Chapter 4217: The Gate Guardian Divine Beast
On the plaza before the Heavenly Void Palace (Tianxu Palace), traces of a battle remained, some marks serpentine in shape very much like the large python, and the python itself was indeed a giant serpent. Previously, during the python's evolution, there had been glimpses of the Heavenly Void Palace; jokes had even been made then that the python might be the palace's gatekeeping beast.
Now the main gate of the Heavenly Void Palace glowed the pattern on the door acquiring a new image: a python beast identical to the python beside them. The python's gaze was fixed on the palace gate, unable to look away. It muttered, "Is that me?"
Suddenly, the python beast pattern on the gate became a beam of light that shone on the python's body. It seemed stimulated, howling skyward without end; the sound shook the forests, and countless other creatures joined in with frantic cries, echoing the python's call.
Far away, the great Dao surged and the house steward's figure appeared, looking toward the python and murmuring, "What's happening?" In the sky's Dao, a giant python danced with the Dao, coiling in the air.
The steward was startled. "The Five World Python has returned?"
As he spoke, more beastly roars rang out in the distance Heavenly Void itself seemed to come alive. With a complicated look, the steward continued, "Why would the Five World Python return? The time shouldn't be right yet…"
…
Lin Moyu watched the giant python appear in the void, now certain the python was really the gatekeeping divine beast of the Heavenly Void Palace. For certain reasons, the python had once fallen, its soul reincarnated countless times until it became the current little python taken as Lin Moyu's companion and now finally led home. Here, the python's memories and power had been preserved, and it was now truly returning to its roots.
Lin Moyu saw the python's aura grow stronger, breaking through to the level of eternity, then climbing to the peak of eternal existence. Yet it did not transcend further; some force held it back. At this point, the python was no weaker than a Beast Emperor. With the Heavenly Void Palace's power, it could absolutely suppress a Beast Emperor. Among all the living creatures outside the Heavenly Void Palace, the python was now the strongest.
In Lin Moyu's estimation, if the python fought with all its might, it could even take on a half step Chaos level being not guaranteed to win, but it could certainly put up a fight.
As the radiance faded, the python descended, reassuming its post as the gate guardian beast. It obediently curled up at Lin Moyu's feet and said, "Master, now I know who I am."
Lin Moyu looked the python over it had changed. Its scales were thicker, its form larger, and it now emanated an inky, glossy light like a black hole swallowing the surrounding brilliance. Its crimson eyes glowed ominously in the darkness.
Lin Moyu sighed, "Not as cute as before, you know."
The python answered, aggrieved, "I was born this way."
"It's fine, ugly is fine too," Lin Moyu laughed. "So, who are you?"
"I am the Gate Guardian Divine Beast of the Five Generations' Heavenly Void Palace, and the lord of the beasts in this primordial forest of Daos."
"The Heavenly Void Palace… Gate Guardian Divine Beast of Five Generations," Lin Moyu repeated softly. "So, there are more than one Heavenly Void Palace?"
"There are five," the python said. "Each palace has its own gate guardian. I am the weakest."
Just then, Lin Moyu also heard the powerful roars from afar, containing immense might already beyond the eternal realm. Those must be the guardian beasts of the other palaces.
"How did you this Gate Guardian Divine Beast fall?" Lin Moyu asked.
"I was wounded by the Chaos Emperor. I fell into a deep sleep after that, and at some point, I simply died," the python whimpered nearly tearfully.
Lin Moyu snorted. "You don't know how?"
"I was asleep! How would I know?"
"Think about it besides you, who else could get here?"
The python tilted its head, thinking hard, and then shouted, "Are you suggesting the steward?"
"Who else?" Lin Moyu replied.
The python shook its head, "Impossible. He would never do such a thing. And he couldn't even walk the Path of Seeking Truth."
But Lin Moyu disagreed. The steward had been in Heavenly Void for who knows how many years; with so much time, much could change. "It's hard to know anyone's heart. Only a stone never changes. Anyone with wisdom and life can change. And, the Path of Seeking Truth may seem tough, but perhaps it isn't."
"Do you know who made the Path of Seeking Truth?" Lin Moyu asked.
The python shook its head again: "No idea. It's always just been there."
"And the origins of the Heavenly Void Palace?"
Again the python could not answer: "Don't know. When I awakened to intelligence, I was already the gate guardian."
It didn't become the guardian by struggling for it the palace chose it. Perhaps before that, the python was just another ordinary creature on the palace's outskirts, simply lucky to be chosen.
Lin Moyu pressed on, "I'm going in now. Anything I should watch out for?"
"It's not safe inside," the python warned. "If Master is going in, you must be careful. As for what's inside, I have no idea."
So, it truly was a guardian in name only knew little, guarded less.
Lin Moyu easily imagined the ancient scene: the little python, battling the Chaos Emperor who came to enter the Heavenly Void Palace; the python tried to block it and ended up mortally wounded. The Chaos Emperor spared it, merely leaving it defeated to slumber, but in the end, the steward finished the job no doubt for other reasons.
The python, of course, was not about to stop Lin Moyu. In fact, it eagerly opened the Heavenly Gate of the palace for him. The gate sealed for uncounted ages now swung wide, releasing a mighty ancient aura that surged skyward like a dragon, its roar resounding, causing all the Daos to ring, and riling the recently calmed Heavenly Void anew.
"Master, you must be careful," the python urged.
Lin Moyu smiled lightly. "Don't worry I won't die."
When the breath from the door faded, Lin Moyu strode boldly into the Five Generations' Heavenly Void Palace.
…
Elsewhere in Heavenly Void, the steward appeared, gazing at the palace, murmuring: "He's gone in. Then I must begin as well." With a wave, he created a vast formation upon the earth crafted from divine runes and even more complex than the Path of Seeking Truth. The steward entered the formation, taking its core position, and fully activated it.
The formation boomed into life a torrent of Daos descended from the sky, pouring into the formation. The steward then faded, merging himself entirely into the Dao.
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