The master of the Lin Residence
"The Ancient Heavenly Palace truly lives up to its name," Zi Yan exclaimed.
She stood at the edge of the Emerald Pool, her purple-gold eyes sweeping from the pool of Supreme Spirit Liquid to the deep, dark seal and Emerald Jade Scroll in Lin Ming's hand, and then from the seal and jade scroll to the magnificent hall. Her pretty face was full of emotion.
The Master of the Lin Residence was merely Lower-Rank Earth Sovereign during his lifetime, yet he possessed a true Sacred Artifact.
This alone is enough to make the leaders of the top powers in the Northern Domain extremely envious.
After all, even Long Zhantian never possessed a single Sacred Artifact. As one of the overlords of the Northern Domain and the master of the Dragon Battle Palace, the most impressive things he had were only a few Quasi-Sacred Artifact.
As for the Snake God Hall that was destroyed at that time, it never existed.
Zi Yan thought to herself, if She Wuyou had possessed a Sacred Artifact back then, the outcome of that great battle would probably have been very different.
The gap between Sacred Artifact and Quasi-Sacred Artifact is like Natural Chasm; the Law the fundamental laws of heaven and earth contained within it is enough to cause a qualitative leap in the combat power of Earth Sovereign.
"Looks like you've had quite a haul this time," Xia Jia said with a bright smile.
Her bright eyes reflected the emerald light emanating from the hall, and a satisfied smile curved her lips.
She was already quite satisfied with the pool of Supreme Spirit Liquid, and now she also had two treasures of obviously extremely high quality. The gains from this trip to the Lin Residence far exceeded her expectations.
She had even begun to consider in her mind that if Lord Lin Ming was in a good mood, he might let her get a larger share of the Supreme Spirit Liquid.
After all, this is the Supreme Spirit Liquid of a secluded pool. Even if only one-tenth of it is given to her, it will be enough for her to cultivate for a long time.
"The treasure is indeed wonderful, but I'm afraid it won't be so easy to obtain." The North King shook his head.
He stood on the other side of the Emerald Pool, his tiger-like eyes shifting from the pool of Spirit Liquid to gaze deeper into the hall.
The North King's expression was solemn and composed; the vigilance he had developed over hundreds of years of wandering the martial world was now slightly pricking his nerves.
His finger pointed to the spirit pool, where there were layers of stone steps, built of alternating Qing Mu and emerald stone, extending from the edge of the Emerald Pool all the way to the depths of the main hall, disappearing into a gloomy green light and shadow.
The stone steps lead upwards, and on both sides of the steps are numerous seats.
The seats were carved from a single piece of green jade, each one large and heavy, arranged in order along both sides of the stone steps, like the seating arrangement of ministers in an ancient council hall.
On the left side of those seats stood numerous figures.
These figures had various patterns engraved on their robes, some were Azure Flood Dragon, some were golden dragons, and there were even two Bai Long and one blue dragon.
The patterns embroidered on the robe, though faded over millennia, are still faintly discernible.
The Azure Flood Dragon's robe was dark blue, the Golden Dragon's robe was dark gold, the Bai Long's robe was silver-white, while the Azure Dragon's robe was a deep dark green. The Dragon Pattern extended from its chest to its hem, its head held high, its tail swaying, exuding an extraordinary aura.
Clearly, these people were all powerful figures from the Lin Residence. Among them, the highest-ranking was an Azure Dragon Disciple Sect, and judging from his position, he obviously held a very high status within the Lin Residence. His seat was closer to the top of the stone steps and was also wider than the others'.
Their bodies were much more intact than the skeletons outside; even the flesh and blood were visible.
Although those faces were withered and sunken, their outlines were still clear. There were men and women, old and young. Some had resolute faces, some had delicate features, some had white hair and beards, and some were in their prime.
They sat quietly in their respective seats, each with a different posture: some had their hands on their knees, some had their fingers on the armrests, and some were turned to face their neighbors, as if time had suddenly frozen in the midst of a grand banquet.
"They're just lifeless dead people," Xia Jia said indifferently.
She took two steps forward, stood in front of the stone steps, and glanced at the figures. There was no fear in her bright eyes.
After all, she couldn't believe that these people could still be alive after so much time had passed.
Ten thousand years is enough time for steel to turn to dust, and even the bones of the guards outside have been weathered away to become nothing but withered bones. No matter how well these people inside the palace are preserved, they are ultimately just shells sealed in time.
"I read in that ancient book that when the Extraterritorial Clans invaded our Sky Luo Continent, it was said that an extremely powerful Demon Emperor led the invasion. He seemed to hold a rather high position among the Extraterritorial Clans."
The North King spoke in a deep voice. His gaze swept over the figures in the seats, his brows furrowing more and more, and his tone becoming unusually solemn.
"Judging from this, even if these powerful figures from the Lin Residence weren't killed by the Demon Emperor himself, they were likely wiped out by one of his strong subordinates. Otherwise, this situation wouldn't have occurred."
He paused for a moment, as if remembering something, and a hint of apprehension flashed in the North King's tiger-like eyes.
"It is said that the evil energy of that Extraterritorial Clans is extremely domineering and can invade people's minds. Once invaded by the evil energy, one may be assimilated into an evil being. So we'd better be careful."
"I hope I'm not that unlucky." Upon hearing this, Xia Jia said, and with a wave of her hand, a gust of Spiritual Energy howled up.
A gust of wind surged from her palm, carrying the Spiritual Energy fluctuations of Tier 7 Supreme, transforming into a howling airflow that swept across, enveloping all the figures in those seats.
A fierce wind swept across, and those figures instantly turned into dust and vanished.
The shriveled flesh crumbled like withered leaves under the wind, the dark blue robes turned into tiny pieces of cloth and scattered, and the bones were directly pulverized into grayish-white powder.
In just a few breaths, the hall became completely empty. The seats were still quietly arranged on both sides of the stone steps, but the figures on the seats had completely disappeared, leaving only a thick layer of dust on the jade seats.
Seeing this, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief and patted her chest, saying, "Thank goodness! Thank goodness!"
Her voice carried a lightness of relief, and a smile returned to her lips. She turned her head to look at the North King, her eyes filled with a hint of mockery, as if to say, "See? I told you they were just a bunch of dead people."
However, at this moment, a cold smile appeared on Lin Ming's lips. "You think you can hide anything from me in my world?!"
Lin Ming's dark, abyss-like eyes narrowed slightly, and a glint of light flashed deep within his pupils, like two sharp blades being drawn simultaneously in the darkness.
As he spoke, Lin Ming pointed his finger. The finger seemed to casually point towards the end of the stone steps, but an invisible World Power rippled out from the fingertip, sweeping towards the top of the stone steps.
Then the group saw at the end of the empty steps that a figure had appeared on the stone seat.
The figure appeared extremely abruptly, as if it had been forcibly pulled out of the void by an invisible hand.
He appeared to be middle-aged, dressed in a dark robe. The robe was almost entirely black, with no patterns on its surface, yet it exuded a chilling aura that made one's heart tremble.
His face had a touch of majesty, with sharp eyebrows, a high nose, and tightly pursed lips; his facial features were sharply defined, as if sculpted by a knife and axe.
Even after ten thousand years, that face still retains the air of someone who has long held a high position.
A faint, powerful Spiritual Energy seemed to emanate slowly from his body.
Although the fluctuation was extremely weak, flickering like a candle in the wind, the pressure it contained caused both Xia Jia and the North King to change their expressions.
Looking at the middle-aged man in the dark robe, Xia Jia couldn't help but twitch her eyes.
She could sense a pressure emanating from that figure that far exceeded her comprehension. That pressure was stronger and deeper than the one she had felt from Long Zhantian before. It was like a volcano that had been dormant for thousands of years. Although it had not yet erupted, the oppressive feeling coming from the depths of the earth was enough to suffocate people.
Judging from his position and his imposing presence, the identity of the person before him was self-evident.
He must be the master of this Lin Residence, the Lower-Rank Earth Sovereign who has been in charge of this place for ten thousand years.
Inside the main hall, Xia Jia and the North King stared intently at the Master of the Lin Residence. Both of them held their breath, quietly gathering their Spiritual Energy in their meridians, ready to deal with any unexpected situation.
They were somewhat unsure whether what they were seeing was a dead person or an evil entity corrupted by malevolent energy.
After all, the North King had just said that the evil energy of the Extraterritorial Clans could invade a person's mind, and once the evil energy entered the body, it could be assimilated into an evil being.
The fact that such a well-preserved corpse could be found in this hall indicates that something extraordinary must have happened here back then.
Under their watchful gaze, after a long while, the body of the Master of the Lin Residence seemed to tremble slightly.
The tremor was so subtle that it would have been completely unnoticed if the others hadn't been watching him intently.
Then, those eyes, which seemed to have been closed for millennia, slowly opened.
The moment those eyes opened, the temperature in the entire hall seemed to drop several degrees. The eyes were pitch black, a blackness thicker and deeper than ordinary darkness, like a deep pool soaked in ink.
There was also a faint hint of crimson, like a spark buried deep in a black pool, faint yet exuding an extremely evil aura.
Instantly, Xia Jia couldn't help but roll her eyes, giving North King a disapproving look and saying, "You really are a jinx."
The voice carried a hint of anger and helplessness. She had just been relieved that those figures were merely dead, but now the Master of the Lin Residence had opened his eyes, which were filled with an evil aura, like a resounding slap across her face after her earlier relief.
The atmosphere in the main hall froze instantly. The mist rising from the Emerald Pool continued to slowly diffuse, but a chilling coldness had crept into the hazy emerald light.