Chapter 544 - Entering A Secret Realm

Everyone looked at it, watching the pillars reform and then displaying a massive gate before them. 

She Xing looked with slight horror and shock. 

"Is this what the ruins are? A gateway to somewhere else?" she muttered. 

But Lao Yang said otherwise though his voice contained a rare excitement. 

"No, this is a secret realm! Marvelous, just marvelous!" 

His eyes were wide and filled with wonder as he practically grinned at all of this, walking up and staring at it all. All ten pillars had broken and floated away, forming this great gate. a screen of blue energy formed before manifesting itself into a pair of giant doors, something that seemed to beckon them to enter. 

Lao Yang then turned back, facing the others. 

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's enter!" he said. 

"Let us lead first."

Niu Hong stepped forward, along with the rest of the Four Claws. The goat-kin nodded and took a step back, allowing them to take the front. They might not be the strongest but in terms of experience, they had the most out of everyone. 

Niu Hong looked at She Xing, glancing to the others, 

Each and every one of them shared a look of affirmation, showing determination. And then, the ox-kin looked to the rest of the Zodiacs. 

"We will go in to determine if it is safe or not, do not enter until we return and tell you that it is safe."

Telling them this, the Four Claws faced the giant gate and slowly approached it. As they stood right before the giant doors, Niu Hong placed both hands onto them and pushed, opening it. Despite the immense size, he opened them with ease. 

He peered in before entering and the others soon followed. But they walked out soon after with looks of awe. 

"What is it? What is it?! What did you find?" Lao Yang asked. 

Niu Hong just looked at him and gazed at the others. 

"All of you need to see this", he said.

Curious by his words, everyone else looked past him, trying to peer through the gates from a distance but they saw nothing. There was no other choice to go in and so, everyone walked together, entering the gates. 

Once through, the scholars of the group had the most shocked face. 

"What is this?"

Rather than standing in the lush and deadly forests of the Savage Lands, they stood on a field of grass and there was a pathway leading to a flowing river. It was a very wide and shallow river with an abundance of colorful flowers. Past that was an open hall, there were no walls but pillars to support the roof that provided shade from the bright sun. 

Everyone's eyes wandered about, taking in this strange and wondrous sight. 

But it didn't take long for them to focus on the hall. There was nothing but that past the river and it was something that none of them could miss. 

Quietly and carefully, they began to walk down the pathway before wading through the shallow river. For some, the water when up to their shins, for others, it was up to their knees. Qiang Rong looked down at the riverbed and knelt down, cupping his hands to drink. 

"Wait!" 

Too late to stop him from drinking, they all prepared for the worst but nothing happened. He merely finished and let out a breath of satisfaction, looking at the others. 

"The water is quite good", he said. 

She Xing scolded him in an instant. 

"You idiot, what if that water was deadly?! What if you had activated some sort of trap?!" she yelled out. 

But Qiang Rong just laughed and shrugged. 

"If that were the case, we would've been dead the moment we stepped into the river."

Having pointed that out, She Xing was stifled, unable to think of a good response. 

"Agh, whatever, just be careful next time!"

Everyone else just sighed in relief, safely passing through the river and getting close to the open hall. 

"What sort of place could this be? A place of power? Treasure? History perhaps?" Lao Yang muttered. 

As they all stopped in front of it, the contents of the hall were all but exposed before them. Among the zodiacs, Zhu Xie seemed the most excited at what he saw. 

"Weapons!" he spoke out in excitement. 

There were six pedestals, three on one side and three on the other, each one holding a different weapon. 

"Look at all this!"

In his excitement, Zhu Xie ran forward, looking at each one with a child-like curiosity. 

"A dagger with three blades? It looks like a trident without a shaft!* This, could this be a monk's staff? And what a beautiful shield! Oh, a bow but no arrows? Not even a quiver? How strange! What is this? This circular blade, chakram perhaps? How would one use this? Lastly, an axe!"

Standing before this final pedestal, Zhu Xie's eyes were enamored with it. 

"The size, the design! It is both beautiful and yet, created for battle! Who could've created such things?!" he cried out in glee. 

"The better question would be who was this made for?" Ao Qin asked. 

Standing at the back of the group, he looked at them from a distance, fully knowing that these were not ordinary. But Ruishi Lei's eyes showed a different light, seemingly connecting a few things together. 

"There are six weapons here... and the statues had six arms."

"You're right!" said Shu Yi, "Those statues had six arms and there are six weapons here! They must've belonged to someone strong!"

With that in mind, Zhu Xie stopped himself from touching the axe and turned to the others. 

"Do you think these could be trapped?" he asked. 

"There are a few possibilities", Niu Hong replied, "Considering we haven't been attacked or caught in a trap yet, either this entire hall is one or there are no traps at all. Or perhaps there is a reason why there are no traps, we might not even be able to take them back. And there's really only one way to check."

He then turned to Yu Tu, who had a timid and nervous look on her face. 

"Can you do this?" the ox-kin asked. 

Yu Tu looked past him and studied the pedestals. 

"Not all six but... four at most", she responded. 

Niu Hong nodded.

"Alright, then whose the quickest out of all of us?" 

He looked to the others while posing this question, looking to see if there were any that were confident. Among them, Ao Qin and Ruishi Lei stepped forward as well as Jin Nao. 

"Aside from the Four Claws, we're probably the quickest", said the dragon-kin. 

"Indeed, even if I'm injured, it is only mental. My physical capabilities are still at their best."

Ruishi Lei answered, straightening himself up. And Jin Nao simply nodded. 

"Aside from the Four Claws that is", she said. 

"No, it should be Yu Tu and Qiang Rong along with you three. She is nimble enough to take two of the weapons while the rest will take one", Niu Hong responded. 

"In that case, Ruishi Lei and I will take the two heaviest ones, so the staff and the axe. The rabbit should take the two lightest ones, probably the dagger and the chakram. Finally, she and Qiang Rong can choose between the bow and the shield", said Ao Qin. 

"I can grab the shield", Qiang Rong volunteered. 

"Then I will take the bow", Jin Nao followed. 

With everyone assigned their place, those who did not participate like Zhu Xie and the scholars walked out of the hall. There were only five individuals that stayed within it, standing right before the pedestals. 

Aside from Yu Tu, the other four eyed the thing they were to take. The moment, she took the dagger, the others would take their items to escape. 

That was the plan.