Within the main hall, the three parties were at a loss. In the Asura Path door, however, Jin Jing sat cross-legged with her eyes closed, guarded by Ni Qi, whose expression was solemn.
Jin Jing's originally timid and delicate face was now as calm as still water. A faint layer of spiritual light surrounded her, seeming to flow like water.
This layer of spiritual light grew brighter and brighter, then suddenly surged, engulfing Jin Jing's entire person.
Ni Qi was extremely tense. His skin emitted a black light, reverting to his loach skin, ready to act at any moment.
The spiritual light on Jin Jing's face reached its peak, and with a soft "hum," she abruptly opened her eyes.
The Jin Jing now had a cold, solemn face, her eyes clear and bright, her timid demeanor completely swept away.
"Your Highness!" Seeing her open her eyes, Ni Qi was overjoyed. "Your Highness succeeded?"
Jin Jing stood up, her gaze sweeping over him with arrogance and indifference. "So you really are that little girl's person."
Her crisp voice carried a lazy tone, clearly not the original Jin Jing.
Ni Qi was taken aback, momentarily unsure whether Jin Jing had truly succeeded or not.
Jin Jing ignored him, leisurely looking at her own hands, clasping them left and right. "So weak. Fortunately, the talent is not bad. With proper cultivation, there's still a chance to break through to the tenth rank."
This tone, this demeanor—Ni Qi thought of a possibility, startling him so much he jumped. He stammered, "Senior, you... could you be..."
Jin Jing glanced at him, a smile curling her lips. "What do you think?"
The original Jin Jing's smile was timid. This Jin Jing, even with just a smile, carried an air of extraordinary grace and charm. Ni Qi watched, his heart trembling with fear. He said, "You... how could you... Your Highness was clearly just performing a secret technique..."
"Didn't she tell you what this secret technique is for?" Jin Jing asked nonchalantly, summoning her lifebound treasure—a pair of short swords forged from Qilin horns. Their simple, unadorned color was completely different from her golden hair and golden pupils.
Ni Qi said, "Your Highness said this secret technique could temporarily purify her bloodline..." As he spoke to the end, a look of horror appeared on his dark face.
Jin Jing laughed, raising her head and slightly narrowing her eyes. "You needn't worry. I am, after all, her ancestor. I won't harm her."
Ni Qi bowed and scraped. "Yes, yes." Despite his deep concern for his mistress, he couldn't vent his anger at the person before him, because he knew that with just a casual wave of "her" hand, he, a tenth-rank little demon standing at the peak of the mortal world, would be utterly annihilated. He could only hope this matter wouldn't bring disaster to his mistress, and might even bring benefits.
Jin Jing ignored him further. Raising the Qilin short swords, a powerful aura emanated from her. Ni Qi, standing beside her, suddenly felt he couldn't catch his breath. It really was that one. Only now did he dare to be certain.
"Let me see for myself what this so-called Six Paths Palace really is," Jin Jing sneered, swinging her short swords to release a beam of light that tore through the mist before her.
Jing Hu and Jing Tao had both regained consciousness. The three parties were now in a standoff.
Under normal circumstances, Mo Tiange and Qin Xi would be the weakest party. Moreover, being of a different race, they would be the common target of the other two sides. But that wasn't the case now. The hatred between Jing Hu and Jing Tao for each other clearly exceeded that for the humans, and Xuanyue and Jing Hu still had Die Yi, while Xuari and Jing Tao only had two people. They needed another force to balance the situation. In this scenario, the two of them were actually the safest, able to watch the show as detached bystanders.
Unfortunately, both Jing Hu and Jing Tao were quite intelligent people. Their current opposition offered them no benefit whatsoever. So, after a brief standoff, they chose to negotiate.
"Whether it's you or us, our purpose in coming to the East Sea is the same," Jing Tao said expressionlessly. "We've fought and contended for thousands, even tens of thousands of years, not to perish here."
Jing Hu smiled a thin, insincere smile. "After all these years, that's the only thing you've said that sounds human."
Jing Tao snorted but didn't reply.
"Enough," Die Yi spoke from the side, seeming somewhat impatient. "Save the nonsense for later. First, discuss what we should do now."
Everyone fell silent for a moment. Xuanyue was the first to speak. "If this is a death trap, the Great-Grandfather Divine Monarch wouldn't have let us enter."
Xuari snorted through his nostrils. "That's stating the obvious."
Xuanyue's face remained cold, paying no heed. He was used to it. No matter what he said, this elder brother would never give him a good look.
Qin Xi said, "But the injuries we just suffered weren't fake. If not for the fact that I happened to have a secret treasure on me, it wouldn't have been impossible for the two of us to perish here." He glanced at the several great demons. "The injuries sustained by the two Elder Jings are also quite severe, aren't they?"
The faces of Jing Hu and Jing Tao darkened. Xuari's expression had already changed several times. He said in a low voice, "Hengjie was shredded inside. This place kills."
So they really had lost someone! Mo Tiange and Qin Xi exchanged a glance, somewhat worried about Xiaofeng in the Heaven Path.
"But," Xuanyue's frown deepened, "the Great-Grandfather Divine Monarch wouldn't harm us."
"It's not that the Divine Monarch is harming us," Jing Tao said. "The Divine Monarch only said that once we enter this place, find the object controlling the restrictions, and bring it out to him, we can escape. But he didn't tell us what to be careful of. Isn't that strange?"
"Correct," Jing Hu said gravely. "The fact that it can suppress the Divine Monarch shows this Immortal Palace must be an immortal treasure. If he knew what dangers lay inside, the Divine Monarch couldn't possibly not mention them. Yet the Divine Monarch said nothing."
"Therefore," Die Yi said slowly, "the Divine Monarch simply doesn't know what the situation here is like."
"What?" Xuari and Xuanyue exclaimed in unison. In their eyes, the Divine Monarch, as their ancestor, possessed vast supernatural powers. It was only due to unfortunate circumstances that he was trapped here. Earlier, when he had them enter the Immortal Palace, the ancestor had been calm and composed. They had thought everything was under his control.
Xuari, flustered and confused, stamped his foot. "Why didn't Grandfather Divine Monarch tell us? What are we supposed to do now? Should we go out first and ask for clarification?" As he spoke, he looked toward the entrance of the Mysterious Void Cloud Formation.
"Great Prince!" Jing Tao's brow twitched, stopping him. "Since the Divine Monarch didn't say anything, it means there's nothing to say. What use would it be for us to go ask again?"
"But, but," Xuari was torn, "are we just supposed to go to our deaths like this?"
"Nonsense!" Jing Tao, disregarding his status, sternly rebuked him. "Would the Divine Monarch let us die in vain? We will surely succeed in finding the object to break the restrictions!"
"Mhm, mhm, Elder Jing speaks sense," Xuari swallowed hard, trying desperately to calm down. He had momentarily lost his composure, but with Jing Tao's words, he immediately believed it.
Demon Lord Xuanyue's gaze shifted, landing on Mo Tiange and Qin Xi nearby. A thought struck him, and he asked, "Fellow Daoists, what are your views?"
"Us?" Mo Tiange pointed at herself in surprise.
Xuanyue said, "The two of you were able to set up such a grand formation, so you must be quite proficient in formations and restrictions."
What he referred to was the Bixuan Pavilion's mountain-protecting formation. That formation had annihilated over twenty demonic cultivators. Just mentioning it made Xuanyue grit his teeth in hatred, but he could only forcibly suppress it for now.
Qin Xi lifted the corner of his mouth slightly, signaling for Mo Tiange to speak first.
Mo Tiange pondered for a moment, then slowly said, "I believe the restrictions within the Immortal Palace are something we absolutely cannot break."
Not expecting her first statement to be this, all the demons were taken aback. Xuanyue pressed further, "What does Fellow Daoist mean by that? Are we really here to die?"
"Of course not," she said. "Let's carefully consider Senior Amber's actions. First, initially, he didn't seem to have any intention of asking for our help to escape. It seemed he didn't believe we could help him break free at all."
The demons involuntarily nodded. If not for their insistence, Amber hadn't even mentioned that entering the Immortal Palace could break the restrictions.
Mo Tiange continued, "Second, when Senior Amber had us enter the Immortal Palace, he didn't deliberate deeply or struggle with the decision excessively."
"What does that indicate?" Xuari asked.
"It indicates," Qin Xi said softly, "that he just mentioned it offhand, not really expecting us to break the Immortal Palace."
"Ah!" Xuari was stunned. "Then, then why did he have us enter? Surely not just to amuse himself and pass the boring time?"
Mo Tiange swept a glance over him. "Although he didn't deliberate deeply, it's not that he didn't think about it at all."
Demon Lord Xuari was confused. "Fellow Daoist, just speak plainly."
Mo Tiange spread her hands, expressing helplessness. "I am speaking plainly." Ignoring Xuari, she went on, "I think Senior Amber thought that, given our strength, it would be very difficult for us to break through the outer restrictions of the Immortal Palace and enter. If we couldn't get in, then we'd give up. If we did get in..."
"If we got in, it means our abilities are not bad," Xuanyue interjected.
"Exactly," Mo Tiange nodded. "It wasn't until we breached the barrier between the inside and outside of the Immortal Palace that Senior Amber began to take it seriously. But, incongruously, having us go inside to find the object controlling the restrictions—he only mentioned that after I asked. Don't you find that strange?"
The demons involuntarily nodded. Die Yi seemed thoughtful. "The Divine Monarch... really did seem to just mention it offhand."
"How could something so important be mentioned offhand?" Qin Xi said calmly. "This can only mean the purpose he gave us for entering is false."
"Why would that be?" Xuanyue's brow was tightly furrowed, greatly puzzled. "For you two, fine, but the Great-Grandfather Divine Monarch has no need to deceive us."
"No," Jing Hu said decisively. "The Divine Monarch is not deceiving us."
Jing Tao continued, "He just wanted us to enter. What purpose we have for entering is irrelevant."
"Why?" Xuari and Xuanyue asked simultaneously. After so many years as brothers, this was the first time they were so united.
"I don't know," Mo Tiange spread her hands, shamelessly tossing the question aside.
Jing Hu answered, "Could it be that our entering the Immortal Palace can tie up the power of the palace?"
Mo Tiange couldn't help but nod. This was also her speculation, though it was merely a guess.
"Therefore," Die Yi, standing coldly aloof, concluded, "on the premise of preserving our lives, we should try to probe this Immortal Palace as much as possible. That would be helping the Divine Monarch."
The demons and humans all agreed. First, they felt the analysis made sense. Second, none of them wanted to take risks. What benefit would there be for them to lose their lives here? That Divine Monarch had no reason to want their lives.
With such sentiments, all three parties became somewhat passive. After resting sufficiently, under the intentional or unintentional guidance of Mo Tiange and Qin Xi, they entered the Heaven Path door.