankly, there's nothing I can do." Seeing their expressions, Fu Chenzi frowned. "Not only will you lose your sect's most treasured artifact, but if Palace Master Du's life is lost because of this, the entire Star-Seizing Palace will be utterly destroyed..."

The Grand Elder and Chu Yin clenched their fists simultaneously. They knew he was right. Losing their sect's most precious artifact would mean the Star-Seizing Palace would lose its greatest reliance and trump card, much like the Cloudsoaring Sword Pavilion losing its Divine Sword Intent. In such a situation, if Palace Master Du were to encounter another mishap, even if the Star-Seizing Palace wasn't destroyed by the other five great sects, the marine life they had offended over the years would undoubtedly swarm over and annihilate the entire Star-Seizing Island! Therefore, from every perspective, neither the Palace Master nor the altar could afford to be compromised.

"Senior Fu Chenzi, it's not that we don't trust you, but... the Palace Master's whereabouts involve far too much, we..." The Grand Elder paused, hesitating to speak further.

"In that case, I will no longer concern myself with this matter," Fu Chenzi said, placing his hands behind his back. "At most, I'll return and receive a reprimand from the Temple Master!" With a leap, he prepared to fly out of the main hall.

"Senior, please wait..." The Grand Elder gritted her teeth. He was their last hope; if they let him leave, the Palace Master might truly be killed by the Divine Temple.

Fu Chenzi stopped and looked at the two. "Senior... would it be convenient for you to show me your identification token?" the Grand Elder asked.

"That's simple!" Fu Chenzi flipped his wrist, and a token appeared in his palm. The words "Through God" were carved on its back, giving off an ethereal aura and profound artistic conception that even a master calligrapher like Zhang Xuan couldn't replicate.

"It truly is an Elder's token from the God-Connecting Temple..." The Grand Elder breathed a sigh of relief. It was understandable that she had been cautious; given that Palace Master Du's life was at stake, even she could not afford to be negligent.

"Senior, please forgive me for offending you. It wasn't caution, but the Divine Temple's experts are truly too powerful, leaving me no choice but to be careful!" Returning the token, the Grand Elder was filled with apologies. It felt truly awkward to suspect someone who had just saved them.

"It's fine... That's only natural," Fu Chenzi said, unconcerned.

"Thank you for your understanding!" The Grand Elder nodded. "To be honest, if Palace Master Du hasn't been caught by the Divine Temple, she should have already entered the City of Fallen Traps!"

"The City of Fallen Traps?" Fu Chenzi was startled. "That place is fraught with danger; ordinarily, no one dares to enter it casually. Why would Palace Master Du go there?" It wasn't just him who was surprised; Zhang Xuan was also stunned. He had heard of the City of Fallen Traps; his disciple Bai Ruanqing's grandfather, Elder Bai Ye, had once entered it and was so severely injured that he was on the verge of death. It was the gourd's bathwater that saved his life, thus forging the master-disciple bond with this student. From his studies, Zhang Xuan knew this place was extremely perilous; even peak Immortal Monarch realm experts who entered had a nine out of ten chance of perishing. Palace Master Du was only performing a sacrifice, so why would she go to such a place? It was far too dangerous!

"The City of Fallen Traps is indeed very dangerous, but it's the only place on the continent that can block the Divine Temple's prying eyes. Only there can the sacrifice to the heavens proceed smoothly without being discovered," the Grand Elder explained. Her stated reason was accurate, but there was another unspoken one: the Divine Temple could see through their plans, and the Palace Master had anticipated this. She knew she couldn't defeat a Divine Temple pseudo-god realm expert in the outside world, but within the City of Fallen Traps, with its myriad dangers, the outcome of a confrontation would be uncertain. Although she, too, would be in grave danger, if she could bring down a Divine Temple expert with her, it would be a form of vindication for the Star-Seizing Palace and prevent their ancestors from being disgraced.

"I see..." Fu Chenzi nodded. "Since I know this, I will go to the City of Fallen Traps immediately to search for her. I can only hope Palace Master Du is still safe and sound!" Having said that, he swayed and shot straight out, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.

"Many thanks!" The Grand Elder and Chu Yin simultaneously clasped their hands in a gesture of gratitude.

"I'll follow and see..." With a movement, Zhang Xuan drifted out of the hall like a whisper of wind, flying directly in the direction Fu Chenzi had vanished. His purpose in coming to the Star-Seizing Palace was to find Du Qingyuan and inquire about Luo Ruoxi. Since the Palace Master was very likely in the City of Fallen Traps, he naturally had to go there. If he didn't get to meet her and she was killed by someone else, he truly wouldn't even have time to cry.

Fu Chenzi, the Elder from the God-Connecting Temple, was incredibly fast. By the time Zhang Xuan emerged, he had already vanished without a trace. "Eye of Insight!" Zhang Xuan's eyes swirled with intricate patterns, and the faint air current trails left by the recent flight clearly appeared before him. Zhang Xuan followed closely.

Soon, he left Star-Seizing Island and continued onward. A few more trails appeared before him, seemingly also pursuing Fu Chenzi, just like him. "It's those five from the Divine Temple... Weren't they injured?" Zhang Xuan counted five distinct trails and frowned. As expected, these were left by the Divine Temple's group. Truly, they were Divine Temple powerhouses; they had feigned injury and escape, but had actually used a secret technique to quietly follow the Elder from the God-Connecting Temple. "Pseudo-god realm cultivators really aren't foolish," he mused again. Knowing they couldn't get information from Chu Yin or the Grand Elder, they had cleverly used their opponent to lead them to the truth – truly formidable!

Knowing his own speed couldn't match that of a pseudo-god realm expert in flight, he flipped his wrist, and Grand Shark appeared. It swiftly flew forward, following the trails.

Half a day later, after flying another million kilometers, the trails vanished. Zhang Xuan had Grand Shark stop and then put it back into his spirit beast pouch. He looked around. Before him lay a desolate, uninhabited desert, endless yellow sand stretching as far as the eye could see. "The trails stopped here... Could the so-called City of Fallen Traps be hidden within this desert?" Since the trails disappeared here, it meant the City of Fallen Traps was not far away.

He carefully recalled the descriptions of the City of Fallen Traps from the books he had read. "The City of Fallen Traps has existed for an unknown number of years, present even before the native life of Star-Seizing Island, hidden within the vast desert..." He quickly reviewed all the information about it in his mind. The Cloudsoaring Sword Pavilion, the Myriad Beasts Gate, and the Seven Star Pagoda—all three great sects—had records of this place. "It must be nearby!"

He looked around. After a moment, he raised an eyebrow and approached a small sand dune. At first glance, this spot was no different from any other, but upon closer inspection, it exuded an ancient, desolate aura, as if a city, long lost to the world, lay buried beneath the yellow sand. He landed on the sandy ground and slowly walked a circle around the dune.

Raising his eyebrows, he suddenly stomped on a spot on the ground with his foot. A powerful suction force emerged, and he instantly plummeted from the air. He hastily circulated his qi to counteract the pull and stabilize himself. Only then did he realize that what lay before him was no longer a desert, but a vast space, as if he had entered another world. An ancient, dilapidated city appeared in his view, exuding an aura of age and desolation. The visible landscape was barren, with almost no vegetation, and the ground was riddled with swamps that seemed ready to swallow anyone who stepped on them, trapping them inescapably.

"This is the City of Fallen Traps?" Zhang Xuan's expression grew solemn. He had long heard that this place was exceedingly strange, and now he saw it was true. He had always thought it was merely a dangerous location, like many other sect territories, but he never dreamed it would be a folded space hidden within the desert.

He looked up and around. His path of entry had vanished, and even with his sensitivity to space, he couldn't detect it. This meant... he was now trapped here and couldn't leave!

"Since I'm here, I'll make the best of it," he thought. "Since Palace Master Du has arrived, perhaps I can find her!" Activating his mental state to cast aside negative emotions, Zhang Xuan flew straight towards the massive city before him.

He had not flown far, not even entering the city, when he felt a bone-chilling cold. Immediately, a sword light shot straight out from the swamp, aiming directly for his chest. At the same instant, another sword light descended from above, complementing the first, as if intending to slay him in a single strike.

"An ambush..." Zhang Xuan's pupils constricted, and his entire body stiffened. He had been so focused on tracking the Divine Temple members that he hadn't expected... he had already been discovered, and they were waiting for him here!