Reaching the pinnacle from Doupo

Chapter 259 Wormhole Network, Journey

Walking out of the space crack, Lin Yuan looked at the huge palace in front of him and his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Is this... the Soul Palace..."

Looking at this colossal building buried deep underground, even Lin Yuan couldn't help but take a deep breath. It took a lot of effort to build such a huge thing underground.

"The location is so secretive. No wonder the Soul Palace is so powerful, but people are unable to track it down!"

He glanced around the dark surroundings and sighed in surprise.

This huge dark palace was built in a huge space forcibly opened up deep underground. It was surrounded by strict space barriers to completely isolate the inside and outside.

Even with Lin Yuan's spiritual soul, he was unable to penetrate the thick strata and multiple spatial barriers to sense this huge palace.

On the other side, looking at Lin Yuan's rather shocked expression, the old ghost Zhaixing was quite pleased with himself, secretly delighted in his heart: "Sure enough, I never get tired of seeing this kid's shocked expression! Hehehehe..."

"cough--"

With a dry cough, he drew Lin Yuan's gaze over.

“Don’t be surprised.” The old ghost Zhaixing smiled and patiently explained: “The Hub Hall has the function of connecting various domains, so its location is naturally secret. Not all branch halls are so secretive! But…”

"Other less secretive branch halls will deploy a large number of hidden spies!"

A cruel smile bloomed on his face, and his voice became even more cruel: "Once anyone breaks in, they will be killed without mercy. They cannot reveal their location, hehe..."

As he spoke, two vast auras of Dou Zun level rose up from not far behind.

"Tsk...you just reacted now?"

The old ghost Zhaixing turned around and looked behind him, with a hint of dissatisfaction in his tone.

Before he finished his words, two figures in black flew out from the huge palace and landed in front of the old ghost Zhaixing.

"Your subordinate is Qing Yi!"

"Your subordinate is Tianmu!"

The two of them raised their hands, saluted respectfully to the old ghost Zhaixing, and said in unison: "Greetings, Lord Inspector! Welcome to the Northern Territory Hub Palace!"

The old ghost Zhaixing frowned slightly and said sternly: "With this reaction speed, are you slacking off?"

"According to the rules of the palace, at all times, there must be a venerable on guard in the Hub Palace and the Prison Palace. They cannot enter a deep state of cultivation at the same time. It took you so long to discover this venerable..."

"I know I was wrong, and I hope the inspector will forgive me!" The two men's faces changed and they said hurriedly.

“Hmph!” The old ghost Zhaixing snorted coldly and said indifferently: “Considering that this is your first offense, I will forgive you this time! Prepare to communicate with the Tao, and I will send a message to the Tiangang Didian…”

"Yes!" Hearing this, the two of them breathed a sigh of relief and nodded quickly, saying, "I'll get ready right away!"

"Wait!"

The old ghost Zhaixing called them to stop, gestured to the two of them to Lin Yuan, and said in a deep voice: "This Mr. Yuan is the backbone of our Soul Palace in the future, and he must not slack off!"

"Take me to the Secret Information Hall!" He pointed at Venerable Tianmu.

"You entertain Young Master Yuan!" He pointed at Venerable Qing Yi again.

After that, the old ghost Zhaixing looked at Lin Yuan and said in a deep voice: "My friend, I have to report to the Lord Palace Master about your matter with Mu Gu first. You can visit and rest here. After I report, we can set off!"

Lin Yuan nodded and said calmly: "Sure, I'm also interested in this place, so I'll have to trouble this Venerable Qing Yi to lead the way!"

As he spoke, he looked at Venerable Qing Yi with a smile.

"Mr. Yuan, you're joking. It's my honor!" Venerable Qing Yi said hurriedly.

Such a person who could make the Heavenly Lord, who was in charge of the patrol, pay so much attention to him and even mention him to the Palace Master, was not comparable to a "small character" like me.

"See you later."

After saying that, the old ghost Zhaixing waved his hand and flew towards a central location of the huge palace together with Venerable Tianmu.

"Two three-star Dou Zun?"

Turning his head to look at the Venerable Qing Yi beside him, Lin Yuan's eyes flashed with a smile, and he said gently: "Senior Qing Yi, next, can you take me to visit this branch hall? Especially the place in the hall where souls are imprisoned, I am very interested..."

"Of course, Mr. Yuan, please follow me!" Venerable Qing Yi nodded and said in a deep voice.

After saying that, he took Lin Yuan and walked towards the depths of the huge black palace.
-
Deep inside the huge black palace is a huge square.

In the center of the square, a black stone pillar that is hundreds of feet tall and covered with countless strange runes stands tall against the sky. Pitch-black chains extend from the pillar, crisscrossing in the air above the square.

At the end of the chain, there were faint balls of light suspended, and inside them were souls with painful expressions and illusory bodies.

Deathly silence and weirdness enveloped the square. Here, the smell of gloom and death was everywhere.

"Da da da--"

Suddenly, a crisp sound of footsteps rang out, breaking the dead silence here.

Two figures, one in blue and one in black, walked in leisurely from outside the square like ordinary people taking a stroll.

"Master Yuan, this is the Soul Prison Square!"

Venerable Qing Yi smiled and introduced to Lin Yuan: "The main function of my hall is to connect with Zhongzhou, so the souls collected are not as many as those of other branch halls. There are only less than 100,000, and there are not many souls of powerful people in them..."

"Less than a hundred thousand?" Lin Yuan murmured, then slowly raised his head and looked around carefully.

His indifferent gaze swept across the many wailing souls, across the dark chains, and finally landed firmly on the important black stone pillar.

He vaguely sensed that deep within these stone pillars, there was a pure and familiar energy - the origin of the soul.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Yuan suppressed the desire in his heart and chuckled, "It must have taken you a long time to collect so many souls. It must not have been easy!"

"Yes! It took nearly ten years to collect these souls..."

Venerable Qing Yi glanced at the many souls and said helplessly: "The situation in Zhongzhou is too stable, there are too many powerful forces hidden, and Danta is in the middle to connect and confront. There are many things we can't do freely..."

"I see!" Lin Yuan nodded slightly, "That's really troublesome..."

As he spoke, he moved and flashed in front of a Dou Zong-level soul light ball.

"My friend, save me!"

Seeing a young man with a gentle temperament who was out of tune with the gloomy atmosphere around him appear in front of him, a phantom soul body in the shape of a middle-aged man in the light ball flashed a hint of joy in his eyes, and hurriedly asked Lin Yuan for help...

Lin Yuan looked at him calmly, then placed his fingers lightly on the chain, sensing the process of extracting the original soul energy.

"Asshole, damned Soul Palace lackey..."

After a while, seeing that Lin Yuan had no intention of rescuing him, the illusory soul looked at him resentfully and shouted at him.

In response, Lin Yuan just glanced at this person indifferently, and then continued to explore the mysteries of this palace. For this kind of person who will soon turn into a wisp of smoke, any more emotion is a waste, but...

"How dare you!" Although Lin Yuan didn't say anything, Venerable Qing Yi immediately became furious when he heard it.

With a move of his body, he appeared beside Lin Yuan, looking at the soul in front of him grimly, "How dare you be so rude to my distinguished guest? It seems that your punishment is not enough. I will deal with you properly later, hehe..." Lin Yuan waved his hand casually and said lightly, "Venerable Qing Yi, there is no need to be angry with the dead. But this kind of chain... I am very interested. Can you give me some?"

"It's just a small matter, of course." Venerable Qing Yi nodded.

As he spoke, he touched the ring with his finger, took out a black chain of extremely high quality, and handed it to Lin Yuan.

"Thank you!"

Lin Yuan took the chain, played with it for a while, then put it away, chuckling, "Next, take me to some other places!"

“I understand… follow me!” Reverend Qing Yi nodded slightly, and then called Lin Yuan to fly in another direction. After taking one last look at the stone pillar, Lin Yuan followed…

After the two left, the square fell into silence again.
-
A branch hall, a solemn hall.

"Master Palace Master, the above is the status of the execution of this mission!"

The respectful voice of the old ghost Zhaixing rang out in this empty hall, and his figure was half-kneeling under the skull throne in the center of the hall.

A moment later, an interested voice suddenly sounded from the throne.

"So that's how it is. He is really an eighth-grade alchemist who is less than 20 years old. He also killed Mu Gu... Ha, interesting..."

A dark shadow sat high on the throne, with his right arm resting on the armrest, casually supporting his cheek, and said lightly: "Zhaixing, you did a good job this time. Next, bring that interesting kid to the underground palace!"

After saying this, his soul phantom dissipated on this creepy skeleton throne.

"Farewell, Lord Palace Master!"

The old ghost Zhaixing knelt on the ground and bowed deeply.

After a long time, the old ghost Zhaixing finally stood up and respectfully left the hall. After sensing something, he walked towards a palace emitting violent spatial fluctuations, with a more excited smile on his face.

As the deputy hall master's close minister, he could sense that the deputy hall master was quite pleased.

It seems that the old man attaches great importance to Lin Yuan, to the extent that he doesn't even care about Mu Gu's death.

Then my contribution to this mission is quite considerable.

After all, Lin Yuan said that he wanted to do them a favor - according to what the two said to the outside world, the reason why Lin Yuan was willing to join the Soul Palace was that he accepted the persuasion of the old ghost Zhaixing and accepted the generous conditions he proposed.

After completing this mission, the deputy hall master might reward him with a chance to break through to the six-star Dou Zun level. With the addition of a pill in the future, he will hopefully reach the seven-star Dou Zun level within a few years!

Maybe, one day, he, the old ghost Zhaixing, could also be ranked among the nine great celestial masters, hehehehe...

With this wonderful fantasy in mind, the old man Zhaixing walked quickly towards where Lin Yuan was, and his steps were a little lighter at this moment.

Soon, he found Lin Yuan who was watching in a palace.

This is an extremely huge palace with dozens of stone platforms standing on it. On each stone platform, there is a pitch-black wormhole several dozen feet in size hanging. As it slowly rotates, astonishing bursts of spatial force overflow from it.

On the stone platform, ancient characters such as "Western Region No. 1" and "Southern Region No. 2" are engraved on it.

"Hehe, my friend, this is why the name of this branch hall contains the word 'hub'."

The voice of Zhaixing Old Ghost came, and his eyebrows were also a little more happy. He explained with interest: "Using these space wormholes in this hall, we, the people of the Soul Hall, can move and shuttle quickly throughout the entire Zhongzhou."

"As expected of the Soul Palace, it can actually maintain such a huge wormhole network!" Lin Yuan praised.

As he spoke, he glanced at the five figures not far away.

These five figures, each of them exuding the aura of a high-level Dou Zong, stood quietly on standby in the hall, ready to deal with emergencies at any time to prevent the wormhole from becoming disabled.

Just maintaining the entire wormhole network requires dozens of high-level Dou Zongs.

There are very few forces with such ability and background, and capable of such a feat, even in the entire Zhongzhou.

Even Lin Yuan couldn't help but admire this in his heart.

"hehe!"

Hearing Lin Yuan's words, Zhaixing Old Ghost smiled triumphantly and said in a deep voice: "You will find out in the future that the power and heritage of our Soul Palace is far more than this! I believe that you will never regret joining the Soul Palace..."

"I think so too." Lin Yuan chuckled with a meaningful look in his eyes.

"Well, let's go!" said the old ghost Zhaixing.

As he spoke, he jumped and landed in front of the wormhole marked "Western Region No. 1". "Through this wormhole, we can go directly to the Western Region Hub Palace, and from there, we can reach the Underground Palace soon!"

Lin Yuan nodded slightly, leaped up and followed.

"For Master Yuan's sake, I will not hold you accountable for violating the palace rules this time. Don't do it again next time!"

Looking at Venerable Qing Yi and Venerable Tian Mu who were not far below, the old ghost Zhai Xing said calmly.

"Yes! Thank you, Inspector!" The two bowed their heads respectfully.

"Hmm?" Zhaixing Old Ghost raised his eyebrows and said calmly, "Think about it carefully. Who should you thank?"

At this moment, compared to his gentleness when he was with Lin Yuan, the arrogance displayed by the old ghost Zhaixing when facing two ordinary elders really made Lin Yuan realize one thing clearly - the Soul Palace is an organization with a strict hierarchy.

After hearing what Zhaixing Old Ghost said, Qingyi and Tianmu reacted immediately and bowed to Lin Yuan, "Thank you, Master Yuan."

"Did something just happen?"

Looking at the eager look of Zhaixing Old Ghost, Lin Yuan's eyes flashed with a trace of doubt, but he did not delve into it. He waved his hand at the two of them casually and said lightly: "No need to be polite, it's just a coincidence, it's not a big deal!"

After saying that, he turned around and took the lead in stepping into the space wormhole.

The old man Zhaixing smiled with satisfaction, glanced at the two elders, then turned around and stepped into the space wormhole.

After Venerable Qing Yi and Venerable Tian Mu sensed that the aura of Lin Yuan and the other person had disappeared, they looked at each other, a trace of helplessness flashed in their eyes, and a bitter smile appeared on their faces.

"What an unexpected disaster!"

The same meaning was clearly read in each other's eyes by the two people who had been together for many years!
-
In the wormhole.

Lin Yuan casually threw out the spaceship, and the small boat immediately swelled up in the wind and turned into a huge ship.

The two of them moved and flew onto the huge ship. The old man Zhaixing touched the bow of the ship with ease, and a circle of energy shield extended out, wrapping the hull. The whole ship shook slightly and accelerated suddenly.

"call out--"

With a slight sound, the spaceship rushed out and flew towards the space wormhole with no end in sight.

Looking at Lin Yuan standing behind him, Zhaixing Old Ghost said with a smile: "My friend, you can continue to take care of your own things! The Northern Region is quite far away from the Western Region. It will take a month for this ship to arrive. You can leave the driving of the spaceship to me..."

Looking at the obviously eager old man, Lin Yuan smiled slightly and said meaningfully, "No hurry, I have some doubts, I still want to ask the senior..."

The old ghost Zhaixing nodded and said in a deep voice: "Please tell me. I will explain everything I know to you!"
-
In an empty dark hall, the figure sitting on the throne slowly opened his eyes.

A voice with a hint of joy in its indifference suddenly rang out in the hall: "Lin Yuan, an eighth-grade alchemist under 20 years old... has been confirmed. Hehehe... It's time to tell Master Hunxuzi about this good news!"

(End of this chapter)