Great Demon Sun Wukong

Yao Wumeng and his companions rested for a moment before moving forward again. At this moment, the four of them had not fully recovered to their peak state, but they had managed to regain about 70 to 80 percent of their combat power. Time was of the essence, and they no longer had the luxury of rest.

Moreover, during their previous battle with the ant swarm, they had heard cheering from the Myriad Gods Hall's Bi Hai deep within the City of Ruins.

Although, in hindsight, that might have been nothing more than an illusion created by the person secretly protecting the Primordial Earth Pearl, intending to make them believe that someone had already reached the center, thus inciting a sense of urgency.

In doing so, if they still wanted to obtain the Primordial Earth Pearl but could not find a way to break through the maze, they would have to resort to destroying the walls.

However, this was all speculation. If that cry was indeed from Myriad Gods Hall's Bi Hai, he might already have obtained the Primordial Earth Pearl. That meant they needed to reach the center as quickly as possible since they would likely have to resort to snatching it by force.

Their group had the greatest number and still retained most of their combat power—if a battle did ensue, their advantage would be the greatest.

With this mindset, the four exerted their full strength and sped towards the center of the City of Ruins at their fastest pace. Mysteriously, the eerie maze did not reappear, and they had a smooth journey without encountering any Black Mirror Scorpion or giant ants.

Though they encountered no danger, no one lowered their guard. Previously, at the West City Gate, they had detected nothing, and Divine Consciousness Scouting had yielded no results. However, after the walls were destroyed, a large number of ants emerged at their feet.

While it was unclear whether the ants or the peculiar environment of the City of Ruins caused their Divine Consciousness Scouting to fail, they could be certain of one thing: not detecting danger did not guarantee safety.

Finally, after half a Chinese hour, the group of four arrived at the entrance to a relatively well-preserved, magnificent palace. Although the palace was extraordinarily grand, the four had seen their fair share of the world. Other than being somewhat surprised that it had remained relatively intact through eons and the influence of the Primordial Earth Pearl, they had no significant reaction.

The four of them rested briefly for about ten minutes, then drew their weapons, each on alert, and entered the palace. As they pushed aside the significantly deteriorated palace doors and stepped in together, they were immediately assailed by a feeling reminiscent of distant, primordial chaos.

It was as if they were standing at the end of time, with everything they saw bearing the marks of time's corrosion.

For a moment, they were all struck with emotion, but this was fleeting. They quickly used their Mana to form light spheres that floated in midair and provided illumination. Outside, the moonlight was bright, and they were unbothered by darkness.

But upon entering the palace, they were engulfed in total darkness, with not a single ray of moonlight penetrating within, and even their night vision became useless.

At their level of strength, the difference between night and day was negligible. Usually, even without moonlight in pitch darkness, they could see clearly. But within the palace's darkness, it was as if they had regressed to their original state.

It had been so many years since they had experienced the feeling of not being able to see their hands in front of them, for they typically relied on Divine Sense to perceive their surroundings, which was countless times more effective than eyesight.

If someone accustomed to darkness were suddenly placed in pitch-black night, they might not panic. But for Yao Wumeng and his companions, it was different—they were used to seeing everything clearly and analyzing their surroundings thoroughly to feel at ease. Suddenly deprived of both vision and Divine Consciousness Scouting, they felt a complete loss of security.

However, once the spheres of light formed by their Mana had risen, the four felt something was amiss, but they couldn't quite put their finger on what it was. Standing back to back in a group, surrounded by a glow, they stood like this for a short while, until Yao Wumeng suddenly realized something and said, "Do you feel something isn't right?

The light from our spheres doesn't seem to be spreading out at all!"

Hearing Yao Wumeng's words, the others also came to the realization. Indeed, the light from the four spheres only illuminated less than half a meter around them, with everything beyond still shrouded in darkness. At this point, they did not dare to move rashly. Initially, they had thought they were simply going to a particular place within the City of Ruins to retrieve a non-living object. Stay updated with empire

But now, after the analysis by Bu Yun and the others, they were aware that someone was covertly controlling everything. This made matters far from simple. Judging from that person's ability to command four powerful golden ants, the individual lurking in the shadows would not be easy to deal with. Who knew whether they would control eight, twelve, or more golden ants to attack them.

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Four gold giant ants could be killed with difficulty, but facing eight would mean turning tail to run, and with twelve, the four of them probably would suffer casualties. If there were even more, all four of them would surely be annihilated.

Even if Yao Wumeng had the World Suppressing Stele, it wouldn't matter, because not everyone could use the Stele, as its requirements for the user were extremely strict. Moreover, Yao Wumeng had mentioned that using the Stele came with severe side effects, and there was also the concern of being retaliated against by the Ancestor Demon.

Last time, it was because the Ancestor Demon had absorbed a satisfactory amount of energy, so there had been no issue, but if they happened to summon the Ancestor Demon and could not satisfy it, the Ancestor Demon would definitely kill and devour all four of them without hesitation.

Furthermore, there was one most important point that Yao Wumeng did not mention, and this point was key. Otherwise, why would Yao Wumeng have so many reservations?

Having noticed the palace's dark and peculiar atmosphere, the four of them dared not make rash moves. They then decided to conjure more light orbs. Since four weren't enough, they tried six. However, just as the second set of light orbs appeared, the first four unexpectedly went out.

This startled the group quite a bit. These weren't torches or candles that could just go out on their own; these were light orbs they had formed with Mana. As long as they did not cease supplying Mana, the light orbs would not extinguish.

The four of them were certain they hadn't stopped the flow of Mana, and considering the small amount of Mana required for the small orbs, it made no sense for there to be a problem.

Holding out disbelief, the four once again formed a light orb together, but as before, as soon as the second appeared, the first one went out. There was definitely an issue, and since the light orbs were right in front of them, it wasn't possible for someone to be extinguishing them on purpose. So, what exactly was going on?

At that moment, Yao Wumeng suddenly raised his hand to halt the others who were about to make another attempt. With two fingers pinched together on his right hand, he pointed forward, suddenly manifesting a large fireball in midair. As the fireball appeared, the four light orbs once again disappeared abruptly, leaving only the roughly one-meter-diameter fireball burning.

After pondering for a moment, Yao Wumeng increased the Mana on his outstretched finger, channeling a fiery red stream into the fireball. However, the fireball showed no change. After trying two more times, Yao Wumeng sighed and said, "I understand now.

There must be a prohibition or set of special rules within this palace, dictating that no object may exist in this space with brightness surpassing this fireball, otherwise it will be erased by some force. When I tried to make this fireball bigger and brighter by infusing it with Mana, it all failed. The emitted Mana seems to be wiped out or redirected by something."

After Yao Wumeng finished speaking, the other three all wore looks of surprise and each tried to form a light orb again. As the three light orbs appeared, the fireball began to shrink, yet the orbs dissipated, and the fireball did not grow.

"How could this be possible? To establish a special set of rules for an area, such means are surely beyond human capability!" Jing Potian exclaimed in shock as the realization dawned upon him, his face paling. Hao Chen and Bu Yun were both plainly incredulous.

"It is indeed hard to believe. To my knowledge, such feats are beyond even several Domain Lords, so it probably wasn't a technique used by the original Domain Lord of the Dominion of Soil!" Yao Wumeng waved his hand, guiding the fireball through the air to inspect the interior of the palace with its faint glow.

"Yao Wumeng is correct. The only being I know capable of such a feat is the original Pioneer. The rules of the entire universe now, from the minor rule that water can extinguish fire to those of creation and destruction, were all established by the Lord Pioneer," Hao Chen said, following Yao Wumeng's action and sending his own light orb behind him.

That's because he remembered that the gate through which they had entered was behind them, but now, for some reason, it seemed to have closed on its own, making it likely a difficult task for the group to leave.

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