This golden altar was clearly many times more complex than the one in the swamp. The Divine Striking Stone, that little demon, had studied it for a long time without fully grasping its secrets, leaving it deeply frustrated.
“This altar is extraordinary. Even searching through ancient bone scriptures hasn’t yielded answers,” the Divine Striking Stone muttered, rubbing its head in frustration. After pondering for ages, it still couldn’t unravel the mysteries.
“It must be a formation platform brought from the Immortal Palace,” Qing Yi concluded, sharing her knowledge of certain formations.
Though not an expert on altars, she knew about the functions and powers of some rare formations, which greatly inspired the Divine Striking Stone and sparked new ideas.
“I think I’m getting somewhere,” the Divine Striking Stone murmured to itself before turning to Shi Hao. “Tell me about the Immortal Palace’s divine abilities.”
Having fought the inheritor of the Immortal Palace multiple times, Shi Hao was well-versed and gave a detailed explanation.
“The path of formations is vast and profound. The principles of any orthodox tradition remain unchanged, and treasure techniques share similarities with formations,” the Divine Striking Stone said, unusually serious for once.
While this didn’t directly help it decipher the formation platform, it deepened its understanding of the ancient sect’s style, indirectly aiding in analyzing the golden altar’s glyphs.
“This sect is truly formidable!” the Divine Striking Stone exclaimed in shock.
When it deciphered a corner of the golden symbols and lifted the veil of mystery from the ancient altar, a chill ran down its spine.
Within the golden altar, it recognized traces of something familiar—something it had seen in Stone Village. The Willow God had once laid down similar formation patterns.
“Rumors say the Immortal Palace’s origins are shrouded in mystery, coexisting with the world. No one knows how long they’ve existed. It might be a legacy left by immortal beings,” Qing Yi remarked.
The Sky-Suppressing Sect was closely tied to the Immortal Palace, so she knew some secrets.
“Connected to immortal beings? The Willow God’s background is terrifying!” The Divine Striking Stone shuddered.
Stone Village had a protective formation personally laid by the Willow God before the chaos in the lower realm forced its departure. The Divine Striking Stone had witnessed it firsthand and pondered it often.
Now, seeing something similar on the golden altar—intricate and profound—left it awestruck.
This also put Shi Hao on edge. Anything from the Immortal Palace was undeniably fearsome, making him cautious and dispelling any lingering underestimation.
The Divine Striking Stone fell silent. After deciphering the golden symbols on the altar’s exterior and clearing the fog, it scrutinized the core formation repeatedly, confirming its resemblance to the Willow God’s work.
“This thing is ancient. No one in this era could replicate it,” it concluded.
These were variations of immortal glyphs. The Divine Striking Stone couldn’t fully grasp the core patterns or recreate the formation, but it could still utilize it.
“I’ve seen it in Stone Village and know how to activate it. That’s enough!”
Even so, it proceeded with extreme caution, fearing mistakes. The slightest error could lead to disastrous consequences.
“I’ve got it. I’ve roughly deduced the coordinates. They’re not precise, but the general direction should be correct.”
“Then let’s go!” Shi Hao declared, already prepared and at his peak condition.
“Be careful,” Qing Yi reminded, standing beside him.
“We can’t use this altar. If there’s something I haven’t deciphered, stepping into it could be fatal,” the Divine Striking Stone warned.
With abundant divine materials at hand, it constructed a new teleportation formation, unconcerned about lacking rare treasures.
Finally, it drooled greedily as it pocketed the golden altar, treating it as both a trophy and a collectible.
“Given time, I might master a deadly technique or an immortal escape method,” it boasted.
A cyan altar was completed, piercing through the void and opening a misty passage. They strode inside.
Inside the passage, radiant lights shimmered until the end blurred into obscurity.
“We’re here. Be careful!” Qing Yi urged, worried about Shi Hao at the front. She summoned her Azure Moon Flame, ready to assist.
“He’s the one who should be careful!” Shi Hao retorted, his tall and robust frame clad in black hair cascading to his waist. Gripping a massive halberd, he charged ahead.
As expected, there was a slight deviation. They didn’t arrive at a sacred ancient land.
Here, ancient trees loomed like wolves, and the cries of apes and roars of tigers filled the air. There was no trace of spiritual beauty.
“It’s not far off. It must be within a thousand-mile radius,” the Divine Striking Stone assured.
The range wasn’t outrageous, but it wasn’t small either. Concealing their auras, they began searching the mountains and forests for the Immortal Palace inheritor’s secluded retreat.
“A death zone!”
Deep in the mountain range, they were startled. Snakes and insects were everywhere, many already demonic, absorbing the essence of the sun and moon from the sky, lurking among rocks and foliage, shrouded in poisonous mist.
The deeper they went, the darker the sky became, a result of the toxic vapors exhaled by the creatures.
Shi Hao tested the mist and found it could corrode divine power. The place teemed with snakes, scorpions, toads, and countless unnamed insects.
“This is bizarre. Could there be an Insect Emperor lurking here? Even deities would perish in such a place,” the Divine Striking Stone muttered. Strong as it was, it feared being corroded by divine-level venom.
Using his Void Halberd, Shi Hao sliced through space to advance, avoiding swarms of deadly insects. Some areas were too gruesome to behold—entire valleys packed with glowing, venomous scorpions.
Other ravines writhed with centipedes, some half a meter long, others several zhang, enough to make one’s scalp crawl.
Between peaks hung enormous, crystalline spiderwebs, with venomous spiders ranging from fist-sized to calf-sized, their colors vivid. Some were pure gold, as if forged from the metal—clearly terrifying creatures.
……
“How can this be?” Even Shi Hao felt a chill. The place was overrun with venomous insects, so many that even deities couldn’t enter.
Many were divine insects capable of slaying godfire-level experts.
This defied logic. Why were they all gathered here? Could there truly be an Insect Emperor?
“Look there!” Qing Yi pointed in a direction.
Shi Hao turned eastward. Amid the thick toxic mist, a glowing orb shimmered like a moon breaking through dark clouds, descending upon them.
Activating his Heavenly Eye, he pierced through all obstructions and saw the truth, gasping in shock.
There stood a mountain—not tall, but broad and imposing, like a massive platform exuding overwhelming majesty.
At its summit grew an ancient tree, radiating countless rays of light and divine rainbows. Each leaf sparkled like a star, bathed in sacred brilliance.
No explanation was needed—this was a divine tree, ancient beyond measure. Its trunk was thick and gnarled, its bark peeling like dragon scales.
The main trunk was crimson, twisting skyward like a red dragon.
Its leaves resembled polished jade, each a different hue—some white as snow, others golden, some black as obsidian, and some shimmering with violet light.
The entire tree pulsed with radiant energy, a breathtaking spectacle of holiness!
“An ancient divine tree!” Shi Hao gasped, his heart racing. He never expected to find such a sacred treasure here.
It towered dozens of zhang tall. Consuming its canopy as medicine was unimaginable.
Wielding his Void Halberd, Shi Hao cut through space, bringing Qing Yi and the Divine Striking Stone closer. They observed carefully from a safe vantage point, avoiding the venomous creatures.
Qing Yi was equally stunned. The visual impact of the tree was overwhelming.
In a sense, divine trees were more valuable than herb-shaped divine medicines. Their massive size meant far greater medicinal potency.
Though concentration defined essence, sheer quantity could be staggering.
“Wait, something’s off. There are too many powerful auras here,” Qing Yi noted, sensing numerous true god-level presences radiating openly.
Shi Hao had already noticed and was observing cautiously.
These powerful beings were venomous insects, far deadlier than those outside—a silver toad with dragon horns, a golden centipede with wings, a multicolored scorpion wreathed in divine halos—all true gods, gathered in different spots, exhaling toxins and absorbing the tree’s radiance.
“All these creatures worshiping it—what’s the tree’s origin?” They paled.
Upon closer inspection, beneath the tree lay the corpses of divine insects—celestial gods!
“Heavens, what is this tree?” Even the Divine Striking Stone couldn’t help but exclaim.
Shi Hao frowned. The corpses had died strangely, and a few still faintly pulsed with life, as if in deep slumber, barely distinguishable from death.
“Native inhabitants of the Immortal Ancient usually don’t leave their tribal areas, or else accidents happen. Could these dead celestial gods be related? Also, descendants left behind by outsiders in the Immortal Ancient often go mad or die upon reaching celestial godhood,” Qing Yi explained.
Shi Hao nodded. The celestial gods under the tree likely fell into that category.
Suddenly, Qing Yi recalled a vague record and gasped, “I think I know—it’s the Ten Thousand Poison Divine Tree.”
Though divine, it contained countless toxins, lethal to ordinary deities but a supreme treasure for venomous creatures.
It bore Ten Thousand Poison Divine Fruits. Consuming one—if the eater survived the poison—could instantly elevate them to celestial godhood!
Much like the fruits of the Celestial God Tree, which allowed normal cultivators to ascend to celestial godhood with a single bite, the effects were terrifying!
“Pity we can’t eat them,” Shi Hao lamented.
“Historically, some have survived and became Poison Celestial Gods, their mere presence annihilating all life with their toxic might,” Qing Yi added.
Shi Hao’s mind raced. Inspecting the tree, he spotted unripe, green fruits among its branches and leaves.
“Hmm, let’s remember this place. We might return to harvest them someday,” Shi Hao said.
“So this is where the Immortal Palace guy hides. No wonder he’s hard to find—who’d venture into such a death trap?” the Divine Striking Stone remarked, spotting clues.
Beneath the Ten Thousand Poison Divine Tree, a formation guarded a faint portal near its roots, leading to an ancient land sealed off by formation patterns.
“Strange. The Immortal Palace’s formations closely resemble the Willow God’s in Stone Village. They likely share origins from the same era,” the Divine Striking Stone mused.
“I’ve heard the Immortal Palace’s legacy is tied to immortals, connected to the previous epoch,” Qing Yi said.
Shi Hao fell silent, recalling the battlefield visions from when he first forced open the Three-Life Copper Coffin—a willow tree, identical to the Willow God, bathed in immortal light, fighting invincibly.
“If it’s this type of formation, we can enter,” the Divine Striking Stone declared.
“Walking in like this might scare him into qi deviation,” it snickered.
If the target was in deep meditation at a critical moment, a sudden fright could cause severe consequences—even death.
“Let’s go. He put a bounty on my head—this is payback. Let’s scare him half to death!” Shi Hao said, his gaze piercing.
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