Chapter 1414: Changes in the Forbidden Formation

There were five stone chambers with open doors, indicating that someone had already entered the Myriad Puppet Palace ahead of them.

Above the entrance of each of the five stone chambers, the characters "Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu" were inscribed, seemingly corresponding to something specific.

Wu Chang took out a cyan-colored parchment scroll, his brows furrowed, and he muttered to himself:

"This isn't right! It's different from the topographical map left by our ancestors! How can there be five rooms?"

An ancestor of the Wu family had entered the Myriad Puppet Palace before, but they hadn't obtained any treasures and returned severely wounded, leaving behind a topographical map.

The green-robed elder and the white-robed young woman exchanged glances, both their expressions grim. If Wu Chang hadn't invited them for help, they wouldn't have come there.

Huang Fugui suddenly spoke, "The map isn't wrong. Someone has triggered the Myriad Puppet Palace's restrictions, changing its layout. The Myriad Puppet Palace is a giant maze; if someone triggers its restrictions, the maze will change."

Wang Qingshan was a little surprised. Had Huang Fugui entered the Myriad Puppet Palace before? No, that wasn't right! The Myriad Puppet Palace opened once every five hundred years, and Huang Fugui wouldn't have been born five hundred years ago!

Wu Chang and the other three were filled with confusion. As cultivators from the Northern Frontier, none of them had heard about this.

Wu Chang asked, somewhat puzzled, "If that's truly the case, why haven't we heard about it before? Fellow Daoist Huang, where is your basis for saying this?"

Huang Fugui thought for a moment and said, "Fairy Song from the Three Flames Palace and I once ventured into one of the Puppet Emperor's cave dwellings. From that experience, I learned some things about the Myriad Puppet Palace. Generally, the restrictions won't change; they're only triggered if someone reaches the very end. The Myriad Puppet Palace is vast and has many restrictions. If we're unlucky, we might be teleported into another set of restrictions."

Wang Qingshan frowned. If what Huang Fugui said was true, being teleported into another set of restrictions would be troublesome.

Wu Chang promised, his expression serious, "We've come this far, Fellow Daoists, do you wish to retreat? If you're unwilling to proceed, I can only give you half of what I promised. But if you agree to accompany me, I can give you two additional treasures once the matter is concluded."

The white-robed young woman hesitated for a moment and suggested, "How about we retreat and wait for them? Once they've taken the treasures, we can snatch them from their hands."

Huang Fugui shook his head and said, "This method won't work. Who knows if the Myriad Puppet Palace's restrictions will teleport intruders out? Staying outside isn't without danger. I recall that if the Myriad Puppet Palace's restrictions are triggered, the external restrictions will also change. I hope I'm wrong."

No sooner had he spoken, a thick stone wall suddenly emerged from the ground, blocking the exit. Simultaneously, the surrounding walls began to move, closing in on them. More than a dozen stone walls, each about a zhang wide, moved rapidly as if alive.

The stone walls moved very quickly and were indestructible. The remnants of the puppet beasts lying on the ground were crushed into powder by two opposing walls.

Wang Qingshan flicked his sleeve, and a large swathe of green sword energy flew out, striking the stone wall. A dull clanging sound echoed, but the stone wall remained perfectly intact, without the slightest mark.

After a while, the stone walls stopped moving, and Wang Qingshan and the other two found themselves in a stone chamber over a hundred zhang wide. The chamber had two bluestone passages, and above each entrance, the characters for "life" and "death" were inscribed.

The white-robed young woman performed a hand seal, and a bright white light emanated from her body. She then transformed into specks of white light and vanished.

With a "bang," the white-robed young woman crashed into the stone wall. A large number of golden runes emerged on the wall, twisting incessantly as if alive and emitting a subtle ripple of restriction.

The white-robed young woman's face was filled with dismay as she asked Huang Fugui, "Fellow Daoist Huang, which way should we go?"

Huang Fugui's face became a grimace. "I don't know. This is my first time entering the Myriad Puppet Palace. If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have come."

He had ventured into many forbidden lands and secret realms, but the Myriad Puppet Palace was the most dangerous. This was a cultivation cave left by a Soul Transformation cultivator, yet its allure was also the greatest. The Puppet Emperor had once unified the Northern Frontier's cultivation world as a Soul Transformation cultivator; what she left behind certainly wouldn't be ordinary.

"Don't we find out if there are restrictions by trying?" Wang Qingshan released two small horse puppet beasts and controlled them to rush into the two bluestone passages.

Strangely, nothing happened.

As the small horse puppet beasts reached the end, anomalies suddenly occurred. A large swathe of green flames suddenly surged from one passage, while from the other, a bone-chilling white cold air abruptly gushed out. One small horse puppet beast was frozen, and the other vanished.

The white-robed young woman's delicate brows furrowed tightly, and her expression was grim. "Both passages have restrictions? Which way should we go?"

If they remained still, they might trigger other restrictions, which was tantamount to waiting for death.

"Follow me!" Wang Qingshan strode towards the passage emitting green flames, a dazzling green light illuminating his entire body.

As soon as he stepped into the passage, a large swathe of green flames surged towards him. Strangely, the green flames did not harm Wang Qingshan but flew into his sleeve and vanished.

Wang Qingshan had his back to Huang Fugui and the white-robed young woman. They didn't see what divine ability Wang Qingshan had used; they could only be certain that he possessed a unique treasure capable of suppressing fire-attributed restrictions.

The white-robed young woman quickly followed, with Huang Fugui walking at the very back.

As they walked, green flames continuously emerged from the passage, successively flying into the Azure Lotus Lamp, leaving Wang Qingshan unharmed.

After walking for over a hundred zhang and turning left, a grand hall, about an acre in size, appeared before them. The hall was empty; not only were there no cultivators, but not even a single table was present. The stone walls were carved with numerous ferocious beast patterns.

In the upper left corner, there was an exit about a zhang high, but they didn't know where it led.

The stone wall suddenly glowed with a golden light. A golden humanoid puppet beast and a massive silver spider puppet beast emerged from the wall. Judging by their aura, they were clearly fourth-rank puppet beasts.

As soon as they appeared, they attacked Wang Qingshan and the other two.

The humanoid puppet beast clapped its hands in the air towards Wang Qingshan. A whooshing sound pierced the air as densely packed golden threads shot out, instantly reaching Wang Qingshan.

Wang Qingshan reacted swiftly. He casually slashed with his right hand, and a large swathe of green sword energy flew out to meet the attack.

"Clang, clang, clang!" A series of clanging metallic sounds rang out as the green sword energy was shattered by the golden threads, sending waves of air bursting forth.

The two fourth-rank puppet beasts furiously attacked Wang Qingshan, completely ignoring Huang Fugui and the white-robed young woman, which left them utterly perplexed.

Wang Qingshan summoned nine Azure Glazed Swords, which circled him erratically, emitting streaks of sharp green sword energy that slashed at the fourth-rank puppet beasts, creating a dull clanging sound.

When the Azure Glazed Swords struck their bodies, they only left faint white marks.

Just as Huang Fugui and the white-robed young woman were about to help, a large swathe of green flames suddenly erupted from the ground, and the fire quickly spread.

The white-robed young woman hesitated for a moment, then flew towards the exit, adopting the mindset of "better a dead fellow Daoist than a dead me."

They had clearly fallen into some restriction, and staying there was quite dangerous. Who knew what other restrictions they might trigger?

Huang Fugui glanced at the white-robed young woman but said nothing. He summoned a large amount of yellow sand, transforming it into a vast yellow sand curtain, and attacked the spider puppet beast.

Huang Fugui knew clearly that it was relatively safer to follow Wang Qingshan. The risk of escaping alone was much greater, and if they couldn't deal with these two fourth-rank puppet beasts, they would likely die there.