Time passed day by day, and as more time went by, those waiting outside began to grow somewhat worried.
"I wonder how far they have progressed now…" Liu Tiandao looked at the spatial rifts in the sky that had gradually begun to repair themselves, or rather at the faintly visible structures within them, and said.
Clearly, even though the two experts he had sent in were quite strong, whether they could reach the final stage, the Emperor Tomb Cemetery, Liu Tiandao himself had no confidence.
Mandala also felt uncertain about this.
What worried her even more was whether Jiu You could find her true body. That Demonic Saint Emperor Lu Huan would definitely interfere. With his ruthless nature, he might very well have some even more dangerous schemes waiting for Jiu You and the others.
Among everyone present, perhaps only Liu Bai was not affected by these concerns.
One must know that his goal this time was the entire Ancient Heavenly Palace. As long as he succeeded, everything inside would belong to him. Even if Jiu You and the others failed in their tasks, it would not matter much.
Even if one took a step back and assumed none of the objectives were achieved, the Ancient Heavenly Palace would still not remain hidden within the spatial void forever. They would still have time to accomplish those goals again.
As for whether the Ancient Heavenly Palace would be destroyed in the demonic disaster caused by the Nine Corpse Heaven Demon Emperor, Liu Bai would have been worried about that before. But after meeting Lin Jing, he was no longer concerned.
Liu Bai did not believe that Martial Ancestor would allow his daughter to fall into such danger without making any preparations.
Let alone a just awakened Nine Corpse Heaven Demon Emperor, even one at its peak might not necessarily be a match for Martial Ancestor. So Liu Bai did not worry at all.
What mattered most now was how he should perform so that the Heavenly Emperor would acknowledge him and willingly hand over the Ancient Heavenly Palace.
Of course, he could also gain a favor from Martial Ancestor, or even the Flame Emperor.
Thinking of this, Liu Bai swept his gaze across the others present and said with a faint smile, "It has only been five days. I think they should still be cultivating on the Heavenly River…"
What Liu Bai said was indeed correct. At this moment, all those qualified to enter the Heavenly River, whether they were Wolf Token disciples who could only linger at the periphery or Golden Dragon disciples who could go deep inside, were all doing their best to collect Heavenly River Spirits.
Unfortunately, unlike in the original timeline where Mu Chen, protected by protagonist luck, obtained the one hundredth Heavenly River Spirit and achieved a perfect Heavenly River baptism, things were not so fortunate this time.
First, Mu Chen only obtained a White Dragon evaluation, which already sealed off his path to a perfect baptism.
Among those who became Golden Dragon disciples, only Lin Jing, Xiao Xiao, Zhu Yan, and Garuda had any hope of obtaining a perfect baptism. But as seen in the original storyline, they ultimately did not obtain such an opportunity.
Of course, that was under the condition that no external interference occurred.
Before entering the Heavenly River, Jiu You had found the two women and told them the "speculation" Liu Bai had mentioned.
"You are saying that it is impossible to gather the one hundredth Heavenly River Spirit through normal means, and that they must devour each other?"
Xiao Xiao's beautiful eyes carried both seriousness and doubt. She did not know whether the woman in front of her was telling the truth, but her rational mind told her this was not very credible.
However, she also did not think someone who had just met her yet knew her background would lie to her.
"I only know this much. As for whether you believe it or whether it will succeed, that is up to you." Jiu You shrugged. This gesture had also been influenced by Liu Bai.
She had already said what needed to be said. Whether they believed it or not was their own matter.
In truth, even Jiu You herself doubted the authenticity of this information. However, considering what Liu Bai had said about Mandala's identity, she believed he would not speak carelessly.
Moreover, Liu Bai had not specifically instructed her to tell anyone in particular, only that only Golden Dragon disciples might be able to achieve this. So in the end, Jiu You chose to inform Lin Jing and Xiao Xiao.
Both of their backgrounds were extraordinary. If this information was true, they would certainly owe her a favor.
While Xiao Xiao was still thinking, the carefree Lin Jing directly said, "Why not just try it and see if it is true?"
"Isn't it just a Heavenly River baptism? Even if I want it, failing does not seem like a big loss, right?"
Although the Heavenly River baptism was mysterious and profound, the Martial Domain had its own methods to achieve similar effects. At worst, she could simply skip it. What was there to hesitate about?
From this, one could see the difference in personality between the two girls, despite both coming from top-tier superpowers.
The biggest difference was that Lin Jing was more like a carefree young girl, innocent and free-spirited, not overthinking things and simply doing what she wanted.
Whereas Xiao Xiao was much more composed.
This was understandable. Although Xiao Xiao appeared to be of the same generation as Liu Bai and the others, she was actually several hundred years old. Even though she had spent most of that time in slumber, she had experienced countless dangers in her childhood when her father had not yet become truly invincible. So while she also had moments of willfulness, she was far more mature than her actual younger brother who was hundreds of years old.
However, after hearing Lin Jing's words, Xiao Xiao felt that it might indeed be worth a try. At worst, she could simply ask her father for a pill. With her condition, she might even break through to Earth Sovereign after a sleep, so there was no need to care too much about such a matter.
With that in mind, deep within the Heavenly River, the two women began attempting to merge the one hundredth Heavenly River Spirit.
At the same time, others around them had already begun their baptisms.
Those who began first naturally did not have many Heavenly River Spirits, but even with just twenty or thirty, the transformation after baptism was clearly visible, causing many to be pleasantly surprised.
Mu Chen's harvest this time was far from the perfect baptism in the original storyline. He had barely obtained eighty Heavenly River Spirits, which still placed him in the category of advanced baptism. After the baptism, he had just broken through to the Eighth Grade Sovereign, yet he was directly elevated to the peak of the Eighth Grade Sovereign. This improvement could not be described as anything but tremendous.
Similarly, Mo Ling and the three beast slaves were about the same. Only Zong Qingfeng was slightly better, having collected eighty five Heavenly River Spirits. However, he used this step to directly advance into the Ninth Grade Sovereign level, and even his divine beast physique had been strengthened to a certain extent.
Above them were Jiu You and Su Qingyin, who were Azure Dragon disciples. Both of them managed to collect ninety Heavenly River Spirits, making them the envy of ninety percent of the people present.
At this moment, ninety Heavenly River Spirits revolved around Jiu You like starlight. She raised her jade hand, and the Heavenly River beneath her immediately began to churn violently, forming a vortex thousands of zhang wide.
This scene caused countless people to feel shock and envy.
Although it was still considered an advanced baptism, Jiu You's level of baptism was clearly higher than that of Zong Qingfeng and the others.
With this baptism, Jiu You once again stimulated the Undying Bird bloodline within her body, directly reaching the Half Step Earth Sovereign level, to the point where she could already be compared with Lin Jing and Xiao Xiao who had received perfect baptism.
This also made Xiao Xiao sigh involuntarily, saying that the advancement of divine beasts was truly unreasonable.
Of course, she had not considered that her own advancement was just as unbelievable.
Among the four Golden Dragon disciples, only two girls achieved perfect baptism, which made them surpass Zhu Yan and Garuda in the eyes of others.
However, within this seemingly ideal outcome, only Mu Chen and Ling Xi felt the heaviest pressure, because Garuda had become even stronger.
Fortunately, there was also good news. Mu Chen had faintly sensed the Immortal Golden Body.
After crossing the Heavenly River, they would enter the true depths of the Ancient Heaven Palace, where the residences of the five Hall Masters were located.
With the map guidance and the Second Hall Master's command token, Jiu You's target this time was the Fourth Hall Master's palace and the Second Hall Master's palace.
Of course, there was also the location of Mandala's true body in the First Hall Master's domain.
"Time is really tight…"
Putting away the elder token, Jiu You looked at the empty hall in front of her with helplessness.
As expected, the Fourth Hall Master stationed in the Northern Realm had taken all his treasures with him. What remained here was only a symbolic great hall.
However, since they were already here, Jiu You and the others still searched the interior.
With the elder token, they moved freely within the Fourth Hall.
During this search, they actually found something good, a special puppet refinement method known as the Earth Spirit Puppet.
Upon seeing this secret art, Jiu You immediately thought of the powerful puppet they had encountered in the Fourth Hall Master's treasure vault during their previous experience, a puppet comparable to an Greater Earth Sovereign.
It was clear that the puppet had been refined by the Fourth Hall Master using this Earth Spirit Puppet technique.
"Good stuff!"
Jiu You became delighted. This was indeed a valuable gain.
"Let's go, next stop, the Second Hall Master's palace!" Mo Ling said excitedly.
This trip to the Ancient Heaven Palace had greatly impacted her. It was not only about the improvement in strength, but also about witnessing the competition among so many geniuses.
Although she had always been a supporting character, this experience still planted a seed of ambition within her, the ambition to become stronger.
Inside the Second Hall, as expected, Jiu You and the others encountered Su Qingyin, who had come in search of the Phoenix Worm.
Although they did not have a Battle Formation Master among them, Liu Bai, with his foresight advantage, had naturally made preparations.
He had already refined a special Battle Intent formation disc. Combined with the Soul Slayer Guard command token obtained at the auction, Jiu You was able to temporarily control the Soul Slayer Guards.
This allowed their progress in the Second Hall to be smoother than in the original storyline. With Su Qingyin, a peak Ninth Grade Sovereign, acting as a restraint, Jiu You easily subdued the Soul Slayer Guards, and both sides achieved their respective goals.
Without delay, Jiu You immediately led the group toward the First Hall.
Although Mu Chen and the others were holding back Garuda, Jiu You did not believe that Lu Huan only had this single arrangement. There would surely be greater dangers ahead.
The location of the First Hall was relatively hidden. Although it appeared to be on the sea surface with many grand halls, the true First Hall was not on the surface, but deep beneath the sea.
Without the complete map from the elder token, Jiu You and the others would have had to spend quite some effort searching. Fortunately, with the guidance, they quickly arrived.
Before them was a seabed ruin. Behind the ruins stood an ancient, broken hall.
Compared to the halls on the surface, this place looked extremely dilapidated. Without precise information, even if someone passed by, they would likely ignore it completely.
But Jiu You and the others could smell a faint, strange fragrance coming from deep inside the hall, intoxicating and mesmerizing.
It was the scent of flowers, the fragrance of Mandala Flowers.
"It seems we did not come to the wrong place this time."
A smile appeared on Jiu You's face.
This was her true main mission in entering the Ancient Heaven Palace. Everything before this was merely bonus rewards.
Inside the hall, everything was in ruins. It was clear that a fierce battle had once taken place here, leaving behind scattered white bones and signs of brutal slaughter.
As their gaze swept across the hall, Jiu You's expression suddenly changed. She raised her head sharply and looked toward the deepest part of the hall.
There stood a stone gate, and behind it should be the location of Mandala's true body.
However, none of them were paying attention to that now, because a figure was seated in front of the stone gate.
"Heh, it seems the Palace Master guessed correctly. That one really did send people to retrieve her true body during the opening of the Ancient Heaven Palace. I just did not expect it to be a group of beasts like you."
The figure let out a hoarse chuckle, but his words made all five of them change expression.
"So you are the backup plan arranged by the Demonic Saint Emperor? I originally thought it would be Garuda who would act. I did not expect it to be an old, half crippled waste instead."
Jiu You also showed her sharp tongue and fired back without hesitation.
"Good, good, truly sharp tongued!" The black and white robed elder laughed in rage. "Let me see if your strength matches your mouth!"
"Although I am restricted by rules and even had to injure myself to enter this place, a Earth Sovereign is still a Earth Sovereign. Even with my current means, it is enough to crush you beasts here!"
Jiu You smiled lightly and even nodded in agreement.
"You are right. If it is purely based on strength, I am indeed not your opponent. But how do you know we have no backup prepared."
...
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