Only When He Comes Out

In the meantime, while these events were unfolding within the Holy Mountain Palace, outside the palace.

Beside the Star River Map.

Luo Yuan and Wang Yiyun stood respectfully by the side of an elder.

The elder was none other than Zeng Xian, who had hurried over upon hearing the news.

"Old Ancestor, what exactly happened to Old Ancestor Deng Chao, and how did Yi Feng manage to bypass the array and pass directly through?" Wang Yiyun couldn't help but ask, her voice tinged with concern.

"You say Old Deng was caused by Yi Feng? That should be impossible. His quick passage through the first trial doesn't necessarily mean he's exceptionally powerful. The array isn't fully activated right now, so he might have been familiar with the array and used some method to exploit a loophole," Zeng Xian mused, deep in thought.

Wang Yiyun pursed her red lips, realizing that this might indeed be the case.

"Then, if Old Ancestor Deng Chao wasn't affected by Yi Feng, what exactly happened to him?" Wang Yiyun inquired.

"Regarding Old Deng..."

Zeng Xian frowned, pondering briefly before saying, "Old Deng likely had a relapse of his old ailment. With that relapse, he probably focused on adjusting his breathing and had no mind to deal with Yi Feng, who was flying past."

"Ah?"

"Old Ancestor Deng Chao's old ailment has flared up? Shouldn't we hurry in to take a look?" Luo Yuan asked worriedly.

"You should know the characteristics of the Holy Mountain Palace," Zeng Xian said, his expression darkening. "Unless Old Deng comes out himself, who else can go in?"

Wang Yiyun opened her mouth but said nothing.

Indeed, the Holy Mountain Palace had the trait of reacting to the strength of the intruder—stronger intruders faced stronger resistance, and weaker ones faced less. It was uncertain why Yi Feng wasn't affected, but for everyone else, this trait was very real, even for the two old ancestors.

This meant that, with the Holy Mountain Palace currently activated, even if Zeng Xian entered, the hundred-li journey could take him ten days or even half a month.

By then, it would be too late.

Of course, as insiders, they could enter the Holy Mountain Palace, but they would be directly transported to the safe zone inside, the third level, where the arena for the third trial was located.

As for the heavily trapped first level passageway, even they had to break through the barriers and arrays to enter.

This was a safety measure and a design consideration for rigor when the palace was constructed.

There was also another way: shutting down the entire Holy Mountain Palace array.

But shutting down the array would mean prematurely ending the competition.

However, to ensure Old Ancestor's safety, ending the competition wouldn't matter much. But the key issue was that such a massive array, even if not fully activated, couldn't be shut down easily.

At least Zeng Xian alone couldn't do it; he needed Deng Chao's help.

So, the problem had become a dead end!

Just as the three were deeply worried, Luo Yuan's eyes suddenly lit up and he exclaimed, "Look, Old Ancestor's mark has recovered!"

Hearing this, everyone quickly turned their gaze toward the mark.

Indeed, the mark representing Deng Chao had improved significantly.

Seeing this, Zeng Xian's lips curved slightly. "It seems Old Deng indeed had a relapse, but it looks like he's resolved it. We no longer need to worry about him."

"Yes!"

Wang Yiyun and Luo Yuan both smiled faintly at that.

But in the very next moment, the smiles on their faces changed drastically once again.

They were astonished to see that Yi Feng, who had already reached the second level, had unexpectedly turned back and returned to the end of the first level.

And then, with a swoosh, the mark representing Yi Feng instantly teleported back to the starting point.

And as he passed by Deng Chao, he still didn't stop for a moment.

What made it even more unacceptable for them was that Deng Chao's mark had darkened once again.

"Old Ancestor... what on earth is going on here?" Luo Yuan asked, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"You ask me, and I ask who?"

Zeng Xian's face was as dark as could be.

Clearly, this situation was beyond his understanding.

"Ah, Old Ancestor, look at the mark of the Soul Eater Bird."

At this moment, Luo Yuan exclaimed again, "The Soul Eater Bird has actually reached the first level!"

"What?"

"What exactly is happening here?"

"Isn't it forbidden for contracted beasts of the second level to enter the first level trial?"

Zeng Xian's brows furrowed tightly, his face filled with fury.

Then they saw the Soul Eater Bird rampaging throughout the entire first level trial.

Because of triggering various arrays, it was teleported from the end back to the beginning, then from the beginning back to the middle.

"Human."

"Damn human, come out here, I'm going to kill you."

The Soul Eater Bird was searching everywhere in the first level for the human, but what made it even more infuriated was that it couldn't catch any trace of that human anymore.

And because of triggering various arrays, it became even more furious.

"Human, die!"

It spotted a disciple advancing and its red claws immediately shot towards the human disciple.

"Ah!"

"Isn't the first trial supposed to only have arrays and traps? How come there's such a powerful beast!"

Feeling the threat of death, the disciple no longer cared about the competition and immediately crushed the jade talisman to teleport out.

The more it failed to kill someone, the more furious the Soul Eater Bird became. Whenever it caught the scent of a human, it would attack.

In no time, disciples in the first level trial began to teleport out one after another.

Meanwhile, Yi Feng, content with his task, searched the starting point for his money pouch and then leisurely rode toward the end.

As he approached the end, he heard a faint grunt, so he stopped to take a look, but found nothing and continued on, returning directly to the second level.

"It's all messed up, completely messed up. What on earth is going on?"

Outside.

Seeing the chaos inside the palace through the Star River Map, Zeng Xian was on the verge of going berserk.

Yi Feng was teleporting back and forth, Deng Chao's situation was unclear, and the Soul Eater Bird, which shouldn't have been in the first level, was there slaughtering disciples.

Originally, all the disciples who were participating in the competition were now teleporting out one after another.

As the situation escalated, nearly all the higher-ups of the Heavenly Tyrant Sect arrived at the scene. Glancing at the chaos shown on the Star River Map, they all had black faces, unsure of what to do.

"Move!"

"We're entering the Holy Mountain Palace third level first."

Zeng Xian waved his hand, folding up the Star River Map and leading everyone to take a specific teleportation array directly to the third level of the Holy Mountain Palace.

"We'll follow too."

The other sects quickly followed suit, as they knew the third level was where the arena fights would take place. They, as participating sects, naturally needed to be there to watch the competition.

The Heavenly Tyrant Sect didn't mind them knowing about this teleportation array.

Because in case of any crisis, after all their disciples entered the Holy Mountain Palace, they would destroy all direct teleportation arrays, leaving only the path through the first and second levels to enter.

And if the array of the Holy Mountain Palace was fully activated, unless they shut it down, no one could enter.

It was virtually impregnable.

"What should we do?"

In the corner, Jiang Zuo and Jiang You exchanged glances.

"If you want to go, you go. I'm not going."

Jiang Zuo said resolutely, thinking of their final ranking, which made him unwilling to face it.

"Then I won't go either."

Jiang You also firmly nodded.

...

The third level of the palace wasn't just a single level.

It was a true underground palace.

Inside the Heavenly Tyrant Sect's mountain gates, structures like the Divine Armory Pavilion, the hall for discussions, the main hall, and the side halls for the disciples to reside were all perfectly replicated in this underground palace complex.

In the center of it all stood a huge martial arena.

The arena was now crowded with some disciples, all those who had been participating in the competition and were then teleported out.

Even though being teleported out meant they had given up, it didn't prevent them from continuing to watch the competition, so they were directly teleported to the third level.

"You guys, why have you all teleported out?"

Seeing their sect's disciples appearing here, those in the lower sects felt a chill run down their spines. These were disciples who had given up by teleporting out.

"Master, there was a True Immortal-level beast in the first trial! It attacked indiscriminately, and if I hadn't left, I wouldn't be alive!"

"Yes, Elder, that True Immortal-level beast didn't give any reasons, just attacked whoever it saw."

"We agreed that the first checkpoint wouldn't have any monsters, so why is this happening? I really don't want to give up!"

In an instant, disciple after disciple began to complain to their sect's higher-ups.

The representatives from the lesser sects looked questioningly towards Zeng Xian.

Zeng Xian, his face dark, remained tight-lipped. He merely waved his hand, releasing the Star River Map into the air.

Everyone looked up, transfixed by the Star River Map.

What they saw was that there were now only a few disciples left on the map.

In just this short span of time, those remaining disciples were forcefully sent out upon encountering Spectral Birds.

At this moment.

Besides the rampaging Spectral Birds in the first checkpoint, only the unconscious Deng Chao remained.

Seeing this, the shrewd elders from the lesser sects understood that something was amiss with this grand competition; they all chose silence, unwilling to tread on delicate ground.

"I know you all have questions, but I have them too!"

Zeng Xian glanced at them and spoke leisurely, "The only way to uncover the truth is to wait for him to emerge!"

Everyone was startled.

Wait for him to emerge?

Upon analyzing the Star River Map, everyone discovered that someone was still in the second checkpoint.