Undying

Thirty-two golden palaces radiated light, suspended mid-air in the world of the endless abyss. Twenty-three of these palaces were enveloped by a white light barrier, while the remaining nine lacked this protective shield.

“Roar~~”

“Awoo!”

The ubiquitous phantom beasts occasionally gazed up at the floating palaces, seemingly drawn to them. Swish! Swish! Swish! One after another, phantom beasts would leap skyward, soaring into the palaces.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Some phantom beasts collided with the white light barriers, only to be thrown back down, crashing onto the rocky ice, causing cracks to spiderweb across its surface. The fallen beasts then foolishly picked themselves up, with some even leaping again, attempting to pounce on the palaces’ white light barriers.

Collision! Fall! Get up and leap again! Collide again! Fall again…

Some of the more foolish phantom beasts, single-minded, repeatedly launched themselves against the barriers many times before finally giving up.

…

Luo Feng, in his ice bear form, also looked up at the 32 palaces.

“Thirty-two palaces, with 23 covered by a white light barrier.” Luo Feng observed. No matter how many phantom beasts, like moths to a flame, crashed into the 23 shielded palaces, they were always repelled. Only the other nine palaces, unprotected by a light barrier, allowed the phantom beasts to easily leap inside.

“Let’s try it!”

Luo Feng, swaying his bulky ice bear body, also leaped up.

Swish!

Through the white light barrier, only faint golden light could be seen from the shielded palace; its interior remained completely obscured.

“Bang!” The ice bear Luo Feng collided with the barrier, then fell, landing with a thud on the rocky ice. He slowly picked himself up.

“The barrier’s defensive strength is astonishing. My impact didn’t even cause a ripple.” Luo Feng was secretly alarmed. “Even Realm Lord-level phantom beasts tried to hit it earlier, but they couldn’t affect the barrier either.”

Swish!

Luo Feng leaped again, covering hundreds of kilometers in a single bound. This time, he flew directly towards one of the nine palaces in the distance that lacked a light barrier.

Brilliant golden light radiated!

Whoosh!

The ice bear Luo Feng plunged directly into the majestic, floating palace.

…

The palace’s structure was simple.

At its center was a grand, towering hall, surrounded by a rocky plaza. On this plaza, some phantom beasts ambled leisurely, while others lay sprawled on the ground.

“Hmm?”

The ice bear Luo Feng landed on the plaza, instantly noticing a change in temperature. “The temperature changed? It’s noticeably less cold here.” He also subtly observed the general layout of the floating palace. It was divided into a ‘grand hall’ and a ‘plaza.’ Both the hall and the plaza were constructed entirely of black rock, with no trace of ice.

Many strange and ancient golden secret patterns were carved into the surface of the black rock! These countless golden secret patterns were etched onto the plaza ground and the palace walls.

Dazzling golden light radiated from these secret patterns.

“What profound law secret patterns!” Luo Feng exclaimed, looking at the carved golden patterns, feeling their immense mystery. “Babata, record this.”

“Understood.”

Just then—

The golden secret patterns on the grand hall’s walls and the plaza ground suddenly emitted a mesmerizing glow. Countless rays of light swept past Luo Feng, rapidly coalescing around the palace to form intricate secret pattern designs, which then solidified completely into a white light barrier.

This white light barrier completely enveloped the entire palace.

“What?” Luo Feng turned his head in surprise.

“Bang!”

“Bang!”

He vaguely saw several phantom beasts leaping from outside, pouncing on the barrier, only to crash and fall back down.

“Before, only 23 of the 32 palaces were covered by a barrier. How did this one suddenly become enveloped?” The ice bear Luo Feng looked around, but the other phantom beasts on the plaza continued their leisurely strolls, naps, or playful antics, completely oblivious to the suddenly formed barrier.

“Hmm?”

The ice bear Luo Feng cautiously walked towards the barrier, reaching the edge of the plaza, and extended a paw to touch it.

Swoosh!

His paw passed directly through the white light barrier without any resistance.

“Oh?” Luo Feng felt a sense of relief. “It defends against the outside but not the inside. There’s no hindrance if I want to leave.”

Luo Feng retracted his paw and turned to face the grand hall.

The plaza was tens of kilometers long and wide, with the grand hall occupying about a quarter of its area.

“Roar~~”

A semi-transparent, avian phantom beast with eight wings, resembling a domain lord-level eighth-tier creature, leisurely flew towards the grand hall’s main entrance. Its body, formed entirely of ice, shimmered beautifully under the golden light. As it reached the entrance of the grand hall, a black shadow flashed!

“Thud!”

The shadow slammed into the avian phantom beast, causing the hundred-meter-long creature to explode and disintegrate, sending countless ice shards flying. Some of these ice shards even passed through the barrier and flew outside.

“Hmm?” Luo Feng was startled, holding his breath as he watched.

At the main entrance of the grand hall stood a monstrous, ape-like creature made entirely of black rock, wielding a black staff also adorned with mysterious golden secret patterns. The rock ape monster, holding its staff, glanced out at the plaza, its gaze sweeping over a group of phantom beasts, then retreated back into the grand hall.

“A rock lifeform?” Luo Feng was surprised.

There were many types of lifeforms in the universe.

Metal lifeforms, plant lifeforms, flesh-and-blood lifeforms, energy lifeforms—what constituted a lifeform? Only those with intelligence. As for the phantom beasts… they were entities generated by the special illusions of Demonic Mountain, not even truly lifeforms, as they possessed no cognitive abilities.

“There’s a rock lifeform inside the grand hall, but the Virtual Universe Company’s data only mentioned phantom beasts in Demonic Mountain. Yet, that rock ape monster’s gaze just now… that’s definitely proof of intelligence!” Luo Feng was secretly astonished. The presence or absence of intelligence could be easily discerned from one’s eyes.

…

Luo Feng silently observed from the plaza, not daring to enter the grand hall rashly.

Over three days, Luo Feng witnessed 18 phantom beasts attempt to enter the grand hall, but each was smashed to pieces by the rock ape monster’s staff as soon as they reached the entrance.

“I have a feeling there’s a great secret within this grand hall,” Luo Feng mused.

Golden light!

Profound golden secret patterns that he couldn’t even comprehend!

The rock ape monster guarding the grand hall’s entrance, with unfathomable strength!

And this palace, floating in mid-air in the world that served as the phantom beasts’ lair!

All of this indicated a great secret within the palace; only a fool wouldn’t realize it.

“But how do I get in?” Luo Feng looked at the grand hall’s entrance. “What if I get smashed to death by a single strike the moment I enter?”

“Boom!”

The entire abyss world suddenly trembled violently, and a terrifying shockwave spread in all directions, impacting the white light barrier of Luo Feng’s palace.

“What happened?” Luo Feng turned to look outside.

“Roar~~”

“Roar~~”

“Caw~~”

Thousands of phantom beasts roared, and violent explosions and rumbling sounds echoed one after another.

“Haha, you lowly creatures dare to provoke me?” A voice like a god’s resonated through the heavens and earth.

“Senior Brother, although these Undying-level phantom beasts aren’t much of a threat, they’re troublesome to deal with. Let’s quickly enter the Inheritance Palace.” From another direction of explosions, another booming voice came.

“Alright!”

“Huh, how are there only eight empty Inheritance Palaces out of 32? The others all have people receiving inheritances?”

“Hmm? That’s strange. The message from the Hong Alliance said nine were empty. Well, never mind, there are only two of us anyway. Whether it’s eight or nine, it’s enough for us.”

The two voices came from different directions.

Amidst the rumbling of the heavens and earth and the roars of countless phantom beasts, the two towering figures each rushed into two palaces that were not covered by white light barriers.

“Hmm?”

The ice bear Luo Feng stood stunned on the plaza. The roars and shouts from outside gradually subsided, soon disappearing completely, and everything returned to its previous calm. However… Luo Feng’s heart was anything but calm.

“Someone actually came.” Many thoughts flashed through Luo Feng’s mind. “Inheritance Palace? Eight palaces? Nine palaces?”

Those two voices just now… they must belong to two super-experts!

At least Undying beings!

“Hong Alliance? What kind of organization is the Hong Alliance?” Luo Feng was secretly alarmed. “The message from the Hong Alliance stated nine were empty? When I first arrived, I did indeed find that only nine of the 32 palaces lacked a barrier. Could it be… that once someone enters, the palace immediately raises that white light barrier?”

Indeed.

It was only when he had just flown into this palace’s plaza that the white light barrier had risen around it.

“Could the palace detect the difference between me and ordinary phantom beasts?” Luo Feng looked at the palace’s grand hall in shock.

Even an Undying being, or an even more powerful existence,

wouldn’t be able to detect the changes in Luo Feng’s Demon Killer Clan clone without probing his body. Yet… this strange Inheritance Palace could detect Luo Feng’s uniqueness and raise a barrier.

…

Luo Feng stood calmly on the plaza.

Clearly!

He had arrived at the mysterious core of Demonic Mountain—the Inheritance Palace! And the Inheritance Palaces of Demonic Mountain… or more accurately, the Inheritance Palaces of Demonic Sound Mountain, totaled 32. At this moment, including himself, there should be people in 26 of them.

“It seems these Inheritance Palaces are no longer a secret among the universe’s peak echelons. They can even send Undying beings to receive inheritances.” Luo Feng mused. “However, I estimate that not just anyone is qualified to come and receive an inheritance. After all, even my teacher, Huyan Bo, never mentioned its existence.”

Indeed!

To visit such a mysterious place in the universe, the cost for Undying beings would be far higher than entering Chaos City!

“I’ve certainly been lucky to come to this Inheritance Palace.”

Luo Feng looked at the Inheritance Palace before him.

“How do I get in?” Luo Feng pondered, quickly making a decision.

Whoosh!

Next to the ice bear, a human Luo Feng suddenly appeared.

“My Demon Killer Clan clone, carrying the core, will stay outside. My Earthling true body will go in and brave it!” Luo Feng’s eyes lit up, and with a flash, he rushed towards the grand hall’s main entrance.

“Roar~~”

The other phantom beasts on the plaza immediately roared and howled upon seeing the human Luo Feng.