Chapter 553: Ancient Puppet Beast

Looking at the valley full of green grass and the surging river below, like a beautiful holy land in the mortal world, Song Qingming couldn't help but feel a burst of emotion.

The secret realms he had entered in the past, although the space inside was also very large, most places in the secret realm looked very desolate. However, the intuitive feeling of the "Heaven-Reaching Tower" he entered this time was completely different. On the surface, it didn't look like a dangerous secret realm full of crises as recorded in the notes.

If it weren't for the spiritual talisman in his hand clearly telling Song Qingming that he was getting closer and closer to Zhao Menglian's position, seeing the scene below that was no different from the outside world, Song Qingming would probably have started to doubt whether he had fallen into an illusion as soon as he came in.

After flying forward for about ten miles, according to the instructions of the spiritual talisman, Song Qingming soon came to a small hillside covered with various flowers and plants.

After looking around, just when a trace of doubt appeared on Song Qingming's face, a burst of white mist suddenly lit up in the flower bushes on the side of the hillside, and Zhao Menglian, dressed in palace clothes with a smile, and a middle-aged man in a gray Daoist robe walked out of the white mist.

Seeing the two who appeared suddenly, a smile immediately appeared on Song Qingming's face, and he took the initiative to arch his hands slightly.

"Senior Sister Zhao, Fellow Daoist Yun!"

"Junior Brother Song came really fast. It is estimated that Junior Brother Jin and the others should not be far away." Seeing Song Qingming walking over, Zhao Menglian also showed a trace of joy on her face.

The gray-robed man standing beside Zhao Menglian also immediately arched his hands at Song Qingming and greeted him with a smile.

This time, besides the three of them, Zhao Menglian and Jin Ziyuan also invited a friend each. This man named Yun Xinghe is one of them, and he is also a friend of Zhao Menglian for many years.

This giant bird carefully looked around, then one of its huge wings opened directly, and said respectfully: "Your Highness, there is no one nearby, it is safe!"

Like Jin Ziyuan, Yun Xinghe also has a cultivation base of the fourth layer of Jin Dan. This person comes from a Jin Dan sect in a small country in the south of the Wei State. Including him, there are only two Jin Dan cultivators in the sect.

Like their small sects, there are only two or three Jin Dan ancestors in the sect to support the scene. Once a Jin Dan cultivator is suddenly lost, the sect will inevitably decline quickly, and they don't have much confidence, so these people generally don't dare to participate too much in the "Heaven-Reaching Tower", a secret realm where Nascent Soul forces compete for spiritual items.

Facing Fire Phoenix's inquiry, Long Feng nodded and said: "Your Highness, don't worry, I saw him before entering. Although the few people accompanying him have average cultivation bases, they are not weak. I think there shouldn't be any big problems."

"Junior Brother Song, standing here talking all the time is probably not very safe. Let's go back to the formation first!" After greeting Song Qingming, Zhao Menglian immediately took him back to the mist where she appeared just now.

This time the "Heaven-Reaching Tower" opened, if it weren't for Zhao Menglian's active invitation, Yun Xinghe would not have dared to come to such a dangerous place as the "Heaven-Reaching Tower" alone to try his luck.

The other rogue cultivator invited by Jin Ziyuan is a rogue cultivator with the Daoist name Qingluo Zhenren, who is also at the third layer of Jin Dan like Song Qingming. However, this person is much older than Song Qingming, and he has been forming a Jin Dan for nearly two hundred years. He can also be considered a person with rich fighting experience.

This third-grade hidden illusion formation was specially borrowed by Zhao Menglian from Bai Yuxian. Hiding in the formation, even Song Qingming's spiritual sense, which can be compared to the late-stage Jin Dan cultivator, would be difficult to discover for a while.

On a high mountain thousands of miles away from Song Qingming's position, a blue light flew quickly and landed on a small mountain below, revealing a gray giant bird.

"Your Highness, don't worry, as long as you don't encounter those Nascent Soul guys, there shouldn't be anyone here who can keep me." After Long Feng finished speaking, his wings opened slightly, and soon Fire Phoenix turned into a red light and returned to his wings.

After Song Qingming and Zhao Menglian joined, the few people waited for about a cup of tea on the hillside, and soon Jin Ziyuan and Qingluo Zhenren also arrived here one after another.

"Did you see him enter?"

Just as Long Feng finished speaking, a red light flew out from his huge wings and turned into a woman in red with a trace of displeasure on her face.

"Mm! Let's set off first. There are many people entering this layer now, you still have to be careful, try not to be targeted by others." After Fire Phoenix looked at a map, her jade hand pointed in another direction.

Before the five people joined, none of them encountered any danger, and their hearts were immediately relieved. In this secret realm where basically all Jin Dan cultivators entered, it is relatively dangerous for any of them to walk alone here.

But after the five people joined together, they can be considered a force that is not weak here. Even if they encounter late-stage Jin Dan powerhouses, the few people can fear the other party together.

"There are so many people entering the tower now, it will be a bit difficult to find things in this first layer. Let's find a way to find the teleportation array to the upper layer and go directly to the second layer.

I have just checked the map drawn in the sect notes. Our current position is probably in the southeast direction of the first layer. The nearest teleportation point should be only a few hundred miles away."

After hearing Zhao Menglian's analysis, Yun Xinghe immediately nodded and responded: "Zhao Daoyou is right. The good things that can be found in the second layer will definitely be more than in the first layer. I agree with her proposal!"

"I also agree with Senior Sister Zhao's opinion. After all, we have a map in hand, and our actions are much faster than those rogue cultivators. As long as we can successfully find the teleportation array and enter the second layer one step ahead of others, the probability of us finding good things will also be greatly increased."

Just after Jin Ziyuan finished speaking, Song Qingming and Qingluo Zhenren on the side also nodded and agreed with Zhao Menglian's idea. After the few people discussed it, they stepped onto the escape light and flew directly toward the southeast.

Half an hour later, Song Qingming and the others came to an ancient palace that was somewhat dilapidated.

After carefully looking at the surroundings of the palace and looking at the map in his hand, Zhao Menglian nodded slightly to the crowd and said: "It's here, the teleportation array to the second layer is in this palace. However, according to the sect classics, this palace is guarded by some ancient puppet beasts with not weak strength. Everyone should be careful after entering."

After Zhao Menglian put away the map in her hand, she gave a few instructions to the crowd and took the lead to walk into the palace in front of her.

In the front hall of the palace, except for the gravel on the ground and some ancient murals on the wall, the whole hall was empty, basically empty.

Seeing that this place had already been swept away by the predecessor cultivators, Jin Ziyuan and Qingluo Zhenren sighed with disappointment after checking in the hall.

The crowd passed through the front hall and came to a corridor built of many blue giant stones. Zhao Menglian, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped and focused her eyes on a pile of rubble lying on the ground in front.

Zhao Menglian's abnormal behavior immediately attracted the eyes of Jin Ziyuan and others behind her. After the crowd stepped forward to check carefully, they found that there was still a trace of weak spiritual power left on this pile of rubble.

"Senior Sister Zhao, is this an ancient puppet beast?"

Zhao Menglian nodded slightly: "Not bad, this is the ancient puppet beast recorded in the classics. This kind of puppet beast is different from those we see outside. Even without cultivators to control them, they can automatically attack enemies.

This puppet beast looks like it should have been destroyed not long ago. Could it be that someone has already entered here one step ahead of us."

Hearing Zhao Menglian say this, Qingluo Zhenren on the side immediately showed a smile: "Haha! Anyway, there is nothing good in here. Someone helped us explore the way one step ahead, which is quite good, and can save us a lot of trouble."

Zhao Menglian shook her head slightly when she heard this: "Qingluo Daoyou don't be too happy too early. The restrictions in this hall are very powerful. Even if someone solves these puppet beasts and breaks through, they will recover and reappear after a while."

"Oh! This is unexpected. It seems that the person who set this restriction also intends to test every cultivator who enters the tower, not letting those with weak strength enter the next layer at will." Qingluo Zhenren smiled somewhat embarrassedly.

"Hehe! There are so many cultivators entering the tower this time. Perhaps some senior came in and happened to be nearby, so they passed through here a step ahead of us. Whether we can benefit from their wake or not, it doesn't have much to do with us. Let's hurry and leave here for the first floor!"

After glancing at Jin Ziyuan who was a bit impatient beside her, Zhao Menglian smiled and nodded slightly, and didn't care about the puppet beast that had been destroyed on the ground, and took the crowd to continue forward to a huge stone room.

In the middle of this stone room, a small formation was emitting bursts of white light. Song Qingming recognized it as soon as he looked at it, this is a small teleportation array.

Around the teleportation array, there were dozens of various beast-shaped stone statues carved from stone, forming several circular rings around the teleportation formation in the middle.

Seeing this scene, Song Qingming and the others looked at each other, and Qingluo Zhenren, who had been eager to try to perform in front of the crowd, took the lead and took out a yellow spiritual talisman from his body. After a burst of rapid spellcasting, the spiritual talisman in his hand suddenly emitted a golden light and turned into a human-shaped spirit puppet that was almost exactly the same as his height and appearance.

"Go!"

Following Qingluo Zhenren's order, this human-shaped spirit puppet nodded at him, took a silver shield in his hand, and walked toward the teleportation array in big strides.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 554 =====