After leaving the Taiyi Palace, Liu Bai paused in thought, preparing to search for the Divine Wood Palace that appeared in the original story.
There were many valuable items inside that place. Divine Arts and Sovereign Spiritual Liquid were the things Liu Bai desired the most. Especially the Sovereign Spiritual Liquid. As long as he had enough Sovereign Spiritual Liquid to supply the energy, he would be able to completely open his Sovereign Sea right now.
"However, all the truly precious treasures seemed to be located within the Divine Wood Mountain and that place required gathering the Six Divine Wood Tokens to enter."
This made things rather troublesome.
Even if he did manage to find the Divine Wood Palace, gathering all six Divine Wood Tokens would take time. Then he would still need to activate the Divine Wood Mountain and search for the items he needed. With the time remaining, it was unlikely to be enough.
After carefully recalling the original story, Liu Bai suddenly remembered that Mu Chen had once mentioned that although there was an ancient and terrifying grand array guarding the Divine Wood Mountain, it was precisely because the array was too old that its power had declined.
He could even sense cracks within the grand array at the time.
"In that case, with my current level of array mastery, I might be able to open a passage..."
Back then, Mu Chen had only just touched the level of the Void State Heart Eye, while Liu Bai had now reached the advanced stage of the Void State Heart Eye. The difference between the two was far greater than just two minor realms.
In the Dao of Spiritual Arrays, each small realm was separated by an enormous chasm.
At the very least, once Liu Bai broke through to the Sovereign Realm, he might even be able to construct a complete Demonic Lotus Spirit Slaughtering Array. That was a genuine Earth-grade Grand Array. Mu Chen had only managed to do that after becoming a Fifth Grade Sovereign in the original story. From that alone, it was clear that Liu Bai's array mastery already surpassed Mu Chen.
The Divine Wood Palace was difficult to locate, but the Divine Wood Mountain was not. It was marked clearly on the map.
However, the experts who came with the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy in the past all failed to enter. Therefore, this location was marked as dangerous.
Time was already running out, so Liu Bai did not waste a single moment. After determining the direction, he transformed into a Golden Crow and flew toward the Divine Wood Mountain at a speed that could only be described as unbelievable.
Several dozen minutes later, Liu Bai's speed gradually slowed and he finally landed atop the crown of an enormous hundred meter tall tree.
He looked ahead. Within the rolling mountain range stood a massive jade green mountain, quietly towering in the distance. It was like an ancient beast that had been asleep since antiquity, emanating an ancient aura that made Liu Bai feel as if he had returned to the primordial era.
"So this is the Divine Wood Mountain."
Liu Bai gazed at the majestic giant mountain. Unlike the outside world, this mountain radiated a thick and vibrant life force. Its emerald green hue was so vivid that it soothed the eyes, as if it would never wither.
Using his senses, Liu Bai probed the surroundings. As expected, faint mysterious fluctuations lingered in the air. Before him, it was as though an invisible wall separated the mountain from the outside world.
This wall would not block one's movement, but it was like a mirage. No matter how far forward you flew, you would never cross the short distance that lay ahead.
This was what people meant when they said close at hand yet separated by the end of the world.
"If I want to analyze this grand array, it will probably take me several months..."
The level of this array was definitely not low. Even spending months on it would not be unreasonable. Unfortunately, he did not have such time. The Five Great Academies would never allow him to remain here for several months.
This Ruined Continent belonged to all Five Academies. Even if the Dean Tai Cang agreed, the other four deans would never allow it. Under such circumstances, Liu Bai had no opportunity to analyze the entire Spiritual Array.
Unless he was willing to wait until the next time the Five Academies decided to fully excavate this continent.
Taking a deep breath, Liu Bai abandoned such unrealistic thoughts and began examining the array to find a flaw that might allow him to pass through.
He closed his eyes as the Heart Eye on his forehead opened. In the previously empty air before him, countless golden lines appeared densely woven together. Liu Bai reached out and grasped two of the Spiritual lines as his spiritual senses spread outward, inspecting them one by one.
This was a brute force method. If he was unlucky, he might have to search the entire grand array before finding a damaged point.
Fortunately, although Liu Bai's protagonist aura was not overwhelmingly heaven defying, fate still left him a few small blessings. After only a few hours, he discovered a flaw that he could exploit.
When Liu Bai finally carved open a passage in the grand array and slipped inside, what greeted him was a colossal mountain that seemed to cover heaven and earth.
No matter if he looked upward or downward, left or right, its vastness stretched endlessly.
This ancient mountain was terrifyingly immense.
"It feels even bigger than the Divine Spiritual Mountain on the Northern Heaven Continent!" Liu Bai could not help exclaiming in awe at the terrifying mountain.
Reading about it in the novel and seeing it with one's own eyes were completely different experiences. Even though he was mentally prepared, the real sight was still shocking.
Just as he saw from the outside, everything here was bathed in lush emerald green, overflowing with vitality. The spiritual power between heaven and earth was exceptionally active.
Unlike Mu Chen who sought the Nine Sun Spiritual Fruit, Liu Bai had no interest in that item, so he did not waste time searching for the Spiritual Treasure Mountain. What he cared about most was the Hidden Spiritual Courtyard and the Scripture Pagoda.
The Scripture Pagoda needed no explanation. It was a core treasure of every powerful faction and its contents were always among the sect's most important inheritances.
As for the Hidden Spiritual Courtyard, it was where Mu Chen obtained the Sovereign Spiritual Liquid in the original story. That place originally stored a great amount of the Divine Wood Palace's Sovereign Spiritual Liquid. Even after tens of thousands of years of decay, the remaining quantity would still give Liu Bai a tremendous harvest.
"These two places should be located in secluded spots, and definitely protected by powerful restrictions. So I can first search these palaces for relevant information, or perhaps some kind of spirit map."
With that thought, Liu Bai immediately flew toward the vast palace complex.
After a period of searching, he encountered many difficulties. He even accidentally entered a mechanism hall and nearly triggered hundreds of Divine Wood Puppets. But with his speed and his Heart Eye's ability to see through formations, he managed to escape every danger unharmed.
However, after witnessing these dangers that never appeared in the original story, Liu Bai realized something. The original story focused only on Mu Chen and his group. Behind the scenes, who knew how many academy students perished within these hidden threats.
But what did that have to do with him? After all, he had achieved his goal this time. Not only did he obtain a map of the Divine Wood Palace, he also acquired a golden ranked identity token.
With this token, he even managed to enter the Pill Hall of the Divine Wood Palace. Unfortunately, it seemed the high ranking members of the Divine Wood Palace had sensed impending disaster. All the pills in the Pill Hall were taken away, likely distributed to disciples for survival during the great battle.
After all, in such a war, one extra pill meant one extra chance at survival.
Still, Liu Bai did not walk away empty handed. He discovered several ancient pill recipes. Although they were somewhat different from modern formulas, they shared the same lineage. With enough study, he might be able to recreate these ancient pills.
"Next, let's go check out the Scripture Pagoda..."
In major factions, the Scripture Pagoda was usually forged into an Divine artifact level structure. Without special methods, even if you destroyed it, you could not force your way inside.
The Divine Wood Palace had clearly been among the top tier powers in its era. Liu Bai guessed their Scripture Pagoda might be quasi Saint Artifact level or even Saint Artifact level.
Unfortunately, in the catastrophe of that era, the Scripture Pagoda had evidently suffered severe damage. The original nine tier golden tower now had only three tiers remaining. The upper six tiers had long disappeared without a trace.
Standing before the tightly shut gate, Liu Bai pushed gently and found it immovable. Even in its broken state, it was still extremely difficult to force open.
After thinking for a moment, Liu Bai took out the golden token he had obtained.
The instant the golden token appeared, the two Spiritual beast patterns on the silent gate suddenly shot out two beams of light that converged on the token.
Creak… Creak…
An ear–grinding screech followed, and the tightly shut gate slowly opened, revealing a narrow entrance.
Seeing this, Liu Bai finally let out a breath of relief, then lifted his foot and stepped inside.
Boom!
The moment he entered, he heard the sound of the massive gate slamming shut behind him.
But he had no time to worry about that now, for before his eyes stood rows upon rows of wooden bookshelves. Resting on each level of the shelves were scrolls and jade slips.
Clearly, these were the cultivation arts and Spiritual Arts preserved by the Divine Wood Palace…
Liu Bai quickly swept over the spiritual arts with his Spiritual Sense. Each one carried an extraordinary aura—every scroll was at least Spirit-grade, and several were even of the High-level Spirit-grade.
This was only the first level. In theory, it should contain the lowest-tier spiritual arts, meant for entry-level disciples.
Yet even so, there were High-level Spirit-grade arts here—quite a few, in fact…
Still, compared with the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy's Spiritual Arts Hall, the Divine Wood Palace's Scripture Pavilion felt rather unimpressive—just rows of simple wooden shelves.
"Perhaps, in the eyes of the Divine Wood Palace, these arts are merely for lower disciples. There's no need to make things flashy," Liu Bai chuckled inwardly.
He did not madly sweep everything in nor record them all. Liu Bai found that the arts here possessed particular restrictions—many demanded special cultivation conditions and lacked broad applicability.
After carefully selecting, he stored a few dozen High-level Spirit-grade and several excellent Mid-level Spirit-grade arts into his Universe Ring, then headed to the second level.
Liu Bai originally assumed that the second level would hold Deity-grade arts, or perhaps Divine Arts…
However, upon entering the second level, he was stunned to find himself facing a vast emerald-green forest!
"What… is this?" Liu Bai paused, bewildered.
From the outside, each level of the Scripture Pavilion looked quite small. Yet this forest before him stretched at least a hundred miles across!
Although such spatial techniques weren't rare in the Great Thousand World, how was he supposed to search for treasures in a place like this?
While Liu Bai stood uncertainly, a burst of verdant radiance emerged from within the forest. Within the green glow, a figure slowly formed and walked out.
Liu Bai was startled for a moment, but quickly realized—it should be the overseer of the Scripture Pavilion's second level. Yet it wasn't truly alive; rather, it was a preserved spiritual projection.
And indeed, the situation matched his guess. When the figure stepped out, its eyes lacked the brightness of a living person. They remained lifeless as it swept its gaze across Liu Bai before speaking:
"Second level of the Scripture Pavilion—according to the rules, disciples of the Divine Wood Palace may use the sect token to enter the forest and search for fortuitous opportunities. Regardless of your harvest, you must leave after one hour. Otherwise, you will be punished."
When it finished speaking, silence once again filled the surroundings. The projection remained standing motionlessly, staring in Liu Bai's direction as though waiting for something.
Liu Bai suddenly realized, and quickly produced the golden token.
"Identity confirmed. Permission granted."
With that, the projection dissolved and vanished.
Liu Bai exhaled in relief and stepped into the forest.
Time was limited. He needed to figure out what was special about this forest, and what kind of "opportunity" awaited him.
Upon entering, he was greeted by endless green. Towering ancient trees blocked his path, yet no matter how he examined them, he saw nothing unusual.
Frowning, Liu Bai halted. It seemed he needed another method—his Spiritual Sense alone revealed no anomalies.
After a moment's thought, he summoned the Innate Five Spirit Disk. With a tap of his finger, the Azure Spirit Bird representing the Wood attribute took flight, then shrank to palm size and landed on his shoulder.
"Go. Find anything unusual around here…"
Since he couldn't find clues himself, he would rely on the Wood Spirit itself—he refused to believe there was no opportunity here meant for him.
Chirp! Chirp! Chirp…
Sure enough, his decision was right. Soon, he heard the azure spirit bird calling, and he sped toward the sound.
At that moment, the azure spirit bird was perched atop a tree canopy, calling toward the dense foliage.
Liu Bai leapt up and immediately saw it.
Among the branches, a single fruit was growing…
It was only the size of an egg, but it glowed brightly. And if one looked closely, one could see that the fruit was half translucent, with mysterious Spiritual Prints swirling faintly within.
....
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