Lin Residence

"Is this the Lin Residence, one of the Nine Residences?" Zi Yan looked at the inconspicuous Stone Island in front of her, a look of surprise and doubt flashing across her pretty face.

Her purplish-gold eyes swept across the Stone Island twice, from the few scattered green bamboos to the flat, almost empty ground, and then from the ground to the rough rocks at the edge of the Stone Island. No matter how she looked at it, she couldn't see any of the grandeur that "one of the Nine Residences" should have.

She had seen the grandeur of the Dragon Battle Palace and the gloomy majesty of the Snake God Hall Temple's main hall, but this Stone Island before her was so shabby that it was not even as good as the sects of the Northern Domain Realm. It was really hard to connect it with the Nine Residences of the Ancient Heavenly Palace.

Both the North King and Xia Jia wore puzzled expressions.

The North King's tiger-like eyes scanned the area repeatedly, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper. He had traveled the Sky Luo Continent for hundreds of years, and although he had never seen the Ancient Heavenly Palace with his own eyes, he had a very clear understanding of the status of the Nine Residences from that Ancient Text Fragment.

Logically speaking, these Nine Residences should have held extremely high status within the Ancient Heavenly Palace, with their lords being second only to the Heavenly Emperor and the five Hall Masters.

If this were today, he would undoubtedly be the leader of a top-tier power on the Sky Luo Continent, possessing vast territory and countless disciples. How could his residence be so shabby?

Xia Jia couldn't help but take a few steps forward, standing on tiptoe to peer into the depths of the Stone Island, but no matter how she looked, her view was blocked by the few green bamboos and the flat ground, and she couldn't see anything.

At this moment, Lin Ming looked at the group and said, "This is the place marked on the map. Besides, you can't judge a book by its cover."

The simple outline of the Stone Island was reflected in Lin Ming's dark, unfathomable eyes, and a faint light slowly flowed deep within his pupils.

"Then it seems there's something strange about this Stone Island." Upon hearing this, Zi Yan flicked her finger, and a purple-gold Spiritual Energy shot out from her fingertip, like a sharp arrow, heading towards the Stone Island.

However, just as the Spiritual Energy was about to rush into the hundred-foot radius of the Stone Island, the void rippled, as if a Spiritual Energy barrier had appeared.

The barrier, like an invisible wall, suddenly lit up with a circle of pale silver light the moment Zi Yan's Spiritual Energy touched it. The light spread rapidly in all directions from the point of impact, like ripples on the surface of water from a pebble thrown into it.

The moment Zi Yan's beam of Spiritual Energy touched the light pattern, it was neutralized by a gentle yet irresistible force, like a snowflake falling into warm water, without causing the slightest ripple.

"Something's definitely fishy!" Zi Yan said upon seeing this.

Withdrawing her hand, Zi Yan's purple-gold eyes became more serious.

Although her attack was casual, it still contained some of her true strength. The barrier was able to neutralize her attack so easily, so it was obviously of a high level.

"Judging from the intensity of your attack that this Spirit Formation just neutralized, it's far more troublesome than those on ordinary Stone Island. It's a true grandmaster-level array," Lin Ming said slowly.

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Ming took a few steps forward and stood about a hundred feet away from the outer edge of the Stone Island. He stepped on the void, and his black robes fluttered gently in the breeze. Then, Black Flame began to emanate from his hands.

At this moment, Lin Ming added, "If it could also be incorporated into my Inner World, then it could be easily broken. Otherwise..."

The rest is self-evident; it will likely be extremely difficult. Given the defensive strength of a grandmaster-level formation, forcibly breaking it from the outside would probably take several days and risk triggering a counterattack.

As soon as Lin Ming finished speaking, Black Hole appeared in his palm again.

The Black Hole was about the size of a fist, pitch black, with pale white flames slowly burning at its edges.

A tremendous suction force emanated from the Black Hole. This force was invisible and intangible, yet when it touched the Stone Island, the entire Stone Island trembled violently.

The tremor was several times more intense than that of the ordinary Stone Island before. The entire Stone Island was shaking violently, and the green bamboo on the island bent over with the tremors, its leaves falling in a rustling sound.

But faced with Lin Ming's absolute control over the Inner World, such resistance was futile.

After a final, violent shaking, the Stone Island was ultimately sucked into Lin Ming's mouth, just like the previous Stone Island.

Seeing this, smiles appeared on their faces.

Zi Yan clapped her hands lightly, her purple-gold eyes filled with excitement.

North King and Xia Jia also breathed a sigh of relief. They looked at each other and saw the joy of relief in each other's eyes.

"Let's go, let's see what the Nine Residences of this Ancient Heavenly Palace are all about," Lin Ming said to the group.

They all nodded. Then, all of them disappeared from the spot, swept away by Lin Ming's World Power and entered his Inner World.

The group was inside the Inner World. They stood in mid-air, and in front of them was the Stone Island that had been sucked in, which was quietly suspended in mid-air.

Lin Ming then waved his hand casually, as if brushing away a speck of dust from a table.

But a surge of immense energy swept across in an instant, shattering the protective array of the Stone Island.

The silver barrier, at the level of a grandmaster, crumbled like thin ice meeting fire before Lin Ming's will, cracking from the center outwards and spreading in all directions until it completely disintegrated in less than a breath.

In an instant, the once inconspicuous Stone Island transformed into a colossal island tens of thousands of feet in size.

After the folded barrier of that space shattered, the true mansion, sealed within the void interlayer, was finally revealed.

The Stone Island suddenly expanded from a radius of several miles to a radius of ten thousand feet, like a giant beast that had been coiled up finally stretching out its body.

On the giant island, an endless forest suddenly appeared.

Towering ancient trees rise from the ground, their trunks over a thousand feet thick, like giant pillars reaching into the sky.

The bark of those ancient trees is a deep, dark blue-green, and the surface is covered with grooves etched by time. Each line is like a history book, recording thousands of years of history.

Branches stretched across the sky, their layers upon layers of leaves obscuring the entire sky above the floating island. The leaves were a deep emerald green, gleaming with a warm luster under the grayish-white light of the sky.

Vines stretched out from tree trunks and the ground, like giant blue Giant Python weaving among the ancient trees. Some vines were as thick as palace pillars, while others were as thin as fingers. They intertwined, climbed, and hung down, connecting the entire forest into an organic whole.

The roots of countless ancient trees penetrated the rocks and intertwined beneath the earth, forming a boundless giant net that firmly bound the entire floating island.

The entire forest is a seamless whole, resembling a living, enormous creature.

In the heart of this forest, rows of enormous ancient trees stand tall, their trunks thicker and taller than the surrounding ancient trees, like kings of the forest.

Countless palaces and pavilions stand atop those ancient trees.

The palaces are built on ancient trees, with vines as ladders and branches as canopies, and are scattered among the trunks and branches in a well-organized manner, like cities hanging on the tree crowns.

In the very center stands the largest ancient tree, its trunk over ten thousand feet thick, like a giant pillar supporting the heavens and the earth.

At the top of that ancient tree stood a grand, deep blue-green hall.

The main hall was larger than all the surrounding halls. It was built entirely of some kind of dark blue spirit wood, with its roof soaring into the clouds. The walls were covered with ancient runes, which gleamed with a cold light in the gray-white sunlight.

The space around the main hall appeared distorted, like a crumpled piece of silk, as if the oppressive aura emanating from the hall itself was distorting the surrounding space.

"This is the real Lin Residence..." Xia Jia exclaimed in amazement.

She looked up at the boundless forest, at the towering ancient trees and the palaces hanging above them, and at the largest, deep blue palace in the center. Her bright eyes were filled with awe and admiration.

She had been wondering why the Stone Island was so shabby, but now she realized that it was just an illusion created by spatial folding.

The real Lin Residence was like a forest city hidden in another dimension; its magnificent scale and ancient charm far exceeded her imagination.

At this moment, Lin Ming took the lead and sped ahead, his figure transforming into a streak of light as he rushed into the depths of the forest.

Seeing this, Zi Yan immediately followed. The North King and Xia Jia also followed, and the four streaks of light shuttled through the forest, rapidly approaching the deep blue palace in the center.

They hadn't gone far when they discovered many skeletons.

The bones were scattered among the roots of ancient trees, entwined with vines, and hanging on the steps of the palace.

They all remained looking up, their skeletal faces still bearing traces of horror and fear.

However, the group was already used to such scenes, so they continued forward without the slightest surprise.

As they continued to advance, Lin Ming would occasionally unleash a burst of Spirit Qi.

Because there are still formations in many of the places they are advancing through.

The array formations were scattered among the ancient trees, in front of the palaces, and on the covered bridges. Some were as dense as spider webs, some were as lurking as hidden mines, and some were as waiting as traps.

However, this was Lin Ming's Inner World, so he could sense them very clearly and then easily break through it.

Those formations that would pose a great obstacle to them in the outside world cannot even slow down their progress here.

With a wave of his hand, Lin Ming unleashed streams of Spiritual Energy, causing the arrays to vanish like thin mist blown away by the wind.

As they ventured deeper into the central area, signs of battle began to appear among the corpses, and some collapsed palaces came into view.

Some of those palaces were split in half, some were burned to charcoal, and some were shattered by the earthquake.

There were also trenches and pits of varying depths on the ground, traces left by the battle.

Clearly, a fierce resistance once broke out in the core area of this forest, which is why traces of the battle can still be seen even after tens of thousands of years.