Hidden Space

Gu Changyuan strolled through the forest for quite some time.

The little wolf cub in his arms had completely relaxed. No longer trembling, it curled up into a ball, its furry head resting on his arm, sleeping soundly.

Spiritual plants, spiritual ores... he had collected quite a few things along the way.

Although there were no treasures that made his eyes light up, the sheer quantity made up for it. Many a little makes a mickle, turning it into a considerable haul.

As he walked, his footsteps suddenly halted.

Not far ahead, a blank area appeared.

It wasn't that the area was truly empty, but rather that it blocked his divine sense from probing it.

Gu Changyuan raised an eyebrow slightly, a flash of interest in his eyes.

Here we go.

With a flash of his figure, he appeared directly in the center of that area.

The moment his feet touched the ground, he felt a faint fluctuation from below—it was the aura of an array formation.

This should be one of the hidden spots in this Immortal Emperor's secret realm.

Gu Changyuan understood in his heart.

Such hidden fortunes usually had specific trigger conditions.

Perhaps pressing a mechanism somewhere, collecting a specific token, or meeting certain cultivation or physique requirements.

Gu Changyuan couldn't be bothered to look for those mechanisms.

With a slight shift of his mind, the surrounding space began to stir.

Layers of formless spatial arrays descended, continuously colliding and blending with the ancient array below, rapidly deducing its core nodes to find a way to break it.

The Dao of Arrays was as easy as taking something out of his own pocket for Gu Changyuan. Before long, he accurately pinpointed the core flaw of the array.

Guiding spiritual energy with his fingertip, the complex ancient array instantly cracked, then slowly dissipated into the air like shattered glass.

The moment the array vanished, Gu Changyuan felt the ground beneath his feet suddenly give way.

The originally solid earth seemed to be pulled out from under him, and losing all support, he plummeted downwards.

A normal cultivator encountering this situation would likely panic and lose their composure from the sudden drop.

Gu Changyuan, however, had expected this. He twisted his body in mid-air and landed steadily on the ground below.

Looking up, the hole above was slowly closing.

Dirt and turf slipped from the edges, but were soon leveled by some unseen force, restoring it to its original state.

Gu Changyuan withdrew his gaze and looked around.

This was a passage.

The passage was narrow, only wide enough for two people to walk side by side.

Gu Changyuan wasn't in a hurry to move forward.

Raising his right hand, he flicked his fingers lightly, and a cluster of flames ignited in his palm.

The flame wasn't large, only the size of a fist, but it emitted a soft and bright light, illuminating the entire passage.

Although he could see perfectly well in the dark, he still preferred having light.

The firelight danced, stretching his shadow long and casting it against the stone wall behind him, swaying gently with his steps.

Gu Changyuan walked forward along the passage.

The little wolf cub in his arms was awakened by the flickering light. It groggily opened its eyes, looked at the unfamiliar surroundings, and then at Gu Changyuan's masked face.

It seemed to sense something; its ears perked up slightly, and a hint of vigilance flashed in its eyes. But it quickly relaxed again, resting its head back onto Gu Changyuan's arm.

Gu Changyuan walked for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. The stone walls on both sides gradually became flat, transitioning from naturally formed rough rock to artificially polished, smooth stone surfaces.

Traces of carvings began to appear on the walls—at first just simple lines, then gradually becoming more intricate, eventually forming complete pictures.

Beasts, birds, mountains, rivers, stars, the sun, and the moon...

The carvings flickered in and out of the firelight, as if telling some ancient tale.

Then, the passage suddenly opened up.

Gu Changyuan stepped out of the narrow passage and entered an underground chamber.

In the center of the space, two massive stone statues stood side by side.

The statues were over thirty feet tall, with humanoid bodies and beastly heads—one a dragon, the other a tiger.

The dragon-headed statue glared with wide eyes, its whiskers fluttering and horns imposing. The tiger-headed statue had its maw wide open, fangs exposed, eyes burning like torches.

Both statues held long halberds with the tips pointing to the ground. Their postures were majestic, as if guarding something of great importance.

Their bodies were covered in dense array patterns that glowed faintly in the firelight, exuding a heart-palpitating aura.

The moment Gu Changyuan stepped into the space, the firelight reflected on the statues.

Red light lit up simultaneously in the eyes of the two statues.

It wasn't a reflection, nor an illusion—it was a real red light glowing from within.

Like two pairs of eyes that had slumbered for ten thousand years, suddenly opening at this moment.

Rumble—

A faint rumbling sound came from inside the statues, muffled yet powerful, like the heartbeat of an ancient behemoth awakening.

Gu Changyuan watched as the two statues began to move slowly—raising their arms, gripping their halberds horizontally, and taking a step forward. Each step left deep cracks in the bluestone floor.

Their originally calm auras skyrocketed at this moment.

Mid-stage Void Refinement, Late-stage Void Refinement, Peak Void Refinement...

Early-stage Body Integration.

Gu Changyuan raised his eyebrows slightly.

This Immortal Emperor's secret realm only allowed cultivators at the Peak of Soul Formation to enter at most.

Yet here, there were actually two Early-stage Body Integration stone statues standing guard.

Does this make any sense?

A normal Peak Soul Formation cultivator facing two Peak Void Refinement statues would only be crushed. Let alone fighting, even escaping would be difficult.

Unless... Gu Changyuan's divine sense silently swept across the entire space.

Soon, he discovered some anomalies in various corners of the room.

Behind the left stone wall hid a secret compartment; the inside of the right pillar was hollow; between the crystals on the domed ceiling, several stones of a slightly different color were embedded.

Something was hidden in all those places.

Gu Changyuan took another look at the two moving statues and noticed that the array patterns on their bodies were not complete.

There were several obvious breaks and gaps, as if waiting for something to fill them.

He instantly understood.

The true purpose of this place was not for intruders to fight the statues head-on.

Instead, it was to have intruders find those hidden items within the confined space and use them to fill the gaps in the statues' array patterns, thereby breaking the deadlock.

Perhaps those items were in the secret compartments, or perhaps a mechanism needed to be triggered to obtain them.

In short, the designer's intention was for intruders to use their brains, not their fists.

Nice thought. Don't think next time.

Gu Changyuan couldn't be bothered to use his brain. With a thought,

Two invisible sword auras flew from his fingertips.

The two statues had just raised their halberds and hadn't even taken a second step before the sword auras accurately struck the location of their core array patterns—right in the center of their chests.

Boom!

Two loud explosions erupted almost simultaneously.

The entire underground space trembled. Dust filled the air, rubble flew in all directions, and the shockwave caused by the collision instantly swept through the entire chamber.

Gu Changyuan stood exactly where he was, completely motionless.

An invisible barrier enveloped his body, blocking all the dust and rubble on the outside. Not a single speck of dust could touch the hem of his clothes.