Martial Peak

As everyone stared curiously, Fallen Emperor Mountain, which was ten thousand kilometres away, suddenly underwent another astonishing change as all the World Energy within tens of thousands of kilometres rapidly began flooding towards it.

The cultivators who were cultivating on Fallen Emperor Mountain all suddenly wore horrified looks as they hurriedly used their movement skills to try to escape to the periphery, but clearly, they acted a bit too late. Just as these people began to flee, an incredible Emperor Pressure suddenly descended upon them, one just as strong as at Fallen Emperor Mountain’s most central region.

Under this omnipresent Emperor Pressure, everyone could not help feeling like a majestic pair of eyes was looking down at them.

Under the gaze of these eyes, everyone felt as tiny as an ant and their movements stiffened to the point where even moving a finger was difficult.

Fortunately, this Emperor Pressure disappeared as quickly as it came, but when the cultivators who regained their freedom wanted to continue escaping, they were shocked to discover that all the World Energy within a hundred thousand kilometre radius had gathered around them in what appeared to be colourful bubbles visible to the naked eye.

Inside each of these bubbles was an astonishing amount of energy, enough to cause anyone who saw them to tremble.

A violent rumbling suddenly came from down below and the earth began cracking in a giant web-like pattern. Many cultivators fell into these cracks and were ruthlessly crushed to death by some strange power without even a chance to fight back.

In just a dozen breaths, most of the cultivators who were cultivating on Fallen Emperor Mountain died or were seriously injured as wails echoed through the air.

Only those cultivators whose strength was not very high and had already been in the mountain range’s periphery had luckily escaped.

Ten thousand kilometres away, Fei Zhi Tu and Qian Tong both stared forward with pale complexions. Despite being so far away and being unable to see the situation clearly, they were able to feel the powerful energy fluctuations coming from Fallen Emperor Mountain. Exchanging a glance, these two masters could clearly see the doubt and panic in each other’s eyes.

Before Qian Tong was even able to ask Fei Zhi Tu and his group what they had experienced, Fallen Emperor Mountain had undergone such a violent change. A moment later though, all these strange occurrences suddenly subsided and the rumbling sound swiftly vanished; however, an incredibly dangerous aura still filled the air.

It was like the calm before the storm, only increasing everyone’s anxiety.

World Energy was still flowing towards the centre of Fallen Emperor Mountain and even seemed to be increasing in speed now.

A moment later, a dazzling light burst from somewhere in Fallen Emperor Mountain, like a great thunderbolt across the clear sky, rendering all unable to look at it directly.

A Heaven-destroying-Earth-shattering aura filled the air, causing everyone to go pale.

When the light faded, the crowd looked over and could not help being stunned.

In the sky above Fallen Emperor Mountain, a palace-like building had suddenly appeared. This palace was simple in design but gave off an ancient aura as gold and silver runes flickered and flowed across its surface.

At the moment, this palace was flying up into the sky, not seeming to move that fast, but a terrifying Emperor Pressure that covered all Shadowed Star radiated from it.

“This is…” Ning Xiang Chen stared blankly at this palace and, as he suddenly seemed to remember something, his face changed drastically, a complex expression of surprise, excitement, and anxiety filled his face.

“Emperor Garden!” Fei Zhi Tu and Qian Tong exclaimed at the same time.

The few Saint King Realm Juniors who heard this all could not help showing looks of shock as their eyes lit up.

Yang Kai was no exception as he had long ago heard of the Three Great Forbidden Zones on Shadowed Star.

One was the Flowing Flame Sand Field that he had been to, its dangers needing no further explanation. More than ten thousand elite disciples from all the great Sects on Shadowed Star had entered the Flowing Flame Sand Field but more than half fell inside, and that was while the Flowing Flame Sand Field’s Flame Area had been dramatically weakened.

The Flowing Flame Sand Field’s opening always had such a survival rate.

The second Forbidden zone was the Emperor Garden which Fei Zhi Tu and the others had just labelled this floating palace.

According to rumours, this was the Starry Sky Great Emperor’s personal palace! This alone was enough to awe others.

As for the third one, it was Shadowed Soul Island, which existed somewhere on Shadowed Star’s Limitless Ocean!

The first Forbidden Zone was constantly present on Shadowed Star and would open once every few hundred years. Every great force on Shadowed Star was incredibly familiar with it, and every time it opened they would reap great benefits.

The second Forbidden Zone, the Emperor Garden, had never been entered by anyone and would only occasionally appear before disappearing soon after. Most cultivators on Shadowed Star had only heard of the existence of the Emperor Garden. While over tens of thousands of years a few people had seen it for themselves, it had always been in an illusionary state and no records of anyone ever having set foot into it existed.

As for the third, Shadowed Soul Island, it was a complete mystery. It was rumoured that anyone who entered Shadowed Soul Island perished, making it much more mysterious than the Emperor Garden.

At this moment, hearing Fei Zhi Tu and Qian Tong actually shout the words ‘Emperor Garden’, how could Yang Kai not be shocked? Quickly composing himself though, he asked respectfully, “Two Seniors, is this the rumoured Starry Sky Great Emperor’s personal palace?”

Fei Zhi Tu’s eyes flashed as he continued staring at the floating palace, gently nodding his head as he replied, “It should be. Although this City Lord has never seen it personally, it matches the records in the Sect’s ancient books exactly, but…”

“But what?” The several Saint King Realm Juniors stared at him.

“It’s slightly different from the descriptions,” Qian Tong frowned.

“Different how?”

Qian Tong pondered for a while before saying slowly, “I suppose there’s no harm in telling you. Since the Emperor Garden has appeared now, even if this old master does not say anything, this information will certainly spread out quickly and reach you. You should have heard some rumours about the Emperor Garden saying that it appears mysteriously and then disappears soon after. More than a thousand years ago, a Senior of my Shadow Moon Hall had the honour of witnessing the advent of the Emperor Garden and left records of it in the Sect’s archives. At that time, the Emperor Garden appeared silently and then disappeared silently, not alarming many people, but this time… I’m afraid at least half of the Shadowed Star’s population can see it.”

Saying this, Qian Tong showed a slightly bitter smile.

“Not only that, the Emperor Garden has always had an illusory appearance like a mirage, visible to the naked eye, but immaterial and ethereal, yet this time…” Fei Zhi Tu’s brow furrowed deeply as clear worry appeared on his face.

There was no need for him to explain further as everyone here could clearly see that the Emperor Garden in front of them was nothing like a mirage. Its image was so vivid it made one believe they could fly up and enter it.

“Was the Ancient Ruin we entered before actually the Emperor Garden?” Yang Kai’s expression flashed as he wondered out loud.

Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu didn’t reply, but judging from their complexions, they clearly agreed with Yang Kai’s conjecture. After all, moments after they had been expelled from Fallen Emperor Mountain, the Emperor Garden had slowly risen above Fallen Emperor Mountain. There must be some connection between the two events.

If the Ancient Ruins they were exploring just now were really the Emperor Garden, then it would easily explain why so many long-lost herbs and treasures had appeared. The Emperor Garden’s name was so renowned that it would be strange if there were not many good things inside it.

Thinking that they had entered the Emperor Garden and managed to leave alive, Cai He, Du Si Si, and the others could not help trembling.

Now though, since the Emperor Garden had appeared, they may have a chance to enter it once more.

As Yang Kai’s group conversed, the Emperor Garden continued flying upwards, but the strange thing was that no matter how high or how far it flew, they could all still see it clearly and it did not seem to shrink in size at all. The only thing that changed was the Emperor Pressure surrounding it slowly weakened.

“When the Emperor Garden appears, the Star Field will be thrown into chaos. The ancient books recorded this, but whether it is true or false remains to be seen!” Fei Zhi Tu murmured softly.

“No matter the case, Old Fei, you and I should go investigate it first. If the Emperor Garden has truly manifested this time, it may not be a good thing for us!” Qian Tong said with a worried look on his face.

“Yeah, even if you didn’t propose this, this City Lord would have,” Fei Zhi Tu nodded.

With the Third-Order Origin Returning Realm masters reaching an agreement, Qian Tong immediately urged the juniors to return to Heavenly Fate City as soon as possible and not involve themselves in this matter. Then, Qian Tong spoke a few words to Ning Xiang Chen, asking him to look after the Juniors before he and Fei Zhi Tu flew off in the direction of the Emperor Garden.

After they left, Ning Xiang Chen stood on the spot, his face sullen for a while before he eventually let out a sigh and said, “Let’s go back.”

He also wanted to visit the Emperor Garden, but after thinking of the Emperor Pressure being emitted from it, he had no choice but to give up such thoughts; after all, his strength was lower than Qian Tong and Fei Zhi Tu. Before he even got close to the Emperor Garden, he might be ground to dust by the Emperor Pressure.

Accepting this reality, he flew off together with the four Saint Kings and the middle-aged Artifact Refiner towards Heavenly Fate City.

On the way, Yang Kai could not help glancing back at the Emperor Garden suspiciously. The more he looked, the more puzzled his expression became.

He had seen a flying palace before, namely Meng Wu Ya’s Heavenly Palace artifact. It may be that this Emperor Garden was also a kind of artifact, but it was innumerable times higher grade than Meng Wu Ya’s Heavenly Palace.

On top of that, the owner of this artifact was definitely the Starry Sky Great Emperor as the Emperor Pressure emanating from it was impossible to fake.

Yang Kai was not puzzled about this, however, but rather because he felt that this Emperor Garden seemed to be missing something. But this was just a feeling and he was unable to tell what was missing.

Yang Kai quickly set aside this idea, not bothering to think about it any further; after all, this was related to the Emperor Garden, so even if he was curious, there really was no one he could ask to learn more.

On the way back, Cai He and Du Si Si asked Ning Xiang Chen some questions and soon learned that after the two groups had separated, Fei Zhi Tu’s group had repeatedly fought with a number of puppets, causing them a great deal of suffering and even resulting in the man surnamed Wen dying a tragic death.