Chapter 928: Eighth Floor of the Hall
Jian Chen and Nubis continued to the fourth floor of the palace, while Mo Ji and the other two followed closely behind them. They could sense that Jian Chen and Nubis now treated them differently. Mo Ji’s group constantly attempted to explain what had happened before.
They arrived on the fourth floor very quickly but discovered that it was actually empty. Meanwhile, Thysnich’s group was nowhere to be seen.
“There’s nothing here. Let’s continue to the fifth floor,” Jian Chen said calmly after glancing around. They then continued their way to the fifth floor and did not meet any obstructions along the way. There were no formations or barriers at all.
The hall had a total of nine floors, yet the fifth one way empty. Jian Chen’s group continued onward carefully, passing through the sixth and seventh floors and arriving on the eight smoothly.
The eighth floor seemed empty as well. However, some regions of space here actually seemed hazy—signs of formations being triggered. Through the hazy space, they could vaguely see some trapped people.
All of them were trapped within the formation’s space, including Thysnich. Thirty meters in front, there was even the corpse of a person that died to the formations. His blood had run dry as well, sucked away by the hall.
“Be careful, there are formations here.” Jian Chen’s group could not help but slow down when they saw this. They stared grimly ahead.
“The formations are very powerful, much more powerful than the ones we came across before. It’s best that we don’t separate from one another, since we might not be able to break through it by ourselves. We can work together,” Jian Chen said gruffly, before advancing forward cautiously.
The formations in the hall were extremely profound. Although they had weakened greatly with the corrosion of time, a few high-leveled ones still possessed great power.
There was only one way from the eighth floor to the ninth and that was to pass through the countless barriers. There was no other way. Even flying would not work.
Formations were hidden everywhere on the eighth floor and could catch people off-guard. After taking ten steps, Jian Chen’s group suddenly became ensnared in one.
At the same time, violent booms resounded. A hundred meters ahead, Thysnich and the others had broken through the one that had trapped them, resulting in their appearance.
As soon as Thysnich escaped, he noticed that Jian Chen’s group had also become ensnared. A cold sliver of killing intent immediately flashed across his eyes as he thought, “Ruler of the Turtle clan, I’ll let these formations chip away at some of your strength. I will definitely not be letting you leave this place alive. The cultivation method of the Blood Demon Emperor, the Emperor Armament from a human emperor and that golden tower hidden in your head will all become mine. No one has the right to fight over things with me. The day of your death will arrive once I get the legacy of the Octoterra Emperor.”
Thysnich continued onward with the others that he had reached a tacit understanding with, falling into another formation very quickly.
Although Thysnich had once been everyone’s enemy, there were no eternal foes in the world, only eternal benefits. Under such circumstances, he decided to work together with the others once again, just to reach the ninth floor.
There were only less than twenty people left of the hundred and sixty that had entered initially and many of them were wounded as well. There were three groups in total who made their way through the eighth floor; another one besides Jian Chen and Thysnich’s groups. They too had fallen into a formation, strenuously trying to break through it.
As they advanced, the formations became more and more powerful. All three groups used everything they had to break through the formations because they all believe that the Octoterra Emperor’s legacy would be on the ninth floor, and that whoever got there first would be able to obtain it.
As a result, all three groups devoted every moment of their time to break through the formations. They feared that they would be overtaken by the other two groups.
Two whole days passed. Although Jian Chen’s group had relatively fewer people and came at a later time, they possessed Jian Chen and Nubis, two people who could stand on equal ground with Saint Kings. As a result, they were slightly faster than the other two groups, now completely caught up.
Right now, the three groups had all arrived at the center of the eighth floor. They were still half way from the ninth floor.
The other two groups secretly panicked when they saw Jian Chen’s group catch up to the first group. They immediately sped up, both wanting to be first.
The formations constantly became stronger toward the end, causing everyone to move slower and slower. At the very beginning, they only needed a single attack together but now they all needed to put in a tremendous effort and use everything they had.
Boom!
Another powerful formation was broken through, revealing Jian Chen’s group.
Jian Chen had his King Armament in hand. It shone brightly with a dark light, while a thick layer of Chaotic Force coiled around it, radiating with a devastating aura.
Behind Jian Chen was Nubis, Mo Ji, and the two others. They all seemed exhausted and greatly drained after breaking through so many formations.
“The formations are constantly becoming stronger. Do you still think we’ll be able to break the ones at the end?” Nubis said gruffly with a stern expression. Virtually all the formations they came across were ensnaring or killing formations; ensnaring ones could be dealt with when they came across them but they would be in danger whenever they came across powerful killing formations.
Jian Chen did not even look at the two other groups behind. He lowered his head in thought for some time, before continuing onward with his group. They fell into another formation after taking ten steps.
The eighth floor of the hall was basically a floor of formations. The numbers were unimaginable; no matter which direction they walked in, they would fall into one in less than ten steps.
Jian Chen had considered using the white tiger’s powers to directly pass through to the ninth floor after being faced with these endless formations. However, his impressions of the divine hall had changed greatly after all the things he had encountered after coming in. A thought always lingered in his head, that the Octoterra Divine Hall was definitely not as simple as it seemed. Perhaps there was no legacy on the eighth floor, just another unknown danger waiting for them.
As a result, Jian Chen gave up on the idea of using Xiao Bai. Instead, he chose to use a slower method, spending energy to break through the formations like everyone else.
In the blink of an eye, another three days passed. Everyone moved at an extremely slow rate in these three days. They had not even traversed a third of the remaining half.
Every time Jian Chen’s group broke through a formation, they needed to stop there and recover their exerted power. Even Nubis was no longer an exception; only Jian Chen remain energetic without any signs of weakness.
Although Jian Chen had already faced many battles, the Chaotic Force within him could support him for a very long time as long as he did not use it like last time in the City of God. This was because each strand of Chaotic Force contained an extremely powerful energy, so his energy would be consumed much more slowly in comparison to ordinary people.
The strength and depth of Chaotic Force could not be measured using ordinary forces. It was the supreme force in the world; nothing could compare to it in the universe.
The problem was that Jian Chen’s Chaotic Force right now was not the true Chaotic Force. The Chaotic Body had been divided into eighteen layers by the sword spirits and his Chaotic Force would transform as he reached each layer. Only when he reached the eighteenth layer would it become true Chaotic Force; only at that time would its strength be fully displayed.
The other people only used a single day to recover under the support of ordinary pills. They continued on their way, breaking through formations.
Right now, Thysnich was one step faster than everyone else. He took high-level pills, so he recovered his energy faster than everyone else.
Time passed quickly and three months passed in the blink of an eye. Jian Chen’s group finally completed the remaining journey. They finally stood at the entrance of the ninth floor.
They were all in horrible shapes. Their clothes were tattered while their faces were pale and haggard. They seemed like beggars and this also applied to Jian Chen.
The other people besides Jian Chen were wounded as well. They had walked on the edge of death several times with their lives on a thread.
Thysnich and the other group emerged at the same time. They were in horrible shapes too; their tattered clothes matted with blood. Clearly, they had suffered in the formations and there had been a decrease of people in both groups. Some had died to the formations.
“Ruler of the Turtle clan, above is where the legacy of the Octoterra Emperor lies. Only one person can inherit it but I just wonder who it will end up with in the end,” Thysnich said emotionlessly to Jian Chen, before glancing coldly at all the others in the surroundings.
He knew that the unity between everyone was only till they reached the end successfully. As soon as they faced the legacy of the Octoterra Emperor, they would all become enemies without any remorse.
However, Thysnich only viewed one person importantly among all the people, and that was Jian Chen. He did not care about the others.
Jian Chen said nothing, also glancing past everyone but this time perhaps subconsciously. To him, no one standing here was ordinary. No one could be underestimated for making it here. Although many of them were not renowned, that was because they hid purposefully. Perhaps, there were other people no weaker than Thysnich among them, just not as dazzling and famed as Thysnich.
This was especially applicable to the third group. Without someone like Thysnich as their leader, they had actually managed to make it here with the same speed. This made them even more complicated than they seemed. They were all of the Ninth Heavenly Layer but no one knew just how many people had yet to reveal their trump cards.