The four stepped onto the floating island. The ground around the golden palace was paved with bricks forged from Red Nethergold, a display of sheer extravagance.
The nearly ten-thousand-zhang-high gates were firmly shut. A relief of a divine phoenix spread its wings across them, feathers overlapping in a complex pattern.
Shi Lan stepped forward and tried to push the gates. The instant her fingertips touched the phoenix relief, a layer of blood-red light repelled her, and a message surged into her sea of consciousness.
"Bloodline purity insufficient... Not qualified to enter..."
After receiving the message, Shi Lan felt a headache coming on. The divine phoenix blood in her body was not potent enough to open the gates.
To open them, they needed a living divine phoenix with a sufficiently pure bloodline.
Shi Lan slowly backed away, with no intention of forcing her way in. Even if the Demon Emperor was long gone, she still had to show basic respect for their strength.
If forcing the gates triggered some sort of defensive measure, she was almost certain she wouldn't be able to withstand it with her current strength.
Clang—
Just as Shi Lan was pondering, the harsh clang of metal striking metal rang out nearby.
She turned her head and saw Tian Xuanjing crouching on the ground, gripping a five-colored divine sword as he tried to pry up one of the Red Nethergold bricks. The two Heavenly Lords beside him looked eager to try as well.
Unfortunately, the bricks were fused into one, linked by an array. Even a Heavenly Human Realm cultivator would have a hard time budging them.
Shi Lan went over and explained the situation, leaving out a few details about the divine phoenix bloodline in her body.
The three Heavenly Lords shared much the same thoughts as