Chapter 4223: My Choice Is the Right Choice
Fatty was very obedient, immediately stopping and following Lin Moyu away. The side gate guardian was only responsible for guarding the side gate. Once inside the palace, it would not act again, instead returning at once to stand straight at the side gate, meticulously fulfilling its duty.
Standing inside the palace, Lin Moyu glanced at the side gate guardian. This puppet, surpassing even the Eternity level, might well be the peak of puppet crafting arts. If there were more of such puppets, they would constitute a terrifying force. In another sense, if not for his own existence in the Five Regions Domain, a single one of these puppets, once unleashed, could sweep through the entire domain.
Even the half step Chaos level Kunlun Emperor, when faced with this guardian, had no choice but to use the Ferry of Tribulations to smash his way out of the Heavenly Void Palace and escape. This shows just how powerful the Heavenly Void Palace is and how strong its master must be.
Lin Moyu proceeded with three parts caution, telling Fatty to lead the way to the palace's central area.
According to Fatty, their current location was only at the edge of the Heavenly Void Palace, the outermost layer. To reach the center, they would have to cross the ancient forest inside the palace, which would not be an easy task even Fatty was not certain of making it through. Following corridors and passing through layer upon layer of palace walls, Lin Moyu realized the internal structure was extremely complex a giant maze in itself. Without Fatty's guidance, one would likely never even leave the periphery, let alone see the ancient forest or reach the core.
Moreover, many dangers lurked here. A wrong turn could spell trouble; even an Eternal might meet their death.
Lin Moyu speculated that the Kunlun Emperor most likely got lost in these outer parts, eventually stumbled into that storeroom palace, and by luck obtained the Ferry of Tribulations, managing to save his own life as a result.
The designs within the Heavenly Void Palace were intricately linked. Had Lin Moyu not cracked the two formations of heaven and earth over the lake or tamed Fatty, he too would have struggled to find the right way. The "fruit" he had planted (via causal ritual) was already subtly working, pointing him to the correct path perhaps even the only correct path.
After roaming the Palace for about half the day, Lin Moyu encountered a most unusual door. This door was far higher than any others, and terrifying power surged from it to the sky, linking straight to the Heavenly Dao. This meant that the only way through was straight from the front; neither above nor below offered any path.
In front of the door stood two puppet guardians, just like the one at the side gate each boasting power beyond Eternity. Any Eternal would be stopped, and even a half step Chaos being couldn't pass.
Lin Moyu was not worried; he didn't even need to act personally to get through.
Fatty said, "I can hold off one."
Meaning the other would be up to Lin Moyu alone. Even so, though Fatty had become his artifact, her stubborn personality remained unchanged. Of course, had Lin Moyu insisted she go against both, she would've done so only with some irritation.
Lin Moyu shook his head. "No need for you to act. I'll handle it."
With a thought, an ocean of crystal undead servants surged forth.
Against these two puppet guardians, even numbers would not help the undead simply weren't strong enough. As puppets rooted in the Heavenly Void Palace, with limitless energy supply, they had no fear of attrition.
But Lin Moyu never meant to defeat them outright. The role of the undead servants was just to entangle, tying them up so he could move forward and open the door. The undead and the puppets fought it out, swathes of the undead being smashed to bits, but every second they regenerated back to life. The undead adjusted tactics on their own, using relay attacks to keep the two puppets occupied and gradually pulling them aside to open up space in front of the door for Lin Moyu.
Leisurely, Lin Moyu strolled to the grand door. At a glance it looked a hundred meters tall, but upon close scrutiny one would find it effectively boundless as if one's eyes could not reach its end. Upon its surface were endless patterns intertwining into a staggeringly complex design.
He tried pushing the door. It didn't budge.
"Fatty, your turn!"
Fatty answered and transformed into a giant, bracing herself to push open the door. The engravings on the door all lit up, emitting an ear splitting grinding noise. This door, unopened for countless years, seemed in this moment ready to move.
Fatty bore the power of the entire domain's mountains and rivers, her strength unmatched, beyond even the Lord of Force. The door grew brighter and brighter until all the patterns glowed then, with a sudden blast of force, Fatty was sent flying, and even Lin Moyu was forced back a dozen steps before finding his footing.
A ceaseless downpour of Dao force rained upon the door, making it shine ever brighter, yet it remained unmoved.
Fatty flew back and said, "I'll try again."
She looked deeply unwilling to give up; Lin Moyu let her proceed.
Fatty turned into a giant once more and threw all her strength at the door. This time, as soon as she exerted force, the door boomed and lit up, flinging Fatty a kilometer away she only stopped upon crashing into a tall wall. Lin Moyu chuckled, "Wanna try again?"
...flowers, please...
Fatty, though unwilling, knew her limits: "No, no more!"
Lin Moyu had already seen that Fatty couldn't open the door. Neither could he. The door was sealed by a formation a unique one, impossible to push open unless the formation was solved first.
The carvings on the door were not ordinary patterns but a weaving of over a thousand divine runes. Lin Moyu recognized this style: the runes had been broken apart, but not entirely disconnected, forming a state between continuity and division. Then, those scattered runes were blended together to create this unique design. Within the design, a powerful formation was hidden.
Fatty's heaven and earth grand array was a simplified expression of rune manipulation while this door represented the most complex style.
One simple, one complex it showed two extremes in divine rune use. Since entering the Heavenly Void Palace, formations and divine runes had been everywhere; clearly, the Palace's master was a master of the art.
Lin Moyu analyzed the structure of the door's array, reassembling the scattered runes until he understood its core and deduced how it could be unraveled. Soon, he made out the logic, but his expression grew heavy. He discovered there was no way to solve this formation a "dead array." Such arrays are designed to require a specific "key object"; if that is lost or destroyed, the formation becomes insolvable, even to its own creator.
The keys to the formation before him were the two puppet guardians.
Meaning only they could open this door; no one else could. Thus, one would need to control both puppet guardians at least temporarily.
"To control two half step Chaos puppets harder than killing them!" Lin Moyu remarked to himself. This was no easy feat.
While Lin Moyu pondered, Fatty timidly tried pushing the door again and again, only to be repeatedly blasted away. Agitated, she stomped her foot, cracking the primordial treasure floor beneath her feet.
After a moment, powerful energy surged from Lin Moyu, and he murmured to himself, "I have already planted the fruit; my choice is the right choice it doesn't have to follow your prescribed path!"
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