Tower Defense: Public Enemy

Chapter 490 Holy Palace

The marks on the six real masks were burned away by Lei Chi's blue flames, and the six storage black spheres were forcibly broken open. The contents inside were mostly high-grade materials, but overall, there was nothing worth mentioning.

"I wonder if the Mask of Truth can block the effects of the Alchemy Array of the Mechanical Temple. If it can, collecting Qiukas's divine fragments will be much easier. However, those divine fragments are also system items. Even if Qiukas obtains them, he will only gain more system-enhanced power. Let him decide for himself..."

After ten years of seclusion within the stone slab, Lei Chi's mindset had changed again, and his actions had become much more composed and reserved. At this moment, he handed a real mask to Qiu Kasi, explained the function of the mask to him, and said, "Whether you use this mask or not is your own decision."

Qiukas's face lit up with ecstasy. In his eyes, the Mask of Truth was an absolute treasure, far superior to ordinary divine artifacts. He quickly put the Mask of Truth away and then said, "Master, could you give your disciple another black ball?"

"Can!"

Lei Chi's face was unreadable as he casually tossed another empty black ball into the air.

Qiukas, having received two treasures in succession, said happily, "Thank you, Master, for bestowing these treasures upon me. With these, venturing into outer space will be much more convenient!"

"Are you still planning to venture into outer space?"

Lei Chi glanced at Qiu Kasi, who tossed the [black sphere] into his mouth, licked his lips, and then hid the [black sphere] inside his mouth. He chuckled and said, "The more I learn about this world, the more uneasy I feel. Master, you said there's an even wider starry sky beyond the Divine Realm. If I have the chance, I'd like to go and see it!"

"There will be an opportunity!"

A smile appeared on Lei Chi's face. He said nothing more, took a step, and broke through space, leaving the other world.

A sly glint appeared in Qiukas's eyes as he thought, "That scoundrel Lei Chi has really been good to me. I'll acknowledge him as my master for a while longer, and follow him to fleece that system scoundrel. Once I've mastered my skills, I'll turn the tables on him and make him acknowledge me as his master!"

The ancient dragon god was lost in his smug fantasy. A crack had appeared on the golden headband on his head, which stirred his mind. He sensed that he now had the power to shatter the golden headband, but he was not in a hurry to act. He needed to find a suitable opportunity to escape.

"I hope that scoundrel Lei Chi forgets about me and doesn't put any more golden headbands on me. He'll behave himself for a while..."

Thinking of this, Qiukas leisurely retreated to his courtyard and began his cultivation.

What he didn't know was that during his ten years in the stone passage, Lei Chi not only mastered the second level of the Trident Thunder Technique, but also gained a much deeper understanding of the Crossing Nerve. The Tightening Spell was one of the spells he studied most diligently.

In fact, when Lei Chi first saw Qiu Kasi, he sensed that the golden headband on Qiu Kasi's head had cracked, but he didn't care. With his current mastery of the [Tightening Spell], it would be effortless for him to put a new golden headband on Qiu Kasi. If Qiu Kasi dared to break the golden headband, he would sense it and, with a single incantation, a new golden headband would immediately appear.

Lei Chi didn't care about this at all. After returning to the starry sky, he sat on Wang Yue's back, shook the [Wang Yue Bell] with his right hand, and controlled it to fly out of the dark area.

That Moon Gazing was indeed extraordinary; it easily flew out of the dark area that Lei Chi couldn't escape.

Looking back at the dark void, Lei Chi thought to himself that this place was an excellent prison. If he could take it over and use it for his own purposes, it would be like adding wings to a tiger, and his own strength could be greatly enhanced.

He tried, but with the Golden Lotus of the Other Shore in its current state, it was simply unable to collect that dark void.

"If the Golden Lotus of the Other Shore continues to advance and the Lotus World continues to expand, I wonder if it would be possible to incorporate this void into the Other Shore World. Let's try again later..."

Lei Chi kept this thought in his mind, but then controlled the Moon Gazing Beast to leave the place.

A moment later, Lei Chi used the Golden Lotus of the Other Shore to bring the Palace of All Beings into the Other Shore World.

Upon entering the Other Shore World, the Palace of All Beings revealed its attribute information. As Lei Chi had expected, it was a divine artifact, and a divine artifact of faith. However, perhaps because the cauldron inside had been burned by Lei Chi, the palace was damaged and had lost its original abilities. The system prompted Lei Chi that if he could name the palace, he would gain control of it, and the system would rebuild its abilities.

"Let this temple be called the Temple of All Beings and Faith!"

Lei Chi responded to the system casually, and soon after, he saw the temple's new attributes.

"Special Shelter? That's not bad. I'll place it in Bliss City from now on and see who can win its favor."

Lei Chi did not personally test the function of the Temple of All Beings and Faith, but casually placed it in the back of his manor and then stopped paying attention to it.

He also needs to go to the ruins of the Star Palace.

There are still sixteen extraordinary jade pillars in the ruins, which Lei Chi will not let go of and wants to take into the other world.

When they returned to the ruins of the Star Palace, the mist inside had dissipated considerably, but there were still quite a few mayflies active within.

The broken buildings in the ruins were nothing special, so Lei Chi didn't take them. He went straight to the nearest jade pillar, quickly opened up the Lotus World, and then entered the Other Shore World, where he took the jade pillar into the Other Shore World.

【Star Pillars (Damaged): A special artifact, a formation tool, consisting of sixteen pillars and a sun and moon wheel. It can draw upon the power of starlight to set up a grand star formation. To control the formation, one must cultivate the 【Starry Sky Divine Art】. Please explore for details.】

"Starry Sky Divine Skill?"

Lei Chi gazed at the Star Pillar before him and thought to himself that the name of this technique was quite good, comparable to the Cosmic Sword Technique. He wondered if he could find it in this ancient sacred domain.

Next, Lei Chi used the same method to collect the remaining fifteen [Star Pillars] into the Otherworld.

The sixteen Star Pillars have the same attributes, but due to the lack of the Sun and Moon Wheel and the Starry Sky Divine Art, they do not exhibit any divine effects and stand in the Other Shore World as nothing more than ground decorations.

"Unfortunately, the moon-gazing mist here has mostly dissipated, and the Moon-Nourishing Furnace cannot be used to collect it..."

Lei Chi sighed slightly, and just as he was about to ride the Moon Gazing Beast to explore elsewhere, he suddenly saw the figure of a giant tortoise flash by in the distance.

"It's that giant tortoise carrying the inscriptions of the cosmic sword technique!"

A glint flashed in Lei Chi's eyes, and he quickly shook the Moon Gazing Bell in his hand.

"Look at the moon, catch up with that giant tortoise!"

Lei Chi transmitted his divine thoughts, and Wang Yue obeyed readily, quickly chasing after the giant beast carrying the monument. Its speed was extremely fast, and a misty trail formed behind it as it moved.

The giant beast carrying the monument was also extremely fast. This beast seemed to be very familiar with the ancient holy domain. Although its body was huge, it moved nimbly through the ruins, turning left and right without hitting any buildings.

On the other hand, Wangyue marched straight ahead with its head down, like a destructive maniac. Some buildings that blocked its way were smashed into pieces by it.

In this chase, the two giant beasts gradually entered the depths of the ancient sacred domain. Lei Chi sat cross-legged on the back of the Moon Gazing Beast and saw many broken buildings, as well as more star beasts, such as giant mayfly squid, crabs as big as mountains, giant three-headed dogs that seemed to be made of rock, and so on.

These powerful cosmic behemoths are mostly entrenched in relatively concentrated clusters of ruins. They are territorial and will actively attack any creatures that approach their territory, especially cosmic behemoths.

A moment later, several giant star beasts followed behind Wangyue, forming a rather grand formation in this ancient sacred domain.

While passing through a broken palace called "Heavenly Thunder Palace", Lei Chi suddenly discovered a second hunchbacked giant tortoise. This giant tortoise was almost identical in appearance to the previous one, but the giant stele it carried did not bear the inscription of the [Cosmic Sword Technique], but rather the inscription of the [King's Overlord Divine Fist].

"King's Overlord Divine Fist, what is that?"

Lei Chi secretly took note of the giant tortoise and the Heavenly Thunder Palace, and did not linger there. He ordered Wang Yue to continue the pursuit of the first giant tortoise carrying the stele.

Unlike other celestial beasts, the giant tortoise carrying the inscription of the "King's Overlord Divine Fist" did not chase after Wangyue. Instead, it twisted its body and retreated into the ruins of the Heavenly Thunder Palace.

After a while, Lei Chi's view suddenly opened up, and a palace as large as a giant mountain appeared in his field of vision.

To be precise, this is a palace complex, with stone steps, giant gates, towers, and grand halls... a large number of buildings are layered on top of each other, all radiating golden light, magnificent, brand new, and splendid, giving people a sense of unreal mythology and epic.

In front of the main hall, there was a giant gate tower with three large golden characters on it. Although Lei Chi did not recognize the characters, he immediately understood them upon seeing them.

"Holy Temple!"

Lei Chi narrowed his eyes. He saw the giant tortoise carrying the monument head straight toward the entrance of the Holy God Palace and soon disappear into it. The other star beasts that had been chasing after it hesitated and were wary in front of the Holy God Palace. They roared but did not advance. Instead, they retreated one after another.

"For the cosmic behemoth to retreat, this Holy Palace must be extraordinary. There's a high chance that it houses something those cosmic behemoths dare not provoke. Should we continue the pursuit?"

Lei Chi hesitated for a moment, but quickly made a decision. He stopped the Moon Gazing Beast in front of the Holy God Palace and planned to let his Azure Flame clone explore it alone.

For safety, Lei Chi once again used the Golden Lotus of the Other Shore to allow himself and the Moon Gazing Beast to escape into the Other Shore World.

A moment later, the Azure Fire Pearl transformed into an Azure Fire clone. Without any hesitation, he strode into the massive gatehouse of the Holy God Palace.

Just then, a thunderous roar exploded in Lei Chi's mind, and an arrogant and domineering voice rang out: "I leave behind my legacy here. Those who are destined to cross this gate in the future will become members of my sect. They can then cultivate my supernatural powers. If they attain the Great Dao, they can inherit my name and bear my obsession. Be careful and cautious."

Upon hearing this voice, the Azure Flame Avatar stopped and did not continue forward.

At this moment, Lei Chi discovered that behind the huge gatehouse, there was a gaunt old man sitting cross-legged. The old man had a wrinkled face, cloudy eyes, and a tortoise shell on his back, and he did not seem to be human.

Upon closer inspection, chains were found around his neck, wrists, and ankles, with the other end of the chains wrapped around the pillars of the massive gatehouse, indicating that the old man was clearly locked there.

At this moment, the old man looked up at Lei Chi and spoke in a dry voice, "Whoever comes, state your name!"

Lei Chi knew that this old man was no ordinary person, so he dared not be careless. He controlled his Azure Flame avatar to stop, cupped his hands to the old man, and said, "Lei Chi."

"Hmm!" The old man nodded, and with a wave of his hand, a golden token flew to the vicinity of the Thunder Pool.

"You are the 10th person destined to enter the Holy Palace this time. With this token, you are allowed to enter the Holy Palace once. If you feel that you can no longer stay inside, crush the token and you will be teleported out immediately."

The old man's voice was dry and devoid of any emotion.

The Azure Flame Avatar looked at the token in front of him and saw that his name was already on it, and below the name was a number, "10".

The old man added, "Go in. How much fortune you gain inside depends entirely on yourself!"

Lei Chi thought for a moment, then, instead of easily passing through the gatehouse, asked again, "What exactly is this place?"

The old man said, "This is the legacy site of the Cowardly Emperor."

"The Emperor of Cowardice?"

"Indeed! He was a coward his whole life, but he couldn't escape his misfortune. He was unwilling to accept it, so he left this Divine Palace of Inheritance here. It has been opened for the twelfth time now. If you enter this palace and can gain the recognition of the Divine Palace, you can inherit the title of the Coward Emperor and become... the second generation Coward."

"A second-generation coward?"

The Azure Flame Avatar's expression darkened; this title was far too casual.

"Go inside!"

With a casual wave of his hand, the old man caused Lei Chi to feel a tremendous force. The Azure Flame Avatar involuntarily flew into the huge gatehouse, which meant entering the Holy God Palace.

"This old man..."

Lei Chi's mind was shaken. The Azure Flame Avatar possessed the body of a God. In Lei Chi's understanding, this body of a God was the body of a Saint, incredibly sturdy and almost immune to all control skills. Even the gravitational field of the Moon Gazing Beast could not affect its mobility.

The old man was able to send the Azure Flame Transformation into the Holy God Palace with such ease, which shows that his strength was extraordinary. Lei Chi thought that he must be a main god or an ancient saint.

(End of this chapter)