Inside the Northern Dark Water Palace, it was even more vast than it appeared from outside.
After passing through the shattered stone gate, the group found an independent expanse of water before them.
The waters floated amid a cluster of ancient palaces.
The palaces had long since fallen into ruin.
Countless stone pillars had snapped apart.
The walls were covered in claw marks left by ferocious beasts and ancient formation patterns.
Most of those formations had already failed, yet they still emitted a chilling aura.
The instant Lan Shuang stepped inside, the Book of Cause and Effect trembled gently.
"There are many Baleful Fiendish Remnant Causes here."
She gave a quiet warning.
"Don't touch anything in the Water Palace carelessly."
Han Jue had been staring at a broken halberd embedded in a stone wall.
Hearing Lan Shuang's words, he immediately withdrew his hand.
Ao Lie saw this and tugged lightly at the corner of his mouth.
"Rare. You actually listen to advice now."
Han Jue replied blandly, "I am merely following the Emperor's decree."
Ao Lie said, "You weren't this steady before."
Han Jue glanced at him.
"I'm improving."
Ancestor Xuan Jia trailed slowly behind them.
"Learning to be steady is a good thing."
Lady Mingzhu, meanwhile, observed the flow of the surrounding water veins as they went.
Skilled at sensing treasures, she quickly discovered the pattern within the Water Palace.
"The palaces may seem chaotic, but they are actually layered according to the water veins."
"The Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Pearl should be where the water veins converge."
Lan Shuang nodded.
"Can you find the route?"
Lady Mingzhu closed her eyes for a moment, then raised her hand and pointed toward a ruined corridor on the left.
"This way."
Han Jue looked toward the main hall straight ahead.
The spiritual light there was stronger, and it looked more like the place where a treasure would be hidden.
Ao Lie gave a faintly amused smile.
"You want to take the front entrance?"
Han Jue fell silent for a moment.
"We'll go as Lady Mingzhu says."
A trace of surprise flashed through Ao Lie's eyes.
This guy really had become much steadier.
The Abyss group did not head for the main hall.
They followed the ruined corridor on the left, bypassing several side halls that seemed to blaze with treasure light.
Before long, a thunderous boom came from the distance.
The Dragon Clan and Qilin Clan had triggered the restrictions.
Inside one side hall, dozens of baleful water arrows erupted.
Those arrows carried a power that corroded the Primordial Spirit. Even a Golden Immortal struck by them would suffer damage to their foundation.
The Dragon Clan elites roared in fury.
Ao Yin's face turned ashen with rage.
"Damn it! Why haven't the Water Palace restrictions failed yet?"
On the other side, Lin Yue of the Qilin Clan had run into trouble as well.
They had assumed that a treasure pool brimming with spiritual light concealed Water Palace spirit herbs.
Instead, a ferocious beast's remnant shadow had been sealed beneath the pool.
After charging out, the remnant shadow directly devoured the cultivation power of two Qilin Clan cultivators.
Only after Lin Yue personally intervened was it suppressed.
The Frost Phoenix Lineage of the Phoenix Clan was not having an easy time either.
Feng Li was far more cautious, but the Frostflame they cultivated clashed with the Water Palace's yin-baleful aura, slowing their progress considerably.
The Abyss group, on the other hand, avoided most of the restrictions by following Lady Mingzhu's judgment.
They took detours all the way. They appeared slow, but were actually the steadiest.
Listening to the distant explosions behind them, Han Jue suddenly felt a little moved.
"The Emperor was right. If battle can be avoided, it should be avoided."
"If we charged through these restrictions head-on, we would suffer too."
Ao Lie nodded.
"Getting ahead does not always mean obtaining it first."
Han Jue looked at him.
"That doesn't sound like something you would say."
Ao Lie replied calmly, "After guarding Dragon-Suppressing Pass for so many years, I was bound to learn something."
Ancestor Xuan Jia chuckled.
"It's good that you can learn."
Ao Lie's face darkened.
He always felt that this old turtle was taking advantage of him.
The group continued onward.
Along the way, Lady Mingzhu continuously identified the water veins.
Lan Shuang used the Book of Cause and Effect to reveal the dangers hidden in the remnants of the formations.
Ancestor Xuan Jia was responsible for defense.
Han Jue and Ao Lie stood to the left and right, leading the Realm Guard in readiness for any sudden situation.
This coordination was somewhat clumsy at first.
But after avoiding several dangers, the entire group gradually became more in sync.
The advantage of the Abyss Guardian Team became apparent here.
Their cultivation was inferior to the elites of the three clans.
Taken individually, many of them could not even defeat ordinary Dragon Clan elites.
But they were exceptionally skilled at coordinating formations, defending, retreating, and covering one another.
Whenever danger arose, the Realm Guard's first instinct was not to rush forward and fight desperately, but to form a defensive formation around the group before Lan Shuang decided whether they should proceed.
This style was completely different from that of the three clans.
Within the Water Palace,
the Dragon Clan preferred to force their way through.
The Qilin Clan valued breaking formations head-on.
Although the Phoenix Clan was cautious, they carried a strong pride in their bloodline and were unwilling to take long detours.
The Abyss group, however, had no concern for pride whatsoever.
If they could detour ten miles, they would not throw a single extra attack.
If the Book of Cause and Effect could reveal the path clearly, they would never use lives to test it.
This approach gradually made Feng Li, who had been watching them from the shadows, frown.
Leading the Frost Phoenix Lineage, she watched from afar as the Abyss group bypassed another side hall.
At first, she thought Abyss was cowardly.
But when she saw that side hall collapse with a roar a quarter-hour later, spewing out vast amounts of baleful poisonous water, her expression turned serious.
"They saw the danger in advance."
A Frost Phoenix Clan member murmured, "Elder Sister, Abyss's Book of Cause and Effect is strange."
Feng Li nodded.
"And that lady from the Mystic Clam Tribe is exceptionally accurate in judging the water veins and treasure aura."
"The Abyss clans may not be top-tier in cultivation, but they coordinate very well."
"It is as though they have specifically trained together to avoid calamities and explore dangerous places."
At that moment, a thought suddenly arose in Feng Li's heart.
Was this truly just a refuge force assembled at the last minute?
Why were their actions so organized?
And why did every step they took carry such extreme prudence?
The Mysterious Abyss Emperor's guidance was likely indispensable behind all this.
Feng Li recalled the information sent back by her clan.
The Mysterious Abyss Emperor slept within Abyss and was said to be in the Seclusion Realm.
She had originally been only half convinced.
But now, as she watched the Abyss group, the doubts in her heart lessened somewhat.
The character of a force often came from its leader.
If the people of Abyss were so steady, then that Emperor was likely no ordinary great power.
Thinking this, Feng Li said to the clansmen behind her, "Follow the Abyss group."
"Don't get too close."
"Whichever way they go, we go the same way."
The Frost Phoenix Clan members were slightly stunned.
"Elder Sister, wouldn't that be..."
Feng Li's tone remained calm.
"Reaching the core alive is more important than saving face."
The Frost Phoenix Clan members said no more.
The Phoenix Clan began following the Abyss route through the detours.
Lan Shuang quickly noticed this.
Han Jue turned back for a glance.
"The Frost Phoenix Lineage has followed us."
Ao Lie frowned.
"Should we drive them away?"
Lan Shuang shook her head.
"They are only following from afar. They have not tried to seize anything or provoke us."
"Leave them for now."
Ancestor Xuan Jia said slowly, "That girl Feng Li is not simple."
"The fact that she can set aside the Phoenix Clan's pride and follow us means she is smarter than Ao Yin, the Dragon Clan, and Lin Yue."
Ao Lie's mouth twitched.
"If you want to insult Ao Yin, insult Ao Yin. Why drag the Dragon Clan into it?"
Ancestor Xuan Jia replied blandly, "I am merely stating facts."
Ao Lie snorted coldly.
Not long after, the Abyss group arrived at a dark water corridor.
At the end of the corridor stood a massive Blackwater altar.
Above the altar floated a deep-blue pearl.
Within it, a miniature sea seemed to flow slowly.
With every circulation, the violent surrounding water veins calmed a little.
Lady Mingzhu's eyes lit up.
"The Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Pearl."
Han Jue tightened his grip on his spear.
"We finally found it."
But Lan Shuang did not step forward at once.
The Book of Cause and Effect flipped wildly in her hands.
Black-and-white radiance fell upon the altar.
In the next instant, everyone's expressions changed.
Beneath the altar, a mass of pitch-black remnant soul was coiled.
The remnant soul had fused with the Blackwater. Its aura was ancient, chaotic, and greedy.
A scarlet eye opened from within the Blackwater.
It stared at the Abyss group, especially at the Book of Cause and Effect in Lan Shuang's hands.
Then its gaze passed over everyone, as though searching for an even deeper aura.
"Abyss..."
"Black Tortoise..."
"That old thing is still sleeping?"
The voice was hoarse, laden with resentment and venom suppressed for countless ages.
Lan Shuang's heart jolted.
This ferocious beast's remnant soul actually knew the Emperor?
Just then, the sound of water breaking came from behind her.
The powerhouses of the Dragon Clan, Phoenix Clan, and Qilin Clan also arrived at the core area one after another.
When Ao Yin saw the Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Pearl, greed surged in his eyes.
"The treasure is here!"
Lin Yue stepped forward as well.
"The Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Pearl belongs to the Qilin Clan."
Feng Li, however, stared at the remnant soul within that mass of Blackwater, her expression grave.
"Don't move yet."
Unfortunately, Ao Yin could no longer hold himself back.
He raised his hand, and his dragon claw seized toward the Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Pearl.
The next moment.
The Blackwater remnant soul opened its enormous mouth.
In one bite, it devoured half of Ao Yin's magical power.
Ao Yin's expression changed drastically.
"What is that thing?"
The Blackwater remnant soul let out a strange laugh.
"The taste of the Dragon Clan..."
"It's still just as disgusting."
The entire core altar was instantly flooded with a ferocious, baleful aura.