Chapter 4000: If You Can't Push It Open, Then Smash It
Old Road had lived for so long that he no longer bothered to keep track of time. Whether it was millions or tens of millions of years, it made no difference to him. But when Lin Moyu heard this, he realized that the being that escaped back then was likely the intelligent Soul Eater. The Soul Eater had escaped from the Myriad Spirits Pavilion, fought the Human Sovereign, and the Human Sovereign suffered for it. After that, the Human Sovereign left, and the Soul Eater must have wandered the world behind the gate until the Lord of Hell opened the gate again, allowing the Soul Eater to finally escape into the real world. Now, it seemed the Soul Eater intended to return, though Lin Moyu didn't know why.
Old Road asked, "Where are you planning to go?"
Lin Moyu replied, "I want to go to the Spirit Treasure Road."
Old Road nodded, "At the end of Spirit Treasure Road is the Myriad Spirits Pavilion's treasure vault. The old restrictions are probably gone, but you should still be careful."
Lin Moyu asked, "Do you know what's in the treasure vault?"
Old Road shook his head. "I'm not sure about that."
Lin Moyu didn't press further and looked at the many immortal palaces in the distance. "How do you get to those palaces?"
Old Road glanced at the sky. "Fly. There used to be roads up there, but they've all collapsed. If you want to go, just fly over. The palaces were the residences of the pavilion's cultivators. They look grand, but they're all pretty much the same not much to see."
But Lin Moyu thought otherwise. In a cultivator's residence, there were often valuable items left behind, things not carried away, especially since many never returned. After finishing with the Spirit Treasure Road and the treasure vault, he planned to check out the palaces as well.
Bidding farewell to Old Road, Lin Moyu entered the Spirit Treasure Road. Mist rolled in behind him, and the sign with Old Road's spirit quickly vanished. Ahead, the mist cleared to reveal a broad avenue, ending in a giant immortal palace. Compared to the other palaces, this one was more noble and imposing. "Just this palace alone is an incredible treasure," Lin Moyu thought.
The palace at the end of the Spirit Treasure Road was itself a powerful artifact. The road's sides should have been lined with formations, but most were now ruined, leaving only faint traces. Lin Moyu found this odd. So much time had passed, but formations at this level were supposed to be eternal, barely touched by the years. The great battle hadn't reached here, but the remaining formations looked like they'd been through a war.
When he reached the end and saw the palace up close, he noticed it was badly damaged, evidence that it had seen battle. The palace glowed faintly, and for a moment, Lin Moyu seemed to see a scene from the past: a powerful figure grabbing the palace, soaring into the sky, the formations along Spirit Treasure Road turning into a rainbow as they charged upward. But the figure never returned only the damaged palace did, its formations shattered.
Although the Myriad Spirits Pavilion hadn't been ravaged by war, this palace had clearly participated in battle. In front of the palace stood a stone stele bearing its name: Spirit Treasure Hall. There was also a line: "No entry without permission. Violators bear the consequences." That was the old rule now meaningless. In the past, the pavilion had managers and powerful formations for protection; now, nothing remained.
Standing before the Spirit Treasure Hall, Lin Moyu pressed his hand to the door and pushed. The door didn't budge. He pushed harder still nothing. He summoned thousands of undead servants to help, but the door remained unmoved. With the palace damaged and unmanned, the door should have opened, but it was sealed tight. Lin Moyu flew around the palace, searching for a way in through the damage, but though there were many cracks, none allowed entry.
He didn't attack the palace, unsure if that would trigger a bad outcome. In such a mysterious place, caution was best. Returning to the front, he took out the Catastrophic Scepter. "If I can't push it open, I'll just smash it." Using the scepter wouldn't make much noise better than using spells.
Confident, Lin Moyu swung the Catastrophic Scepter at the door. With a metallic clang, cracks appeared. "It works!" He struck again, and the cracks grew. After five blows, the door finally shattered, leaving a hole over five meters high and three meters wide.
A powerful aura surged from within, and Lin Moyu's eyes lit up there were still things left inside. Just from the aura, he could tell many treasures remained. Entering, he found the hall spacious and simply arranged, with no inner or outer sections. In the center lay a pile of fragments the core of the artifact, now completely destroyed. The hall's formations were also ruined, barely functional after so many years.
These were records of the past, but as an outsider, Lin Moyu wasn't too concerned with what had happened. Scanning the hall, he saw many boxes scattered about. Most were broken and empty, but a few remained intact. There were also many treasure bottles on the floor and in wall niches, but most were toppled and empty as well. Lin Moyu guessed the contents had been consumed during the great battle.
Then he noticed something unusual in the pile of broken fragments a relatively intact jade token hidden among the core shards. If he hadn't been sharp eyed, he would have missed it. Reaching for it, he suddenly drew his hand back as several deep cuts appeared on his fingers, down to the bone. No blood flowed; his life force began to heal the wounds. But not only his body his soul was also injured.
"My spells aren't working," Lin Moyu realized in shock. Even his Great Thousand World and undead servants couldn't share the damage. After thinking it through, he understood why: these shards were the core of the Spirit Treasure Hall, once infused with the power of a supreme expert. Even as fragments, that power remained. The power could bypass body and soul, striking directly at the true spirit. The physical wounds were just a surface effect the real injury was to his true spirit, which was why his spells couldn't help.
"A power that attacks the true spirit directly what a terrifying existence."