Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 402 Breaking the Spatial Barrier, Jingyan Palace

(The plot of the previous chapter was modified, removing the requirement for a token to enter the Temple of War, and Mozi also failed to find the Palace of Startled Goose. In addition, the settings of the Temple of War and the Palace of Startled Goose in this article have been modified according to the world background and are different from the original work.)
When many people see the grassland for the first time, they have only one word in their mind.

Big!
In fact, even though the Central Plains region is a vast land, some plains are much larger than grasslands, but no one has such thoughts about it.

This is because in the Central Plains, places like this have either been cultivated into farmland or have cities and villages.

At first glance, it appears large due to the numerous obstacles.

On the contrary, here on the grassland, the herdsmen live by the water and roam the entire grassland to graze their livestock. The vast open spaces make the area immediately apparent.

This is not a good thing for Zhou Ming.

Because his intelligence sources all come from the Mark.

The mark can only be transmitted to a person.

Therefore, in many remote and sparsely populated areas, Zhou Ming was unable to gather intelligence through the markings.

In vast, sparsely populated grasslands, large gaps in intelligence naturally arise.

The good news is that Zhou Ming only needs to check the blank areas to roughly find Jingyan Palace.

So far, Jingyan Palace has not come into the sights of any power.

As an ancient palace built during the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period, it is made of extremely sturdy and special materials, and its construction method is based on the layout of celestial constellations, creating a mysterious connection between heaven and earth.

Such unique and ancient architecture is treasured even by foreigners.

However, to this day, there is still no information about Jingyan Palace.

This already proves that the palace has not yet been discovered by anyone.

Zhou Ming instructed Xiao Ai to gather intelligence and dispatched a large number of mechanical birds to fly around the entire grassland. With the cooperation of Jian Yue and Mo Kui, they quickly found Jingyan Palace at the foot of a mountain.

"This is Jingyan Palace?"

Zhou Ming stepped out of the golden portal, looked at the mountain peak in front of him, and couldn't help but frown.

This mountain is high and steep, with strange rocks all over it, but not a single patch of green. It is a living stone mountain.

Most importantly, there is absolutely no trace of human construction, either at the top of the mountain or at the foot of the mountain.

Jian Yue said, "The Demon Lord said that there is an unusual convergence of heaven and earth power here."

"What did the Demon Lord say? Didn't you sense it?"

Jian Yue shook his head.

The demon king leaned closer and said, "The power of heaven and earth is abundant here, but it is extremely hidden. If I were not also a spiritual incarnation, I would probably not be able to sense the hidden mystery within."

A flash of silver light appeared on Zhou Ming's forehead, indicating that his Heavenly Eye had been activated. He released a surge of spiritual power, which swept across the entire mountain peak, but he did not detect anything unusual.

However, even if the Demon Lord had a thousand times the courage, he probably wouldn't dare to deceive Zhou Ming.

There is probably something unusual about this.

Zhou Ming closed his Heavenly Eye, no longer using his spiritual power, but instead using another form of perception to explore the entire mountain.

The purpose of building the Jingyan Palace was to lock down the War God Temple that was wandering in the void, so there must be spatial power within this palace.

At this moment, Zhou Ming is using his ability to adjust spatial frequencies to explore this mountain.

Centered on him, a golden ripple suddenly appeared and swept across the entire mountain peak.

Everything was normal where the ripples passed, except for a small area at the foot of the mountain, which showed a slight curve.

"over there!"

The group ran towards the foot of the mountain, only to find a cliff.

"Interesting, it's actually a hidden barrier just like the Water Moon Cave Heaven! Could it be that the person who built the Startling Goose Palace was an ancestor of the Tong clan of the Water Moon Cave Heaven?"

Zhou Ming saw through the mystery of the cliff with just one glance.

But this also made it clear why Jingyan Palace had not been found for so many years.

This is probably due to this hidden barrier.

This palace will probably only be revealed to the world once every thirty years, when the Temple of the Thousand War Gods appears.

But unless someone is deliberately waiting here, probably very few people will be able to find this palace.

Zhou Ming reached out and pressed his hand against the cliff, sensing it carefully.

"Indeed, it is the barrier technique of the Water Moon Cave Heaven!"

Zhou Ming had previously acquired all the books and collections of Shuiyue Cave Heaven, including their methods for setting up protective barriers.

The Tong clan was a powerful clan in ancient times, and its power was even greater during the Xia and Shang dynasties.

It is quite possible that they participated in the construction of Jingyan Palace, which was built during the reign of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and even played a major role in its design.

However, Zhou Ming could also sense that compared to the barrier currently used by Shuiyue Cave Heaven, the barrier of Jingyan Palace was slightly rougher.

After all, times have changed, and over the years, the methods the Tong clan used to build barriers must have been constantly evolving.

However, in terms of power, this barrier far surpasses the barrier of Shuiyue Cave.

Because the person who built this barrier was far more powerful than Shuiyue Cave Heaven.

Even if the method wasn't sophisticated enough, by simply relying on strength, a powerful barrier was created.

No wonder Jian Yue and Zhou Ming couldn't sense anything unusual here.

The person who built this barrier in the past, even if not a god or demon, must have been at least a celestial being.

They are both Grandmasters and Masters, so how could they see through the barrier set up by a Celestial Realm expert?

As for the Demon Lord, that was purely an accident.

As a being born from the sword realm, he was born with abilities that ordinary people could never achieve in their entire lives.

Golden ripples spread and gathered on the cliff.

This ancient barrier, however, could not withstand the strange forces of space, and a door was gradually opened amidst the golden ripples.

"Ai!"

Zhou Ming shouted, and suddenly a series of projections appeared. These were dozens of mechanical beasts of different shapes, which, under Xiao Ai's control, surged toward the space gate and entered the barrier.

Ai also appeared, her hands gathering beams of light and shadow, which gradually formed the shape of a palace through the exploration of those mechanical beasts.

The Jingyan Palace can be divided into three parts. The main hall, called the Yanxiang Hall, is located in the middle. There are side halls on both sides, which are connected by a long corridor that is twenty feet long.

However, both the side halls and the corridors were completely enclosed. Only in front of the main hall was there a stone bridge that led directly to the main hall's gate.

To enter the palace, one must walk across the stone bridge and through the main gate.

Whether they break through the wall or smash open the roof, it will be ineffective at Jingyan Palace.

Despite the fact that this palace is made of wood and stone, the wood and stone used in ancient times were obviously not ordinary. Moreover, the entire palace was built according to the structure of the Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions, imitating the movement of the stars in the sky.

It formed a formation, connecting with the power of the stars in the sky. As it operated, boundless power of heaven and earth naturally gathered and filled the entire palace. With such a power protecting it, even a Grandmaster would have to exert considerable effort to destroy a single brick or tile in this palace.

The Water Moon Cave Heaven barrier outside the palace is actually powered by this formation, which is why it can still maintain its power even after thousands of years.

It was Zhou Ming who broke the barrier by directly using the power of space. Anyone else would likely have had to wait for the barrier to close automatically after the thirty-year cycle.

The left side hall is the so-called secret passage leading to the Temple of the God of War.

The floor panels inside the hall are actually mechanisms.

This mechanism comes from ancient times, and is naturally completely different from the purely mechanical mechanisms of today. Instead, it is based on rune technology and is closely related to the layout of the entire palace and the movement of stars in the sky.

The methods to solve the mechanisms vary depending on the position of the stars.

In other words, there is no fixed way to break this mechanism; it must be solved by following the laws of celestial movement.

The cracker must be proficient in the laws governing the movement of stars and use calculations to convert them into corresponding locations within the palace.

Even the number of floor tiles that need to be stepped on to activate the mechanism will change according to the movement of the stars.

Eight, nine, or twelve dollars, or even less or more, are all variable.

After activating the mechanism, one must pass through two corridors, each twenty feet long, and the main hall to reach the right side hall.

Therefore, although the mechanism is in the left side hall, once the mechanism is activated, the corresponding gate leading to the Temple of the God of War is in the right side hall.

Ai controlled dozens of mechanical beasts, which headed to the left and right side halls respectively.

In the left side hall, she easily figured out how to activate the mechanism.

After controlling the mechanical beast to press nine blocks.

Nine large gates then opened in the right side hall.

It was called a gate, but it was actually just a few holes dug in the ground, each one square, arranged in three rows of three.

A golden portal opened, and everyone stepped into the right side hall.

Zhou Ming sensed it for a moment, then shook his head.

"Although we can sense a powerful spatial force, the Temple of War has not yet appeared. At this moment, it should not be the time for the Temple of War to appear."

Everyone had expected this, so it wasn't surprising.

The Demon Lord looked at the nine large gates on the ground and asked curiously, "Which of these nine caves leads to the Temple of the God of War?"

Zhou Ming asked, "All nine?"

"what?"

The Demon Lord was taken aback: "If all nine are like that, then why bother with nine gates? One gate would suffice."

"These nine gates actually represent the nine directions of heaven and earth. Even the Jingyan Palace cannot completely confine the War God Temple to one location. The War God Temple, which constantly wanders in the void, will eventually appear in a completely unpredictable location."

If the Temple of War is located in the north, then the door directly above it is the entrance to the Temple of War. Conversely, if it's in the south, it's the door directly below; if it's in the northeast, it's the door diagonally above, and so on. The same applies to all other directions.

Zhou Ming explained, then shook his head and said, "Unfortunately, there is still some time before the Temple of War appears. Right now, none of the doors here lead to the Temple of War."

The Temple of War did not appear; it was hidden in the void, constantly wandering.

Therefore, even Zhou Ming had no way to pinpoint its location.

I originally thought that since the Temple of War frequently appeared in this place, it should retain some spatial power.

Perhaps we can use this spatial power to pinpoint the coordinates of the Temple of War in the void.

However, once he arrived at the scene, Zhou Ming realized that he had oversimplified the situation.

It's true that the Temple of War often appears here, but there's more than one type of spatial power here.

Jingyan Palace gathers the power of heaven and earth and stars, and will also continuously form spatial power underground to draw in the War God Temple.

If the Temple of War had only recently departed, it might have retained some spatial power.

But now, the Temple of War has been gone for decades, and the entire Jingyan Palace is now enveloped by the power belonging to the Jingyan Palace.

The power belonging to the Temple of War had naturally been eliminated by this force long ago.

"However, since Jingyan Palace can lock onto the Temple of War so firmly, there must be other secrets hidden within this palace, especially spatial information about the Temple of War. Otherwise, how could Jingyan Palace have kept the Temple of War locked onto for thousands of years, causing it to appear underground in this palace every thirty years?"

Zhou Ming looked around.

He has probably only explored less than one percent of the secrets hidden within this palace.

The core of a mechanism is not the button that activates it, but the individual components underneath.

Zhou Ming solved the mystery of the left side hall and opened the door to the right side hall, but for the entire Jingyan Palace, this was merely the most superficial thing.

The best way to obtain those deeper things is naturally to dismantle them directly, just like with the Azure Dragon mechanism.

However, there is only one Azure Dragon Mechanism and only one Jingyan Palace.

Moreover, unlike the Azure Dragon of the Mechanism, the Jingyan Palace was built according to the constellation pattern, and its location is also very special.

Directly dismantling it is obviously impossible, but to create a projection, it must be stored in the personal space.

However, Zhou Ming was unsure whether doing so would disrupt the layout of the Jingyan Palace, thereby causing it to lose its ability to draw upon the Temple of War.

"Ai, what do you think is the probability of this happening?"

A series of thoughts flashed in Xiao Ai's eyes, and then she nodded: "One hundred percent! The location of Jingyan Palace was not chosen randomly, but deliberately. The entire Jingyan Palace not only conforms to the laws of the stars, but also to the surrounding mountains and earth veins. It's just that the manifestation of these laws is not as obvious as that of the stars."

Zhou Ming sighed: "Just as I expected."

When the ancient sages built this palace, they were so meticulous. How could they have been careless in choosing the location?
If the entire Jingyan Palace were to move even slightly, even by shifting a few dozen feet to the left or right, it would likely affect its overall functionality.

But if you were to move it into your personal space... that would be a completely different world!

"Forget it for now, let's leave it alone and deal with it when the Temple of War appears."

Zhou Ming said, rather annoyed.

"No!"

The Demon Lord suddenly spoke, laughing, "We know that you cherish the uniqueness of the Startled Goose Palace, my lord. But may I ask, my lord, what benefit does the Temple of War God bring you? If so, how much benefit?"

"Ok?"

Zhou Ming was stunned when he heard this.

What benefits does the Temple of War offer me?
It seems... there really isn't anything.

The most precious thing about the Temple of War is undoubtedly the forty-nine reliefs inside, also known as the 'War God Catalogue'.

A cultivation manual.

However, in terms of cultivation techniques, Zhou Ming possesses quite a few excellent ones, especially the Hun Tian Bao Jian, which is a legacy left behind by Nuwa.

Although the War God's Manual is profound and powerful, it is nothing compared to the Hun Tian Bao Jian!
(End of this chapter)