Gathering before the palace, the young cultivators sent by royalty seemed to be discussing something.
"Austin, what are they waiting for? Why don't they just get in there?"
Maria whispered to Austin out of curiosity after watching them for a while. To avoid prying eyes, Maria
stood too close to Austin while she talked. Her breath smelled as fresh as orchids, causing a pleasant
feeling to ripple over Austin's body.
"The palace is surrounded by a special array. Look carefully and you will see the faint layer of an
energy ray," Austin replied to her in a low voice.
Once they had reached the top of the mountain, Austin sensed that the palace was safeguarded with a
special and secure cover, probably due to some kind of a protection array.
Cautiously approaching it, Austin judged that the protection array was a mysterious one with a
profoundly long history. However, as time passed, its power had gradually decreased. Now, probably
only ten percent of it was left.
Even so, destroying the protection array was not so straightforward.
Austin explained this to Maria.
Dewey, Iris and Anna were right beside them, listening to the conversation, so they got to understand
the dilemma as well.
They turned to the palace and perceived a very thin layer of energy ray encircling it.
Also blocked by the array, the group of young men was trying to work out a plan.
After some moments of deliberation, they started to move. It seemed that they wanted to break into the
array straightaway, using sheer force.
The young man in front was the first to take action. Dressed in a golden robe, his long hair was spread
out across his shoulder. Suddenly, beams of golden light appeared around his feed, gathering into the
shape of a spear.
He stamped his foot and the spear started to tremble violently. Shafts of brilliant golden light speedily
merged together on the point of the spear. Within seconds, the spear had grown to an enormous size—
to about forty meters—before it dashed out like lightning.
Zing!
The spear blasted its way to the protection array.
Austin was stunned by the formidable attack.
'His vital energy force is ruthless!
Is he at the Sky Realm? He certainly could be!"
Austin was stupefied and thought to himself. He didn't expect the young man to belong to the Sky
Realm.
Dewey, Maria, Iris and Anna were all at the Earth Realm. With limited cultivation bases, they could feel
the extraordinarily strong motion of the vital energy force, but they couldn't tell the specific base of the
young man in the golden robe.
As Austin stood rooted to the ground in surprise, the spear composed of the violent vital energy force
collided against the cover around the palace, causing ripples on its surface.
Nevertheless, thin as the layer looked, it was surprisingly solid—something Austin had not expected.
Except for a slight tremble, the cover remained solid as ever as it weathered the attack of the Sky
Realm cultivator.
After a while, another young man wearing light yellow robes joined his companion.
He looked to be calm and tranquil, his hands folded behind him.
Gradually, waves of blue vital energy molded together above him before they attacked the protection
array around the palace consecutively. As they darted ahead, the blue waves pierced through the sky
and exploded over the land.
Boom!
The blue waves of vital energy pounded the cover repeatedly and all of a sudden, the ripples on the
surface spread and expanded. Its golden light started to dim.
Austin was awestruck once again. This young man was also at the Sky Realm!
Unbelievable!
The realization that the two cultivators were at the Sky Realm had taken him aback. With a serious
expression on the face, he pondered over the course of action before him even as his hands clenched
into tight fists.
The situation was rapidly going out of his control.
After learning of the existence of the Emperor Library from Angus, he thought he was the only one who
knew of its secret.
In his mind, he just needed to get inside the palace and search for a few of the high-level skill manuals.
However, in the wake of arriving to the Mysterious Nether World, he realized that the young cultivators
sent over by the royalty were all too aware of the secret as well.
Even so, Austin didn't consider them to be a threat. It was acceptable to him if they wanted to fight for a
share of the treasure.
But now, he had found out that there were two cultivators at the Sky Realm among the lot.
It made the situation a lot more unpredictable.
Considering that Austin had defeated several cultivators of the royalty, the two cultivators at the Sky
Realm would certainly trouble Austin once they figured out that he was in their vicinity.
Austin was confident in his skills and experience in fighting. Even rivals at the premium stage of the
Mysterious Realm were of no concern to him.
However, faced with two masters of the Sky Realm, the odds were not in his favor.
Was he truly going to miss the opportunity of acquiring the high-level manuals in the Emperor Library?
With all the efforts their group had made, it was not easy for Austin to just turn around and retreat. It
seemed such a waste.
So, he decided to wait and watch, looking for an opportunity to strike at the best moment.
Following the example of the young man in the golden robe, the rest of the cultivators too began to
attack the cover with their vital energy forces, one after another.
Boom. Boom...
The entire square reverberated with deafening noise. Powerful beams of vital energy rolled in the air,
releasing pressure in all directions.
At the same time, the two cultivators of the Sky Realm launched even fiercer attacks.
With their combined efforts, the golden light of the cover appeared to dull little by little before it started
to flicker feverishly.
It was obvious to anyone who saw it that the protection array was about to fall apart.
Thrilled at this prospect, the attacks became even more violent.
"Tin, what shall we do now?"
Dewey asked Austin quietly.
"The only thing we can do in this situation is to wait.
These are two very strong cultivators. I'm afraid I can't defeat them.
We have to be cautious in deciding what to do next," Austin explained as he shook his head.
"What? You believe they are stronger than you?"
Dewey was astounded. To him, Austin was invincible in his generation. He could hardly imagine
anyone defeating Austin. That idea terrified him.
But Dewey was also aware of whom Austin was referring to. The first cultivator was in the golden robe,
the other in yellow ones.
Suddenly, Austin grew alert. His eyes darted to the other side of the square, lush with a verdant
primeval forest.
'Others are hiding in there. How do they know about the Emperor Library?'
With the help of his spiritual sense, Austin detected about ten people lurking in the woods.
More acutely, he found that they were all at rather high cultivation bases.
Judged from the aura surrounding them, almost every one of them could equal Austin in strength!
It was so unusual. What brought these many elite cultivators over here?
Those hiding in the forest were clearly not on the same side as the cultivators sent over by the royalty.
Among the one hundred young cultivators who passed over to the Mysterious Nether World, only about
twenty of them were affiliated to the royalty. The rest were from different sects of the Violet Orchid
Empire.
The very best among them had taken part in the Outstanding Talents Exchange Games, where Austin
had obtained a basic understanding of their strengths.
Strictly speaking, the contestants were no match to Austin.
So where did these lot of cultivators come from?
Were they from the Heavenly Dragon Holy Kingdom? Did they come to the Mysterious Nether World
for some kind of an undercover operation?
Yet, according to the young man from the Heavenly Dragon Holy Kingdom, whom Austin had met
earlier, they could send no more than ten cultivators over. With restrictions in place that allowed them to
assign only one person per day, it would take at least ten days to achieve that goal.
It had been only four or five days since Austin killed him, so the cultivators were unlikely to be from the
Heavenly Dragon Holy Kingdom.
A myriad of thoughts bounced around his mind. He was utterly confused.
Crack!
A noise resounded from the direction of the palace.
The protection array was nearly broken!
Austin focused his attention on the cover around the palace once again.
The energy light was fading quickly. The cracks appeared to become more visible.
Finally, after a loud explosion, the cover broke into innumerable pieces, stirring up a huge cloud of dust.
The protection array had been destroyed.
"Let's go inside!"
Overjoyed, the young man in the golden robe waved over, telling his companions to enter the palace
behind him.
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