Gao Wu insists on cultivating immortality.

Chapter 267 Afang Palace

"Mingyue, you've grown up..."

On the hospital bed was a beautiful woman, her pale face filled with disbelief and surprise. As she spoke, she stood up and walked quickly toward Song Mingyue.

Song Mingyue remembered that this was what her mother looked like, but her mother had been dead for ten years. Where did this mother come from...?

Qin Jiuyue repeatedly stated that the strange spirits of the Hall of Ten Thousand Souls would erode people's minds and create all sorts of illusions.

The illusions that every martial artist faces are either their own obsessions or the weakest points of their own mind.

The vast majority of martial artists do not know what they want, nor do they know what they are capable of having.

Simply put, people lose many memories during the process of growing up. These memories do not truly disappear, but rather sink into the depths of consciousness as fragments, which is what we call the subconscious.

According to Qin Jiuyue, a person is divided into two parts: acquired and innate.

One's temperament and inherent nature are largely determined by nature, but certain key emotions and events during the growth process can also influence a person's temperament and inherent nature.

Therefore, no matter how powerful a martial artist is, they may not be able to clearly see their true nature.

The spirits of the Hall of Ten Thousand Souls don't actually read minds; they simply stimulate martial artists with powerful mental energy, thereby arousing the martial artist's imagination.

The attacks of the alien spirits are actually divided into two levels. One level is to stimulate the martial artist's consciousness and create illusions. The other level is the level of real matter.

Once a martial artist's consciousness is confused, the alien spirit's attack on the material level will quickly annihilate the martial artist.

The stronger a martial artist's martial intent, the stronger the supernatural spirits they unleash. This is why even powerful figures like Qin Jiuyue and Hai Wuji cannot penetrate deep into the Hall of Ten Thousand Souls.

When Song Mingyue saw her mother, who had passed away eight years ago, appear, her first reaction was not shock, but rather a calm examination of the illusion before her.

Her mother was like this in her memory: weak and pale, but always so gentle to her, and her eyes were always full of light when she looked at her.

Until one day, her mother lay quietly on the hospital bed, her eyes closed and without a sound. At that moment, she felt incredibly sad and knew that her mother was dead.

For her, it meant losing her mother's love, her companionship, her warmth, and her light; the world became cold, gray, and oppressive.

It was this desperate life that ignited her psychic powers. And that's why she doesn't like others to know she has psychic abilities.

It wasn't until her grandfather, Song Chunqiu, visited her that he discovered her spiritual powers.

Grandpa originally wanted to take her to the army for training, but she refused.

Since then, her grandfather has given her a lot of support.

Song Mingyue thought her life would slowly fade away in darkness and despair until she encountered a supernatural being, which made her realize how terrible fate can be.

In her attempt to observe the supernatural beings and find a way to deal with them, she nearly drowned.

It was on that day that she met Gao Wu. From that moment on, the wheel of fate changed direction, racing towards the light ahead.

As Song Mingyue watched the slowly approaching illusion of her mother, she thought of her conversation with Gao Wu yesterday, in which she asked Gao Wu if he liked older women.

As soon as she said it, she regretted it a little. Both she and Gao Wu lacked maternal love, so it was normal for them to have special feelings for older women.

No matter how close their relationship was, such words were inappropriate. Gao Wu understood her well; he wasn't angry, but simply changed the subject.

She wasn't lying; it was precisely because she was a little jealous that she asked such a thoughtless question.

Song Mingyue could vaguely sense Gao Wu; the two seemed both very far apart and very close. This was the first time she had encountered such a situation.

Unable to make an accurate judgment immediately, she could only be certain that the illusion before her was not Gao Wu, and that was enough.

Song Mingyue reached out her fingers and gently touched her mother's hand. As her mother activated her spiritual power, the beautiful but weak woman disintegrated and vanished like a bubble.

Just as the hospital environment collapsed, it transformed into an exceptionally vast and magnificent hall.

The main hall's dome was as deep and dark as the night sky, with faint starlight visible. The floor was made of neatly arranged black and gold boulders, and towering, massive pillars could be seen all around.

In front of the main hall stands a towering platform, radiating a dark golden light, appearing both mysterious and sacred.

The platform was right in front of her, yet Song Mingyue felt it was impossibly far away. It was a strange feeling, as if they were on completely different levels.

To be precise, the platform is like an image on a movie screen; she can see it but can never actually climb it.

Just like the spiritual connection between her and Gao Wu, it seemed close yet unreachable.

Although she had no knowledge of ancient architecture, judging from the style of the main hall, it was very close to traditional Chinese style, and had a grand atmosphere reminiscent of the Qin and Han dynasties.

Upon closer inspection, it's quite amazing that there are traditional Chinese buildings in a secluded place.

Who built it? How did it end up here? What materials were used? What was the purpose of building the main hall?
A thousand questions flashed through Song Mingyue's mind. She even suspected that everything in front of her was still an illusion, and only this could be the most reasonable explanation.

Black light flashed across the floor of the main hall, instantly transforming into ten soldiers dressed in traditional Chinese heavy armor. They carried large shields, spears, bows and crossbows, and charged towards Song Mingyue in battle formation.

The heavily armored soldier remained silent, his entire body covered by armor, with only a pair of crimson lights shining behind his visor.

Song Mingyue knew this was a manifestation of an alien spirit, and the real battle had begun.

Each of the heavily armored soldiers possessed abundant source energy, equivalent to the fifth level, corresponding to her martial arts divine intent.

The Divine Will of Martial Arts is based on spiritual power, and through continuous refinement of martial arts, spiritual power is transformed into a special state corresponding to the martial arts.

Song Mingyue's mental strength has reached level six, but her martial arts divine intent is only at the initial level five.

Her mental strength, physical strength, and source power have all improved tremendously, but her martial arts cultivation has not kept up.

Within the Hall of Ten Thousand Souls, this is actually an enormous advantage, because the puppets manifested by the alien spirits are only at the early stage of level five.

She has a huge advantage in terms of source power and mental power.

After thinking for a moment, Song Mingyue decided to activate the Xuanming Seven Poison Sword first. This sixth-tier sword was lighter and easier for her to wield.

The Cangming Sword had reached level seven and weighed over a hundred kilograms. Communication with her source energy was also somewhat sluggish.

It's fine for short periods of use, but if the battle goes on for a long time, neither her physical strength nor her source energy can sustain it.

Of all the martial artists she knew, only Gao Wu could maintain a high level of intensity in combat for an extended period. No one else could.

Considering that Gao Wu's martial arts divine intent is only at level four, the Hall of Ten Thousand Souls should pose little challenge to him...

Dozens of crossbow bolts were fired in rapid succession, covering Song Mingyue from all sides.

The black and white snakes between Song Mingyue's brows spun, and the Xuanming Seven Poison Sword, propelled by her mental power, spun rapidly, shredding the rain of arrows. Before the enemy could fire again, Song Mingyue unleashed a golden sword wheel that shot forward, tearing armor and shattering bodies wherever it passed.

In the blink of an eye, all ten heavily armored soldiers were destroyed. The shattered soldiers turned into wisps of black light and merged into the ground, disappearing without a trace.

This feeling of putting in effort for nothing and receiving no feedback was like hitting empty air, which made Song Mingyue feel very awkward.

She took a few steps forward, and a group of heavily armored soldiers emerged, this time numbering twenty, exactly double the previous number.

Song Mingyue was getting a headache. If the dosage kept doubling, she was afraid she wouldn't be able to last until the fifth time...

At the same time, Gao Wu was facing a level-two alien beast. The beast's sharp claws were swinging towards him, and this scene overlapped with a moment in his memory.

Gao Wu was somewhat angry; the past he didn't even want to recall had actually been triggered by the alien spirit.

He had thought that the supernatural spirit could trigger some memories of his past life, since in his previous life he was just an ordinary person with many psychological flaws.

Unexpectedly, the alien spirit triggered his memory of being attacked by a strange beast when he was fourteen years old. This also shows that his past life memories are just a memory, and the one that has the greatest impact on him is his present life.

Gao Wu could see wisps of smoke around him through his Yin Spirit, and his body was enveloped in the smoke, which caused him to hallucinate.

The ancient and weathered hall seemed as deep and endless as the starry sky. A source of energy was taking shape on the floor of the hall.

From the perspective of the Yin spirit, one can see a vast and magnificent radiance of life, as dazzling as the sun in the sky.

Gao Wu had seen powerful life energy on several level-eight experts, but the life energy in front of him was a hundred or a thousand times stronger than that of those level-eight experts.

The difference is that this spark of life is very sluggish, lacking the activity that a normal intelligent life should have.

How to put it? It's like being in a vegetative state; you have vital signs, but your consciousness is dead.

Gao Wu suddenly realized that the Hall of Ten Thousand Souls was a giant alien spirit, and they were inside the alien spirit's body.

All the corresponding changes are the instinctive responses of the otherworldly spirits to their reactions.

The reason why the Hall of Ten Thousand Souls appears in this state is probably related to the first person who entered it. His impression of the Hall of Ten Thousand Souls was in this state, and it has remained stable ever since.

Therefore, in the final analysis, it is all a transformation of strange spirits; there are no ancient gods creating things here, nor is it a fairyland.

Gao Wu suddenly realized that this alien spirit was more powerful than several level eight experts.

However, this strange spirit was in a state of near hibernation, or perhaps even dying.
Gao Wu couldn't help but have a bold idea: maybe, just maybe, he could subdue this thing with the Qilin Divine Hero Mantra!
The Qilin Divine Hero Mantra can subdue otherworldly spirits, provided that the spirits do not possess high intelligence. This giant otherworldly spirit seems quite suitable.

Gao Wu laughed at himself when he thought about it. The idea was good, but the real form of this giant spirit should be several hundred meters tall. Even if it was somewhere between reality and illusion, where should he put his Spirit Control Seal?

Gao Wu immediately calmed down. Even if this thing lay there for him to handle, he wouldn't be able to handle it because of the huge difference in their shapes.

With a gentle wave of his hand, the strange beasts that had extended their sharp claws as if pouncing scattered.

The magnificent hall revealed its true form before him, that is, its most normal material state.

A black light shimmered on the ground paved with huge stone slabs, and ten heavily armored soldiers appeared.

Before the soldiers could make a move, Gao Wu had already charged forward, sword in hand. A sharp, gleaming sword flashed in all directions, and all ten black-armored soldiers were cut in two.

Gao Wu didn't use his source power; he only relied on his pure speed and strength to kill the group of soldiers.

He is very strong now, but his true martial arts divine intent is only at the fifth level, which gives him a significant advantage against transformed puppets.

Gao Wu roughly understood that fighting these puppets was pointless.

Each time a puppet appeared, he would slash it down with lightning speed. Then he would restore his strength by silently reciting the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Mantra.

Once he enters the Saintly Realm, he can use the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Mantra once every eight seconds. Given the battle rhythm of the Myriad Souls Palace, he can maintain his peak condition through the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Mantra.

Of course, the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Mantra is not a perpetual motion machine.

The incantation requires mobilizing source energy, the energy within the body. If the body's energy is insufficient, the Azure Dragon Divine Qi Incantation will stimulate the power of the life source.

Fortunately, Gao Wu had made preparations before entering, injecting five doses of Tyrant Dragon Potion in advance, which would allow him to maintain this pace of combat intensity for about ten days.

He still had ten vials of Tyrant Potion in his shirt pocket. He could stay inside for ten or twenty days without any problem.

With enough confidence, Gao Wu charged forward, sword in hand.

The number of puppets will not increase indefinitely; the limit is 320.

Three hundred and twenty level-five heavy armor soldiers, even without intelligence or martial arts skills, are still very terrifying.

Gao Wu was not afraid. His strong body, combined with the Crimson Flame Flying Dragon Armor, was enough to withstand the attacks of these puppet soldiers.

In actual combat, he was seven or eight times more agile than these soldiers, who had little martial arts skills and only the most basic teamwork.

Even when surrounded by a group of heavily armored soldiers, he could swim around them with ease, like a nimble fish.

For Gao Wu, even if there were tens of thousands of heavily armored soldiers, they would pose no threat.

Because the number of soldiers who can surround him is limited, he can slowly kill all these illusionary puppets as long as he conserves his energy.

Of course, it's only because of his special condition. If it were any other martial artist here, being surrounded by hundreds of puppets of the same level, even if they could win, they would be exhausted.

The key is that these puppets cannot be completely killed; new puppets will spawn every time you advance a certain distance.

It's no wonder that Hai Wuji and Qin Jiuyue were helpless; this sheer number of people overwhelmed all martial arts skills and tactics.

Let alone hundreds of level-eight puppets, even hundreds of level-seven puppets wouldn't be enough for Hai Wuji and Qin Jiuyue to get past the first round of the cycle.

For him, it was nothing more than a training exercise to hone his swordsmanship.

Gao Wu fought his way through six cycles before arriving at the foot of the platform.

The Wujin Platform was wide at the bottom and narrow at the top, standing a full hundred meters high. Gao Wu adjusted his source energy and leaped into the air, using the platform twice to gain momentum along the way, directly reaching the top of the platform.

The top was empty except for a dark hole about one meter in diameter on the black gold surface, with smooth edges, which looked like the entrance to a black pipe connecting to the bottom.

Gao Wu turned his gaze and saw a line of writing next to the entrance: This leads to the divine realm of the Epang Palace. Enter with caution.

The handwriting is ancient and majestic, like mountains rising from the ground with a grand and imposing presence.

When he went to the Tianwu Association to participate in the martial arts level assessment, he inscribed the words "All martial artists under heaven are one family" on the screen wall. The handwriting and style of the characters in front of him were exactly the same, which was obviously left by Qin Liuhe.

So, this black hole leads to the divine realm of the Epang Palace. Whether he enters or not, that is the question!
(End of this chapter)