Chapter 3415: Secret of the Sacred Mountain (3)
Jian Chen thought of the information he had learnt from the artifact spirit of the Tower of Radiance again.
During the age of the Grand Exalt of the Martial Soul lineage, the Grand Exalt had entered the very depths of the sacred mountain numerous times and emerged with a few extremely precious items.
The formula to forge the ultimate god artifact that the Grand Exalt of Ancient Paths was currently forging was one of the items brought out from the very depths of the Martial Soul Mountain by the Grand Exalt of the Martial Soul lineage.
However, even the Grand Exalt of the Martial Soul lineage with his invincible strength was unable to enter the core region of the sacred mountain through his efforts alone. He needed the cooperation of the seven other successors who were far weaker than him.
“The Grand Exalt of the Martial Soul lineage killed his partner, who was also a Grand Exalt, with a single palm strike. As a result, the Grand Exalt of the Martial Soul lineage is definitely more powerful than regular Grand Exalts, at least well beyond Grand Exalts that have comprehended one or two ways. Logically speaking, if this truly can only be achieved through great strength, then even if the seven other Ninth Heavenly Layer Grand Primes were included, they would struggle to rival the Grand Exalt of the Martial Soul lineage’s strength.”
“Yet he clearly only managed to enter the very depths with their cooperation, so it’s quite clear that entering the very depths does not depend on great strength but the number of successors present.”
Jian Chen sank into his thoughts. He studied the walls embedded with Martial Soul Rock in the surroundings. His eyes flickered as he thought seriously.
A while later, he suddenly let out a murmur, “Perhaps we can try it out together, as we’ve already searched through the other places of the mountain; this is the only place that’s rather different. If I’ve guessed correctly, the passageway leading to the true core of the Martial Soul Mountain should be here.”
“Hmm? Perhaps we should try the Martial Soul Array, as only the Martial Soul Array can combine all of our strength,” Hun Zang said in thought.
They immediately got to work. The eight successors of the Martial Soul lineage immediately assembled the Martial Soul Array.
Immediately, a beam of light rushed into the air. A great storm of energy immediately swept through the cave, and a terrifying pressure gushed out.
The eight of them had already combined their strength through the Martial Soul Array.
With their powers combined, the Martial Soul Array this time was far more powerful than any combination of just seven people.
“With eighth junior brother this time, the Martial Soul Array has already surpassed any of the times in the past. With our current strength, we have absolutely no need to fear any Fifth Heavenly Layer Grand Primes. If we use the Heaven-severing technique, slaying a Grand Prime of the Fifth Heavenly Layer is not a challenge.” Sensing the tremendous power from the formation, Hun Zang could not help but bellow out.
When they heard that, they all smiled excitedly, including Jian Chen.
The stronger they were, the more capable they were at protecting themselves.
They had the sacred mountain as a place of refuge, but the sacred mountain would not be truly capable of everything. Otherwise, there would not have been so many tragedies where everyone perished in the history of the Martial Soul lineage.
“We’ll maintain the Martial Soul Array to absorb Martial Soul Force. Let’s unite our strength and see if we can get a little deeper,” Hun Zang said.
Afterwards, without any hesitation, he directly extended his hand towards one of the Martial Soul Rock on the wall.
If they wanted to absorb the Martial Soul Force, they needed to dig the Martial Soul Rock from the wall.
But this time, something strange happened. When Hun Zang’s hand made contact with the Martial Soul Rock, it was as if the Martial Soul Rock had vanished all of a sudden. Hun Zang’s hand passed straight through it.
The unexpected situation immediately stunned all eight of them. They stared at the Martial Soul Rock Hun Zang made contact with dazedly. They were astounded.
Shortly afterwards, Hun Zang tried the same thing again and reached towards the same Martial Soul Rock, but the result was the same. After using the Martial Soul Array, it was as if they resided in a space completely different from the Martial Soul Rock. They were completely incapable of making contact.
They could see it, but they could not touch it. The Martial Soul Rock seemed to become an illusion.
Afterwards, Hun Zang adjusted his position and reached towards a different Martial Soul Rock. He moved around through the cave and touched all of the exposed Martial Soul Rock, but he could not touch any of them at all.
“Cease the Martial Soul Array!” Hun Zang called out. Immediately, they stopped maintaining the Martial Soul Array. He tried to touch the Martial Soul Rock again.
This time, Hun Zang grabbed the Martial Soul Rock in the wall with ease.
“Looks like when we’re using the Martial Soul Array, we can bypass the obstruction of Martial Soul Rock,” Hun Zang murmured.
The others’ eyes all lit up when they heard that. Su Qi said eagerly, “Doesn’t that mean we can use the Martial Soul Array to pass through the Martial Soul Rock and directly make our way towards the very depths? Perhaps we can try entering the very core of the Martial Soul Mountain.”
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s try it,” Qing Shan said. He was all too eager.
Afterwards, they formed the Martial Soul Array again and directly threw themselves at the wall in that state.
As soon as they made contact with the wall, everyone melded in silently, immediately vanishing from the cave.
Within the rock, the eight of them continued towards the depths with the Martial Soul Array maintained. They could clearly see the situation inside the rocks. They discovered that it was filled with Martial Soul Rock.
The Martial Soul Rock here differed in size, but the further they went, the larger the Martial Soul Rock became. The Martial Soul Force they contained was more pure too.
They maintained a steady pace and advanced carefully and cautiously, constantly studying the surroundings. Everyone was extremely curious.
Their ability to basically pass through walls was far too common in the Saints’ World. Basically all cultivators could achieve this if their cultivations reached a certain level.
However, this was the Martial Soul Mountain. They had never experienced being able to pass through the Martial Soul Rock freely.
Most importantly, being able to pass through the Martial Soul Rock freely meant they could further explore the Martial Soul Mountain.
The eight of them advanced slowly, exceeding six metres very soon. Even Hun Zang had not ventured so far in before.
The Martial Soul Rock before them grew larger and larger in size. Their grades became higher and higher too.
However, they still did not stop, continuing towards the deeper depths.
Thirty metres…
Sixty metres…
A hundred and fifty metres…
......
…
Very soon, the eight of them had already ventured two hundred and ten metres deep. The Martial Soul Rock at this depth differed in terms of quality towards the others outside. It was a change in grade.
But after reaching so far in, they could all sense an extremely powerful resistance from all directions, such that each step took even more strength than before.
And the further they went, the greater the resistance became!
Finally, after reaching three hundred metres deep, the eight of them stopped. At this moment, all of their foreheads were laced with sweat beads. Their faces were pale.
Standing three hundred metres in, they felt an unprecedented resistance. This distance was already the limit that they could reach. They could not take another step forward.
Gazing at the deep-violet vein of Martial Soul Rock that stretched for who knew how deep before them, they all fell silent.
“With our current strength, we still can’t reach the very depths. There are probably only two ways to reach the very depths. The first is to wait for the ninth successor to appear.”
“The second is for the eight of us to reach the same peak as the predecessors, a Grand Exalt and seven Ninth Heavenly Layer Grand Primes!” Jian Chen said sternly. He felt some pity inside.