Nine Astra Skies

Under Master Lion's guidance, Ye Chen did not have to find his way aimlessly upon entering the Soul Pagoda.

In the distant skies, the first sign of dawn appeared on the horizons. The crowd preparing to enter the Soul Pagoda expectantly looked at the entrance.

A giant black door guarded the entrance of the Soul Pagoda. It was wide enough to fit more than ten people at a time.

"According to the elder's estimation, the Soul Pagoda should be opening soon!"

The fighters of each faction got up on their feet and swarmed the entrance. The rolling hills behind them were teeming with humans, Celestial Beasts disguising themselves as humans, and mystical beasts.

The mystical beasts outnumbered humans by several folds.

"Creak, creak." The black door of the Soul Pagoda opened slowly. Inside, it was nothing but pitch-black darkness.

"It opened!"

"It's open!"

The fighters of each faction immediately became excited. The moment the gap was wide enough to fit a person, many figures hurriedly charged into the Soul Pagoda one after another.

By the time the first glimpse of sunlight hit the upper section of the Soul Pagoda, the black gate was already wide open. Large groups began pouring into the Soul Pagoda like a flowing river.

One by one, the figures entered the Soul Pagoda and immediately prowled every corner of the Soul Pagoda.

Up to a hundred thousand humans and mystical beasts were entering the Soul Pagoda as they formed an incredibly long line just to enter it. Fortunately, Ye Chen was in the frontal section of the crowd.

Ye Chen followed the crowd into the Soul Pagoda. The scenery before him changed immediately as he found himself in a vast and pitch-black space. With the entrance acting as a central point, each figure that entered the Soul Pagoda began exploring every corner.

"Thunder Beasts, with me!" one of the Mystique Venerable Level Thunder Beasts who had transformed into a large man gave a signal. Immediately, dozens of figures went forward like a rain of meteor.

In the northern region, a red light shot up into the sky.

"That is the signal of the creation of a treasure. Tribunal Council, with me!"

Apart from the members of the Tribunal Council, countless fighters from different factions also headed in the same direction.

"Master Lion, should we go too?" Ye Chen asked when he saw thousands of figures heading toward the direction of the red light.

When Ye Chen looked into the distance, he saw that there was nothing but darkness inside the Soul Pagoda. The terrain below was covered in layers of slopes. There were no signs of any vegetation growing from them.

"That red light is just a Tier Five spirit artifact. Let them fight over it. Head north, quick!" Master Lion's voice echoed in Ye Chen's mind.

Ye Chen flew northward after hearing Master Lion's directions.

Each leader took action after they had been informed of the Soul Pagoda's opening. They had countless fighters assuming their positions outside the Soul Pagoda. From the moment the Soul Pagoda opened, there was no way out of it after entering unless there were some powerful fighters. There was no chance they were leaving the Soul Pagoda with the treasures!

Even though each of the powerful factions surrounded the Soul Pagoda like forming a steel cage around it, it still did not deter the others from entering the Soul Pagoda to hunt for treasures. Like how birds in the wild died in their pursuit of food, men died in their pursuit of wealth. Treasures were not the only thing that could be found inside the Soul Pagoda as there were also some ancient secrets. There was no way for these forces to dig such secrets out of people's minds!

In the eastern region of the first level of the Soul Pagoda, following the red light, several other beams of light also appeared.

"The Tribunal Council is here, anyone who tries to steal the treasures must face their deaths!" a middle-aged man wearing Tribunal Council armor roared. He swung his sword forward and unleashed two bolts of sword energy. In an instant, two heads were lobbed off, fresh blood splattered everywhere. He reached out with his left hand and caught the ray of red light. It was a red-colored whip.

Treasure obtained!

Fights for the treasures began breaking out in other sections.

Treasures could be found everywhere on the first floor of the Soul Pagoda. Tier Four and Tier Five spirit artifacts flew around endlessly, trailing the volatile Celestial Chi flow in the Soul Pagoda. This had never happened before. In the past, there were at most one or two Tier Four or Five spirit artifacts on the first floor.

"Squad one, stay here. Send a messenger to inform the elder to send more men in here. The rest of you, follow me to the second floor!" the middle-aged man of the Tribunal Council shouted an order and took flight.

Ye Chen charged full speed ahead, even passing by several treasures that flew right by him.

"Don't pay mind to these things as they are at most Tier Four or Five! The folks in Tianyuan Ancient City must be going mad. For there to be so many spirit artifacts appearing in the Soul Pagoda, there must be something going on! Since there are so many Tier Four and Five spirit artifacts on just the first floor, the treasures on the next floor must be far more valuable. There's no need to fight over these things with them!" Master Lion was struggling to contain the excitement in his voice.

The Soul Pagoda had never witnessed such an electrifying scene before. The fighters in the Soul Pagoda were nearly losing their minds as they maddeningly went after the treasures flying in the air.

Ye Chen spotted three squads in front of him that also disregarded the treasures flying around them. As he continued his way, he noticed there were a few more groups also trailing behind.

"They also know where the entrance to the second floor is. They have many Mystique Venerable Rank fighters, one of those squads is the Thunder Beasts! Ye Chen brat, it's your call. It's best to avoid them, otherwise, you won't be able to get anything!" Master Lion said.

"We'll decide after we get to the second floor!" Ye Chen looked around himself. There were near ten thousand people also heading north, he hardly stood out when put among such a crowd. There were a large number of Mystique Venerable Rank fighters here.

Little Wingsy remained hidden in Ye Chen's shirt. His eyes drifted left and right, observing the treasures that flew everywhere around them. His eyes were glowing with fascination.

When Ye Chen looked down, he noticed the ground of the first floor of the Soul Pagoda was crawling with dark-skinned monsters. These monsters had a close resemblance to lions and cheetahs. However, their bodies were smooth and hairless, covered entirely in strange runic seals. Their bright eyes glowed in the depthless darkness. The monsters looked up at Ye Chen and all the others passing by and roared at them.

"Master Lion, what kind of mystical beasts are these?" Ye Chen asked.

"These aren't mystical beasts. They are Spirit Beasts."

"Spirit Beasts?" Ye Chen was mildly surprised. "What are Spirit Beasts?"

"Spirit Beasts are far less intelligent but also far more ferocious than mystical beasts. Their only purpose is to consume flesh. As for the origin of these things, I haven't got a clue. One thing I know is that the flesh of these things can greatly boost one's cultivation. Each of the Spirit Beasts is equivalent to an Earthly Venerable Rank or Earthly Adept Level fighter. Each kilogram of their flesh is equivalent to a Chi-amassing Pill. The central part of their brain will also transmute into a piece of metal that is very valuable and can be sold for no less than ten Chi Deposition Pills. If you find any high level Spirit Beast, be sure to kill it as every part of them is valuable!"

"High level Spirit Beast?" Ye Chen gazed into the distance. The terrain here was covered in mountainous hills with the occasional Spirit Beast emerging. It was rather ideal for the Earthly Venerable Rank fighters who did not know how to fly since they could stay on the ground and hunt the Spirit Beasts. The slain Spirit Beasts would not be stolen by anyone either since the super factions did not express any interest in those things.

"Big Brother Ye Chen, should we go snatch up those precious treasures?" Little Wingy asked Ye Chen.

"No need, those treasures aren't good enough. We're going to go for something better!" Ye Chen told Little Wingsy.

After more than an hour, a gigantic black door appeared in the distance. The path behind the door was incredibly dark. There was no telling where it led to.

"We're at the entrance. This door leads to two separate sections. You must head up later. The underground is crawling with danger. There are also fewer valuable treasures there. Going up is the better choice!" Master Lion advised.

"Got it!" Ye Chen nodded. He saw a lot of people in front of him charging into the door. Ye Chen charged in as well. He was greeted with nothing but pitch-black darkness and howling wind screaming in his ears. He felt himself gaining speed rapidly like he was passing through a narrow and long tunnel.

Ye Chen kept flying upward as if he was passing through the narrow tunnel. He exited from the other end with a "woosh" and found himself in another vast open space.

The three squads ahead of him halted and stayed still in the air.

Ye Chen felt something was wrong. Why did they suddenly stop? When he looked ahead of them, what he saw terrified him. The skies above were swarming with winged Spirit Beasts, their hollow eyes were gleaming, lighting up the darkness like stars in the night sky.

"Don't be frightened, those are all Earthly Adept Level Spirit Beasts. They can't possibly harm you no matter how many of them there are!" Master Lion commanded, "Head west!"

Ye Chen nodded. He ignored the group in front of him and headed west by himself.

"Thunder Beasts, follow me closely! Don't get separated!" a large man transformed from a Thunder Beast shouted. His name was Fu Ze, he was an elite member of the Thunder Beast Clan. He was also a top Mystique Venerable Level fighter and was very close to advancing to Daemon King Level. Once he managed to advance, he was going to be promoted into an elder among the Thunder Beasts.

Fu Ze glanced at Ye Chen who was hurrying westward. He then took the Thunder Beasts with him and headed west as well. There was something off about the Soul Pagoda today. There was no explanation for the appearance of the large amount of Spirit Beasts. He thrust his fist forward and slew a Spirit Beast. With this one hit, he was able to verify that the Spirit Beasts were just Earthly Venerable Level. They would not pose a threat to him and the Thunder Beasts on his side. He roared, "With me, head west!"

The other squads noticed the Thunder Beast Clan's movements and made their call as well.

"Temple of War, with me!"

"Tribunal Council, with me!"

"Woosh, woosh, woosh." One group after another, they started advancing again.

Ye Chen flew forward at full speed, there were a large amount of Spirit Beasts in front of him, flapping their wings and charging toward him.

Ye Chen unsheathed the Storm Sword, a blue ray flashed in the darkness as a Spirit Beast was silently and effortlessly slain by Ye Chen. Ye Chen chanted, "Water Spirit Sword Technique!"

In an instant, the shadow of fifty to sixty Storm Swords materialized out of thin air. "Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh". They struck forward, landing on the Spirit Beasts standing in Ye Chen's way. The Spirit Beasts screeched as they crashed into the ground below.

The Water Spirit Sword Technique that Ye Chen had cast was far stronger than Zong Yi's version. His technique was more superior in terms of quantity and individual sharpness of the Celestial Chi Storm Swords.

On top of using the Water Spirit Sword Technique, Ye Chen continuously threw Celestial Chi Flying Daggers from his left hand. The Celestial Chi Flying Daggers pierced through countless Spirit Beasts, splattering their blood everywhere.

A flying Spirit Beasts had its head cleanly lobbed off, then, another was sliced in half by the Storm Sword. Suddenly, a blinding light appeared out of nowhere.

"What is that?" Ye Chen frowned a little and grabbed at the light with his left hand. When he opened his palm, he saw the ray of light was a round metal. It was shaped like a coin and had strange runic seals carved on it.