Chapter 24: First Meeting

The Twelve Palaces were closely tied to the imperial clan, and one could also reach the imperial clan's location directly through a spacetime teleportation array.

"Humm~~~"

The spacetime before him shifted. When everything settled, Ji Ning swept his gaze and thought, "Is this the imperial palace?"

Although each of the Twelve Palaces of the Mangya Kingdom was enormous and heavily guarded with formations and restrictions, the true core of the Mangya Kingdom was the imperial palace! Before Ji Ning stood an immensely majestic palace, its main color snow-white, accented with gold, black, blue, and other hues.

Just looking at the palace before him, he felt an endless pressure, as if gazing up at the starry sky.

"I hear the imperial clan usually lives in the palace. I wonder how many tricks the great Dominator has set up in his lair," Ji Ning muttered to himself.

Stepping out of the spacetime teleportation array, Ji Ning walked toward the massive palace gate.

Before the gate stood no one, only two gray sculptures—one in the form of a human holding a spear, the other a coiled beast resembling a dragon.

"Halt." The human gray sculpture suddenly spoke in a low voice, its eyes fixed on Ji Ning.

"What?" Ji Ning jumped in fright. "It's alive?"

He was now a formidable expert; after comprehending the Yin-Yang Sword Intent domain, he could rival an ordinary Two-Step Dao Lord. His perception of qi and life was extremely sharp—he could easily sense the change in a mosquito's aura from a million li away. Yet this sculpture, which he had clearly sensed as an ordinary statue, a lifeless thing like rock, had actually spoken?

"You come to see the Dominator?" The human gray sculpture, towering almost as high as the palace gate, looked down at Ji Ning.

"Yes." Ji Ning nodded. Though the sculpture spoke to him, he still felt it was like a dead thing, and an inexplicable dread stirred in his heart.

"Wait until all four of you are here, then enter," the human gray sculpture said coldly.

Ji Ning could only wait silently. After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the spacetime teleportation array behind him lit up again. When the light faded, a thin, bald young man appeared, wearing a loose red robe. Strange red divine runes on his face held a peculiar allure; Ji Ning felt subtly affected just by glancing at them.

"I am Feng Yi." The red-robed, bald, thin young man strolled over, smiling. "Greetings, Sword Immortal Beiming."

"Heartlord Feng Yi." Ji Ning responded. The Heartforce Palace had very few cultivators, and only Feng Yi had received the recognition of the ancient pagoda. Yet Ji Ning had long heard of his fame—this was no half-baked practitioner like Beta Leo, but one who devoted himself entirely to heartforce cultivation, his methods unfathomable.

"Sword Immortal Beiming went further than I did on the Silver Cloud World altar," Feng Yi said with a warm smile that could touch the heart. "And I hear you were brought to the Mangya Kingdom by the great Dominator only about two thousand years ago. To have such strength, Feng Yi admires you."

Ji Ning was speechless.

He even knew that he had been abducted by the great Dominator two thousand years ago—his information network was too good.

"Sword Immortal Beiming, don't be surprised. It was a senior brother from my Heartforce Palace who told me," Feng Yi said with a smile. "Our Heartforce Palace has very few cultivators, so we treat each other like brothers and family, sharing everything."

Ji Ning suddenly recalled.

He had heard that the Heartforce Palace had fewer than ten Lifeworld Dao Lords! Most Dao Lords roamed outside, so perhaps only two or three stayed in the palace. Compared to the other eleven palaces, the Heartforce Palace was pitifully small in number, and they treated each other like brothers and family, as Ji Ning could imagine.

"If you don't mind, Sword Immortal Beiming, just call me Feng Yi," Feng Yi said with a smile.

"Brother Feng Yi, call me Beiming," Ji Ning replied, thinking to himself, "Why does this Feng Yi's smile make me involuntarily feel fond of him? Even his voice makes it impossible to feel dislike!"

"Humm~~~" The spacetime teleportation array behind them lit up again, and a youth in a deep blue robe appeared. His face was cold and exuded a fierce aura. Seeing Ji Ning and the others, he said, "Greetings, Heartlord Feng Yi and Sword Immortal Beiming."

"You must be Water Lord Huo Jin? No need for such formality—just call us Feng Yi and Beiming," Feng Yi said, and Ji Ning nodded in agreement.

"I was fortunate to rank fourth this time. In the future, I may need your help," the deep-blue-robed youth said, though his aura was cold, his words were polite.

Feng Yi and Ji Ning responded with goodwill.

After all, they were all from the Twelve Palaces, bound by their life-bound oaths not to attack each other. Moreover, those who ranked in the top four were extraordinary; as long as they lived, they were destined to become mighty figures renowned across the land. It was better to build good relations.

They chatted casually, gradually getting a sense of each other's temperaments.

Finally, the last one arrived.

He wore a black imperial robe and a tall crown, his skin like晶莹 jade, his eyes as deep as the starry sky. Even Ji Ning, Huo Jin, and Feng Yi had to admire that, at least in appearance and bearing, this 'Prince Qinghuan' was the finest among the four.

"The three of you are already here. I am late—my apologies," Prince Qinghuan said, as polite as the rumors claimed, though they also said he was quite wild at heart.

"We only arrived a moment ago."

"Brother Qinghuan ranked first this time—you must be nearly on par with Beta Leo and Dong Xiu."

They chatted casually.

Though they spoke lightly, none dared underestimate the others. Their strengths were very close, on the same level, even if the altar had established an order. In actual combat, it was hard to say. Moreover, in the Dao Lord Cloud Realm, many external forces like talismans and puppets were forbidden. To have come this far, each had encountered great opportunities.

"The four of you, the Dominator summons you. Enter." The tall human gray sculpture looked down at the four small figures before the gate and said coldly.

"The two sculptures before the gate are the palace's two guardian spirits," Feng Yi transmitted. "I've heard that in the distant past, when the great Dominator forged his invincible reputation, he brought these two guardians along, slaying countless mighty ones."

"Oh?" Ji Ning, Qinghuan, and Huo Jin listened intently.

The Heartforce Palace had closer internal bonds, like family, so Feng Yi knew many secrets.

...

Though curious about the origin and power of the two sculptures, Ji Ning and the others didn't dwell on it and entered the main gate of the palace.

As soon as they entered the gate.

They saw distant majestic buildings, but then the spacetime around them twisted, and they were teleported away.

This was a vast void, dotted with chaotic stars.

Ji Ning and the other three appeared and looked around.

"Where is this?" They were all puzzled.

The void was too quiet, like still water. True chaotic void should have many void storms, and the edge of a void usually led to endless chaos. But this void was immense and had no chaos at all.

"Whoosh~~~"

The void parted like a water curtain, revealing an incomparably majestic giant beast. Its two eyes, like flaming stars on its enormous head, gazed warmly at the four of them, and its voice, though gentle, resounded through every corner of the void: "Four little ones."

Qinghuan, Feng Yi, Huo Jin, and Ji Ning were startled.

Ji Ning involuntarily recalled that scene when he and other World-level cultivators had been sucked in by a giant beast's head and sent to the Mangya Kingdom.

"Greetings, Dominator." The four bowed respectfully, though they didn't need to kneel, as the Dominator always treated the Twelve Palaces well.

"You four little ones have obtained this opportunity," the giant beast said. "You will set out together with my imperial clan's 'Tianhuo Mangya' and enter the ancient domain of the other universe... This journey leads to the legendary place of that other universe, fraught with danger but also many benefits. I selected you four in the hope that you will do your best to help my clan's 'Tianhuo Mangya' along the way, increasing his chances of survival. If you help Tianhuo Mangya, I will reward you handsomely."

...