Shrouding the Heavens: Starting by joining the Holy Land of Yao Guang

Chapter 96 Legendary Sacred Weapon
The group did not linger, but instead headed towards the sixth level of the ancient hall, a relatively long journey of several miles.

Ahead, only one last radiant hall remained, gleaming in the dark underground world.

The depths of the earth have been hollowed out, making the sixth palace appear exceptionally distant, as if suspended in mid-air, giving it an even more ethereal look.

Upon arriving at this point, no one could contain themselves; they all quickened their pace and rushed toward the sixth hall.

Li Yao's eyes flickered with uncertainty. He didn't rush in, but instead waited quietly outside the main hall. As the tomb of its master, the sixth palace couldn't possibly be without any defensive measures.

Those who rush in first have a high chance of directly seizing the sacred weapon, but they may also become the first to be targeted.

Moreover, now that each family has a sacred weapon in hand, even if there is nothing going on inside, the standoff is still quite astonishing!

Going in now will be completely useless.

"boom"

Soon, the entire underground world began to shake, a terrifying divine power erupted, and shrill screams instantly echoed throughout the underground palace.

The young disciples who had just arrived stopped in their tracks, then retreated in fear.

"Junior brother, what's wrong?" Yao Xi walked over and asked curiously.

Accompanying her was a group of young people, all of whom were holy sons and daughters from various holy sites.

Li Yao looked at the sixth hall and shook his head, saying, "I don't know. I didn't go in, but judging from the current situation, something must have happened in the sixth hall."

"Boom"

The underground tremors all originated from the temple in front, but it remained unmoved and never collapsed.

"Could it be that the sage has truly succeeded in the path of proving the Dao through a corpse and is about to become a Corpse Emperor?" The Holy Maiden of Yaochi uttered a heavenly voice. She was surrounded by mist, obscuring her true appearance, but this did not diminish her beauty. She was like a fairy from the moon palace, elegant and otherworldly.

The young prodigies could not remain calm. If a Corpse Emperor were to appear, the Eastern Wilderness might be destroyed.

The Holy Maiden of the Purple Mansion possessed an innate Daoist aura, seemingly in harmony with the Dao itself. She remained remarkably quiet, carefully sensing the situation within.

After a long while, she shook her head and said, "I can't sense anything inside. The temple is covered with Dao patterns, isolating everything. The only way to find out the specific situation is to go inside."

“Each holy land must have mobilized its holy weapons. Could it be that they are in a standoff?” the Holy Son of Dayan speculated.

The Holy Maiden of the Purple Mansion shook her head, her voice clear and crisp: "The Dao patterns of the temple are incredibly powerful. If it were just a standoff, the commotion wouldn't be this great. It's more likely that a duel has broken out."

"Brother Dao, what do you think is the situation inside right now?" the Great Yan Holy Son asked curiously.

His address of "brother" undoubtedly referred to Li Yao. Although everyone present was at the Fourth Extreme Realm of cultivation, there was a significant gap between them, with Li Yao leading the others by a wide margin.

Li Yao seemed to be deep in thought. After a moment, he said, "Just as Fairy Zifu said, the Dao patterns in this temple are very powerful. Even I cannot see through them at all."

Everyone fell silent, no one spoke, and they all waited.

"boom"

The temple suddenly trembled violently, then fell silent. Its holy aura diminished, and it no longer exuded that terrifying feeling.

"It's over!" Li Yao's expression turned serious, and he transformed, appearing at the entrance of the temple in an instant.

The other young prodigies quickly followed and appeared at the temple entrance, but none of them rushed in first.

The situation inside is unclear, and rushing in now would be too dangerous. Everyone wants to stay at the entrance of the palace and see what's going on.

Unfortunately, this great hall of light is very deep and is clearly divided into an inner hall and an outer hall. Standing at the entrance, it is impossible to see inside.

Li Yao pondered for a moment, then strode towards it.

"Junior brother!" Yao Xi was somewhat worried. Although the holy aura in the main hall had diminished, it was still pervasive.

"It's alright, I'll be careful," Li Yao replied, continuing to walk inside at a leisurely pace.

The other young prodigies' eyes gleamed, some showing signs of eagerness; who wouldn't be tempted by an ancient sacred weapon?

However, in the end, they did not choose to go in. Firstly, they did not know the situation inside. With holy weapons facing off, even a slight mistake could result in complete annihilation. Secondly, even if they went in, they would not be able to defeat Li Yao.

In other words, even if they enter, they still cannot interfere with the ownership of the sacred weapon; it will not change whether they enter or not.

Their sole purpose in entering this small world was to gain experience; the matter of vying for holy weapons was completely irrelevant to them.

In the center of the magnificent and spacious hall, there is a suspended altar, entirely black in color. Above the altar, a dazzling sun shines down with auspicious rays, creating an atmosphere of great mystery.

Without a doubt, it was a sacred weapon, and it was clear that it was not an ordinary sacred weapon.

The power emanating from that sun was stronger than the holy weapons held by each holy land.

"A legendary holy weapon!" Li Yao's heart burned with excitement.

There are also obvious differences between holy weapons, after all, the holy realm includes saints, saint kings and great saints!

Of course, weapons are not that complicated. More often than not, the weapons of saints and saint kings are saint weapons. Only the saint weapons at the level of great saints are called legendary saint weapons!

Once you obtain a weapon of this caliber and reach the level of a great being, you will be able to create a sacred land that everyone will recognize.

Tai Xuan Sect was also founded by a sage and also possesses a sacred weapon. So why do they not call themselves a sacred land but a great sect? One of the reasons is that their weapon is a sacred weapon, unlike the sacred lands of Zi Fu, Wan Chu, and Da Yan, which possess a sacred weapon passed down through generations.

Of course, this is only how it is calculated in the Eastern Wilderness, and does not include the other major domains. Different major domains have different rules, so it cannot be generalized.

Regardless, the difference between legendary holy weapons and ordinary holy weapons is obvious.

Even the most powerful forces, possessing imperial weapons, cannot remain calm when faced with a legendary holy weapon.

The major holy lands, including Dayan, Wanchu, Jiang Family, Tianyao Palace, Ji Family, and Yaoguang, are currently in a standoff.

A large silver cauldron covered with dragon patterns, an ancient bronze mirror, a halberd covered with dragon scales...

These holy weapons, possessing boundless power, are currently locked in a standoff, neither willing to yield to the other.

Now, after fighting each other, the major holy lands have suffered heavy casualties. Originally there were nearly three hundred Dragon Transformation Realm experts, but now only a little over a hundred remain.

"As expected, rushing in first is completely pointless. The power of the confrontation between holy weapons is enough to kill even if one is only affected by it!" Li Yao sighed inwardly.

However, he still has one question: where is the coffin of that sage?

There was no so-called coffin of a saint in the main hall; apart from the stone platform and the holy weapon, there was nothing else there.

Oh, and there are corpses all over the ground, all of them are the supreme elders of their respective families. Their deaths are extremely tragic, and there are mutilated corpses everywhere.

"Could it be that the speculation is wrong, and that the Great Sage may not have wanted to take the path of proving the Dao through a corpse, but instead chose to directly transform into the Dao?" Li Yao was very puzzled.

But this doesn't make sense either. This underground palace is clearly a place with extremely dense Yin energy. If one didn't intend to pursue the path of proving one's Dao through corpses, there would be no need to create a small world here.

Li Yao stood in the passageway, looking at the situation in the main hall. At this moment, the powerful figures from various families were still facing off.

However, the loss of many powerful individuals has significantly reduced the power of the sacred weapon.

He didn't rush out, but decided to observe for a while longer. For some reason, everything he saw gave him a very strange feeling, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why.

However, Li Yao trusted his intuition, and besides, rushing out now would be pointless. Although each faction had suffered heavy losses, they were still activating their sacred weapons to confront each other. If he went up, he would instantly become the center of attention. He would simply have to join the Yao Guang Holy Land and confront them with his own sacred weapon.

"boom!"

The standoff continued. The energy required for the sacred weapon was enormous. One of the Yao Guang experts, who had transformed into a dragon, had his divine power drained and collapsed to the ground.

"Hey!"

Suddenly, a dark light shot up, and the elder who had fallen to the ground exploded, his mangled body flying everywhere and blood splattering all around.

Li Yao's pupils suddenly contracted as he glanced at the other mutilated corpses, all of which had died in exactly the same manner.

"These elders didn't die in the confrontation between holy weapons, but were killed by the array patterns!"

The array pattern wasn't very powerful, perhaps because of the passage of time; many of the patterns had decayed. Otherwise, it wouldn't have taken until the elder's divine power was exhausted.

"Something's not right. Why aren't they reacting at all?" Li Yao realized what was wrong with the strange feeling he had just had.

The elders were insane, their eyes bloodshot, giving off a hysterical vibe.

Furthermore, it's normal for different factions to fight fiercely over sacred weapons, but it's impossible for the fighting to escalate to this extent and continue like this. That would be a fight to the death!
Anyone with a modicum of sense would know that this cannot continue, and that they should change their approach to fight for the ownership of the sacred weapon.

What was happening before our eyes was completely unlike the way things were done between holy sites.

The relationships between the various forces may not be very harmonious, but they have always exercised great restraint, especially the forces that possess supreme imperial weapons. They know what a disaster it would be if the two sides completely broke off relations and went to war.

To verify his conjecture, Li Yao wielded a spear and charged directly at the elders of the Myriad Beginnings Holy Land.

"Whoosh!"

The spearhead finally stopped at the elder's brow, but the elder did not react at all, still wearing a crazed expression.

Even other people seemed to have no reaction to it.

Seeing this, Li Yao confirmed his guess.

"These elders have been influenced by some force. This is just a vicious cycle of mutual slaughter, with no winners at all."

Li Yao's gaze searched around, finally settling on the great sun on the high platform.

At this moment, the only thing that could affect the elders was perhaps that legendary holy weapon!
But Li Yao was highly skeptical that a legendary sacred weapon that no one had ever wielded could be so powerful.

"brush!"

The spear transformed into lightning, shooting straight towards the great sun, but vanished as it approached it.

It wasn't destroyed by any force; it simply vanished!
"So that's how it is. This sixth palace is just a facade, and that great sun is also an illusion. The real sixth palace is in another space," Li Yao thought to himself.

They've found the true entrance to the sixth hall, but how do they get in?
Li Yao frowned. The power within this hall was incredibly strange, capable of driving people into madness or some kind of illusion.

He is currently in the outer hall and has not been affected yet, but once he enters, his mind will definitely be invaded by that power.

At this moment, Li Yao was incredibly envious of Ye Fan's Bodhi seed. If he were holding the Bodhi seed, he might be able to resist that power.

Protecting one's own consciousness became a problem; ordinary methods would certainly be useless in the face of that kind of power.

Even though the elders in the main hall were protected by holy weapons, it was still useless; they all fell victim to the attack.

And he actually possessed something even more significant than a sacred weapon!
"If I enter the Divine Furnace of Departing Fire and then activate the furnace to fly inside, can I withstand it?" Li Yao pointed to his brow.

The Divine Furnace of Departure, as Emperor Hengyu's weapon before he became emperor, is imprinted with Emperor Hengyu's imperial laws.

The power within this hall is immense, even sacred weapons cannot provide protection, but Li Yao believes that the Emperor's Laws within the Divine Furnace of Departing Fire should be able to withstand it.

However, there is still some uncertainty. How much power this weapon can unleash depends entirely on the wielder.

If it is a complete imperial weapon, then when it is attacked, no matter what kind of attack it is, it will be alarmed and thus automatically unleash its divine power. However, the Divine Furnace of Departing Fire does not have this ability.

If he really couldn't stop it, Li Yao felt that he was likely in grave danger.

Li Yao was never a gambler; in other words, he was a very rational gambler. Even if he decided to do something, he would think of all possible escape routes beforehand.

Just like when he went to Tai Xuan Sect to retrieve the "Jie" character secret, even though he was already 80% sure that nothing would go wrong, he still chose to go to the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land first to obtain the "Xing" character secret, adding an extra layer of insurance, before choosing to go to Tai Xuan Sect.

The final result proved that he was completely outsmarting thin air, but in retrospect, Li Yao still felt that being cautious was the right thing to do.

The same applies now. The Divine Furnace of Departing Fire might be enough to ensure that he is not corrupted by that power, but Li Yao still wants an extra layer of protection.

"But what else do I have besides the Divine Furnace of the Blazing Fire?" he couldn't help but ask himself.

The jade seal he possesses is merely a weapon forged by a powerful being, and it's completely useless in this situation.

The Two-Colored Immortal Furnace is very powerful, but its current level is too low. Although he inscribes phoenix patterns every day, his Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold is close to awakening its profound meaning, but the profound meaning of Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold is also related to Nirvana, which is not very suitable for the current situation.

After much thought, Li Yao still had no clue, but with a legendary sacred weapon right in front of him, it was impossible for him to give up so easily.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he remembered the most powerful thing he possessed—the Heavenly Book!
If we were to discuss what his most powerful possession is, it would undoubtedly be the Heavenly Book. Although it is currently only in its initial state, it is still incomparable to anything in the human realm.

This thing is much more reliable than the Divine Furnace of Departing Fire!
Once he had a clear idea, Li Yao quickly figured out how to use the Heavenly Book to resist that power. As long as he focused his mind on the Heavenly Book, no matter what power it was, it would be impossible for it to bypass the Heavenly Book and interfere with him.

Without hesitation, Li Yao took out the inch-tall Divine Furnace of Departing Fire, enlarged it to the height of a person, and then flew into it, riding the Divine Furnace of Departing Fire into the main hall.

At the same time, his mind instantly sank into the Heavenly Book, leaving only a small part of his mind to control the Fire Divine Furnace.

"Buzz!"

The moment they entered the main hall, the Divine Furnace of Li Huo shone with a five-colored, crystalline brilliance, and a force seemed to want to penetrate it.

The Divine Furnace of Departure resounded with a clanging sound, and the great sun and divine phoenix on the furnace body seemed to come alive in that instant, bursting out with a terrifying power.

Li Yao carefully sensed it and discovered that the Divine Furnace of the Departing Fire blocked that power and was not invaded.

This weapon, in the end, is also deeply connected with the Great Emperor. It contains the imperial laws left behind by the Great Emperor and is not so easy to break.

The Divine Furnace of Departure trembled slightly, bypassed the holy weapons that were confronting each other, and moved closer to the great sun.

Without any incident, the fire god furnace approached the great sun on the high platform, and then it simply disappeared into the main hall.

Li Yao kept a close eye on the outside world, and he felt that he had entered a strange space from the Fire God Furnace.

"Bang!"

The furnace lid opened a crack, and Li Yao sat cross-legged inside the divine furnace, waiting silently for a moment before discovering that he was not being controlled by any force.

Moreover, this was not an illusion; what the mind saw in the Heavenly Book was exactly the same as what his eyes saw.

"Is there no such power in this space?" Li Yao wondered, flying out of the Divine Furnace of Departing Fire and landing on the ground, carefully observing the surrounding environment.

At the same time, he did not put away the Divine Furnace of Li Huo, but placed it above his head, letting down divine light to protect himself.

Thank you to Xiaozhe Reading for the 100 book coins reward.

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(End of this chapter)