Chapter 346 Abyssal Vault

Chapter 346 Abyssal Vault

Although Xuefeng had a general idea of the Celestial Ranking and Constellations, Emi's explanations were eye-opening. It turned out each challenge wasn't as straightforward as he thought; its rules differed between each duel.

"So the Divine Council will step in when the parties can't agree on the bets, and they will decide all the details at random?" Xuefeng concluded suspiciously. "Do you think they can be trusted?"

"Oh, you don't need to worry about them. The members of the Divine Council are the enforcers of the Universe, and they are extremely prideful beings. If you even try to bribe them, they will annihilate you without hesitation and banish all your Realms. No one dares to offend them since they are not known for giving out warnings," Emi assured. "Anyway, back to what I was saying. The challenge includes the bet amount, the location, and the rules of the duel. If you don't like any of the three, you can either negotiate or wait for the Divine Council's assistance. Once they are involved, you can only veto one of their decisions, but they don't like it when you do. You are usually better off just accepting whatever they give you."

"I guess we can't avoid it since all the top constellations hate your founder. I'm sure they will propose some outrageous bet," Xuefeng commented.

"They will bet as high as they can, which is a hundred Realms. The Divine Emissary who oversees the challenges will usually pick the median of both parties. Even if Founder Miara bets one Realm, she will have to hand over fifty in case of a loss," Emi explained. "She can also forfeit the challenge, giving up one Realm every month until she is confident she can defeat them. That option is very unlikely since she has never run away from a fight."

"Who are we going to face?" Xuefeng questioned as he gazed at his wives. "Can you tell how our strength compares to our opponents?"

"Well, it's likely that Constellation Alynna will challenge Founder Miara to avenge her past defeat, but we can't predict who will fight on her behalf. We can only guess the top Constellations will seize this opportunity to curry favor by lending her their elite mercenaries," Emi said with a sigh. "I would say overall, if Wu manages to master the Seven Soul Steps and you all reach the peak of Ancient Celestial, we have about a ten percent chance of victory."

"Only ten percent?" Xuefeng raised his eyebrows. "What if I had a few Realms at my disposal?"

"Even if Founder Miara, with hundreds of Realms, were to join us, the chance of victory would only rise to thirty percent. It would be extremely unfair if the Constellations were to join their challenges with their full power, so the locations of the duels are usually Soul-restricted, which limits the amount of Qi and Soul Power you can use," Emi replied with a sigh. "Sometimes you can't even use any weapons or artifacts, forcing you to depend on your own Arts, Weapon Intent, and Bloodlines."

"Those are Tier 2 Nightmares," Emi informed. "They are much stronger and possess the ability to speak. They aren't intelligent, but they can communicate and work together to attack their prey."

They didn't stand a chance against Founder Miara as she simply snapped her fingers, causing every creature to explode into a shower of blood and gore.

"Where can you find the artifacts?" Xuefeng asked curiously, not seeing anything inside.

"What you're seeing is the beginning of a labyrinth that leads towards the lair of a high-tier Nightmare Beast. If you're not careful, you might get lost in the maze and never find an exit," Emi replied as she waved her hand.

The image changed to show Founder Miara finding the light at the end of a tunnel and stepping into a pocket dimension. They were surprised to see a cave filled with piles of Spirit Herbs, Weapons, and shiny Artifacts that the Nightmare had gathered over many years.

"Sometimes you can be lucky and find a treasure trove without a present Nightmare, which is what happened in my case. I was able to loot freely without needing to fight anyone," Emi commented, showcasing a silver ring on her finger. "Although it was just a Tier 3 Nightmare lair, I found this Legendary Artifact. It allows me to form two portals across Realms and travel between them without many limitations. It can also transport Qi, which is how I was able to create this Realm for myself."

Xuefeng raised his eyebrows before smiling, realizing his cube must also be one of the Legendary Artifacts. Even though he couldn't transport Qi, he could travel anywhere he wanted, as opposed to just one place.

"That's nice, but to be honest, I expected the Abyssal Vault to be more dangerous. Even in my current state, I could go inside and I'd be fine," Xuefeng pointed out confidently. "How is this place not emptied of treasures if it's so easy to get inside?"

"I also thought the same until I went in on my own the second time," Emi admitted. "I forgot to mention that there's a reason only Constellations dare to venture inside. Every time you enter the Abyssal Vault, you spawn at a random location and can face high-tier Nightmares if you're unlucky. The second time I stepped inside, I happened to meet a Tier 5 Nightmare and barely escaped with my life thanks to my ring. Unless you're confident you can defeat high-tier Nightmares, you shouldn't enter the Abyssal Vault on your own."

Emi sighed as she recalled the scene, displaying a hologram of a large throne room with a humanoid shadow sitting on the throne, a shiny crown on its head. "It's a shame it's impossible to return to the same dimension after you've left. This Legendary Artifact on his head is part of a set, the crown of the Shadow King, who was one of the old Constellations that offended the Divine Council. It's said that anyone who can gather his Artifacts can reach the power of a Constellation without possessing a single Realm."

Xuefeng looked around at his wives and asked with interest, "What if there was a way to enter this place?"

"There isn't. I actually tried to use the portal I left inside, but it was already destroyed. You'd need a Legendary Artifact that can take you into the Abyssal Vault without any link, and such an artifact doesn't exist," Emi replied with a shake of her head, pausing after noticing Xuefeng's expression. "What? Why are you smiling?"