The moment the Nine Nether Cold Pool fell silent again was more unsettling than any of the previous clashes of supernatural powers.
The surface of the pool, which had previously been suppressed by the Nine Nether Dark Ruins Demon Dragon, was always enveloped by an extremely deep layer of True Annihilation Origin. Even when Chen Yong explored it with his True Annihilation Realm · Peak cultivation, he could only sense a chaotic and unclear darkness.
Now that the demonic dragon has been completely Annihilation, the True Annihilation Root Mark that had pressed down on the cold pool for countless years has finally lost its support. At first, only a very thin silver-gray crack appeared in the center of the pool. Then, the crack slowly extended along the water surface, one zhang, ten zhang, a hundred zhang, and finally across the entire deep pool.
Without towering waves or turbulent waters, the bottomless, dark blue waters of the Nine Nether Cold Pool silently receded from the center to the left and right sides. The water itself seemed to be supported by an even more ancient order, forming two vertical water walls thousands of feet high.
Within the water walls on both sides, countless frozen causal patterns, fragmented logical traces, and blurry reflections of ancient creatures were illuminated layer by layer. They should have been slumbering in the deepest part of the pool, but now they were gradually exposed to the six people's sight as the water curtain parted.
Chen Yong stood on the precipice, gun in hand, his face still pale, but his gaze gradually fixed. The bottom of the icy pool was not an ordinary rock formation. As the pool water continued to part to both sides, an enormous ancient palace finally emerged slowly from beneath the cover of millions of years of icy water.
The ancient temple itself presents a solemnity that is almost dilapidated.
The entire structure of the palace is made of a very dark blue ancient stone. The surface of the stone has no metallic luster, nor the warm and smooth texture of jade. Instead, it looks like a solidified fragment peeled off from the core of a world that has long been destroyed.
The entire ancient hall lacks the usual flying eaves and carved beams; all its structures are extremely heavy, with the roof arranged in nine progressive layers, each layer resembling a massive stone platform pressing down on the layer above.
At the very top, there was no name of the hall, nor any plaque, only a huge circular ring hanging upside down in the center of the roof ridge. The surface of the ring was covered with dense cracks, some of which were even completely missing. However, whenever the water walls on both sides of the Nine Nether Cold Pool trembled slightly, those broken rings would emit an extremely faint grayish-white light.
The main gate of the ancient temple was even more bizarre. The two large doors were tens of feet high, completely black, with no door knockers, patterns, or handles on their surfaces. Each door was inlaid with half of a gray vertical pupil facing each other.
The vertical pupil on the left door was closed, while the vertical pupil on the right door was slightly open. However, the pupils did not contain eyeballs, but rather layers of colorless vortexes that were contracting. Between the two doors, a very thin, eerie blue light was pressed down, as if something inside was still slowly breathing.
Around the ancient hall, there are still seventy-two ancient pillars, most of which have been broken off.
Each ancient pillar is carved with the outlines of different creatures, but the faces of those creatures have all been erased, leaving only blurry figures. There are humanoids, dragons, four-winged beasts, and ancient beings whose forms are completely unrecognizable. All the remaining pillars are slightly tilted towards the main entrance of the ancient hall, as if bowing to some higher being within the hall.
What sends chills down your spine is the long, gray-white stone staircase in front of the ancient hall, with a total of nine hundred and ninety-nine steps.
Each step was perfectly intact, showing no signs of erosion from the icy pool, yet its surface was scattered with numerous faint black footprints. These footprints varied in size and shape; some belonged to humans, some were clearly from strange beasts, and some were merely half-finished, blurry outlines. Even more strangely, all the footprints pointed only upwards.
There was no return. The woman with the sword stared at the stone steps for a moment, her face turning slightly pale. "Could this be the Dark Ruins Return Hall' that the elder spoke of?" Chen Yong did not answer. His gaze slowly moved around the ancient hall, finally stopping above the main entrance, where there Emptiness before.
But just as the last trace of the demonic dragon's True Annihilation completely dissipated, four extremely ancient characters slowly emerged above the lintel of the ancient palace. There was no light, no oppressive aura, only four grayish-white ancient characters. "The Dark Ruins Return Hall."
All six fell silent, Chen Yong's eyes grew even more serious.
This palace clearly existed long ago, but it had been buried by the True Annihilation essence of the Nine Nether Dark Ruins Demon Dragon and the entire Nine Nether Cold Pool. Now that the Demon Dragon is dead, the sealing power that was originally pressing down on the bottom of the pool has loosened, which is why the ancient palace has truly been revealed.
Moreover, judging from the traces of time on the surface of the ancient hall, it was likely older than the Nine Nether Dark Ruins Demon Dragon. Chen Yong did not dare to go down rashly. His current condition did not allow him to take risks.
Moreover, the oppressive atmosphere emanating from that ancient palace was completely different from that of the Nine Nether Dark Ruins Demon Dragon. The danger of the Demon Dragon could be sensed, judged, and confronted Primordial Mirror, but the Dark Ruins Return Hall before him was too quiet, so quiet that even Chen Yong couldn't find a clear point of entry.
He slowly withdrew his gaze. "Recover first." The five people immediately looked at him.
Chen Yong turned around, his tone calm. "Everyone, stay put and heal your injuries. Do not approach the ancient palace at the bottom of the pool. The two times you Nine Abyss Immersion have already damaged your Fate Soul. If you continue down now, you will only leave your lives here."
After he finished speaking, he sat down cross-legged first, placing the gray-black spear horizontally in front of his knees. None of the five men showed any sign of bravado.
The woman with the sword immediately sat down, sheathed her silver-gray short sword in front of her, placed her hands on her knees, and slowly gathered her Fate Soul. The man who manipulated the ancient mirror returned the remaining four mirrors to his side, closed his eyes, and circulated his source energy; the other three also sat cross-legged and quickly entered a state of meditation.
The Six Lives Return to Annihilation True Suchness Guarding One Formation Has Not Been Completely Resolved.
The five of them reduced their formation to its smallest possible size, maintaining a faint connection between their Fate Soul. Having Nine Abyss Immersion, none of them wanted to completely sever their link now.
After a moment of meditation, Chen Yong slowly opened his eyes and raised his right hand. The three-inch square Primordial Mirror reappeared in his palm.
The bronze fragment has been restored to its original, simple and unadorned state, with jagged edges and extremely faint engravings on the four lines on its surface. The ancient aura that had silenced heaven and earth when the Primordial Chaos Original Edict was activated has been completely subdued.
After examining the object for a long time and confirming that it had no cracks, Chen Yong felt a little relieved.
This Primordial Supreme Treasure was personally entrusted to him by the clan elders before their departure, and its true importance far surpasses the mission of the six of them. If the Primordial Mirror is damaged in the Nine Nether Cold Pool, he has no idea how to explain it upon returning to the clan.
Just as he was about to put the Primordial Mirror back into the depths of his Fate Soul, his gaze suddenly stopped. There was something on the lower right side of the mirror, very thin, only as thick as a hair.
Originally, the four meridians on the Primordial Mirror were perfectly formed and their patterns were clearly defined. However, now, a very faint dark blue mark has appeared next to one of the meridians.
Chen Yong frowned instantly. He pulled the Primordial Mirror closer. The dark blue mark was not a crack, nor was it foreign filth. Upon closer inspection, it looked more like a tiny dragon-shaped pattern. The dragon's head, spine, and tail were all faintly visible, and even the curve where the head and tail almost met was faintly present. Chen Yong's eyes immediately darkened.
"How could this be..." The woman with the sword slowly opened her eyes upon hearing the commotion. "Senior brother, what's wrong?" Chen Yong didn't answer, but instead slightly turned the Primordial Mirror towards the others. The Fate Soul of the five people, who were meditating, simultaneously focused on the mirror, and soon, everyone's expression changed. "This is..."
The man manipulating the ancient mirror's eye twitched slightly. "The Nine Nether Dark Ruins Demon Dragon?" Chen Yong nodded slowly. "It's a remnant of its True Annihilation." The expressions of the others became even more solemn.
The demonic dragon had been First Law Severs Truth Primordial Chaos Original Edict, its Fate Soul, origin, True Annihilation vortex, and Nine Abyss Aperture Membrane were all Annihilation, so it should not have left any trace that could reassemble itself.
But now, a trace of it remained on the Primordial Mirror. Chen Yong extended his index finger and slowly approached the dark Azure Dragon mark, before he could actually touch it. Primordial Mirror, the Primordial Mirror vibrated on its own. The dragon-shaped mark on the mirror surface lit up instantly, and a very brief scene appeared before the six of them at the same time. There was no demonic dragon, nor was there the Nine Nether Cold Pool.
They saw only a completely still, gray-white abyss. At the very bottom of the abyss stood a massive ancient palace, the very same Dark Ruins Return Hall that had just emerged from the bottom of the pool. The next instant, the scene vanished, the dragon-shaped remnants faded again, Primordial Mirror returned to its calm state. Chen Yong slowly raised his head, his gaze passing over the precipice to the ancient palace deep within the icy pool.