The Mysterious Hall

Chapter 3: Mysterious Palace

The purple flames continued to burn, and the screams of those self-immolating grew fainter and fainter. It was impossible to imagine what kind of excruciating agony being incinerated by that purple fire must have been to force such wails from them.

After a long, long time, their bodies were burned down to piles of fine ash, and right where they had stood, a Purple Soul Flower sprouted from nothingness...

Only eleven people remained alive now. They gazed in agony at this tragic, heroic spectacle, every single one of them clenching their fists so hard their knuckles turned white, gritting their teeth. Some tried to hold back the tears swirling in their eyes, while others bit through their own lips.

The sound of rushing water still echoed through the forest. Purple Othershore Flowers bloomed everywhere, presenting a magnificent, fairy-land-like beauty that was nevertheless suffused with a bizarre and terrifying atmosphere.

There were over twenty piles of ash on the ground. Just a few minutes ago, they had all been living, breathing people; now they were reduced to tiny mounds of ash. If they hadn't witnessed the entire process with their own eyes, no one would have believed such a thing.

"Sigh." Looking at those piles of ash, Lin Shan let out a sigh. "There are only eleven of us left now. What do we do next? Do we keep moving or rest here?"

The others acted as if they hadn't heard Lin Shan, continuing to stare blankly at the piles of ash with faces full of terror.

"There's still hope if we keep moving. Staying here is just waiting to die. This forest is far too strange."

The person speaking wore military uniform, the middle-aged man named Zhang Zhonghua. The temporary squad of seven he had led now consisted of only four survivors.

Fortunately, Xiao An and Wu Wang, who had been following Lin Shan all along, were still alive; they hadn't given in to the temptation of that illusory Transcendent power.

"Can we... really go on living? Is this really a world where humans can survive? In just this short moment, so many people have died..."

Someone voiced their doubts. Everything they had just experienced completely shattered the hope they had been holding onto all this time; the reality of it all was simply too surreal.

Lin Shan said quite calmly, "We've experienced a lot today. By all reason, these things shouldn't happen, but we are already in another realm. The most unreasonable things have already happened, so anything else is nothing."

"Our translocation here wasn't to kill us for no reason. Though I don't know the cause, I still feel there's hope of survival."

Zhang Zhonghua cast an appreciative glance at Lin Shan. To be able to remain calm at a time like this showed just how resilient his mind was. He spoke up, "The little brother is right. I wonder if everyone remembers what was heard when we translocated here."

"I remember," someone with a good memory recalled, saying, "Above the Ash Fog is the ruler of all; below the Ash Fog is the cage of all living things."

"The Ash Fog is the origin of all Transcendence, yet also the graveyard of all Transcendence."

"Pioneers of Earth, will you be rulers, or will you be living beings..."

Lin Shan was somewhat surprised. He had been sleeping at the time and really hadn't heard those words, but with the addition of this phrase, he was even more certain that they had a chance of surviving.

Suddenly, Lin Shan froze, startled. "Pioneers!"

"Mm." Zhang Zhonghua nodded slightly. "Right, Pioneers! We are the Pioneers. Does this mean there are others on Earth who will translocate too? Or worse, even the entire Earth!"

Lin Shan frowned. "Could our purpose be to pave the way for those who translocate in behind us?"

After pondering for a moment, he relaxed and continued, "Looking at it this way, our chances of survival are quite high. Walking out of this forest might just give us the answers!"

"That's right." Zhang Zhongzheng nodded again. "So my suggestion is to keep walking forward, at least until we get out of this forest."

Seeing how confident the two of them were, the others gradually relaxed their nerves as well. Right now, no rhetoric could compare to anything that gave them a chance to keep living.

Just as everyone was preparing to set off, the anomaly occurred again!

A golden thread appeared on all eleven of the survivors. One end of the golden thread connected to each person, while the other end extended from deep within the forest, its origin unknown.

Lin Shan first stared at the golden thread on his own body, then shifted his gaze slightly. Right beside it was a black thread, leaving him momentarily dazed.

Judging by the others' reactions, they didn't seem to notice anything unusual about him; he was the only one who could see this extra black line.

What does this thread represent? Is it just for guidance, or some other ominous haunting? Why are the threads connecting to everyone else gold, while I have an extra black thread on me? Lin Shan had all sorts of questions in his mind, but there was no one who could give him the answers.

"What does this mean? Guidance?"

"Maybe. This golden thread feels somewhat intimate."

"If our guess is correct, this golden thread is a form of guidance. Following it might lead us to the answer."

"Of course, we can't rule out the worst possibility either-that this golden thread is merely some kind of bait."

No sooner had one wave settled than another rose. Looking at the golden threads on their bodies, everyone fell silent after a brief exchange.

Following the brief silence, Zhang Zhonghua said seriously, "We have no choice. The direction indicated by these golden threads is precisely the way we have to go."

The sky slowly grew dim, a gentle breeze swept past, and the alluring Purple Soul Flowers swayed with the wind.

Everyone's emotions surged with turbulent waves. This concerned their survival and future; no one could remain calm.

Having already moved five hundred meters away from the river, the golden threads grew increasingly bright. It looked as though they were getting closer and closer to the source, so the group wasted no time and pressed forward.

After traveling another hundred meters or so, the golden threads began to flicker. At that very moment, someone cried out in alarm-a palace had been discovered a hundred meters ahead. The entire structure stood over a dozen meters tall, towering there in isolation, shrouded in mist all around.

"This palace must be where the source is located. It looks like it was built by human hands."

"Does this mean there are humans in this world too?"

"The answer is inside. We'll know once we go in and take a look!"

They approached the palace to observe it closely.

This was a massive pavilion covering a vast area. Someone reached out to touch the texture of the wall, only to find their hand passing straight through it-it was illusory and lacked physical substance!

"This is... fake. It's another kind of paranormal power!"

"The source of the golden threads is inside. If it's illusory, how are we supposed to get in?"

As if sensing that everyone had reached the entrance, the very next second, the palace actually transitioned from illusory to real! The entire process appeared exceptionally surreal.

The group almost forgot their fear. The strange phenomenon before their eyes left them marveling endlessly; this was a Transcendence that had never existed on Earth.

Xiao An exclaimed in awe, "Authentic Transcendent power..."

Lin Shan looked toward the others. "Let's go in."

"Let's go. The answers we want are probably inside." Zhang Zhonghua stared at the palace before them and said in a deep voice.

The palace had no doors. Stepping inside, they were met directly by a folding screen. A golden halo gently rippled out from the back of the screen. As everyone arrived behind the screen, a ball of golden light floated there, emitting a faint aura of indescribable haziness and sanctity.

Atop that golden light were eleven golden threads, their other ends connected to everyone present!