Chapter 94: Palace of All Things

In the blink of an eye, a dozen Law Manifestation cultivators had delved into Dragon Cave Valley, arriving before the Palace of All Things. The intoxicating aura of Daoist essence there was several times stronger than what they had sensed through the magical mirror.

“This can’t be wrong. This aura is definitely from a Demi-God. A Law Manifestation stage cultivator doesn’t possess such power.”

The dozen cultivators trembled. Just sensing the aura of the Palace of All Things made them feel inferior, as if they were in the presence of a higher-level existence.

The two rogue Law Manifestation cultivators subtly moved closer to each other, while the members of the ten great powers formed groups, each vigilant of the others.

“Everyone, the inheritance is right before us. Fighting now benefits no one. Why don’t we first obtain the inheritance and then each make a copy? What do you think?” Grandmaster Jinghun of the Jianyue Sect suggested.

The Jianyue Sect was a dominant force among the ten great sects, but precisely because of this, initiating a battle would likely result in them being besieged. They weren’t keen on fighting now, and neither were the others. If a battle broke out, none could guarantee their survival.

“Agreed, let’s secure the inheritance first and discuss the rest afterward.”

They reached a consensus, though everyone knew it was merely a brief calm before the storm. How could anyone truly want to share a Demi-God’s inheritance?

Even if they were willing, the resources of True Martial Continent were insufficient to support the rise of more than one Demi-God. From the moment the Demi-God inheritance appeared, a period of bloodshed and chaos was inevitable for True Martial Continent.

As for staying in Zhong Chun’s minor blessed land?

Despite being larger than True Martial Continent, its incomplete laws meant that even those cultivating earth attribute techniques would struggle if they weren’t aligned with Zhong Chun demigod’s path.

Only a fool would want to stay here permanently, as that would only disrupt their path in martial arts.

The dozen Law Manifestation cultivators temporarily reached a consensus, working together to push open the grand doors of the Palace of All Things. They didn’t notice the strange glint in Li Donglai’s eyes, whom they had relegated to a quivering guinea pig on the sidelines.

Outside Dragon Cave Valley, as the Law Manifestation cultivators delved deeper, the True Core cultivators weren’t idle. While their elders sought the demigod inheritance, they began harvesting the valley’s abundant resources.

The entire Dragon Cave Valley, concealed by a natural barrier, was filled with mystical flowers and herbs. Even the lowest-grade spiritual plants here were of the innate level, making this a treasure trove that would make anyone envious.

The True Core cultivators of the ten great powers were red-eyed with greed. They aggressively and recklessly gathered these precious items. Meanwhile, the True Core cultivators who had sneaked in from the minor blessed land couldn’t resist trying to grab their share, avoiding the great sect cultivators and quietly pocketing what they could.

The smarter ones quickly took their loot and hid, but those blinded by greed didn’t realize they were being surrounded by the ten great powers’ cultivators, who planned to let these interlopers do the hard work before slaughtering them like pigs.

Lin Fanyun led Ye Xiaoshu deeper into Dragon Cave Valley. As they went, Lin Fanyun used his abilities to collect rare spiritual herbs swiftly, far more efficiently than the others. Ye Xiaoshu, being clever, also grabbed whatever he encountered without bothering to assess their value, filling his storage pouch to the brim.

With Lin Fanyun’s concealment techniques, no one noticed their presence. However, just before reaching the Palace of All Things, Lin Fanyun came to a halt.

Lin Fanyun extended his finger, and a small lump of flesh appeared at the tip. It then fell off and transformed into a tiny flying insect.

The insect flew into the Palace of All Things, acting as Lin Fanyun’s eyes. Not wanting to reveal his presence, Lin Fanyun refrained from spreading his senses and opted to use the insect instead. This approach was perfect, as it could serve as his eyes while being indistinguishable from a regular insect. Unless someone knew his techniques, it would be nearly impossible to detect.

‘Fortunately, my physical level reached the third layer of the Law Manifestation stage at a critical moment. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to develop such a refined application of the Body Manipulation technique,’ Lin Fanyun thought to himself.

Previously, his small eye technique wasn’t perfect. Now, the insect created from his own flesh was indistinguishable from a real one. This level of detail and perfection was far superior to his earlier attempts.

“Whether it’s called a divine ability or a physical combat technique, it’s essentially the same,” Lin Fanyun murmured to himself.

Typically, except for innate divine abilities, martial artists only begin to cultivate their most suitable techniques during the True Core stage. These techniques were called divine abilities. Because the process of cultivating a divine ability involved incorporating the martial artist’s intentions and past insights. These abilities were highly tailored to the individual and difficult for others to learn.

As martial artists continued their training, they could use their inherent divine ability as a foundation to develop derivative divine abilities by absorbing knowledge from various sources. These abilities were highly personalized and challenging for others to master.

However, if a martial artist could comprehend not just how to use their divine ability but also understand its deeper secrets, they could document it as a technique that anyone can learn. This was the origin of many martial techniques.

Lin Fanyun’s understanding of the divine ability had reached the level of knowing how it worked, even if he didn’t fully understand why it worked that way.

Beside him, Ye Xiaoshu was still marveling at the transformation of the lump of flesh at Lin Fanyun’s fingertip into a tiny flying insect, unaware of the many thoughts that had flashed through Lin Fanyun’s mind in that brief moment.

Unconsciously, Ye Xiaoshu extended his finger, but nothing happened.

After a moment, Ye Xiaoshu stared at his finger in confusion.

“Why is yours so remarkable, while mine isn’t?”

The insect fluttered its wings and flew to the front of the Palace of All Things, where it found a scene of deathly silence.

Li Donglai was covered in blood, holding a dripping severed head.

He had slaughtered all the “mice,” leaving no one alive.

Li Donglai licked the blood from the corner of his mouth, walked up to the palace door, and with a flick of his hand, the door closed.

“I thought you would be smarter and leave one or two people to guard the door, but you all went inside. How foolish. But this saves me a lot of trouble. Hahahahaha!” Li Donglai laughed heartily.

The insect looked at the sealed palace door, which was shut tightly, not a crack visible.

“This is… a demi-artifact!” Lin Fanyun, sharing the insect’s vision and senses, was shocked.

Previously, to avoid detection, he hadn’t probed the Dragon Cave Valley. Now, seeing the Palace of All Things, he instantly recognized the quality of the palace.

Lin Fanyun couldn’t help but feel a chill.

A demi-artifact, to some extent, was equivalent to the existence of a demigod.

Even an unmanned demi-artifact was beyond the capability of a Law Manifestation stage cultivator to contend with. Moreover, judging by Li Donglai’s behavior, he must have some level of control over the Palace of All Things.

“Those Law Manifestation cultivators are doomed,” Lin Fanyun said.

Facing a demi-artifact head-on was impossible, and now, being trapped inside, they were destined to perish without a trace.

“Luckily, I was cautious. Otherwise, I would have been trapped too,” Lin Fanyun felt a surge of irritation.

The demigod’s inheritance was something he was determined to obtain.

Although his path in physical cultivation was systematic and didn’t require inheritance, martial arts inheritance was still beneficial for both his main body’s cultivation and his physical cultivation path.

Apart from anything else, Lin Fanyun didn’t even know what each advancement in physical cultivation would bring or what the next level would be like. Having a higher-level martial inheritance to reference would allow him to make educated guesses and prepare accordingly.

Of course, the most important benefit would be for his main body’s martial cultivation.

“It looks like I need to give it a try. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll run immediately,” Lin Fanyun decided.

Although Li Donglai was only at the Innate stage, he could control the demi-artifact Palace of All Things. Running away was not shameful.

Dying by stubbornly holding out was the real waste.

“It’s best if I can obtain the demigod inheritance, but if not, I’ll find another opportunity later. My flesh and blood body is far more valuable than the demigod inheritance.”

The divine ability for flesh and blood avatars that Zhang Shen had developed currently allowed only one slot. If this avatar was lost, he wouldn’t be able to create another one until another slot became available. This limitation had always existed. Unfortunately, Zhang Shen hadn’t found a solution yet. He had some ideas, but a concrete solution was still far off.

Li Donglai placed his hand on the door of the Palace of All Things.

“Blood Refinement of Myriad Laws!”

Immediately, intricate patterns of formations lit up, activating the full power of the Palace of All Things.

It was refining the foreign objects inside it.

“Using more than ten Law Manifestation cultivators as materials should produce a decent pill,” Li Donglai sneered, his eyes full of greedy desire.

At that moment, a surge of destructive power came from afar.

“Hmm?” Li Donglai frowned and looked back. It was a piece of bloody flesh.

Was this… a self-detonation?

Li Donglai instantly recognized the violent power.

But wasn’t self-detonation the result of a cultivator sacrificing everything to unleash a final burst of power?

Since when could a piece of flesh self-detonate?

Had cultivators nowadays become this advanced in their techniques?

Even though he was puzzled, Li Donglai didn’t slow down. He raised his hand, and a beam of light shot out from the Palace of All Things.

It collided with the flying piece of flesh.

With a loud explosion, a giant mushroom cloud rose into the air.

The Palace of All Things glowed, forming a barrier that shielded Li Donglai.

The powerful explosion, which could obliterate a hundred-meter-high mountain, couldn’t shake the barrier at all. It was as if a gentle breeze had blown past.

The sound of numerous objects piercing through the air followed.

The self-destructing flesh was merely a decoy. The real attack was coming next.

Li Donglai’s frown deepened.

Why were there so many?

He watched as countless magical artifacts and talismans flew through the sky, each emitting a dangerous glow, and felt a pang of pain.

“Which idiot is so wasteful, blowing up so many magical artifacts? And these talismans, do they think they’re free?”

Just looking at them made Li Donglai’s heart ache.

Even at his peak, he had never used such a tactic. And now, someone was using it against him.

“Hmph! You think you can defeat me with this?” Li Donglai was furious.

He realized there was someone hiding in the shadows. Someone was trying to play the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. They were seeking their own death.

The Palace of All Things shone brightly, a sweep of white light knocking down the magical artifacts and talismans.

As they hit the ground, they exploded with a thunderous roar, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The area was enveloped in dust, and visibility dropped to zero. The continuous explosions filled the space with various elemental energies, disrupting spiritual senses.

At that moment, Li Donglai felt a breach in the Palace of All Things’ barrier.

“Hmm? Superior-grade Law Manifestation treasures. And three of them,” Li Donglai’s eyes widened in rage as he noticed three treasures appearing nearby, each radiating a terrifying self-destructive aura.