Chapter 842

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Xu Zhangqing

In the center of the palace hall stood a massive stone platform, carved from white jade marrow, reaching three zhang in height, its surface smooth as a mirror.

Upon the stone platform sat an ancient jade box.

The jade box was engraved with complex spiritual runes, emanating dense law power; clearly, an ancient treasure was stored inside.

Around the stone platform, a dozen or so damaged stone benches lay scattered.

Some benches were split in two, others covered in cracks across their surfaces; clearly, a fierce battle had taken place here.

In the corners of the hall, broken magic tools and bones were strewn about.

There were snapped long swords, their blades still retaining lingering mana fluctuations.

There were shattered shields, the runes on their surfaces already blurred beyond recognition.

There were also enormous bones, thick and sturdy, covered in black markings; these bones did not belong to humans, most likely the remains of ancient demon beasts or strange beasts.

Even after countless ages, they had still not rotted away.

In the depths of the hall lay a pitch-black passage; mist swirled at the passage entrance.

The mist contained even denser law power; faintly, a low rumbling could be heard from within the passage, and anyone who heard it felt an inexplicable nervousness rise in their heart.

"Such dense spiritual energy, even purer than in the immortal sects!"

"The law power here is strong; if we could cultivate here for a time, our cultivation would surely rise!"

"This is our opportunity!"

In the eyes of many, a greedy light appeared.

Just then, a low rumbling sound suddenly came from the depths of the hall, and immediately after, a formidable, suffocating aura enveloped the entire hall in an instant.

This aura far surpassed any monster or cultivator encountered before, carrying a cold, emotionless oppressive pressure that froze everyone in place, even causing their mana to fall into disorder.

Then, a colossal figure slowly walked out from the passage; with each step it took, the jade floor tiles trembled, a thunderous "thud-thud" echoing through the whole hall, and the rune fluctuations grew violent along with it.

Everyone stared fixedly at that figure, their eyes full of disbelief.

This was a law puppet forged from refined gold and strange stone, fifteen zhang tall, of imposing build, its entire body covered in black refined-gold armor.

The armor was engraved with dense spiritual runes, from which emanated powerful metal-element and earth-element law power.

The armor's surface was covered in battle scars, a shocking sight to behold.

The puppet's head was carved from a huge piece of black strange stone, expressionless, its eyes two red crystals emitting a bloodthirsty gleam.

No emotion whatsoever, as if it were merely a cold killing machine.

In the puppet's hand gripped a massive Xuan Iron giant hammer, five zhang in height, weighing tens of thousands of catties, its shaft engraved with ferocious patterns.

With every swing of the giant hammer, the surrounding air would vibrate, generating a powerful airflow that swept through the entire hall.

Even more heart-palpitating was that this law puppet's aura had actually reached the Nascent Soul stage!

It contained powerful metal-element and earth-element law power, a dense Dao-rhyme light halo swirling around it; with each step, the surrounding runes, under its pressure, actually began to tremble slightly, as if in fear.

A Demon Hunter Team Captain spoke with a tone full of dread: "Nascent Soul stage?

An Ancient Ruins guardian, how could it be this strong?

This... we're simply no match for it!"

The remaining Demon Hunter Team members also revealed expressions of despair.

Nascent Soul stage strength crushes all Golden Core stages; even if Xu Ping'an possesses Five Elements Spiritual Roots and Five-Colored Divine Light, contending with this law puppet would be anything but easy.

Soon, the law puppet halted its steps, its red eyes slowly sweeping across the crowd, no superfluous movements, no sound, as if scrutinizing these intruders.

Immediately after, it slowly raised the Xuan Iron giant hammer in its hand; metal-element and earth-element law power surged on the hammer, a white-and-yellow light halo enveloping it, and a bone-chilling killing intent instantly locked onto everyone at the entrance.

Anyone who dares intrude upon the Ancient Ruins must die!

With this, everyone was in an awkward spot.

Going in meant fear of death; not going in meant unwillingness to give up.

They had come all this way with great difficulty, even wiping out a batch of mysterious ambushers.

They had painstakingly researched the runes, then opened the palace's great doors.

Watching as Ancient Period treasures were within arm's reach, now readily obtainable.

But who could have expected that the guardian here would actually be a Nascent Soul stage law puppet.

And not only that; this law puppet's physical body was forged from ancient refined gold, impervious to ordinary attacks; more importantly, it could manipulate metal-element and earth-element law power, its attacks carrying law damage, making it extremely troublesome.

Time passed second by second; soon night would fall.

Many people looked at the jade box on the stone platform, their eyes still revealing greed.

Without a doubt, an ancient treasure lay inside.

Yet the law puppet's formidable Nascent Soul aura was like a basin of cold water, dousing everyone so they dared not act rashly; one by one they stood frozen in place, gazes shifting back and forth between the jade box and the puppet, utterly hesitant.

Li Yueyao asked in a low voice: "Brother Ping'an, what do we do?"

Xu Ping'an replied: "This puppet is very strong; we must not rashly engage.

We wait first; someone will inevitably be unable to hold back and act.

When the time comes, we'll use that person to probe the puppet's methods."

In this deadlock, someone finally could not restrain themselves.

Zhao Xunfeng, a core member of the Qingfeng Demon Hunter Team; this man possessed the rare Wind Spiritual Root, his cultivation at Golden Core Middle Stage, his greatest expertise being speed and movement techniques, making him hard to lock onto with ordinary attacks — this was the confidence behind his risk-taking.

Zhao Xunfeng stared fixedly at the jade box on the stone platform, the air around him rippling faintly; he turned his head to look at the crowd, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth: "Wind Spiritual Root means fast speed; as long as I seize the chance to rush over and grab the jade box, the puppet may not be able to react in time!"

Xu Ping'an and the others' expressions varied upon hearing this, yet no one moved to stop him.

It was quite obvious that everyone harbored the thought of letting him go test the waters.

If Zhao Xunfeng succeeded, they would seize the opportunity to act.

If Zhao Xunfeng failed, he would also have scouted out the Spiritual Root Risk for them.

The selfish side of human nature was displayed to the fullest here.

Seeing no one stop him, the corner of Zhao Xunfeng's mouth curled up slightly: "It seems the ancient treasure will be mine alone!"

His words barely fell before he stepped on the wind beneath his feet, abruptly transforming into an afterimage; in the blink of an eye he closed in on the stone platform at the center of the hall, the distance to the jade box only a few feet remaining.

Seeing success imminent, a trace of wild joy flashed through Zhao Xunfeng's eyes.

He did not hesitate in the slightest, reaching out to grab the jade box.

Just at the instant his fingertips were about to make contact, the originally motionless Law Puppet moved.

Its red eyes suddenly lit up, icy piercing red light shooting straight at Zhao Xunfeng; at the same time, the Earth Law Power around the puppet surged.

Hum—

With a muffled boom, the area several zhang around the stone platform was instantly shrouded in dense Earth Law, followed by a vast gravity emerging, suppressing this region.

Zhao Xunfeng's figure staggered, his speed plummeting, as if mired in a quagmire; no matter how he urged his magic power, he could not move a single step further, unable even to break free.

The Earth Law was like invisible shackles, locking him firmly in place!