Nine Astra Skies

They were passing through the enormous council hall.

Little Tanuki slowed down her steps. She sniffed a few times with her little nose and proceeded to fly forward.

"Little Tanuki, what did you see?" Ye Chen asked. He was puzzled looking at what Little Tanuki was doing.

"Yeah, Big Sister Tanuki, what did you see?" Little Wingsy followed with his question.

Little Tanuki continued to chirp a few times.

"Big Sister Tanuki says that she saw a huge tanuki with ten tails attacking the giant's village. It killed many giants and fled away after being injured by the giants," Little Wingsy translated for Ye Chen. His eyes were wide opened and continued, "Who would've thought that Big Sister Tanuki's clansmen were this strong?"

Looking back at Little Tanuki, Ye Chen was shocked. Would Little Tanuki one day reach those heights as well?

Ye Chen thought for a moment and concluded that there was very little chance of it happening. The ten-tailed tanuki must have lived for many years to reach those heights. Even if Little Tanuki had ten tails, it would still take countless years of training to reach the level of the ten-tailed tanuki.

Passing through the huge hall, they came into a long corridor. There should not be many traps remaining here as they saw several distant rooms in sight.

In front of the room was a wide-open area with a pond in the middle of it. Inside the pond were five black lotuses. The lotuses were magnificently delicate, resembling black jadeites. They were shining crystal bright, as beautiful as a maiden.

"Who would've thought that black lotuses could grow here? When I was scouting with my Astral Body, I didn't notice them at all," Ye Chen said, astonished. Some knowledge he had read came to him. Black lotuses had strong medicinal properties and had a certain degree of toxicity. They needed to be neutralized with white lotuses before being refined to produce pills. It could be used to produce several Tier Eight medicinal pills.

Ye Chen had a dried-up black lotus inside his armguard space. He had ample supply of other medicinal herbs but he only had one black lotus in his inventory. It could be seen that this was an extremely valuable ingredient.

"Little Tanuki, Little Wingsy, you two head over to the two rooms there and take everything useful. I'll pick the five black lotuses," Ye Chen said. His Astral Body had already inspected the surroundings and he did not notice any dangers.

There stood six columns about five-meter tall surrounding the pond. On the top half of each column was a stone sculpture carved in the shape of a flying mystical beast. Its appearance was hideous. It looked like a bat with long wings, razor-sharp talons, and its body was pitch black.

These stone sculptures were life-like as they looked just like living beasts. When Ye Chen's Astral Body passed through them, there was no hint of any life within. They were merely stone-carved sculptures.

'It seems that the smith of the giant's clan had supreme craftsmanship,' Ye Chen thought as he headed over to the pool.

Little Tanuki and Little Wingsy also went into the two rooms and began to stuff items into their Heaven-Earth Pouches.

Ye Chen squatted down beside the pool and carefully picked the black lotuses. He plucked one stem after another and placed them inside his armguard space. These black lotuses would still need some aftercare but that could wait until after they had left this place.

After entering the Nether Palace, Ye Chen constantly had a bad feeling about the place, just like something bad was about to happen. Even though he was unable to find anything dangerous with his Astral Body, there was still a sense of unrest within his heart.

Ye Chen also did not know what exactly was sealed within the barrier. At times, it sounded like a woman's hushed whispers and at other times, it sounded like a sharp screech. The constant whispers of chill and destruction had caused one to feel extremely irritable.

A sudden surge of bloodlust welled up, causing Ye Chen to want to go on a bloody massacre.

Ye Chen was startled. He immediately suppressed these thoughts with his willpower. It was fortunate that he had been enlightened by the Absolute Martial Truth, otherwise, he would have let those urges take control of him.

It had this much effect just by being in the exterior section of the Nether Palace. If they had wandered into the central core section, it would be more dangerous. Even a Heavenly Venerable Rank fighter would have a difficult time fighting back against these corrupting thoughts that came from their inner conscience.

Using his Astral Body, Ye Chen had sensed that there was an ancient, strange energy that was constantly oozing out of the restricted area. It lingered in the air, full of a sense of bloodlust and craze. They could even smell a faint smell of blood in the air.

"We can't stay in this d*mn place any longer!" Ye Chen decided. He immediately informed Little Wingsy and Little Tanuki using his Astral Body. Little Wingsy and Little Tanuki were not taken ahold by the intrusive thoughts as well, but their eyes were starting to become bloodshot. They were suddenly jolted. "Little Wingsy, Little Tanuki, we have to go now!"

Little Wingsy and Little Tanuki hurried out of the rooms. They had already collected the items.

As they were about to leave, the Mystical Flying Beast Sculpture suddenly opened its eyes. It flapped its wings and glided upward, its eyes radiating with a crimson glow.

Ye Chen looked up and saw the stone sculptures. He was shocked to see that these Flying Mystical Beast Sculptures had been animated! When he had previously inspected them using his Astral Body, he did not detect any signs of life. They were six Venerable Rank Flying Mystical Beast Sculpture!

"Go!" Ye Chen leaped out. These stone sculptures were too strange. Ye Chen once again inspected them with his Astral Body and still detected no life signs from their bodies. They still were just plain stone sculptures and yet they were flying like living creatures.

When the Mystical Flying Beast Sculptures had noticed Ye Chen, they squeaked sharply, flapped their wings, and charged toward Ye Chen.

With a quick whoosh, Little Tanuki hopped onto Ye Chen's shoulders. Little Wingsy carried Little Squido and followed Ye Chen.

The group rushed outside while the Mystical Flying Beast Sculptures trailed tightly behind. They were closing in and with a quick sweep, two of the Mystical Flying Beast Sculptures charged down. One of the sculpture's razor-sharp talons had scratched Ye Chen's back while the other charged at Little Wingsy.

"Such speed! These stone sculptures must be very strong." Ye Chen frowned. Knowing that he could not risk a reckless move at this moment, he set his feet and released his Astral Body.

At the same time, Little Tanuki also released her Astral Body. A part of her energy had merged with Ye Chen's Astral Body.

The gold-armored soldier had materialized. It carried a stern expression upon its face. As purple-fire fluttered about, it lifted its long sword and swung toward the Mystical Flying Beast Sculpture.

Hiss!

Facing the gold-armored soldier, the Mystical Flying Beast did not flinch and showed no signs of retreat. It only continued charging forward as it seemed to not fear anything at all.

Roar! The gold-armored soldier roared like the Primordial God. A mass of powerful energy accumulated at the tip of the sword. As it swung downward, it had merged with the Heavenly King Rupturing the Sun martial art technique. The sword sliced down and purple-fire exploded everywhere as if it was ripping the air apart.

Boom!

The gold-armored soldier's sword cut the Mystical Flying Beast Sculpture. The purple-fire erupted around the Mystical Flying Beast Sculpture.

Ye Chen could not believe what he was seeing. The attack from the gold-armored soldier had barely harmed the Mystical Flying Beast Sculpture as it only managed to blast it backward slightly.

The Mystical Flying Beast Sculpture was extremely resilient!

They had no signs of life in them and had extremely resilient bodies. These beasts were practically immortal!

Another Mystical Flying Beast Sculpture came in front of Little Wingsy. Little Wingsy quickly moved Little Squido behind him and swung his right fist at the Mystical Flying Beast Sculpture.

Dong!

Little Wingsy's body shook. The Mystical Flying Beast Sculpture was sent back five to six meters by his punch but took no damage. It then made a strange "tss tss" sound and leaped toward him again.

Even a Heavenly Venerable Rank fighter could not withstand Little Wingsy's punch! Any ordinary rock would be shattered into dust and yet, the Mystical Flying Beast Sculpture was merely sent back several meters away and took no damage at all!

"Big Brother Ye Chen, these monsters are too strong!" Little Wingsy called out urgently, "I cannot slay them!"

"Run! We'll discuss after we get outside!" Ye Chen replied as he rushed outside. When he saw a Mystical Flying Beast Sculpture coming down, he leaped forward quickly but failed to dodge it. The Mystical Flying Beast Sculpture had caught Ye Chen's back.

The back of Ye Chen's shirt was ripped into pieces, revealing the silk shirt underneath. Fortunately, the shirt had incredible defensive capabilities and the beast was not able to pierce through it. Still, Ye Chen felt the impact of the hit which resulted in some internal damage.

Little Wingsy was dashing closely behind Ye Chen. Little Squido's tentacles wrapped tightly around Little Wingsy's body like a bag clutching around Little Wingsy's back.

Whoosh! Ye Chen and Little Wingsy darted like an arrow let loose. However, no matter how fast they went, the Mystical Flying Beast Sculptures were still closing in on them.

Ye Chen's mind was racing as he thought about what tricks would he have to use to defeat them?

Even the gold-armored soldier at its full strength was no match for them! Little Wingsy's punch did no damage to them either. It would make no difference even if he were to unsheathe the Hell Rupture Sword!

Facing such a threat, Ye Chen could just retreat inside the Heavenly Astra Seal, but Little Wingsy and Little Squido could not enter it.

Ye Chen would not leave behind Little Wingsy and Little Squido even if it meant his demise.

Suddenly, an idea struck Ye Chen - the Flying Dagger!

Perhaps only the Flying Dagger would be able to harm the Mystical Flying Beast Sculptures.

As Ye Chen was pondering on it, there was suddenly a quick gush!

One of the Mystical Flying Beast Sculptures suddenly sped up and came down from above, and aimed toward Ye Chen's head with its talon.

"So fast!" Ye Chen was startled as he quickly jerked his head away. The razor-sharp talons whistled beside his ears and a gush of blood spilled out of his cheeks.

The Mystical Flying Beast Sculpture had left a cut on Ye Chen's face. Its talons were as sharp as steel blades. If Ye Chen was just one step slower, his head might have been sliced off clean.