Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

The number of cultivators at the fifth-floor entrance was shockingly only six thousand in number. Witnessing the low number remaining, Yan Zaizen's expression was a little solemn. For four thousand experts to have died trying to make it this far, it truly was brutal.

When the experts saw Yan Zaizen and Ma Xiuren appear, their eyes flickered with a vigilant gaze. Many could be seen having already prepared their cultivation bases, yet there was no battle. During the venture, there were likely many who made enemies or fought to a tie for treasures. There were areas cordoned off by formations set by various experts. Within these areas were cultivators recovering from their wounds with all sorts of elixirs and pills.

It seemed some groups teamed up together that weren't originally doing so. The stressful situation for the weaker teams must've been rather harsh. How could they not decide to team up? Shockingly, Guàn Cui was still alive. She laid in the lotus position within a formation that manifested a grand pure white crane. However, one of her members were no longer with them. As for the rest, they seemed to be severely injured.

Near them were Wu Kun, Yao Wuhen's group, the Imperial Family of Presba, and a few other groups together in close proximity. Obviously, it seemed they had teamed up for survival. The Xiāo City Lord was with another group farther away, their overall cultivation bases and number didn't lose out to Wu Kun's band of cultivators.

"Alliances...I guess with benefits and their lives on the line, the most logical course of action is to share." Yan Zaizen muttered, his eyes fluttering about.

Yao Wuhen was only at the initial-True Essence Realm, so making it thus far was an accomplishment. However, she had a very disgruntled appearance. Her usual mature and elegant charm was washed with pain and exhaustion. When she felt someone's gaze upon herself and the sudden shift in atmospheric presence, her eyes opened to see Yan Zaizen standing next to a little girl in a flower dress.

"Him!" During the Imperial Family accusation event, she was still trying to make her way there. When they passed the second floor, they saw him, but because they were in a hurry, she didn't approach. Now, however, her eyes were brilliant. These last two floors had intense battles and close calls. If it wasn't for her earlier preparations, she would have lost her life.

The enemies created weren't small.

Taking out a mirror, she checked her appearance. With a slight usage of true-essence, she cleaned herself up. When Xin Xiaoyu and Fu Jing saw this, they were curious at her actions. However, when she upped and left the formation to walk towards Yan Zaizen, their eyes revealed a sparkle of realization.

Wu Kun also noticed Yan Zaizen's arrival. It's been one month since the second floor; it seems Yan Zaizen finished his harvesting of the Asura's Milk. However, he didn't approach Yan Zaizen but simply gazed at him for a brief period. Afterward, his eyes closed in meditative recovery. As one of the strongest experts in his group, he had to fight at the forefront for any benefits. The strain on him was massive.

"Mister Zai," Yao Wuhen called out, her voice filled with a calm elegance. Witnessing Yao Wuhen's approach, Yan Zaizen felt a little odd in his heart. A major reason had to be her very existence here. If she died, he'd have to move his clan elsewhere. That would be a little troublesome.

"Yao Wuhen," despite his thoughts, he responded with a warm smile on his face. What he didn't know, was that nearby, the moment she walked out of the formation alone, a woman from another group with a cultivation base at the peak mid-True Essence Realm revealed a pair of murderously sharp eyes. If it wasn't for Yao Wuhen calling out Yan Zaizen's name, it's possible she would've already attacked.

Surprisingly, she didn't stop walking towards Yan Zaizen, directly arriving in close proximity to him amongst everyone's curious gaze. At this distance, he could smell her womanly scent in his nose. As a young man, he felt an odd sensation swell in his heart. Ma Xiuren looked at Yao Wuhen for a brief moment and turned towards the location of the woman revealing a ludicrous amount of killing intent. She remained silent as always.

"Can I ask you a question?" Yao Wuhen asked, her voice was softer than a marshmallow, but it could still be heard by all the experts in the surroundings.

Furrowing his brows, Yan Zaizen gave her a curious gaze. "Sure."

"Can you protect me?" As she asked this, she brushed her hair gently to the side. Her gaze was soft and filled with vulnerability. Yan Zaizen was startled to blankness. Was she attempting to use her feminine guiles of beauty to bewitch him? To him, there was no reason for her to do such a thing; if something threatened her life, it would also threaten the lives of his uncle, aunt, and grandfather.

If she died in here, then he'll simply relocate them. However, if it's carried to the outside, her sect may be annihilated by an external force. It was best if everyone understood that he stood firmly behind her to have people think nine times before taking action.

"Mhm. I'll protect you." With that, he turned towards the woman who revealed sharp killing intent, his expression turned dark as his eyes flickered with a silver-blue aurora-like radiance.

"Do you wish to kill her?" When he asked this question, his voice was filled with tyrannical arrogance and murderous intent. The woman's expression changed drastically as she saw Yan Zaizen's eyes flash a silver-blue color. She understood she wasn't his match, especially since she also witnessed him decimating Dong Long with very little effort. In comparison, her strength only exceeded Dong Long's by a bit.

The woman thought for a brief moment and shook her head in denial. She understood her limits. A wrong answer and the defensive formation she was in wouldn't last two seconds. The killing intent in her eyes lessened considerably, and she stayed silent. Her allies behind her already had thoughts of casting her outwards if she provoked this monster of a man.

Yan Zaizen looked away, not bothering with the woman any longer. He didn't know the issue Yao Wuhen had with her, but he wouldn't start a war over her. He wasn't going to be her dog that, at the bat of her lashes and soft voice, would be sicced on her enemies. He may not have a Dao of Pride, but he disliked being used by others.

Ma Xiuren witnessed this, her eyes flickering with intelligent light. She subtly stepped closer to Yan Zaizen, her eyes tracing the contours of his face with a soft smile on her face.

Yan Zaizen examined the surroundings and noticed that there wasn't a door that lead to the next level as before. This room didn't seem to have an exit or entrance. As they entered through a spatial platform, there was no platform that leads to higher levels. It seems it was also concealed.

"Are we trapped?" He questioningly muttered but didn't feel like that was the case. If they were truly trapped, the others would've worked together in unison to completely break free quickly to avoid any random events from occurring.

"Somewhat." Yao Wuhen calmly answered. It seems she regained her previous elegant and calm demeanor. She no longer had a soft gaze suffused with vulnerability. It seems, with Yan Zaizen's protection, she no longer felt insecure.

"Oh? Then?"

"This floor's objective is to find the door." She stated, looking about with observant eyes. She continued, "However, it's always moving. As this was the entrance to the fifth floor, only two remained, and all these floors belonged to important individuals. Only those with specific methods could exit this area. Without it, you'll be unable to go forward or backward in your steps. If we can find the entrance, open it, and enter. We can reach the fifth floor."

An invisible door in constant motion. The Asura Phantom Palace truly had innovative methods to protect themselves. It may not be as destructive as the first floor's Asura Golem, but it was insidious to trap all intruders.

"Others may be unable to sense the entrance, but I can. I can also open it!" Pinaka confidently said, her voice tinged with pride. As a True Spirit, one who was personally developed and merged with a Sovereign-level conceptual law, nourished by a sixth-floor Heavenly Genesis expert, and has boundless experience, how could she not perceive a hidden door?

In truth, the door released very minute fluctuations of soul energy, but unless one had the specific sensory art or an Astral Soul Realm cultivation base, it'll be incredibly difficult to discover it or hone onto it. Of course, with the experts here, they likely had various methods to bypass this obstacle, but it'll likely be taxing and time-consuming to do so.

Hearing this, Yan Zaizen wasn't shocked. He looked towards Yao Wuhen, "will you stay with me?"

If she decided to travel with him, he would take her with him. Surprisingly, she didn't agree to his offer. Yao Wuhen had her own responsibilities and alliances, if she threw them away, she'll be looked down upon by all. Of course, asking Yan Zaizen to join them would be ridiculous.

"Mhm." Acknowledging her response, his eyes flashed with a trace of silver-blue. A spiritual sense marked itself on her body. As an initial-True Essence expert, she noticed this immediately and couldn't help but reveal gratitude in her eyes. Of course, with his agreement with Pinaka, he didn't have more than 5% of his soul energy at any given time, but it was still sufficient to protect her against mid-True Essence experts.

Not to mention, it possessed his Mortal Dao amplification. 1% of his soul energy at the Perfect Aurora Soul Realm could cause injury to any initial-True Essence Realm, if one infused his dao into it, killing a mid-True Essence Realm expert wouldn't be difficult. The spiritual sense could also mark her body, if she was killed, Yan Zaizen would know by who and where.

In truth, he did this selfishly. If she was killed, he would make arrangements for his clan.

"Ma Xiuren, let's go," he reached out his hand towards Ma Xiuren. For a second, she was a little surprised by his extended hand, but she grasped it firmly soon after the initial shock.

Their bodies were covered by a silver-blue luminescent glow. With a step, they flew towards one point in the room with shocking speed. While in tow, Ma Xiuren calmly looked at all this.

"What?!" Several individuals were shocked by Yan Zaizen suddenly propulsion forward. Looking curiously at Yan Zaizen, their eyes flickered with intelligent light. However, in an instant, Yan Zaizen and Ma Xiuren entered a pool of grey that seemed to suddenly appear on the wall. Their bodies sank, the auras they emitted vanished as they were completely submerged.

"MOVE!" Many also saw this, their bodies moving at exceptional speed. A late-True Essence Expert nearby dashed towards the pool of grey color on the wall with zooming speed. He was mere inches away from the pool of grey before it vanished like the night at the arrival of the sun.

BOOM! CRACK!!

"AHHHHHHHH!!!" A shriek filled with intense pain resounded as a bloody spat was left on the wall. The expert had used his greatest speed with zero restraint. It was like a high-speed train smashing against an immovable wall. His bones, blood, and flesh splat on the wall so heavily that the room shook with heavy vibrations. To all those present, it was like an earthquake had occurred.

Hiss!

Everyone reeled back at that painful sight. The expert may have a profound qi cultivation base, but one could easily see his body cultivation was far weaker in comparison. However, if it wasn't for his qi cultivation base, he would've been killed instantly by this collision. Fortunately, he was just physically crippled. With time and medicine, he'll recover.

On the fifth floor.

Yan Zaizen arrived with Ma Xiuren in tow. The design was well maintained but only five corridors were constructed. Each corridor different auras. The furthest to the right had a strong medicinal smell. This one definitely had elixirs and pills.

The one next to it had a serene droning sound emitting from the walls, but there were no doors at the walls of this corridor. Instead, there was just a single door at the end. From his experience, that door leads to the main garden within the floor. The door itself should contain a sub-dimension specifically designed for nourishing flora and herbs.

Middle corridor contained very faint traces of differing qi's, from basic qi, to qi-essence, to true-essence. All of the qi that lingered seemed to have a spirituality of its own, likely originated from the World Law of Soul. From his estimations the location to the training fields and storage for essence materials used in training.

To the left of the middle corridor was nothing. It was similar to the medicinal corridor with a singular door, but it didn't have any strong distinction. The sub-dimension it possessed must definitely be the arts and methods located within, and if the previous corridor didn't have essence materials, this one did!

As for the last one, it gave off a strong metallic smell filled with spirituality. The storehouse for armaments!

"Wait." Yan Zaizen was shocked, if his guesses were correct, then...where's the exit? Where were the residential areas?

"Look up." As if reading his mind, Pinaka's voice answered his question. Looking up, he could see a wide and deep upward tunnel filled with various multi-colored doors. This caused his eyes to constrict suddenly. A tunnel upwards? He could tell, from the faint spatial fluctuations on the doors, that they were all sub-dimensional areas. At the end of this upward tunnel was a spatial platform.

A faint smirk tugged at his lips. "Let's sweep it all."

Yan Zaizen and Ma Xiuren took a single step forward. Their bodies vanished like ghosts as they went to pick this place completely clean. As for the others? Everyone else be damned!