High Elder Juxue had left Lin Mu behind and entered a long dark corridor.
Unlike the other areas of the Temple, this was not illuminated and only shadows could be found here. And yet, a certain power filled it which only grew stronger the further one went in.
At the same time, the density of the power increased making it hard for one to move.
~ripple~
The air visible rippled as one passed through it. Only the High Elder who was at the Seventh Tribulation Stage of the Immortal realm could walk to the end without being stopped.
And when he came out at the end, he passed through a thin barrier that looked like it could burst like a bubble.
The barrier bulged according to High Elder Juxue's form and left a coating on him before retracting.
The man now stood in a pitch black area, its size simply unknown. Even the use of Immortal Sense was not possible here with the sheer amount of energy coursing through the air.
Most people would find it impossible to breathe here, and even the High Elder had to make use of his Qi to function here.
~Thud~ Thud~
The old man came to a stop and knelt down before kowtowing.
"High Elder Juxue requests and audience from the great guardians." The old man said in a low voice.
~WHOOSH~
And yet, his voice echoed through the entire area.
~hummm~
The flicker of energies was heard before four lights appeared in the distance.
"Go, return." The red light spoke.
High Elder Juxue was confused upon hearing this.
"We already know what you are here for." The yellow light spoke.
The old man become surprised.
"That 'Celestial' was correct." The blue light spoke.
High Elder Juxue shivered unconsciously.
"Send in the child, we'll speak to him ourselves." The green light stated.
"I'll do as the guardians command." High Elder Juxue replied, heeding their voices.
~shua~
The four lights disappeared and darkness returned in the area.
High Elder stood up after that and quickly turned around. He swiftly returned to the start of the corridor where he had left Lin Mu and the Crown Prince.
There, Lin Mu and Crown Prince were still waiting but were doing different things.
Lin Mu seemed to be pondering on the murals on the walls while the Crown Prince stood silently and watched him. He still couldn't bring himself to say anything since he was processing it all. Plus he didn't know what was the right thing to say.
~step~step~step~
It was then that the Crown Prince heard footsteps.
'Huh, he's back?' Crown Prince Feng Shun was surprised to see the High Elder. 'If he went to that corridor, it should be the central guardian hall… but once someone goes there they usually take a lot more to come back.
And if High Elder Juxue went there, it was likely to discuss the matter from earlier… but now he's back not even five minutes later.' The Crown Prince was a bit familiar with the workings of the Temple and had not expected this.
To the Crown Prince, it should have taken the High Elder at least half an hour before he would come back.
'Was he rejected or something?' The Crown Prince wondered if something as outrageous as that would be possible.
Lin Mu too turned around upon hearing the footsteps and knew that the elder had returned.
"Is everything fine?" Lin Mu asked, sensing a hint of uncertainty on the High Elder's face.
"Yes. You can now go in." High Elder Juxue replied.
"What's there though?" Lin Mu questioned.
"If you pass through the corridor, you'll reach the great guardian hall. The path is dark but you just have to walk straight. You'll know when you arrive.
Once you're there, you'll be able to talk to the guardians." High Elder Juxue answered.
"So I finally get to talk to the four guardians…" Lin Mu spoke as a smile appeared on his face.
The excitement was apparent on his face.
"As for the reward, you can directly get it from the guardians. As per our previous agreement, you can get two rewards instead of just one." High Elder Juxue informed.
"That's perfect." Lin Mu said before he entered the dark corridor.
He couldn't wait to reach and get his rewards.
Lin Mu had given up his earlier low quality win rewards in exchange for something much bigger. Now instead of getting one major reward for the final winner, he would be able to get two of them.
Such a thing was shocking and if others were to find out, they might just scream out about unfairness.
High Elder Juxue and Crown Prince Feng Shun watched as Lin Mu's back as he disappeared in the darkness.
"High Elder… why did you return so early?" The Crown Prince finally asked the question that had been bugging him all this time.
~sigh~
The High Elder let out a sigh in repose and took a pause.
"All that happened outside… at the tournament grounds… the guardians were watching it all… listening to it all." High Elder Juxue finally spoke. "There was never a need for me to talk to them in the first place." He added much to the Crown Prince's surprise.
Both of them stayed silent after that, pondering on the implications of it all.
Lin Mu on the other hand, was in wonder of what the corridor was.
"This place… the saturation of immortal Qi here is… astonishing." Lin Mu said seeing the very air becoming viscous. "But at the same time, none of it can be absorbed. It is locked here." He understood after trying it.
Lin Mu hadn't seen a place like this before and was interested in it. He tried to use his immortal sense to check more things, but was unable to even release it from his body.
'It even limits my Immortal sense through the sheer mass of Immortal Qi.' Lin Mu was surprised once more.
He wondered just how a place like this could be built. One thing he knew was that the amount of Immortal Qi needed to make a corridor like this would be crazy high.
Lin Mu estimated that it would take at least five to six Peak Grade immortal stone veins to generate this much Immortal Qi and keep it packed.
Lin Mu himself had unearthed a couple of immortal stone mines and knew just how dense they could be.
'Normally speaking, the immortal Qi should have turned liquid at this point. But it is still gaseous… though dense to the point of preventing any one else immortal Qi from intruding.' Lin Mu analyzed it.
But that wasn't all, as Lin Mu continued to walk through it he could feel himself getting hindered.
"Is this a trial of some kind too?" Lin Mu wondered.
But just as the resistance was about to reach a point where it would take him twice the effort to walk, it disappeared.
~shua~
"Huh?" Lin Mu felt a change in the atmosphere. "The pressure is gone?" he was confused.
The density of the immortal Qi was still the same, but there was no longer any resistance for him.
'Perhaps they are just inviting me in freely then.' He reckoned and sped up.
In just a minute, Lin Mu reached the end of the corridor and reached the bubble thin barrier.
The barrier lightly glowed and let Lin Mu inside, coating him in a thin layer just like it had done with High Elder Juxue.
"A protective ward?" Lin Mu instantly recognized what that layer was. "But why?" he couldn't understand.
"It's so that others don't get harmed from our presences." Suddenly Lin Mu heard a voice coming from the dark hall.
He turned his attention to it immediately and saw a light appearing.
The light was tiny, almost the size of a spec of dust.
~SHUA~
But then a moment later, it grew to the size of a bonfire!
Lin Mu squinted his eyes but did not look away.
"This…" A vast and mystical hall was revealed to him at that moment.
It seemed to have no walls and only had pillars dotting it. The pillars went in four rows in four directions and their end could not be seen. It was as if there were an infinite number of them.
The pillars themselves were plain, but if one looked at them deeply they would be able to sense the power of Dao within them.
'Is this an illusory plane or reality?' Lin Mu couldn't differentiate.
His confusion only got greater as the floor started to move on its own. Lin Mu found himself being brought forward and quickly reached the center of the hall where four statues stood.
Unlike the massive statues on top of the temple, these were much more humble and looked rather weathered.
And yet, they exuded profundities that could not be grasped.
~HONG~
Then in the next moment, the four statues glowed in Red, Blue, Green and Yellow lights before illusory figures formed above them.
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