Chapter 553: Ancient Puppet Beasts

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

In the few 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 direct feeling this "Heaven-Reaching Tower" gave him was completely different. On the surface, it didn't look like a dangerous secret realm full of crises as recorded in the notes at all.

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

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

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

Seeing the two who suddenly appeared, a smile immediately appeared on Song Song Qingming's face, and he took the initiative to step forward and bow slightly.

"Senior Sister Zhao, Fellow Daoist Yun!"

"Junior Brother Song came very quickly. I estimate that Junior Brother Jin and the others shouldn't be too far away." Seeing Song Song Qingming walk over, Zhao Zhao Menglian also revealed a trace of joy.

The gray-robed man standing beside Zhao Zhao Menglian also immediately bowed to Song Song Qingming and greeted him with a smile.

This time entering the "Heaven-Reaching Tower," apart from the three of them, Zhao Zhao Menglian and Jin Wu Ziyuan also each invited a good friend. This man surnamed Yun was named Yun Yun Xinxue, and he was also a good friend of Zhao Zhao Menglian for many years.

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

Like Jin Wu Ziyuan, Yun Yun Xinxue also had a cultivation of the fourth layer of Golden Core. This person came from a Golden Core sect in a small country in the south of the State of Wei. Including him, there were only two Golden Core cultivators in the sect.

Like these small sects, there were only two or three Golden Core ancestors supporting the scene. Once a Golden Core cultivator was suddenly lost, the sect would inevitably decline quickly. Without too much certainty, these people generally didn't dare to participate too much in secret realms like the "Heaven-Reaching Tower" where Nascent Soul forces competed for spiritual items.

Facing the Fire Phoenix's inquiry, Long Feng nodded and said: "Your Highness, rest assured, I already saw him before coming in. Although the few people traveling with him have average cultivation, they are not weaklings. I think there shouldn't be any major problems."

"Senior Brother Song, standing here talking will probably be somewhat unsafe. Let's go back to the formation first!" After greeting Song Song Qingming, Zhao Zhao Menglian immediately took him back into the mist where she appeared just now.

This third-tier concealment illusion formation was specially borrowed by Zhao Zhao Menglian from Bai Bai Yuxian. Hiding in the formation, even with Song Song Qingming's spiritual sense, which could be compared to a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, it would be very difficult to discover it for a while.

The other person invited by Jin Wu Ziyuan was a Golden Core rogue cultivator with the Daoist name Qingluo True Person, who was at the third layer of Golden Core, just like Song Song Qingming. However, this person was much older than Song Song Qingming, and it had been nearly two hundred years since he formed his Golden Core. He could also be considered a person with relatively rich fighting experience.

After Song Song Qingming and Zhao Zhao Menglian joined up, the few people waited on the hillside for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. Soon, Jin Wu Ziyuan and Qingluo True Person also arrived here one after another.

"Did you see him enter?"

No sooner had Long Feng finished speaking than a red light flew out from his huge wings, turning into a woman in red with a trace of displeasure on her face.

"Hmm! Then let's set off first. There are many people entering this layer now, so you must be careful and try not to be targeted by others." After the Fire Phoenix looked at a map, her jade hand pointed in another direction.

Before the five people joined up, none of them had encountered any danger, and their hearts were immediately relieved. In a secret realm like this, which is basically entered by cultivators above the Golden Core stage, it is relatively dangerous for any one of them to walk alone inside.

But after the five people joined up, they could be considered a force that was not weak in this place. Even if they encountered late-stage Golden Core powerhouses, the five of them could fight the other party without fear if they joined forces.

"Since there are so many people entering the tower, I'm afraid it won't be easy to find things in this first layer. Let's think of a way to find the teleportation array to the upper layer and go directly to the second layer."

"I 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 only be a few hundred miles away."

After hearing Zhao Zhao Menglian's analysis, Yun Yun Xinxue immediately nodded and replied: "Zhao fellow Daoist is right. The good things that can be found on the second layer will certainly be more than on 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, so our actions will be 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 increase greatly."

After Jin Wu Ziyuan finished speaking, Song Song Qingming and Qingluo True Person also nodded in agreement with Zhao Zhao Menglian's idea. After the few discussed it, they each stepped onto their escape lights and flew directly toward the southeast.

Half an hour later, Song Song Qingming and the others arrived outside a somewhat dilapidated ancient palace.

After carefully looking around the palace and looking at the map in his hand, Zhao Zhao Menglian nodded slightly to the crowd and said: "It's here, no mistake. The teleportation array to the second layer is in this hall. However, according to the sect classics, there are some not-weak ancient puppet beasts guarding this palace. Everyone should be careful after entering."

Zhao Zhao Menglian put away the map in her hand, gave a few instructions to the crowd, and took the lead in walking into the palace before her.

Apart from the rubble on the ground and some ancient murals on the walls, the front hall of the hall was empty, basically considered to be empty of everything.

Seeing that this place had already been swept clean by senior cultivators, Jin Wu Ziyuan and Qingluo True Person sighed with disappointment after checking the hall.

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

Zhao Zhao Menglian's unusual behavior immediately attracted the attention of Jin Wu Ziyuan and the others behind her. After the crowd stepped forward to check carefully, they discovered that there was actually a trace of weak spiritual power remaining on this pile of rubble.

"Senior Sister Zhao, could this be a puppet beast?"

Zhao Zhao Menglian nodded slightly and said: "That's right. 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 controlling 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 Zhao Menglian say this, Qingluo True Person on the side immediately revealed a smile and said: "Haha! Anyway, there is nothing good in here. Someone helping us explore the path ahead is also quite good, which can save us a lot of trouble."

Zhao Zhao Menglian shook her head slightly upon hearing this and said: "The restrictions in this hall are very powerful. Even if someone solved these puppet beasts and broke through, they would recover and reappear before long."

"Oh! This is somewhat unexpected. It seems that the person who set up these restrictions also intentionally wanted to test every cultivator who entered the tower, not letting those with too weak strength enter the next layer at will." Qingluo True Person laughed somewhat awkwardly.

Hearing Zhao Zhao Menglian say this, True Person Qingluo, who was standing to the side, immediately put on a smiling face and said, "Hehe! Anyway, there isn't anything good in there. It's actually quite good that someone is helping us scout the path ahead; it can save us a lot of trouble."

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

In the middle of this stone room, a small magic array was emitting bursts of white light. Song Song Qingming only took one look and immediately recognized it. This was a small teleportation array.

Around the teleportation array, there were dozens of various beast-shaped stone statues carved from stone, surrounding the teleportation magic array in the middle to form several circular rings.

Seeing this scene, Song Song Qingming and the others looked at each other. Qingluo True Person, who had always been eager to perform in front of the crowd, took the initiative to take out a yellow spiritual talisman from his body. After a quick spell, the spiritual talisman in his hand suddenly emitted a golden light, turning into a human-shaped spiritual puppet that was almost the same height and appearance as him.

"Go!"

Following Qingluo True Person's order, this human-shaped spiritual puppet nodded to him, held a silver shield in its hand, and walked toward the teleportation array with big strides.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 554 =====

"Go!"

Following True Person Qingluo's order, the humanoid spirit puppet nodded slightly at him, then produced a silver shield in its hand and strode toward the teleportation formation.

(End of chapter)