113 The throne room. (2/2)
A burst of air filled with dense Qi was unleashed the moment the doors were pushed open, quickly sweeping over everyone gathered in the hallway. The Qi was far denser than it was in the outside world, it had even surpassed the density of Qi within the various high-grade training grounds of the Tian and Yuan clans. Clearly, there was a rather spectacular treasure located beyond the door.
Some of the groups let the greed go to their head and rushed into the room, but some of the other groups realized that treasures like this would often be guarded by either arrays or Demonic beasts. These groups followed the rushing groups, but they moved far slower than them, vigilantly sweeping their surroundings. Li Yang and Fang Ying once again walked in the very back, their vigilance reaching a peak as they stepped through the doors.
All the groups had now entered a massive hexagonal hall, at least 20 kilometers in each direction. There were a total of 108 spiraling pillars spread throughout the room, each one covered in tiny engravings that seemed to tell a story, each pillar telling a different story. There were a few doors located at the very end of the hall, but the gazes of everyone was locked onto the centerpiece of the room, an elevated and tall throne carved from what seemed to be amber crystal.
There was a tall mound of earth placed in front of the steps that led up to the elevated throne, a few wilted flowers visible. And lying next to this mound of earth was a nearly fifty-meter-long skeleton with bones as white as milk, each bone still radiating an utterly suffocating amount of Qi. The skeleton was in the shape of a beast, likely a tiger or a panther, and it was lying so that its heart would be directly next to the mound of dirt.
Li Yang and Fang Ying's eyes narrowed faintly when they saw this skeleton, not only were there some teeth-mark on the bones, but it was also missing its Demon Crystal. Its flesh could rot, its skin and organs could wither away, but a Demon Crystal would exist until it was shattered, not even draining all the Qi within it would cause the Demon Crystal to vanish. For this skeleton to be missing its Demon Crystal, it meant that someone had likely already been here and snatched it, or eaten it.
All the hairs on Li Yang's neck suddenly stood up, a feeling of danger flooding his body. He had yet to discover anything with his tracking technique, but he trusted his instincts and acted without hesitation. His golden-purple sword appeared in his grasp as he spun around, fire and lightning dancing around the blade and causing the air around it to distort.
His sword collided with something, a shock running through Li Yang's arms that made it feel like his attack had just collided with a mountain. He was pushed back a few steps from the force of the impact, a few drops of blood dripping down on the ground as the skin on his palms had split open. Standing in his previous position was a four-meter-long panther that had clean white fur and three tails ending in small sickles. There was a bloody scar on the side of the panther's head, golden fire and lightning tearing at the wound to make it grow larger.
Fang Ying and Langshen launched their own attacks the moment Li Yang spun around, but before they managed to hit it, the panther jumped back and then vanished into thin air. It seemed like the panther covered up the wound Li Yang left on its face, as he was no longer able to feel the fire or lightning that was tearing at the wound, it had likely suffocated the two elements using a very dense amount of energy.
At the same time as Li Yang blocked the attack, six other people in the room were attacked, all of them being the ones with the lowest cultivation. Five of the six died without being able to react, their heads suddenly getting crushed by the invisible panthers. The last person was able to react, turning around to block the attack, but his defense was too weak, faltering almost immediately. His head was crushed just like the other five, their corpses immediately dragged over to the mound of earth.
Li Yang gave his hands a few shakes to push away the aching sensation, a few drops of blood splashing the area. He activated a more basic tracking technique, simply stretching out his Qi as far as possible to inspect everything around him, but even then he was unable to detect the panthers. He clicked his tongue, quickly taking up position next to Fang Ying, who had rushed over to him alongside Langshen.
”Tch, seems like your guess was correct, there is indeed a beast still living in this castle, multiple of them too it seems. Not even the most basic scanning technique is able to detect them, they must have evolved or been bred for perfect stealth, we need to be very careful.”
Not only did they have excellent stealth, but their bodies were also incredibly hard. Fighting Demonic beasts like this would be somewhat annoying and troublesome, especially since they had no idea just how many of them there were hiding within this hall. It could be just the seven of them, but there might also be more hiding around, waiting for an opening.
Fang Ying gave a fractal nod of her head, her red-veined sword appearing in her grasp as she vigilantly swept the surroundings, warning the others in the room about what they were facing. In a situation like this, it would be best to tell the others what they knew, it would not only reduce casualties, but it would also make it easier for everyone to work together to face the enemy.