The Grand Palace's Hidden Secret

Yuan made a temporary assessment of the Taotie in his mind. As for where their future would lead, Yuan couldn't deduce it, at least not yet.

After a rough organization, the Taotie warship, with a slight wobble, lifted off. Within the planet, at the warship's speed, it was almost instantaneous.

The area around the palace complex was wide open, with no distinguishing features in any direction. So, Yuan casually chose an open space to land.

When he left the warship and saw the scene before his eyes with his own eyes, he couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

"It's so beautiful!"

A magnificent architectural complex came into view. Two enormous cones stood opposite each other in the air, resembling a giant hourglass, except it was square.

Between the opposing hourglass-like structures was a void, and within the void floated a sphere composed of three irregularly orbiting rings.

It seemed to function as a connecting device, linking the two colossal opposing cones. And beneath these two cones lay a vast palace complex.

Each palace was built to be incredibly tall, with a large palace on each of the four sides. These four great palaces formed the palace complex, guarding the two opposing cones suspended in the air, as if acting as sentinels.

"Squeak! Squeak!"

The group, clad in battle armor, walked on the sand-covered path, emitting squeaking sounds. This area was exceptionally desolate; apart from the grand structures before them, there was nothing else. The ground had completely turned into yellow sand, with no signs of life.

Before them lay a stone staircase leading to the palaces, the numerous steps largely buried by sand. Faintly, one could still discern the remnants of its former glory.

Beside the palaces stood two very tall humanoid stone statues. Their heads were carved in the likeness of armor, revealing only their eyes, their faces indistinguishable.

A deathly silence pervaded, and even under the sun's glare, everyone felt a chill.

Countless streams of information flickered across Yuan's tactical faceplate. He observed them carefully, but found no useful data. The technology of an Astral Civilization was of little use here.

"Your Excellency, this must be the place Wu Daozi spoke of. Shall we enter?"

"No rush," Yuan waved his hand, then, under the surprised gaze of Bruis and the others, raised his right hand.

"Chii!" From the warship behind them, the small energy cannon on the left emitted a charging sound. Beneath his tactical faceplate, Yuan concentrated slightly, locking onto the target.

"Bang! Boom! Rumble!"

A blue beam of light flashed, and the massive stone statue was directly blown to smithereens. Countless fragments flew into the air before falling heavily to the ground.

"Hmm, just an ordinary statue. Qiming, use the optical devices directly to scan the target and establish a three-dimensional model. This great deity hasn't hidden anything at all."

"Understood, Master."

Next, as Qiming rapidly rendered, a clear three-dimensional model appeared before Yuan. Upon seeing the model, Yuan's heart skipped a beat.

"Why do these palaces feel somewhat special in their construction?" Yuan murmured softly. He then enlarged the palace model.

Yuan's hands enlarged the projected model, and after raising it slightly, he began comparing it with the palaces before him. Suddenly, a flash of electricity shot through his mind.

"Energy lines? No, energy patterns! Interesting, there's something extra here, if I'm thinking correctly. Huh? We've really struck gold."

Seeing a slight smile on Yuan's lips, Bruis, who had no idea what was happening, felt as curious as a cat being scratched.

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency. What's the situation now? Please tell us, you're killing me with curiosity." Seeing Yuan in a good mood, Bruis mustered his courage and asked.

"Don't worry, it's just a hypothesis." Yuan looked at the palace complex before him, countless patterns flashing in his mind.

Then, as if growing weary of the palaces already buried layer by layer by sand, Yuan's right hand drew a gentle circle in the air, and a wormhole formed above the palaces.

A massive flow of water, forming a vortex, cascaded onto the palace walls. Without the assistance of the Dark Dimension or the Dark Matter Computer, Yuan lacked the ability to open a larger wormhole.

However, as his right hand moved, the vortex above the palaces also shifted direction. Coupled with the scouring force of the water's potential energy, Yuan's objective was achieved.

A short while later, the palaces, originally covered in dust and sand, were completely renewed. Under the midday sun, the vast complex appeared exceptionally solemn and majestic.

But Yuan no longer felt the initial awe. For him, the priority was to quickly verify his hypothesis.

As the palaces revealed their true appearance, the model of the palaces beneath Yuan's tactical faceplate became increasingly clear. It wasn't that the detection system couldn't penetrate the dust; rather, it seemed their detectors were being shielded throughout the entire palace complex.

Even the energy waves emitted by the detection devices on the warship, while detecting something extraordinary, couldn't be displayed by their handheld equipment.

Seeing the walls interwoven with gold and white, Yuan's pupils contracted. He tentatively condensed a faint amount of Dark Energy in his hand.

As Yuan's thoughts moved, the Dark Energy in his hand struck the wall carved with complex patterns.

The Taotie, with their wide eyes open, did not hear the expected explosion. The Dark Energy was absorbed silently, and then a faint white-gold hue lit up the wall.

"What's going on? Who am I? Where am I?" Yuan paid no mind to the Taotie's reaction, his hands continuously conjuring Dark Energy and striking the palace walls.

As energy was continuously injected, the model in Qiming's database became clearer and clearer.

"Phew! Phew! This is exhausting. When will I get a Gene Engine? So annoying." However, looking at the secrets fully revealed before him, Yuan couldn't help but laugh.

"Bruis, time to get to work!" Yuan had no intention of doing the remaining work himself. He had already recorded the model of this section, and the remaining mechanical work could be handed over to the Taotie.

"Yes, Your Excellency, please give your orders. These guys have been so idle lately, their bones are practically rusting."

"Very good." With that, Yuan transmitted detailed architectural blueprints from beneath his faceplate to the terminals of the surrounding Taotie warriors.

"Send some people, divided into four teams. Bring the energy cannons, and each team will follow the blueprint data I've sent to blow away all those useless outer palace walls."

After speaking, he hesitated slightly. He had been using Dark Energy, which could resonate with it. However, the Taotie didn't have Dark Energy, only the light energy weapons in their hands.

Although these walls were of extraordinary quality, after so many years, it was not impossible that they had become fragile after losing their energy.

Looking at the clear eyes of the assembled Taotie, Yuan finally decided to change his strategy.

"Forget it, Qiming, you do it. Using the core pattern model of this palace wall as a reference, deduce the approximate models for the other three walls. Don't let these guys smash the things to bits."

"Understood, Master. Deriving the model now."

Afterward, Yuan looked at Bruis and said apologetically, "Sorry, Bruis. Plans have changed. You can't use the energy cannon anymore; its power is still a bit too much."

"????"

"Go get a pickaxe." Yuan's face was full of smiles.

"Because this isn't some damn palace at all, it's a supercomputer."