Chapter 245: Mechanism

Although the imperial palace was within reach, many soldiers still died in the clutches of the corpses.

The Imperial Old Ancestor blocked only most of the corpses, but many corpses still pursued them.

If it weren't for Yan Shan Hai and the others covering the rear, even more people would have died.

I don't know whether it was because of Nun Shang Rong's death that angered everyone, or because being chased by a pile of white bones was terrifying, but Yan Shan Hai and the others weren't in a hurry to retreat to the imperial palace; they wanted to slash more corpses to vent their hatred.

However, the corpses couldn't be completely killed, at least within a few hours.

The imperial palace was like a natural barrier; as long as the soldiers entered, they would be safe.

The corpses blindly charged toward the imperial palace, attempting to rush in through the gate or climb over the wall, but when they crossed the limit ten feet before the wall, they were all crushed to pieces!

Ten feet before the imperial palace wall, there was a faint red line. The line was long, extending to the corner of the wall; it seemed to encircle all four walls, a huge red ring enclosing the imperial palace.

This was the Imperial Old Ancestor's masterpiece.

"I never expected the Imperial Old Ancestor to still have this move!" Yan Shan Hai stood inside the red ring, gazing at the corpses continually rushing out beyond the red line, only to be crushed to pieces, and he couldn't help sighing.

"Our forefather should have long anticipated that the People of the Heavenly Dao would have this move." Zhou Ke said, looking at the corpses of his subordinates lying all over the ground, feeling sorrowful, "It's just a pity that we still lost so many people......"

"Namo Amitabha, good, good, a pity about Nun Shang Rong..." Venerable Le Bei said.

"Let's not say more...... Hurry up and arrange for everyone to enter the imperial palace, lest night bring too many dreams; the layout of the imperial palace is easy to defend but hard to attack, so we can make adjustments!" Hong Liang said to the crowd, his grief evident, after all Nun Shang Rong died for him.

"I wonder how Chen Yi He is doing? I also don't know how the Old Ancestor and the others are." Yan Shan Hai asked in a low voice.

But he couldn't worry about all that now; the urgent task was to organize the brothers of the Jianghu Grand Alliance and the elite troops of the Prince's Manor.

"The mechanism should be inside the Sutra Pavilion...... Let's few of us first go to the Great Hall to look for the Dragon Throne!" Zhou Ke said, pointing toward the direction of the Sutra Pavilion.

"There's still a mechanism?" Ling Hu Shang asked.

"Well, the forefather specifically instructed it; I, the prince, am not sure whether it's a mechanism, but it's certain that it's a good way for us to resist the People of the Heavenly Dao."

Yan Shan Hai waved his hand and shouted to the soldiers, "Go!"

Zhou Ke and Yan Shan Hai rushed straight to the Great Hall; beneath the armrests of the Dragon Throne, they indeed found a switch for the mechanism. He said to Yan Shan Hai, "The forefather spent a hundred years, pouring his heart and blood, just to create this mechanism. He thought that if one day he were gone, the Great Zhou Dynasty, when encountering peril, could preserve one life. Now is a special time; the forefather had no choice but to make this decision, hoping his hundred years of effort would not be in vain."

"He had the intention." Yan Shan Hai said.

"Even when your Jianghu Grand Alliance fought its way into the imperial palace, the Old Ancestor wasn't flustered......"

Yan Shan Hai smiled sheepishly and said, "Isn't this a special time now? It has nothing to do with our Jianghu Grand Alliance......"

The mechanism was merely a tiny wooden button, looking like a small wooden dot, with nothing strange about it.

"Shall we try?" Zhou Ke turned his head and asked Yan Shan Hai.

"Let's try." Yan Shan Hai nodded.

Zhou Ke placed his hand on the button and slowly, steadily pressed it down……

The resplendent Dragon Throne glowed, the light making its gold even brighter! It dazzled Zhou Ke and Yan Shan Hai so much they couldn't open their eyes.

Soon after, the sound of mountains collapsing and earth splitting could be heard.

"Boom—rumble…… boom—rumble…… boom—rumble……"

"Boom—rumble…… boom—rumble…… boom—rumble……"

"Boom—rumble…… boom—rumble…… boom—rumble……"

The entire imperial palace trembled; the golden bricks on the floor cracked. The fissures spread, the Great Hall of the imperial palace being the building at the exact center of the palace, which is also the exact center of the imperial capital, and the Dragon Throne sits at the center of the Great Hall.

Starting from it, cracks spread outward……

The imperial palace is sinking! It seems to be splitting away from the imperial capital.

"What's going on?"

"How is the ground still collapsing!"

"Wait, why are we unharmed? We don't feel any sense of overturning......"

Everyone was shocked at what was happening; their bodies sank with the sinking earth, yet they felt no sense of turmoil.

"Everyone, don't panic! This is the Imperial Old Ancestor's way of preserving our lives! Just stand steady far away!" Yan Shan Hai transmitted the message to everyone's ears using Thousand-mile Voice Transmission, so that no one in the imperial palace would panic.

"I never expected the forefather's handiwork to be this grand!" Zhou Ke sighed, feeling deep admiration for the Imperial Old Ancestor as his forefather, even to the point of prostrating himself in utter reverence.

"To sink an entire imperial palace, no wonder it took a hundred years......"

"Perhaps it's like the Thousand-layer Gate, sealing us underground." Zhou Ke speculated.

"That's fine; now it's a showdown between the strong, and our soldiers need not die pointlessly......" The brothers of the Jianghu Grand Alliance, left by the Tiger and Leopard, naturally didn't want them to die miserably on the battlefield, which would only increase his guilt, "Leave it to us."

Not long after, the entire imperial palace sank into the earth, as if a chunk had been hollowed out from the ground.

Immediately afterward, the split ground resembled a scar on skin, slowly healing!

It seemed as if they were about to bury everyone underground.

"Sure enough, they want to bury us underground!" Hong Liang raised his head, looking at the slowly merging ground, and said.

"Are we supposed to stay in darkness forever?" Yan Shan Hai asked Zhou Ke.

"Probably not; the forefather spent a hundred years, and more importantly, he set up a barrier. Simply burying us underground would still let the enemy dig us out." Zhou Ke speculated.

"Thud!" The earth closed completely.

The imperial palace vanished from the surface, reborn underground.

Just as everyone was frightened by the darkness, suddenly Yan Shan Hai laughed loudly, looking at the ground above his head, "Hahaha! Look quickly!"

The ground above them lit up, light filling the sky, sunlight! Sunshine poured onto the imperial palace, onto everyone's bodies, bringing them hope!

This is the Imperial Old Ancestor's grand masterpiece! He created a whole realm underground!

Here there will be a cycle of sun and moon, not the imagined darkness!

"The forefather went to great trouble! Namo Amitabha! Such a marvelous sight, truly like a dreamy illusion!" Venerable Le Bei clasped his hands together and chanted the Buddhist name.