[Dao-Attaining Hidden Profound Palace]
Within the boundless world, a pitch-black circular hole suddenly opened up between heaven and earth, followed by a broad thoroughfare connecting the inside and outside.
Bu Tianque, with his hands behind his back, followed this thoroughfare and stepped into the grotto-heaven with an unhurried, measured pace. Lifting his gaze slightly, he immediately saw the five Dao Fruit stars hanging high in the firmament, bright as the sun and moon. Then, his eyes swept around, but he couldn't see the figures of the Dragon Lords who had entered before him.
'This grotto-heaven is quite large!'
Seeing this, Bu Tianque was quite astonished inwardly. 'The Eastern Sovereign Defying the Heaven... Who exactly is that Eastern Sovereign? His attainments in the grotto-heaven method are truly in a class of their own.'
Speaking of which, he actually had to thank that Eastern Sovereign.
If not for the Heavenly Lord suffering heavy injuries after that battle to defy the heaven, he wouldn't have found the opportunity to launch a sneak attack on the Old Dragon Lord, using it to harvest the Heavenly Lord and reach the summit of the Heaven Treading realm.
In the next second, Bu Tianque planned to release his divine sense to carefully observe this grotto-heaven. But the moment his divine sense left his body, he immediately realized something was wrong. A strong malice rapidly locked onto him right after he released his divine sense, so much so that his divine sense expansion hadn't even reached a hundred miles.
"Hm?"
Bu Tianque gradually furrowed his brows, quickly realizing the source of this malice. It was nothing else but this very heaven and earth, coming from the spiritual qi all around!
Thinking of this, Bu Tianque reached out and beckoned.
Immediately after, a strand of spiritual qi was condensed by him, transforming into a swimming dragon that leaped in his palm. At first glance, there seemed to be no problem.
However, when he refined this swimming dragon into his body—even though he had taken multiple precautions and carefully refined it several times—this spiritual qi still exploded violently the moment it entered his body. It didn't matter to him, but if a Foundation Establishment Perfected One were here, they would definitely be blown to death by the spiritual qi.
Of course, this was the most extreme case.
After all, in most situations, Foundation Establishment Perfected Ones already possessed methods to self-generate spiritual qi. Perfected Lords had even more boundless spiritual power and didn't rely heavily on external spiritual qi.
What was more important was the environment.
The malice from heaven and earth filled the spiritual qi. Therefore, for cultivators to move within this world was like mortals swimming underwater; their movements were severely restricted.
Furthermore, Bu Tianque tested it out. This "heaven and earth repulsion" was still somewhat tolerable at the edges of the grotto-heaven, but the deeper one went, the more severe the repulsion became.
It was just like diving into the depths of the sea.
In the end, besides divine sense and spiritual power being restricted, the Dao Fruit concepts, profound wonders, Great Daos, and numerous methods commanded by cultivators would all be weakened.
'Interesting.'
Bu Tianque pondered inwardly as he began exploring within the [Dao-Attaining Hidden Profound Palace]. Before long, a broad corridor entered his line of sight.
Both sides of the corridor were densely packed with rooms. Yet, for some unknown reason, the rooms were all empty.
It wasn't until he pushed open the door at the end of the corridor that his vision finally opened up. A vast world with rolling mountains, rivers, and forests leapt before his eyes.
In his line of sight, an overwhelming Knowledge-Perception Barrier had transformed into a sea of clouds. Within the sea of clouds, layers upon layers of towering palaces stood. Each palace seemed to have divine light sparkling like candlelight. And it was precisely here that this world's repulsion toward "outsiders" astonishingly reached its peak.
[White Jade Capital].
Looking at the mist-shrouded city gate before him and the True Dragon auras dissipating around him, Bu Tianque shook his head: 'Those six old dragons sure aren't afraid of death.'
He had been quite cautious all the way here.
After all, no one knew what that Eastern Sovereign had arranged inside this grotto-heaven. Coupled with that bizarre heaven and earth repulsion, he didn't dare to be the slightest bit careless.
Therefore, he walked very slowly.
Compared to him, the six Dragon Lords seemed anxious to find something. They surprisingly had no scruples whatsoever, practically charging ahead recklessly.
However, this time, they were going to suffer.
Thinking of this, Bu Tianque suddenly grinned. If nothing else, he could at least be certain of one thing: the Heavenly Lord's mighty power couldn't reach here.
'My cultivation has been weakened.'
Bu Tianque stretched out his hand, staring absently at his palm. He clearly felt that as he ventured deeper into the grotto-heaven, his original Heaven Treading realm stature was dropping.
It was entirely thanks to the maintenance of the [Heaven-Mending Dao] that he barely stabilized it from falling below the realm.
'It's almost as if I've changed to a completely different world.'
Normally speaking, as the center of the sea of light, the Immortal Nexus possessed the ability to spread its mighty power across the sea of light. So by using the Immortal Nexus's Heavenly Lord to advance to Heaven Treading, he should be Heaven Treading anywhere.
Yet this place was an exception.
It was clearly inside the Immortal Nexus, but it was distinctly separated from the Immortal Nexus, cut off so beautifully that the Heavenly Lord's mighty power actually couldn't seep into it.
'If even I am like this, there's no need to mention those six old dragons. They don't have my [Heaven-Mending Dao], and their cultivation is jointly upheld by six people, not as pure as me alone. Right now, they probably can't even maintain their Heaven Treading realm stature. Even if they join forces, they likely only have the cultivation of Immortal Bridge Great Perfected Lords at most.'
While pondering, Bu Tianque had already arrived at a palace within the [White Jade Capital].
He pushed the door and entered, unimpeded.
Soon, the simple and elegant scene inside the hall came into view. However, what attracted Bu Tianque the most was still a profound wonder radiance located right in the center of the palace.
Looking closely, the radiance rippled, burning like fire and murmuring like water. It flowed through the hall, illuminating the supposedly dim hall brightly. Accompanying it was a wave of heat that hit him straight in the face. And only this radiance displayed a welcoming attitude towards outsiders.
Seeing this, Bu Tianque's pupils contracted sharply, and he subconsciously began to calculate and deduce:
'It's somewhat like a Dao Fruit, but also different. Furthermore, it has the ability to elevate stature and refine profound wonder. Can a Foundation Establishment cultivator use this to advance to the Perfected Lord rank?'
'Hiss!'
In a daze, Bu Tianque seemed to see a Dao Lineage and system vastly different from Dao Fruits, vastly different from Great Daos, and whose operating principles were entirely different from the current sea of light.
'How incredibly overbearing!'
Bu Tianque blinked, his feelings growing deeper. 'This world rejects all outsiders, yet only this divine fire in the hall is welcoming. This is forcing people to cultivate it.'
If it were an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator, or even a weaker Perfected Lord here, rejected by heaven and earth and unable to move a single step... but then they saw this divine fire in the hall. As long as they refined it, they would be accepted by this world, achieving twice the result with half the effort, and even elevating their stature. Who would choose to refuse?
Then what was the price?
'It's not big, but not small either. It's nothing more than completely merging into the Dao Lineage behind this divine fire, just like switching to cultivating my Saint Sect's grotto-heaven method.'
Thinking of this, Bu Tianque's expression turned somewhat strange.
It was originally supposed to be them, cultivators of the Immortal Nexus, forcefully barging into this place. But how did it seem like the tables had turned, and now this place was recruiting Immortal Nexus cultivators?
And it just so happened that all those who could enter this time were elites of the Immortal Nexus.
Among them, Foundation Establishment Perfected Ones who were at Great Perfection and thirsted to advance further were not in the minority. Now, they had all entered the snare. I'm afraid they would all switch to cultivating the Dao Lineage of this place.
'This isn't right... could it be a trap?'
Everything before his eyes seemed far too meticulously designed. So much so that after Bu Tianque finished his investigation, instead of feeling any curiosity, he actually developed the urge to retreat.
Meanwhile.
Beside Bu Tianque, a hazy figure gathering the radiance of heaven and earth stood quietly, seriously sizing him up without him noticing at all.
'Hm... it doesn't seem like him.'
The Nameless Dao Lord frowned, pondering inwardly: 'If this person is connected to the Ancestral Dragon, he should be rushing to the central palace to find that Sisui remnant thought as quickly as possible.'
'Yet now he's unhurriedly exploring everywhere, acting cautiously.'
'Compared to him, those six old loaches look much more like they are secretly possessed by the Ancestral Dragon. Right now, they are already close to the location of the central palace.'
'However...'
Thinking of this, the Nameless Dao Lord looked towards the depths of the [White Jade Capital] wrapped in heavy clouds and mist again, and shook his head.
Almost simultaneously, Bu Tianque also sensed something and glanced in that direction. "This is... profound wonders clashing. Those old dragons met an opponent?"