Chapter 4618: The Most Useless One
Xiao Yu didn’t even bother looking at Xia Yan as he responded to the latter’s question, “It’s none of your business.”
He continued walking ahead without bothering to look at the curious duo. As it turned out, Xiao Yu’s coldness wasn’t just limited to Chu Feng but Xia Yan too.
“A strong character. I love it!”
Amazingly, Xia Yan wasn’t offended by Xiao Yu’s attitude. Instead, he broke out into laughter before quickly catching up with Xiao Yu with a quick jog. Chu Feng also did the same too.
It was initially Xia Yan leading the way, but all of a sudden, it had turned to Xiao Yu’s turn. Surprisingly, Xiao Yu also navigated through the labyrinth as smoothly as Xia Yan did earlier.
This only went to show that Xiao Yu had a deep understanding of the Thousand Transformations Illusory Palace too.
But all of a sudden, Chu Feng received a voice transmission from Xia Yan.
“The Illusory Palace Soulwater has the ability to possessing another person’s body and soul, but the effects are temporary. The prodigy who consumed the soulwater quickly realized that he was being ejected from his friend’s body, and following that, his soul also automatically returned back into his body too. Everything reverted back to normal, and his friend didn’t suffer any traumas either.
“Later on, people discovered that the Illusory Palace Soulwater is only effective on cultivators weaker than the user. Take you and me for example, if you were to consume the soulwater, you wouldn’t be able to take control of my body. However, if I was the one who consumed the soulwater instead, I would be able to take control of your body.
“So, it’s almost meaningless for Xiao Yu to use the Illusory Palace Soulwater to harm others. If it was someone weaker than him, he could have just made a move right away. There’s no need for him to rely on the soulwater.”
Xia Yan explained the effects of the Illusory Palace Soulwater in greater detail to Chu Feng. Reading between the lines, he was basically telling Chu Feng that Xiao Yu didn’t have any malicious intent in mind, and there was no need to be too guarded against him.
“Then what do you think is he’s aiming for, going through so much just to enter the Thousand Transformations Illusory Palace to obtain the Illusory Palace Soulwater?” Chu Feng asked.
“He’s bound to have his own reasons behind that. You can ask him yourself if you’re really that curious,” Xia Yan replied with a chuckle.
Chu Feng was indeed curious, but he wasn’t on close terms with Xiao Yu. And to be honest, whatever Xiao Yu was up to had nothing to do with him either, so he decided not to probe into it.
“What about you then? Do you have any special goal for coming here?”
Chu Feng asked this question not through voice transmission but verbally.
“Of course I do! My goal is the Purplehaze Ghost King Pearl located in the heart of the Thousand Transformations Illusory Palace,” Xia Yan replied.
“What’s that?” Chu Feng asked.
“There are many treasures in the Thousand Transformations Illusory Palace, but the one that most desire is no other than the Purplehaze Ghost King Pearl.”
There was a look of anticipation on Xia Yan’s face as he said these words.
Afterward, Xia Yan began to explain just what kind of item the pearl was.
Even though the Thousand Transformations Illusory Palace could only be opened once every thirty years, it was actually not that long of an interval, considering that most cultivators could live up to ten thousand years, and some of them even beyond that.
As such, there were actually many cultivators who had entered the Thousand Transformations Illusory Palace before.
A single individual might be unable to fully explore the secrets of the Thousand Transformations Illusory Palace, but with so many predecessors venturing into it, the veil of mystery surrounding the palace had been mostly lifted.
Precisely due to that, there were some people who collated the information regarding the Thousand Transformations Illusory Palace and made a guide out of it before selling them to prodigies who were likely to obtain a chance to enter the palace in the future.
This was also for that reason that Xia Yan and Xiao Yu knew their way around the Thousand Transformations Illusory Palace even though it was their first time here.
The map of the Thousand Transformations Illusory Palace rarely changed at all, but there were still many nearly unbreachable formations that stopped one path.
An example of that would be a certain pearl that emanated purple light and had the words ‘Ghost King’ inscribed on it. Needless to say, that was the Purplehaze Ghost King Pearl.
So far, no one had succeeded in obtaining it, and that was why Xia Yan viewed it as his goal.
Xiao Yu was aiming to obtain the Illusory Palace Soulwater for his private purposes whereas Xia Yan was hoping to display his ability and make a name for himself by doing what no one had ever done before.
Of course, the fact that the Purplehaze Ghost King Pearl was placed at the heart of the Thousand Transformations Illusory Palace and that no one had managed to obtain it before likely meant that it was a great treasure too. However, no one knew what effects it had yet.
Getting to the Purplehaze Ghost King Pearl was already a challenge in itself, especially given that the final challenge of the Thousand Transformations Illusory Palace. As such, the three of them decided to help Xiao Yu obtain the relatively easier Illusory Palace Soulwater first.
However, it just so happened that the Illusory Palace Soulwater didn’t have any fixed location, such that luck played a huge part in whether one could obtain it or not. Based on past records, there were 49 different locations where the Illusory Palace Soulwater had been spotted before.
There was one certain location where the frequency which the Illusory Palace Soulwater appearing had been the highest, and that was the exact place where the three of them were planning to head to.
…
Chu Feng and his two companions continue heading ahead without any impediment thanks to the map they had. Most of the formations that they stumbled upon the way didn’t trip them over.
However, at this very moment, they found themselves standing before a massive lake. The water in the lake was black in color, and it was twirling furiously in a circular motion to form a massive whirlpool.
The ferocious roaring of the water sounded like a ravenous beast that could swallow anything, leaving those standing before it trembling in fear. If anyone were to fall into it, he would die without any doubt.
To make things worst of all, the lake actually carried the power of devouring, and its power extended to the space above the water too. As a result, it was impossible to fly across it, and any formation they tried to construct over it would be devoured right away.
It wouldn’t be easy to pass through this lake.
“Actually, there’s an easy way out of this. Brother Chu Feng, hold this for a moment.”
Xia Yan passed a transparent pearl over to Chu Feng.
The pearl had runes inscribed all over its surface, and it seemed to harness a formation within.
“This is… an item to ward off the power of devouring?” Chu Feng asked.
“That’s right,” Xia Yan replied with a nod.
“Will we be able to fly across the lake using this treasure?”
“Well, Xiao Yu and I will be able to fly across it, but I can’t say the same about you.”
Right after saying those words, a smile curled on Xia Yan’s lips as he lifted his palm and pushed Chu Feng right into the whirlpool.
Chu Feng fell straight into the lake and was swept away by the currents right away. The movement of the water was so vigorous that he was unable to free himself, so he could only follow the flow of the water as he spiraled toward the eye of the whirlpool.
And while Chu Feng was trapped in the lake, Xia Yan and Xiao Yu flew into the air and flitted across the lake. Without any problem, they managed to reach the other side.
Typically speaking, the power of devouring harnessed by the lake should have made it impossible for them to fly past it, but the proud Xia Yan offered Chu Feng the answer to the question.
“This lake is a monster that devours humans, but it has a weakness too. While it’s in the midst of devouring a human, the power of devouring it emanates will disappear. Brother Chu Feng, this is the reason why we needed your help,” Xia Yan told Chu Feng.
“You have never thought of working together with me. You just wanted to use me to pass through this lake?” Chu Feng asked in fury.
Xia Yan burst into laughter.
“Brother Chu Feng, I apologize to you for this. However, it can’t be helped. We need to cross this lake, and you just happen to be the least useful one of us three.”